Rebecca West-Instructional Design Unit

FRIT 7739 Face to Face Staff Development

General Audience

My target audience for this Professional development unit are elementary level school teachers from grades Kindergarten-5th. Most of the teachers are females and ages vary from early 30’s to late 50’s. Within this group all are educated with undergraduate and graduate degrees, some of this group have their Specialist Degree or are working towards this degree. Many of these teachers hold multiple endorsements or are working to add them including Gifted and Reading. Approximately 50% of the teachers are technology proficient while the remaining half are moderately proficient. The main reason for discussing and relaying information about the site learning.com to this group is that it’s a new tool the County is rolling out for use at the elementary level.

The HCSD (Hall County School District) has implemented a new tool for all elementary faculty to use within their classes. Learning.com provides digital literacy curriculum, 21st

Century skills assessments, project based learning solutions, online safety instruction and professional development.

Learning.com allows teachers to go in and organize students into classes/groups based off of ability levels and assign activities to the students/groups. Activities can be assigned as a need for extra review, additional extension, or as a need if it was missed. Lessons can be uploaded and assigned to students for use during “School at home” days. Teachers can search for lessons and/or ideas for Project Based Learning (PBL) from the database of lessons already on the site. Teachers can also access Professional Development lessons on the site.

Instructional Goals

Users will be able to successfully set up groups/classes Users will be able to upload or create their own assignments for students Users will be able to access PBL assignments for ideas for students Users will be able to access lessons on how technology can be integrated into

core curriculum instruction.

Introduction

The targeted groups of learners are elementary level teachers at Mount Vernon Exploratory School in Gainesville, Georgia. There are 35 female teachers and 2 male

teachers within this school. The group is comprised of all Caucasians. Some of the educators in this group come from different backgrounds including business and technology before entering the education world. They teach a variety of subjects daily. The age ranges of educators at this school are from the early 30’s to late 50’s. Some of the educators, while this is not their first year teaching, this is their first year at MVES, while many of these educators have been at the school since it opened in 1993. Information regarding the educators was determined after educator interviews and observations.

Entry Skills and Prior Knowledge

Able to log on a computer Use basic internet search engines Knowledge of access to sites

Educators have no prior knowledge of learning.com as this is the first year it has been implemented in the district. This information was obtained by observations of the learners.

Attitudes toward Content

When asked about their comfort levels with technology the group as split 50/50. Half of the educators feel comfortable and knowledgeable using technology within their classroom. The other half of the group feels less comfortable and is unsure how to use technology effectively within their classroom. Overall the group mentioned that once they learn something and become comfortable with it, something new is being introduced. All educators are motivated to learn new programs that allow them to work hand in hand with the students to emphasize technology integrated curriculum within their classrooms. These results were gathered through observation and discussions.

Educational Ability Levels

Based on observations of this group the teachers are highly qualified learners. Teachers within this group teach students at all different levels and have a willingness to learn more themselves. Teachers have advanced degrees ranging from Bachelors to Educational Specialist.

General Learning Preferences

The teachers have a preference for hands on learning and activities. The teachers enjoy collaborating together on lessons.

Attitude toward Teachers and School

Teachers have a deep respect for one another and the school. This group works closely and very well together. The teachers enjoy coming to work every day.

Group Characteristics

The school is located in a rural area of North Hall County. This school is a charter elementary school focusing on project based learning through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) or with a Humanities focus. Teachers at this school are very much open to learning new things and growing in their ability to teach and reach their students.

Task Analysis

I chose to use a procedural task analysis to introduce the procedures of how to use learning.com for staff members. I worked with the Media Specialist and Computer Lab Manager as the Subject Matter Experts (SME) and went through the steps of the task for the procedural task analysis. In the procedural analysis the tasks are outlined in the steps that users will follow to navigate and move around the site depending on what they would like to learn. Within this task analysis I included topic analysis that gives information and facts about learning.com. The SME are the Media Specialist and the Computer Lab Manager, which were both trained by the e-learning specialists for the HCSD on learning.com.

Needs Assessment

The Needs Assessment was assessed by speaking with the Media Specialist and Computer Lab Manager. In earlier staff meetings learning.com was introduced as a new tool but teachers have not tapped into the possibilities in which this new tool can be beneficial to them or how to incorporate it into their classrooms.

The lesson would begin with a question asking if educators have accessed learning.com.

This would begin a discussion of what the educators have noticed thus far in their playing around with the site or questioning why they haven’t accessed the site at this point.

Next step would be to analyze the questionnaires the educators answered by discussing what they are hoping to learn more about the site or what they are looking to use it for. At this point the teachers would be logged on as well as being able to see the site displayed on the Activboard.

Learners will watch and follow along as we dive into and explore the site. Participants will move onto creating groups and classes, depending on the grade level they teach. For example, all 5th grade teachers teach all of the 5th graders so they can access all of the students in 5th grade but they are not categorized as the class period that, that teacher has them. Teachers can organize their classes by class period and then put students in groups also.

In the next step participants will watch as I demonstrate how to create a lesson, step by step.

Participants will be shown how to access the Project Based Learning (PBL) assignments and search for grade specific activities for their students. I would then like for participants to search on their own or as a grade level for an Inquiry PBL they are interested in incorporating into their classroom(s).

For the final portion of the lesson participants will learn how to access the Integration projects. Participants will then search by core curriculum subject and grade level to find an activity or lesson in which they can use to integrate technology into their classrooms.

To make sure this will be appropriate I met with the Media Specialist who also serves on the governing board for the charter school. The charter for this school aligns with PBL and integrating technology into the classrooms.

Goals for face to face development

-Demonstrate how to create groups

-Demonstrate how to create lessons

-Demonstrate how to access PBL lessons/activities

-Demonstrate how to access Integrated Core Curriculum instruction lessons

Objectives

Terminal Objective 1: The participant will create a group within their classes.

Enabling Objective:

1a. Understand the basic functions of the learning.com site

Terminal Objective 2: The participant will create a lesson within the site.

Enabling Objective:

2a. Describe why this could be used within the classroom

Terminal Objective 3: The participant will assess the Project Based Learning activities.

Enabling Objective:

3a. Collect lessons to share with students

Terminal Objective 4: The participant will identify lessons integrating technology into core curriculum instruction.

Enabling Objectives:

4a. Choose lesson integrating technology into the classrooms

4b. Recognize how lessons can be used integrating technology across the curriculum.

Objectives Standards

Terminal 2Enabling 2a

Enabling 3a

Enabling 4a

II. PLANNING AND DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTSAND EXPERIENCESTeachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology. Teachers:

A. design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.E. plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced

environment.

Terminal 1Enabling 1a

Terminal 3

Terminal 4Enabling 4a

III. TEACHING, LEARNING, AND THE CURRICULUMTeachers implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning. Teachers:

A. facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology standards.B. use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students.C. apply technology to develop students’ higher order skills and creativity.D. manage student learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment.

Content Recall ApplicationFactConcept 2a 3a 4a 4bPrincipals 1aProcedure 1aInterpersonal 3a 4a 4bAttitude

Sequence Description Objective1 Create groups 12 Create own assignments 23 Access PBL lessons 34 Integrating technology

curriculum4