Technology in the Classroom: Tools or Toys?

1. Debra Addison and Dr. Rebecca Cooper Brenau University College of Education Georgia Academy of Science Conference Technology in the Classroom: Tools or Toys?

2. Bring Your Own Technology • TheBYOTinitiative was piloted in 7 Forsyth County Schools for 2 years, 2010-2012. • During the 2012-2013 school year, it expanded to include all 36 schools in the district. • It encourages students to bring cell phones, iPads, iPods, netbooks, Kindles, as well as other forms of hand-held technology for learning. My Cell Phone May 2012

3. Hand-held Technology Before 2013 • All personal electronic devices were to be turned off and in student lockers. • Offenders’ phones were confiscated and parents had to come to the school to pick up the devices. • Each year this became more difficult to enforce.

4. Students & Technology Today • 78% of teens have a cell phone • 47% have smartphones • Almost 1 in 4 have a tablet computer • 93% have a computer or access to one at home • 74% of teens ages 12-17 say they access the Internet on cell phones, tablets, and other mobile devices at least occasionally • 95% of teens are online • 70% of teens report using the Internet daily or many times a day

5. Potential Disadvantages • Learning distraction • Cost, damage, loss or theft of device • Student safety online • Use of technology for trivial activities • Equity- all students do not own devices http://www.wordle.net/

6. Potential Advantage: Availability Students utilize their own devices for instruction thereby increasing the number of school owned devices available for other students. This increases students’ opportunities to use technology.

7. Potential Advantage: Differentiation • Personalized instruction • Students working on self-paced, math assignment • Girls are using two devices: laptop for instruction and personally owned tablet instead of paper www.pendalearning.com

8. Potential Advantage: Paperless Sharing Digital Notebook www.evernote.com Oceanography Interactive Study Guide 2013 My students said, “Where’s the paper?”

9. Potential Advantage:Immediate Feedback www.studystack.com www.socrative.com • Students create and share online games, puzzles, practice quizzes, or tests. • Useful for science vocabulary practice. • Example Students complete a formative assessment as a Space Race

10. Potential Advantage: Active Learning • Students choose from a variety of projects • Fits different learning styles • Inquiry based learning • Students take more responsibility for their learning • Student engagement increases

11. Explore FossilsHow do fossils show the Earth has changed over time? • S6E5g Describe how fossils show evidence of the changing surface and climate of Earth. • Assignment: Using the resources listed on Edmodo, describe the formation of 3 different types of fossils and how each fossil shows evidence of the changing surface and climate of Earth. • Create a product of your choice to show what your have learned. Windows Live Movie Maker

12. Potential Advantage:Real World Connections • Students develop an awareness of how science connects to real life. • Students use real-time data to solve problems. • Students explore solutions for real-world problems. • Students support their ideas using facts from real scientists. • Students are investigating what causes seasons. Is the length of daylight the same all over the world?

13. Research Question How will the use of “hand-held technology” affect student engagement and achievement in a sixth grade Earth science classroom?  

14. Why BYOT? • Digital Citizenship • Development of 21st century skills: Communication Collaboration Critical Thinking Creativity

15. Digital Citizenship “Digital citizenship is the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use.“ (Ribble & Ribble, 2013) • NETS • NSTA • NCTM • Georgia GPS • CCGPS

16. 21st Century SkillsCommunication and Collaboration • "It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed." Charles Darwin Working together to solve problems.

17. 21st Century Skills Creativity and Critical Thinking • “I can feel my brain working!” Student comment • The student who wrote the this note changed her feelings about technology after completing this project with her friend.

18. Site and Population • Middle School in Forsyth County, GA • Rural area north of Atlanta • Title One school • 41% free or reduced lunches • 73% White 12% Hispanic9% African American • Mixed ability classes- gifted, advanced, on-level, special education, and ELL are represented in all general education classes • Some ELL students also receive classroom support • Some special education students receive supported instruction with a teacher and parapro during science

19. Methodology 74 students in 6th grade and four units of Earth science instruction 42 students in group A and 32 students in group B Each group includes 1 inclusion science class and one general science class.

20. Methodology • Group A used hand-held technology for units 1 & 2 and group B did not. • All students used hand-held technology for units 3 & 4. • Activities for both groups were comparable.

21. Science Vocabulary Without Technology Without Technology A student chose to complete the typical vocabulary assignment without technology. She copied the definition, created colorful pictures and wrote a sentence for each word.

22. Science Vocabulary With Technology • A student used the camera on his cell phone to take pictures to represent each term. • Next, he used an app called PicCollage to create a visual for each vocabulary term related to weathering.

23. Data Gathering Methods: • Group A unit 1 & 2 posttest results will be compared to group B unit 1 & 2 posttest results to determine if the use of hand-held technology had an effect on student achievement.

24. Data Gathering Methods: • Engagement will be measured by the number of discipline slips given over the course of the four units. • The engagement of group B for units 1 & 2 will be compared to their engagement for units 3 & 4 to determine if the use of handheld technology had an effect on student engagement.

25. Student Achievement Results • Student Achievement is not yet available because the study is still in progress. • Teacher observations point to increased student achievement. • A survey of student perceptions of achievement indicate that students believe they learn more with technology.

26. Student Engagement Results • The number of discipline slips issued suggests students are more engaged using technology. • Teacher observations suggest that students are more engaged in learning, have fewer discipline problems, display a more positive attitude toward learning, and produce higher quality work when they are able to use hand-held technology.

27. Conclusions on Engagement • Students accessed a variety of apps using their devices • Students seemed more willing to revise and edit their work • Student products were more varied and creative • Students summarized material from online sources • Students collaborated in groups and delegated responsibilities • Students reported being more excited about their work • Students seem to be more engaged in lesson • Students seemed enthusiastic about choosing a product to demonstrate their learning. Student-created book on fossils.

28. Student Survey Results

29. Limitations of Study • Small, nonrandom sample of 74 students • Mrs. Addison was the only teacher, and she does not have a lot of experience using this technology. • Mrs. Addison is the teacher in the classroom and the researcher for this project, so she may have a bias for or against the use of technology for instruction. • Student absences resulted in missed classes, substituted assignments, and sometimes required a make-up test. • Technology glitches with Internet connection • Difficulty creating comparable activities with and without hand-held technology. • Given the opportunity to use hand-held technology for instruction, some students declined due to lack of a desire or lack of a device.

30. Future Areas of Study • Getting started training for teachers using BYOT. • Best practices for using hand-held technology in the classroom. • Trouble shooting toolkit for teachers and students. • Organize dependable apps that work for a variety of devices according to Bloom’s taxonomy and types of student created products. • Guidelines for determining how long a student project should take using different types of technology. • Streamline student assessment for a variety of products.

31. Technology: Tools or Toys? • Technology may be both depending on how and why it is used. • BYOT devices are here to stay. • You can teach an old dog new tricks!

32. Thank-you • Any questions? • Contact Information Debra Addison Daddison@forsyth.k12.ga.us BYOT & Me blog

33. References • Lenhart, A., Ling, R., Campbell, S., & Purcell, K. (2010). Teens and mobile phones. Washington, DC: Pew Internet and American Life Project. • Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Maeve, D., Cortesi, S., & Urs, G. (2013). Teens and technology 2013. Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teens-and-Tech.aspx • Stanley, C. (Writer), & Ellis R. (Reporter). (2012, May 6). At one school district, the motto is BYOT- bring your own technology. NBC Nightly News. Retrieved from http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/06/11567170-at-one-school-district-the-motto-is-byot-bring-your-own-technology?lite • Synan, S. (2012). Science-nets-s-sixth grade. Retrieved from https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/BrowseNETS-S/science-nets-grade-6.aspx

34. References • Barnwell, P. (2012, May 30). Education week teacher: Why twitter and facebook are not good instructional tools. Education Week American Education News Site of Record. Retrieved August 3, 2012, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/05/30/fp_barnwell.html • Hedberg, J. G. (2011). Towards a disruptive pedagogy: Changing classroom practice with technologies and digital content. Educational Media International, 48(1), 1–16. doi:10.1080/09523987.2011.549673 • National Science Teachers Association. (2011). Quality science education and 21st-century skills introduction. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association. Retrieved from http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/21stcentury.aspx

35. References • Ribble, M., & Ribble, M. (2013). Digital citizenship: Using technology appropriately. Retrieved from http://digitalcitizenship.net/ • Forsyth County Schools. (2012, 17 12). Forsyth county schools byot initiative. Retrieved from http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/page/824 • Keller, H. (2011, may 25). Collaboration quotes. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/office/collaboration/articles/71425.aspx • NETS-S performance standards. (2012, June 2). Retrieved from Georgia Department of Education website: https://www.georgiastandards.org/standards/Pages/NETS-S-Performance-Tasks.aspx • Bolton, R. (Artist). (2013). No phone zone. [Print Drawing].