Use of Technology for Nonfiction Reports
To me, this is what my Wicked Problem was all about; being able to seamlessly blend all the aspects of TPACK in a way that challenged my students to use technology in order to enhance our Language Arts and Science curriculum. As a refresher, click on the following link and you will be reminded just what my Wicked Problem originally looked like: Wicked Problem Part A. After discussing with colleagues and revising a couple of areas, I then created a Podcast with a visual of just how I was planning on implementing this project and "helping solve" this Wicked Problem. This is truly a design where all parts of TPACK come together as one. Click on the following link to view my podcast: Wicked Problem Part B. I then went ahead and implemented this project in my classroom and the following link explains just how this implementation was done: Wicked Problem Part C.
Lastly, I will reflect on how everything has come together and my feelings of personal success, as well as student success. I feel that with every Wicked Problem comes a need of a technology resource in order to help "fix" this problem. However, technology cannot be the only resource that alleviates some of the issues, the teacher must think critically and realistically about what Wicked Problems are a priority and I feel collaboration is very important. I discussed student needs with my teaching partners and although there are many, we all felt a need to boost our student nonfiction strategies, understanding, and engagement. I proposed the idea of rather than having our students write book reports, instead they use technology for these projects and create their own PowerPoint presentations. They were thrilled with this idea, as was I, and I was even more excited to tell my students about their new assignment. After introducing their next assignment by modeling a PowerPoint presentation that I created on Saturn, I told the students that this is what they would be doing for their next nonfiction book report and they actually cheered!! What a great feeling as a teacher to have a student applause after introducing a new assignment. I knew at that moment they were excited about these projects and the interest alone, would keep them more engaged than usual.
The project did get implemented as I had originally planned and I felt that introducing the project by "showing" the students a PowerPoint of my own rather than "telling" them what they would be doing, would be a great way to captivate their attention and that is exactly what it did. I also feel it was important to give my students "choices" throughout this project. I let them choose if they wanted to work alone, with a partner, or in a group depending on the Solar System topic they chose to research. I also let them choose what topic they were most interested in, and feel that option is very important in this lesson so the students are more motivated because they are intrigued about their research topic. However, I will limit the topic choices next time to just the list I give my students, not letting them make up or add any extras. That became a bit of an issue when it came to grading information on planets using the rubric I created, when some students chose to research "supernovas" or "constellations," not just planets. I feel the fifth graders did an outstanding job learning how to create PowerPoints and applying each piece I modeled step by step from formatting their slides to adding pictures with captions, to incorporating slide transitions and sound. I am truly proud of their hard work and dedication throughout this project. The PowerPoint presentation was worth fifty points total, and the majority of my students received an A, which this year, and with this particular group of unmotivated students, is not usually the case. Needless to say, I am very pleased!
After taking a look at some of the questions asked, here is the link to my survey results https://urtak.com/u/82485/questions/118143. I am pleased by how my students responded on this survey and know that by reviewing these results, the project was a success! Due to previous classroom conversations after the kids presented their work, I knew that they enjoyed this project and were much more engaged than with usual book reports. Being able to see the survey results visually really allowed me to see that the kids appreciated being able to use technology in a way that enhanced the work they were doing. I honestly am pleasantly surprised that there were zero "no" answers after forty five responses, but it makes me feel like the plan worked better than anticipated.
In the process of learning about "Wicked Problems" and viewing other classmate's problems, I have realized that these problems can range from simple to very complex, these issues can effect just one classroom or the whole school building, but all must be solved using the TPACK model and using it effectively. I cannot expect my fifth graders to know how to research using the Internet if they have never actually been taught before. I also cannot expect my students to know that not everything out there is true and factual, and it is a process to teach kids these lessons. Solving a "Wicked Problem" takes time and energy...more so than one may realize. As I said before, it is important and very helpful to collaborate with others, when deciding what problem to solve first. As with any issue that arises, there is not just one right answer and it may be a trial process, but eventually and with the help of others, it can be solved!
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