University of New England Case Study Brian Edwards

There have been many different models presented in this course that are geared towards creating a link between students and technology. The model that I most related to was the Dynamic Instructional Design model discussed in Teaching and Learning with Technology by Judy Lever-Duffy and Jean McDonald. The reason that I relate most significantly with this model is because of the way it is set up. Its step system is well thought out and serves a clear purpose when designing lessons for all different types of students. As a teacher in a correctional facility, my job can provide some unique challenges. The variety of personalities, ages, and past criminal activity of students in my room create a very individualized environment where every student has a very distinct and personalized past experience with education. I have found that, in order to be successful in this environment, one has to truly connect and get to know your students. The reason I picked the Dynamic Instructional Design model, or DID, is simply because the first step in this model is to know the learners. As they state in the textbook, to begin the process of designing a unit of instruction, you must first have a clear picture of those for whom the instruction is being created (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2011). In my environment in particular, I couldnt agree more. If I do not have key knowledge of my students prior to planning a lesson, I will not know if my strategies will be effective. I really like how this model begins. I like the way the rest of the steps work together to create an effective learning process, but I have to say that the reason I picked this model is because of the first step. I feel that a lot of educators of my generation were so geared towards the lesson planning and instructional strategies sections of their undergraduate

work that the needs of the individual learner were somewhat overshadowed. This model makes it very clear of where the focus on lesson planning should lie. When reading the steps for this case study, I had a particular student jump to mind. James Stanford, age 48, is a student in my classroom who has had a unique experience with education. He attended public school until the 10th grade when he was arrested for selling marijuana. He was 19 years old at the time of his arrest. At that time, according to his school records (which are quite outdated), Mr. Stanford was in special education classes and was suspended multiple times for causing trouble in school. Mr. Stanford has an auditory impairment. He has a cochlear implant in his left ear. According to Mr. Stanford, his left hear had been deaf since birth. As a result of this implant, Mr. Stanford can hear much clearer from this ear but he still has trouble making certain word sounds, particularly soft As and Es. Although he never had an IEP in public school, it is very clear to me from classroom experience that Mr. Stanford is learning disabled. He struggles in class and becomes very easily frustrated when encountering tasks that he is unfamiliar with. The scores from his last TABE, Test of Adult Basic Education, indicate that Mr. Stanford reads at around a third grade level. He is vocal in class and enjoys expressing his opinions to the group. He has no hesitation to speak publicly and is comfortable in front of the class. He has an interesting relationship with technology as well. As an adult male who has spent a majority of his life in prison, 14 of the last 20 years, he has not had much experience in using technology. It simultaneously intrigues and scares him. If technology is used in the classroom in the form of a presentation or video he is fascinated by it but if he is required to use or manipulate the technology itself, he becomes timid and frustrated. Despite some of the hurdles he has to leap, he is a very good student. He works hard at whatever he does regardless of his frustrations and he really wants to have an active role in the classroom. He seemed like the perfect subject for me in this case study.

The environment of the classroom is fairly unique. The room is 21 desks facing a combination white board/smart board. The smart board is equipped and functioning, however, we do not have access to the internet in the classroom so everything we use has to be brought in via flash drive. There is a single terminal for students to use to access MS Office programs and to project things onto the smart board. There are typically 17-19 students in a class. The class Mr. Stanford is in has 18 students currently and is a GED level Social Studies classroom. Of these 18 students, 2 have IEPs and 4 are students that are classified as mental health inmates. The mental health inmates are prescribed medication and are only required in the classroom for half of the class period. The students are in my classroom for one hour and fifteen minutes a day and rotate between their different classrooms throughout the day, much like a high school system. While there is not a corrections officer in each room, there is one on the floor that makes rounds every 25 minutes to make sure everything is safe in each classroom. Most of the students get along well and it is rare that a problem ever develops in the classroom that is more serious than a simple verbal argument. I believe that the DID model and Mr. Stanford share some correlation with the affective network brain theory discussed in Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning by David Rose and Anne Meyer. As stated in the DID model, we must adapt our instruction by knowing our learners. Every learner is unique and the affective network brain idea supports this idea. As Rose and Meyer state, what individuals see is determined partly by their own internal state-a melting pot of emotions, needs, and memories (Rose & Meyer, 2002). Like an inkblot test discussed in the text, every individual may see the same situation in a different light. I believe that this falls right in line with the DID model. Not only does the DID model require the teacher to know the learner, each step in the process is built around a continuous internal and external feedback loop to ensure that each step of the process is functioning at its maximum effectiveness (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2011). According to Rose and Meyer, affective networks are specialized to evaluate patterns and assign them emotional significance

(Rose & Meyer, 2002). The constant feedback loop of the DID model exists to not only provide feedback, but to build a sense of confidence and security with a student because they know that they will always be informed of how they are progressing throughout the lesson. This, through the students affective network processing, will have them recognize the pattern of the lesson and associate it with them not being left behind or abandoned by a lesson that is particularly difficult to them. I think that the DID model would be perfect for Mr. Stanford and his affective network processing of lessons with technology. He gets frustrated and overwhelmed with the use of technology. If the lesson follows the DID model successfully, his affective networking should help him to realize that, no matter how foreign or unfamiliar a specific piece of technology is, the lessons structure in the DID model will be providing him with constant assistance and feedback so that he is not left behind. I think that the DID model will really help Mr. Stanfords attitude and confidence by creating a sense of security with his affective network processing.

Case Study Part II

Mr. Stanford has a unique relationship with technology as it seems to both engage and frighten him at the same time. With his ability to talk in front of a group I would love to have him do a PowerPoint presentation but that would involve a lot of program manipulation which I know, at this point, he would not be comfortable with. What I decided to do with this student was to give him the opportunity to use the smart board to present information to the class. As you will see in the lesson plan, I decided to do this through the power of video. I decided on the smart board and the video for a number of reasons. I decided to use video because Mr. Stanford has reading trouble and I knew that if the use of technology involved a high amount of reading, Mr. Stanford would become frustrated quickly.

Also, thanks to the internet and a variety of websites, the amount of free, quality educational video that we have access to is incredible. I decided to use the presentation on the smart board because Mr. Stanford enjoys speaking in front of the class. He is always one of the first volunteers I have to present things to the class and I know he would enjoy the assignment. Also, this will give Mr. Stanford some familiarity with the smart board so, when we use it again, he will be more comfortable and less hesitant. When I decided to use video, I was a little hesitant because the showing of a video to the class sometimes causes students to shut down or assume that it is time to stop working. As Lever-Duffy and McDonald say, it is necessary to keep them (students) engaged throughout the video screening (LeverDuffy & McDonald, 2011). As I state in the lesson plan, there are a few safeguards I include to make sure Mr. Stanford and the rest of the class stay on task and engaged throughout the entire process. In this lesson, Mr. Stanford will watch a video at the computer terminal by himself, wearing headphones, and generate questions about it. We will scan the questions into the computer and then show the video to the class. At the time that Mr. Stanford finds it appropriate, he will stop the video and discuss his questions with the class. This will keep the Mr. Stanford and his classmates engaged as the video is shown. The lesson plan I created follows the model for the DID lesson plan outlined by Lever-Duffy and McDonald and would take place during my unit on the Civil Rights Movement.

Lesson Plan Step 1 - Ready the Learner Student will be asked to watch a video on the computer terminal while the other class members are independently working on a Civil Rights guided notes packet. Student will be asked to watch Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his I Have a Dream speech on the computer. Student will be asked to pick out 5 moments from the speech that he would like to discuss with his peers and write them down on a separate sheet of paper. Student will be told that he will be presenting this video to the rest of the class when he is complete. Student will be

told that he has complete control over when to stop and start the video with the remote control and when to ask the questions to the class. Step 2 Target Specific Objectives Student will be able to use computer terminal to access videos and other information. Student will be able to use smart boards projection feature. Student will be able to conduct a professional presentation to his peers. Student will be able to identify the major themes discussed in Martin Luther King Jr.s I Have a Dream speech.

Step 3 Prepare the Lesson Classroom and Lesson Preparation Teacher must have 20 copies of Civil Rights guided notes packet. Teacher must have copy of I Have a Dream video on computer terminal or flash drive. Teacher must have smart board projector warmed up and powered on.

Bridge to Prior Knowledge As students are seated, ask a volunteer to define what the Civil Rights movement is. Ask if anyone else in the room has a different definition. After this, ask the students what individual they identify with the Civil Rights movement. Someone will answer with Martin Luther King Jr.

Introduce New Knowledge Inform students that they will be learning about Martin Luther Kings work today and hand out the guided notes to each student but Mr. Stanford. Inform Mr. Stanford that he will be conducting the presentation in todays classroom. Inform Mr. Stanford that he will be watching the I Have a Dream speech and picking five points from it that he would like to discuss with the rest of the class. Give student a pen and piece of paper to work with. Once student is seated at computer terminal, direct student to open the video of the speech. If student is unfamiliar with this process, explain and allow student to get to the video himself. Ensure that the headphones are connected and working properly. Once video is queued up, reiterate that the student needs to come up with 5 questions or talking points about the speech. Allow student to watch the video and decide his talking points. Monitor the activity and answer questions as necessary. When student has completed watching the video and come up with his talking points, switch on the projector so the computer screen image is projected onto the smart board. Allow student to do this process with help from the teacher so that, when used again, the student will be familiar with the process. Review talking points and give feedback, if necessary, and make sure they are appropriate. Give student tutorial on how to use the presentation remote to play and pause the video. If student has trouble with the remote, demonstrate and allow a couple of minutes for practicing. Once student feels comfortable with the remote, allow the presentation to begin. Monitor students progress throughout the video. If student has trouble operating the video, teacher should assist. When student stops the video to present a talking point to the

group, teacher should help facilitate discussion, if necessary. If conversation about one specific point is taking up more time than is allowed for the class period, teacher should prompt the presenting student to move on to the next point. Once presentation is concluded, have students move to their normal seating pattern.

Reinforce Knowledge When students get back to their seats, teacher should discuss the talking points with the class. Teacher should go over the themes from the speech and relate them to what the students have already learned about the Civil Rights movement. This should also be a time where teacher asks for questions from the class about the speech and clarifies any misunderstanding that may exist in the classroom.

Provide Practice Students will be asked to pick 1 of the 5 talking points from the presentation that they found interesting. They are to come up with three reasons that they think this point is significant in relationship to the Civil Rights movement. Allow free discussion among students and teacher for this exercise.

Culminating Review Students will start independently writing an essay on the talking point that they picked from the presentation. Using the three reasons they deemed the talking point significant, they are to craft an essay that is consistent with the expectations set forth by the rubric used to grade GED level essays. There will probably not be enough time for this assignment to be completed so if it is not completed in class, it will be assigned for homework.

Technology/Media Used Video of I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr., Smart board with projector screen, computer terminal, headphones.

Check for Success Discussion regarding the video will be logged as a classroom participation grade and essay will be graded using the aforementioned rubric.

After completing this lesson with my class and having a couple of days to think about it, I think it went pretty well. Mr. Stanford did a very good job in coming up with 5 talking points about the video. He was a little timid at first about using the computer and the screen but he warmed up to the process as the lesson went on and it became very apparent that he enjoyed being in control of the lesson. The students in my class did well with the conversation and seemed to enjoy the change of pace with

someone else running the show. The students stayed on task and were respectful of the process. I believe that the DID model worked well with Mr. Stanford and its feedback loop and its steps, particularly knowing the learners and identifying teaching and learning strategies, worked very well with Mr. Stanfords natural learning processes. There are a few things I would do differently if I were to do this lesson again. The first thing I would do would be an introductory technology lesson with the presenting student before hand. Maybe for just 5 or 10 minutes the class day before this lesson I would bring a student like Mr. Stanford over and show him what I would be asking of him the following class. This way, I could answer any preliminary questions the day before and the day of the presentation would be more of a reinforcing of knowledge rather than introduction. This would include building familiarity with the remote control. There were many times during the lesson that Mr. Stanford would accidentally stop or start the video when he was talking and it would derail his point. This made him have to restate things often and it interrupted the flow of the lesson. Also, I underestimated just how much discussion there would be. I had to move the class forward from every talking point. In the future, I would either suggest fewer talking points or use a video that only showed a portion of the speech. Lastly, I dont think that I initially did a good enough job of following step 6 of the model, the Summative Evaluation and Revision Plan. I took notes during the lesson on its effectiveness but, in the future, I think I will create a checklist of things that I should expect from every lesson and use that as a way to evaluate the success of the lesson plan. At the end of the lesson I had a lot of notes but it felt a little disorganized. These are the changes I would make but I would still definitely do this lesson again. Using the DID model to create this lesson was a unique challenge for me. Sometimes I feel that I get a little complacent with my teaching style and the way that I format my lessons. Specifically, regarding technology, I use the technology that I am comfortable with and dont take my students

needs into account as much as I should. Using this model and thinking about the affective network processing of my student caused me to really step back and think of what technology would be most useful for them rather than what technology do I have the best understanding of. This case study helped me to see things from a little different perspective and it is something that I will definitely be taking into my future in education.

References

Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. (2011). Teaching and learning with technology. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.