Wicked Problem Project: Final

This is a presentation detailing the planning, implementation, and lessons learned during the Wicked Problem Project.

The Educational Opportunity

An important educational need in my setting is making sure that my colleagues understand how to use our technology resources effectively.  Most of the teachers in the learning center where I work are part time workers with other jobs and responsibilities.  Some are only in the office for 6-8 hours a week, and everyone works a different schedule.  For this reason, it has always been difficult for me, as the technology director, to find convenient times for training.  In the past, I have attempted to address this problem by writing out detailed instructions including images and distributing these instructions in print form.  I have always felt that this format is limiting; like our students, our teachers and administrators all have very different ways of learning, many of which are not best served by printed instructions.  Therefore, I have found that my current methods still often require me to do hands-on, individual training and troubleshooting.  I have been searching for a more convenient and effective method of delivering instructions to the entire office, so that all of our teachers can use the resources we have to enhance their teaching.  I am also looking for a way to open up a dialog about the use of technology in our workplace so that I can address the most significant needs in this area.

The Plan

Through my Edutech coursework, I have learned a few things that will help solve this problem. I will use surveys to gauge the needs of my co workers and their reactions to the material I produce.  I will use these responses to guide my efforts.
I will use screencasts and other instructional videos instead of printed instructions to teach my colleagues how to use our technology effectively.  I think screencasts will address those of our staff who are finding learning technology difficult, especially those who have a more visual style of learning.  I will create a variety of short instructional videos using screencast technology.
The second prong of my plan will be to incorporate these videos into a staff-only section in our company website.  I think it’s important that these resources be available and easily accessible wherever and whenever staff has time to use them.  A staff-only section of our website will also be a good place for storing other training materials and resources for new tutors.  I will create a new page on our company website as a central location for staff instructions.
This plan will cost nothing but my time, and II believe it will be the most effective solution to the problem.

Logistics

This solution will require the creation of a number of instructional videos using screencast technology.  I plan on using screencast-o-matic.com because it is easy and web-based, and I have some experience using it.  Where available and applicable, I will use existing videos and resources available online.
I will create an employee page on the company website to display these and other resources.  This will be done using DotNetNuke web authoring software.
Throughout the whole process I will rely on surveys, using Google Forms, to keep the lines of communication flowing and to direct my efforts where they are needed most.

Research

I logged on to EbscoHost and did some browsing through their database of journals and periodicals. Here are some quotes from some of the resources I came across:

" ...screen-casts are a great format for online tutorials that students can refer to for remediation or enrichment."

-Preparing to Teach Digitally. By: Ferriter, William M., Educational Leadership, 00131784, May2010, Vol. 67, Issue 8

Regarding making "one-shot" screencasts to answer specific questions:

• Explain what you are about to do.
• Have one goal, and answer one question. Don't clutter the screencast with unnecessary information.
• Pace yourself; don't go racing through. If possible, let the patron control the pace.
• If using audio, speak and move the mouse slowly to allow the patron to follow along.
• Summarize the reason for the screencast near the end.
• Have a starting point. This is usually the front page of the library's website, but it could be anything as long as the patron knows how to get to it.
• If the patron seems interested, teach her or him how to use the tool. Wouldn't this be a great way to get help requests?
• Don't worry about making it perfect. These are meant to be quick and dirty, so mistakes are fine.

Screencasting for an Audience of One. By: Jacobsen, Mikael, Library Journal, 03630277, 1/1/2011, Vol. 136, Issue 1

I found this second article pretty interesting, even though it was written for librarians.   The basic point was that the author found making quick screencasts to respond to specific questions from patrons and colleagues to be a useful resource, and not as time consuming as one might think.  This speaks to the way I plan on using screencasts in this project.  While I don't plan on answering every tech questing I get with a screencast, I think many of them, especially repeated ones, present an interesting opportunity for screencast use.

Plan for Implementation and Gauging Progress

I plan on recording and distributing a number of videos starting immediately.  We just got new printers for six of our staff, and I recorded an instructional screencast and distributed the link through email.  Responses have been positive so far, and I have not had nearly as many problems that require my attention as usual.  I will make another screencast detailing the use of our company webmail system.  This is in response to requests received through a survey. I will create a webpage on our company site as a place to share these screencasts and other helpful material. I will use surveys and emails throughout the process to keep in touch with my colleagues and address their needs.
In the longer term, I would also like to make a few videos sharing what I have learned in my Edutech courses, and other tricks I have learned along the way in order to help my colleagues maximize their technology use in their teaching.
I will gauge my success through the responses to surveys sent out using Google Forms.  This will give me easily-quantifiable data to guide the progress of this project.

TPACK

The technologies I chose were screecasts, web pages, and surveys.  My pedagogy was demonstration and creating a dialog to address the real needs of the learners.  The content knowledge is technical proficiency in the use of the resources of our learning center.  I chose screencasts to address the need for visual, step by step instructions that would walk users through the processes of using software and hardware.  My attempts at addressing these needs through written instruction in the past had not been successful, at least not in a way that was satisfying to me.  The teachers in our center come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and possess a wide range of technical competence.  I felt that this solution not only presented the instruction in the best way, but also gave teachers the opportunity to opt out if they felt they had a good grasp on the technology being addressed.  The use of surveys will allow teachers to express concerns and request instruction.  Opening these lines of communication will also allow me to do a better job as a technology director.

Notes on Implementation

I started using screencast-o-matic to produce a couple of instructional videos, and adding a page to our company website for my colleagues to use as a one stop shop for technology questions and answers.  I started out by sending out a survey to five of my colleagues who recently got new printers.  I had earlier created a screencast providing instructions on using the printer and all of its functions.  In the survey, I asked them if they preferred video instruction to written instruction, and whether the video was easy to access or not.  The responses were all positive, so I felt good moving forward to a wider implementation.  I sent out another survey to all of our employees, asking them what they felt comfortable with, what they didn’t feel comfortable with, and asking for suggestions for what they might want some instruction on.  The survey was a very useful tool, because it let me know exactly what people needed.  I was pleasantly surprised by the number of responses I got, but some tutors did not respond. Later, I sent out a simple survey just asking people to send in their names.  This allowed me to see who was not responding, and talk directly to them to make sure they understood that they have company email addresses and how to access them.  
Since a couple of responses mentioned that they were interested in learning a little more about our company email, I decided to make that my first instructional video for the whole office.  I produced a screencast detailing how we assign usernames and original passwords as well as a few customization options for the webmail interface.  
After I got that done, I got to work on the website.  Our website was created using the DotNetNuke content management system, and I’ve been getting up to speed on how to use it for the past couple of months.  I had to ask for some help from our technology consulting firm, but finally figured out how to assign new security roles for our tutors so that they could log in and view the new page, since I didn’t want to make it visible to the public.  I then embedded the email video into the site, along with an earlier video on printers.  I also added a section for useful educational links.  Finally, I sent out an email to all of the employees, letting them know how to access the new page, and asking for suggestions for links.  
Later, I sent out another survey to find out how people liked the email video, and whether or not they have any further questions.  Again, the responses I got were positive, but it still looks like there are a few tutors who aren’t in the loop, and that is something I will need to continue addressing.  However, I have a feeling that this is going to be a good resource that we’ll use for years to come.

Results

The results of the multiple surveys were both eye-opening and encouraging.  For example, I never would have picked email instructions as the first video, since I’ve used webmail since I was an undergrad and am very comfortable navigating the systems.  Addressing an expressed need was rewarding and made my coworkers feel like their concerns were being addressed.  I was pleased to find that most people feel very comfortable using Google Docs, which I implemented and trained everyone in a few years ago and which has become an integral part of our day to day operations.  I was also pleased to see that most people found technology to be a very important component of their teaching at our center.  From the response survey to the email video, all the feedback was positive, and this made me feel great about moving forward.

Next Steps

To keep this process moving forward, my first priority is to make sure that all of our teachers ARE using email.  I’ve kept all of the surveys anonymous so that everyone would feel comfortable being completely honest in their responses, but this means that I don’t know who responded and who didn’t.  I do know that I only got responses from ⅔ of the people I sent the survey out to, so I have some work to do getting everyone on the same page.  I recently sent out a simple survey just asking for people to respond with their name so that I can see who is and isn’t using the email system, and provide instructions to those that aren’t.  It is totally possible that we have some employees who don’t even know they have an email address.
After addressing this concern, I will do some work beefing up the webpage.  I’d like to add some links to educational resources that teachers can use in their tutoring, make some links to outside resources for technical instruction for things like microsoft office products and google docs, and add a section for frequently asked questions.  
Finally, I need to keep the lines of communication open and flowing.  The feeling I’m getting from everyone in the office is that they have been waiting for me to step it up and start doing things like this.  This is probably the most valuable lesson I’ve learned from this experience, and it has made a profound impact on the way I do this part of my job.  I am energized and motivated by all of the positive feedback, and ready to do more and do better in the future.

Group Leadership Project

The Tool 

Our group used Camtasia Studio to produce our professional development tutorial. We decided on this tool out of a shared interest in screencasting and, on most parts, a shared desire to try out a new piece of software. Furthermore, it seemed the obvious choice, since Camtasia was the subject of the tutorial and we could all share our learning experiences while producing the video.
Camtasia turned out to be an excellent choice, as far as I am concerned. I started this project with a little experience using some free screencasting software and I was blown away by the differences I discovered in a more professional project. The increased amount of add-ins, like callouts, transitions, and highlighting, the ability to cut and splice existing videos, and the ability to craft audio tracks separately all impressed me. While Camtasia is a little expensive for me to purchase on my own, I plan on speaking with my employer about buying a copy for use in the office.

Lessons Learned 

I learned a great deal in a short time with this project. The biggest, or steepest, learning curve was definitely the software. While Camtasia is set up in a very user-friendly way, I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the options. There are a few that I did not have the opportunity to explore, because the task seemed a bit daunting and I could not see a natural way to use them. I would like to spend a little more time exploring the use of webcams in screencasts (if/when I can find a good reason to do so) and the use of hotspots to make the videos interactive.
As a group, we learned how to use Google Hangouts as a way to collaborate online. We were able to talk face-to-face with a minimum of technical difficulties, which made collaboration much easier. Compared to past group projects,
I took on a much stronger role as a leader in the planning phases and encouraging the group to make solid, actionable decisions on a timely basis. We did have some difficulties with one of our group members dragging his feet, and being out of touch for longer than was comfortable for the rest of us. These breakdowns in communication continued until the last minute (I finally got the link to the final draft at 8pm on the day it was due).  Additionally, this final draft did not include a conclusion, which this member had been assigned (and had agreed) to do.  I think the parts of the project that made it into the final draft work very well, it just would have been nice to have a conclusion to wrap things up.

Changes? 

The main thing I would change about this process, although it was a bit out of my hands, is the communication issue mentioned above. It's very difficult to work on something as a group when one member is difficult to reach and doesn't deliver.  I would have liked to have more face-to-face time with the group in order to produce a more streamlined, together project. In my section of the video, I feel like I did not do the greatest job of writing a script that matched up with the timing on the screen, and the reader was a little rushed in sections. I feel like issues like this would have been easier to work out with more time working together as a group. That said, I do think we produced a solid video by having a good plan of action that everyone contributed to.

Final Product

Here's the video our group produced.

Professional Learning Plan

For my professional learning plan, I made an animation using goanimate.com.  This process, while frustrating at times, was a whole lot of fun overall.  This is definitely something I'm going to mess around with in the future, and I recommend it to anyone out there who wants to throw together a fun little cartoon.  Here it is:


plp by lindjonath on GoAnimate

Make a video easily. Powered by GoAnimate Video Maker.

PART D - Findings and Implications

This week, I was not able to put as much work into the WPP project as I had planned.  I did take some advice from my research, and used a screencast to answer a specific question from one of my co-workers.  She had been scanning multiple page documents using her printer, but when she saved them, she was making a separate file for each page.  I was able to solve this problem for her very efficiently by making a quick screencast and walking through the steps. This whole process only took me a little while longer than writing out the steps, and the real advantage was that I was able to do the screencast using her computer. Often, I have had trouble with my instructions, even ones that include screenshots and other images, because not everyone's computer desktop looks like mine.  Also, even though we may be using the same programs to complete tasks, sometimes I forget when I've changed my settings already, so what is going on in my process might not be the same as someone else.  I got to work a few minutes early, logged on to her computer, and recorded the screen as I walked through the process.  Altogether, it took me maybe 15 minutes, and later that same day she was performing the task correctly.  We didn't have to schedule time to sit down, I didn't have to re-explain anything that wasn't clear in writing, and everyone was pleased with the results.

The verbal feedback I've been getting around the office is very encouraging.  I think people have probably been waiting for me to do something like this for awhile, and they are thankful that I'm finally getting around to it.  I also dug into some of the features of the Google form I initially sent out, and got a really nice readout summarizing the results of the original survey.  This will serve to provide me with direction for the rest of the project.

I did notice that there were quite a few employees that did not respond to the survey.  I think there are probably at least a few who don't even use the company email addresses.  Since the survey was anonymous, I'm not sure who's who, so I plan on sending out a one-question survey asking people to write in their names in order to figure out who I need to remind.  It is totally possible that there are a few that don't even know they have email addresses,  Ninety percent of our employees are part-time, some working for us as little as six hours a week, so who can blame them.

So, next steps are

1. Make sure that everyone is on board and knows what resources are out there (survey)
2. Add some links to outside resources (specifically, there were a good number of responders who wanted to learn more about Microsoft Word)
3. Add content to the web page
4. Reaction survey for the email screencast

Mobile Technology

Classroom 2.0

Here's the comment I posted on Classroom 2.0.  It was in reply to a discussion about getting around cell phone rules in the classroom.  I understand why schools ban cell phones, but I don't agree with the practice.  It seems backwards to me to try to stop these things.

Poll everywhere

This was actually a really cool experience.  It was neat to see the votes come in live.  I also learned a little about writing a poll: don't give too many options, especially if your audience is limited.

Experience

Different tools

While I liked the experience with polling, I can't see a really great way to apply it to my situation of one on one teaching.  It was a struggle to get the 10 responses I got in the poll.
I looked into flash drives as well, but I kind of think they're obsolete these days.  They're easy to lose, and they're static.  Why carry around something when you can store your files in the cloud and access them on any number of devices?
I also have trouble seeing a good way of using straight audio tools like podcasts and mp3 files for mathematics instruction.  It's very difficult to do anything useful in math without some kind of visual.
Ipods, Ipads, e-readers, smartphones, etc. are all great tools, but I don't really look at them as anything more than access to the internet, and I probably wouldn't consider producing any material specific to a device.  It's all about software and access for me.

My thoughts on integration

I just started a new project with one of my students.  He is really interested in economics, and since he's a freshman, he can't take the school's economics class yet.  We did some research, and found a free microeconomics course that he could work through on his own online.  The course comes from Saylor.org, and seems to be put together pretty well.  He's going to try to do most of it on his phone, using voice apps to write papers, text-to-voice apps to read him the material, and the web to watch the videos.  I'm excited to see how this works for him, and I hope to encourage more of my students to find self-directed ways to study things that they're interested in.
For me, and for my environment, this is what mobile devices are all about: finding ways to meet the needs of diverse students.  Mobile devices are all about opening up the world of information to anyone with a device and a connection anytime and anywhere.  I will continue to help my students figure out how to do what they want to do and do better what they need to do using mobile technology.

Challenges, inspirations, predictions

I think mobile devices are going to keep getting more and more ingrained in our everyday lives.  In a few years, it is going to seem ridiculous that schools tried to keep them out of the classroom.  Actually, it's probably going to seem ridiculous that we all carried around these bricks to keep connected (Google Glass, anyone?).  Again, it's not the device that's important to me, it's the access to information.  The main challenge, I think, will be keeping the infrastructure robust enough to deal with the ever growing amount of information that is flying around out there.

PART B - Storyboard and Script

Progress on the Camtasia Presentation

This week on the group project was spent working on the storyboard.  We have been using a Google Docs Presentation as our storyboard, which made it relatively easy to collaborate.  Each group member took a section of slides to work on, and they will be working on the production of the final product for those parts as well.  Bob, Sharon, and I had a hangout on Saturday, where we finalized the workload assignments for the storyboard as well as the final project.  We basically split the presentation into four parts.

Workload Assignments

Part one will be an introduction to what Camtasia is and what it is used for.  Bob will be handling this part of the presentation.

Part two will be some brief instructions on using Camtasia.  Sharon will be responsible for this part.

Part three will be some examples of uses specific to our audience: educators and education technology leaders.  I will be handling this.

Part four will be a short conclusion.  This will be Eric’s responsibility.

Everyone will be producing video for their respective sections, and then Eric will be putting the whole thing together at the end, and handling the voice over work.  This will give us a nice, cohesive final project.

Storyboard

Here's a link to our Google presentation.

PART C - Implementation

Here's a podcast detailing the early implementation of my Wicked Problem Project, which is creating instructional videos for my colleagues and creating a new page on our website to display these videos. I wanted to try something a little different, so I embedded the Podomatic player.



Here's a snip of what the website looks like

Here's a link to the survey I created to get some feedback and suggestions from my colleagues.

And here's a snip to show my podcast in itunes.

PART A - Brainstorm Session

Web Conferencing Tool

Our group used Hangouts from Google Plus to brainstorm about our project.I found Google Plus Hangouts to be a useful tool for web conferencing.  It was nice to be able to get together with people across the country and talk about the project.

Advantages

The number one advantage of using hangouts is that it is a Google product.  I like having everything (email, blog, documents, Google+ for networking, voice, etc) under one username and login.  Hangouts incorporate some features from the Google family of products, like docs, right into the interface (although when I tried using docs during the hangout, I couldn't figure out how to get back to the video screen).  Hangouts also have a wide variety of other apps or plugins that we didn't really have time to get into, but will be interesting to investigate further in the future.

Disadvantages

I didn't really see many disadvantages to Hangouts.  I could do without the presenter (person talking) having a larger video in the middle of the screen, but I can see how that might be advantageous for larger groups.  I think Google+ as a platform is also still trying to figure out exactly what it is, and so are its users.  Most people I talk to, from my family to colleagues to students, aren't really sure what to make of Google+ yet, but I'm trying to use it and encourage others to do so.  As I mentioned above, it's really nice to have all these products under one login and connected together so well.

Content of Session

 Here is a recording of our full group session. All of our members were present for this session.  We chose to create an instructional presentation on using Camtasia screen recording software, which will also be our method of presenting the instruction.  Bob also used Camtasia to record the session.  Two of our members had had a bit of experience with Camtasia, but it will be a new technology for Sharon and me.  We agreed that Bob was going to start a Google doc for some preliminary storyboarding, and set up another time to meet the next weekend.

Since my previous posting on the web conferencing process, our group has made a little more headway.  Sharon and I "hung out" briefly on Saturday morning to sort of recap what we had due and where the group was.  Bob was also hard at work, and put together a shared Google presentation with the beginnings of a gameplan for how the final product might look, as well as posting all of the different parts of the project to a shared calendar, so that we can keep on top of things and distribute responsibilities.  I added to the presentation some of what Sharon and I had discussed, as well as my thoughts on an outline and distributing responsibilities.  I think the coming week will require a great deal of collaboration and planning as we  put together a storyboard and script.

Part B - Application of TPACK

Application of TPACK

How does the technology you have chosen support the teaching strategies and methods you have chosen?

Screencasting supports the lessons I am teaching because it allows the viewers to see these things worked out on a computer screen, rather than a list of instructions.  In my past experience using written instructions, I usually ended up having to sit down and walk some of my colleagues through the processes on their computers. This, of course, may be due to some lack of clarity in my instructions, but I feel like seeing these things done will make picking up the skills more intuitive.  

 How specifically does this technology make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible?

I have found in my use of screencasts vs. written instructions that it's invaluable to be able to pause a video, do what it just told me to, and then move on to the next step.  It also eliminates problems caused by technical jargon.  Although I try to keep this to a minimum in my written instructions, it does come up sometimes.  Not only will viewers not need to know the technical jargon, they might potentially learn what some of the terms mean if they see me using it on the screen.  

How specifically do your pedagogical choices make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible?

One huge advantage of screencasts over one on one instruction or face to face group instruction is that it makes the instructions easily repeatable.  Especially when using software, I often need a few runs through a process to really get it.  Sometimes there's a process at the beginning of something that I'll forget how to do by the time I need to do it again. With screencasts, the instruction is always there and accessible, whenever learners need it.  

 

 Further Research

To add to the brief research mentioned in part A, I logged on to EbscoHost and did some browsing through their database of journals and periodicals. Here are some quotes from some of the resources I came across:

 " ...screen-casts are a great format for online tutorials that students can refer to for remediation or enrichment."

 -Preparing to Teach Digitally. By: Ferriter, William M., Educational Leadership, 00131784, May2010, Vol. 67, Issue 8

Regarding making "one-shot" screencasts to answer specific questions:

• Explain what you are about to do.
• Have one goal, and answer one question. Don't clutter the screencast with unnecessary information.
• Pace yourself; don't go racing through. If possible, let the patron control the pace.
• If using audio, speak and move the mouse slowly to allow the patron to follow along.
• Summarize the reason for the screencast near the end.
• Have a starting point. This is usually the front page of the library's website, but it could be anything as long as the patron knows how to get to it.
• If the patron seems interested, teach her or him how to use the tool. Wouldn't this be a great way to get help requests?
• Don't worry about making it perfect. These are meant to be quick and dirty, so mistakes are fine.

Screencasting for an Audience of One. By: Jacobsen, Mikael, Library Journal, 03630277, 1/1/2011, Vol. 136, Issue 1

I found this second article pretty interesting, even though it was written for librarians.   The basic point was that the author found making quick screencasts to respond to specific questions from patrons and colleagues to be a useful resource, and not as time consuming as one might think.  This speaks to the way I plan on using screencasts in this project.  While I don't plan on answering every tech questing I get with a screencast, I think many of them, especially repeated ones, present an interesting opportunity for screencast use.
  

 

Further thoughts on Feedback

This week I plan on sending out a survey, or maybe a questionnaire, asking my fellow employees for requests about what I should create instructional videos for.  I also plan on including some kind of survey following anything I put out during this project asking for feedback.  I will use Google Forms for both of these tasks.

Web Conferencing

Ok, so I finally got to try Google Hangouts for the web conferencing assignment.  I'd been looking for a good reason to try hangouts, and luckily, everyone in the group was on board.  The journey began last Thursday, March 29, where Bob and I got to hang out a little bit:

Due to a mixup with email addresses (my bad), Sharon got a little lost in the internet, and we weren't able to bring her in to this one.  Bob and I did try out the chat feature, although we couldn't really see a reason to use chat when you're talking...

On Friday March 30, Sharon and I were able to touch base and have a nice little hangout. 

Again, we were just getting our feet wet, but we talked about the assignment a little, and came up with the idea of trying to use Camtasia as our subject.

Finally, big day, on Sunday April 1st we were all able to get together.  Bob created a video of the meeting.

There were a few pitfalls to this technology, mainly that it's a little bit clunky to get into.  Also, I'm not sure if I'm a big fan of the big video for the person who's talking: this might be more useful for larger groups of people, but I think I would have rather just had everyone the same size (feels like a better format for a conversation to me).  

I can think of many ways this will be useful with my students, especially those who have illnesses that cause them to miss school periodically.  I tried it out with one of my students to check in over spring break, and she liked it, and we were able to complete a mini tutoring session.  I'm sure I'll use this more in the future, both in my professional life and my personal life.

Feedburner?

Here's a link to my feedburner page.
And a screenshot...

PART A: The Wicked Problem - A Need or an Opportunity

An educational need:

An important educational need in my setting is making sure that my colleagues understand how to use our technology resources effectively.  Most of the teachers in the learning center where I work are part time workers with other jobs and responsibilities.  Some are only in the office for 6-8 hours a week, and everyone works a different schedule.  For this reason, it has always been difficult for me, as the technology director, to find convenient times for training.  In the past, I have attempted to address this problem by writing out detailed instructions including images and distributing these instructions in print form.  I have always felt that this format is limiting; like our students, our teachers and administrators all have very different ways of learning, many of which are not best served by printed instructions.  Therefore, I have found that my current methods still often require me to do hands-on, individual training and troubleshooting.  I have been searching for a more convenient and effective method of delivering instructions to the entire office, so that all of our teachers can use the resources we have to enhance their teaching.

Addressing the need:

Through my Edutech coursework, I have learned a few things that will help solve this problem.  First of all, I propose using screencasts and other instructional videos instead of printed instructions to teach my colleagues how to use our technology effectively.  I think screencasts will address those of our staff who are finding learning technology difficult, especially those who have a more visual style of learning.  I will create a variety of short instructional videos using screencast technology.
The second prong of my plan will be to incorporate these videos into a staff-only section in our company website.  I think it’s important that these resources be available and easily accessible wherever and whenever staff has time to use them.  A staff-only section of our website will also be a good place for storing other training materials and resources for new tutors, such as the employee handbook and phone lists.  I will create a new page on our company website as a central location for staff instructions.
This plan will cost nothing but my time, and from a test video I put out recently, I believe it will be the most effective solution to the problem.

Logistics:

This solution will require the creation of a number of instructional videos using screencast technology.  I plan on using screencast-o-matic.com because it is easy and web-based, and I have some experience using it.  Where available and applicable, I will use existing videos and resources available online.
In the long term, I hope that what I am doing now will serve as a resource for teachers in our workplace for years to come. When posted on our website, the videos will be available for current teachers to review and new teachers to use as they settle in.

Research/resources:

I performed a little bit of research by searching the web using Google. I found articles which mentioned that video training is more engaging and cost effective than traditional training. Most of the search results, however, lead to great resources. I do not think I will have any trouble finding good examples of training videos to use as models. Perhaps I will even find some that I can use as-is.

The plan:

I plan on recording and distributing a number of videos starting immediately.  We just got new printers for six of our staff, and I recorded an instructional screencast and distributed the link through email.  Responses have been positive so far, and I have not had nearly as many problems that require my attention as usual.  I plan on making some instructional videos for new tutors to understand how our systems work. I would also like to make a few videos sharing what I have learned in my Edutech courses, and other tricks I have learned along the way in order to help my colleagues maximize their technology use in their teaching.
In the longer term, I would like to add a page to our company website where I can host all of these videos in a user friendly format so that what I do now will remain a resource for the future.

Gauging success:

My success will be apparent in my daily workload.  Hopefully, this plan will alleviate some of the interruptions to my teaching that I experience on a daily, sometimes hourly basis.  I will also set up a feedback system where teachers can contact me with suggestions and questions about the various instructions I provide.

Video Bio

The original, in a little better quality, is viewable here.  Thanks to Screencast-o-Matic for the free screencasting software.

A Funny Thing...

Here's a link to a little podcast recording I made for CEP 812 about encouraging responsible online behavior with students, and practicing what you preach.

A Funny Thing...

811 Final Reflection

 In this course I learned a great deal about using technology for teaching and learning.  I felt like my biggest area of growth was technical knowledge.  I was really happy to learn some basics about FTP and a little bit about HTML.  These were both concepts that were pretty foggy to me before having to complete the assignments for this class.  Now, I feel like I can handle things like this, I'm not as scared of them as I may have been before, and I might even take over the maintenance of our company website (if I feel like I can find the time).  I want to keep learning more about these technical aspects, because I feel more in touch and in charge with the little bit I know now.

Another technical aspect I found very helpful was using presentation software in an interactive format.  I had no idea of all the capabilities of PowerPoint, and I was pleased to see all that it could offer.  I was also happy to be able to put together something that worked reasonably well and did the job it set out to do.  Again, this is a skill I would like to develop in the future, and use in my instruction.

On the pedagogical/instructional side, I was pleased that we were introduced to Understanding by Design in one of the early sessions.  I actually borrowed a copy from my local library and did a little more reading on my own.  Having this methodical, long-range outlook when planning instruction makes perfect sense to me, and it was nice to see it laid out with clear examples and anecdotes.  I think about this all the time now as I plan my lessons, making sure my students (and I) have a good grasp on the point of everything we do in class.  These are principles I will definitely continue to use and develop in my instruction.

All of the activities we were required to complete made me think a great deal about useful technology implementation: doing things that make sense and are useful rather than just because they are "cool" or flashy.  Many of the skills I've gained through this and the previous course allow me to do things that are interesting and engaging on some level, but I always try to keep in mind the need for activities and lessons to be useful for my students' learning and for my instruction.  I think all of these experiences have given me the ability to make better judgments about what I'm going to put my time into, and what I expect my students to put their time into.  Overall, I think developing this ability to evaluate learning tools and experiences is probably the most important thing I gained from this class.  I plan to continue developing my evaluative skills as I complete the certificate program this semester, and the master's program in the following years.

Online learning

The learning technology that jumped out most to me is podcasting/videocasting,  In CEP 810, I ran across the idea of the flipped classroom, and I was instantly intrigued.  Using videos that students watch on their own time to replace in-class lecturing can free teachers to use class time to interact with students, address problems, and provide feedback.  This site provides some excellent explanations and resources for teachers interested in using vodcasting and/or the flipped classroom model. There are instructions for creating and posting vodcasts, faq about the flipped class/mastery approach with answers from an educator who is doing it, and many other helpful and interesting resources.

I can also see a great deal of potential for student-created content using vodcasting.  Reason number 1: making videos is fun and engaging.  I recently helped one of my students make a flipbook-style video showing the process of mitosis (using candy to represent all the different organelles).  The video turned out looking very cool.  I had never seen this particular student work so hard and so meticulously on anything for school, and I had never seen her express any kind of pride in any of her schoolwork.  So, not only did she really get a good grasp on the concept (mitosis), she learned how to edit videos (I learned a great deal by watching her, too), and for the first time since I've known her, she showed pride and interest in producing a great project.

So I can see videos as not only a great alternative for delivering instruction, but also an engaging tool for completing assignments. The former provides teachers with a way to use face-to-face time to interact and guide students.  The latter provides students with an outlet where they can be creative and have fun while learning curricular content as well as useful technical skills.

I have trouble seeing an equally intriguing use of audio podcasts for use in the classroom.  It almost seems regressive to stick with audio when video is so prevalent and easy to use and produce.  That said, I listen to podcasts every day, for entertainment (Smodcast network), professional development (Terry Freeman's Educational Technology Podcast), and just to expose myself to interesting ideas (Freakonomics, This American Life).  Audio podcasts can be a great way to keep current and keep informed.

Wikis

So, first of all, I created a small sample page in the sandbox for the learning center where I work since they do not have a Wikipedia page:

After doing this, I read up on how to publish pages on the site, and read this:

"Do not create pages about yourself, your company, your band or your friends, nor pages that advertise, nor personal essays or other articles you would not find in an encyclopedia."

Here's a link to the site.
So I did not try to publish this page, since where I work is a private business.

Next, I went to Wikispaces, and created my own: http://jonclass.wikispaces.com/

I created a test page to mess around with some media, and was able to embed this blog and a Youtube video so far.  I will have to do some further thinking about where I could use something like this.  I get the idea, and I can imagine situations where this format would be great, but in my daily teaching life, I'm not sure what the fit is for a Wiki right now.  At the very least, it's another tool for me to use if/when it becomes useful.

UDL

For a recent lesson, we were asked to go through a lesson plan we had completed earlier using a checklist of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles.  I completed this self-review on a lesson plan involving triangle congruence.  Here are the links to

• My lesson plan
• My UDL checklist

All-in-all, I think the lesson plan addressed some key points of UDL principles.  Most of what I viewed as "features" involved the collaborative aspects of the lesson and the multiple representations that students are asked to produce to show their understanding.  The main barrier that I found useful in thinking about improving the lesson plan was building in more options for student responses, or at least making it explicit in my instructions that different methods of responding were acceptable.  For example, one of the activities students are asked to complete is to write instructions for using some geometry software, and then provide those instructions to students who haven't used the software to help them solidify their own understanding of it.  In going through the UDL checklist, I realized that this would be a great place for students to use a screencast instead of writing out instructions; it would probably be more fun and interesting for everyone involved.

I made the mistake of trying to fill in something for each sub-point in the checklist, and it got me kind of frustrated.  Trying to fit all of these principles into the writing of a lesson plan would mean that lesson plans would be too detailed to complete very often, and too complicated to be really useful.  For many of the principles, my response was, "Well, I didn't write that into the lesson plan, because that's just part of how I teach."  I think this checklist might be better used in evaluating a lesson through observation, or for something like the STAIR project, where the lesson is all contained in one presentation. However, the points are all very important considerations to keep in mind when planning lessons, and will help me make my lessons more accessible in the future.

Evaluation of Merlot Resource

This is a review of a little program I found on Merlot that would be useful for drilling the concept of radian angle measures on the unit circle in a pre-calculus classroom.

The program is called Radian Measure and the Unit Circle, and is located here. The author is Laura Shears, and this is a link to the Merlot page for this resource.

Quality of Content:

1. Does the software present valid (correct) concepts, models, and skills?

Yes, this software does a great job of presenting the concept of radian measures on the unit circle, and tests whether users understand the concept.

2. Does the software present educationally significant concepts, models, and skills for the discipline?

Yes, this is an important concept for students in pre-calculus.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool:

1. What stage(s) in the learning process/cycle could the materials be used?
1. Explanation or description of the topic/stating the problem
2. Demonstration of the curriculum/exploration of the problem
3. Practice using the curriculum/analysis of the outcomes from solving the problem
4. Applying the curriculum to "new" problems/application of the outcomes to other problems

This program would be most useful in the explanation and practice stages; letting students play around with it would build a familiarity with radian measures and the unit circle.

2. What is(are) the learning objective(s)? What should students be able to do after successfully learning with the materials?

Students should be able to correctly identify given angles on the unit circle, place angles on the unit circle, and give the coordinates of the point formed by the terminal side of an angle on the unit circle.

3. What are the characteristics of the target learner(s)

Target learners for the use of this program would be high school students being introduced to radian measures in a pre-calculus classroom.

4. Does the interactive/media-rich presentation of material improve faculty and students' abilities to teach and learn the materials?

Yes, the “Test Yourself” quiz tests all concepts presented and is relatively user friendly.  The wedges on the side of the circle do a great job of showing the common radian angle measures on the circle.

5. Can the use of the software be readily integrated into current curriculum and pedagogy within the discipline?

Yes, it would be easy to use this in class as a way for students to practice and get familiar with this method of measuring angles.

6. Can the software be used in a variety of ways to achieve teaching and learning goals?

The main drawback of this program is that it has a very limited scope.  It does a very good job of the exact, specific task that it does, but does not connect this concept to the rest of the curriculum.  I would have liked to see some discussion of conversion between radians and degrees especially.

7. Are the teaching-learning goals easy to identify?

Yes, it is easy to see the goals of this program.

8. Can good learning assignments for using the software application be written easily?

If I used this program in a classroom, it would be very briefly.  As I mentioned above, the scope of the program is very narrow, and it does not really lead to expansive assignments or activities.  It is a good drill for gaining familiarity with the concept, and could be used as in-class or at-home practice.

Ease of Use:

1. Are the labels, buttons, menus, text, and general layout of the computer interface consistent and visually distinct?

Yes, I think graphically everything is distinct and easy to follow.  The directions are user-friendly.  One piece that was a little confusing was the sound during the quiz.  The author made her own sound effects for right answers and wrong answers, and I did not get the wrong answer sound at first (it’s actually kind of funny now).

2. Does the user get trapped in the material?

Not really.  Once entering the 12 question quiz, users cannot back out directly to the main screen; they have to skip through all of the questions on the quiz.  I might add a “home” button (this is included on the other screens).

3. Can the user get lost easily in the material?

No, there is not a whole lot to get lost in, directions are clear, and even during the quiz there are reminders about how many questions are left.

4. Does the module provide feedback about the system status and the user's responses?

The quiz gives a nice response page, including suggestions for further practice and a chart of your responses, including incorrect ones, and which questions were skipped.  There are options to print these results or send them to an email address

5. Does the module provide appropriate flexibility in its use?

Again, this is not a very flexible tool.  It does a fine job with its specific task, but I do not see much flexibility in its design or use.

6. Does the learning material require a lot of documentation, technical support, and/or instruction for most students to successfully use the software?

No, it is very simple and intuitive.

7. Does the material present information in ways that are familiar for students?

Yes, I think any pre-calculus student would be able to pick this up and use it in a few minutes.

8. Does the material present information in ways that would be attractive to students?

Honestly, the design is a little dated (it was made in 2006), so students might view it as being a little hokey.  The sound effects particularly got a good laugh with the students I showed it to.