Unitec R&C2

Teaching as Inquiry Project

The inquiry that I am using for this assessment was actually carried out in 2015 as my teaching inquiry for our school. I have addressed the following assessment criteria with reference to this inquiry and my desire for further inquiry into this topic.

Statement of Research:

How to use the SAMR model in planning to effectively incorporate ICT into the Year 4-6 classroom through the use of Chromebooks, iPads and GAFE to positively affect students’ learning.

Acronyms defined:
SAMR: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition 
ICT: Information and Communication Technology
GAFE: Google Apps for Education

Questions:

How do we ensure that the incorporation of ICT into the classroom is enhancing learning and not just a substitute for paper and pencil? 

How can we extend our students' abilities and engagement through the use of ICT, thus preparing them for both the present and future in digital technologies, education and citizenship?

What systems need to be put in place as best practices so as to allow for effectiveness in teaching and learning?

What are the obstacles that prevent effective use of ICT in the classroom?

What are the four levels of SAMR and how do we learn to create lessons to strive work in the next level?

Personal Goal:

To gain confidence in teaching in the senior school using the SAMR model to incorporate GAFE and ICT effectively into the classroom programme and to share my findings with others.

Justification for my Inquiry:
Through my research for RC1, discussion with other teachers, attendance at Professional Development sessions, personal teaching practice and leadership of ELearning in our school, I see the need to learn about, understand and share knowledge and best practices for incorporating ICT into the current education system and curriculum. The use of the SAMR model in lesson planning and professional discussions seems to be a good benchmark and guide for the beginning of the integration of ICT into our school.

Communities engaged in this project;
Myself - as I learn, challenge myself, teach and share my new knowledge
Students - I have been, and will continue, working with students to ascertain what aspects of ICT and eLearning engage, stimulate, challenge and educate them. Using 1:1 devices is new to the students in our school, as they have had all of their learning up to this point with books and paper and pencil activities. Using the students to engage in this inquiry makes it purposeful and practical. More specifically I used my Year Five class on a regular basis and have worked with other classes on an on-going basis.
Staff - Sharing with the staff in our school what I am learning, and providing them with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to work with their own students. Many of our staff are confident with ICT but a good number of them lack confidence and are open to support and input from myself as the eLearning leader. Working with both groups provides me an opportunity to learn from the confident teachers and the opportunity to share my knowledge with the others. We all work together and learn from each other. The staff are a valuable community to explore the SAMR model with.
Parents - Keeping parents informed along the way as their children transition from traditional paper and pencil work to an increasing use of ICT in their learning. Parents provide excellent feedback and feedforward on what we have done and what we propose to do in our school with ICT. They question and challenge the substitution level which spurs us on to use ICT at the higher levels of the SAMR model.
Senior Management and Board of Trustees - Providing evidence of success with ICT to the Board ensures their continued support both financially and in principle. Showing them evidence of student achievement and engagement through the benefits of ICT is a goal for myself and our staff.

Collection of Evidence:
Staff meetings, professional development session and professional discussions both individually and in groups - Teachers provide feedback on how what they are learning is affecting their students, both the positive and negative responses. We will create a shared data base to share lesson plans and ideas for moving from one level to the next of the SAMR model. As I work with staff many professional learning discussions take place one on one and in small groups, whether it be in the staff room at lunch or in a staff training session. Discussing what works and what doesn't is a fluid, informal, yet very effective way to grow the successful use of ICT in our school. Having PD sessions and providing ideas via my blog or staff emails, provides staff with ideas for implementing ICT in ways that surpass merely substituting a Chromebook for an exercise book.
Students - I collect data from students via class discussions, student observations, assessment of work, student engagement, discovering what works and what doesn't, how lessons are stretching their thinking, or causing them to be disengaged.
Parent meetings and open mornings - Attendance of parents at parent meetings to discuss the incorporation of ICT into the classroom, and how it is transforming their child's education from simply substituting books with google docs to broadening their skills, interest and passions as they become more proficient with ICT. Parents provide feedback to myself as the classroom teacher, as well as to the principal in positive discussions around ICT.
Inquiry blog - I collect information from all sources and record it anecdotally via blogging.
Observations - I have and will observe in other teachers' classrooms and in other schools to learn new methods and ideas for lessons that are in various levels of the SAMR model

Feedback:
Team Leader - I discussed my inquiry with my team leader who was very interested in my inquiry as it was very relevant to our team who were embarking on their first year of 1:1 Chromebooks in the class. She was eager for me to share my findings and ideas with our team on a regular basis. She observed two lessons which focussed on moving past the Substitution level of the SAMR model and engaging students in higher level thinking. In my end of year assessment, she provided positive feedback on my teaching inquiry and appreciated the work I had done on my inquiry.

One area of feedback was in regards to marking assignments in Google doc and creating an effective marking system. Through this discussion we came up with an effective way to mark student work that left a trail of evidence of student's improvement and teacher's involvement. This feedback took a substitution level activity, marking, to the next level, augmentation as students and teachers learnt a new method of on-line communication and marking system. This plan has now been implemented throughout the school. A positive result of the inquiry into striving for ways to avoid merely substituting.

Principal - I discussed my inquiry with my principal throughout the year, receiving positive feedback as we sought to successfully incorporate eLearning into our senior classes. He was part of the discussion mentioned above regarding marking.

Potential impact of my inquiry:
I believe that the impact of this inquiry has been, and will continue to be, extremely beneficial to all involved. As I become more familiar with the stages of the SAMR model, and am able to communicate those with the other staff in our school, and together we implement it into our teaching practice, the students can't help but benefit, be inspired and challenged as they learn and grow academically using ICT as the powerful tool that it is. As I collect evidence, try different lessons and methodology in the classroom, obtain feedback from students, staff, parents and senior management, we as a school will continue to grow and flourish in our effective use of ICT in our school. Teachers value the information that I feed back to them from my inquiry and many readily take on-board the ideas given and take them to new and better levels of engagement with their students.

Stages of engagement:
Assessing the relevance of my project: At the end of 2013 I entered into discussion with senior management as to how they would like to proceed with incorporating 1:1 Chromebooks within our school. Over the past 2.5 years we have transitioned from one trial Year Six class, to having all Year Four, Five and Six students provided with a Chromebook to facilitate 1:1 teaching. With this progression has come the necessity to investigate the best ways to incorporate teaching using ICT. Due to this I have chosen to study the SAMR model in an attempt to assist our staff and students effectively incorporate ICT into our school's learning.

Gathering evidence, sharing evidence and receiving feedback: As part of my inquiry, in 2015 I chose to move from teaching Year One students to teaching Year Five students to further pursue the understanding of how best to use 1:1 devices within the classroom. Throughout the year, I tried many different approaches to teaching using ICT with the aim to create lessons that were not just using ICT to substitute the way a lesson would have been done with paper and pencil, but to challenge myself and the students to find ways to use ICT to progress past that level. Many of these I documented on my inquiry blog as well as shared on my professional development blog which I've used to provide PD for the teachers in our school. 
(www.cherylnichol.blogspot.co.nz and www.mylearningsojourn.blogspot.co.nz).

Both teachers and senior management have been able to view my blogs to get ideas and provide feedback.

I also published a classroom blog (www.room3twentyfifteen.blogspot.co.nz) which kept the parents informed as to what their students were learning. I received frequent positive feedback from this blog as parents appreciated knowing what their children were learning. I also hosted a 'Google Open Morning' wherein the students shared their ICT knowledge and progress with their parents. This helped alleviate any concerns or uncertainties the parents may have been feeling.

Redefining research questions: As our school and I progress and evolve in our use of ICT and more specifically 1:1 devices in the classroom, I wonder if the SAMR model is the best model to follow. Is it 'wrong' to substitute using Google Docs for writing a story instead of writing the story in an exercise book? Are there times when substitution is just the way it is? Instead of passing notes in class, students send emails. Regardless of the desire to make 1:1 bigger and better than paper and pencil, the same issues and problems arise. Students who struggle with spelling and grammar will still struggle, even though devices can assist in some ways. Students who have difficulty focusing will still have difficulty focusing - they now just have a new distraction - the internet. Do the questions need to be redefined? Can merely looking at Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition change the way teachers use ICT? Does it challenge teachers to experiment in their practice or does it cause them to become overwhelmed and become unwilling to try anything? Without adequate PD and support, will teachers just fall back into the way they've always done things and not attempt to seek the benefits that ICT can afford?

The following references were used in RC1 and influenced my thinking and preparation for this assignment even though none of them have been directly quoted herein.

References

Gruber, M. (2009). The Role of E-Learning in Arts and Cultural Heritage Education.

Jacobs-Israel, M., & Moorefield-Lang, H. (2013). Redefining Technology in Libraries and Schools. Teacher      Librarian, 41(2). 16.

Jude, L.T., Kajura, M.A., & Birevu, M.P. (2014). Adoption of the SAMR Model to Assess ICT Pedagogical Adoption: A Case of Makerere University. International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, 4(2), 106-115.

Romrell, D., Kidder, L.C., & Wood, E. (2014). The SAMR Model as a Framework for Evaluating mLearning. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 18(2), 79-93.

Tekulve, N., & Kelly, K. (2013). Worth 1,000 words: Using Instagram to engage library users.

Wang,J., Yu, W.C.W., & Wu, E. (2013). Empowering mobile assisted social e-learning: Students’ expectations and perceptions.  World Journal of Education, 3(2), p.59.