Analysis of just in time lessons
The Just in Time Mini-Lessons which I developed as a part of this course, together create a systematic approach to teaching students the social and ethical issues which surround technology integration in the classroom. These lessons taken together as a suite of tools will help my students become better digital citizens. Even though I created them during the final six weeks of the school year, I was able to see some immediate benefits with my students as they seemed to grasp some of what I had unsuccessfully been trying to teach them all year. I will begin my year next year with these lessons and handouts to establish the expectations, rituals, and routines for technology use in my class. Before now, I really hadn’t addressed some of these concepts, thinking the students must know more than they actually do. After going over the handouts with the kids and teaching the Compliance and Fair Use lesson, the students will have created a section in their class notebook with these policies. As the year progresses, I plan to refer back to the lesson and handouts as appropriate to keep the expectations fresh in the students’ minds. Hopefully, through intentional and consistent use, the information will become a natural part of their online activities.
One specific lesson that I did have a chance to teacher my students was the Module 4: Determining Credibility. After reviewing the feedback on this module I decided to tighten up some of the language in the resources for conciseness and usability for students. Other than these editorial changes, one aspect of the resource I specifically want to change concerns the recommended search engine.
Several of my classes were engaged in research projects this past month of school, and I encouraged the students to use Google Scholar for their initial research. It turned out to be an exercise in frustration as the results tended to be at a much higher level than anticipated. Also, many of the referenced resources required paid subscriptions to access the resource. I believe Google Scholar is probably a great resource for college students, but it just didn’t seem best for my students.
Facing this frustration, but determined to teach my students better research skills next year, I researched other “safe” search engines and discovered www.InfoTrek.info. The site is a safe Google alternative specifically geared toward high school students, created and maintained by former librarians and high school teachers. The publishers claim “an important feature of InfoTrek is that accesses only trusted websites recommended by librarians, teachers, and library and educational consortia” (Bell). The interface is much more student friendly and allows students to conduct sophisticated searches with ease while also teaching them techniques for better research. I will start next year with several lessons for the students that will teach them this resource and endeavor to make it a staple of my class.
As an English language arts teacher, many of the standards which address my subject have technology embedded within them. It has always been the domain of language arts to help the students develop solid research, analysis, and synthesis skills. Whereas in days past, that meant library research with a card catalog and stacks of books, in today’s research environment, the students have a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips. The job of the English teacher has changed from the source of information, to that of guide in helping the students sift and filter through the mass quantities that a simple web search will return.
The Common Core State Standards address this concept through several of the writing standards. Of particular interest are the following standards (Common Core):
The just in time lessons, help students see the integration of technology into a professional life. I plan on expanding these types of lessons throughout the year to better meet the challenges and demands of the more rigorous standards, but more importantly, to give my students as much of an advantage as I can in their futures.
One specific lesson that I did have a chance to teacher my students was the Module 4: Determining Credibility. After reviewing the feedback on this module I decided to tighten up some of the language in the resources for conciseness and usability for students. Other than these editorial changes, one aspect of the resource I specifically want to change concerns the recommended search engine.
Several of my classes were engaged in research projects this past month of school, and I encouraged the students to use Google Scholar for their initial research. It turned out to be an exercise in frustration as the results tended to be at a much higher level than anticipated. Also, many of the referenced resources required paid subscriptions to access the resource. I believe Google Scholar is probably a great resource for college students, but it just didn’t seem best for my students.
Facing this frustration, but determined to teach my students better research skills next year, I researched other “safe” search engines and discovered www.InfoTrek.info. The site is a safe Google alternative specifically geared toward high school students, created and maintained by former librarians and high school teachers. The publishers claim “an important feature of InfoTrek is that accesses only trusted websites recommended by librarians, teachers, and library and educational consortia” (Bell). The interface is much more student friendly and allows students to conduct sophisticated searches with ease while also teaching them techniques for better research. I will start next year with several lessons for the students that will teach them this resource and endeavor to make it a staple of my class.
As an English language arts teacher, many of the standards which address my subject have technology embedded within them. It has always been the domain of language arts to help the students develop solid research, analysis, and synthesis skills. Whereas in days past, that meant library research with a card catalog and stacks of books, in today’s research environment, the students have a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips. The job of the English teacher has changed from the source of information, to that of guide in helping the students sift and filter through the mass quantities that a simple web search will return.
The Common Core State Standards address this concept through several of the writing standards. Of particular interest are the following standards (Common Core):
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.8: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
The just in time lessons, help students see the integration of technology into a professional life. I plan on expanding these types of lessons throughout the year to better meet the challenges and demands of the more rigorous standards, but more importantly, to give my students as much of an advantage as I can in their futures.