a moment to blog

Hello to everyone, as I start to feel finally that I have a handle on the report of research and have a moment to post something to the blog. I found the tabulation of data in Excel to be a very valuable exercise and have really learned a lot by looking for ways that the different information can be analyzed. I started with some of the obvious simple formulas related to my data such as simply getting a percentage of the respondents who answered any particular category of the 4 possible responses to any question. Doing that successfully gave me more ideas. For example, during the discussion section, I wanted to say how many technology types were used by at least half of the respondents. Since my sample size wasn't that large (12 surveys returned) with only 13 different types of technology, I was tempted to just count manually by looking at the different charts. Having learned how to use the "countif" function in class I decided to attempt using it and having Excel do the counting. I highlighted the cells that were pertinent, started the function and used the criteria "countif" the numerical value in the cell was ">50%" and hit the "enter" key. A number appeared in the cell. I did a quick visual count and realized I was one short. The figures on the tables revealed that one of the technologies was used by 50% of the teachers. I quickly understood that I needed to revise my formula and tried at first to do an "or" statement; something like "= or >50%" but got "bubkis" (nothing for the non-Yiddush speakers). Putting my years of critical thinking and math classes to work, I tried the much simpler ">49%" and had my "Eureka" moment. I must say it was quite gratifying. I would like to encourage my classmates to experiment with using the formulas, if only for an academic exercise. (I guess at some point I'll have to find out how to write the equation using = and > together) We won't always have small sample sizes to work with.

Finally, even though I first thought that there wouldn't be all that much to write about in the discussion section from such a small survey and sample size, as I started to look at each chart and understand the implications of the data, I found quite a bit to comment on. I'm pleasantly surprised.

DON'T MISS THIS!! Free Online APA style bibliography creator

The online journal, Classroom News (eSchool News) arrived in my inbox today and in it was an article titled "Rapidcite.com" saves researchers time - and makes citations a cinch." In the body of the article it stated "Rapidcite.com has created a free-to-use web site that quickly produces "works cited" pages for its users in there simple steps. First, the user must choose from among three style formats - Modern Language Association, American Physiological Association, or Chicago citation style - as well as the type of medium (print, electronic, or audio/visual) and the source of the material (book, film, web site, newspaper, etc.) The user then enters the appropriate information into the blank fields, including title, author, page, published date, etc., for printed works. Finally, the user saves the information and is able to export it to Microsoft Word, where it is properly formatted and ready to print"

I said to myself "This is worth checking out.", and wouldn't you know it, it WORKS! It's easy, just like the article says, you fill in the boxes and click "Export" and you are sent a Word Document with all of your citations in alphabetical order ready to cut and paste into your paper. I suggest you try it ASAP!

consent form as used for survey

Informed Consent Form

Survey on ESL Instructor use of available technology at Pacoima Skills Center


The purpose of this study is to examine the amount of awareness that ESL instructors at Pacoima Skills Center have of the types of technology available to them for use in their classrooms at Pacoima Skills Center and to determine how instructors use that technology. This study is completely voluntarily and is not a requirement or duty of your employment.

The information generated from this study will be used primarily to fulfill the project requirements of a class in educational research that Barry Bakin is taking as part of a Masters of Education in Instructional Technology at American Intercontinental University (AIULA). Results may be shared with the administration and staff of Pacoima Skills Center at the completion of the class.

Your participation is voluntary and confidential. Your names will not be on your survey response forms. You are free to withdraw from the research study (not turn it in) at any time or to decline to answer any questions without penalty. The study involves no risk to your physical or mental health beyond those encountered in the normal course of everyday life.



I consent to take part in the survey on ESL Instructor use of available technology at Pacoima Skills Center with the understanding that my responses will remain anonymous and no personal information will be collected nor divulged. I am aware that this survey is a project for a class in educational research and I permit Barry Bakin to utilize the responses I will be giving as part of his class assignment. I am aware that results of this research may be shared with the administration and staff of Pacoima Skills Center at the conclusion of his class.


I agree and consent (mark an X in the box) BOX APPEARS HERE ON DOCUMENT


I disagree and do not consent (mark an X in the box) BOX APPEARS HERE ON DOCUMENT

Research Project Progress

I finalized the survey document this past class session and made one change to the consent form at Dr. Miller's suggestion: providing check boxes for "I consent and agree" and "I do not consent and I disagree" instead of a signature line. That allows me to just pass out and collect the survey keeping the consent form attached to it, alleviating the need for establishing a system for getting the survey back separately from the consent form while keeping the survey anonymous but knowing which surveys had consent forms.

I received the principal's ok to distribute the survey quickly. As it turns out, we had an ESL departmental meeting today so I was able to distribute and get surveys returned easily. There is another meeting for the evening teachers tonight and the surveys will be distributed by our ESL department chair at that time. Even though I stated that the teachers had until Friday to respond, it appears that I'll get all of the surveys back by tomorrow. The actual number of ESL teachers who I thought would be filling out the survey is smaller than I had assumed because while we have a lot of teachers on campus, many teach other types of classes and I'm not including ESL teachers who work off-campus. Also, some of the teachers who work Saturdays also work nights or mornings so the Saturday group is smaller than I planned.

On to analysis!

Finalized Research Survey

As a result of today's session, I narrowed the research topic considerably. At this point the survey will only determine if teachers at Pacoima Skills Center use the available technology, and if so, determine whether or not they use it solely for their own class preparation, whether students only use the technology or whether the teacher uses it for him or herself and also has the students use it in their learning. The complete survey follows.

Survey on ESL Instructor use of available technology at Pacoima Skills Center

Information about you:

How many hours a week do you teach at Pacoima Skills Center? ______________

Years teaching ESL at Pacoima Skills Center: ___________________

Years teaching ESL prior to your current employment at Pacoima Skills Center ________________

The following is a list of technologies currently available at Pacoima Skills Center. For each technology type, describe your use of that technology.
• “Instructor use only” means that you as the instructor use the technology for such activities as preparing for your class, doing background research, creating a homework exercise, presenting material to the students, or maintaining class records.
• “Students use only” means that your students use the technology for such activities as studying grammar, watching a video-based lesson, presenting a topic to the class, or doing research.
• “Both Instructor and Students Use” means that you as the instructor use the technology in the ways described above AND you have your students use the technology in their studies.
Please fill in the circle under the descriptor that best represents your usage. Please fill in only ONE circle per question.

(The four circles after each technology type represent the following categories: "Never", "Instructor use only", "Students use only", "Both Instructor and Students Use")
1. TV with built-in videocassette ○ ○ ○ ○

2. Audiocassette/CD player ○ ○ ○ ○

3. Overhead projector ○ ○ ○ ○

4. Computer (non-Internet)
productivity software
(Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) ○ ○ ○ ○

5. Computer (non-Internet)
ESL software
(ELLIS, Sequoyah, etc.) ○ ○ ○ ○

6. Computer (Internet use)
Not ESL specific
(Email, Search Engines, OTAN
Government Website, MapQuest,
Email discussion list, etc.) ○ ○ ○ ○

7. Computer (Internet use)
ESL specific (Online grammar site,
English For All website,
Email exchange, etc.) ○ ○ ○ ○

8. Cardreader machine ○ ○ ○ ○

9. Interactive Whiteboard ○ ○ ○ ○

10. LCD projector ○ ○ ○ ○

11. Inkjet or Laser printer ○ ○ ○ ○

12. Digital Camera ○ ○ ○ ○

Research Proposal for EDU 670

Technology capacity (defined as access to computers, whiteboards, LCD projectors, Overhead projectors, etc.) is quite high at Pacoima Skills Center, the adult school where I teach, yet the use of technology for instruction on a regular basis varies greatly from teacher to teacher. For example my classroom is equipped with 17 Internet-connected desktop computers that are always present, 10 dedicated (always in the room) laptop computers on a wireless network that are also Internet-connected, and another 25 laptop computers accessible on a cart that are sometimes not accessible (other classes use them) but usually available because they are stored in the room. Additionally, I have a dedicated LCD projector (instructor doesn't have to "checkout" a projector from the office), overhead projector, cassette recorder, and a TV with a built-in video cassette player hanging from the ceiling. I also know that the instructor who uses the room at night NEVER uses any of the available technology for instruction. (No evidence of student work on computers, no evidence of any assignments ever given for using computers or any of the other technology, etc.) There is evidence that the instructor uses the teacher's computer to prepare tests.

I would like to explore one of two areas that relate to the issue of instructor use of technology for instruction but have not made a final decision as to which one. The population focus for both would be the ESL instructors at Pacoima Skills Center The first question I thought about researching would be to examine whether teachers at Pacoima Skills Center are aware of all the technology available at the school and then survey how many have actually used each type of technology for instruction. I would then have them look at the types of technology that they are currently not using and have them rank those technologies in terms of their interest in obtaining skills in using that technology with their students. The goal of the research would be to find out where training in technology use should be focused in the next year.

The second research project idea is related to the same issue but skips ahead a bit. It assumes that the ESL teachers are fairly aware of the technology that is available , has the teachers rank the technologies that are available in terms of interest in acquiring new skills in incorporating those technologies into instruction, but then would try to ascertain how teachers would like to be trained in using those technologies. There are several approaches to training in technology that are quite common: self-learning (reading a book or article), technology workshops (teachers attend a 2 or 3 hour workshop on a particular technique), technology mentoring (a teacher with experience in using technology "mentors" a colleague on a one-on-one basis), some combination of any of the previous techniques. or a few others not mentioned. The goal of the research would be to find out where training in technology use should be focused and ascertaining the method of instruction that most teachers prefer.

I welcome your comments as to which of the two projects might be the better one to undertake as well as any comments about the two projects themselves.

on Stand and Deliver

The articles I mentioned in class that give background information on the actual events at Garfield High and background information on Hiram Johnson High in Sacramento are:

James, Stephen, “The power principal”, Sacramento News & Review online, June 21, 2001, http://www.newsreview.com/issues/sacto/2001-06--21/cover.asp

Jesness, Jerry, “Stand and Deliver Revisited,” ReasonOnline.com, July 2002, http://reason.com/0207/fe.jj.stand.shtml

La Prensa San Diego, “Famed Teacher Can’t Duplicate Success in Northern California, May 22, 1998, http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/archieve/may22/teacher.htm

weekly course content

Week 1
Pre-test of computer literacy (names of computer parts)
introduction to the keyboard and mouse
introduction to keyboarding
Start first project “About Me”
Review or introduction to Simple Present Tense

Week 2
Complete “About Me” project
Start second project “My Usual Schedule”
More practice with Simple Present Tense
Week 3
Complete “My Usual Schedule”
Introduction to Present Continuous Tense

Week 4
Start third project “Do/Doing”
Introduction to the Internet and the Web Browser


Week 5
Complete third project “Do/Doing”
Introduction to Blogging
Create Student Blog

Week 6
Weekly Blog post on an activity student usually does
Student views a classmate’s blog and posts a response
Mid-Semester Evaluation

Week 7
Weekly Blog post on an activity student a student is doing
Introduction to Comparatives and Superlatives
Introduction to Paint
Start fourth project “Comparatives and Superlatives”

Week 8
Weekly Blog post on comparing three consumer products the student uses
Introduction to Simple Past Tense
Complete project “Comparatives and Superlatives”

Week 9
Weekly Blog post on something the student “did over the weekend”
Students form teams and start “Research Project”
Students complete “Research Project” on Excel and start PowerPoint presentation

Week 10
Weekly Blog post on the “Research Project”
Students present PowerPoint presentation orally
Final evaluations

Writing assignments

Students will complete the following writing projects:

“About Me” – a brief autobiography of one or two paragraphs
“My Usual Schedule” – A paragraph explaining what the student usually does during the week
“Do/Doing” – students interview a campus employee to find out what that employee usually does at his or her job, then takes several photos of the employee performing different tasks, and then writes about what the employee usually does and what the employee was doing at the time the pictures were taken.
“Comparatives and Superlatives” – Students use Paint to draw three simple images that can be compared to each other. The drawings are transferred to Word and compared.
“Research Project” – Students conduct a simple research project in class, create a graph displaying the results in Excel, and create a slide presentation in PowerPoint. The final step in this writing project is to present the results to the class orally, accompanied by the PowerPoint slides.

The textbook for the course will be: Learning Computers, Speaking English: Cooperative Activities for Learning English and Basic Word Processing, Steve Quann, Diana Satin, University of Michigan Press, July 2000, ISBN: 0472086839

http://www.press.umich.edu/titleDetailLookInside.do?id=9141

catalog course description for edu660

This course will introduce ESL students to the basic computer skills needed to use computers for creativity, communication, and organizing information. It will instruct students in how to type, compose basic word processing documents, work with digital images, create new graphic images, find and use existing graphic images, use presentation software, and use an Internet browser. It will increase a student’s confidence in working with computers for home use and in the workplace. ESL subjects are integrated into all of the lessons to promote improved language competency in reading, writing or listening.

Reaction to Chapter 16 of Computer Education for Teachers

"You could spray a video display from a can on any surface and be able to print it out" (p. 419, Computer Education for Teachers) I'm not exactly sure what is meant by that particular futuristic idea but the rest of the chapter is pretty informative. There are some potentially scary ideas, like the idea of "electronic creatures capable of independent thought and action" (p. 428) which hint at "Terminator" like scenarios, and "mutually immersive mobil telepresence" (p. 431) HUH?, but overall, it seems pretty safe to say that technology isn't going away and educators who can keep up with the advancements and in turn incorporate them into their teaching so their students can also keep up with the technology, are more likely "not to go away" either. In that sense, being an educator who uses cutting-edge technology with students is a form of job preservation in the face of job losses due to technology.

Reaction to Chapter 15 of Computer Education for Teachers

I didn't find much that I wasn't already aware of in the "issues" portion of this chapter having used computers in a classroom setting for more than 5 years in a wide range of situations from having only one computer in a classroom, to running a dedicated ESL computer lab where all of the other classes in the school rotated into the room for 90 minutes sessions once a week, before reaching my current classroom which has, as you already know, both desktop computers and laptop computers available for every single student every day if desired. I'm pleased that the chapter covers wireless laptop carts and notes that one benefit is that teachers do not have to take students to a separate lab. I totally agree with the concept that computer assisted learning has to be completely integrated into the curriculum and providing direct access to computers in the room is certainly one way to start that process.

I found the research portion of the chapter to be a good start at covering many issues involved with using computers in education. Much still has to be done in determining if all of the effort that teachers and schools invest in buying and installing computers,and training teachers, is worthwhile from the standpoint of educational gains.

check out the cool clock on my blog!

What do you think of the ticking clock? Get one for yourself at clocklink.com or just copy the code off of my page and paste it into the "Template" on your own page.

Website for viewing a site as a color blind person would see it

http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/
is the website I referred to in class that allows you to view a webpage as if a color blind person would view it. It actually shows you how people with different types of color blindness would see the page.

Click on the "Vischeck" link at the left and then on "Run Webpages" and you can enter the URL of your blog or any other website to see it as a color blind person might!

Reaction to Chapter 14 of Computer Education for Teachers

More and more educators have access to computers right in their classroom, but it has been my experience that woefully few of them make use of them to their complete capability as "teacher support tools". Much needs to be done in this area in my experience. I doubt if I would be happy teaching without a computer, Internet connection, scanner and high-output printer in my classroom. I rarely use the copy machine anymore because I can prepare many materials right in the classroom. I can find song lyrics on-online, copy them to a word document and have them ready to be distributed in 5 minutes or less. When a reading passage mentioned the cities of El Paso, TX, USA and Ciudad de Juarez, Mexico, I could go to the Internet, find a map of that area, print it to an overhead transparency and display it for the class (Now that I have a wireless connection to one of my laptops, I can actually skip that last step and project the image directly from the Internet to my overhead projector). I won't bore you with too many examples but last year when a student wanted to know why children hunt for Easter Eggs but the symbol of Easter is a bunny which as far as he knew didn't lay eggs, I was able to clarify after a few minutes of searching (Easter being a fertility inspired holiday, both eggs and bunnies symbolize prolific offspring) I produce handouts, tests, worksheets right in the classroom for use that same day as needed or as inspired by what the students are doing at any particular moment.

I'm also fortunate to have a web-based attendance recording system. No more filling out registers for me. I just log-on and fill out a web-based interface to record attendance now. Click a button and print out the completed register to be turned in at the end of the week. (The system also has benefits for adminstration as they get immediate data on division-wide attendance, whereas in previous years that information was delayed by at least a month).

Reaction to Chapter 13 of Computer Education for Teachers

This is a really crucial issue that is often overlooked by educational providers, but virtually all educators could benefit by the information in this chapter. Those working with adult students are no less likely to encounter learning disabilities or students with various issues in their classrooms. From general issues such as the difficulty that adults of all ages and abilities have with using computer touch pads, or specific issues with individual students who exhibit evidence of a learning disability, instructors will benefit from being aware of ways that computer assisted education can both help overcome learning disabilities or present even more difficulties for those particular students.

Another issue that anyone working with websites is that there are definitely issues of accessibility that need to be considered. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 does appear to include website accessibility.
For a general website with information about creating websites that are accessible see http://library.uwsp.edu/aschmetz/Accessible/pub_resources.htm

http://quia.com

This is another site that allows instructors to create games. The major difference with this site is that the games you create here can be played online. It is a fee site so instructors have to either have their school purchase a subscription or pay for it themselves. I tried out the 30 day free version and created a small vocabulary practice game based on words I'm actually teaching this week in class (so it would be realistic for my teaching situation) that you can try at http://www.quia.com/jg/669318.html It costs $49 a year for an individual subscription (only $39 if you get 9 colleagues to sign up at the same time) but I think that would be well worth it to a teacher who uses online activities on a regular basis. For the game that I created, by the way, I drew the images myself in Paint, saved them, and uploaded them to the Quia server for use in the game. I wanted to see how easy it was to create an online puzzle. It took about 30 minutes for the whole process including drawing the drawings from scratch. Try my game!

http://puzzlemaker.com/

This is one of several such sites which can greatly assist classroom teachers in producing fairly interesting assignments for in-class use in a quick and easy manner. If a teacher feels that there is educational value to having students work on puzzles to memorize or learn vocabulary, then this site can be very useful. I was able to customize a provided list of vocabulary words (delete some words I thought were not appropriate for my class) and create a puzzle within a few minutes that I could print out and distribute to my class (assuming I had the computer, Internet connection, and printer in the room) a few short minutes after thinking it might be nice to have just such an exercise to pass out. It's a good example of how technologically aware teachers can enhance their lessons with a minimal amount of work. Let's say that you're teaching a lesson on the days of the month in a beginning level class and you realize that you might have an extra 10 minutes of classtime near the end of the day when some students are starting to get fidgety. While the students are working on some other assignment, you can visit this site, create a custom puzzle using the vocabulary words that you want your students to know from that day's lesson, print it out and have it be ready for that that last 10 minute period, giving students the opportunity to make complete use of every minute of the time period for productive learning. If the 10 minutes never materializes because a student has asked a question and your answer or explanation has made use of that ten minutes, you have a homework assignment or a warm-up/review worksheet for the next class session already prepared.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/

It's always good to view sites and resources from many angles. While I probably won't actually ever teach art directly, there IS a movement within ESL instruction towards incorporating language instruction within subject matter instruction. So from that angle, I'm going to file this site away for future reference for the time when I might be asked to teach an art subject as part of an ESL program.

But more than that, sometimes sites are important not only for their content, but for the example they present as a way of PRESENTING INFORMATION itself, or in this case actually, the way this site led me to another site which I would possibly have never seen but is a fantastic example of the way in which educational content can be delivered taking full use of the multimedia capabilities of the computer. You might recall that in my comments on some earlier websites we visited for this class, ,my comment was "it's just a page from a book displayed on the computer". In other words, "Who needs an expensive computer when you can just hand the student a worksheet?" The website I found after a bit of exploration is http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/marthagraham/index.htm
(the first link when you click on the "EXPLORE" tab) an ingenious and extremely interesting site that teaches about Martha Graham's work through the eyes of a dancer who has been assigned to dance several of her most famous roles. The visitor to the site is presented with the dancer's locker , filled with notebooks, journals, background information, music CD's and videos (realistic photos of each object). As the learner explores the locker and its content by clicking on the different items, they learn as if they are really that dancer studying for an actual role. For example, they view a video of a segment from a dance and are presented with several questions to think about basing their answers on the video clips they just watched. It's a site with high production values and was obviously not cheap to produce, but it certainly is a great demonstration of the way educational content can be delivered making optimal use of the delivery technology selected. I highly recommend that anyone interested in using computers to make instructional content more interesting visit this site.