Another Revision

I've taken out one set of observations, and I've just decided to use the one class observations simply because there were too many factors effecting the research. I'm sticking to only math at the present. I've also decided not to survey the students, because they all gave opinion-type responses that would not help my research. Just thought I would update you all! :)

Progress of Action Research Project

Action Research Project Title: Is technology being used effectively in the classroom?
 Blog URL: http://noelsresearch.blogspot.com/
 Number of AR Project Documented Hours: 5 hours
 AR Project Summary (at least 250 words): I am doing my AR project on the effective use of technology in the classroom. What does it look like? What does it NOT look like? How can we use these tools better to help enhance our student’s experience? I am strictly looking at how the new iPad carts are being used on our campus. So far, I have set up 4 different classroom observations, I have completed 2 of those. I have had 2 teachers in each subject (social studies and math) complete 2 identical lessons. One teacher used technology, and the other teacher did not. I am taking their scores from those lessons, and comparing them. I am looking at their lesson plans for each lesson, and looking at how they decided to use their technology. Were they just “surfing the web”? Were they utilizing the technology in a way that would require a different way of learning the material than could have been provided without the technology? I will compare each teacher within their subject, and then compare the two subjects and their utilization of the technology to see which way produced better results. Next week, I will be observing the two math teachers. Last Spring, I observed the two Social Studies teachers. After getting all the data gathered, I will be on my way to analyzing what I’ve found, and coming to a conclusion. Do we use technology in a way that actually enhances learning? Or is it just a resource to “google” information on the topic we are teaching?

Final Thoughts - EDLD 5301

This class has opened my eyes to many things. I never realized how much thought, processing, planning, creating, and questioning went into solving one school issue. Some of the issues we are dealing with aren’t even major issues, and this is still a very involved process! Although some may think this a daunting task/responsibility, this excites me! I love problem solving, and I love “playing detective”, if you will. Some of the things that I took away from this class, and think are most valuable to me as an action researcher came from the Dana text. Mostly, I will utilize the process of doing action research that Dana describes so well. One of the most helpful parts of this class was creating the blog. My blog wasn’t helpful to ME, but everyone else’s blogs were, and I know that several people used my blog as a guide for their work, and it helped build confidence that I was doing this correctly and on the right path. In my undergraduate studies, I utilized blogs for some of my classes, but it wasn’t helpful like these were. I hope that throughout the degree program, everyone continues to update their blogs so that we can all help each other stay on the right track! There are some very smart and insightful people in this program! The web conferences were helpful, but in a different way from my other class. I really enjoyed everyone sharing about their blogs, and their ideas, and the input from their administrators. It almost made me jealous when I heard about how helpful, insightful, involved, and excited other people’s administrators were about their research. Mine is very passive, and will say anything looks great, and doesn’t take a close look at much. I am glad that the web conferences gave me the insight into what other administrators were saying so I could at least use THAT as my guide. Sometimes people asked questions, that never even crossed my mind, in the web conference, and it made me completely restructure my project. It was great to have that insight, and it was great to share support. Lastly, one of the things (not included in this class directly) that really helped me, was the Facebook Page! I know that it’s not associated with Lamar, but it was a way for all of us to connect with one another without having a scheduled web conference, and we could all keep up with the page as needed. Many questions asked on that page helped keep me from answering some of the assignments incorrectly. Students would share their responses from professors/IA’s as they got them for certain questions, and just let everyone know as an FYI. It was nice that everyone would do footwork and help each other out. It was great to feel like we were all on a team! The collaboration was excellent practice for the future as well, as we all prepare to work together with our administrative teams as well as our faculty and staff to make a campus/district/program run efficiently!

REVISED Action Research Plan

Below is my REVISED Action Research Plan. It's a little more concise. Please, let me know your thoughts! :)

Action Research Plan

Below is my Action Research Plan! Please comment suggestions as you see fit! Thanks in advance!!

Action Research Plan

My action research inquiry is: Is technology being utilized effectively in the classroom, and what can we do to help teachers utilize technology (ie iPads, tablets, etc) more effectively for retention of information, student engagement, and assessment scores?

For this, I will be observing 2 teachers teach the same lesson; one with technology (iPads), and the other without. Before hand, I will give a pre-test to both classes to assess their current knowledge of the topic. During the lesson, I will observe student engagement and attentiveness in both classes. After, I will give a post-test to determine which students retained more information, and which students had higher test scores.

 After all research is completed, I may ask to present my findings at a staff meeting, and provide suggestions for implementing these iPads into the classrooms more effectively!

Any suggestions on this topic would be greatly appreciated! :) Thanks in advance!

Week 2 reflection

During week two, I have definitely gained insight on how to word my inquiries.  I often have different questions running through my mind, but I often times have difficulty wording them in such a way that they could be studied or put into action.  The reading really helped clear that up for me.

Another thing that I learned is that there are so many varying issues from district to district, campus to campus. It's been fun to hear examples of how some principals are handling different situations.  Some solutions are GREAT ideas! Very impressive! Others I would be cautious to implement on my own campus. Either way, getting to hear about these scenarios, and thinking them through on my own is helping me realize the type of administrator I want to be! This has been fun for me! Can't wait to hear more! :)

Noel's Action Research Blog EDLD 5301: What I've learned about Action Research

Noel's Action Research Blog EDLD 5301: What I've learned about Action Research: Today, I have been reading a lot about using inquiry or action research as an administrator to help solve problems, or improve upon the diff...

What I've learned about Action Research

Today, I have been reading a lot about using inquiry or action research as an administrator to help solve problems, or improve upon the different policies and processes of a campus, or district. After reading just a few pages, I realized that I already utilize action research as a classroom teacher! Action research is simply reflecting on the issues that pertain to your particular situation or classroom, and utilizing the data collected from that same situation or classroom to make a plan of action.  Many times, simply sharing information amongst other teachers facing the same issues as you, could be a method of collecting good data.  Action research doesn't have to be scientific; it simply has to be real, observable or explainable situations.  I could simply survey a group of teachers asking what they have found to work best when dealing with a specific situation, and the average out the responses to come up with the best "proven" solution. Action research promotes communication between administrators, administrators and teachers, teachers and teachers, teachers and parents, teachers and students, administrators and parents, and the list goes on and on. What I love about it the most is that it is relevant to YOUR specific situation, and it certainly requires the administrator to seek out EVERY viewpoint pertaining to an issue. 

I plan to use action research immediately for my classroom, but from the perspective of a future administrator, I plan to utilize action research to help design professional development activities, as well as problem solve for employees who need direction.