Action Research Delia Watley ET8041 Week 5 5326

Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Reading Activities

The question posed in my action research paper was the question of whether or not students would perform better in reading while participating in nontraditional reading activities compared to participating in traditional reading activities.  As the program manager of afterschool programs in our district, I have an opportunity to implement a variety of supplemental academic activities afterschool.  The answer to this question would help me in providing activities for students that maximize on their learning.

In general, traditional reading is somewhat common in our regular school day so I wanted to find out if a nontraditional approach would help students increase their reading skills.  Reading is an area that sought attention in our middle school.  The data for Houston Middle showed that all students were not performing at passing rates.  Our students are not reading books afterschool.  Instead they are reading and writing text, reading information from the internet, and face booking one another. 

Although these are not the traditional means of reading, they do involve forms of reading.  The same applies for some online gaming activities such as Kids College.  Our students who use Kids College are actually performing reading activities in a nontraditional way by reading on the computer.  In scrapbooking activities, students are reading and writing.  In art, students are reading and writing.  All of these are different ways of providing reading activities to students.  The action research report showed that those students that participated in such activities performed better in reading at a rate 30% higher than those students who did not participate in these nontraditional reading activities. 

The action research was a great opportunity for me to see that ordinary individuals could do something to make an impact on learning by asking simple questions.  Based on my research, the afterschool programs have included some type of nontraditional reading activity on all of our afterschool campuses.

My initial impression of "Digital Graphics/Web Design" was that it involved difficult tasks.  The experience was quite the contrary.  I never realized how simple it was to design a website and how easy it would be to incorporate this activity in the classroom.

Web site design actually included many aspects such as branding and use of animations that promotes self expression.  Building websites using these fun engaging activities will motivate our students to learn and express themselves through writing assignments.  As well, effective collaboration through discussions and blogs seem to be skills that can cultivate over time.   Working in groups helped me and I know will continue to help me appreciate the talents of others. 

I did learn, however, that thought and planning should go into the design process.  This included more than just words but also variations of colors, fonts, pictures and sound.  “With such a wide range of add-ons available, teachers will have to be sure their students understand the concept of appropriate use” (Solomon & Schrum, 2007, p. 228).  Our professor was brilliant in using our assignments as hands-on training to help us understand how we could do these same activities with students.  “What teachers must do is shift the collaboration the students do to include working together on joint projects that develop the kinds of skills that will help them in the new digital workplace” (Jukes, McCain, & Crockett, 2010, p. 108).  Not only can students create their own websites but teachers can create class websites as resources for students and parents.  Fortunately neither I nor my students need to be experts.  “A struggling student can practice a skill as many times as necessary to achieve mastery, and the computer, unlike a human instructor, will never grow frustrated” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 50).

REFERENCES

Jukes, I., McCain, T., & Crockett L., (2010). Understanding the Digital Generation: Teaching and

      Learning in the New Digital Landscape. Kelowna, BC: 21^st Century Fluency Project.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., and Malenoski, K., (2007). Using technology with classroom

      instruction that works. Alexandria VA. Association for Supervision and Curriculum
     Development.

Solomon, G, & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International

      Society for Technology in Education.

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflections

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflection June 9^th

This web conference was the first I’d attended for this particular class.  I was glad that I attended because it helped me to understand that other students in the class may face some of the same issues and concerns that I face.  I was not yet very comfortable using the public sites to post personal information.  I noticed that others were voicing the same concerns.  Dr. Abernathy explained that as professionals we should not let fear keep us from utilizing so many of the benefits that these online tools have for us.  I learned that there are ways to help make information privy only to the persons you desire to view the information.  I learned that I could set my settings to private.  I was even knowledgeable enough after the conference to be able to share the information with another classmate.  I certainly ended the web conference looking forward to learning more in order to help me master my skills as an educational technology expert. 

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflection June 16^th

This particular web conference really helped me to clarify the expectations of the week’s assignment.  It gave helpful resources that I would be able to use in the future to successfully complete the goals.  It also helped me to understand and become comfortable with my professor, Dr. Abernathy.  Sometimes students feel intimidated by our professors but she helped put us at ease and let us know that she was there to help us.  She also clarified for us that our IA’s are there for us as well.  I am quite pleased with the IA assigned to me and very thankful for this additional help offered to us.  She is there to help us succeed and not out to make us fail.  Dr. Abernathy indeed gave helpful resources to complete the assignment for the week and helped us appreciate the wonderful tool, Audacity to record and edit audio for videos.  For that, I was very grateful. 

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflection June 18^th

This web conference helped to bring a better perspective for our course and perspective to the many hours of dedication and hard work in order to achieve a degree.  The professor discussed and helped clarify graduation requirements, expectations, and concerns.  It helped me to remain focused on the prize and gave me further motivation to complete the course.  I appreciated Dr. Abernathy’s attention that she gave all of the questions including my question on using Flip Classrooms for the week’s assignment.  She stopped and asked all of the students on the call what they thought about using information on this subject as they complete the assignment.  I felt that she was really concerned with helping us and getting helpful information to us.  I am so glad that she is so respectful and nurturing to each of us.  I feel privileged to have her as my instructor.

EDLD 5363 Web Conference Reflection July 2^nd

This week’s web conference provided needed clarification on the assignments.  Some of the assignments were outdated on the website and hadn’t been changed but it was very apparent that Dr. Abernathy was diligently addressing this so that we would not have interference in completing the assignments.  She offered information that we needed to complete the assignment without a lot of difficulty.  I was impressed how she modified aspects so that we could perform without confusion.  The final week will help us put everything together.  The experiences of working in a group, working with film, video, audio, and edits will certainly help us as we become experts in the field of educational technology.  We will be able to offer assistance to many with the knowledge that we have gained in this class.  We also reviewed the requirements for our internship and action research plans.  This really helped me to make sure that I was staying on track with everything and remaining focused.  These reminders really continue to show the support that we are getting from our professors and IA’s.