Final Project Findings
While deciding on what type of project I should pursue, I decided that an important topic to undertake would be on how to reach our “digital native” students. This term was coined by Marc Prensky, a researcher in the fields of education and learning. He states that “our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”
He is completely correct! Many of our educators, unlike our students, are what he considers “digital immigrants” – those of us who have adopted or learned these digital skills as a secondary skill as opposed to the “digital natives” who have grown up using these skills to complete daily tasks.
Through my own Internet usage (as a young “digital native” teacher) as well as the information and skills learned in this class, I realized that Web 2.0 tools are the way in which to reach these students. While conducting this research, I realized that in order for me to get a real understanding of the impact of Web 2.0 tools, especially social networking, on the educational setting, I needed to create and use a social networking site for my classes.
At first I was hesitant since in a social networking setting, students can message each other, give “gifts,” and “poke” each other, among other tasks. I was afraid that they would not be able to use a site like this for an educational purpose without using/abusing these social aspects.
For the study, I started a Ning social networking site for my Architectural Design class (www.ning.com). I started by setting up the overall design and “widgets” that I wanted to use on the site (such as a chat, forum, photo section, video section, recent activity, etc.). (My site is http://rphsarchdesign.ning.com but can only be accessed by approved members/students)
After I chose the design, I began to put all of my class information on the site. I used the EVENTS section to post my due dates and project descriptions, the BLOG section to post my lesson plan notes and PowerPoint files, the VIDEO section to post relevant YouTube videos, the PHOTO section for the students to submit photos, and the FORUM section to post discussion questions that the students could respond to. I also made sure to update this information on my teacher webpage given by my school district (http://rosellepark.nj.rph.schoolinsites.com/?PageName=’TeacherPage’&StaffID=’93881′) in order to compare student to teacher as well as student to student communication and information gathering on each.
HOW I HAVE USED IT:
1.) Closed Learning Community: Only my students were “invited” via email to the site through the INVITE feature on Ning. Students had to create user names and passwords and these invited and approved members can actually log onto the site and therefore access our class information.
2.) Online Discussion Board: I have posted questions under the FORUM section where they respond to a teacher directed question and can respond to each other’s comments. The first discussion topic was what they liked about this site.
3.) Photo/Description Posting: I have had my students look up photos on the Internet of well-designed bathrooms, bedrooms and kitchens. They needed to upload the photo to the site and in the description box, write a paragraph about each picture describing why they feel it is well-designed and why they like it. This has caused them to synthesize and evaluate (the higher order thinking skills in Bloom’s Taxonomy).
4.) Due Date Posting: I post all due dates as well as detailed project descriptions in the EVENTS section.
5.) Lesson/Presentation Posting Board: I use the BLOG section to post my lesson notes and presentations. This has been invaluable to students who are absent.
6.) Parent Communication: I have had a lot of parents sign up for the site. It is very easy for them to stay on top of their student’s performance and due dates.
7.) Mass Messaging: I have been able to send mass messages to all of my members/students updating them on assignments or when I post something new to the site.
Here are my findings:
PROS:
1.) Collaboration and Networking: This site allows the students to communicate, collaborate, and network not only with me (their teacher) but also with each other. This allows the students to not only be passive learners but instead, active learners. On my teacher site the students were only able to individually get information and passively read and receive information.
2.) Activity/Interactivity: This site allows the students to actively post information, comment, and message. On my teacher website they could only passively read, research, and receive information as opposed to interact, connect, and contribute to their learning.
3.) Random Access: This allows for the students to interact and post whenever they want. They can log on from home, school, work, their phones, etc. They can also peruse through the site as they please. My teacher page is very stagnant with no chance for the students to easily access information without downloading/uploading. Access from phones is very distorted.
4.) Fun: This site is actually fun for my students! I had them participate in a forum discussion where they stated what they liked about the site and various students stated that it was fun to use. They liked how they could communicate and share information. My teacher site is very boring, static, and “serious.” It does not have any communication or interactive tools.
CONS:
1.) Freedom: Student freedom on the site is actually very scary. They can independently message each other, post on walls, and send gifts. Even though it is a bit nerve-wracking, the students have behaved and understand that if they misbehave, they will lose the privilege to have access to this type of active learning.
2.) Chatting: I first had a chat widget on my site but learned within 10 minutes that it was a detriment to the learning. Students were not listening and were just chatting and fooling around. I quickly disabled the feature to the dismay and disappointment of my students. If they feel the need to communicate with each other they still have the commenting, posting, and messaging options.
3.) Ads: there are ads on Ning sites since they are free. I recently found that if they are being used for educational purposes, the ads will be removed for free. I quickly signed up my sites and the ads should be removed as soon as possible! (THEY JUST REMOVED THEM!)
4.) Embedding GoogleDOCS Documents: I cannot embed my PowerPoints directly onto the site. This is a bit disappointing since a link to my GoogleDOCS document is just not the same. The students will not click on a link but will actually scroll through a presentation if it is right there. I have heard that there may be a way around this and I will continue to pursue this topic.
FINDINGS:
This social network is an invaluable educational tool!! It has allowed my students to post assignments right on the site where other students can contribute and comment. They can also participate in online discussions with me and each other. It allows for student participation, discussion, engagement, creativity, collaboration, and personalization (ALL THINGS THAT TEACHERS STRIVE FOR!)
My stagnant teacher website only allows the students to be a passive audience where they can only do the Three R’s (Read, Receive, Research). My Ning networking site allows the students do the Three C’s (Contribute, Collaborate, and Connect). Student to teacher communication and teacher to student communication has greatly increased as well as student to student communication! It has also greatly helped in getting the students excited and interested in learning and participating in class. They do not even realize they are doing homework or classwork!
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