Final+Project+Unit+Design

Online Teacher Professional Development in Classroom Technology Resources or “//Really Cool Tech Tools for your Classroom”//
 * Unit Name: **


 * Unit Description: ** This is an online unit that will be delivered via iTunes U designed for teachers to learn how to utilize selected technology tools in their classroom. It is available 24/7, self-paced and provides “just in time” help.


 * Planning for the Beginning of an Instructional Unit **


 * What learning goals will I present to teachers? **
 * Teachers will gain knowledge of Mimio resources to assist them in utilizing their interactive whiteboard and student response systems.
 * Teachers will gain knowledge of CPS resources to assist them in utilizing the student response systems.
 * Teachers will gain knowledge of Wiki/Blog Server resources to assist them in creating and utilizing with students a wiki and/or blog.
 * Teachers will gain knowledge of iPads and ePub resources to assist them in utilizing iPad applications and content creation such as an ePub.
 * Teachers will gain knowledge of website resources to assist them in creating, enhancing and maintaining a classroom website.
 * Teachers will gain knowledge of QR code resources to assist them in understanding what QR codes are and how they are used in the classroom.

The unit is part of an iTunes U collection available for our district. These goals are part of each lesson that are visible on the main page.
 * How will I display these goals so that they are clearly evident throughout the unit? **

Teachers will generate their own learning goals by selecting lessons that are applicable to their curriculum and classroom setup. Guidance will be provided through integration suggestions, questions, and examples.
 * How will I provide guidance for teachers as they generate their own learning goals? **

Teachers will display their goals by sharing their newly formed integration ideas on an embedded VoiceThread, sharing feedback in a face-to-face session, and by incorporating the lesson outcomes into their classroom with students.
 * How will teachers display these goals so they are evident throughout the unit? **


 * During a Unit - Planning for Introducing Knowledge **

Each lesson will provide questions and written cues to help a teacher focus on what new knowledge will be presented and if it applies to his/her particular teaching situation.
 * Which activities will I use to help teachers identify what they already know about new knowledge? **

One advance organizer activity is having teachers preview lesson outlines and venn diagrams of the different lessons. Teachers can also use the skimming technique to quickly view the lesson outlines to see what may apply to them. A graphic organizer (such as the sample below) will be provided to help teachers decide which tool is appropriate for their task.
 * What activities will I use to help provide teachers with advance organizers for new knowledge? **


 * Criteria |||||||| Tech Tools  ||
 * || Wiki  ||  Blog  ||  Website  ||  ePubs  ||
 * Text heavy ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Video/audio heavy ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Outside audience ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Inside audience ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Collaborative needs ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Wireless needs ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Mobile device accessibility ||  ||   ||   ||   ||

Each lesson will provide inferential questions to help guide teachers towards inferences about new knowledge. An example for the Mimio lesson would be “How is a whiteboard typically used?”.
 * What activities will I use to help teachers make inferences about new knowledge? **

We could provide a downloadable/printable outline of main topics for each lesson, however, we feel since the resources are online and available at their convenience that note taking on paper isn’t applicable. On the iPad and in iTunes U, there is a Notes tab for every lesson. If a teacher would like to take electronic notes, it’s built in and easily accessible from each lesson.
 * What will I do to help teachers take notes about the new knowledge? **

One nonlinguistic way to represent the new knowledge is to provide documents of icon pictures with explanations of what the various icons will do in each lesson. Teachers can use these handouts with their students as well.
 * What will I do to help teachers represent the new knowledge in nonlinguistic ways? **

We will identify a small group of teachers in each building that are interested in expanding their technology skills. This small group promotes positive interdependence since they share the same building and possibly same grade level. When these small groups meet with either Theresa or Wendy, we can guide the group processing to reflect on their learning. Within the actual lessons themselves, cooperative learning will not be utilized.
 * How will I use cooperative learning? **

At the beginning of the unit, we will provide a graphic organizer that helps teachers to determine the appropriateness of each tool and in what circumstance to use it. We’ll draw upon teachers’ existing knowledge of technology resources to understand the similarities and differences of these new tools.
 * What will I do to help teachers identify similarities and differences relative to the new knowledge? **


 * During a Unit - Planning for Students to Review, Apply, and Practice Knowledge **

Homework will be presented as suggestions for classroom integration. As the teacher will not be earning CEUs for these lessons, homework cannot be mandated. However, we will follow up with each teacher in person as an extension of the online lesson he/she has completed.
 * How will I use homework to help teachers practice the knowledge that has been presented to them? **

Homework will be suggestions on how to use this new knowledge to create a lesson for their own classroom use. Teachers will also be asked to share an integration idea on a VoiceThread for each lesson. This sharing will help teachers with ideas for application of the tool.
 * How will I use homework to help teachers apply the knowledge they are learning? **

The graphic organizer that we used in the beginning of the unit can be revisited during the various lessons to help teachers with their decision making process regarding which tools to use and when. Sometimes the hardest part of acquiring new technology knowledge is knowing how and when to use it. Teachers may generate a hypothesis about a new tool and realize later through working with it that it wasn’t the best choice.
 * What activities will I use to help teachers generate and test hypotheses about the knowledge they are learning? **

If it applies to the lesson, feedback will be provided on the picture-based handouts for the technology tool. Many teachers develop handouts as a way to structure and pass on new knowledge to students.
 * What will I do to help teachers review and revise the nonlinguistic representations they have made for the knowledge they are learning? **


 * During a Unit - Planning for Monitoring Student Progress Toward Learning Goals **

We typically provide feedback after teachers implement a lesson in their classroom. If they ask that we model one of these lessons with them or are present during their first time with students, then feedback is immediate. Systemic feedback is available since we are readily available at all times of the day and throughout the year.
 * How will we provide teachers with systematic feedback on their progress toward learning goals? **

We will include a Google form into each lesson that asks the teacher to evaluate the resources and materials provided. The teacher will also be asked to provide feedback of their experience with students.
 * How will we involve teachers in the feedback process relative to learning goals? **

Since we don’t have the software to monitor a teacher’s progress through this online unit, we are dependent upon his/her feedback to know when he/she has completed a lesson. We will send a recognition email to her immediate supervisor (principal) and the teacher stating that she completed the lesson and successfully incorporated a new technology tool into her classroom. We will also attach a certificate of participation in voluntary professional development.
 * How will I celebrate and recognize teacher progress throughout the unit? **


 * Planning for the End of a Unit **

Due to the nature of the learning goals being online and self-selected, we would only be able to provide anecdotal observation evaluations and feedback through a classroom visit. Of course, the teacher will have to invite us to do so and we welcome those visits.
 * How will I provide a summary evaluation to teachers for each of the learning goals? **

We already mentioned using an embedded Google form for lesson evaluation. We will include a self-evaluation component to each lesson as well.
 * How will I solicit teachers' self-evaluations for each learning goal? **

If there are differences between our observation of the teacher’s implementation and the teacher’s self-evaluation, we can provide additional training time and resources if the teacher allows. We will have No Teacher Left Behind! :)
 * How will I reconcile differences between my evaluation of a teacher's progress and the self-evaluation? **

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