COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGY PROJECT
jlel
COLLABORATIVETECHNOLOGYPROJECT-Progressreport.docx
Instructions for Assignment 3, Task #2: Progress Report
Task #2 - Progress Report [5 points] Each team will post a progress report on the status of its collaborative technology project to the appropriate class discussion board and the Assignment folder. In the progress report, the following information must be included:
· Title of Technology Project;
· Names of Project Team Members;
· Goal and Context of Project;
· Accomplishments Thus Far on the Project;
· Any Issues, Insights, or Problems Regarding the Project; and
· Plan for the Rest of the project.
Example
COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGY PROJECT- PROGRESS REPORT
TECHNOLOGIES FOR INSTRUCTIONAL SETTING
Schoology.com for ESL (English as a Second Language)
Bakr Ail Course Participant, Electronics Eng.
Kenn Dela Course Participant, kids ESL Teacher
Sol Loy External Helper in the implementation process, kids ESL Teacher
The purpose of this project is to implement a Learning Management System (LMS) in an English as a Second Language (ESL) learning context, to overcome limitations of traditional ESL adult classrooms and extend the opportunities of learning. The project will support Adult ESL learners in their continuing English education during and after classroom instruction using technology as the platform learning tool.
The students that are going to participate in the testing of the LMS are refugees who come from different countries. These group of students in the English Level 2 class is from Central America and the Caribbean Islands, Asia, and Africa. This group is composed of around twenty-five students, all from different knowledge background, their English level fluctuates in the beginning English range, and their technology skills also varies from limited to advanced.
The teachers that are going to help the implementation and evaluation process are Kennia Delafe, Adult ESL Teacher and Soon Young Kong, also Adult Education Teacher. Kennia is the primary teacher in the English Level 2 classroom, and she teaches from Monday to Thursday three hours in the mornings. Soon Youn Kong cover the last three hours of the week every Friday. The teachers’ technology skills are advanced. Kennia has a long history of teaching ESL and Vocational training, where technology has always been present. In the vocational classes that Kennia teaches, is dedicated to teaching computer and office technology to students, where office software and internet usage skills are the primary goals. Soon Young Kong also experiences the use of technology throughout her years of studies; again, she is proficient in office software and internet abilities. Both teachers are working in setting up the logistics of including English Butterfly LMS within the hours of instruction and as part of the students’ homework. Upon completion of the implementation and evaluation of the LMS, it can be presented to the administration of the school for approval. Hopefully, the LMS can be adopted school-wide. Consecutively, participating teachers can be trained and support during and after the adoption of the LMS.
Once more, Schoology is a free LMS that it can be used as an extension of the classroom instructions. Using English Butterfly online classroom, participating students can own and manage their English acquisition at their speed, and have the possibility to expand their technical skills as an unexpected way of learning. Students can improve their listening, to speak, reading, and writing with the use of hands-on exercises, videos, vocabulary drills, flashcards, and more.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS THUS FAR ON THE PROJECT
As stated in the initial report, our final project will include: (a) Instructional materials; (b) Learning activities (authentic and inquiry-based Information Communication Technologies (ICT) activities, age-appropriate, relevant to the topic); (c) Assessment of learning). Our timetable for the project is:
October 9th - Initial Proposal - Done!
10/16 - www.schoology.com online classroom setup (Course Name and Section), selection of ESL materials to be used in the course - Done!
10/23 - Course folders set up, grading system period setup, and instructional materials for registration and use of the site done - Done!
Started-In progress 10/30 - 11/13 developing of ESL course instructional materials, exercises and quizzes, work on progress report and start recruiting students and teachers for online classroom testing - Done!
November 11th - Progress Report - Done!
11/20 - Initial online classroom testing, continue working on instructional materials and learning assessment, record online classroom challenges and needs for changes.
11/27 - Work on online classroom use data analysis, final changes, complete online classroom details, record online classroom user's’ input, continue working on final submission paper.
12/4 - www.schoology.com LMS ready to be adopted, work on final project paper details.
December 8th - Final submission
We started the project development by registering for new accounts at www.schoology.com to begin using the tool and experience its features. The name, as we started early in the report, is English Butterfly “small steps for big changes.” Schoology has a handy quick overview to new users helping them to get familiar with the platform (https://www.schoology.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-using-schoology-the-back-to-school-essentials). For advance and more information, Schoology provides Help Center with step by step info on using the platform (https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us). Schoology’s friendly graphical user interface (GUI), which depends heavily on visualization, makes it very easy for our targeted students as those students are adult learners with low English and technology skills.
As shown above, there are three main parts in the MSL webpage described below:
Left Side Navigation - Contains our Course Options, Materials, Updates, Gradebook, Attendance, Members, Analytics, and very importantly our Course Code. It is crucial to mention that to every created course within the LMS; there is a designate a code that invitees should use to join in. Otherwise, it remains private.
Central Panel - It is set to be the working space where all the options form the left navigation menu are shown and use. It is also space where all the discussions are held, open readings and videos, and access to all included materials.
Notification panel on the right-hand-side – Serves as a reminder and upcoming for students and teachers to know what are the next activities that need to be completed and or graded. It includes assignments, tests, quizzes, and others as the teacher continues assigning due dates for practices.
As of this level, we worked together to set up our course organization and folders which are now ready, as well as instructions materials, links for videos, and practice files. More study materials are going to be added as we go, such as quizzes, vocabulary flashcards, and more. In the process of recruiting students and signing them up in the LMS, pre-training has been needed. As mentioned earlier, our ESL adult learners’ skills in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) varies, therefore a training and hands-on session are being conducted to help all students register, login to the course and explore its content. To be able to use instructional materials, links, interact in discussions and submit quizzes more training is needed which we are planning to do as cooperative learning sessions, forming small groups where students can help each other. Also, students are being indicated to download the Schoology app into their mobile phones which required some more hands-on interaction and peer teaching. Training continues as more students are gradually interested in signing in to test our ‘online classroom.’
ISSUES, INSIGHTS, AND PROBLEMS REGARDING THE PROJECT
Schoology is an excellent LMS platform with many features and user-friendly environment. However, Schoology is a tool at the end of the day that facilitates learning and makes it easier, but a significant component is a content and its quality. Deciding on the right material, with our students’ low English skills in mind was difficult and time-consuming. Ideally, the content must cover all four-English-language skills in reading, writing, listen, and speaking. Fortunately, we could manage to organize and prepare suitable material for the first three skill Reading, Writing, and Listening. We relied on free and open-source content from the Internet rather than developing it from scratch most of them. The resources we used and continue using are YouTube, Quizlet, Mindmeister, and Azar Grammar to compile and create some more study materials samplers.
For the Speaking acquisition skill, Schoology might not be of great use as his skill required a synchronous interaction whether face-to-face or online. Therefore, having in mind that the main goal of English Butterfly LMS is to expand English learning outside of the classroom and not to replace it, we decided to address more of the speaking during class sessions instead of online.
Another problem that we encounter is the amount of time that training in the use of Schoology is taking for this group of students due to their limited technology skills. As it was explained before, our audience is a group of a multi-English level and multi-technology skills student. This problem had impacted the way training had been delivered; instead of teacher-centered instruction with the use of visuals and step by step materials, it has been more peer to peer teaching and cooperation. Skilled students in the technology area are helping others to register, sign in and out, sign in again and explore content following visual/written direction in a handout. Still, even though it is taking a long time, it is working.
Besides, the lack of proper hardware at home for students to use our online classroom is another issue. As students started to engage in this project, always remembering that their English is limited, and we cannot give them too much information at a time, we started asking for resources that they could use at home to continue practicing. Around 40 % of the class has a computer or a table ready to use with internet access. The other 60% or so, do not have the proper hardware to practice. Therefore, we asked if they have a smartphone with an active internet connection and this was successful. Consequently, another step is taking place to download Schoology app into their phone while on school grounds, to proceed with hands-on practice using their mobile to continue studying English using English Butterfly LMS.
In the end, there are three current problems that we are juggling with possible solutions to find out what works the best.
PLAN FOR THE REST OF THE PROJECT
So far, our initial timetable plan worked fine, and we are one week ahead as we developed some content and helped learners to interact with it. Here is our program for the rest of the project’s activities:
· Develop more content and instructional materials: videos, reading materials, study aids, etc.
· The goal of this project is to help ESL learners to learn. Assessing the learning is a critical component of this project. Schoology has a quiz and assessment features that we are going to utilize to help determine knowledge. Quizzes will be prepared in a way that it will support learning materials and lessons.
· All learners attended a hands-on training session. However, we will be following them as some technical difficulties might interfere students and learning process. According to our close follow-up and learning trends, we will determine whether to have another practical session/s or to support learners individually.
· Schoology has excellent data analysis tool. Time spent by each student or all students, quizzes taken, scores, learning progress, interactions with the platform, etc. These statistics will be used to enhance and develop learning materials and do needed changes (major or minor) to course design and folders.
Finally, will continue to document the project and prepare the final document according to guidelines.
7
