Enhancing teaching and learning through the use of digital technology

There have been numerous research articles affirming that the digital literature circle provides students with opportunities to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss and respond to the story / book.  The evaluation of reading was based on specific assessment tools outlined by the school with the main purpose of being accountable to interested parties such as parents, management, BOT and the Ministry of Education.  Most of these assessment tools are standardised and I feel that the content of these tests cater for native speakers of English. The Ministry of Education (2007) affirms that ‘The primary purpose of assessment is to improve students’ learning and teachers’ teaching and that a range of assessment approaches is needed for successful and effective decision making.  As a syndicate we  wondered if the results collated from these standardised assessment tools were adequate, valid and reliable but we thoroughly analysed the data from these high-stake summative assessments before I embarked on this innovation.

When the innovation was implemented,  I found that our students needed longer scaffolding time than I anticipated before they could do it independently.  I started off with books (Literature) lower than their reading level then progressed through to more complicated texts. We began by doing a book as a whole class and we went through doing the roles or tasks that each member of a group would do.  Then the students were divided into groups but used the same book /story for all the groups.  In each group students are given their assigned role (summariser, questioner, connector, director, predictor and vocab investigator) before they get together with students from other groups who have the same role as them, like all the summarisers get together work together, all the connectors work together and so on.  Later, the students returned to their original groups and they shared / reported their findings orally with others but all the members have access to the same Google presentation where they collaborate as a group. When students are assigned specific roles , they have to be prepared to discuss their responses; they feel a sense of responsibility to the group. The effectiveness of this was clearly evident from the quality of work produced by the students.  Having the students with the same roles working collaboratively was a success as they benefit from each other's contributions.   Although it was challenging for most students at the beginning, I have noticed an improvement in the level of engagement, interest in reading and students’ comprehension ability. 

Complication in Evaluating the Outcome

The students and I were excited about our new way of learning that we implemented in our classroom, then Covid-19 struck and all the restrictions associated with it. Our innovation was stopped in its’ tracks by the uncertainty of school. Therefore, we focused on just finding ways to continue with it during our online lessons. This was not an easy move but we were courageous enough to make it work.  It was a rewarding experience as our innovation was put to the test where students were able to continue collaborating online and there was an opportunity for discussions when we had our Google Meets. I can't wait to do an assessment but I think that assessment needs to be more than just summative because I can see that the targeted students have shown improvement with their comprehension skills and engagement.

Conclusion

It was evident that our learners participated in literature circle discussions, showed high levels of comprehension, higher-level thinking, and an ability to engage deeply in texts. However,  teachers have to be prepared to be a facilitator and provide students with necessary scaffolds so they can actively make worthwhile contributions towards completing their tasks to a  higher standard.  According to  Dalie  (2001) when students are doing literature circles,  we are giving them ample opportunities to practice and develop the skills and strategies of good readers. 

References

DaLie, S.O. (2001). Students becoming real readers: Literature circles in high school English classes, in 

Ericson, B.O. (Ed.), Teaching Reading in High School English Classes. Urbana: NCTE, 84-100.

Eeds, M., & Wells, D. (1989). Grand conversations: An exploration of meaning construction in literature study groups. Research in the Teaching of English, 23(1), 4–29.

Glasser, W. (1986). Control theory in the classroom. New York: Harper & Row.

Ministry of Education (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning          Media Limited.

Roskos, K. & Neuman, S. (2014). Best Practices in Reading: A 21st Century Skill Update. The Reading Teacher, 67(7), 507–511. Retrieved from: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/best-practices-reading-21st-century-skill-update

Thomas A. F. (2014). An Action Research Study Involving motivating middle school students’ learning through online literature circles. Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research (serial online). Fall 2014.

Policies and Guidelines

Policies and Guidelines

Our school has policies and guidelines in place to reflect the local curriculum based on the New Zealand Curriculum.  It is updated regularly as the Ministry of Education updates/revises its policies and guidelines.  We are therefore bound by these policies to deliver the innovation in the classroom. The innovation being improving our students’ vocabulary knowledge through explicit teaching of vocabulary,  was influenced by the digital technologies in The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa as well as the e-Learning Planning Framework. Our school is fortunate to have effectively aligned processes and practices across the school and community.  I was able to adapt the innovation of explicitly teaching vocabulary easily to the school’s policies. I incorporated multiple features of digital technologies in the teaching and learning.  In class, the students were able to access my learning website, knew how  to navigate and locate their tasks and activities, look for feedback and present completed work.

The e-Learning Planning Framework (Ministry of Education, n.d) identified different phases. “The phases – from Emerging through to Empowering – have been aligned with a number of international frameworks that describe how technology is adopted and integrated into teaching and learning”  (Ministry of Education. n.d). Our school is presently at the “Extending” phase.  We have  “effectively aligned processes and practices across our school and community. The use of technologies is appropriate and allows significant adaptation of learning experiences to meet all learners' needs. In the classroom, teachers and students work together to use technologies as part of authentic, higher order, co-constructed learning.”  (Ministry of Education. n.d).

Our school is fortunate to have effectively aligned processes and practices across the school and community.  It was therefore seamless to include the digital and collaborative innovation into the teaching programme.

One of the ideas discussed to improve reading comprehension was literature circles.  According to Van Hees  “providing multiple encounters is by far the most important condition” in order to learn vocabulary (Van Hees & Nation, 2017).  In the innovation, these “multiple encounters” was provided digitally.  This approach allows students to use and practice 21 st century skills. The 21 st century skills that are exhibited during reading circles include:

Critical Thinking - Finding solutions to problems

Creativity  - Thinking outside the box

Collaboration - Working with others

Communication - Conveying ideas

In using the policies embedded in the digital technologies in the New Zealand Curriculum, our students presented their work by creating DLOs, videos and blogs to show their understanding of new words they encountered.  This is in keeping with what the Minister of Education said “The digital curriculum is about teaching children how to design their own digital solutions and become creators of, not just users of, digital technologies, to prepare them for the modern workforce." (Ministry of Education. n.d). 

The barrier to implementing this initiative was the limited time we had on hand. This was caused mostly by taking Covid-19 precautions by the closing of schools.   

Learning Theories

In our cluster of schools we have moved away from just the “Chalk and Talk” method of teaching.  Based on the theories that promote digital learning, our school leans closely with the connectivist learning theory.  Starkey (2012) proposed that “Teaching and learning in the digital age is likely to be underpinned by connectivist learning theory which has emerged from a decentralised view of knowledge based on complexity.”  The connectivist learning theory is one of the more controversial ones developed by George Siemens. He touted this as a “learning theory for the digital age”. (Parsons, 2015).  “Connectivist learning theory asserts that knowledge is created through connections and learning occurs through the networks to which learners belong.” (Starkey, 2012).  In this digital and collaborative innovation, we are approaching vocabulary acquisition through the use of digital tools, hence making connections between the student and their community (home), other learners (collaborating), experts beyond the classroom (video clips, chats, email) to “make connections between experiences and knowledge as part of the learning process” (Starkey, 2012). For Siemens himself, ''Decision-making is itself a learning process (Siemens, 2004)."  In the delivery of our digital and collaborative innovation, we have moved away from traditional spelling and dictation tests - which emphasized memorisation of words to the students understanding what words mean and therefore able to use them in new settings.  Starkey viewed the constructivism learning theory as “ a focus on understanding what and how students are learning, and how they can be guided or scaffolded to the next stage of their learning.” (Starkey, 2012). 

Delivery Models

The traditional form of teaching in schools often involves lessons being given to large groups of students, together with tutorials and workshops and with some independent study. However, at our school we have moved away from the traditional model of delivery to one of collaboration and online learning.  Our digital and collaborative innovation explored other modes of delivery such as the flipped classroom and blended learning. Hill (2012) found that there “is a transition to an educational system no longer dominated by traditional education and one or two alternative models.” and “educational technology and new educational courses and programs are interacting to create new language and models for education.”  Moving to online learning, especially through New Zealand’s response of eliminating Covid-19, was a safe and effective method of teaching and learning.  Teaching in a school whose policies encourage the use of digital devices, the implementation of our innovation was seamless.  Now that we are back at school, we continue the use of technology in collaboration and learning.

References

Hill, P. (2012). The emerging landscape of educational delivery models. Retrieved from: https://eliterate.us/the-emerging-landscape-of-educational-delivery-models

Ministry of Education: Pasifika Education Community. (2019). Tapasā – Cultural Competencies Framework for Teachers of Pacific Learners. Retrieved from: https://pasifika.tki.org.nz/Tapasa

 Ministry of Education. (n.d) Digital technologies in The New Zealand Curriculum.  Retrieved from: https://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Curriculum-learning-areas/Digital-Technologies-in-the-curriculum

Ministry of Education. (n.d). e-learning planning framework.  Retrieved from: https://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/e-Learning-Planning-Framework#:~:text=Phases%20in%20the%20e%2DLearning,development%20in%20technology%20integration

Parsons, D. (2015). Top ten learning theories for digital and collaborative learning. [video]. Retrieved form: https://app.themindlab.com/media/121176/view

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. eLearnSpace. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Starkey, L. (2012). Teaching and learning in the digital age. ProQuest Ebook Central. Retrieved from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Create Staff Meeting

 We had our Manaiakalani Create staff meeting today after the previous one was put on hold due to COVID-19. Mr Naidoo and I presented a workshop on infographics. After a few digital hiccups everything went smoothly. 

Feel free to use this slide deck with your students!

School Policy

 

INTRODUCTION

My innovation, like all other curriculum plans and strategies, has to operate within our country’s laws, regulations and policies. Although they may have some common elements, there is a marked difference between law, regulation and policy. Clinical psychologist, Alyssa Lee (UpJourney, 2019) differentiated law as “a policy written into legal language and passed by our elected officials” (UpJourney, 2019) and regulation as, “a rule within a law that specifies how the ideas of the law are actually going to be implemented” (UpJourney, 2019), while defining a policy as ideas “informed by how people would like to see the space defined. They are often aspirational in nature and do not typically have legal implications if they are not followed” (UpJourney, 2019).

POLICIES

 Marouchak (UpJourney, 2019) explained that “policies are drafted and created by an organisation to help the members achieve their goals. They bring to completion whatever their plans are and unlike law, policies are flexible.” At our school we have a whole list of policies which facilitates the smooth running of the school.  The school's policies are governed by the Ministry of Education’s Education Act 1989 and Digital Technologies. All of our policies are drafted and housed on the Ministry approved School Docs website.  In delivering the innovation of vocabulary acquisition, I had to adhere to the school policies that included: the ICT policy - the use of devices, the internet, and being safe when online as students learn, create and share information online; the curriculum delivery policy - ensuring the innovation is delivered in an approved manner and assessed according to pertinent guidelines; The inclusion policy - that celebrates diversity and involves the identification and minimising of barriers to learning and participation that may be experienced by any pupils, irrespective of age, ability, gender, ethnicity, language and social and social background; the “Kawa of Care” policy - ensures that students know how to take care of digital devices.  As teachers, we are also subjected to the Teachers Council’s codes and standards. Our school policies are local, unique to our school and are reviewed and changed periodically.  

LAWS

Marouchak (UpJourney, 2019) defines law as: “Laws are directives which were outlined, drafted and directed by highly authorized personalities, the legislative body.  This is absolute and fixed and cannot be changed instantly not unless the body will amend that existing law provided that it will bring more unity, order, and benefit to the majority.”   Therefore my innovation of vocabulary acquisition is subject to the Education  Act of 1989 and Digital Technology. “The Education Act 1989 contains provisions that are directly relevant to how schools should manage an incident involving digital technology when it is involved in an incident.” (Ministry of Education. n.d)

REGULATIONS

Regulations are closely linked to laws as they represent the ways the law is to be applied. Lübeck (UpJourney, 2019) defines regulations as: “a set of rules created to make people comply. These are restrictions set by those people in authority to encourage people to follow the desired code of conduct. Like law, this is fixed.” Laws need regulations to ensure that the law is applied. Petersen (Upjourney, 2019) defined regulations as “a rule promulgated by the agency which is responsible for enforcing the regulation”. Lee (UpJourney, 2019), on the other hand, describes regulations as “a rule within a law that specifies how the ideas of the law are actually going to be implemented.” He went further to add that, “Regulations are vital to the implementation of the law.” (UpJourney, 2019). The  Education  Act of 1989 and Digital Technology lays out a whole list of regulations on how the Act is to be applied. We are bound by this act when creating and applying our innovation in the State Schools where we are employed. As an example, The Education Act 1989 contains provisions that are directly relevant to how schools should manage an incident involving digital technology when it is involved in an incident. The chart (Figure 1) below shows the steps a teacher must take if there is reason to retain a student's digital device.

Fig 1: Steps a teacher must take if there is reason to retain a student's digital device

CONCLUSION:

As initiators of our digital innovation, Hevaha and I have no authority to make changes in the laws and regulations of the country.  Regulations, either required by the Ministry of Education or The school’s Board of Trustees, need to be incorporated in our digital innovation and we are required to work within these parameters.  Working in the Manaiakalani Kāhui Ako has immense advantages in practising our innovation, as the cluster has a very comprehensive “Kawa of Care” and “Cybersmart” policies. These policies outline what we as innovators can produce/disseminate in our school while still working within the schools’ policies.  Account ownership, content ownership, privacy and guidance policies are entrenched in these two policies.  Finally, Nicholas Marouchak (UpJourney, 2019) sums up the concepts of policies, laws and regulations as:

"Think of policy as the seed we plant, an idea that we have envisioned to improve our surroundings. The seed is planted and out of that seed grows the trunk of the tree, a law with a firm foundation. Finally, from the law, we get branches of regulations that reach out into the community and assist with the growth of leaves or community improvements in our tree scenario.... Watering that tree and helping it grow and thrive can be considered an essential part of our civic duties"

References:

Ministry of Education. (n.d) Digital Technology: Safe and responsible use in schools. Retrieved from: https://education.govt.nz/school/digital-technology/digital-technology-guide-for-schools/digital-technology-safe-and-responsible-use-in-schools/new-cd-page-3/the-legislation-and-rules/

Teaching Council. (2017). Our Code Our Standards. Retrieved from: https://teachingcouncil.nz/content/our-code-our-standards

Toki Pounamu (n.d) Kawa of Care. Retrieved from: https://www.tokipounamu.org.nz/parents/kawa-of-care

UpJourney. (2019). What is the difference between law, policy, and regulation, according to 7 experts. Retrieved from:  https://upjourney.com/what-is-the-difference-between-law-policy-and-regulation 

New Zealand Government. (2020). New Zealand Legislation. Education Act 1989. Retrieved from: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0080/latest/whole.html