James Wiegand's personnel Walden University Wiki page: Lesson Plan: Online Collaboration James Wiegand Walden University
Marie Larcara Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas (EDUC – 6713-D-2) August 8, 2010
Lesson Plan: Online Collaboration Online collaboration is a digital tool that integrates content standards, technology, and real-world scenarios in order to learn the content. This has students demonstrate not only content knowledge, but “knowledge going beyond that to an understanding of technology and capability to hands-on skill development and utilization of technology” (Engstrom, 2005, p. 30). A benefit online collaboration is “students determine what they know and need to know; individually research content; communicate the research results among themselves; and collectively determine a solution to their problem” (Belland, Glazewski, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 9).
|||||||| Daily Lesson Game Plan || |||| Lesson Title: Why Build a Pyramid?
Grade Level: 6th Social Studies Ancient Civilizations
Related Lessons: Why Build the Terracotta Army?
Unit: The Nile River Valley
|||||||| GOALS || |||||||| Content Standards (NCSS Thematic Strand): • Culture • Time • Power, Authority, and Governance • Science, Technology, and Society
ISTE NETS-S x Creativity x Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making x Communication and collaboration x Digital citizenship Research and information fluency x Technology operations and concepts
Instructional Objective(s): • Students will be able to understand: 1. Why the Ancient Egyptians built pyramids. || |||||||| ACTION || |||||||| Before-Class Preparation: Students will be grouped with a partner from their class and eight other students (two from each other period). The teacher has established Wiki page for each group and all students have a Twitter account. All student email addresses have been created through gmail accounts. Next, the teacher assigns each class period two different resources: one print and one online. A list of some of the online sources are: www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_pyramid_builder.shtml www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/djoser.html www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/khufu.html http://www.horus.ics.org.eg/en/History/PharaonicHistory.aspx http://www.civilization.ca/civil/egypt/egcivile.html#menu Print sources include articles from National Geographic, Dig, Our World (textbook), and New York Times. The teacher will create pairings based on student ability level (homogeneously). The teacher will provide support and extension activities to be described in detail later.
|| |||||||| During Class || || Time
Instructional Activities
Materials and Resources
|| Day 1: 2 minutes
6 minutes
18 minutes
12 minutes
Day 2: 4 minutes
24 minutes
12 minutes
Students are introduced to the activity, groups, and partners in the class. The objective is stated and clarified for the students: Why were pyramids built in Ancient Egypt?
Students preview the print and online resources with their partners. They will make highlight new vocabulary, make predictions about pictures, graphs, maps, and section headings, and write questions down they have about any of the previously mentioned items. Will all of the students be using the same materials or will you have some pairs use different materials than their groupmates from the other classes? -Sarah
Students will read and complete a graphic organizer, using Inspiration, on information that meets the objectives or answers their questions. One student reads the print resource while the other reads the online resource. Then, when finished, they switch and repeat the above.
Students, working in pairs, write a 1-paragraph response answering the objective question on their Wiki page. Also, the students ask two questions that remain unanswered on the Wiki page. All groups answer the same question? So when the next group goes on the wiki, they just add their paragraph? Will they look at the other groups' answers? -Sarah
Students open their Wiki page to see the changes made by the other class periods and group members. They look to see if their questions were answered.
Students read the other periods’ addition, revisions, and editing comments. Also, they answer the questions the other groups have posted into their response. The final response should be 2-paragraphs.
Students complete an individual reflection on the activity. The following questions for reflection are: How was the Wiki experience? Who had the best questions and why? Who made the most worthwhile additions and why? How did you contribute to the Wiki? What would you change about your part in the process?
When will students be using the Twitter accounts? I know you mention it, but I didn't see where they'll be using them. - Sarah
Tablet and internet connection
Labtop Cart
|||||||| Notes: The teacher has be sure to check that the twitter accounts, wiki pages, internet, and pyramid websites are working on all laptops and have 3-4 backup ready for use.
|| |||||||| MONITOR || |||||||| Ongoing Assessment(s): The teacher uses informal observations on Day 1 of the pyramid activity. This assessment is beneficial because students will need assistant searching Google and staying on task. Also, the teacher has a formative assessment by checking in on the Wiki pages and posting his comments and questions for the group. The summative assessment will be the final writing prompt on the wiki pages.
Accommodations and Extensions: Students with learning disabilities will be given extended time as needed. Also, the teacher has these students only analyze and read one resource, two if time permits. In addition, students who have a difficult time staying focused or using Inspiration, the teacher provides a graphic organizer, which only needs to be filled in rather than created and completed. As an extension activity, for students who complete the activity early, students have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding by completing a Pyramid Builder activity. The website is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_pyramid_builder.shtml.
Back-up Plan: If the computers were to fail, shut-down, or lose internet connection, the students would only use the print resources. They would also watch a short video clip downloaded from www.unitedstreaming.com. The objective remains the same; however, the online collaboration is impossible without computer and internet access.
|| |||||||| EVALUATION || |||||||| Lesson Reflections and Notes: Students reflect on their process by asking questions and revising or asking more questions. Also, students reflect the pyramid process and why they were created by answer other questions posted to the Wiki and reading responses to their own questions. Other reflection questions were mentioned above.
||
The pyramid activity demonstrates several benefits of online collaboration. First, “allows a student to work in and out of school” (Laureate, 2009). The opportunity to ask questions and answer other’s questions can be assigned for homework at the completion of day one. 99% of students in the district have access to the internet on a daily basis. The other one percent has access at the school and town library until ten in the evening. Second, online collaboration provides an “authentic audience” (Laureate, 2009). Students are posting to the Wiki page for other students, the same age and attending the same school, to read and comment on. The authentic audience avoids the issue that “students are, for the most part, bored” (Prensky, 2008, p. 43). This is a good point because sometimes ancient topics can be very distant for students. -Sarah Finally, the lesson’s main benefit is the “technology enriches the system after the objective is set” (Laureate, 2009). There are many other ways to learn about pyramids, such as reading the textbook or watching of video clip. However, the online collaboration activity engages students, keeps their interest, and requires them to develop many other technology and higher-level thinking skills while meeting the content standards.
References
Belland, B., Glazewski, K., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Inclusion and problem-based learning: Roles of students in a mixed-ability group. Research in Middle Level Education Online, 32(9), 1-19. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Engstrom, D. E. (2005, Dec/Jan). Assessing for technological literacy. Technology Teacher, 64(4), 30–32.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 2. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Spotlight on Technology: Social Networking and Online Collaboration, Part 1. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Spotlight on Technology: Social Networking and Online Collaboration, Part 2. Baltimore: Author.
Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Education Leadership, 65(6), 40-45. Lesson Plan: Problem-Based Learning James Wiegand Walden University Marie Larcara Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas (EDUC – 6713-D-2) July 29, 2010
Lesson Plan: Problem-Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a strategy that integrates content standards, technology, and real-world scenarios in order to learn the content. This has students demonstrate not only content knowledge, but “knowledge going beyond that to an understanding of technology and capability to hands-on skill development and utilization of technology” (Engstrom, 2005, p. 30). A benefit is the ability to integrate technology into PBL projects because it “attends to students’ diverse interests, talents, and needs for knowledge” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 167).
Daily Lesson Game Plan
Lesson Title: I’m Gonna do What? Embalm?
Grade Level: 6th Social Studies Ancient Civilizations
Related Lessons: You’re the Gladiator (Ancient Rome) Unit: The Nile River Valley
GOALS
Content Standards (NCSS Thematic Strand): • Culture • Time • Individual Development and Identity • Science, Technology, and Society ISTE NETS-S x Creativity x Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making x Communication and collaboration Digital citizenship x Research and information fluency x Technology operations and concepts Instructional Objective(s): • Students will be able to understand: 1. What mummies were; 2. When mummies were made; 3. Who was made into a mummy; 4. Where mummies were made; and 5. Why/How mummies were made.
ACTION
Before-Class Preparation: The teacher will practice and analyze the Mummy Maker website Will the students also preview the website? It seems like they will be learning and doing a lot in just two class periods. Sarah(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_mummy_maker.shtml). This is the site that used for the Problem-Based Learning activity. The teacher plays the Mummy Maker to ensure the game is possible and at an acceptable level to be completed by the sixth grade students. Also, the teacher creates a “hint list” of websites for research if the students struggle using Google and internet search skills to find the necessary information to complete the Mummy Maker. The teacher needs to set-up a mini-lesson review of how to use Google effectively. The class reviews proper search topics and focuses, validity of websites, reliability of websites, and how to cite properly. The students complete a quick “practice” as a class on a topic to be selected by the students. The teacher creates the PBL activity and scenario. The scenario is the guiding aspects for students to complete the PBL activity. The scenario is as follows: Living during 1500 BCE, the pharaoh’s chief embalmer has passed away due to unknown causes. The pharaoh is very old and fears he will not be properly mummified for his afterlife. He has selected you to be his new chief embalmer. However, you must first prove yourself to him. The pharaoh has given you one year (or two class periods) to properly mummify a member of his staff, one whom he will sacrifice. It is your job to learn how to correctly mummify a body and demonstrate this to the pharaoh’s. Use the Mummy Maker Website to prove you know how to mummify a body This is a very cool scenario! Your students will love the "hands on" job of creating a mummy! Sarah The teacher will create pairings based on student ability level (homogeneously). The teacher will provide support and extension activities to be described in detail later. I wish you added a few here just so we could see. Maybe you could preview the materials or websites with students who need more support, have them master fewer of the processes of mummification, or present it in a different way. Sarah
During Class
Time
Instructional Activities
Materials and Resources
|| Day 1: 6-7 minutes Are these broken up for review time, and then research time? It's a little unclear at this point. Sarah 32-33 minutes Day 2: 2-3 minutes 26-27 minutes 9-10 minutes
Students review how to use Google to search for information. They review topic and focus search terms, validity, reliability, and citing. Students will practice, a topic of their choosing, as a class. Can you just have this separate? I don't think it needs to be part of this lesson. Let's just assume they know what they're doing! Sarah Students view the Mummy Maker website. They will try to mummify a body to discover what questions they need to ask, research, and answer. Also, the students use Google to search for reliable websites. They “tweet” sites they find useful to their classmates and create a list of the top three sites to take notes on mummification. They look to discover specific details on the mummification process, answers to the questions they asked, and data to help them complete the Mummy Maker website game. Twitter makes me nervous because other people might follow them and get more information from the students than they need to know. Is there another application that can provide the same collaboration without Twitter? Sarah Students review their notes as a class from yesterday. They ask each other questions they created but could not find the answers to. They answer one another’s questions to complete the research component of the PBL activity. When will they be asking the questions? Could you set up a place where students can all submit their questions and then maybe they could get answered before class? Sarah Students work in their pairs to complete the Mummy Maker activity. They have as many opportunities as they need to correctly mummify a body to prove to the pharaoh they are acceptable embalmers. They record their steps in Microsoft Word in order to correct mistake they made and repeat accurate steps they took. Students will show the teacher their final steps and completed mummy! Will you have your students turn in the steps in Word as well as their wiki response? I like the idea of having them take notes; it will keep them focused as they work through the activity.-Kris Students type their final response to the writing prompt on their personal wiki page (linked to the class wiki page). The prompt is: How, why, who, when, where, and what are the aspects of the mummification process (1 paragraph)? That's a lot of information for one paragraph! The students might be too vague if they don't think they have to write a lot. If you do just want general information, can they fill out a chart or some other type of organizer? SarahI agree. A graphic organizer seems like a better way to make sure the students are thorough in their answers. Great idea.- Kris
Tablet and internet connection Computer Lab, 1 per pair
Notes: The teacher has be sure to check that the twitter accounts, wiki pages, internet, and Mummy Maker websites are working on all computers and have 3-4 backup computers ready for use.
MONITOR
Ongoing Assessment(s): The teacher uses informal observations on Day 1 of the PBL activity. This assessment is beneficial because students will need assistant searching Google and staying on task. Will you score them for their responses on Twitter?-KrisAlso, the teacher has a formative assessment of the question and answer component at the beginning of Day 2, the Mummy Maker steps, and completed product. The summative assessment will be the final writing prompt on the wiki pages. Will other students be required to read all of the submissions to the wiki? Will they make comments or corrections? Sarah
Accommodations and Extensions: Students with learning disabilities will be given extended time as needed. Also, the teacher will provide a website (http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/mummies/story/main.html) to students who cannot effectively search Google for information. In addition, students who have a difficult time staying focused or taking notes, the teacher will provide an outline for the steps to complete the Mummy Maker activity with a few steps filled in for guidance. As an extension activity, for students who complete the activity early, students will publish their “findings” by writing a report or making a very short video clip on IMovie and posting it to YouTube. The report or video clip must include the following: 1. The PBL scenario; 2. Steps taken to complete the PBL; and 3. The results or findings of the PBL activity. I like your extension activities. Will any of your students really finish early enough to do something so complex, though? In only two class periods, it doesn't seem like they'll finish that early and need something that time consuming. SarahSarah and James- I had the opposite thought here. I played the activity, and it took me only 10 minutes to make it through. I think it will be difficult to get the students to go slowly through the activity, researching as they go. I would be worried that they will guess and click, trying to get through as fast as they can (which is pretty typical for 6th graders- they think faster is better). I think it will probably take a lot of preteaching to get them to slowly work through the activity, researching and noting each step- Kris
Back-up Plan: If the computers were to fail, shut-down, or lose internet connection would use the Tablet PC in the classroom to complete the online internet research component. Students work in groups of four to create questions. Then, the class creates a master list of questions to research. Students take turns coming up to use the Tablet PC, which projectors all images onto the whiteboard, to answer one or more of the questions. This alternative activity would take much more time, so the Mummy Maker and the steps would have to be completed at home.
EVALUATION
Lesson Reflections and Notes: Students reflect on their process by asking questions, answering the, and revising or asking more questions. Also, students reflect on the Mummy Maker process by taking step-by-step notes and referring back to them on the next attempt to mummify the body.
The Mummy Maker activity meets two goals of PBL: “1. to promote deep understanding of the subject matter; and 2. Develop students’ higher-order-thinking” (Ertmer & Simons, 2006, p. 40). The Google research achieves the both goals by using critical thinking skills to acquire the subject matter. Mummy Maker deepens the students’ understanding of the content be incorporating it into a real-world scenario.
The diversity of students is met in the lesson plan. The “Digital divide” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 171) is a non-issue because all students have equal access to computers and internet to complete the PBL activity. Also, the “teaching modeling, peer interactions, and reflection” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 209, pp. 167-168) occur as the class reviews Google search strategies, pairings for research and application, and the step-by-step notes for reflection assist students will diverse learning styles. Finally, the teacher can use “assistant technology” (Laureate, 2009). Students can make web-text larger, copy and paste links for citing, and use Dictionary.com to look up vocabulary terms.
This PBL lesson requires students to “clarify the problem, collect, analyze, and organize data” (Laureate, 2009). The students collaborate with their partners to interpret the scenario. Then, the pairs use Google to collect and analyze the data. Finally, the students organize their information before and while completing the Mummy Maker activity in the step-by-step instructions posted on the Wiki page.
The main benefit of this PBL lesson is the “technology enriches the system after the objective is set” (Laureate, 2009). There are many other ways to learn about mummification, such as reading the textbook or watching of video clip. However, the PBL activity on mummification engages students, keeps their interest, and requires them to develop many other technology and higher-level thinking skills while meeting the content standards. Prensky writes “the reality is that students are, for the most part, bored” (Prensky, 2008, p. 43). PBL avoids the “boredom.”
Great lesson overall. I think your kids will really be engaged in the whole process and will benefit from the PBL style lesson. Sarah References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Engstrom, D. E. (2005, Dec/Jan). Assessing for technological literacy. Technology Teacher, 64(4), 30–32. Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 2. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Meeting Students’ Needs with Technology, Part 2. Baltimore: Author. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Spotlight on Technology: Problem Based Learning, Part 1. Baltimore: Author. Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Education Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.
Lesson Plan: Online Collaboration
James Wiegand
Walden University
Marie Larcara
Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas (EDUC – 6713-D-2)
August 8, 2010
Lesson Plan: Online Collaboration
Online collaboration is a digital tool that integrates content standards, technology, and real-world scenarios in order to learn the content. This has students demonstrate not only content knowledge, but “knowledge going beyond that to an understanding of technology and capability to hands-on skill development and utilization of technology” (Engstrom, 2005, p. 30). A benefit online collaboration is “students determine what they know and need to know; individually research content; communicate the research results among themselves; and collectively determine a solution to their problem” (Belland, Glazewski, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 9).
|||||||| Daily Lesson Game Plan
||
|||| Lesson Title: Why Build a Pyramid?
Grade Level: 6th Social Studies Ancient Civilizations
Unit: The Nile River Valley
||
|||||||| Content Standards (NCSS Thematic Strand):
• Culture
• Time
• Power, Authority, and Governance
• Science, Technology, and Society
ISTE NETS-S
x Creativity x Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
x Communication and collaboration x Digital citizenship
Research and information fluency x Technology operations and concepts
Instructional Objective(s):
• Students will be able to understand:
1. Why the Ancient Egyptians built pyramids.
||
|||||||| ACTION
||
|||||||| Before-Class Preparation: Students will be grouped with a partner from their class and eight other students (two from each other period). The teacher has established Wiki page for each group and all students have a Twitter account. All student email addresses have been created through gmail accounts.
Next, the teacher assigns each class period two different resources: one print and one online. A list of some of the online sources are:
www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_pyramid_builder.shtml
www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/djoser.html
www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/khufu.html
http://www.horus.ics.org.eg/en/History/PharaonicHistory.aspx
http://www.civilization.ca/civil/egypt/egcivile.html#menu
Print sources include articles from National Geographic, Dig, Our World (textbook), and New York Times.
The teacher will create pairings based on student ability level (homogeneously). The teacher will provide support and extension activities to be described in detail later.
||
|||||||| During Class
||
|| Time
2 minutes
6 minutes
18 minutes
12 minutes
Day 2:
4 minutes
24 minutes
12 minutes
Students preview the print and online resources with their partners. They will make highlight new vocabulary, make predictions about pictures, graphs, maps, and section headings, and write questions down they have about any of the previously mentioned items. Will all of the students be using the same materials or will you have some pairs use different materials than their groupmates from the other classes? -Sarah
Students will read and complete a graphic organizer, using Inspiration, on information that meets the objectives or answers their questions. One student reads the print resource while the other reads the online resource. Then, when finished, they switch and repeat the above.
Students, working in pairs, write a 1-paragraph response answering the objective question on their Wiki page. Also, the students ask two questions that remain unanswered on the Wiki page. All groups answer the same question? So when the next group goes on the wiki, they just add their paragraph? Will they look at the other groups' answers? -Sarah
Students open their Wiki page to see the changes made by the other class periods and group members. They look to see if their questions were answered.
Students read the other periods’ addition, revisions, and editing comments. Also, they answer the questions the other groups have posted into their response. The final response should be 2-paragraphs.
Students complete an individual reflection on the activity. The following questions for reflection are:
How was the Wiki experience?
Who had the best questions and why?
Who made the most worthwhile additions and why?
How did you contribute to the Wiki?
What would you change about your part in the process?
When will students be using the Twitter accounts? I know you mention it, but I didn't see where they'll be using them. - Sarah
Labtop Cart
||
|||||||| MONITOR
||
|||||||| Ongoing Assessment(s): The teacher uses informal observations on Day 1 of the pyramid activity. This assessment is beneficial because students will need assistant searching Google and staying on task. Also, the teacher has a formative assessment by checking in on the Wiki pages and posting his comments and questions for the group. The summative assessment will be the final writing prompt on the wiki pages.
Accommodations and Extensions: Students with learning disabilities will be given extended time as needed. Also, the teacher has these students only analyze and read one resource, two if time permits. In addition, students who have a difficult time staying focused or using Inspiration, the teacher provides a graphic organizer, which only needs to be filled in rather than created and completed.
As an extension activity, for students who complete the activity early, students have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding by completing a Pyramid Builder activity. The website is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_pyramid_builder.shtml.
Back-up Plan: If the computers were to fail, shut-down, or lose internet connection, the students would only use the print resources. They would also watch a short video clip downloaded from www.unitedstreaming.com. The objective remains the same; however, the online collaboration is impossible without computer and internet access.
||
|||||||| EVALUATION
||
|||||||| Lesson Reflections and Notes: Students reflect on their process by asking questions and revising or asking more questions. Also, students reflect the pyramid process and why they were created by answer other questions posted to the Wiki and reading responses to their own questions. Other reflection questions were mentioned above.
||
The pyramid activity demonstrates several benefits of online collaboration. First, “allows a student to work in and out of school” (Laureate, 2009). The opportunity to ask questions and answer other’s questions can be assigned for homework at the completion of day one. 99% of students in the district have access to the internet on a daily basis. The other one percent has access at the school and town library until ten in the evening.
Second, online collaboration provides an “authentic audience” (Laureate, 2009). Students are posting to the Wiki page for other students, the same age and attending the same school, to read and comment on. The authentic audience avoids the issue that “students are, for the most part, bored” (Prensky, 2008, p. 43). This is a good point because sometimes ancient topics can be very distant for students. -Sarah
Finally, the lesson’s main benefit is the “technology enriches the system after the objective is set” (Laureate, 2009). There are many other ways to learn about pyramids, such as reading the textbook or watching of video clip. However, the online collaboration activity engages students, keeps their interest, and requires them to develop many other technology and higher-level thinking skills while meeting the content standards.
References
Belland, B., Glazewski, K., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Inclusion and problem-based learning: Roles
of students in a mixed-ability group. Research in Middle Level Education Online, 32(9),
1-19. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom
Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Engstrom, D. E. (2005, Dec/Jan). Assessing for technological literacy. Technology Teacher,
64(4), 30–32.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Enriching Content Area Learning
Experiences with Technology, Part 2. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Spotlight on Technology: Social
Networking and Online Collaboration, Part 1. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Spotlight on Technology: Social
Networking and Online Collaboration, Part 2. Baltimore: Author.
Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Education Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.
Lesson Plan: Problem-Based Learning
James Wiegand
Walden University
Marie Larcara
Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas (EDUC – 6713-D-2)
July 29, 2010
Lesson Plan: Problem-Based Learning
Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a strategy that integrates content standards, technology, and real-world scenarios in order to learn the content. This has students demonstrate not only content knowledge, but “knowledge going beyond that to an understanding of technology and capability to hands-on skill development and utilization of technology” (Engstrom, 2005, p. 30). A benefit is the ability to integrate technology into PBL projects because it “attends to students’ diverse interests, talents, and needs for knowledge” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 167).
Daily Lesson Game Plan
Grade Level: 6th Social Studies Ancient Civilizations
Unit: The Nile River Valley
• Culture
• Time
• Individual Development and Identity
• Science, Technology, and Society
ISTE NETS-S
x Creativity x Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
x Communication and collaboration Digital citizenship
x Research and information fluency x Technology operations and concepts
Instructional Objective(s):
• Students will be able to understand:
1. What mummies were;
2. When mummies were made;
3. Who was made into a mummy;
4. Where mummies were made; and
5. Why/How mummies were made.
The teacher needs to set-up a mini-lesson review of how to use Google effectively. The class reviews proper search topics and focuses, validity of websites, reliability of websites, and how to cite properly. The students complete a quick “practice” as a class on a topic to be selected by the students.
The teacher creates the PBL activity and scenario. The scenario is the guiding aspects for students to complete the PBL activity. The scenario is as follows:
Living during 1500 BCE, the pharaoh’s chief embalmer has passed away due to
unknown causes. The pharaoh is very old and fears he will not be properly
mummified for his afterlife. He has selected you to be his new chief embalmer.
However, you must first prove yourself to him. The pharaoh has given you one
year (or two class periods) to properly mummify a member of his staff, one whom
he will sacrifice. It is your job to learn how to correctly mummify a body and
demonstrate this to the pharaoh’s. Use the Mummy Maker Website to prove
you know how to mummify a body This is a very cool scenario! Your students will love the "hands on" job of creating a mummy! Sarah
The teacher will create pairings based on student ability level (homogeneously). The teacher will provide support and extension activities to be described in detail later. I wish you added a few here just so we could see. Maybe you could preview the materials or websites with students who need more support, have them master fewer of the processes of mummification, or present it in a different way. Sarah
Day 1:
6-7 minutes Are these broken up for review time, and then research time? It's a little unclear at this point. Sarah
32-33 minutes
Day 2:
2-3 minutes
26-27 minutes
9-10 minutes
Students view the Mummy Maker website. They will try to mummify a body to discover what questions they need to ask, research, and answer. Also, the students use Google to search for reliable websites. They “tweet” sites they find useful to their classmates and create a list of the top three sites to take notes on mummification. They look to discover specific details on the mummification process, answers to the questions they asked, and data to help them complete the Mummy Maker website game. Twitter makes me nervous because other people might follow them and get more information from the students than they need to know. Is there another application that can provide the same collaboration without Twitter? Sarah
Students review their notes as a class from yesterday. They ask each other questions they created but could not find the answers to. They answer one another’s questions to complete the research component of the PBL activity. When will they be asking the questions? Could you set up a place where students can all submit their questions and then maybe they could get answered before class? Sarah
Students work in their pairs to complete the Mummy Maker activity. They have as many opportunities as they need to correctly mummify a body to prove to the pharaoh they are acceptable embalmers. They record their steps in Microsoft Word in order to correct mistake they made and repeat accurate steps they took. Students will show the teacher their final steps and completed mummy! Will you have your students turn in the steps in Word as well as their wiki response? I like the idea of having them take notes; it will keep them focused as they work through the activity.-Kris
Students type their final response to the writing prompt on their personal wiki page (linked to the class wiki page). The prompt is: How, why, who, when, where, and what are the aspects of the mummification process (1 paragraph)? That's a lot of information for one paragraph! The students might be too vague if they don't think they have to write a lot. If you do just want general information, can they fill out a chart or some other type of organizer? SarahI agree. A graphic organizer seems like a better way to make sure the students are thorough in their answers. Great idea.- Kris
Computer Lab, 1 per pair
Accommodations and Extensions: Students with learning disabilities will be given extended time as needed. Also, the teacher will provide a website (http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/mummies/story/main.html) to students who cannot effectively search Google for information. In addition, students who have a difficult time staying focused or taking notes, the teacher will provide an outline for the steps to complete the Mummy Maker activity with a few steps filled in for guidance.
As an extension activity, for students who complete the activity early, students will publish their “findings” by writing a report or making a very short video clip on IMovie and posting it to YouTube. The report or video clip must include the following: 1. The PBL scenario; 2. Steps taken to complete the PBL; and 3. The results or findings of the PBL activity. I like your extension activities. Will any of your students really finish early enough to do something so complex, though? In only two class periods, it doesn't seem like they'll finish that early and need something that time consuming. SarahSarah and James- I had the opposite thought here. I played the activity, and it took me only 10 minutes to make it through. I think it will be difficult to get the students to go slowly through the activity, researching as they go. I would be worried that they will guess and click, trying to get through as fast as they can (which is pretty typical for 6th graders- they think faster is better). I think it will probably take a lot of preteaching to get them to slowly work through the activity, researching and noting each step- Kris
Back-up Plan: If the computers were to fail, shut-down, or lose internet connection would use the Tablet PC in the classroom to complete the online internet research component. Students work in groups of four to create questions. Then, the class creates a master list of questions to research. Students take turns coming up to use the Tablet PC, which projectors all images onto the whiteboard, to answer one or more of the questions. This alternative activity would take much more time, so the Mummy Maker and the steps would have to be completed at home.
The Mummy Maker activity meets two goals of PBL: “1. to promote deep understanding of the subject matter; and 2. Develop students’ higher-order-thinking” (Ertmer & Simons, 2006, p. 40). The Google research achieves the both goals by using critical thinking skills to acquire the subject matter. Mummy Maker deepens the students’ understanding of the content be incorporating it into a real-world scenario.
The diversity of students is met in the lesson plan. The “Digital divide” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 171) is a non-issue because all students have equal access to computers and internet to complete the PBL activity. Also, the “teaching modeling, peer interactions, and reflection” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 209, pp. 167-168) occur as the class reviews Google search strategies, pairings for research and application, and the step-by-step notes for reflection assist students will diverse learning styles. Finally, the teacher can use “assistant technology” (Laureate, 2009). Students can make web-text larger, copy and paste links for citing, and use Dictionary.com to look up vocabulary terms.
This PBL lesson requires students to “clarify the problem, collect, analyze, and organize data” (Laureate, 2009). The students collaborate with their partners to interpret the scenario. Then, the pairs use Google to collect and analyze the data. Finally, the students organize their information before and while completing the Mummy Maker activity in the step-by-step instructions posted on the Wiki page.
The main benefit of this PBL lesson is the “technology enriches the system after the objective is set” (Laureate, 2009). There are many other ways to learn about mummification, such as reading the textbook or watching of video clip. However, the PBL activity on mummification engages students, keeps their interest, and requires them to develop many other technology and higher-level thinking skills while meeting the content standards. Prensky writes “the reality is that students are, for the most part, bored” (Prensky, 2008, p. 43). PBL avoids the “boredom.”
Great lesson overall. I think your kids will really be engaged in the whole process and will benefit from the PBL style lesson. Sarah
References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom
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Engstrom, D. E. (2005, Dec/Jan). Assessing for technological literacy. Technology Teacher,
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Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting
the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning,
1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Enriching Content Area Learning
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Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Meeting Students’ Needs with
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Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Spotlight on Technology: Problem
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Prensky, M. (2008, March). Turning on the lights. Education Leadership, 65(6), 40-45.