Month: July 2018

iReady: Modernizing Small group Instruction

Are you ready for iReady?

By Lindsay Ackerman

I was in shock when I went out to dinner with my friends and their 2 year old (who only knows a few words)  picked up the iPad turned it on and knew exactly what to do to get the show he wanted to watch! How is it that 2 year olds are able to work an iPad, iPhone and computer better than most adults I know? Today’s children according to IBM, are learning internet based instruction.Technology is taking over the world and there is going to be a lot more of it going on in the classroom.  

Because of the growth of technology in our world, the past few years the school district has issued  iReady as a mandatory instructional tool in the classroom part of the small group rotation. This program is an ELA and Mathematics individual  instructional web based tool. The students take 3 diagnostics tests on the program throughout the year. This feedback is used to help teachers guide their small group and whole group instruction. During the diagnostic tests there are fun interactive brain breaks to help break up the test. “i-Ready Diagnostic adapts to each student, providing easier or harder questions depending on students’ answers to previous questions. By adapting across grades K–12, i-Ready Diagnostic helps teachers understand the root causes behind student challenges”(Curriculum Associates, llc, 2018).In addition, a teacher can add lessons to each students individualized curriculum to help reteach or enrich the students learning. “i-Ready Instruction is built from the ground up to be true to the details, rigor, and intent of the Common Core. In order to connect the latest research with practical application in the classroom, i‑Ready continues to evolve with guidance from expert advisors and a thorough research based”(Curriculum Associates, llc, 2018).There are also interactive lessons that have avatars that use humor and students interests to teach each lesson. For the teachers, there is a link called Teach Toolbox. This lets the teacher pull resources to use in small group or whole group settings to teach a lesson. “i-Ready Tools for Instruction are downloadable, best-practice Common Core lessons that relate directly to skills assessed in the Diagnostic providing targeted classroom instruction where students need it most. Tools for Instruction provide additional support for skills students may have worked on in the online lessons but have not yet fully mastered”(Curriculum Associates,LLC,2018). “Many educators say i-Ready activities are designed to be fun, with colorful graphics, realistic characters, games and rewards. They are crediting the program with helping their schools emerge from the state supervision imposed when students perform poorly on standardized exams”(Solomon, 2016).

There has been a debate between teachers, parents and administration whether iReady is worth the 45 min mandatory time per student. Some of the concerns are that it is adding more testing that the students don’t need, not enough computers for all students to get in their time, and that the program is very pricey. I feel that iReady is helpful in the classroom to  reteach and enrich each student. iReady is different then a lot of online instructional tools as it can be set up for each students learning. The iReady diagnostic sets the students up to give them lessons on their level and as the develop new skills the program moves with them. As well as letting the teacher assign lessons that have to do with what they are learning in the classroom.  

 

Solomon, L. K. (2016, November 10). New computer program pinpoints student needs but does it add to test overload? Retrieved from http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-iready-palm-beach-schools-20161112-story.html

 

Curriculum Associates. LLC. (2018). IReady. Retrieved from https://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/iready/diagnostic-instruction.aspx

Technology integration is without a doubt one of the key aspects of preparing for the future of the classroom. In today’s world of business, all professional fields have integrated technology into their work, and if schools do not prepare students with this same technology integration, the results could lead to schools not supplying the job market with qualified workers. It is on this note that most schools have committed to integrating technology, at least to some extent, in their schools. The goal is to use technology to help students learn better, as well as to teach students what they need to know about technology, so they can be prepared to better serve the changing job market.

While there are many issues plaguing the integration of technology in school, the one that I find to be most damaging to its success is the lack of effective professional development for teachers on the topic. In almost all situations in which technology is purchased through school budgets, teachers are immediately given the authorization to use it, usually barring a quick online training. The difficulty with this system is that teachers are already intimidated by this technology, to begin with, and are now expected to independently learn what is necessary to use the technology and left on their own to figure out how to integrate it successfully into their classroom. Given these conditions for integrating technology in the classroom, many teachers decide that it would be better to not use the technology altogether, and the efforts of school districts to invest in technology for the classrooms goes wasted.

In an article written in 2015 for the American Educational Research Association, they researched the effects of “independent professional development” in the field of technology for teachers and found that the actual integration of technology in classrooms never exceeded a 20% increase, while the investment spent on technology was “drastic and excessive” (Desimone, Porter, Garet, Suk Yoon, Birman 2015). This research shows that technology integration will be drastically ineffective if professional development is not done in a group format. The intimidating factors associated with technology cannot be overstated, especially for teachers that have been in the field for many years and have become complacent in their own ways. The best way to address this issue is through the use of more interactive professional development, as teachers are far more likely to be approving of the use of technology if they are given the opportunity to discuss it with their peers. Further, this will allow teachers to the opportunity to discuss with each other not just how new technology works, but further how they can best implement it into the classroom, through the use of strategies and ideas. Another way to ensure that professional development is effective and that teachers are willing to implement technology in classrooms is through administrative support. Administration should be modeling the use of this technology and offering support and encouragement for the implementation of technology in the classroom. Strategies that could best serve this would be offering additional points in observations to those that use technology in their lessons. In a study for Computers and Education Inc., Frank Inan and Donovan Lowther (2010) found that “professional development, technical and administrative support, and teacher beliefs played an influential role in whether teachers felt ready to use laptops in the classroom and, in turn, whether they actually did” (Inan and Lowther 2010). This quote reinforces the above notion that technology investments in schools will be wasted if professional development does not effectively give them the ideas and confidence to implement the technology into their lesson plans.

One effective way to change the professional development used for technology integration is through the use of mentoring programs. One of the biggest issues with changing the way in which technology professional development is done is the costs associated with more intricate professional development. A way to alleviate these costs would be to send only those volunteering to learn more to intensive professional developments on the use of specific technologies in the classroom. Allow these experts to return to their home schools and “mentor” other teachers on the use of technologies in the classroom. Research done by the Journal of Educational Change show that teachers that have been assigned a mentor for the use of technology “have a more clear vision for using technology in their teaching” (Owston 2006). Mentoring programs are already commonly used in new teacher programs, administrator programs, and many of the other introductory programs in the education field. If professional development for technology could adopt a similar model, the benefits to technology integration in the classroom, and the return on investments in technology that schools commit to could be monumental.

 

 

 

 

References

Desimone, L. M., Porter, A. C., Garet, M. S., Yoon, K. S., & Birman, B. F. (2015). Effects of Professional Development on Teachers’ Instruction: Technology Implementation. American Educational Research Association, 24(2), 81-112. Retrieved July 12, 2018.

Inan, F. A., & Lowther, D. L. (2010). Laptops in the K-12 classrooms: exploring factors impacting instructional use. Computers & Education, 55(3), 937–944

Owston, R. (2006). Contextual factors that sustain innovative pedagogical practice using technology: an international study. Journal of Educational Change, 8, 61–77

Ok, so I know I’m going to seem like the old fuddy-duddy with her rotary dial phone who just cannot accept the evolving technological ways of the educational world. But first of all, I’m not that old. Second, it’s not about technology itself, and third…I do not still have a rotary phone!

Let me first clear this up by saying that I totally embrace technology and the amazing, endless capabilities and opportunities it provides, especially with education. This technology class has opened my eyes to many new options with technology and the digital world that I would have never even contemplated possible and given me a new perspective on the vast potential of its implementation in education. I am totally on board with holograms, virtual meetings, blogging, real-time communication, and creative collaboration and learning through various applications, websites, and many other cool techy stuff that I don’t even know about yet. I am not, however, on board with the integration of social media outlets in education and learning in the classroom.
Actually, I am not on board with social media at all. You want to hear my roast of reasons for the disdain of such a cancer to our humane society? Of course you do, (even if you don’t, pretend you do for just a moment)! Social media is linked with increased rates of cyberbullying, anxiety, depression, poor self-image, narcissism, and poor sleep. Social media is described as more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol (smartsocial.com, 2018). More specifically in a recent study from Nottingham Trent University, addiction criteria have concluded “Facebook Addiction Disorder” as “neglect of personal life, mental preoccupation, escapism, mood modifying experiences, tolerance and concealing the addictive behavior” which are present in some people who use social media networks excessively (Walton, 2017). This is quite alarming considering 95% of teens ages 13-17 use some form of social media and 45% of those teens say they’re online almost constantly (Pew Research Center, 2018). I think we all know at least 18 people who display many of these symptoms!

Sure, social media has its limited potential benefits but are those communication benefits worth implementing into our schools when other avenues for communication are available? Or are there any substantial, unparalleled educational learning experiences received from social media that cannot be matched or superseded from other platforms? I say no! Not that I am the supreme word but, the National Association of School Psychologists lists the potential benefits of social media as, helping create a sense of community through the posting of positive messages and connecting audiences; conducting online surveillance; and quickly communicating information (nasponline.com, 2016). What purpose, then, does social media serve in our classrooms with our impressionable children other than to teach them how to use it to communicate? What essential skills are they learning from social media? Crickets….I hear crickets!

Technology integration in the classroom should be about discovery, quickly learning facts and information about various subjects, research, digital application of 3D models and projects that spark the mind to think creatively in new ways while applying the arts and sciences to real-world skills. Give me a real reason to support social media in schools, ahem Mr. Eric Sheninger I’m talking to you!!

Studies have also revealed that the more time people spend on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and Snapchat, the more socially isolated they perceived themselves to be, which is one of the worst feelings for humans, both mentally and physically (Walton, 2017). With revelations like this, we should not rely on the use of social media but other accessible forms of communication in teaching our children and students to digitally connect. Better yet, let’s teach them how to communicate and connect in person through the use of technology with collaboration, brainstorming, inventions, and shared-decision making in cohesive groups and limit the dependency on social media.
Maybe I’m just an old-fashioned, not old, mother who just cannot wrap my mind around the positive aspects of social media or any GOOD reason why this is a must in education, when other viable options exist. Luckily, I am very open-minded and welcome discussions on other points of view, so I would love to hear about other perspectives and experiences with social media in education so I can see it from your eyes and possibly take it off the fire!

References:

National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) (2016). Social Media and School Crises. Retrieved July 9, 2018 from: https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources/school-safety-and-crisis/social-media-and-school-crises.

Pew Research Center, Internet & Technology (2018). Teens, Social Media & Technology. Retrieved July 9, 2018 from: www.pewinternet.org/2018/05/31/teeens-social-media-techniology-2018/.

SmartSocial: Learn How to Shine Online. The Negative Effects of Social Media for Teens. February 23, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018 from: https://smartsocial.com/negative-effects-of-social-media/.

Walton, Alice G. (2017). 6 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Health. retrieved July 9, 2018 from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2017/06/30/a-run-down-of-social-medias-effects-on-our-mental-health/#7f7e44b82e5a.