This page offers colleagues an insight into how I changed one unit of work by considering how I can enhance learning using new media texts and tools. The main changes included;
- Review of current teaching and planning. This can be found in the "Initial Ideas" section.
- Development/experimentation of relevant texts and tools. Find out more here.
- Showcase of work within this unit. Here are the examples of how I modified tasks using new media tools.
- Reflection. What effect will this have on student success? I consider this within the "Now what?" section below.
- Review of current teaching and planning. This can be found in the "Initial Ideas" section.
- Development/experimentation of relevant texts and tools. Find out more here.
- Showcase of work within this unit. Here are the examples of how I modified tasks using new media tools.
- Reflection. What effect will this have on student success? I consider this within the "Now what?" section below.
Initial Ideas |
Above you can find the two links to documents that are currently used for my Grade 9 Physical Education Badminton classes. In addition, here are my initial ideas for my New Media "Dream Project" for CEP816, which can also be found on Google Docs.
I have taught this unit of work for the past 3 years. Over this time, I have made an attempt to create more authentic assessments based on the standards and objectives of the unit. Students ability level will vary depending on their previous experience of central net and wall games (this is the term for the category of sport where badminton lies; other examples are tennis, table tennis, volleyball, squash) and their hand eye co-ordination. As a result, it is vital to give students opportunities to express what they know about the activity as it links to the standards and objectives. Specifically, I have chosen to look and assess the following within the unit
In order to assess what needs improvement, I have created some guiding questions that hope to lead me towards creating more authentic assessment that focuses on creating more “focused, meaningful lessons that reinforce clear goals and expectations” (from revised focus) while gathering evidence on their understanding (and not just their practical performance).
I envisage that this unit will include some kind of task that allows me to gauge whether students understand the concept I am trying to portray. This means I am not only relying on the practical work. Wiggins and McTighe (2005, p.183) advocate the need to ensure that teachers are not blindsided by the association that performing well on a test (or performing a movement correctly) means the student has full understanding of the concept. In reflection, this would mean I have three grades for this unit of work; participation (this is assessed within every unit), performance (linked closely to existing assessment) and knowledge of performance (an additional way to show what they know, linking to differentiation and support for student learning as discussed in NMTT Document). In addition, I would like assessments to be easier to access and understand. Other types of media would be useful to reinforce the two standards I expect to cover. I would also like to use some collaborative tools to encourage partners/groups to come together.
I have taught this unit of work for the past 3 years. Over this time, I have made an attempt to create more authentic assessments based on the standards and objectives of the unit. Students ability level will vary depending on their previous experience of central net and wall games (this is the term for the category of sport where badminton lies; other examples are tennis, table tennis, volleyball, squash) and their hand eye co-ordination. As a result, it is vital to give students opportunities to express what they know about the activity as it links to the standards and objectives. Specifically, I have chosen to look and assess the following within the unit
- Perform specialized skills with effective and correct technique.
- Know the importance of Repetition and Refinement for learning specialized motor skills.
In order to assess what needs improvement, I have created some guiding questions that hope to lead me towards creating more authentic assessment that focuses on creating more “focused, meaningful lessons that reinforce clear goals and expectations” (from revised focus) while gathering evidence on their understanding (and not just their practical performance).
- How do I know that learners understand the concepts covered in class?
- How might I attempt to expand learning past the practical aspect?
- Can this include consolidation of knowledge in a “new” format?
- Can technology be helpful as I try to assess student learning?
- What effect does the current assessment document have on the learners extraneous load, and how might I change this to decrease the load?
- Are there media tools I could use to give student information in another format, that they can reference in relation to the assessment?
I envisage that this unit will include some kind of task that allows me to gauge whether students understand the concept I am trying to portray. This means I am not only relying on the practical work. Wiggins and McTighe (2005, p.183) advocate the need to ensure that teachers are not blindsided by the association that performing well on a test (or performing a movement correctly) means the student has full understanding of the concept. In reflection, this would mean I have three grades for this unit of work; participation (this is assessed within every unit), performance (linked closely to existing assessment) and knowledge of performance (an additional way to show what they know, linking to differentiation and support for student learning as discussed in NMTT Document). In addition, I would like assessments to be easier to access and understand. Other types of media would be useful to reinforce the two standards I expect to cover. I would also like to use some collaborative tools to encourage partners/groups to come together.
Time to experiement |
After considering my initial ideas, I took time to review my block plan. Looking at the content, and relating this to the assessment, I began thinking about how I could help students understand the content more easily. Using NMTT can help me develop a plan where assessment can become more authentic and in line with learning outcomes. Assessment can support the learning process considering expectations, formative feedback to improve cognitive performance (Shepard, 2000). Trying to think about how the students experience the lessons helped me come up with ideas on how I could simplify tasks to make them more accessible, and more in line with my overall objective. I decided to put into place the following new media texts and tools. The "Revised Lesson" can be found above. This includes a slimmed down format, and has added blue text to show where modifications to assessment using new media tools and texts have been used. In addition, please click on icons on the right of the descriptions below to find out more about these tools.
- Brainstorming to encourage thinking. It is all too easy to forget to think sometimes when taking part in a practical activity. Getting students to brainstorm encourages them to think about their actions, and watch each other. Bubbl.us is an excellent tool that allows students to create a mind map together. In groups of four, students will create a mind map based on their initial experiences within the badminton unit. This aims to help them consolidate their ideas and deepen their thinking on why they moved a particular way. I am interested in trying to get students to discover how to be successful, giving them responsibility and a sense of ownership for their learning.
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- Analyzing movement to express knowledge.
As student learn skills, it is important they are able to analyze what they do well and what potentially they can improve. EdPuzzle allows users to upload their videos and edit them by adding audio and questions throughout. I will use this tool to explain one of the badminton techniques, and follow up by asking the students to use this tool as part of their assessment. Students will prepare their recordings and select three key points from their shot/technique they wanted to share. They ask key points pertaining to this that showed they do not only have the ability to perform the action but understand what they did in order to be successful within the technique. This means even if their performance is not 100% correctly performed, they can still explain the movement to show they have knowledge of the action. |
- Making instructions explicit and the ability to review
This lesson uses new medias, and some students may be overwhelmed or confused on how to use the tools. Screencasts have to be my FAVORITE new media text tool! They allow you to record whatever is on the screen with a voice recording. This means that students have a visual of what you want them to see, and can hear your explanation at their leisure. This means if they did not understand the task (in this case the use of EDPuzzle for their own analysis assessment) when I explained in class, they can access the information from home. My tool of choice is Screencast-O-Matic, but there are many other programs available out there. |
Showcase of Media Tools
Here are the particular examples of what these tools look like.
Bubbl.usThis is an example for basketball. Click here for student page with instructions.
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EdPuzzle |
Screencast of Instructions |
Now What? A Reflection
In order to gauge how successful these tools are, I plan to reflect on any benefits I believe there were to student learning. I used the guiding questions within the Initial Ideas section on this page to help focus on student learning. I have just began teaching this unit, and currently have use the first NMTT, Bubbl.us. It was easy to implement and I believe students were able to not only share and discuss ideas, but take one thought and develop it to understand the concept in more detail; deeper conversation that enhances what we already know. Authentic assessment and digital tools help to create work environments where students have more responsibility and ownership for their learning (Barber et al., 2015).
References
Barber, W., King, S, & Buchanan, S (2015). Problem based learning and authentic assessment in digital pedagogy: Embracing the role of collaborative communities. Electronic journal of e-learning, 13 (2), 59-67.
Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29 (7), 4-14.
Wiggins, G.P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational Researcher, 29 (7), 4-14.
Wiggins, G.P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.