TECHNOLOGY AND ACTION RESEARCH IDEAS

As I ponder the upcoming school year, my class, and school climate, I'm interested in a few topics for action research.  First, I would like to see if Promethean Boards with interactive lessons truly increase learning.  Technology like this can be a huge expense for schools.  I plan on doing research on my classes.  For example, I would teach one class a concept using the Promethean Board and interactive flip charts.  Then, teach a different class the same concept but use only traditional methods.  I would use assessments and quizzes for data.  This research would benefit future decisions regarding technology investments and also, benefit teachers as they plan lessons.

Developing a classroom website can be an exciting but time consuming project for teachers. Is it worth it?  I would like to research the effectiveness of a classroom website on parent involvement.  Right now, our school is struggling with parent involvement.  I’m interested to see if parents would use a class website to stay connected with their child’s school life.  Currently, teachers in my school do not utilize class websites.  I would create the website for my class and use my students’ parents as a source of data in the form of views, comments, and surveys.  I teach three classes of seventy students.  My findings would benefit other teachers who are considering website communication.  At the conclusion, I could also do a professional development around creating a class website.  This information might open a door to a new way of communicating with parents.

Some teachers are resistant to using technology in the classroom. Many teachers view technology as "just playing" or "entertainment."  I confess, I've had these thoughts myself.  But technology is here to stay, and when embraced, it's exciting to think about the possibilities.   I would like to see if professional development increases technology usage among teachers.  I am constantly discovering new ways to implement technology into my lessons.   I would enjoy sharing these ideas with other teachers in a series of professional developments.  For example, I would lead professional development on using blogs, Tagxedo, Animoto, Newseum and Promethean tools.    Data in the form of pre and post surveys as well as teacher interviews will show if the professional development was effective.  This knowledge would impact future decisions regarding professional development. It's exciting to realize that educational technology opens the door to a wealth of action research ideas. 

    

Blogging and Education

Blogs can be a valuable tool in education.  Through blogging, a novice or expert can be creative, develop writing skills, reflect, and collaborate with others.  Blogging can provide a way for any professional to develop insightful writing.  Administrators can use blogs to reflect on current practices or action research.  Principals can also use blogs to develop professional intellect and greater understanding of issues.  Blogs can also provide a way for principals to stay connected with other principals.  Through collaboration, principals can share best practices and ideas.

    

Blogs are great tools for educators and their students. Educators can design a blog around a particular subject area or grade level in order to share ideas with other teachers.  In this way, a teacher can share instructional successes or creative projects to benefit other teachers.   Blogs can also be a great way to communicate with parents; for example, a blog can be used to post homework assignments, events, class projects, and photos.   Blogs can be used to integrate technology in the classroom.  Teachers can use blogs to motivate students to read and write.  Students can write entries to a class blog as well as read and post comments to their classmates’ post.  Blogging does take dedication and time, but it can provide a wealth of insights and ideas. 

   

      

Action Research Discoveries

I am pleased to discover that action research is different from traditional educational research.  According to Dana (2009), “Administrative inquiry refers to the process of a principal engaging, in systematic, intentional study of his/her own administrative practice and taking action for change based on what he/she learns as a result of the inquiry” (p. 2).  I plan to use action research to improve my instructional practices and to discover new innovate ways to implement technology into my lessons.

Administrators use action research to develop inquiry to gain better understanding of a problem or question.  Action research is a type of professional development guided by interest and needs seen by the administrator.  Most importantly, the administrator is the researcher.  As a result, h/she analyzes data, reads literature and shares information with others in order to make changes beneficial to the school. It’s exciting to know that administrators and educators can take ownership of their professional development.

Inquiry and reflection go hand in hand; I feel that I am a reflective person by nature.  Reflection leads to new areas of inquiry.  Engagement in inquiry requires an administrator to think intuitively about problems and then seek information such as data and literature to investigate problems and solutions.  As information is presented to teachers and colleagues, reflection becomes collaborative.  

Benefits of conducting action research include school improvement, collaboration and ownership of continual professional development. According to Dana (2009), “principals become role models for the teachers and students in their building” (p. 12).  Through action research, administrators are modeling behavior.  They become learners and leaders.

Dana, N. F.  (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Corwin Press.

Action Research Project

 

 

My name is Rosemary Grimm, and I will be researching the effectiveness of Promethean Boards in the ELA classroom.  In preparation for my research, I will be participating in an in-depth training session in the usage of Promethean Board software and hardware. 

 

 

Promethean Planet