McCallFinalReflection

Final Reflection

 This internship experience has been filled with a wide variety of emotions, hours of research and development, and new experiences in the world of technology and education. I began with the idea of producing an instructional video for students on using graphing calculators in mathematics. Because graphing calculators can be used in every area of mathematics, I narrowed the topic to algebra 2. When I taught algebra 2 college prep, I noticed that students at this level are often unfamiliar with the available functions of a graphing calculator and how they can be used. Having taken a series of test to become certified in education as well as the compass and the ACT, I am also aware of the need to be proficient in algebra 2. Because some of the standardized tests are timed, the essential abilities of working quickly and accurately can be greatly enhanced by knowing how to use a graphing calculator. Because of the number of available topics in algebra 2, I had to further focus the topic to systems of equations and inequalities.

 Through researching the topic of using graphing calculators to teach mathematics, I learned that often teachers are unfamiliar with how to use this technology even though it has been around for about twenty-four years. This immediately brought to mind the need for a product that would benefit both students and teachers. The information gleaned from the research was priceless and served as the basis for the envisioned tutorial. With the exception of an article by Michael Cohen, the articles and research results agreed that increases in student understanding, problem solving abilities and test scores could be correlated to the use of graphing calculators. The results also indicated that a real need for teacher training on how to use a graphing calculator and incorporate their use into the current curriculum exists. Three of the articles in my annotated bibliography, one by Bennison and Goos, another by Cavanagh and Mitchelmore and the third by Burril, focused on the lack of skills that math teachers exhibit not only in using the calculators themselves, but also concerning instructional pedagogy. Misconceptions of diminished basic computational skills and the fear of technology savvy students knowing more than the teacher were also identified as hindrances to their use. The lesson learned is that thorough research is need, not only to establish the need for the project, but to give direction and focus to the project as well. Time is precious and to create a product that is not needed is a waste of this valuable commodity.

 The venue in which to present the tutorial was ultimately my greatest difficulty. My on site supervisor, Mr. Lee offered use of his production room, equipment and students for the project. Initially, I wanted to produce a video, but had concerns about the size and distribution of the final product. I searched the web for ideas and found really good on-line tutorials produced by Texas Instruments. In their tutorials, an interactive on screen calculator was used and I knew that I wanted to use this TI-SmartView in my tutorial. I began with a PowerPoint presentation and a handout to accompany the presentation. I decided to use Microsoft paint and Jing to record the video portions of the tutorial. My first hurdle came with embedding a Jing tutorial into a PowerPoint slide show. I used Google and found a solution that worked beautifully. However, when I converted the PowerPoint using Authorstream, the videos were not recognized. Dr. Smyth then suggested that I convert the videos to wmv files that PowerPoint could recognize and embed. I found a free program to convert the files, leaving a watermark on the screen. It worked, however the paint videos were a bit fuzzy and difficult to follow without the handout. The brick wall called Authorstream was still there, so I tried another program (I cannot remember what it was) and that at least kept a picture of the embedded video on the appropriate slide. It would not however, play the video or remain in my wiki. My last option was to place the working PowerPoint on my school web page to see if it works there. It did not work there either. As a result of these difficulties, I have learned that the method of delivery needs as much research as the content. I used programs and products with which I was familiar and those that were free. More experimentation with the many free programs available could have saved me from much frustration. I was so adamant that this should be a tool that would teach itself, needing little intervention from the teacher, only to pause the tutorial and start the videos: refusing to consider an alternative format. I really needed a back up plan.

 One result of this internship that I consider a success is an idea that occurred to me concerning ways to use Jing videos in advanced and regular mathematics class for homebound students and for homebound instructors. Even though access to wikis is blocked in all Aiken County schools, most students can access these at home, which is where homebound students and homebound teachers conduct their lessons. Many of the homebound teachers are not advanced placement mathematics teachers and struggle as much as the students with the concepts taught in these classes. I would be so easy to use the paint program or something similar and Jing to explain concepts of each section of a chapter and illustrate their application. Place these videos on a wiki for that class and give students and homebound teachers access to this wiki. Typically, students have difficulty just reading a mathematics text book and learning the material. They need explanations, procedures, illustrations and practice. If they can not be in class for this, a video tutorial would be the ideal solution. Another success experienced was the positive feedback that I received from my mathematics teacher peers. I asked for content only suggestions and most were very positive and felt that this type of product would be useful. Becoming more comfortable with the ADDIE process and recognizing that I am mentally going through the steps when planning the product is also something that I consider a success. Though I do not see the final product as terribly successful in its quality, I do recognize success in an increase in confidence in my ability to troubleshoot and resolve some basic technology issues that a year ago would have reduced me to tears. I have also recognized an interest in research, which was a surprise.

 If I were to start over, knowing what I know now, there are several things I would do differently. The first thing I would do differently would be to more thoroughly plan the execution of the tutorial. As mentioned earlier, I did not adequately plan for failure in the implementation phase of the project and have not been greatly successful in getting it to those that I had in mind to review. I would also research various ways to implement. I have a valuable resource in Mr. Lee, his students and available equipment and did not effectively utilize them. I have been terribly closed minded in what I wanted and how I wanted to accomplish it. I had a mental vision of the final product and would not consider any other. The audio was poor quality and not uniform and the movies ended up with a watermark from the free conversion to wmv files. These most likely could have been avoided if I had involved Mr. Lee and his class more. The amount of content for the tutorial would be cut considerably. I would cover only one indicator in the tutorial and would also try to make it more interactive with the SmartView portions. On the Texas Instrument website, their tutorial gave options for on screen practice which I think would be more beneficial to the students and teachers who are not experts with a graphing calculator. This would likely require a website instead of a wiki.

 One of the strongest correlations between this project and other class work is the use of the ADDIE process. It is a great tool to guide instructional planning. The use of wikis in instruction as a communication tool was introduced to me my first semester of this degree program and they have continued to be a wonderful tool. I created a wiki for this project to present the final product along with the supporting research, a link to my blog and the mid-term and final reports. I was introduced to Jing in a previous class when I presented a lesson about a Web 2.0 program, and have used this product quite a bit. Moviemaker is another product of which I had no experience until becoming involved with this degree program, and considered using for the PowerPoint portion of my project. The ease of turning a PowerPoint presentation into a video that can be embedded into a wiki was introduced with slideshare and Authorstream. I did get conflicting results with the Jing embedded PowerPoint presentation because neither of these will allow a video within a presentation, and moviemaker will only take slides that have been saved as pictures, so I could not use that resource either.

 Where do I begin with the strong emotions? At the very beginning of the semester, I was very anxious about what an internship meant in terms of time commitment, resources, and content. However, once I got started and my idea was approved, I became excited by the prospect of developing a product that someone else could possibly use. Once the research began, I realized that I actually like research and it was a tremendous help in narrowing the purpose of the project into something manageable. Once I got started and found the TI tutorials, I began searching for software that I could use and thankfully Dr. Smyth suggested that I look at TI SmartView which is what TI used in their tutorials. I tried to get a trial version with no luck and I had to purchase the software. It took about ten days and it was worth the wait. I really love this software and see so many uses in the classroom setting as well as in computer labs. I was so excited about the product and the capabilities that it offers. Initially, I decided to use PowerPoint, then decided against it, then decided to use it in conjunction with the Jing videos. My reason for not using PowerPoint was because students are so acclimated to it, they quickly become bored and once that happens you have lost them. However, because I wanted this to be a tutorial that the user could pause and resume, a combination of PowerPoint and Jing seemed like the perfect answer. I had no idea of the frustration that this combination would provide. It took me about eight hours to initially figure out how to embed the Jing swf videos into the slides. Once that was accomplished, I experienced elation and was soon brought back to reality when I uploaded my file to Authorstream and the videos would not show up. Off again to search Google for a solution, with little success. Dr. Smyth suggested converting the swf files to wmv files. I found a free converter online and downloaded that. The drawback to the free version was that it left a watermark on the video after it converted. Another problem with converting these files involved the illustrations using paint. The quality of the originals was not that great and once they were converted it was really bad and difficult to read without the handout to follow. I am so disappointed with the final product. I did not start this process thinking I could product something even close to that of the TI tutorials; however I had hoped for something far greater than my final product.

 There have certainly been highs and lows throughout this internship. Overall, I have enjoyed the experience and feel that I have learned so much. For me, there is a certain satisfaction in the learning process and I plan to be a lifelong learner. I have not given up on a solution to my implementation problems, but plan to keep looking for a better way.