Project 1 Using technology Project Proposal Project Description

Project 1 Using technology

Project Proposal

Project Description n Explain what the project is: ¨ n The purpose of this project will be to implement discussion boards to support higher levels of cognition in a high school technology course. What there is to do: I will conduct research that explains strategies for creating successful discussion boards. ¨ The research will lead me to design and develop writing prompts and attempt to create an online social environment where students communicate the course content demonstrating higher levels of cognition. ¨ At the end of the course, I will evaluate the results and gather feedback from the students to measure the success of the project. ¨ n Why it is important: ¨ ¨ This project is important because I want to increase usage of Blackboard. I have assigned and had my students participate in discussion boards previously, but I was not satisfied with the results.

Project Description n Explanation of what I expect to learn from this project. I expect to create a learning experience that uses discussion boards to improve communication and promotes peer review. ¨ I expect to extend my current use of technology to be able to effectively implement the use of discussion boards as a web based communication device. ¨ n How this project relates to the class ¨ By completing this project I will model effective use of technology and enhance my students learning experience by using technologies supported by research.

Project Artifacts n List what you will post for review to show that you have achieved the intended result. ¨ ¨ I will post a Power. Point presentation summarizing the project. I will show screen shot examples of the discussion board. I will show citations of research articles referenced for this project. I will post a commentary reflecting on the experience.

Project Timeline n Must include a start and finish date. ¨ Start Date: February 2 th ¨ End Date: February 20 th n Events/Milestones: ¨ Creation of discussion boards ¨ Students posting and communicating on the discussion board ¨ End day for the discussion board

Discussion Board

Agenda n Blackboard is used to communicate the agenda in the announcements.

Student Resources n In the assignment section, resources are available: Slideshow, tutorial, and examples.

Discussion Board Design n Detailed information is available for the students to show what is expected of them for each post.

Response to Topic n As a warm up activity the students were expected to answer some questions and post them on the discussion board.

Peer Review n After the students were working on the assignment for 2 days, they were expected to post their progress and provide feedback to 3 other students in the class.

Summary & Reflection n The students final drafts were posted on the discussion board and they had to write a summary and reflection of the assignment.

Conclusion n n The use of discussion boards allowed me to implement one of the most successful lessons of the school year. Students researched background information on the internet and posted it on the discussion board. ¨ This helped guide an in class discussion by displaying student responses using a projector.

Conclusion Con’t n n n The students were able to communicate not only with other students in their period, but additional students from another class The student provided satisfactory feedback and peer review The summaries and reflections allow students to express their thoughts and feelings at a deeper level of cognition, rather than just submitting the assignment.