Danielle Luber
Educational Droid Use Proposal
As a Learning Support teacher, it is my responsibility to provide students with the opportunity to experiment with real word scenarios while motivating them to incorporate “self-directed learning, critical thinking, team participation and acquisition of critical knowledge.” (Jackson, K., Warelow, P., Wells, H., 2009) In order to enhance our standards based curriculum, I would like to explore the uses of Mobile Internet Devices with Android in my classroom to push the limits of education, opening the four walls of our classroom. In my efforts, students could use these devices to supplement the reading of Flat Stanley, written by Jeff Brown.
In this story, a boy unexpectedly wakes up as flat as paper. He ultimately uses this to his advantage as he travels to new places easily and often in an envelope. This Problem Based Learning scenario would enable students to incorporate reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies skills through the use of free applications provided by these devices.
Through the use of constructivism students would be able to fit and construct new and old information to understand the world around them in this learning activity. Key components in the Constructivism theory involve asking questions, experimenting, identifying what one already knows, relevancy of topic and social collaboration. (Duffy, McDonald, & Mizell, 2007. Focus on ).
Students would use the devices to ultimately send their own Flat Stanley throughout the United States. With this, they would have the opportunity to communicate with family members through text messaging and emailing, locate miles traveled by Flat Stanley, and identify weather conditions and tourist locations during Flat Stanley’s travels. To provide this type of learning opportunity to the students, a constructivist approaches would be tightly woven into this Problem Based Learning Activity.
This type of activity and the use of Mobile Internet Devices with Android would provide a platform of relevant learning for students. John Dewey agreed that learning needed to be based upon real experiences. He acknowledged, “If you have doubts about how learning happens, engage in sustained inquiry: study, ponder, consider alternative possibilities and arrive at your belief grounded in evidence." (Thirteen Ed, 2004)
As students are learning about personal narratives in reading, this device would allow them to write Flat Stanley’s travels in a diary format provided by a free android application. In addition, rather than learning about weather patterns throughout the United States in their Science text book, students would be able to use a weather application to identify and record the weather Flat Stanley is experiencing during his travels. They would further be able to understand key tourist locations in popular cities across the United States to supplement their Social Studies curriculum through another application. Students would also be able to locate and identify the amount of miles traveled by implementing conversions using an application provided by these devices. Lastly, students can send pictures of Flat Stanley through the use of email and videos provided on these devices.
This activity would also allow students to work and collaborate together to complete their task in sending Flat Stanley across the United States. Lev Vygotsky built upon behaviorism and cognitive development as he suggested that social interaction has a deep relationship to learning. “Thus, learning is the transformation of social knowledge into individual knowledge, and that individual knowledge leads to the creation of the mental constructs that embrace it.” (Duffy, McDonald, & Mizell, 2007. Focus on each student would be asked to identify a family member or friend that lives in the United States, however not in Pennsylvania. This will become the travel route that our classroom Flat Stanley will take. Students will work together to learn about Flat Stanley’s travels on his route that they provided.
Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner agreed that when working in a social environment, students are able to solve problems together that they may have not been able to solve independently. To analyze and further student inquiry, Seymour Papert suggested the use of computers and information technology in constructivist environments. (Thirteen Ed, 2004) Together, students will be motivated on the following Problem Based Learning scenario:
After reading Flat Stanley, it is your job to work as a team to send him around the United States. With the use of a Mobile Internet Device system enabled with Android, you will identify his miles traveled, weather conditions, and important tourist locations for Flat Stanley to visit. You will further use the device to take pictures of Flat Stanley, record his travels in a diary format, and communicate with family members or friends that you are pretending to send him to!
Through this learning activity, students will be incorporating Reading, Math, Science and Social Studies skills. This will provide opportunities for repetition and review of the skills they are learning about in their text book in a more hands on and creative real world approach by using the Mobile Internet Devices with android. Through the use of these devices and during this activity, students will be able to:
1. Use the qualities and characteristics of personal narratives to write about Flat Stanley’s travels in a diary format application. In reading class, students are learning about details that should be included in personal narratives. Students will use the diary format to write about Flat Stanley’s travels in his perspective.
2. Convert meters into miles using a conversion application to identify the amount of miles traveled by Flat Stanley. Students will be able to further use this information to find landmarks of miles traveled over his trip: mean, median, mode, maximum, minimum and range.
3. Use map skills to identify the amount of miles between two locations using a map application. In social studies class, students are presently learning how to read maps using the provided map scale. This skill is also reinforced in math class.
4. Enhance their understanding of weather patterns throughout the United States using a weather application to record the weather Flat Stanley is experiencing through his travels. In social studies class, students are learning about specific weather patterns in the northern, southern, eastern, and western parts of the United States over the four seasons.
5. Identify key tourist locations in major cities that Flat Stanley travels using a specific application to support social studies curriculum and text book. In social studies class, students are learning about important tourist locations in Pennsylvania. This would provide them the opportunity to learn about interesting places that are significant to country.
6. Communicate with family members/friends through the use of email or text messaging to identify where they live outstide Pennsylvania as they begin to build Flat Stanley’s voyage across the United States. Students will work together to build Flat Stanley’s journey after identifying where they are going to pretend to send Flat Stanley. This provides opportunity for collaboration, communication and appropriate social skills.
7. Take pictures and videos of the classroom Flat Stanley to send in either a text message or email to their family members or friends that they are pretending to send Flat Stanley to. Students will have the opportunity to work together to create a “classroom Flat Stanley” that they are pretending to send across the United States supporting originality, collaboration and social skills.
Although this device would ensure students are able to carry out the learning objectives of the activity, students could also achieve this without the use of the mobile internet device:
1. Use the qualities and characteristics of personal narratives to write about Flat Stanley’s travels in paper- pencil form or using a word processor. In reading class, students are learning about details that should be included in personal narratives. Students will use the diary format to write about Flat Stanley’s travels in his perspective.
2. Convert meters into miles using a conversion formula on paper to identify the amount of miles traveled by Flat Stanley or using an internet website. Students would require step by step directions from teacher to complete conversions on paper. Students will be able to further use this information to find landmarks of miles traveled over his trip: mean, median, mode, maximum, minimum and range.
3. Use map skills to identify the amount of miles between two locations using a physical map of the United States. In social studies class, students are presently learning how to read maps using the provided map scale. This skill is also reinforced in math class.
4. Enhance their understanding of weather patterns throughout the United States by communicating with family members or friends that live in the specific area. In social studies and science class, students are learning about specific weather patterns in the northern, southern, eastern, and western parts of the United States over the four seasons.
5. Identify key tourist locations in major cities that Flat Stanley travels to supporting social studies curriculum and text book using an Encyclopedia. In social studies class, students are learning about important tourist locations in Pennsylvania. This would provide them the opportunity to learn about interesting places that are significant to country.
6. Communicate with family members/friends through the use of the United States Postal services to identify where they live outstide Pennsylvania as they begin to build Flat Stanley’s voyage across the United States. Students will work together to build Flat Stanley’s journey after identifying where they are going to pretend to send Flat Stanley. This provides opportunity for collaboration, communication and appropriate social skills.
7. Take pictures and videos of the “classroom Flat Stanley” to send using the United States Postal services to their family members or friends that they are pretending to send Flat Stanley to. Students will have the opportunity to work together to create a “classroom Flat Stanley” that they are pretending to send across the United States supporting originality, collaboration and social skills.
Although alternative methods to the mobile device system could be carried out to complete this activity and problem based learning scenario, it may require more time to complete. The Mobile Internet Device with android would allow this activity to be carried out over the course of a marking period, whereas if this was not implemented, the activity would need to be carried out over the course of the school year. This is because of the email, text messaging and ease that free applications provide. Without using this device, communication between students and their family members or friends outside Pennsylvania would take longer due to using the Postal system. This would require postage which would be expensive especially if sending videos (this may even require some fundraising money needed before the activity starts). In addition, the Mobile Internet Devices with android provides the teacher with a rather low preparation time and would limit the amount of materials needed to be collected before the activity took place. For example, recording videos without the use of the mobile device system, would require that I bring in my own video camera or borrow the school’s video camera. With only one video camera being used, it will take longer to record all students’ messages. Along with borrowing a video camera from the school’s technology department, I would have to collect maps and encyclopedias for students to use. This requires more preparation and may even cause a problem if this material is not available at our elementary school.
The applications provided on the Mobile Internet Device with android would enhance this activity bringing real world experiences and curriculum skills together for students over the course of a marking period. The following applications would be used throughout this activity to support curriculum based standards and learning outcomes:
1. Students can use the Dairo application diary writing to support personal narrative skills introduced in reading classroom. Students will be able to record and write using Flat Stanley’s perspective to document his travels, feelings, opinions, and inspirations throughout his voyage across the United States. This application allows a calendar format including time, which would also help track Flat Stanley on his destinations acting as an itinerary for the trip.
2. Students can covert meters into miles using the Universal Conversion application that would allow students to easily identify the amount of miles between two locations rather than using paper and pencil algorithms that are not developmentally grade/age appropriate. Students will still get background knowledge on useful formulas that help use convert units.
3. Students will use Google Maps application to identify the amount of miles between two locations. This will help them track how many total miles Flat Stanley has covered and how many miles he has from one state to another. Students can figure out these distances using the Location opportunity this application provides. Students would use the ‘Distance to’ method to calculate the miles Flat Stanley will cover.
4. Students will use the Weather Channel application to record the weather Flat Stanley is experiencing through his travels and identify weather patterns across the United States. With this application, students can access weather warnings if Flat Stanley is traveling though a snow storm or hurricane, record forecasts, or use radar maps to identify weather that Flat Stanley may soon be approaching while on his voyage.
5. Students will use the Where application to search for interesting tourist locations for Flat Stanley to visit while he is in each state that he travels to. This application allows students to search by city or state and identify nearby petting zoos, museums, theaters, famous restaurants, etc that Flat Stanley may want to visit.
