INTE 6930 ~ ILT Internship: SMART Response Training Anne Oltman University of Colorado Denver

Introduction

This report documents the in person training I held and the online training I created for SMART Response Clickers. I began assessing the need for new ways to collect and analyze data in the fall of 2012. I began the trainings for the SMART Response Clickers in the winter of 2013.

Setting
The trainings were created for all teachers that work in the Adams 14 School District in Commerce City, Colorado. Adams 14 serves over 7,000 students with two preschools, seven elementary schools (K-5), two middle schools (68), and one high school (9-12). Serving the district are 847 staff members. All schools have below average test scores and are all Title I. Title I schools have a high percentage of students from low income families.

Problem or Need
The district is in its final year of turnaround status. It is imperative for test scores to rise because if they dont, some schools may be taken over by the state. One step the district is taking is to implement a program called Driven by Data in the 2013-2014 school year. This program requires teachers to collect and track very specific data on all their students. This can be very time consuming for teachers. So, in order to give teachers more time to create successful lessons, there needs to be a quicker way to collect and track data. Also, the district has a history of having a very high turnover rate. Every year there are multiple new teachers to the district that need to be trained. New teacher training is expensive and time consuming. There needs to be a way for teachers to receive training that is inexpensive or free and can be done on their own time. Adams 14 is lucky to have so much technology in each school. There are many sets of SMART Response clickers in the district but many teachers do not know how to use them. In order to give teachers a quicker way to collect data and provide the opportunity for free training on how to use them, I created a series of training videos on SMART Response Clickers.

Challenges
The first challenge I encountered was finding a time that all teachers would be able to attend training for SMART Response clickers. This in person

training was important to me in order to receive feedback for the online training I wanted to create. I realized if thirty teachers want the training, it might only be possible for five to show up. However, this challenge solidified the need for online training. The next challenge presented a large road block in my plan for creating online training for teachers. Every time I asked the administration about choosing a Learning Management System (LMS), they kept saying, We will know soon. Well, it came to be the middle of May and they let me know they probably would not choose an LMS for another few months. So I changed my plan of helping to create a site for online training to focusing on creating an online training for SMART Response clickers that could be accessible on any LMS. Even though I had feedback from other teachers on how to improve the training, I still found it difficult to think of everything that teachers would need to know. For each video, I made a list of everything that needed to be included and added to it over time. When I started recording the videos I always thought of something else that I should add and would need to record it again. Also, my computer was having difficulty recording on PowerPoint, so I had to record certain videos on a different computer. That resulted in the volume of my voice changing in some videos as I combined a screencast with a PowerPoint.

My Role and Participation

My role in creating online training videos for SMART Response clickers was to collect information and analyze what teachers really needed to know, decide on the best way to present the information, and create all the videos in a format that would be compatible with any LMS the district chose. Since none of the administration knew much about clickers, they gave me a lot of freedom to create the training how I wanted. I created the videos on my own but had feedback from multiple teachers who viewed the videos. My role was to take feedback and suggestions from other teachers and create training videos that would be easily followed and understood. I still made sure to check in with the administration along the way.

Time Frame
Step 1 Activity Comments Meet with administration in my district to The administration liked

decide the best methods for implementing online training.

the idea of having online training and I was informed the district was planning on choosing a new LMS where a training site for teachers could be hosted. I wanted to know what teachers needed in training. This would help me make the best training videos. Changes were made to the way I would create the online training videos. The district had not chosen an LMS and would not have one chosen for a few more months. I decided to focus on SMART Response Clicker training. In all, nine short videos were created for the training, as well as a comic and guide to analyzing data.

Create an in-person training for SMART Response Clickers and create and distribute a survey to determine effectiveness. Analyze the survey results and use the responses to shape the training content.

Meet with administration again to discuss more online trainings and the headway they made toward selecting an LMS.

Create training videos

Goals
When I began this project, I wrote objectives for myself. I referred back to these objectives multiple times to ensure I was meeting them. They were:

1. Create a series of training videos for SMART Response Clickers that are simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and tell a story. These are the six principles of sticky ideas from Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. 2. Create each video with visuals and step by step procedures so teachers of all backgrounds can set up and use SMART Response Clickers in their classroom without further assistance. 3. All videos must be compatible with any LMS.

Work Processes
Right from the beginning, I talked with administration and got their feedback along the way. It was important to me to stay aligned with goals they had in mind for teacher professional development.

In-Person Training
I had never held training for teachers and I thought it would be important to get a feel for how the teachers in my district learn. I created a presentation to go along with modeling how to set up and use the SMART Response Software. This training proved to be very valuable because I used surveys to get feedback from the participants on how to improve the online training I was creating.

Analyze Feedback
After the training, I analyzed the surveys, as well as verbal feedback given to me at the training. Analysis is the process of distilling large quantities of information to uncover significant features and elements that are embedded in the data (Stringer, 2007, p.95). The surveys gave me features and elements that I should change for the training videos. This data was valuable because it was feedback from the same type of learners that would be viewing my videos.

Create the Training Videos

This was by far the most time consuming part of the project. It was so important that the videos not only contained all the necessary information but delivered it in a way that any teacher in the district could apply it to their own classroom. Teachers will be expected to do a lot with the new program Driven by Data and I want to help them by giving them an easier way to collect data. Design isnt just about iPods and cool products; its about improving peoples lives and making things clear and accessible. Design, at its most fundamental level, is about finding solutions (Reynolds, 2010, p. 9). I hope using clickers will be the solution for some teachers when it comes to collecting data on their students performance.

Outcomes
The in-person training was a huge success because I learned so much. I learned about keeping the pace slow and not assuming they knew parts of the process just because they were adults. I also received valuable feedback that I applied to the creation of the training videos. My first objective referred to the videos containing some of the following attributes: simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and tell a story. I kept every video simple by focusing on one aspect of the training at a time. The videos Engagement Techniques and Creating Hot Questions were unexpected because they were different than the rest by including videos of fellow teachers. Every video was concrete because it showed visually how to do each step. The Engagement Techniques and Creating Hot Questions videos were credible because they used examples from people who actually used clickers. The other videos were credible because they used vivid details from the actual SMART Response software. All the videos are emotional because they tap into what the learners care about. Creating Assessments and Analyzing Data tell short stories of how I have personally used these aspects in my teaching. My second objective referred to teachers of all backgrounds being able to set up their SMART Response Clicker software by watching the videos. I will not know the district-wide outcome for this objective until the district chooses a new LMS and the videos are posted. However, I sent them to one teacher in the district and she was successfully able to use the clickers with a summer school class. My third objective dealt with the videos being compatible with any LMS. Since all the videos are hosted on YouTube, they can all be embedded in or linked to from any LMS.

Reflection and Lessons Learned

Upon reflecting on the past seven months, I realized that creating training for adults is different from and yet similar to teaching middle school students. It is similar because adults still come to your training with different levels of knowledge and experiences. I learned the curse of knowledge applies when you are teaching adults also. Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it (Heath and Heath, 2007, p. 20). I learned firsthand the importance of creating videos for adults that teach in a way that allows adults from all backgrounds to access it. Also, the fact that they are adults does not mean the pace of training can be greatly increased. Adults still need process time when they are learning. It is also similar to teaching middle school students because their attention spans are not much longer and visuals are still just as powerful. I was so glad I created short videos that focused on different aspects of using the SMART Response Clickers. This allows beginner users to watch all the videos while also allowing more experienced users the chance to get a quick refresher on a certain aspect. Also, the visuals provide another modality of learning that help adults remember that part of the instruction. I realized that adults are much more critical of your training than middle school students are of your teaching. This is a good thing because it makes your training improve with the feedback they give. They value their time more and it is more important to make sure your training directly relates to what they are there to learn. Also, adults come to you at an even wider range of background knowledge than middle school students because of the variety of experiences they have had. This makes being concrete even more important so learners of all levels can be successful. The next steps I need to do with this project will be helping create the website that will host the training I created along with training contributed by others. Once the district decides what other online trainings they would like to offer, I will probably assist with those. Finally, I want to share this website with colleagues and show them the benefits of the online trainings offered.

Conclusion
The experience of holding an in-person training for adults gave me a lot of insight to what to include when creating online trainings. I enjoyed applying what I learned at the training and what I learned through the ILT program to

make these videos, feeling confident they will be successful. I hope my district will truly embrace the online learning and find a way to promote the training to teachers.

References
Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2008). Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Die and Others Survive. New York: Random House. Reynolds, G. (2009). Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. Stringer, E. T. (2007). Action Research (3rd Edition ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.