Technology For Learning

Technology For Learning
Meg Dickey-Kurdziolek
mdickey@vt.edu
Thursday, April 28, 2011 1

What is current thinking on education?
“charter
“more “more schools”
funding” technology”
“better
curriculum” “small
“standards schools”
based
assessment”
“it’s all on
the web”
“teacher
incentives tied
to student “Important for
achievement” democracy”

What is current thinking on education?
“charter
“more “more schools”
funding” technology”
“better
curriculum” “small
“standards schools”
based
assessment”
“it’s all on
the web”
“teacher
incentives tied
to student “Important for
achievement” democracy”

Understanding Complex Systems
3
Courtesy of Dr. Yang Cao
Understanding Complex Systems

The Educational Technology Design Problem
Student Teacher
Experience Experience
Student &
Teacher
Practice

Design for Student Design for Teacher-

Learning Computer Interaction
Student Teacher
Student &
Teacher
Practice
“We need an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach” 6

- Zhao & Frank (2003)
Outline for today’s talk
Student &
Teacher
Practice

Investigate student use

and teacher views of
learning resources
Student &
Teacher
Practice
Changing targeted
classroom affordances
for teacher and student

Student &
Teacher
Practice

Scaling-Up SimCalc, Teacher

Interviews and Case Studies
Student &
Teacher
Practice
ThoughtSwap

Scaling-Up SimCalc is a large, randomized, controlled study investigating the
hypothesis that a wide variety of classrooms can benefit from the use of
SimCalc.

Condition Year 1 Year 2
Immediate
Pre X Post Pre X Post
Treatment
Delayed
Treatment Pre Post Pre X Post
(Control)
Scaling Up SimCal
Study Timeline 9

Condition Year 1 Year 2
Immediate
Pre X Post Pre X Post
Treatment
Delayed
Treatment Pre Post Pre X Post
(Control)
Post-Unit Phone Interviews
Case Study Observations

Scaling Up SimCal
Study Timeline 9

SimCalc Example “Managing the Soccer Team”
10

10

10

Year One Results
• 95 teachers and 1621 students

in 7th grade math classes
throughout Texas
• Treatment had a higher gain

score compared to control t(93)
=9.1, p < .0001, e.s. 0.84

score on function based portion
of test compared to control (t
(93)=10, p < .0001, e.s. 1.22
11

Year One Results

throughout Texas

=9.1, p < .0001, e.s. 0.84

(93)=10, p < .0001, e.s. 1.22
11

Year One Results

throughout Texas

=9.1, p < .0001, e.s. 0.84

(93)=10, p < .0001, e.s. 1.22
11

How does an
intervention, such
as SimCalc, impact
student learning?
12

How does an
intervention, such
as SimCalc, impact
student learning?
12

How does an
intervention, such
as SimCalc, impact
student learning?
“When establishing any classroom innovation, it is the teacher who is

the key determinant of implementation” (Judson, 2006).
12

Year One Interview Results on Technology Set-Up
Computer Set-Up # of Teachers
Computer Lab 31
…with projected computer …6
Computers on Wheels (COWs) 10
…with projected computer …4
One Laptop with a Projector 5
Combination of Computer Lab & Classroom Computer 1
Dickey-Kurdziolek, M. A. (2007). Educational Technology and Teacher Perceptions: How 13

does the technology fare in the wild? , Masters Thesis, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
Year One Teacher Interview Results on Technology
Problems
Installation 29/47
Software (Minor) 15/47
Hardware 12/47
14

Teacher decisions about technology set-up
“Our computer lab is setup where all the computers are around
the walls so they're not facing a teacher. So, we ended up
moving it to my classroom and I just projected it onto the wall
so that I could actually see them all. Otherwise, they were
doing whatever they wanted to, whenever they wanted to, and
we didn't have much control over it. We have the projector on
the ceiling that projects our laptop onto the whiteboard. So, I
had a little bit more control in [the classroom]."
- Immediate Treatment Teacher
15

Understanding resources, teachers, students, and
learning
•How do different teachers instantiate SimCalc?
•What consequences does this have for student access to

learning resources (of which computational technologies
such as SimCalc MathWorlds are just one)?
•What are the effects on the student learning?
16

Data
Selection of participants 17

One laptop +
projector
Teacher M
Kermit, TX
Data

One laptop + Computer Lab
projector Teacher G
Teacher M Milano, TX
Kermit, TX
Data

One laptop + Computer Lab
projector Teacher G
Teacher M Milano, TX
Kermit, TX
Laptop Carts
Teachers C & B
Austin, TX
Data

Case-Study Data
Video of small student group,

video of wide classroom
focus, and field notes
Teacher interviews: Artifacts: student

daily post-class and workbooks, teacher
end-of-unit logs, class diagrams,
and pictures
18

Emergent Themes
• Resource Arrangement and

Student Roles and
Responsibilities
• Resource Modification and

Movement
• Attention Management
• Assessing and Addressing

Misunderstandings
• Perception and Framing of

Student Resource Use
19

Framing of Appropriate Technology Use
"So sharing their attention was

something that I had to adjust to
because I am like ‘okay, everybody
look at me, listen’ because I realize
that you can listen and kind of talk at
the same time but as a teacher I want
their attention. So sharing that
attention with the computer was I
guess an adjustment for me." –
Teacher G
20

[00:04:07.06] Teacher: "where should
your hands be right now?
[00:04:11.18] Multiple Students: "off

the computers"
[00:04:13.15] Teacher: "off the

computers, okay…."
21

[00:24:19.08] Boy says to the girl on

his right: "you’re cheating"
[00:24:21.19] Girl to the left: "what?

Its fun. ::mumble:: the simulation.
Look."
[00:24:25.21] The boy looks to the girl

on his left, then back to the girl on
the right, then down to his workbook
in front of him. He puts his head on
the table.
22

Design for Student Design for Teacher-

Learning Computer Interaction
Student Teacher
Student &
Teacher
Practice
23

Student &
Teacher
Practice
Experimental Design Research
• Focus on a specific “niche” to be filled in the classroom ecosystem, or a

learning task
• Apply “zensign” design approach to ensure possible evolution of use

- Tatar, Lin, Lee (2007)
“We need an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach”

- Zhao & Frank (2003)
24

Goals of Discussion
•Sometimes we are concerned
with producing ideas
•But we are also concerned

with how our ideas are being
received, and how we are
receiving others’ ideas
25

ThoughtSwap Activity Stages
Re-present
Anonymous
“Swap” another’s
composition
Thoughts thought in
of thought
discussion
Private
Thought
Collection
“Hat”
Dickey-Kurdziolek, M., Schaefer, M., Tatar, D., & Renga, I. (2010). Lessons from ThoughtSwap-ing: Increasing Participant's Coordinative
26
Agency in Facilitated Discussion. Paper presented at the Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, Savannah, GA.
ThoughtSwap
27
ThoughtSwap
27
ThoughtSwap
27
ThoughtSwap
27
ThoughtSwap
27
ThoughtSwap
27
ThoughtSwap
27
ThoughtSwap
27
ThoughtSwap
27
ThoughtSwap Activity
1.Provide sufficient time for individual reflection
2.Create a feeling of safety through anonymity
3.Require at least minimal participation
4.Give participants the obligation of re-presenting other

participant’s ideas
28

Professionalism in Computing Example
29

Original Instructions:
• Enter your position
• Swap thoughts
• Represent the position of

another
29

Original Instructions: Adapted Instructions:
• Swap thoughts
• Swap thoughts
• Read the thought aloud
• Represent the position of • Consider it (take a deep
another breath)
• Try to come up with a
reason why or how
someone could arrive at
that position
29

Concluding Thoughts: Complexity of Classroom
Ecosystems
• Classrooms are “ecosystems”
shared by teacher and
students, built by teacher and
students
• No “position zero”, but evolves
over time
• Focusing on shared teacher
and student practice may lead
to “niches” or “sweet spots”
for innovation and positive
change
30

Acknowledgements:
Committee: Deborah Tatar (chair),
Roger Ehrich, Steve Harrison,
Manuel Pérez Quiñones, Jeremy
Roschelle
Thank you!
SimCalc Interview and Video Data
and Analysis Team: Michelle
McLeese, Dan Dunlap, Ian Renga,
Jessica Watahovich
Meg Dickey-Kurdziolek ThoughtSwap Team: Matthew

Schaefer, Ian Renga, Promita
mdickey@vt.edu Chakraborty, Joon Suk Lee, Ryan
@megak Honig
Work funded by:

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
NSF Grant Rec # 0437861 (SimCalc)
NSF Grant Rec # 0427783 (Tuples)
31

Future Work
• Engage more teachers and students in study to uncover more possible

“niches” or roles technology could play in an education ecosystem
• What specific goals and learning tasks as could benefit from the use of
technology?
• Study the diversity of other learning ecosystems
• e.g. home learning and distance learning ecosystems
• How does the role of technology change in these different systems?
32

Why Texas?
•The SimCalc researchers partnered with The Charles A.

Dana center, which is a leader in math and science
teacher professional development in Texas, and has a
good relationship with teachers and schools.
•The State of Texas gathers comprehensive yearly data

about schools and teachers that helped characterize our
sample.
•State standards and testing have been in place in Texas

for longer than other states, and are more stable and
mature.
33

Scaling-Up SimCalc - Data Gathered
• Pre and Post Test data - Year 1 & 2
• Two portions : “Simple” formula based (a/b = c/d) and “Complex” function
based (y=kx).
• Teacher Phone Interviews - Year 1 & 2
• Both immediate treatment and delayed teachers were interviewed
• Year 1 interview data and analysis for my Masters Thesis
• Case Study Observations- Year 1 & 2
• Year 1 Case Studies - 24 teachers were selected and observed for one to
three days during targeted lessons
• Year 2 Case Studies - Eight teachers were targeted for observations

throughout the course of the 2-3 week unit
34

Way’s people try to get around classroom eco-
systems
• Distance education
• Just because the student-teacher interactions look different doesn’t mean

we shouldn’t still worry about their importance
• “Kahn Academy” and other web sources
• The nature of “deep” learning
35

games and education
• Games can be wonderful, but....
• How does the design requirement of “fun” interact with the requirement for
“learning” ?
• There still has a theory of how the education actually happens through
interaction with the system
36

Teacher M, Kermit, TX
37

Teacher G - Milano, TX
Computer lab (left) and Classroom
38

Teachers C and B - Austin, TX
Teacher C’s classroom (left) and
Teacher B’s Classroom (right) 39

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Technology For Learning

Thursday, April 28, 2011 1

Thursday, April 28, 2011 2

Thursday, April 28, 2011 2

Thursday, April 28, 2011 4

Thursday, April 28, 2011 5

Design for Student Design for Teacher-

“We need an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach” 6

Thursday, April 28, 2011 7

Investigate student use

Thursday, April 28, 2011 7

Thursday, April 28, 2011 7

Scaling-Up SimCalc, Teacher

Thursday, April 28, 2011 7

Thursday, April 28, 2011 8

Thursday, April 28, 2011 9

Post-Unit Phone Interviews

Case Study Observations

Thursday, April 28, 2011 9

Thursday, April 28, 2011 10

Thursday, April 28, 2011 10

Thursday, April 28, 2011 10

• 95 teachers and 1621 students

• Treatment had a higher gain

• Treatment had a higher gain

Thursday, April 28, 2011 11

• 95 teachers and 1621 students

• Treatment had a higher gain

• Treatment had a higher gain

Thursday, April 28, 2011 11

• 95 teachers and 1621 students

• Treatment had a higher gain

• Treatment had a higher gain

Thursday, April 28, 2011 11

Thursday, April 28, 2011 12

Thursday, April 28, 2011 12

“When establishing any classroom innovation, it is the teacher who is

Thursday, April 28, 2011 12

Computer Set-Up # of Teachers

…with projected computer …6

Computers on Wheels (COWs) 10

…with projected computer …4

One Laptop with a Projector 5

Combination of Computer Lab & Classroom Computer 1

Dickey-Kurdziolek, M. A. (2007). Educational Technology and Teacher Perceptions: How 13

Software (Minor) 15/47

Thursday, April 28, 2011 14

Thursday, April 28, 2011 15

•How do different teachers instantiate SimCalc?

•What consequences does this have for student access to

•What are the effects on the student learning?

Thursday, April 28, 2011 16

Thursday, April 28, 2011 17

Thursday, April 28, 2011 17

Thursday, April 28, 2011 17

Thursday, April 28, 2011 17

Video of small student group,

Teacher interviews: Artifacts: student

Thursday, April 28, 2011 18

• Resource Arrangement and

• Resource Modification and

• Assessing and Addressing