Feedback+on+proposals+2014

Here is where you can give your colleagues feedback on their project ideas (be kind, but be real!):

**Michelle's Feedback:**
 **1.****Topic: The impact of technology on writing for middle years students (Karen Fox)** ** Hello Karen, ** ====I'm very interested in your selected topic and I'll look forward to reading your paper or epub chapter once it's completed. I completed an MEd in written composition 15 years ago and so much has changed in the student writing "landscape" in that time. You hoped that "there is some research out there to be read" and I can assure you that there's lots. For my ERES 800 course I had initially selected a topic similar to yours and started on a lit review quest in this area before I switched topics. I'm happy to pass along a list of articles if you are interested. One great place to start is the Pew Research Internet Project:==== http://www.pewinternet.org/search/student+writing/ ====You'll find lots here to get you started. One suggestion: there are many angles to explore regarding the impact of digital tools on student writing, so narrowing your topic early on might be helpful. (I hope this is useful to you). Michelle==== ** ‍‍‍‍‍‍1. **** Topic: Using technology to keep students and parents informed (Randy White, topic #4) ** ** Hello Randy, ** Of all the topics you listed as potentials, it was your 4th option that piqued my interest. "Too often parents are not informed on what their child is learning and how they are actually performing" - as a parent, I couldn't agree more! This year was my eldest son's first year of high school and we have never before felt so "out of the loop" and ill-informed. To compound the issue, my son's grade was the "guinea pig" year for the school's BYOD 1-1 technology initiative. From the very start, with all my son's work coming home on his iPad, the whole school process (homework, communication, progress) lost its transparency. We really had to "dig" to get answers and gain an accurate understanding of "just how he was doing". I found it ironic that a school would capitalize on using educational technologies to support student learning, but neglect to consistently apply the great potential of these same technologies to update and inform parents. (Okay, slowly stepping off my soapbox here...) I think any one of your topics holds potential and I understand the difficulty of choosing. However, I think that a paper or epub chapter exploring the potential of ed tech to bridge the gap between school and home would be very valuable. (Just my two cents). Michelle

hi randyperhaps you have already decided which of your topics to pursue, but i just wanted to add here that, like michelle, i found your fourth topic really stood out. it has such positive intentions, and is in everyone's best interests.sarah‍‍‍‍‍‍ Thank you for the push, Michelle and Sarah. I'm starting to lean towards my fourth topic. Once concern I do have is do parents actually want to know what is taking place on a daily or weekly basis? Some days it feels as though many parenting duties have been dumped onto the teachers, hence, is informing them frequently irrelevant? Perhaps I could put that into my paper.

**Topic: Computer Science Instruction for Schools (Rick Heise)**Hi Rick,I think your topic is very timely and I would love to read your paper. I agree that there is a push to teach students programming as I have read in the news recently as well as through a recent experience of my own. I have been asked to support a teacher who is wanting to teach programming to grade 7 and 8 students in the fall. There are many parameters on the course this school is wanting to offer but it was interesting to learn that the request for the course came from the students. Hope you have fun with this!Corinne

**1. Topic: Computer Science Instruction for Schools (Rick Heise)**
I love that you have developed your childhood passion into a career where you can pass your knowledge and excitement to others. I just finished the hourofcode.org with my students a few months back and they absolutely loved it. Now during "genius hour" many have chosen coding as their area of passion to develop a project in this area. The fire is lit! I would love to see more options of computer science and the what you think would be necessary hurdles to implement this type of program as "essential digital literacy in the 21st century". This is a very trendy topic in Ed Tech, it has caught the wave!

2. **Title: So You Want to Integrate Technology… Now WHAT? ** Stacey Monette

Stacey, It seems like the tech mentor/coach is a popular branding of at-elbow PD nowadays. It will be nice to see a "start up guide" to successful integration of tech in the classroom. I would also like to see the challenges of the mentor and teacher to create awareness of potential pitfalls. What role does relationships and trust play in this collaboration? Does the tech mentor need a baseline level of competency in technology and instructional design? (teaching experience?)

Cheryl Anderson
 * 3. Title: Social Media: Friend or Foe?.... **

Should this be mandatory curriculum at every grade level? We talk about bike safety, home safety but we need to do more with digital safety and citizenship with all ages of students. We supervise the school playground daily but yet we fail to supervise and teach how to act on a larger scale playground (online). Adults have missed this educational piece unfortunately but why can't children at a very young age build their awareness of their citizenship in a digital world? There are so many sites out there that will be wonderful support. [] [] []


 * Greg Woitas**

Hi Ian, My first thought when I read your proposal was "wow, I cannot wait to read this paper. The idea is so relevant" In a fast changing world of technology, a person learning specific programs can be left in the dust if not equipped to figure out the changing interface. I have always found it easy to learn new technology tools and I have attributed this to my strong math background and problem solving skills. I have also thought that these skills could be easily woven into the math curriculum as figuring out a new program involves logic and deductive reasoning. I am interested to know if you would teach the skills separate from the technology or if you would teach both skills and specific technologies or introduce the specific technologies as a way to teach the skills.
 * Feedback for Ian Hecht (Provided by Elenna Nickel)**

Feedback for Michelle Davis, from Karen Fox I wish I had great resources to give you, but as probably the most frequent library user at my school, I have only encouragement and excitement to offer. In recent years, we have really changed things in our school library, making it more of a learning centre, with technology (various types) and educational assistants around to help and offer support. We still have books, although less now that we've been through a flood! Informational texts have actually been moved into classrooms to make more space in the library for people, and to make those resources immediately available in classrooms as we focus on literacy in our teaching. We've also just purchased hundreds of books to build fiction based classroom libraries in each classroom to encourage reading in general. Our librarian runs this project, and although there are fewer and fewer books in the "library" all the time as things move out throughout the school, she is a wonderful leader in this program. I look forward to reading the stories of great libraries out there, and I know that our school librarian will read your information with excitement as well, if I am able to share it with her. ====**Response to Karen, from Michelle :)** - Thank-you Karen. I'll take as much encouragement and excitement as I can get! It's very helpful to hear about thriving libraries and library programs and how each are transforming to meet the needs of students. I'm glad to learn that your school library is one of these! think we need to be creative, flexible and visionary as we move forward. Your librarian sounds like someone that I'd love to meet!====
 * School Libraries at a Critical Juncture ( epub  chapter) - Michelle Davis **

**Stacey's Feedback/ Suggestions:**
I added my feedback to the wiki page with the abstracts. It was before we had created this page... sorry. I (like lots of others) provided suggestions during the Kitchen Parties in the discussions and in the chat field (links, etc.)

__**Ian's Feedback:**__
1. For __**Lianne**__ "Does the use of technology, specifically iPads, increase authentic student engagement?" I was struck by your use of the word "authentic". Too often, teachers using technology are locked in to the "gimmick" factor, and find themselves having to move on to the next new and great thing when the "gee whiz" factor wears off. My school is a good example with Smartboards. When we first installed them, students were enthralled with the technology, but now it's just another thing in the classroom. My question for you is, how do you differentiate between the "yay, we get to use an iPad" enthusiasm and the genuine engagement brought by the tool?

2. For __**Rick**__ "Computer Science Instruction in Schools" You seem like the right guy to write this paper! In our school, the CS20/30 class gets kicked around from teacher to teacher, and often the students know more about programming than the instructor. That's changed recently, but it was the case for about a decade. IIRC, in SK, the CS20 class can stand in for a 20-level science credit, so it seems like the government takes seriously its potential. There certainly seems to be a modern disconnect between the reliance on computers in our society and people's interest in knowing how they operate. I'm excited by the potential that new designs like the Rasperry Pi are bringing to schools (paired with the revamped ICT curriculum you mentioned). I'm curious to know what the emphasis of your paper will be: are you arguing for the importance of CS, or giving a pathway to incorporate it more into the school system?