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Thursday, May 28, 2020

MindLab- Evaluation of the introduction of Digital and Collaborative Innovation



Title: Implement, document and critique a digital and collaborative learning innovation applied to a specific area of your practice. Within your reflective portfolio, continue to add reflective entries that critically evaluate your practice.

Reflective entry 5 (50% of PRACTICE) Critically analyse issues of ethics, society, culture and/or professional environments that have been relevant to the digital and collaborative learning innovation you applied in your practice.

I introduced the use of ‘Hapara- Dashboard’ to a group of colleagues in my school, to find out how much my training sessions would affect their confidence in using this tool. 
Isman (2009)’s study and the NZARE- Ethical Guidelines raised ethical issues such as anonymity, consent, confidentiality, integrity in data analysis and veracity which I will analyse later in this entry.

Stutchbury and Fox (2009) explains David Seedhouse’s ethical framework Seedhouse (1998), as a bird’s eye view of a pyramid that presents four layers, and explains two theories of western moral philosophy used in his framework: 
·       Deontology- described as ‘doing what is right’ regardless of the consequences.
·       Consequentialism- states that an action is ‘good’ if the consequences produce more benefits than disadvantages to the greater number of people.

Seedhouse’s framework was initially designed for application in the health area, but it is applicable to education as well. For the purpose of this entry I will use Seedhouse’s framework:
a.             The External Layer- looks at issues at an organisational level and at external issues. 
At this level I considered ethical guidelines for my research, which my school does not have, so I ended consulting those of NZARE. 
One aspect, that these guidelines mention, is the need for participants’ consent to be part of my study. Thinking critically about it, the Hapara sessions started as part of teacher in-house training for my colleagues, who had already accepted to participate. Later I decided to make this my research, so I had to ask for their consent to participate in my study, which happened when the research was well under way. All participants emailed me their consent, except one teacher. Next time, I would request their consent by sending them an explanatory letter and a form to sign, but timing of research and lockdown circumstances were not ideal.

Another issue, to critically analyse here, is the resources available to me and the participants. Because of Covid 19 the training sessions were held via Zoom, which was available to all. It was the first time for me to be in charge of a Zoom session and I found it uncomfortable to ask my colleagues to remain quiet during the presentations. They asked questions as soon as they had a query instead of waiting for the Q & A segment. I found the participants excitable and talkative. I started questioning the quality of the sessions and the resulting consequences. If I had to do it again, I would have emailed the participants guidelines for the sessions and gone over them the Zoom session.
  
  1. Consequential Layer- looks at the consequences of certain actions for society, groups of people or individuals. 
The consequences, that my training sessions had on most of the participants, was mainly positive: out of 15 participants, 9 took part in the training sessions and from those 9, 6 reported to be confident or very confident users of Hapara after the sessions. Prior to the sessions, 3 participants were already confident, from those 3, 2 did not participate in the sessions and 1 was made my co-presenter. Confident teachers will use the tool properly and hopefully children’s learning will be positively impacted. As for myself and my co-presenter, we investigated the topic in depth in order to deliver the sessions, I even gained a Certificate as a Hapara Champion Educator. The professional environment of the Years 4 to 6 teachers has been enhanced through the acquisition of new skills and learning in general i.e. including using Zoom.
  
  1. Deontological Considerations-  looks to do the right thing, to be honest and to minimise harm. 
It is at this stage that recommendations of a code of ethics, and morals weigh in. During this study process, participants have been respected and given anonymity, except when I refer to my co-presenter, the other participants can workout who this person is. I singled this person out in a later paragraph, but I also assumed responsibility for certain actions in order to minimize harm. My colleagues’ consent to participate was obtained and any information gained has been kept private. Participants have not been put under any pressure to participate and the results have been recorded as they are. My aim has been to reach the validity, reliability and usefulness of this study.

  1. The Inner Layer (Uppermost Layer)- deals with the ‘core rationale’ and issues of respect for the individual and autonomy. 
After the training sessions, 66% of the participants expressed to be confident or very confident using Hapara, which indicates that they have become more autonomous in the use of this tool in their classrooms. In ‘normal’ circumstances, having the sessions live could have given a higher percentage, on the other hand, the participation could have been lower due to before or after school commitments. 
The colleague, I made my co-presenter, and I became even more autonomous through our personal preparation to deliver the training session. It sounded ideal in theory to mentor a first follower, but in the sessions my co presenter was answering questions while I was presenting which again made me doubt the smoothness of the presentation. Again, due to social isolation we did not communicate well with my co-presenter. Next time, I would set up ground rules for participants and presenters and repeat them often.

In conclusion, the issues of consent, availability of resources, professional outcomes, minimising harm and autonomy of participants and presenters contributed to the outcomes of the study which agrees with consequentialism: betterment for the majority.  

Reference
  • İşman, A., Altinay Aksal, F., & Altinay Gazı, Z. (2009). Teacher Researchers: Technology and Ethical Considerations While Conducting an Action Research. Hacettepe University Journal of Education, 37, 84–95.

  • Stutchbury, K., & Fox, A. (2009). Ethics in educational research: introducing a methodological tool for effective ethical analysis. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(4), 489–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640903354396


Reflective entry 6 (50% of PRACTICE) Critique and address issues of law, regulations and/or policy that have been relevant to the digital and collaborative learning innovation you applied in your practice.

I intended to critique my school policy on teachers’ professional development, but my principal said the school has only guidelines and due to COVID-19 changes of level, he is extremely busy. I decided to work with National Education Goals and the COVID -19 Alert System as I find them relevant to the practice of my innovation.
Ten National Education Goals (Education.org.nz, last reviewed 2019) were set up by the New Zealand government in recognition for the fundamental importance of education. I find four goals relevant to my research:
NEG 1- The highest standards of achievement, through programmes which enable all students to realise their full potential as individuals, and to develop the values needed to become full members of New Zealand's society. 
This is relevant to my innovation because in the process, I delivered a programme of sound quality to the participants. Most participants are now ready to use Hapara with their students which will create new habits and opportunities for the children to become agentic and self-directed learners. By doing so, children will grow to become more autonomous in their participation in society.
NEG 2- Equality of educational opportunity for all New Zealanders, by identifying and removing barriers to achievement.
This goal is relevant, because through my innovation, teachers will reach all students in their classrooms. I removed certain barriers by identifying what aspects of Hapara the participants needed help with and addressing them in the training sessions. The participants receive ongoing support, which will remove further barriers to teachers and children’s achievement.  
NEG 3- Development of the knowledge, understanding and skills needed by New Zealanders to compete successfully in the modern, ever-changing world.
The third goal is relevant to my innovation, which is training sessions to use Hapara. Hapara is a digital tool utilised by teachers to facilitate the optimal use of Google Apps by the students. These apps enable students to collaborate, connect (locally, nationally or globally), receive feedback and act on it while drafting a piece of work, and many more 21st Century ways of operating that are relevant to the ever-changing world. 
NEG 6- Excellence achieved through the establishment of clear learning objectives, monitoring student performance against those objectives, and programmes to meet individual needs.
Hapara is being used at my school for the children to set goals together with their teacher for the three core subjects and for Learning to Learn and Inquiry. My innovation has prepared the participants to use Hapara to monitor the children’s progress in their learning goals and to design plans based on the children’s needs.
The rest of the NEG touched on themes like children with special needs, early years, curriculum balance, access to qualifications, the Treaty of Waitangi, cultural diversity. These aspects were not directly addressed in my innovation, but some of them were raised during the session i.e. children with special needs and curriculum balance. The Treaty of Waitangi was acknowledged in some sessions and cultural diversity was represented by the diverse background of the teachers and children at school. 

COVID-19 reached New Zealand with the first case reported on February 26th this year, later the country went under a four-level alert system on March 25th putting everyone into a nationwide lockdown. 
The government Alert System (2020) listed measures for the population to follow. Among those were:
  • “People instructed to stay at home in their bubble other than for essential personal movement”; and
  • “Educational facilities closed”.
These measures affected the delivery of my Hapara training sessions which initially were going to be live in short sittings before and/or after school. The sessions then needed to be delivered online. 
The fact that participants were to stay at home, meant that they were highly likely to attend the training, but my lack of experience being a host using Zoom and, in addition to that, having a co-host, meant that the sessions were not as of good quality as live ones.
During the training I had to have Hapara on my screen and ‘share’ it with the participants. This ‘sharing’ feature was crucial to my presentation, but it prevented me from giving access to the session to late comers, so that meant they missed a session and therefore their confidence using Hapara was affected. The mentioned feature also prevented me from seeing all the participants at the same time and as a result I could not use their facial expressions as feedback to adjust my delivery or identify people who were not participating actively, so I could draw them back into the presentation.
Next time, under the same circumstances, I would stop after presenting a point, stop the function of ‘sharing’ screen and check with the participants and co-presenter how the session is going for everyone. I would also let the late comers in to the session, so they can be updated and participate in the remainder of the session. 
As a conclusion, the regulations that had a more stressful impact on the delivery of my innovation was the COVID - 19 Regulations because I had to modify my mindset and use Zoom without having experience as a host. But having had analysed the National Education Goals, I can see that my innovation has the potential to produce great outcomes for the students of my school.  

Reference



  • New Zealand Government (2020). COVID-19 Alert System. 
https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-system/covid-19-alert-system/#alert-level-4%C2%A0%E2%80%94-lockdown

Reflective entry 7 (50% of DIGITAL) Explain how your application of a digital and collaborative innovation relates to national educational policies/guidelines and contemporary educational theory and compare it to existing delivery models and needs.

The New Technology Curriculum has two new areas: 
  • Computational Thinking for Digital Technologies and
  • Designing and Developing Digital Outcomes.
For the purpose of this entry, I will focus on the second area. The Progression Outcomes in this area go from 1 to 3, from which 1 and 2 is of my interest because they cover Year 3 to 6- levels that my innovation targeted.

Progress Outcome 1 indicates that students can participate in a teacher-led development to create, manipulate, store, retrieve and share content. This includes among others:
• An awareness of some applications and their purpose. 
• An understanding that computers store content and we can retrieve it later.

Progress Outcome 2 indicates that given some parameters/criteria and tools and/or techniques they are able to make decisions (largely independently) about creating, manipulating, storing, retrieving, sharing and or testing content (developed for a specific purpose) within a fundamental system. This includes among others:
• Understanding that digital devices develop/change over time & the influence/impact they have on humans/society.
• Purposefully use an increasing range of applications (software and file type).

The Progress Outcomes mentioned before are related to my innovation because the children, as well teachers, have been introduced to a new digital tool that helps them manage Google Apps. Hapara allows them to store and retrieve their work from a dashboard. By introducing them to Hapara, they are developing an understanding that technology develops over time and influences their performance and way to operate in the classroom.  

Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners is about the relationships and interactions the teachers have with the Maori learner, their whanau and the iwi at ECE, primary, and secondary levels.
Among the five competences described in this document, I find Ako: taking responsibility for their own learning and that of Māori learners, that most relates to my digital and collaborative initiative. Participants of my investigation took responsibility for their own learning and by becoming more confident in the use of Hapara, they can cater for the needs of their Maori students and students in general in a more prepared way. Participant teachers can also display the other competencies through the use of Hapara i.e. planning activities targeted to individuals or groups according to their specific needs.
The teachers’ behaviour indicators relevant to my role for this entry is: Provides and supports ongoing professional learning and development for staff that strengthens the school/ECE service’s ability to raise Māori learner achievement.

A learning theory that is relevant to my innovation is Constructivism which is defined as an active process to create new knowledge building up from existing knowledge (Koohang, et al 2009). McLeod (2019) says that Dewey (1938) and Vygosky (1978) estates that all learning is socially constructed and impacted by the social environment respectively. 
The Hapara training sessions with the participants were based on their expressed needs according to what they already knew and the subsequent sessions took into account the knowledge they constructed in the previous sessions. The sessions were done in groups where participants were asking questions and my co-presenter and other participants were answering them. It was a social event.
The sessions were organised from easiest to more complex topics and during the sessions the participants were scaffolded through demonstrations and dialogue. 

There was an element of Connectivism in the development of my innovation. Goldie, J. (2016) says that Connectivism is a learning theory which states that learning is a network process influenced by technology and socialization (Siemens 2006). 
When I was preparing for the Hapara training sessions, I visited the blog of a very talented and well connected teacher in a local school, who I met when I was part of ACCoS. In her blog she described her journey about introducing Hapara to her colleagues and there I found out that Hapara offers online training to interested people. So I completed their online training, and I received a Hapara Champion Educator certificate, which prepared me to deliver the training sessions, to answer questions and to access resources for my colleagues.   
By being part of this MindLab course I became familiar with the use of Zoom which is much smoother than Skype and Google Meet and it has the functions to share my screen and to record the sessions for the participants' reference.
The delivery model that I used for my Hapara training sessions was Online Model, due to Covid 19. Ganza (2012), in his dissertation for his degree of Doctor in Education in Educational Leadership, mentions that Smith (2005) suggested an online model that included 51 competencies for the instructor. These competencies covered three different areas:
  1. Competencies before the course- which involves syllabus construction, instructor’s knowledge of technology and course organisation. In the delivery of my course the competencies mentioned here were present in the design of my sessions.
  2. Competencies needed during the course- which include efficient course management, knowledge about facilitation and interaction, active learning, effective and practices to promote participation, and the learner-centered approach. At this stage of my innovation, my familiarity with Malcolm Knowles and his theory of Andragogy supported my style of facilitation and the collaboration among the participants who themselves were providers of knowledge.
  3. Competencies needed after the course-  involved use of technology to report and calculate grades, course evaluations conducted by both students and the instructor teaching the course. At this stage, I did not have to calculate and report grades, but I used technology to find out the effect of my innovation on the participants’ confidence to use Hapara.

Reference

  • Ministry of Education, New Zealand. Digital Technologies / Hangarau Matihiko: Draft for Revision. www.education.govt.nz


  • Koohang, A., Riley, L., Smith, T., & Schreurs, J. (2009). E-Learning and Constructivism: From Theory to Application. Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning & Learning Objects, 5, 91–109.



  • Ganza, William John (2012) The Impact of Online Professional Development on Online Teaching in Higher Education. UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 345. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/345

Reflective entry 8 (50% of DIGITAL) Evaluate the outcomes of a digital and collaborative innovation in your practice from an educational research perspective.

The purpose of my innovation was to find out if the Hapara training sessions I provided the participants with, would affect their confidence using Hapara with their students in class. 
A factor to consider was that before the delivery of the training sessions started, Covid -19 Alert System reached Level 4, so the only way to carry out my innovation was online. I used Zoom and I had a few issues mentioned in the prior entries, but I received verbal and written feedback stating the good quality of the session. Thanks to this experience I became more comfortable using Zoom with my own students while involved in e-Home Learning. 
Regarding the innovation itself, participants were asked to complete a survey before the training sessions. There they had the opportunity to select workshops they wanted to join in:
  • Basic Functions: This workshop was about the main functions to navigate the dashboard allowing the teacher to see what the child is engaged in while using a Chrome-book.  
  • How to create groups: Creation of groups when planning lessons to personalise learning.
  • How to use Workspace: Create lesson plans for children to have access independently and at their own time.
  • Student Dashboard: What it looks like, help children to create a shortcut to access it and how to navigate it. This gives students access to personalised messages from the teacher, tasks assigned to them, e-mails in one place.

From the 15 teachers approached, 2 teachers indicated to be confident users of Hapara and therefore they did not participate in the sessions and from the 13 participants, 8 completed the second survey after the training sessions.
According to the second survey:
  • Confidence using Hapara- 1 participant was very confident using Hapara after the sessions, 5 were confident and 2 needed more support.
This indicates to me that my training sessions affected their confidence (or perception of confidence) in a positive manner. However, at this moment we are into our second week of Covid -19 Alert System Level 2 and participants are using Hapara at different stages. A number of teachers are talking about using Hapara combined with the e-Home Learning format to let the children take more control of their own learning, which is one of the reasons for using Hapara. Children becoming agentic will take some time and it would be the result of different factors not just Hapara.
Other aspects influencing the participants’ confidence using Hapara is:
1. Constructivism, which according to McLeod, Saul (2019) “... prior knowledge influences what new or modified knowledge an individual will construct from new learning experiences (Phillips, 1995)”. 
2. Social interaction, as McLeod, Saul (2019)  put it “Learning is a social activity - it is something we do together, in interaction with each other, rather than an abstract concept (Dewey, 1938)”.
3. Andragogy (Adult Learning Theory), which estates that among other things that adults display readiness to learn and are driven by an internal motivation to learn. It lists as principles that adults are self-directed, they already have a wealth of knowledge and experiences, the knowledge and skills they gain can be applied immediately and can be used to solve problems (Esther Smith, 2017). 

  • Usefulness of Sessions- 2 participants found the sessions very helpful, 5 found them helpful, and 1 not helpful (later she emailed me saying that the fact the children were not at school, prevented her from practising the content of the session. 
Again, in this case the majority found the usefulness of the sessions, positive. This means that in spite of my inexperience being a Zoom host, I was able to present useful training sessions together with a co-host. Next time, I could record brief sessions about tips or create a Google Doc for questions and then record the answers providing a demo.
The sessions included lots of interaction from the participants, in the form of questions and clarifying answers by my co-presenter, myself and other participants. The sessions active social processes in which the participants were making sense of their learning by voicing their concerns, doubts or misunderstandings and in return they got scaffolded, as Vygotsky says (McLeod, Saul,  2019), by peer participants who knew the answers to the different questions.
    
  • Access to extra resources- 5 participants wanted extra resources, 3 did not.
This part of the survey gives me an idea of who is motivated to learn more and that they want to consolidate what they learnt during the sessions. I created a pool of resources such as quick guides and videos in a Hapara workspace and shared it with them. The next step would be to transfer those resources to Google Docs for the less confident users.

  • Resources and Topics- ‘Workspace’ was mentioned 3 times, ‘Highlights’ was mentioned 2 times, ‘Children Dashboard’ was mentioned once and ‘Not Applicable’ was mentioned 4 times.
This segment tells me what topics need to be explained in more depth and also tells me which topics they understood clearly because they were not mentioned. This information guides the kind of resources that are desirable when I transfer the resources to Google Docs.

Reference


Esther Smith  (2017). Andragogy – Adult Learning Theory (Knowles). Learning Theories, September 30, 2017, https://www.learning-theories.com/andragogy-adult-learning-theory-knowles.html.

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