relative advantage jm

8/11/2019 Relative Advantage JM

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Learning Challenge Technology Content Areas Relative Advantage Expected Outcome

1. Provide student

critique and feedback

for physical activities.

Digital video

recorders, such as

iPads, iPhones, Flip

cameras or any other

small portable videocamera.

Video animation

software tools such as

V1 Sports or

Ubersense.

Physical

education (proper

form for sporting

activities such as

jumping a hurdleor for dance

instruction)

Music (proper

form

holding/playing

instruments)

Language Arts or

any subject area

where a student

presentation isrequired

(presentation

skills, posture,

hand gestures,

eye contact, ticks,

shuffling feet or

hands)

By watching themselves

on video, students can

see how they look when

completing a physical

activity. Students canreceive feedback in

private, so as not to be

embarrassed in front of

peers.

Using animation software,

teachers can draw on top

of the video showing

proper form, or bring

attention to areas needing

improvement. Teachers

can also record voicecommentary, so that

students can review

videos independently.

Videos can be reviewed

multiple times and can be

used as an assessment of

student performance.

Students will understand a

teacher's critique of their

performance because they w

be able to observe

themselves actuallyperforming the required task.

2. Allow students face

to face communication

with distant

participants.

Video

chat/conferencing

tools such as Skype,

FaceTime or Google

Hangouts.

Foreign

Language classes

(allow students to

converse with

students in foreign

countries who are

native speakers)

Social Studies

(talking to a cotton

farmer in the south

about slavery,

debating the US

Constitution with a

US Senator)

It is not feasible for

students to travel to every

location that they may

encounter in their studies,

but through video chats,

they can experience some

aspects of distant

cultures. Students can talk

with peers and experts

that otherwise would be

inaccessible.

Students gain a better

appreciation for foreign

cultures, places, and distant

people by connecting with

them on a personal level and

not just reading about the

topic in a book or seeing a

movie. By directly interacting

with people, bonds can form

and the material can have

greater relevance to the

students.

This chart shows the relative advantages of using technology in a grade 5/6 middle school. Since this list is not confined to a

single subject area, an additional column, "Content Areas" is included to provide examples of where the technology could be

successfully applied.

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3. Students cannot

easily see small

objects that the

teacher is using for a

demonstration.

Document cameras

such as Elmo or

Smart Document

camera, in conjunction

with a projector

Science

Art

Often a teacher needs to

hold a small object up to

the class for everyone to

look at, such as a crystal

or insect. The object canbe passed around the

class but this is disruptive

and not practical for fragile

items.

A document camera

allows the teacher to

project a real-time image

of the object onto a

projection screen. The

cameras are able to zoom

in on the object allowingstudents to see more

detail in the object. Some

cameras can even take

pictures that can be used

for class handouts.

Students will be able to see

physical objects more clearly

and in greater detail than if th

teacher simply held them in

front of the class.

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4. Students are

apprehensive to

speak in front of the

class.

Digital video

recorders, such as




Video projection

equipment that can be

connected to the

video cameras

(through a computer

or directly) which is

capable of projecting

a picture large enough

for a class to view.

Streaming video

devices such as Apple

TV which can

wirelessly stream

video to a projector.

Any subject area

where a student

must present to a

group,

Students can be fearful of

presenting in front of their

peers. This skill is not

often practiced in schools,

but rather just a requiredpart of an assignment. By

allowing students to video

tape their presentation,

two benefits can be

realized.

1. Students can practice

their presentation in

private, and self-review or

ask a teacher for

feedback. They can

record their presentationmultiple times and gain

confidence to present in

front of the class.

2. For students that can

demonstrate mastery of a

topic but cannot handle

the in-person

presentation, the video

can be played for the

class instead of having the

student stand in front of

the class.

Students will improve their

presentation skills by having

multiple low pressure

opportunities to practice and

refine their technique.

Opportunities for peer and

teacher feedback can be

incorporated.

5. Students need to

learn how to listen

critically to audio

recordings.

Digital voice recorders

from Sony or

Olympus, iPhone,

iPad.

Language Arts

History

The Smarter Balanced

testing for English

Language Arts requires

students to listen to audio

sources and then answer

a series of questions on

the passage. If teachers

record traditional printed

text, then students can

practice listening to audio

versions.

Students will become

proficient at using audio

recordings as primary

sources.

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6. Students need

additional time to

understand a complex

process.

Digital video

recorders, such as




Screencasting

software such Jing or

Camtasia.

Website that supports

video streaming such

as Vimeo or YouTube.

Science

Math

Students often need

repeated exposure to

complex processes, or

could benefit from a pre-

exposure to aconcept/process before

they have to perform it in

a classroom setting.

Teachers (or an advanced

student) can record

themselves solving a

complex math problem, or

demonstrating a science

laboratory experiment,

and then upload this video

to a website that allowsstudents to watch it

whenever they want. For

pre-exposure activities,

watching the video can be

assigned as homework,

which would allow the

teacher to devote more

time to the lab and less on

explaining the task.

Students will demonstrate

improved performance on

math and science activities.

They will approach labs more

confidently and have moretime to focus on higher level

concepts.

7. Visualizing 3-

Dimensional objects is

often challenging for

students. When math

students progress

from area (2D) to

volume (3D), they are

often unable to

understand this

concept.

iPads with Think 3D

app.

Math

Physics

Science

Visualising 3D objects

without a physical

manipulative is often hard

for students. Wooden

blocks are often available,

but they are limited in size

and shape. There are

multiple apps available for

the iPad which allow

students to create and

manipulate 3D objects in

ways physical blocks

cannot.

Students will be able to

visualize 3D objects and have

increased awareness and

ability for spatial reasoning.

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8. Students have

difficulty writing

because they have

limited spelling

abilities or have alearning disability

such as dysgraphia.

Word prediction

software such as Co-

writer.

All content areas

which require

students to

provide a written

response.

Word prediction software

provides the student with

an enhanced word

processor, that displays a

list of words based on thecharacters the student

types.This allows the

student to focus on

content and not spelling.

The software can have a

custom dictionary for

domain specific

vocabulary such as Greek

or Roman names or

places, and can even

predict the next word thatthe student might want to

type in their sentence.

This helps students keep

on task and not worry

about the act of typing.

Students will be able to devot

more time to developing the

content of their written works

instead concentrating on

spelling or word choice. Oftenstudents with spelling

deficiencies can explain their

reasoning orally but struggle

to get it into written form

9. Students are

hesitant to respond to

questions or

participate in

classroom

discussions. OR

teachers need a quick

method to assess if

students understand a

topic.

Classroom polling

devices such as

Renaissance

Responder, or apps

for mobile devices

such as Socrative.

All subject areas This technology allows

students to answer

questions and particiapte

in class without speaking.

Responses can be

tracked by student name

or anonymously,

depending on the

teacher's opinion of the

subject matter. Teachers

can conduct ad-hoc polls,

or present a set of pre-

defined questions.

Teachers can measure

classroom, or individual

student knowledge on a

specific topic. They can use

this information to determine

the class needs additional

time on the topic or has

mastered the concept.

Students can participate in

classroom discussions withou

the fear of ridicule or

embarrassment from peers.

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10. Students have

difficulty decoding

written words, or are

visually impaired.

Text to speech

applications such as

Read Outloud and

Victor Reader and

services such asBookshare.org that

offer thousands of

books in DAISY

format that can be

read by these

programs.

Language Arts

(books)

Any subject area

that requiresreading pages on

the WWW

Text to speech allows

many forms of electronic

material, such as web

pages, or special book

formats to be read to astudent while highlighting

the words on-screen.

Students can adjust the

pace as well as the voice

used to read the words to

their specific preference.

Students using this

technology would not

require a para-

professional to read to

them.

Students would be able to

read a large source of

material independently.

Listening to the words as they

are highlighted on-screenreinforces spelling and word

recognition.

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