Steve

=Steve Lewis= toc

=About Steve=

Welcome to my Wikipage! I'm a 4th grade teacher in West Hartford. I've been teaching for seven years and previously taught 5th grade for six years. I am originally from New Jersey but came to Connecticut when I went to UConn for undergrad. I graduated in 2003 with a degree in History and intended on going for my secondary education certification. I changed my mind and got my elementary certification at St. Joe's in West Hartford. I live in Southington with my wife and my beagle, Baxter. In August we'll be welcoming our baby girl into the world! It will be our first child and we're excited and nervous at the same time! I enjoy traveling and watching sports. I'm a huge UConn fan and love cheering on my Huskies!

This is my seventh class in the Ed Tech Masters program. I have a Promethean Board in my classroom that I use everyday. I'm also the webmaster for my school. I've used many different technologies in my school including document cameras, interactive clickers, and online websites for all subjects. I feel very lucky because my principal is very big on technology. She is always looking for what she can bring into the school to help the teachers and students. I feel very lucky to be working in such a forward thinking school.

=**Reflective Essay (6/7/12)**=

In terms of what I know about research, I have to say that I feel a little confident but mostly unaware. I feel like I know what research is in terms of finding primary source documents or other studies to support a paper I would be writing. I did a lot of research for classes I took as an undergrad for my degree in History. I know how to cite and how to find documents to support your research. I've also done research for papers during my certification. However, all these examples are of me using other peoples' research to support an idea of mine. I begin to feel lost when it comes to talking about doing action research or research that is original. This is the area of research that I feel most lost in.

When it comes to what I want to learn about in Educational Technology research I find myself full of thoughts. I'd love to see what new technology is out there to use with students to help them excel. I'm particularly interested in how technology can help students who do not perform well with your standard paper and pencil tasks. I've found in my own experiences that some of the lower performing students actually perform better than my average to higher level students when technology is involved. Whether it be the motivation or interest in using technology or the ease of use, I'd be curious to find out more on this topic. I'd also like to learn more on research on technologies impact on students with special needs. More specifically, students with ADHD or learning disabilities. These are the types of disabilities I come in contact with the most in my school and I would love to learn what is being done to help these types of students. Finally, I'd love to learn more about software and programs that people are using with all students. I added this last part because hardware is great but is usually expensive and harder to come by. Software, as long as it's compatible with what you already have in the classroom, can be readily available and easier to persuade an administrator to purchase.

These are the things I'd like to learn more about in terms of Education Technology research. While I feel like I've had experience in finding other peoples' research I don't have any experience in action research and am looking forward to learning more about it.

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=Contact Info=

You can reach me on Linkedin

You can reach me on Facebook

You can follow me on Twitter @SLewis_Uno

My Skype address is: slewis1181

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=Partner Exploration=

My partner Melissa and I decided to do some exploring on the use of interactive clickers in the classroom. We came across a few articles on the research being done and are in the process of hearing back from some of the researchers. We found a few of them online through either linkedin or facebook. Here is one article that I found. The author is Margie Martyn and we found her through linkedin. We've sent out a message and are waiting to hear back. Here is her linkedin profile.

We also found this site which is a few links of research performed by educators on the effectiveness of clickers in the classroom. We focused on the study by Nancy Moreau and are also in the process of hearing back from her through linkedin. We found her here.

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= **YouTube Videos** =

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This video, while not the best filming, is a training video given to classroom teachers and administrators. I selected it because it was the same training that my school received on the clickers. While some of it is for selling the Steneo Clickers, a lot of his talk deals with how the clickers can be used in the classroom.

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This video is great. It talks about how the clickers impact the students in this teacher's classroom. I like how she talks about how teachers go about using the clicekrs. Around the 2:30 marks she begins talking about how teachers need to be comfortable with this technology in order for it to be successful.

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This is a video of a powerpoint that discusses the benefits of using clickers. It's very well presented and gives plenty of examples for why clickers are powerful tools that can give a lot of impact in the classroom. They give a great idea in terms of Clicker Wars. See 5:11 mark of video.

Here's the video I created on YouTube using Screen-Cast-O-Matic media type="youtube" key="LBsvesy2um8" height="360" width="640"

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=Blog Response=

I responded to the blog [|Before Spouting Off]. I really could connect to what the blogger was saying about how to handle a confrontation or a sensitive topic. I couldn't agree more on when the blogger said that hopefully this immediate reaction didn't occur in a face-to-face conversation. For me, e-mail is my mode of communication because it allows me to think out, re-read, and send my response to something I may be upset about. Here is my response:

"I couldn't agree more with this article. I find that I have a very short temper at times and really need to slow down and think about what I truly want to say. This is true in my personal and professional life. I way to cope with spouting off in my job is to utilize e-mail as much as possible. Through e-mail I am able to walk away, take some time to get my thoughts together, and then compose my response to whatever I was confronted with. The first piece of advice "Don’t react immediately. Give yourself some time to get a clearer view of the issue and what’s at stake." is the best advice I could go by. I feel that e-mail allows me to do this. I also follow the last piece of advice and before I have that face to face or phone conversation I will often write down key points or what I want to say."

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=Podcast Review=

I chose to listen to the NPR:Education Podcast. I listened to part of the Podcast titled [|Building a Better Classroom]. I focused specifically on the 7 minute Podcast on how videos can flip the classroom, specifically the Khan Academy. I was drawn to this podcast because it talked with the creator of the Khan Academy, Salman Khan. I had two students who utilized this site this year as a way to extend their math skills at home. Their parents were truly drawn to it after I introduced it to them. It made me realize the power of technology and how things like these sites and instructional videos can be very powerful for students. It made me think about what I could do with my document camera and put them on YouTube or my website. The whole podcast made me realize that doing a podcast could also help with having students learn more about math and how to be successful.

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=Reflective Essay #2=

So now that we've reached the end, what can I say that I've learned? I guess the first place to start is with the research itself. I've never actually done any kind of action research and I was fairly unfamiliar with the process as a whole. I was able to learn that there are different kinds of research. As the first article by Clark and Mayer called //eLearning and the Science of Instruction// explained, research can be done in-person or it can be a review of other research done on the topic. This evidence-based practice can be very helpful if you want to look at a more global view of the research you are performing. This idea was new to me and made it easier for me to understand how one can determine if a piece of technology is effective. I found it very effective and made me feel more comfortable with doing research in education technology.

When it comes to the actual technology we explored, I was floored by what I found. I liked how we investigated social media as it was something I never imagined using with my students are even using to help me find resources and connect with people in the field. I especially liked the use Skype and the Wiki as I can see both of these technologies being helpful with my students. YouTube was another resource that I had started using with my class but have really started to see how powerful it can be with students when used properly. I can't see myself using Twitter or Facebook with my students because I work with 4th graders and that level of social media is above what they should be using.

Finally, when I go beyond what I can use with my students and look at how these resources and technologies can help me as a professional, I can easily say I have learned a lot. I always found Facebook to be something I use to catch up with old friends. I never even thought of using it to connect with people whose research I may have read and wanted to fin out more about. Twitter falls into the same category. I had a Twitter account previously but never used it. I still am a bit overwhelmed with it but have been trying to keep up with it. Through Twitter I have been able to weed out the garbage and find the good stuff. Through there I've come across websites and ideas that I hope to use with my classroom next year. I came across some good ideas for using the Interactive Whiteboard. However, I'm still on the fence with Twitter. LinkedIn is another social media piece that I had heard of but never used. I've found that it could be a powerful tool for when I decide to look into getting a job in the educational technology field. It's a great way to stay connected and meet people who could possibly land you a job.

Overall, this class has been really helpful in my growth in education technology. Not only did I learn how to do my own research, I've also learned how to take other research and bring it all together and how to use social media for more than just my own personal use. I look forward to continuing with these different social media outlets and seeing where it can lead to.

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