Reflection on a BYOD Environment

Video Transcription

Hello. Thank you for joining me to discuss reflection on constructivist theory in a BYOD learning environment.

Today, we're going to be able to answer, why is it important to intentionally design lessons? How can I use Marzano's lesson design questions to reflect on my lesson design? And what is Plus/Minus/Delta, and how can it help with my reflection?

We're going to get started by having a quick review of PBL and constructivism, as well as BYOD classrooms. If you remember, PBL is the extended process of inquiry in response to a complex question, problem, or challenge, that's closely monitored and created by the teacher. This is learner-centered, and the teacher acts as the facilitator.

It's based on constructivism. Constructivism is when students learn by constructing or creating their own meaning. It is student-centered, and the teacher acts as a facilitator, more so than he or she does in problem-based learning, because in problem-based learning, the teacher is the one posing the questions. And in constructivism, the students are generating the questions themselves.

BYOD is Bring Your Own Device. This is when students bring their own devices in hopes of creating a 1-to-1 learning environment, which is where there's one device for every student. Oftentimes, this isn't necessarily going to be the case, where there's 1-to-1 devices. So you might have group work, where at least one student in each group has a device that students can use.

Our adapted lesson plan is the same lesson plan we've been using for all of our reflections. And it's, the students will read and translate Shakespeare. And to prove their understanding, they will create a way to help other students understand Shakespeare better. They will do this by working in small groups, and they will generate ideas and test hypotheses. They will also take on roles in the groups, and they'll have access to technology.

We will also use Plus/Minus/Delta for reflection. Remember, this can be a really quick reflection that doesn't have to be extremely formal. Plus is what worked, minus is what didn't, and delta is, how am I going to fix these things?

We're using Marzano's lesson design question of, what will I do to help students generate and test hypotheses about new knowledge? There are three elements to this question, and we will look closely at those elements. And we'll use Plus/Minus/Delta to evaluate whether or not we've met those elements of constructivist lesson design in the BYOD classroom.

Starting with organizing students for cognitive complex tasks, for plus, I have that I was able to create mixed-ability groups. You'll remember that we've discussed the importance of mixed-ability groups and that they help provide peer scaffolding, and they also help teach students the skills to be successful by modeling successful student behavior.

The students also were able to take on roles. There was one student who was the leader, one student who was the reader, one student who was the recorder, and so on. The teacher can either create those roles, or the students can create the roles. And the idea is that students will take on roles that fit their strengths. So the teacher is differentiating.

A minus is equity. Not all groups have the same technology. And this can become a problem. Some groups might have faster internet. Some groups might have computers that have more programs on them to help them generate a product, that might help them generate a product, such as Movie Maker, et cetera.

My delta is, how am I going to address the minuses? Well, in terms of equity, I'm going to look at geographic locations and class schedules when forming the groups, because I know that the groups will not necessarily be able to use online meeting spaces to get together, because this isn't an always-learning environment. So I want to make sure that I have kids from the same neighborhood, or who at least have study halls together, in the same groups.

I'm also going to look at supplementing the devices we have in class with devices provided by school, so that if there's a group who doesn't necessarily have as advanced technology as another group, but who needs it, they can still use it.

For engaging students in cognitively complex tasks involving hypotheses generation and testing, a plus was that the task was complex. The task is complex. They have to figure out a way to make Shakespeare accessible for everyone. Obviously, they're going to have to take into account that there are different learners. Just like they're different learners, their peers are also going to be different learners.

And it's going to require deep thinking. There's not necessarily a right or wrong answer, and the answers that come to us straight off the bat may not be the best ones. So students are thinking outside of the box.

And a plus is that the students have generated vastly different hypotheses. One group might choose to act it out. One group might choose to create an app. One group might choose to create a dictionary.

Some minuses are, technology did not work. There's always going to be problems when you have students bringing in their own technology. Some days, there might be glitches. There's also the equity problem. Some students' technology may not be as good as other groups' technology, or some groups might not have it at all, because of the inconsistency of having to rely on students to bring in their own technology.

That's why a delta is to definitely supplement with school resources and to use open source, because if you create technology that doesn't open on all of the devices, that's going to create an additional problem.

Then we have providing resources and guidance. A plus is that there are multiple online and in-class resources, including the teacher herself. And the students have responded well to the teacher in the facilitator role, who provides guidance.

A minus is that students relied too much on online resources only, and some students were distracted by the devices. Especially since this isn't a 1-to-1 classroom, they're maybe not used to having the devices in front of them. So they might have some off-task behaviors that need to be addressed.

For delta, I'm going to definitely closely monitor the action in the classroom, making sure that students stay on task. To expand the resources, I'm going to bring in expert speakers. Maybe I'm going to bring in an expert on Elizabethan-era linguistics to talk to us about the language of Shakespeare. And I'm also going to offer alternative resources for the days when technology isn't working, or when a group member forgets his device.

Let's reflect. Between Plus/Minus/Delta and Marzano's design questions, which do you think is a more effective strategy for evaluating lesson plans? Why?

To review, today we talked about why it is important to intentionally design lessons. So in this case, we're intentionally designing a constructivist lesson in the lens of Marzano. And we're looking at how to do this in a BYOD classroom, and we have to be able to anticipate all of the pitfalls that might result because of that.

And we've also talked about Plus/Minus/Delta. And this is just the way that we reflect quickly so that we can make the changes needed. If you're a high school teacher, you might do the same lesson plan over six periods in one day. You need to be able to do something quickly-- Plus/Minus/Delta-- so you can make changes right away, so that a day isn't wasted.

To dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, be sure to check out the additional resources section associated with this video. This is where you'll find links targeted toward helping you discover more ways to apply this course material. Thank you for joining me, and happy teaching.