Wicked Problem Part C: THE PODCAST

Ok party people in the place to be. I've finished my podcast, and here it is! 


Download the podcast


This podcast was recorded and edited on a Macintosh Computer using the freeware Audacity. The music is titled Alone Together from the album Different Colours by Marconi Union.

Wicked Problem Project: PART B: TPACK!

image courtesy of http://www.edu.org.au/whatisit/pedagogy

Part B of the Wicked Problem project bids me to apply the TPACK framework to my proposed solution.

Brief:  My wicked problem is the students' lack of more than a superficial understanding of the science, mathematical, and engineering concepts  underpinning robotics due to a lack of class time for students to reflect on their work, and collaboratively process, synthesize, and present their findings.  The proposed solution is two-fold: students will write in individual blogs for reflective journaling, comment on each others blogs, and set up a collaborative site with which they can create a multimedia presentation for their findings and other artifacts.

TP - Technological Pedagogical Knowledge.

Understanding how the technology used affects (and supports) the teaching strategies...  Using online blogs and collaborative spaces (like Sites or Wikis) supports reflective thinking and collaboration by the students.  It gives them a space to think about the work they've done and process the results in their own language and creative style.  Commenting across individual blogs creates a dialogue outside of the classroom that can give otherwise quiet students the freedom to express themselves more naturally without the pressures of immediacy and peer judgement.  On the flip side, this dialogue and collaboration outside of the classroom may constrain certain types of learners who don't type as well, or who have less access to technology outside of school.  Some of the unique knowledge that I will have to develop and apply will be moderating and guiding online discussion, which I believe will be substantially different from a traditional class discussion.  I will also have to have a general grasp on how blogs and collaborative spaces function in order to field student questions with various software/web tools.

TC - Technological Content Knowledge.

Understanding how the content can be represented through the technologies used...  Utilizing online blogging tools and collaborative spaces will allow students to represent their work in new ways.  Firstly, they're more easily able to diagram results using either drawing tools or charting tools built into most spreadsheets and can quickly parse data and churn out slick-looking graphics.  Second, they can capture their work with digital still or digital video cameras and post (or embed) these media to  show how their builds and programs performed.  The digital tools open up new forms of recording and expressing results, interpretations, and preponderances thereof.  

PC - Pedagogical Content Knowledge.

Understanding how the teaching strategies make the content accessible... The contrast in pedagogical content knowledge might be the most stark between Robotics and any of the core academic subjects.  Robotics must be taught with a heavy leaning toward experiential learning: challenges or tasks with a lot of room for trial and error.  This is a very kinesthetic and charged type of classroom, one in which many traditional teaching strategies aren't useful.  Once students are in the process of building, programming, and doing challenges, it is very difficult to hold a traditional class discussion.  The online mode of discussion puts dialogue firmly within the same realm that their work with the robots exists: through the computer in a digital medium.  Beyond just the novelty of online dialogue, the students will be using a computer with more diverse software tools to communicate, document, process, and synthesize their findings into a presentable form to share with each other, and possibly the public.

Group Leadership Project: PART A

Our group decided to use Google+ Hangouts in order to facilitate synchronous group meetings.  G+ Hangouts is simple to setup and use, given everyone involved already had a Gmail account.  G+ Hangouts allowed us to record our session and auto-magically placed it in my YouTube account for everyone to view and embed (called Hangouts On-Air).  The audio and video quality was good throughout both sessions.  One of the most interesting features is a snap-in that allows everyone in the session (up to 10 people) see and edit one or more Google Docs files simultaneously in the same window.  It also had a screen sharing feature that allows anyone to share their screen (or window).  This feature isn't limited to one person, each person can share, and their screen replaces the image of their camera, and every participant can choose which screen (or camera image) they are viewing.

There were only a few minor drawbacks or annoyances with G+ Hangouts.  The screen sharing does not stream out to the On-Air recording.  This seems to be a glaring omission in the On-Air feature that could be resolved easily. Some of our group members had occasional connection problems, but reloading their browsers typically fixed them.  Lastly, I attended one session on a wifi connection, and my video and audio were noticeably degraded compared to the other people in the session.  

Overall, G+ Hangouts is a free and easy tool to use to facilitate synchronous meetings with a lot of features that benefit working groups (rather than merely chat groups).  Our recordings are below:

Our Brainstorm session came directly on the heels of the "Dry Run" testing of Google+ Hangouts for the Web-Video Conferencing Lab, and therefore the first video is over an hour long.  Brainstorming begins ~29:00 in.

We decided to hold weekly meetups through G+, and our second meeting is here:

UPDATE:  Full group meeting: 

(why do i look like I'm complaining in the still?)

Web-based video conferencing

In your blog create a reflection titled “Web-Conferencing” and discuss how the video conference went, what software you used, and what you would do differently next time. Also explain how this might be useful in your classroom.


One of the labs in Session 2 of CEP812 if video web-conferencing. The point being to find a synchronous web-based video conferencing tool that could work to facilitate the CEP812 Group Leadership project, but also other applications for our work in the classroom.


Here is the recording of our web conferencing session:

We chose Google+ Hangouts as our technology of choice. The reasoning being that we all had Google accounts, and once you have Google+ enabled and the Google Voice and Video plugin installed, you are good to go. Setting up a meeting session is very easy.


Google+ Hangouts has a lot of interesting and useful features, not the least of which being, a Google Docs plugin that allows everyone in the meeting to see and collaboratively edit a Google Document simultaneously. This is quite a powerful tool, and we used it extensively in our session. Another nice feature is a Google Chat bar that allows anyone in the session to text-chat. This can be handy if you want to have a sidebar conversation without interrupting the person talking, for instance, if someone is demonstrating something, or two people are having a lengthy voice conversation. Google+ Hangouts also has a Screen Sharing setting that any participant can switch on. When activated, the person's screen (or specific window they select, there are several options) replaces the image from their camera. This means that any number of people can share their screens simultaneously. Lastly, there is a feature called On-Air which allows you to stream the session live to YouTube for people to view while the session is taking place. Once you end the session, Youtube will convert the entire recorded session to the session-maker's Youtube account if you want to share it; as we have above.


I participated in the session on a wifi connection, and the appearance of my camera was noticably fuzzy. While the video and voice seemed to come through with little (or manageable) latency, any time I used the additional features like Google Docs or the shared whiteboard application, I experienced significant lag. Next time I will participate from a location with a hard wired connection.

Wicked Problem Project PART A

Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler state that understanding their TPACK framework for Technology Pedagogical Knowledge is best done through the Wicked Problem.  This is a problem that is "difficult to solve because of incomplete, contradictory and changing requirements."








1.  Important educational need to address.


In my MS Robotics course, I believe that students only attain a light grasp, if at all, of the underlying math, engineering, physics, and programming concepts.  Most of the class time is spent doing hands-on work building robots, programming them, and then doing trial runs of the challenge courses.  This work can only be done in the classroom.  Students don’t have time or space to reflect on the work they have done, connecting their work with the underlying concepts.


2. Addressing the problem with technology.


I believe students need time and space to reflect on their work and build knowledge through their in-class collaborations.  I propose to create an online space for students to (a) journal their experiences in class, and (b) connect the underlying concepts to their efforts in a collaborative manner.  This will entail (a) a blog space and (b) wiki or other collaborative space.  Some class time will be devoted to setting up and maintaining these sites, but most of the authoring will be done as on-going homework.

I will demonstrate the use of a blogging tool and a collaborative site tool, but students will be given the dominion to use any web-based tools they are comfortable with (as long as they provide the basic features of authorship, commentary, and collaboration).  Blogger and Google Sites are available to students through the school Google Apps account.  There is no cost to these web-based tools.


3. Logistics of the proposed solution


Each student will set up an individual blog for MS Robotics.  Each team (pair or triad) will set up a collaborative site to showcase their group’s work and experimental findings.

The blogs should be set up within the first two weeks of class to get students in the habit of writing regularly.  The group sites should be set up about one month into the course, after the students complete the introductory lessons, but before the challenge courses begin.

Writing requirements:
Original posting: once per week (twice for full credit)
Response to other blogs: twice per week (three for full credit)
Collaborative site: substantial material (not aesthetic) additions or edits reviewed by the teacher for credit every week.
Both tools will be used throughout the remainder of the course.


4. Relevant research and resources


My research revealed that blogging is a tool that is used in middle and high school classrooms, and widely so since 2007.  There are two aspects to blogging that have pedagogical utility: reflective writing, and social conversation.  

Blogging equips students with a tool to explore their ideas and develop their personal voice.  Every student has equal space and unlimited access to process their ideas, findings and opinions then frame them in a way that is meaningful to not only themselves but their cohorts.

Blogging is not only about personal journaling.  Blogs add an element of conversation and collaboration to a student’s writing. The blog space creates a conversation outside of the confines of the classroom, subtly underscoring the notion that learning does not end at the classroom door.  Students can comment, suggest, and critique each others ideas and work. Blogs give full access to dialogue to students who lack confidence to speak during class.

The fact that students are sat at a computer while engaging in this dialogue also gives them ready access to online resources locate information to support their writing.  One imagines that a successful blog post (or subsequent commentary) would include hyperlinks to resources related to and supporting the ideas and opinions expressed.

Selected sources consulted:

Barrett, Helen.  2008.  Creating an interactive portfolio with Google Sites.  http://sites.helenbarrett.net/portfolio/how-to

Davis, Anne.  2007.  Rationale for educational blogging.  http://anne.teachesme.com/2007/01/17/rationale-for-educational-blogging/

Higgings, Patrick.  2007.  Blogs as conversations.  http://chalkdust101.blogspot.com/2007/03/blogs-as-conversations.html


5. Plan for implementation


During this summer CEP812 course, I will research available options for blogging sites and collaborative spaces for students to use.  I will select a few and learn their intricacies, and set up test sites to demonstrate for the students.  This will also allow me to simulate the work of students for the purpose of the CEP812 course.

After the course, I will roll out the technology tools to students in the Fall for their use in Robotics class.


6. Metrics for success


In the individual blogs, I believe a successful implementation will show evidence of personal reflection on the work they completed every few days.  It should chronicle their successes and failures, contain preponderances on how to improve their robot or programming, and show evidence of a story arc to their journey through the class.  In class, I would expect to see students experiment more with their robots, and be self-motivated to create new goals and challenges.

The group sites should show evidence of math, engineering, physics, and programming concepts they they discovered, utilized, or overcame to complete the challenge courses.  They should show evidence of experimentation, documentation, and application of the scientific method.  The sites should underscore the understanding and application of these concepts.

CEP812 Video Introduction

Here is my video personal introduction for CEP 812: Applying Educational Technology to Practice.

Quick note that the photos of students and LEGO robots in the first 30 seconds are my originals from Windrush School.  The photos in the second half of the video are sourced from websites.

The background music is Sleepless by Marconi Union.