Part D - Findings and Implications

As I wrap up this foray into CEP 812 I have the unique opportunity to look back at the projects that I've undertaken and to assess them. There are a few key questions that I'll try to answer to assess the success of the implementation of my project, and how it affected my students.

Did the project get implemented as planned?
There were a few hitches in implementing my project. Our smartboard was rarely used in our school. With the lack of ceiling mounted projectors, or projectors that are readily available, teachers cannot count on having a projector in their classroom at all times. Once I was able to procure a projector, I wheeled the smartboard down to the room. When I set the board up, I began having trouble connecting it to my computer - only to realize that I did not have the correct adapter to connect the ps2 plug to my USB port. This caused a slight delay as I had to have the ISD come out a drop off the converter. Once I had the part I thought that I was all set. This though was not the case. Since our smartboard is not mounted, it has been wheeled all over the school - which has caused some wear and tear on it. One of the plugs had been pulled out of the mounted motherboard on the unit. After taking apart the panel, I connected all of the wires and got the board plugged in and working. Once it was actually connected to my computer, it was fairly simple to get used to using the board, and easy to get it oriented to the projector. It was just the task of getting everything working correctly that was a little frustrating. Overall, the setup took about four hours.

Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice
I found multiple markers of success after implementing my program. The goals that I attempted to accomplish are followed by the evidence.

1.) Teach an interactive lesson that the students can control - In the lesson students were able to choose which 360Cities panoramic pictures to view. In the book, there were only a set number of pictures to use - but Google Earth allowed students to choose multiple pictures, from all over Cuba. Students also chose different places to zoom in on. One place that students wanted to learn more about was the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay. Students asked to zoom into where the prisons, armory, and airport were. The class was very excited to see planes and runways. This is something that would not be possible using the book.

2.) Create a geography based lesson that does not rely on the book, but meets criteria of teaching the 5 themes of geography - In this lesson, it was very important that I was able to show the following things: Location, Characteristics, Movement, Region, Interaction. Using GoogleEarth allowed me to show each of these criteria easily. The ability to zoom, show topography and see user uploaded photos gave the students the chance to see all of the nation in much greater detail than the book.

3.) Find additional information on subjects covered in the lecture - This was one of the main goals that I had during this project. One of the topics that came up during this lesson was the Bay of Pigs. I hadn't planned on covering the Bay of Pigs, or the Revolution in Cuba as a whole but it was something that the students were interested in. By using layers in GoogleEarth, I was able to click on an icon for the Bay of Pigs and get more in depth information for the class immediately.

4.) Teach using up to date information - A large problem that I encountered this year was teaching up to date information. Since it's my first year teaching this subject, I am partially in the, learn as you go along phase. This is ok for most subject matter, but very difficult when presented with obsolete books. While teaching the political geography of eastern Europe, I had many questions regarding countries that have changed names and disappeared in the years since the book was published. By using GoogleEarth, I was assured that I had current information on the names, locations and boundaries of each place on my map.


How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?

If I were to approach another project in my class where I were solving a problem using technology, there would be a few things that I would do differently. First, if I found a technology that I wanted to use, I would sit down with other teachers and ask them about there experiences using the technology. I ran into a lot of problems because I had used a Smartboard before, and assumed that this smartboard would be easy to use. As I mentioned before, it was an absolute headache connecting the smartboard to my computer and there were points where I wanted to scrap the program and start over. A lot of this could have been avoided had I asked some other members in the district about their experiences using it.

What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?

A great lesson that I learned during this program was that kids love GoogleEarth. They absolutely love flying over parts of the country that they know, looking at the earth from space, and the really, really love to see their house on the projector. I am really looking for ways to incorporate using GoogleEarth and local maps to teach basic geographic concepts because kids are so excited about using it. Next year when the district "Images" or "ghosts" the computers, I will suggest to them that they include GoogleEarth because it has so many practical applications. To the teacher out there, you need to play with GoogleEarth. It has so many great functions. Your kids will love it.

In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?

I will definitely use GoogleEarth and the smartboard again - and I plan to use it frequently. Ideally, I will use this for each and ever unit that I teach, when I get to the part where I explain the five themes. One thing that I will have to change will be the way I set up my unit. Next year I'm going to try and set up the smartboard and projector in a spare classroom - so there will be no set up involved. Teachers will simply be able to sign out the room and then have access to all of the technologies. I will also try and create an outline, and a structured set of questions that the students need to answer. There were many time where the students were off task because the lesson was too open ended. In closing, I will definitely do this lesson again, and my modifications will only make it a more effective lesson.