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Contents
History and Content
During the 1998-99 school year the Cyber Exchange for Educators project
was implemented, funded, in part, by a Goals 2000 grant.
Through the Cyber Exchange project, 32 classroom teachers in grade levels
1-5 teachers received monthly instruction by the county technology trainer
at the technology training center in the use of technology to deliver curriculum.
The training was scheduled as grade level sessions in which the teachers
planed and organized scheduling of large and small group computer related
activities, and developed lesson plans for specific implementation of those
technologies. Through this project, teachers used the technology
as a tool to aid the students in mastery of specific reading skills.
Follow up was conducted through monthly journal entries.
Teachers participating in the project had access to reading skill development
software, which was checked out on a monthly basis. Participating
classes will also utilize the Accelerated Reading program that was on the
school’s file server.
Each participating school received a laptop computer and video cams.
The laptop computer was loaned to Cyber Exchange teachers within that school
who did not have access to a computer at home. A total of 84% of
the Cyber Exchange teachers utilized the laptop.
The Cyber Exchange web site and a monthly online newsletter, Tech Update,
provided teachers an opportunity to read about each other’s lesson plans,
software uses, learning activities, and successes in the teaching of specific
objectives through the integration of technology. The Cyber
Exchange for Educators web site is located at http://207.125.93.3/ce/
and http://207.125.93.3/techupdate/
is the URL for the Tech Update
newsletter.
The project incorporated the involvement of Cyber
Ambassadors, student mentors, from grades 4-5 within each school.
These ambassadors attended summer training sessions and during the school
year regularly visited participating classrooms, assisting the classroom
teacher and their students in their efforts to integrate hardware and software.
This was the least effective aspect of the project with only 76% of the
participating teachers utilizing the Cyber Ambassadors. One reason
for this low number were scheduling conflicts with the Cyber Ambassador’s
teachers. The lack of usage was particularly noted in the larger
schools where the fifth grade classrooms distance was so far away from
that of the lower grades it made it difficult to schedule visits.
A valuable aspect of the project was the sharing of implementation of
the previous month’s skills and problems or successes experienced through
jounaling. These journals
are stored at the web site (http://207.125.93.3/ce/journals.htm)
and can prove to be a useful resource to teachers who are beginning to
implement technology into their curriculum.
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Procedures
The Cyber Exchange project timetable of objectives followed included:
May 1998 Identified 32 teachers (25 former 21st
Century Classroom teachers plus 7 new teachers representing each elementary
school) and the Cyber Ambassadors (15 fourth and fifth grade students representing
each elementary school). Project goals, objectives, and timeline
were discussed.
June 1998 June 23-26, 1999 trained student mentors
or Cyber Ambassadors to assist teachers participating in the project and
record anticipated and reflective descriptive evaluation journal entries.
August 1998 Held a workshop on Aug. 4-5, 1998
for the 7 participating teachers receiving a new computer in the use of
hardware and Windows 95.
September 1998 Participants developed lesson
plans which integrated the use of MS Word in the mastery of curriculum
objects. These lesson plans are stored at the Cyber Exchange web
sites (http://207.126.93.3/ce/lessonplans.htm).
October 1998 Trained participants in the use of Internet
projects, which mastered specific objectives. The projects
are listed and linked at the web site (http://207.125.93.3/ce/projects.htm).
Of the teachers in the project 97% successfully participated in their
chosen Internet project. Two teachers were unable to complete their
project, one due to medical leave from the classroom. The other participant
who didn’t complete their Internet project, a first year teacher, did not
follow through on the project.
November 1998 Participants developed and saved a set of
Internet web site bookmarks useful in the mastery of objectives.
Participants also created a set of Literary
Links of favorite children’s authors to use with the reading program
(http://207.125.93.3/ce/literaylinks.htm).
December 1998 Participants used email to master specific
objectives and developed an address book, which was used as a contact resource.
January 1999 Teachers were trained in the use of the ICQ
chats for Internet projects and developed a lesson
plan utilizing ICQ to teach a reading or language arts objective.
These lesson plans are stored at the web site (http://207.126.93.3/ce/lessonplans.htm).
February 1999 97% of the project’s participants created
interactive PowerPoint Presentations
designed to teach a language arts/reading objective. These presentations
are stored at the web site as zipped files and can be downloaded there
(http://207.125.93.3/ce/ppt.htm).
In addition to teacher presentations there are also Cyber Ambassador presentations.
Participating teachers were given a CD copy of these presentations (see
enclosed CD).
March 1999 Participants developed classroom
web sites to provide a space to post student work and provide information
for parents. The classroom web sites have links to a section called
“All About Me,” a biographical section created by students and their classroom
newspapers. Of the participating teachers 91% created classroom web
sites. Terra Nova tests were administered to students for use in
a comparison of gains in the area of reading and language arts (http://207.125.93.3/ce/websites.html).
April 1999 Teachers were trained to upload their classroom
newspapers to their web site. Teacher also were trained in
the use of the video cam for videoconferencing and instructed in the use
of the SmallWorld
telecommunication project (http://user.icx.net/~campbelld/small_world/).
May 1999 Participants were asked to complete an evaluation
of the project. Several participating teachers presented the project
at the Summer Institute in Oak Ridge, TN. The project has also been
submitted as a presentation at the fall TETA in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Cyber Exchange Teachers presenting at Summer Institute,
July 23, 1999, Oak Ridge
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Project
Goals and Evaluation Results
The National Goals this project addresses are:
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Improved student achievement through the use of technology as a tool to
enhance the reading curriculum.
Benchmark: Previously Jefferson County provided one yearly workshop
for teachers to develop ideas to integrate technology into the curriculum.
Evaluation Results: Teachers recorded in journals their
uses of technology and supplied lesson plans and activities which were
posted on the Cyber Exchange web
site (http://207.125.93.3/ce/).
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Teacher education and professional development.
Benchmark: Previously the only professional development provided
for teachers were 2 hour after- school mini workshops. There was little
opportunity for follow up visits to classrooms and no opportunity to address
the issue of integration of technology into the curriculum.
Evaluation Results: Record of participant monthly attendance
were kept by technology trainer and submitted to technology coordinator
to determine teacher commitment to the project. The attendance record
results are as follows:
The Tennessee Master Plan Goals this project addresses are:
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State of the art technology will be used to improve curriculum.
Benchmark: Grade level 1-5 students in Jefferson County currently have
had access to technology tools to achieve world class standards through
the 21st century program. Since this program is no longer funded
by the state, Jefferson County has picked up the tab, so strong is the
county’s commitment to providing their students with the best technology
tools. Due to funding restraints, one computer was placed in 16 classrooms
during the 1998-99 school year. Through the Cyber Exchange, 7 additional
computers were placed in grade level 1-5 classrooms.
Evaluation Results: Monthly teacher journal entries were prompted by
questions that focused on the use of technology in the classroom.
The technology coordinator used these entries to determine the effectiveness
of the software for future software purchases and educational technology
needs. As a result of this evaluation the technology coordinator
will fund a similar project for the 1999-2000 school year aimed at integrating
technology in math and science focusing on grade levels 5-8.
Tennessee Report Card Performance Indicators
Competency (Reading)
Benchmark: Jefferson County School System’s TCAP reading scores have
shown a drop from the National Norm gain during the past years. The
scores are as follows:
1994-95 95.0%
1995-96 90.3%
1996-97 89.5%
Evaluation Results: Comparison of gains from of a random sampling of reading
and language arts Terra Nova scores of a target group of 100 students to
a control group of 100 students was prepared. This comparison was
based on the 1997-98, and 1998-99 school year Terra Nova scores.
After removing student transfers and students who did not take the Terra
Nova test both years, 94 students were in the control group and 98 students
were in the target group.
The target group showed a gain of 18.897 scaled score points to a gain
of 7.680 scaled score points for the control group on the Language Composite
of the Terra Nova test from the 1998 test to the 1999 test.
The same target group showed a gain of 11.948 scaled score points to
a gain of 10.316 scaled score points for the control group on the Language
Composite of the Terra Nova test from the 1998 test to the 1999 test.
The Jefferson County System Technology Plan Goals this project addresses
are:
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The teacher will explore and identify learning and teaching styles that
enhance the environment of learning for all students.
Benchmark: Most teachers in Jefferson County Elementary Schools addressed
the state curriculum objectives using traditional textbook, workbook, or
paper-pencil methods. The Cyber Exchange utilized productivity software
allowing the learner to become involved with instruction
Evaluation Results: Monthly journal entries by the Cyber Exchange
teachers were recorded and are stored at the Cyber Exchange web site.
The results of these entries provide the following insight into participating
teachers usage of technology to enhance learning. A complete summary
of the effects of utilizing technology to enhance learning can be see in
the Effects of project.xls worksheet and graphs.
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Teachers will stay abreast of the current and innovative uses of technology.
Benchmark: Several teachers in Jefferson County have attended after-school
workshops to learn the basics of using technology during the school year
thus far. Before this project was implemented there has been very
little attention paid to the integration of technology.
Evaluation: Formal written evaluation by participating teachers
at the end of each monthly teacher training session was utilized by the
technology trainer to assess and adjust monthly training sessions.
A final journal entry provided participating teachers an opportunity to
assess the project and it’s effectiveness (http://207.125.93.3/ce/ select
journal link).
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Teachers and administrators will be provided with necessary network equipment
capability, which will allow them to meet student needs.
Benchmark: There was an average of 4 classrooms and a central library in
grades 1-5 with network capability in Jefferson County Schools
Evaluation Results: . Through this project 7 classrooms
were provided computers and connected to the existing network which increased
access for over 140 students. In addition, the project provided the
32 participating teachers with the skills to utilize network capability
for over 700 students. Three additional computers were also purchased
to help update 3 classrooms which had older computers that were becoming
obsolete.
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Conclusions
When viewing Language Composite and Reading Composite scores for a randomly
selected group of students who participated in the project (target group)
the scores for the 1999 Terra Nova test appear slightly higher than those
of the same students on the 1998 tests. This would indicate an improvement
in student achievement through the use of technology. However, when
a comparison of these same scores is made to students who were not involved
in the project (control group) the same slight improvement in the 1999
scores is seen over the 1998 scores. The project only showed a slight improvement
in the target student group’s achievement through the use of technology
over the control group’s scores.
The Target Group made a gain of 18.89795018 in the Language Composite
scale score from the 1998 Terra Nova Test to the 1999 test. The Control
Group made a gain of 7.680851064 in the Language Composite scale score
from the 1998 Terra Nova Test to the 1999 test. The difference between
the Target Group and Control Group’s gain in the Language Composite between
the 1998 and 1999 test is 11.217099116 scaled score points.
The Reading Composite gain is much less dramatic. The Target Group
made a gain of 11.94897959 scale score points from the 1998 to the 1999
Terra Nova test on the Reading Composite score. The Control group
made a gain of 10.319414894 on the same test. The difference in the
Reading Composite gain is only that of 1.62983065. The gain
on the Reading Composite score is only barely significant.
One major advancement through the project was that of staff development.
Teachers indicated that 86% of them had changed their teaching style as
a result of the monthly training sessions. These sessions provided
them an opportunity to stay abreast of current and innovative uses of technology
and explore and identify learning and teaching styles that enhance instruction.
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Future of Cyber
Exchange Project
The Cyber Exchange web site will remain to enable educators everywhere
to participate and share innovative methods of using technology to teach
objectives. Teachers throughout the United States are utilizing the
web site and corresponding with teachers in the project.
Some samples of these email responses were included in the July Report.
In addition there have been requests from other school systems for more
information on the project and some have shown an interest in duplicating
it in their school system.
Participating teachers will provide in-service training in the fall
of 1999 for their staff who will have access to much of the technology
described in the project through the use of a computer teacher station,
which has been placed in every school library.
During the 1999-2000 the project will continue focusing on the area
of math and science in grades 5-12 involving 20
educators through local funding. Their efforts and work will
be added to the Cyber Exchange web site, which will continue to grow as
a resource for educators.
Contents |
Cyber
Exchange Final Report
