Transcript The Paperless Classroom: The Future, or the “Future” is NOW?

The Paperless Classroom: The
Future, or the “Future” is NOW?
Karla Hammond, MA, MS
Pennfield High School Science Instructor
Battle Creek, MI
Created for “BLAST”
Presented at MSTA 03/06/09
Pennfield Stats: Approximately 2,000
Students in District, K-12
Overview of BLAST
• Organized through Western Michigan University, Mallinson
Institute and Participated in the “Logistics” Small Group
• Intent : BLAST-BC seeks to create a collaborative and supportive atmosphere for
high school science teachers who are interested in working to align their instruction
more closely with the new High School Content Expectations (HSCE) and the
National Science Education Standards. It is based on an action research model for
instructional improvement. http://www.wmich.edu/science/blast/
• My Action Research focused on creating new lessons based
on the new HSCE, and presenting them in an Electronic
Classroom, and documenting that process and its affect on
the failure rate in my classes.
– I completely created my “Moodle classroom” and lessons from scratch
this year while teaching the class and participating in BLAST!!
– I have not typed out every page from our resource textbook!!
Pennfield High School, 2008
• Currently on an 8 block schedule (Next year 6)
– “Maniac Monday”
– 7:35-2:30
– Tuesday and Thursday “ODD”
– Wednesday and Friday “EVEN”
• See students 3x/wk: 45 min; 90 min; 90 min
• Electronic Classroom is set up this year by
week, but students can access it AT ANY
TIME!
Why a Paperless Classroom? PHS “PUL”
Rolled out 2007
Welcome to my Classroom…here’s the
“door”!
Take a seat  You are in Biology!
This is
where
students
click to
upload the
work they
have
saved.
This allows
me to
access it
from
anywhere
to grade it!
This is what I see when I grade!
(I do not take papers home…)
Assignments I made up
and posted for them to
complete!
Due Date
For our Paperless Classroom, we also use “CPS” for
assessments. We began with a test over the Pre-Reqs
for Biology. This got them used to “technology”…
• Students used a “clicker system” instead of paper and pencil
for an Assessment over what they remembered from
Elementary and Middle School on: Biochemistry, Cells, Cell
Energetics, Comparative Structures, Human Systems, and
Homeostasis.
– I created this using the State Standards at BLAST
• 58% (not passing by our 70% standard)…why?
• From the automatic grading, we knew what they scored the
lowest on were specific plant terms the State has listed as
required pre-reqs for Bio. We will make sure this is passed on
to the Middle School teachers! (ex: Monocots and Dicots)
• The students did take the pre-req test seriously, but this was
also the first time some students used the CPS!
Students also create movies and podcasts of
their work, or as a reference for their labs!
Another Assignment: DNA Forum
Lab Write-ups occur at the desks
Paperless has been interesting and exciting to the students, and I
see greater %s of work submitted, but as with ‘traditional’ work,
it can be incomplete, too, so you MUST check!
My Paperless Gradebook: “Zangle”
Our network is monitored by “LanSchool”. Each
teacher has a different channel the student selects!
Student View of His/Her Grades for
Biology. I have this on the Semester View.
Example question from an Assessment if taking as a
class. If taking individually, they see the second picture.
We also use Moodle Quiz
PHS is starting to use
“Data Director” in lieu of “CPS” and Moodle for District
Failure Data and a Central Bank for Assessment Questions
Our initial plan for our Paperless
Classroom…how we are going “higher tech”
• Every question on every Unit Test is connected
to a Biology Expectation (From State of MI)
• Students are to pass the Unit Tests with a 70%
minimum, or must retake the test until at 70%
in order to show mastery. Final grade is an
average of each test taken.
• First semester covers the first 6 Units from the
State of Michigan Expectations; 2nd, 7-12
• Grades primarily focus on Unit Tests, although
MANY assignments in Moodle
For CPS, Moodle, and Data Director, Student
Assessment information can be “broken out”
Benefits: Not
just “automatic
grading”, but
also each
question
checked for
individual and
class and
subject
comprehension
Notice where
you can quickly
identify which
questions the
students
excelled at,
and which
ones they did
not understand
(or it wasn’t
written well as
a question!)
An example of a Moodle Quiz
Results Section (Essay not graded)
Frustrations of the Student
• Must keep electronic work
backed up… “I can’t find it”
is no excuse!
• Must complete work before
taking Unit Test, so must
stay organized and take
responsibility for learning
• When absent, if trying to
complete work at home,
must have a reliable
internet connection with
good speed!
• Must remediate…can’t
accept a non-passing score!
Frustrations of the Parents
• Having to purchase a good, updated Internet
connection for educational purposes
– Almost 90% of parents surveyed already have one
they are using for email and gaming!
• Not “knowing” what the homework is because they
do not have a sign-in to Moodle
– Have their students sign in weekly for them!
• Not being able to always refer to the Biology book to
answer the questions at the end of the chapter,
where you can find #13 on page 235!
– Actual problem-solving not just regurgitation!! 
Benefits for Parents: Paperless means they CAN
check of their student submitted the work!
Frustrations of the Technology
Department
• Students who download inappropriate material so the
computer must be reimaged
– Honestly, few students after the first batch!
• Students who do not care for the technology by the signed
agreement (and therefore have maintenance issues)
– Honestly, few, because then they are without!
• Teachers who do not really understand how the electronic
gradebook or classroom work, so they send Maintenance
requests when it really is a comprehension issue
– Honestly fewer now 2nd semester, because we help each
other!
Each grading, if you set it up to do so, also tells
the student why they got it wrong, so it is
IMMEDIATE feedback!
Frustrations of the Teacher
• Students who email daily who want to know when
the assignments will be graded because s/he
uploaded it at 11pm last night …where’s my grade???
• Parents who email daily who want to know when the
assignments will be graded because s/he stayed up
until 11pm last night to help their student uploaded
it …where’s the grade???
• Parents who let their student loose on the computer
at home without supervision, and then complain
because the student’s computer isn’t available due
to being reimaged …WHERE’S THE GRADE???
Seriously, the major complaint this year is the TIME it takes to recreate your classes (for example, when the cat takes over PT
because you are still grading student work on the computer!!
The Paperless Classroom…how
successful has the program been?
• Well, we survived first semester and the
students were very happy with the format!
• For Pennfield this year, it was based on the
number of failures of students percentagewise compared to past years…
– Do computers “better” organize and engage
today’s learners, so they do the work, and
therefore are prepared for the Unit Tests?
– Are students passing the Unit Tests?
Statistics from last year (1st hour Bio)
100%
passing
As=2
7%
Bs=9
32%
Cs=8
29%
Ds=9
32%
Es=0
Statistics from this year (2nd hour Bio)
82%
passing
As=0
Bs=5
23%
Cs=7
32%
Ds=6
27%
Es=4
18%
Statistics from last year (8th hour Bio)
96% passing
As=1
Bs=9
Cs=8
Ds=8
Es=1
3.7%
33%
29.7%
29.7%
3.7%
Statistics from this year (6th hour Bio)
89%
passing
As=0
Bs=7
27%
Cs=8
31%
Ds=8
31%
Es=3
11%
Reviewing PUL at semester
• For Biology, the comparison
for my classes did not show
an increase in student
achievement in terms of
passing the first semester of
Biology.
• This was true for all Biology
classes, too.
• Is there a variable we are
missing at the semester
check?
• Is it simply “growing pains”?
Passing Unit Tests at 70%
• Most students for Unit 1 needed take the Unit
Tests 3x before passing with at least a 70%
– Teacher had to record initial score, then go back
and average each subsequent score and update
the electronic gradebook
– Teacher had to email student and parent/guardian
to secure student participation, including afterschool remediations if the number of retakes past
3, or if s/he had been absent
Passing with a 70% continued
• For the subsequent units, students passed
Units 2 and 3 usually after 2 retakes
• For Unit 4-6, the majority of students passed
the first take
– Students and teachers found retaking the tests
were…surprise, surprise…”getting old”!!
– More assignments were uploaded and/or
completed by Unit 4 than Unit 1, even though it
was nearing the Holidays 
• So, again, we are seeing progress!
Comparison of Unit Test Scores
to….
• The final exam:
– It appeared that students who did not pass their
Unit Tests did not use the Moodle site to study for
their Final Exams, as they also failed the Final
– Students average for the Unit Tests were also
comparable to the Final Exam
– This is not surprising, as most questions from the
Unit Tests were taken to make up the Final exam
(approximately 10 questions from each Unit, representing
the majority of standards for that Unit)
Remediation
•
•
•
Students were allowed to retake their
Unit Tests after they had shown that
they remediated for their tests. This
included:
– Seminar/study hall sessions with
teacher
– Monday after-school sessions for
an hour with a “Biology teacher”
tutor
If students needed to take the test
another time in order to achieve the
70%, then they must complete
another remediation session.
Variable in addition to growing
pains?? Suspensions: Students who
didn’t show to remediation who were
remanded didn’t pass their Unit Tests
nor their Final!
Final Exam Assessment of
Assessment
With the 2
days off
immediately
prior to
Finals, we
believe
students
were not as
successful
as past
exams and
this was a
contributing
factor. We
did see Qs
of “success”!
Paperless Classroom…able to
identify misconceptions quickly!
• From the First Unit…did they review?
– Function of Carbohydrates
– Energy in bonds: Living vs Non-living
– Macromolecules with high energy bonds
• From the 5th Unit—Level of organization
– Read too quickly?
• From 3rd and 6th Unit- “Totipotent”
• From 6th Unit- pH of Human Blood (PUL no lab)
• From 3rd Unit- # of ATP from glucose
• Interestingly, 6 of the 7 above I would have re-emphasized in
the past with a lab activity that we didn’t do this year, but
instead did a computer simulation.
Ok, so if you hadn’t thought about
this consequence yet…
• This program is extremely time-intensive on
the teacher especially the first year…
– Re-writing new Unit Tests, which align with standards AND
are common for all Biology teachers
– Entering in Tests to CPS (They can easily be resorted)
– Obtaining and posting scores from CPS to Zangle
– Re-averaging each test and emailing student and
parents/guardians
– Remediating
– Preparing for the next Unit, and doing this ALL over again

Here’s the example of what we felt
like, even with a work-in-progress!
However, because of the Online Experience State Requirement,
the ISD sponsored workshops along PHS’ line of thought….
Student Progress
• Percent of students in 1st semester Biology
class who passed last school year
(2007/2008): 98% from representative classes
• Percent of students in 1st semester Biology
class who passed this school year
(2008/2009): 85.5% from rep classes
• Overall failure rate for Biology is: 13% from all
classes…at semester we don’t see the success
for which were were hoping, but this is the
FIRST year! (Variable: suspensions)
Therefore, so far, we feel that this
program has been…
• Somewhat successful…
– It has caused a lot of work for the teachers, but it can be
used again this summer and next year, and lessons are
aligned to HSCE (Long-term benefits)
– A LOT of buy-in by the parents to keep arranging rides for
remediation (Benefit of communication)
– Increased skill set for students by daily using computers
and problem solving and meets the Online State
Requirements (Long-term benefits for careers)
• Preparation for success, as increased “science
understanding” and retention on the MME is the
ultimate goal!
Thank You! Questions?
[email protected]