ReflectiononTechnologyEnhancedUnit

CuratedToolkitandUnitDesign

MarthaM.Hill
FRIT7739
Fall2015

ThiswasanextensionofanideathatIdevelopedlastyearinmythirdgradeclass,
andIplannedanddevelopedtheconceptduetothedifficultyofrememberingthefacts
andinformationthatsurroundedtheSSH36curriculumrequirementofninehistorical
characters.WhenIdevelopedtheUbDDesignforthisparticularassignment,Itriedto
findanengagingresourcethatwouldsatisfytheSocialStudiesrequirementaswellas
thetechnologyrequirementinourStandardBasedReportCard.
MystudentslovedtheconceptofcreatingaFakebookpagethroughthe
classtools.netapplication,andtheywereexcitedaboutthechallengeofaddinggraphics,
researchedinformation,andtheirowncreativetouchtotheassignment.Thestructure
thatwasgiventothemthroughtherubrichelpedguidethemwithspecificparametersof
thedesignrequiredblocksofinformation,thenumberofpoststhatwouldshowa
sequentialhistorictimelineofeventsthatthehistoricalcharactercontributedintheir
lifetimetoAmericanhistoryyet,theystillstruggledwithwritinginfirstpersonnarrative
fortheirposts.
Ithenspenttimeintheclassroomadaptingtheirwritingblockwithconferencing
onhowtoproducenarrativewriting,andhowfirstpersonnarrativesreflectthestudents
becomingthecharacterwithpersonalanecdotes,reflectivewritingon
accomplishmentsintheirlife,andhowfamilyandfriendswereinstrumentalinhowthey
livedintheirparticularperiodofhistory.Iknownowthatthisshouldbefocusedon
earlierinthesemester,sothattheirwritingwillreflecttheirinstruction,ratherthan
havingtocorrectearlierposts.
Ialsowouldutilizeaskillofkeyboardingbeforetheybeginthisassignment,as
somestudentslaboriouslytypeasentencepost,andenteringthesitewiththeirunique
URLcanbedifficultforthosethatdonothavetheopportunityathometopracticethis
skill.IalsohavetomaketimeintheMediaCenterorinmyroomduringELTsothat

studentsthatdonothavetechnologyareabletocompletetheassignmentwithout
penaltyoflateentriesatassessmenttime.
MyunitwouldreflectthesesuggestionsasIhaveseveralthathavelimitedaccess
totechnology,aswellasparentalsupportinpreparingtheseassignments.Iwouldalso
designatepeerconferencingfortheclass,asitenlightensandassistsallstudentsto
havecritiquefromsomeoneotherthantheirinstructor.Theyrespectandsupporteach
otherthroughthistimesetasideforconferencing,andtheydemonstratetactwhen
helpingtoreviseandeditwritingandcompositionofthesites.
IhavealsocreatedaQRchartwithlinkstopastFakebookprofilesthatearnedthe
gradeofExceedsontheirsites.Thismotivatesstudentstoachieve,aswellasgivethem
abasisofwhatanExceedslookslike.Thecuratedtoolkitsassistwithresearch
strategiesandsites,andthesitesthataregivenareproventohavereliableand
appropriateinformationforthisparticularassignment.
IwillcontinuetoutilizethisUnitDesignasitprovestoprovidestudentsthe
necessarycreativityinproductionofastandard,itallowsthestudentstoworkattheir
ownpace,andhasproventobeimportanttotheassessmentofthehistoricalcharacters
asthestudentsthatdowellonthisproject,showsastronginclinationtodowellon
HistoricalCharacterAssessmentsasaresultofprocuringresearchoneachindividual.

Resources

Fakebook:

www.classtools.net/FB
Blendspace:

www.blendspace.com
Listl.y:

www.listly.com