Using digital menus in a classroom.
There are many classroom tools that are very useful. I have found that digital menus are an engaging, vital instructional organizational resource for any classroom teacher. They can be used across all subject areas because they are very versatile. As a math teacher I have implemented menus very often and have found that they are one of my favorite new classroom resources. I believe students should be able to find all the information for a class in one primary location. If a parent is helping their student with homework, having a digital menu will truly be an asset. This will cut down on a lot of unnecessary phone calls to the school and emails to school administrators.
Digital menus are organizational tools that provide students with just one place to locate and turn in all of their class assignments. This tool allows a teacher to embed Screencastify videos or a link to a You Tube video to be used as an instructional demonstration. There are an endless number of uses for students especially the students that need little or no instruction. Even students that are self learners or self starters can benefit from digital menus. The menus are so adaptable that any teacher can use them effectively in their own content area. In the design stages of a digital menu, it is important to keep in mind that “both the examination of learners and the setting of goals are important features in the design portion” (Salama et al., 2020). When you begin to put the menu together it's imperative that the learner is aware of the objective of the instruction. In the writing objectives section of the Addie ebook Salama et.al (2020) explains the importance of listing the objectives. The author suggests that you include the objectives in order to help the learner understand what he or she will be able to do after the instruction has been completed (para. 7)
As a former 8th grade math teacher I utilized them for instructional purposes as well as for both blended and online learners. They allow me to keep my students engaged as well as hold them accountable. According to Dowd and Green (2016) one way to curtail misbehavior is to keep students engaged, let them explore, and create opportunities for them to produce a product( p. 45). I also found that since my students had been using them already, when the closing of schools was announced, it was an easy transition for them. I was able to embed Screencastify introduction videos, notes, and all the other necessary components for the students to successfully complete the assignments. I utilized zoom and the remind app as forms of communication so that parents or students could have face to face contact to ask questions and or give me feedback.
Additionally, any exposure to technology in a classroom will better prepare our students for when they enter the career phase of their lives. An article written by Engel et al. (2017) noted that utilizing a flipped classroom will prepare students for careers. The menus provide students with experience with performing multiple tasks, juggling different due dates and the usage of many tech tools. Having flexible job duties will help prepare them for self paced job assignments. Introducing and using technology in the classroom will help prepare students to enter the workforce. The video below demonstrates why technology in the classroom is useful and important.
References
CRax[Photo].Pinterest. Retrieved July 15,2020, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/516295544765447866/
ThmeyThmeyMedia. (2020, February 27).
I made use of menus in my classroom, but instead, I offered choices of appetizers (visual, written, mathematical, etc…) that met the same objective. I didn’t think about using in the manner you have, but then again, at the time, remote learning wasn’t in the conversation! What our two menu types have in common is the importance of the objective. It isn’t just important to state what topic the learners will cover, it is important to state the degree of achievement and the conditions under which the objective is met (Rithzaupt, et al., 2017). I wanted to attempt the flipped classroom model, but was not able to before moving from the classroom to AMSTI. After reading about multimedia learning in ADDIE Explained I can definitely see the benefits of having visuals along with spoken word. It also allows for more time for hands-on and student centered learning when not involved in remote learning. Kazanidis, Pellas, Fotaris, & Tsinakos, 2019) also support flipped classrooms for students with hearing impairments noting that the use of closed captioning can promote learning. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a hearing impairment and I often recall more when using closed captioning.
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Kazanidis, I., Pellas, N., Fotaris, P., & Tsinakos, A. (2019). Can the flipped classroom model improve students’ academic performance and training satisfaction in Higher Education instructional media design courses? British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(4), 2014–2027. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12694
Rithzaupt, A., Lee, B., Eichler., Calhoun, C., Salama, C., Nichols, J., Wilson, M., Hafizah, N., Davis, A., Beatty, O., Yaylaci, S., Sahau, S. & Wildberger, W. (2017, December 12). ADDIE Explained [text]. Retrieved from http://www.aritzhaupt.com/addie_explained/# CC BY license 4.0
I have always used menus in my classroom as well, but recently with the COVID crisis, I quickly jumped on to digital menus. My students loved them. I have always felt that students (of all ages) learn better when there is choice involved- especially choice in how the learning that took place is presented. I always try to make my menus have lots of choices, kind of like must do and may do options. "While this might take some trial and error, finding the right choice structures for students can be a powerful tool for fostering student engagement" (Parker, Novak, and Bartell,). really liked how you discussed the importance of making sure the objective is clear. Ritzhaupt et al. , (2020) touched on the importance of this as well, "Creating specific objectives is an important step to make sure the curricular material will help the learners achieve the goals defined in the goals analysis, as these objectives will specifically describe the final goals." I think we all like to know what the end goal is--- what's the point. I think clear objectives helps satisfy this need.
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Frieda Parker, Jodie Novak, & Tonya Bartell. (2017). To engage students, give them meaningful choices in the classroom. The Phi Delta Kappan, 99(2), 37.
Rithzaupt, A., Lee, B., Eichler., Calhoun, C., Salama, C., Nichols, J., Wilson, M., Hafizah, N., Davis, A., Beatty, O., Yaylaci, S., Sahau, S. & Wildberger, W. (2017, December 12). ADDIE Explained [text]. Retrieved from http://www.aritzhaupt.com/addie_explained/# CC BY license 4.0.
Commenting as: Suzy Colley
ReplyDeletescolley@shelbyed.org
Johanna, thank you for sharing your research and reflections on choice menus. I clicked into your menu and I loved all the choices you gave your students with bellringers, whole group instruction, remediation, and assessment. On the last page of your weekly menu, when you offered students opportunities to teach their peers for a silver grade, you employed an active learning instructional strategy which produced a generation effect. According to Bertsch & Pesta, “the generation effect is the finding that, in most cases, information is more likely to be remembered when it was studied under conditions that required learners to produce (or generate) some or all of the material themselves, versus reading what others had prepared” (2014, p. 71). Your choice menu offered the students to turn it around and show what they know, recording their learning using their choice of tech tools. By making it a silver grade, this provides substantial incentive to extend and enrich instruction for those students who have completed all of the mandatory assignments.
Furthermore, your choice menus follow the Gagnes’ Nine Events of Instruction (1985), as outlined in our instructional design text. You gained learners’ attention (step 1) with daily bell ringers. Next, you informed learners of objectives (step 2): to be able to add and subtract scientific notation problems effectively. Content was delivered (step 4) through whole group instruction. Providing learning support and guidance (step 5) was evidenced by mini-workshops for those needing clarification. Jumping down through the progression, you assessed performance (step 8) with a quiz to test understanding on Friday. Lastly, enhancing retention and transfer (step 9) took place with an active learning strategy known as reciprocal teaching. Our text summarizes that “learning is an active process in which the learner constructs meaningful relationships between the new knowledge presented in the instruction and the learner’s existing knowledge” (Morrison et al, 2012 as cited in Rithzaupt et al., 2017, p.11). I enjoyed analyzing and learning from your choice menus and how they matched the progression needed for students to effectively demonstrate learning. Great job, Johanna!
References
Bertsch, S. & Pesta, B.J. (2014). Generating active learning. In V. A. Benassi, C.E. Overson, & C. M. Hakala (Eds.). Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum. Retrieved from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology web site: http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/asle2014/index.php
Rithzaupt, A., Lee, B., Eichler., Calhoun, C., Salama, C., Nichols, J., Wilson, M.Hafizah, N., Davis, A., Beatty, O., Yaylaci, S., Sahau, S. & Wildberger, W.
(2017, December 12). ADDIE Explained [text]. Retrieved from http://www.aritzhaupt.com/addie_explained/# CC BY license 4.0.