Professional Inquiry Project

Amy Stiff 11001160621

March 27 2016
Introduction
Throughout my practicum at John G. Diefenbaker Senior High School, I sought to
find a research question that would benefit both my own future teaching, as well as
benefit the school community in some way. The classroom I was assigned to teach both
Legal Studies and Social Studies in was a computer lab. I found this to be quite a unique
opportunity, especially for Social Studies education, and I wanted to use this opportunity
to my full advantage. I decided to inquire into the benefits and the struggles of teaching
in a computer lab. Having learned so much throughout my Bachelor of Education degree
about the importance of incorporating technology into the classroom in order to create
21st century learners capable of high level thinking, I was extremely excited to start using
different programs and applications with my students.
Question to guide inquiry

To what extent is effective learning encouraged or inhibited

when classes are conducted a computer lab?
Related Knowledge, Skills & Attributes
KSA #1: Contextual variables
KSA #9: Approaches to teaching & learning
KSA #10: Technology & teaching
KSA #13: Home & community resources
Description
Inquiry into this question will occur through observation of the pros and cons of
conducting Social 20-1 and Legal Studies 30 in a computer lab. Throughout the semester
I monitored for several different indicators of success such as; student focus, student
engagement, student initiative and responsibility for their own learning, as well as quality
of work and efficiency and timeliness of retrieving information. These indicators helped
to determine whether conducting academic courses in a computer lab was beneficial to
student learning or inhibiting to student attention, focus and learning. Throughout my
observations, I was able to pin point the reasons why students success is either
encouraged or inhibited in a computer lab.
Timeline
Throughout the course of the semester, I implemented different programs and
strategies to attempt to use the computer technology to its fullest potential. I observed for

the presence of the afore-mentioned indicators of success. I also implemented classes

throughout the semester where use of the computers was not permitted to track the effects
of an unplugged classroom. Below, I will conclude my findings through reflection on
whether or not classroom management and student success was elevated by the
convenient access to computers each lesson. I will then lay out a report revealing
strategies and programs that were not conducive to the learning environment and
strategies that were very effective in encouraging good classroom management and
student success.
Indicators of Success
Student focus: Students are focused and on task throughout class activities. The
Internet does not distract students. Students are not using social media sites and other
distracting websites during class time. The use of programs, such as Net-Share, aid in
keeping students focused and on task.
Student engagement: The computers available to students during each class prove to
be effective at encouraging students to engage in class activities and communicate with
the teacher and other students through the use of online discussion and polling
technologies and applications such as poll everywhere and Desire2Learn.
Student initiative/responsibility: Programs and applications made available through
use of computers in the classroom aid students in becoming responsible for their own
learning. Programs such as Desire2Learn are used by students in order to keep track of
their homework assignments and missed work.
Quality of work: Computers allow students to produce work that demonstrates highlevel thinking and processing. Word processing technology also allows students to be
more organized and turn in professional and clean work.
Critical inquiry skills: Access to computer programs and the Internet prove to aid
students in effectively retrieving and analyzing information. Computers aid students in
completing critical inquiry projects by allowing students to investigate, immerse
themselves in and coalesce information.
Efficiency and timeliness of work: Technologies and programs, such as Desire2Learn,
allow for easy and effective submission of student work and timely return of assessments
and communication between student and teacher.
Results
Program
Desire 2 Learn

Effective
Desire 2 Learn was my favourite
program to use because it was a
home to keep all documents,
quizzes, discussions, rubrics etc.

Ineffective
N/A

It kept students accountable for

work when they missed school
and allowed for continuous
feedback between teacher and
student. It also provided a
format for students to discuss
with one another and share
ideas. D2L would be an effective
tool even for classes not
conducted in a computer lab, but
was especially beneficial for my
class as students could check the
news feed to see exactly what
the agenda was for each lesson

NetShare

Indicators Achieved: Student

engagement, Student
initiative/responsibility, Quality
of work
Net Share was a very effective
tool in my classroom because it
had many effective functions,
which helped mostly with
classroom management. The
functions that I used most
frequently were screen share,
screen lock and internet
blocking. There was also a
function which allowed me to
see the individual screens of
students and communicate with
them privately to keep them on
track with their work.
Indicator Achieved: Student
focus, Efficiency and timeliness
of work

Poll Everywhere

I often used Poll Everywhere in

my classroom because my
students in both classes were
very engaged by it. They loved
being able to use their cellphone
in class and to take polls. They
were also able to submit short
responses and liked to see their

I often had difficulty operating

Net Share. One of the functions
of this program that I used most
frequently was the screen share
button, which would show
power points and other
information to students. When it
would fail to work, students
were left to navigate the
PowerPoint on their own which
was risky business at times.
There were also functions such
as screen lock, which students
somehow found a way to get out
of. Perhaps more thorough
training on how to use the
program would have helped in
its effectiveness.
The only issue that I found with
Poll Everywhere was choosing
the right format in which to
receive poll answers. I found
that students would sometimes
abuse the privilege of anonymity
when submitting short answers.

responses come up on the board.

It was an effective tool for
quickly gauging student learning
(exit slips) and as an
introductory exercise.

Google
Docs/Google
Forms

Remind 101

Computers
(generally)

Indicator Achieved: Student

engagement, critical inquiry
skills
Google Docs/Google Forms was
a great way to get the class to
collaborate together. I used
Google forms/docs to have
students use their critical inquiry
skills to research a specific
topic; they would all input the
information they found to create
a more in-depth look at the
topic.
Indicator Achieved: Critical
Inquiry Skills, Collaborative
learning.
Remind 101 is a program that
can be used by computer or
cellphone, which allows teachers
to communicate with students. I
used this app mostly for field
trips, as in high school students
have a large degree of freedom
when away from the school.
This app allows you to send out
messages to make sure all
students will report to a
designated area at one time. I
would also be useful as a
homework reminder system.
Indicator Achieved: student
initiative/responsibility
Generally, having access to
computers was fantastic as it
allows use of many different
programs to enhance student
learning.

The only issue I found with

Google docs/Google forms was
that it tempts students to post
inappropriate text or photos into
the documents. I found that it
was absolutely essential to have
it so that students needed to log
on using their emails so that
their responses were not
anonymous.

It is not possible to get all

students to sign up for this app,
making communication
somewhat disjointed as it
doesnt always reach the whole
class.

Because computers have so

many different programs,
students can become distracted
and not on task. Layout of the
computer lab is very important.

Reflections
Overall, I found teaching academic courses in a computer lab to be both a
blessing and a curse. In my Social Studies class, which for the most part consisted of
students who were very motivated to succeed, being in a computer lab was fantastic. It
was awesome for them to be able to access all the materials they would need for the day
at the click of a mouse. Keeping all of their resources online kept students accountable
for missed work and gave them the opportunity to review anything that they didnt
understand. It also provided a format for continuous feedback between students and my
self. Lastly, It was nice to have students typing up their work so that their handwriting
wasnt a struggle to read.
My Legal Studies class on the other hand, was more of a struggle. With a group
that is not so motivated, I would not recommend instructing in a computer lab.
Computers were a nice resource to have, as many of their projects were critical inquiry or
research based. However, with students who are very distractible, such as the students in
my class, access to computers served to be my competition in terms of gaining and
keeping their attention. I often found that students were distracted by anything and
everything on the computer, other than what they were supposed to be working on, from
YouTube videos to solitaire. Net Share was my saving grace in this respect because it
allowed me to block access to certain programs for certain students whenever I saw fit. I
wouldnt want to take away the opportunity to be in a computer lab from students who
used the resource effectively, however I definitely had some students who needed to be
reminded that use of technology is a privilege not a right, and I needed to restrict their
access quite often.
Implications for Policy & Practice
After my experience, I would recommend teaching an academic course in a
computer lab only under specific circumstances. Firstly, I would base my decision on the
group of students in my classroom. If they are responsible and mature, using a computer
lab is absolutely the most beneficial tool I could think of. I would highly recommend all
of the resources I have outlined in the table above in order to increase student thinking
and learning.
On the other hand, students who are not motivated to succeed are often more
distracted by access to technology on a daily basis than they are aided by it. In this case,
computers should be used only when they are the most effective tools for elevating
learning beyond what is possible without the use of technology. I dont believe that it is
fair to give this type of student something that for the most part seems only to be a
distraction. I also found that layout of the classroom was just as important as any of the
other factors. Students were hard to account for in my particular classroom because the
layout left the majority of the computer screens hidden from my eye line at any given
point in the classroom. If the layout were to somehow allow a clear view of all the
screens by the teacher at all times, I feel that it would be much easier to manage student
focus.

Conclusions
Overall, I have found this inquiry project to be very informative and I feel that it
will definitely be useful knowledge to have gained for my future teaching experiences.
Technology is so important for the 21st century learner, additionally learning when it is
appropriate in the classroom and when it is not is very valuable. Although it is unlikely
that I will be given the opportunity to teach in a computer lab in many teaching
assignments, the time I have had to try it out has taught me about many different
strategies and programs that incorporate technology to achieve optimal student learning.