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Blended Learning in the Elementary Mathematics Classroom

Caitlin Lyons

Department of Instructional Technology, Kennesaw State University

ITEC 7500: Capstone Experience & Portfolio

Professor Tracey Borup

January 23, 2022

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Blended Learning in the Elementary Mathematics Classroom

The goal of the capstone project was to help fourth grade mathematics teachers increase their

proficiency and utilization of available digital resources within classroom instruction in order to

work towards our School Improvement Plan goal of creating a more blended learning style

instruction. While all teachers have access to enough technology to be 1:1 in the classroom,

according to the pre-survey, the majority of teachers only used it for the iReady Learning

platform during center time. This information gave me the idea to introduce other available

digital tools and resources to classroom teachers for my Capstone Project. Cherokee County

School District has a variety of resources available for teachers to utilize during instruction,

however, many are not familiar or comfortable with them enough to integrate them into

instructional time.

During the planning of my Capstone Project, Avery Elementary School purchased 24 new

Chromebooks for all fourth grade classrooms. The district is also in the process of purchasing

and installing new smart boards in all classrooms. These new additions open up many

opportunities for technology integration in the classroom that were not previously available.

With this project, I aim to coach elementary math teachers on available resources such as

Nearpod and FlipGrid that can be used within the math classroom to promote student

engagement and work towards the school-wide goal of creating a more blended learning style

classroom.

Description of Capstone Experience

The first activities of the Capstone Project was to research best practices for use of

instructional technology tools and meet with administration to discuss goals and

opportunities for blended learning. After meeting with the administration, I began
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developing the Canvas learning modules and handouts for the participating teachers based

on areas of need in order to work towards the School Improvement Plan (SIP) goals. I

collaborated with the Instructional Lead Specialist (ILS) when developing the modules in

order to align the learning targets with the SIP goals for blended learning and teacher clarity.

I also developed a survey that was sent out to math teachers in order to gain insight to their

comfortability with technology resources, as well as what they wanted support on. The

responses from this were enlightening because a majority of the teachers primarily wanted

ideas for implementing tools and resources into their instruction as opposed to specific areas

of desired support. These requests directly aligned with the SIP goal of building teacher

clarity and working towards a more blended learning environment.

The second activity of the Capstone Project was to provide participants with small group and

individual coaching sessions. During these sessions, I coached participants on a variety of

resources such as Nearpod, FlipGrid, Quizizz, and Blooket and helped them develop engaging,

standards-based activities and assessments. One barrier I encountered during this was teachers

being unfamiliar with the math standards in order to ensure all activities aligned with learning

goals. According to Corwin (2017), teachers need clarity in order to develop “a deep understanding

about what to teach and why, how to teach it and what success looks like”. Therefore, with the

help of the ILS, we worked to improve our teacher clarity and collaboratively constructed learning

targets and success criteria prior to developing digital learning tools. While this step was not

originally in my plan, it was necessary to include in order to ensure teachers were including digital

resources effectively as opposed to using it as a time-filler with little to no learning outcomes.

By November, all participants showed an increase comfortability with integrating digital resources

into the classroom. Three out of the four fourth grade teachers were beginning to use FlipGrid at
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least twice a month for students to show mastery of math standards by assigning students to record

their process creating and solving a math problem. In one of our group meetings, we discussed

how this activity directly aligns to the curriculum standard and student learning which inspired the

fourth teacher to include the resource in her plans as well. One barrier I encountered during this

time frame was the addition of a long term substitute teacher for one of the math teachers that went

on maternity leave. However, I used this as an opportunity to expand my coaching and introduce

this teacher to resources and ideas she previously did not know about.

Before Thanksgiving Break, participants collaborated to develop an artifact using one of the

chosen instructional technology resources discussed that they would then integrate into their

instruction during the month of December. The most requested resource was Nearpod because of

its engaging activities and editing abilities. Teachers worked together to develop a lesson on

equivalent fractions in Nearpod that could be used as teacher-paced or student-paced if learning

from home. They chose to include activities such as videos with embedded questions, Draw It,

polls, and Time to Climb as a wrap-up. After implementation, I asked for feedback on the creation

and integration of the resource. A common comment was the noticeable increase of engagement

with the students throughout the duration of the lesson. Teachers also stated that they saw

improvement in student understanding of the learning target based on the correlation between the

created Nearpod and the standard’s success criteria. One obstacle teachers mentioned was getting

students logged into the lesson. Currently, students have to navigate to the Nearpod homepage

through the browser to access the login page which provided a prolonged waiting period to begin

the lesson due to unfamiliarity with navigating the web. Therefore, I will be suggesting to the

district’s technology department to include a button for Nearpod on the Student Tools page on the

Avery website.
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Since the participants grasped the new tools and resources quickly and were able to implement

them into the classroom, I modified my original plan and introduced a new resource: Blooket.

Blooket is an interactive learning platform that focuses on review and competition through

memorable, content-driven experiences (Stewart, 2022). I coached participants on the

effectiveness of this resource on student engagement and learning, as well as how to play the game

in the classroom. We then created a Blooket set together on the adding and subtracting fractions

standard. Teachers implemented the created game the following day and I followed up with them

after school; all teachers shared that the students were highly engaged, loved the competitive aspect

of the game, and were able to show mastery of the skill through the variety of questions we created

for the set. Since then, Blooket has become part of a weekly review center with teacher-created

sets that are directly aligned with the standards and skills for the week.

Over the last week, I have completed one-on-one exit interviews and a group meeting to assess

growth in confidence and usage of technology resources in classroom instruction. All participants

stated that they felt increased confidence with utilizing available resources, as well as confidence

in using the resources effectively to increase student engagements and learning. 75% of

participants also stated that they felt their classroom instruction met the blended learning model

expectations with the weekly additions of Nearpod, FlipGrid, and Blooket. According to Poon

(2013), blended learning” encourages students to learn in an interactive and collaborative

environment, and at their own pace and in their own time”. After discussing with the teachers, they

all agreed that the usages of the newly implemented digital tools and resources provided students

with opportunities for differentiated learning and collaboration, therefore meeting the

qualifications for the school’s blended learning initiative. By the end of the project, I developed a
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few goals for the future in order to continue pursuing school-wide growth towards blended learning

and teacher clarity.

Implementation

Implementation of the project did not completely go as planned; however, a

majority of the goals and objectives remained the same or similar. For example, my original

goal was to increase teacher usage and comfortability with digital tools such as Quizizz,

Nearpod, and FlipGrid, but after surveying the participants, I came to the conclusion that

many were already familiar with creating at least one of the tools. Therefore, I decided to

focus primarily on Nearpod, a tool that the district has been encouraging in classrooms and

one that would most effectively help the school work towards blended learning. I also

modified the suggested tools from Quizziz to Blooket due to student engagement and

teacher interest. Finally, after participants mastered creating and implementing the learned

tools, I spent a decent amount of time helping teachers create Canvas module and embed

materials, resources, and activities. This was a vital step in this project because teachers

are required to create their lesson plans in and teach from Canvas modules in order to

move towards blended learning in the event of the class going to remote learning.

Project Outcomes

Overall, the project had a positive outcome. All participants came away with a firm

understanding and mastery of the content and tools. As teachers often experience,

resources change and new ones become available which led to a shift in chosen content.

However, implementation, student engagement, and teacher comfortability all increased by

the end of the Capstone Project. In addition to helping plan the integration of digital tools, I

provided troubleshooting help with the newly purchased laptops, Canvas modules, and
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unforeseen issues. Teachers involved in the project stated they had positive experiences

and look forward to continuing to implement technology within their classrooms.

Barriers Encountered

I encountered many barriers throughout the project, the biggest one being the

COVID-19 pandemic. This affected my Capstone Project due to scheduling changes,

opportunities to coach in person, and opportunities to observe in classrooms. While I was

able to continue through with most of the plans, there were many moments that required

flexibility and pivoting in methods. Another barrier I encountered was the unfamiliarity

teachers were with embedding the learned resources into Canvas, our learning platform.

This required some extra coaching, along with making modules, prior to implementation in

lesson plans.

Follow-Up

I have worked and communicated the results of the project with Avery’s ILS in

hopes of continuing the coaching on these resources with other grade levels. The ILS

agreed that this would be beneficial to many teachers in order to continue working

towards the school-wide goal of teacher clarity. I also communicated the need for updated

Smart Boards to allow teachers and students to fully access the variety of digital tools.

Leadership stated that they are working with the district to provide all classrooms with

updated models.

Discussion and Reflection

I learned a lot about technology facilitation and leadership from completing this

capstone experience. One of the most important things I learned throughout this

experience was to be flexible. There are times when technology does not work, individual
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teacher comfortability with technology, and resources are not functioning properly. As a

facilitator, it is important to have a toolbelt of troubleshooting strategies and available

teaching resources to help mitigate those potential areas of need. I also learned the

importance of collaborating with administration when developing coaching pathways and

strategies. This provides facilitators with opportunities to impact student and teacher

learning, as well as help the school work towards their goals. For example, when

developing my Capstone Project, I met with my school’s principal to gain insight on her

vision for school improvement (ISTE 1c, 4a/PSC 1.1, 1.2, 5.1). After this meeting, I was able

to develop a Shared Vision and design my capstone experience around improving blended

learning within the school which directly relates to the school’s SIP plan. Prior to entering

this program, I assumed Instructional Technology Specialists primarily focused on new and

emerging resources; but now I know that they also play a large role in impacting

classrooms and the school as a whole.

While working with the fourth grade math team, I was able to model, coach, and assess

teacher understanding and comfortability with emerging technologies. The most impactful and

most requested resource from teachers was Canvas. As of the 2020-2021 school year, teachers at

Avery Elementary are required to post weekly modules with the week’s lesson plans and

assignments, as well as link all resources in order to allow students at home to continue their

learning. While this is required, many teachers were uncomfortable with the tool and how to

navigate it, let alone create modules and pages that engage students. Therefore, I provided many

training and coaching sessions on creating Canvas content to help teachers feel more confident

about integrating the tool into their classroom. During the sessions, I provided handouts and

example modules for participants to utilize and reference back to. This contributed to my
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understanding of others in the K-5 field because it made me realize the importance of making

sure all participants are familiar and comfortable with a tool before expecting them to use it

effectively.

One thing that I really enjoyed about the project was the opportunity to get to know other

teachers throughout the building and learn about their ideas for integrating technology into their

instruction. Being a current classroom teacher limits my opportunities for being able to observe

other grade levels and their curriculum. However, as an ITS, it is important to be familiar with a

variety of content in a span of grade levels to be able to help teachers create digital content or

activities for their classrooms.

Overall, I have become much more confident as an Instructional Technology Specialist

from this project. I have learned the importance of communication and collaboration with all

stakeholders, how to be flexible and prepared for a variety of potential issues, and how to

positively coach others in order to gain trust, find common ground, and develop new

understanding. The knowledge and confidence teachers gain from participating in my project and

coaching sessions will hopefully be seen for years to come.

Recommendations

Teachers should be mindful that not everyone classroom or school has equitable

access to technology. This can pose many problems in regards to teacher comfortability

with digital resources, as well as the ability to implement technology within classroom

learning. This problem also impacts digital literacy with students because if they do not

have access to technology in the classroom, they will have limited opportunities to practice

and become familiar with digital tools. While the challenge of limited technology makes it

difficult to provide professional development that teachers can immediately implement in

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their classroom, it also provides opportunities for extensive growth and school

improvement. One should consider completing a technology inventory with each grade

level prior to addressing a similar area of need. Then, teachers should consider meeting

with stakeholders to work on securing updated tools such as laptops, iPads, or desktops in

order to close the digital gap.

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References

Corwin. (2017). How to Empower Student Learning with Teacher Clarity [Ebook]. Retrieved 20

January 2022, from

https://us.corwin.com/sites/default/files/corwin_whitepaper_teacherclarity_may2017_fina

l.pdf.

Poon, Joanna 2013, Blended learning: an institutional approach for enhancing students' learning

experiences, Journal of online learning and teaching, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 271-288.

Stewart, B. (2022). Blooket. Retrieved 21 January 2022, from https://www.blooket.com/.