Blog 3

1. One very interesting evaluation model that I discovered was the Goals-Free Model created by Michael Scriven. This model is just like it sounds, the evaluator does not set prior outcomes, goals, or achievements. According to Scriven, “Evaluators who do not know what the program is supposed to be doing look more thoroughly for what it is doing.” The goals free evaluation has the “purpose of finding out what the program is actually DOING without being cued to what it is TRYING to do. That is, the evaluator doesn’t know the purpose of the program.” If the program is doing what it is supposed to be doing, according to Scriven, “then these achievements should show up. Scriven says, “That evaluators who do not know what the program is supposed to be doing look more thoroughly for what it is doing.” The goals free evaluator avoids learning the stated purpose of the program prior to or during the evaluation. Instead, the evaluator observes actual outcomes. This prevents looking so hard at the outcomes and goals that you overlook side effects, whether they are positive or negative. Of course, this sounds crazy to most educators. Without goals set, then how will you know what outcomes you want your students to achieve? However, teachers stay focused on ONE goal, they might miss the opportunity for their students to grow in a way they never imagined. We want to teach our students to think for themselves, set their own goals, and try to reach them. One way that I thought the goals free model would work in the classroom is by having students choose a topic of interest to research. They would write a research paper over this topic. The knowledge they would gain from this assignment would be different for every student, and the outcomes would also vary.

Another model is the Responsive Evaluation created by Bob Stake. In explaining responsive evaluation, Stake says, “An educational evaluation is responsive evaluation if it orients more directly to program activities than to program intents; responds to audience requirements for information; and if the different value-perspectives present are referred to in reporting the success and failure of the program.” An evaluation is responsive if the evaluator makes a plan of observations and negotiations. Others should observe the program, and the evaluator should find out what is valuable to the audience. Much of this is done informally, with a record being kept of action and reaction. Responsive evaluation procedures allow the evaluator to respond to emerging issues as well as to preconceived issues. The key to this model is flexibility, with the evaluator willing to observe outcomes and react to change. I believe any educator must be responsive while teaching. Activities must be changed to meet the needs of students. Teachers should work with other teachers and administrators to make sure the way the classroom is being run is best for students.

2. Two years ago, I received a class set of ITouches to use in my English 1 classroom. The attributes of the technological innovations were increase in student motivation, test scores would go up, and interest in classroom instruction would go up. The program was designed for at-risk freshmen. These students were identified as those students who needed the biggest push in the areas of need. Training was received over the summer and lesson plans were prepared. There were many obstacles to overcome the first year of use. Mainly, connectivity issues. This arose very quickly and made the ITouches almost useless for about six months. Once that problem was corrected, the ITouches became much more useful. There are many apps that are great for reference, citations, and information. However, it was found to be difficult to include projects to use with the ITouch in the fast paced curriculum of my district. The ITouches are very hard to create something to showcase in class. Since I only have a class set, students cannot use them outside the room. There are some activities that work great; the ITouches are great for response presentations. They use the ITouch to answer questions, and the answers are displayed. This has been great for reviews. However, more training is needed, and the curriculum should be altered to allow for more time with the ITouches.

In this 2 minute video, a teacher explains how he uses his IPod touches in his class.



3. The hardest thing about creating a series of professional development series for teachers based on technology is gauging the current ability of teachers. Many will be inexperienced and unsure, but others will know about the technology, and even possibly be using it in class. I would pair the inexperienced with the experienced in order to help them gain a base knowledge of the project. As the inexperienced teacher gains confidence, I would have them work on their own. I will give teachers direct instruction on a project to complete, one they would be able to use in a lesson. This will give teachers something they can actually use in class. I think this is a very important aspect of technology training, often left out. Teachers need something tangible to use in their classroom. Show me how I can use this, added on to something already in place, and the training will be a success. Communication is vitally important throughout this process. Teachers must be able to feel that they can discuss problems and ideas with me and others. This will make the training run more smoothly. With the proper goals set, and support provided, I think technology training can be successful to help bring teachers into the 21st century classroom.