Creating+Innovative+Uses+of+Technology

=Creating Innovative Uses of Technology:= toc An Individual Project by Justin Knull

Lesson 1: Soda Can Packaging Redesign
media type="custom" key="9176892" align="left" width="110" height="110"__**Rationale for the Project and Technology Involved**__ Recognizing and using the formulas for surface area and volume of prisms, cylinders, pyramids, and cones are Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations for Jr. High Math students. Simply using direct instruction over the use of formulas is about as boring as it gets and, in the end, not successful in achieving a true understanding of the concepts. This hands on project gets students very involved in the idea of surface area and volume, as well as other problem solving skills. This project involves the use of computers with internet access, digital cameras, and FLIP video cameras. Students will also need to have accounts at Wikispaces and a video hosting site like YouTube, TeacherTube, or SchoolTube.

1. A brief description of lesson plan.
Students will be given the task of redesigning the box for a standard 12-pack of soda with the goal of either reducing the volume of the box, reducing the surface area of the box, or both. The project begins with students measuring the original 6 by 2 configuration that soda manufacturers package their 12 packs in currently and calculating the surface area and volume of this box. Students will plan, design, build, and report on three different possible designs for new boxes. Their work will be reported on a class wiki with a different page for each group. Their wiki page will include a photo of each new box design that they built along with specific elements required to compare their new design to the original. Students will also record and upload a two-minute or longer video sales pitch for the design they decide is the best, highlighting the benefits of their new design with the goal of selling their idea to a major soda manufacturer/distributor. Their uploaded video will also be embedded on their group's wiki page.

2. The technology and resources involved.
During this project, students will need continual access to computers with internet access. Students will need accounts various Web2.0 resources, including Wikispaces, a video hosting site (YouTube, SchoolTube, etc.), FLIP cameras, and digital still cameras. Students may also require access to video editing software such as Windows Movie Maker to edit their videos. Flickr accounts and the use of mobile phones with access to upload photographs directly online will be encouraged in place of digital still cameras. Scientific calculators will also be required.

3. What skills, knowledge, and pedagogy are required of teachers?
Teachers will take more of a project manager role than a role of knowledge transmitter. First and foremost, teachers will need to be knowledgeable of the numerous formulas for surface area and volume of geometric solids. Teachers will need to be familiar with the web resources involved in order to set up the wiki for the project and assist students in using the technology when they encounter problems. This includes the process of uploading photos and video, the use of Wikispaces, YouTube, TeacherTube, SchoolTube, Flickr, etc., and the operation of FLIP cameras and other video and still camera hardware.

4. What prior skills and knowledge are required of students?
Students will need to know how to correctly use calculators and the basic operation of digital media devices. Basic computer skills are required, including communication tools, internet browsing and editing, and the process of uploading photos and videos.

5. What are students asked to do exactly?
Students will be asked to design and build three prototype designs for a new box layout of 12 soda cans with the goal of minimizing surface area, volume or both. Their final product will include three new box prototypes that they physically build and a wiki page that analyzes each design for its benefits and drawbacks. For each box design, on their wiki page, students will post a photo of their design, state the name of their new design's shape, state both the surface area and volume of their new design, compare these to the original design, and list two pros and two cons of their new design. Following this, students will choose the best one of their three prototype boxes to record a video sales pitch highlighting the benefits, using mathematical justification, of their design with the intent of selling their idea to a major soda manufacturer. Their video will be uploaded and embedded in their wiki page along with the summaries of their three designs.

6. What are the procedures of the project?
This project requires a lot of class time (two weeks) for students to work in their groups on all of the elements involved. Preferably on a Monday, the project begins with an explanation of the task and students measuring a standard 12 pack box and calculating baseline numbers for surface area and volume. The project wiki is also shared with students in order for them to request membership and create pages for their groups within the class wiki page. The remainder of the week consists of students designing and building their boxes and performing the required calculations to compare their designs to the original box. The second week focuses on the presentation of their work and the polishing of their wiki pages. This week will consist of photographing their designs and uploading their images, completing the analysis on their wiki page, and planning, filming, and uploading their video sales pitches to embed in their wiki pages.

7. What are the advantages of the project?
This project is very hands-on, extremely relevant, and engaging for students to know that their work is serving a practical purpose and will be shared with the world through the web. This project takes the doldrums of memorizing formulas out of this specific content expectation and makes the task more about application of skills than memorization. The elements of this project: creating boxes, creating videos, applying and using basic formulas, analyzing results, persuading viewers, are very high on Bloom's Taxonomy. Students are engaged in much more than basic calculation.

8. What are the disadvantages of the project?
Because of the web-based and hardware elements involved in this project, a lot of class time has to be devoted to completing the project at school, especially if students don't have easy access to high speed internet at home. There is a hardware requirement to this project; digital video equipment (FLIP cameras) and other digital need to be available, and computers need to be up-to-date enough to be able to work with these devices in downloading and editing photos and videos.

9. What types of effective instructional strategies are included?
Nearly every level of Bloom's Taxonomy is addressed throughout the work on this project with a focus on the higher order thinking skills. With the teacher stepping out of center stage and into the role of project manager, there is a more authentic, learning community feel to the class during this work. Working effectively as a team is very important for success in this project, and the hands-on nature of the project engages all students.

10. What are the possibilities that the innovation can be transferred to other teachers, subject content, and different school settings?
Because the project is very content driven, it is difficult to see this project applied to other settings. However, the use and purpose of the technology itself could be transferred very easily to other settings. Using wikis to report project findings and persuasive digital videos have a place in nearly every content area. If a task was present, it would not be difficult to apply these tools to accomplishing that task.

Additional Information
This project is adapted from a project that I have used in my class for the past three years, and my students always love it. The best thing about it to me is that I get the best work from students that I usually don't get quality work from. It has never been accompanied by any technology in the past. My eighth graders this year do have a video sales pitch requirement, but they are not required to build a wiki page; they are completing their analysis of each box on paper. I plan to use this "full techie" version of the project next year.

Lesson 2: __7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens__ Video Podcasts
__**Rationale for the Project and Technology Involved**__media type="custom" key="9176972" align="right" C3 (Core Content Coaching) is a course our Jr. High has developed for students to work with a core-content teacher for one class period each day. The course is designed for students to have some work time, during the school day, with a core teacher as well as to focus on positive character development, community service projects, and team building projects. Biweekly, students read and discuss excerpts from Sean Covey's book __The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens__ as a curriculum to focus on positive character traits. Using FLIP video and a SchoolTube channel, students would be able to take the content of this book and communicate what they have learned through this curriculum in a meaningful and exciting ongoing project.

1. A brief description of lesson plan.
For each assigned section of the the __7 Habits__ text, students will record a video podcast summarizing the reading and expanding upon the message being communicated. The video podcasts will be uploaded to a SchoolTube channel created for the class, embedded on the C3 page of the school website, and changed every two weeks when a new lesson is read and discussed in class.

2. The technology and resources involved.
This project will require a classroom set of the curriculum, __The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens__, the accompanying workbook for students, a computer with internet access, a FLIP camera, and an account with SchoolTube. A class web page would also be a benefit for sharing purposes.

3. What skills, knowledge, and pedagogy are required of teachers?
Teachers will need to be familiar with the content of the __7 Habits__ text and the activities in the student workbook. Teachers will also need to be familiar with the use of FLIP cameras and uploading videos to SchoolTube. Video editing skills may be a plus, but are not imperative.

4. What prior skills and knowledge are required of students?
There are very few prerequisite skills for students. The only skills they must absolutely possess is the ability to read at an appropriate reading level and operate the FLIP camera. Knowing how to upload videos to the web may help, but this will most likely be done by the teacher.

5. What are students asked to do exactly?
At the conclusion of each __7 Habits__ lesson, a predetermined group of two to three students will record a video podcast using the FLIP camera to publish through our C3 web page. Their video should be approximately 5 minutes in length and consist of three major sections: a summary of the main idea of the reading, a personal story that exemplifies the point of the lesson, and a list of specific things viewers could work on to master the ideas presented in the current reading. The video will be submitted to the teacher by returning the FLIP camera with the video on the camera.

6. What are the procedures of the project?
This is an ongoing project that will continue throughout the school year rather than a single, one-time project. At the beginning of each term, a schedule will be made to ensure that each student in the class is able to participate in the podcast assignment at least once during the trimester. Each __7 Habits__ day (once every two weeks) all students will participate in the reading and discussion portion of the lesson. When students are given their workbook assignment that accompanies each lesson, the students scheduled for the video podcast will be exempt from the workbook assignment, and they will record their video podcast instead. The video will be due by the end of the week in which the lesson takes place, and the students will work together with the teacher, upon completion of filming, to upload the video and embed it in the C3 page.

7. What are the advantages of the project?
This project gives students a chance to participate in video content creation and sharing, and it will require them to internalize the meaning of the lesson in order to build upon it for their video podcast. Because the videos will be shared in an episodic manner, students should be driven by the idea of having an audience that may benefit from their work.

8. What are the disadvantages of the project?
The nature of the project's podcast format only allows a minimal amount of exposure to the technology involved. Further, because each class's web page is password protected for editing (and rightly so), students do not play as big a role in sharing their work through the school website since the teacher will be the one embedding the video. This could be changed by using a wiki or a free domain host such as Webs.com or Weebly.com, but being on the school website makes it more visible and more relevant.

9. What types of effective instructional strategies are included?
Because the project involves internalizing advice given in the text and both summarizing it as well as building upon it with a personal story as an example, this project ranks quite high on Bloom's Taxonomy (in the synthesis and evaluation domains). There is a fairly heavy focus on reading comprehension as well since students must truly understand the point of each lesson and its meaning.

10. What are the possibilities that the innovation can be transferred to other teachers, subject content, and different school settings?
This project could very easily be transferred to many other settings across grade levels and content areas. The most obvious transfer would be in an ELA setting at any grade level because of the reading comprehension element, and it would also be very appropriate in a Social Studies class, possibly incorporating current events and news.