An Introduction to Action Research

Chapter One: “An Introduction to Action Research” revealed the importance of research in the educational field. If the education establishment is to improve student performance, action research must be performed by administrators and teachers. Teachers and administrators alike routinely have to make hundreds of decisions. The author, Jeffrey Glanz, said that these decisions must be informed, smart decisions. The only way to make smart and informed decisions is to make them based on research.


Glanz correctly points out that research – to many – is a very intimidating word. However, the chapter provides steps and examples about how action research can be done within the school setting. The benefits of action research, as outlined in the chapter, point to why there is such a strong need for action research in all schools. Action research, among other things, does the following: creates an avenue from which school improvement can take place; impacts what goes on in the classroom and in the administration’s office; commits school personnel to school improvement; creates a climate within the school that is conducive for learning and collaboration; empowers teachers and administrators; and creates within the school a need and desire for self-reflection and self-assessment.

This is one of the key points that the author continues to write about near the end of the chapter. The author argues that it is absolutely essential that self-refection and self-assessment is needed within the educational field. Administrators must take time each day to reflect on decisions, policies, and programs. Teachers, likewise, need to reflect on lessons, curriculum, assignments, and so on.

Without a doubt, this chapter instilled within me a desire to learn more about action research and try to implement it into my own daily life as a teacher. As a member of the School Improvement Committee, we have done quite a bit of research, and this validates what we have done as we are trying to improve our student achievement through analyzing data and programs. Further, the chapter underscores the fact that I must always reflect on what I do as a teacher. I cannot just leave my classroom and shut the door and walk away. I must think about the decisions that I made and assess how they worked. I must also push myself to do my own action research so that the decisions I make in the future are the best decisions for my students’ education.

Works Cited

Glanz, Jeffrey. (2003). Action Research: An Educational Leader's Guide to School Improvement. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon.

Comparison of the 7th Standard to EDU 590

Education 590’s Course Objectives certainly align with the Technology Standard within the Professional Standards for Michigan Teachers. The Action Research Project will provide the opportunity for us to see how implementing certain technologies in the classroom can improve student learning. It correlates well with letters E and F.


Several of the objectives and assignments that we have had match up with letter A. The importance of understanding the ethical, psychological, and other issues is paramount in education, and this course provides us with the opportunity to grapple with and ultimately understand these complex issues.

The YouTube presentation and blogs provide us with new tools that we can bring into the classroom. The challenging assignments that we have are forcing us to demonstrate our continued growth in technological us as well. This really correlates with C and D.

All of the technological ways of communicating (blogging, discussion boards, etc.) that we are using in the course (and as found in the course’s objectives) are giving us a way to use technology for the rest of my professional developmental career (B and G).

Overall, the course’s objectives have allowed me to be more in line with the State of Michigan’s Standards. Not only this, but the course’s objectives have given me more tools and insight into knowing how to better educate my students.

Works Cited

Michigan State Board of Education. (2008). Professional Standards for Michigan Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/SBE_approved_PSMT_May_13_2008+coverpg_258601_7.doc.

The 2010 Michigan Educational Technology Plan

Knowing that improving the performance of schools through implementing technology into the classroom is a very exhaustive task, the Michigan Department of Education’s 2010 Educational Technology Plan reveals that the MDE is going to take the lead to coordinate its plans.


The importance of data (also found in the NETP) is found within this document as well. The MDE is going to work with all levels of the educational system to improve the way that we, as educators, collect data. This is something that must be implemented in order for teachers to know how to effectively evaluate data in order to help improve students’ scores. The data collection process needs to be simple yet powerful to help students and teachers alike.

Knowing that there will be more and more videos, podcasts, and programs on the Internet, the MDE is calling for the advancement of high speed Internet connections for all schools and school districts by 2015. This is critical if the students and teachers will interact more with the web through online learning communities, as specified by the NETP and the MDE’s own plan.

The Plan, similar to what was found in the NETP, also calls for Universal Design for Learning so that every child is given the opportunity to become educated. Recognizing that not all children learn the same way, the MDE is focusing a significant part of its Plan to UDL including the professional development of teachers in UDL. The Plan also realizes that every teacher preparatory college must teach future educators about UDL.

The Plan continues to address the training of future teachers by exploring the possibility of requiring future teachers to gain online learning course experience. This would prove beneficial for future teachers who will be expected to teach using online communities.

Overall, much of the MDE’s Educational Technology Plan goes along with the NETP. There are several commonalities between the two plans. The MDE has a formidable task in helping the various educational institutions improve their instructional technique. The Plan shows that Michigan has a firm grasp of what it needs to do. Finally, I plan on using the MDE’s website more extensively to improve my own teaching.

Works Cited

Michigan Department of Education. (2010). State of Michigan Educational Technology Plan. Teaching for Learning in a Digital Age. Retrieved from http://techplan.org/STP%202010%20Final.pdf.

Review of the National Educational Technology Plan

The 114-page National Educational Technology Plan (http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NETP-2010-final-report.pdf) is designed to radically change the structure of America’s educational system. There are hundreds of ideas / issues within the plan that can be reviewed and written about exhaustively. I would like to focus on one theme that seemed to weave throughout the entire document: connectivity.


The plan is all about making connections. First and foremost, one of the most important principles addressed in the Plan is to connect students with the outside world. The Plan calls for learning to extend beyond the confines of the typical classroom. It cites that students need to be connected to professionals, outside resources, museums, and the community to fully understand the context of their learning. One of the Plan’s best features is that it provides several examples of what schools / school districts are currently doing to connect students with online resources, professionals, etc. These examples give readers concrete examples of how to improve their own teaching / educational performance. The Plan also mandates that teachers realize that learning has to be “On Demand.” In other words, online learning communities need to be established for students to maximize their learning.

Connecting colleges and the private sector with school districts is another element found within the Plan. The Plan notes the importance of research and calls for school districts to collaborate with colleges, universities, and the private sector to improve performance. Research done in those sectors can help instruction advance, ultimately helping American students perform better. The Plan also shows how involving the private sector in education can help students find professions that interest them. This interest can lead to added motivation for students and ultimately better their educational experience.

The Plan also details the importance of connecting teachers with students. In other words, teachers have to find ways to educate students on a personal level. Each student is different, and the Plan articulates that teachers have to find the technology that will help students progress at their particular levels.

One of the Plan’s most important features is that it addresses the need for data in education. It clearly points out that teachers and administrators need to focus on data to determine how to improve each child’s understanding of the world. It stresses that technology is in existence to help amass the data and use it to improve student performance.

The Plan also points to teachers connecting with teachers. It says in many different areas that teachers need to work with each other teachers to best improve the students' educational experiences. This means that teachers have to work with teachers in other disciplines. But it cannot just stop there. The Plan proposes that teachers work with other teachers across the country (and globe, for that matter) to assess lesson / unit plans, to create online learning / professional communities, and so on. The Plan also, smartly, talks about connecting teachers with technology through effective professional development. The rate of technology change is exponential and teachers do not have the time to keep up with it. Professional development designed to teach teachers how to use the newest, best, most innovative technology is needed.

On page 1, the plan shows why changes are needed: 24% of students drop out of school nationwide. This statistic is a tragedy. Many of the Plan’s strategies will help lower the drop-out rate. Unfortunately, there will still be drop-outs. The Plan recognizes this by setting up a system to reconnect failures with the educational system. It gives evidence from school districts across the nation (including Michigan’s Walled Lake School District) that have taken strides to reconnect failures with the educational system so that they can become more productive citizens.

Moreover, the Plan realizes that in order for America to be stronger, all of America has to be connected. This is why it is calling for areas with little or no access to the Internet be connected to the world wide web through broadband. The Plan’s intent is to leave no community behind by connecting all communities.

Overall, numerous changes have to be made in our educational system. These changes are going to require great effort by all stakeholders: teachers, administrators, community colleges, universities, businesses, museums, governments, parents, and students themselves. If the changes are made, America’s educational system will be vastly improved, drop-out rates will decline, and America will be strengthened in countless ways.

According to the NETS, the traditional concept of the classroom has to be restructured if America is going to improve its educational system.

Works Cited

United States Department of Education. (2010). National Education Technology Plan. Transforming American Education: Learning Powered By Technology. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/NETP-2010-final-report.pdf.

Academic Integrity in the Digital Age

Stanley Fish’s New York Times’ article “Plagiarism Is Not a Big Moral Deal” begins by discussing how one of his colleagues actually took pages of Fish’s writing and published them into the concluding chapter of his own book. At the end of his article, Fish writes, “They took something from me without asking and without acknowledgment, and they profited – if only in the currency of academic reputation – from work that I had done and signed.” This poignant line illustrates just one reason why academic integrity is especially necessary nowadays.


One point that needs to be addressed is that in academia, thousands upon thousands of hours are poured into making and drawing conclusions. The research that is done in academia (and private industry) has improved the lives of millions – if not billions – of people worldwide. This research is performed by devoted people who have sacrificed their time in order to discover new things. They have produced something original.

Now, with access to infinite knowledge that has already been discovered, people can “rip things off” of other people’s work and pass it on as being original. The problem is that new discoveries, new innovations, new knowledge, new originality that could have been found is lost because of the willingness to stoop down and snatch other people’s work from them. The consequences of this are devastatingly enormous – loss of economic growth, health discoveries not made, historical mysteries never solved.

Just settling for copying and pasting is very easy. It’s also easy to be caught if it’s simply copied and pasted (as demonstrated with the SafeAssign assignment). After hours of trying to craft my own “plagiarism paper” (tweaking words, including my own writing inside of others writing, manipulating sentence structure, etc.), it became obvious that students who try to beat the system will, unfortunately, succeed sometimes. Originality has been lost (although she/he could claim that she/he is an original manipulator) hurting not just the plagiarizer’s learning but also humanity as a whole.

When this happens, the chance for something new to be said is eliminated. The freeing liberty of researching and arriving at a new conclusion is gone, and the true joy of learning is denied. And – this to me is the tragedy – many students (whether in high school, college, or beyond) are held in easy-access prison by having so many opportunities to copy, paste, tweak, manipulate, and pass off as their own. They never get to taste the freeing joy that true learning provides.

As an educator, it is essential that I take a firm stand against plagiarism and explain to students the above reasons of why plagiarism is detrimental to the student and society. But I cannot just leave it at that. I must design complex writing assignments that are original where the answers cannot be found online. Having class days where we write by hand as opposed to using the computer (what an original thought!) will force students to reason on their own and will be a preventative measure against plagiarism.

Fish’s article is titled “Plagiarism Is Not a Big Moral Deal.” Many of today’s students may, disappointingly, agree with this statement. It’s not just about morality, however. It’s also about progress and society and this is something that we need to address. If students write something and then realize somebody else took it and passed it off as their own (such as what happened to Fish), that student will possibly lose the motivation to create something original or discover something new. And that is something that we – as collective humanity -- cannot afford to have happen.
 

From the first day of class, it is imperative that teachers address the issue of plagiarism and academic misconduct.  In my syllabus, specific expectations and consequences are given to students so they know what plagiarism is and why it is destructive to their academic growth.  On major assignments, I do not give students a 0 if they plagiarize because I still want them to research, write, and learn.  However, their grades will still suffer.

Works Cited

Fish, Stanley. (2010, August 9). “Plagiarism Is Not a Big Moral Deal.” The New York Times. Retrieved from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/plagiarism-is-not-a-big-moral-deal/?ref=opinion.

2009 Michigan Educational Technology Standards Review

Michigan’s 2009 Educational Technology Standards for Students (http://techplan.edzone.net/METS/) is an outline for our school systems to use to train our students into becoming responsible, smart, strategic users of the technological tools surrounding their lives. Starting in Kindergarten and moving all the way through 12th grade, teachers will be providing students with access into learning how to use the tools that they encounter. The Standards appropriately begin with kindergarten by providing a basic framework for the students. They provide students – no matter what income level they come from – the opportunity to learn about the Internet, digital resources, terminology, and other digital environments. By beginning at such an early age, students will be equipped to build upon these skills inside and outside of the classroom.


As a high school teacher, it is good to know that these students have the foundational basis. The Standards for 9-12 are properly built right off of these standards and will provide students with the necessary skill set that they need to flourish in almost all careers.

A few Standards stick out as being most important to me if we are to develop not just kids who can use technology, but develop kids that can use the technology to synthesize information, draw conclusions, and think abstractly. Standards 9-12 RI 1-8 are absolutely critical. With infinite information (and misinformation), I, as a teacher, have the responsibility to teach students to think, analyze, and research. As I noted in the Wikiality blog, we , as a nation, cannot raise children in an environment where they think that the answer is just a click away. We must teach them, as the Standards state, how to sort fact from fiction. Students need to understand propaganda and bias. It is imperative that they learn how to research properly. If these particular Standards are neglected, students will be able to turn on the computer and open up the Internet. I’m going to wager to say that they’ll even be able to open up a podcast or streamline a video or know the difference between .jpgs and .mp3s. However, they will not know how to use the web for its most important use: learning.

Luckily, Michigan’s Standards expect me as a teacher to teach kids to think and not just surf.

Cyber Bullying - The Negative Impact

For some students, school is a place where they have close friends and good relationships with their peers. For others, however, it is a place where they walk in fear of being made fun of. Years before the Internet, victimized students could leave the confines of school and no longer suffer from the ridicule of bullies.


Unfortunately, that day is long past. Now, students suffer from cyber bullying. I have spoken to students and know that some have been threatened consistently on Facebook and / or MySpace. Some students have had pages made of them without their consent and insults are posted there. It is easier to post something than to say something to somebody’s face, and sometimes, the insults can go viral with other students heaping up more and more insults. Now, the student’s self-concept has changed, and all thoughts of education are put on hold as self-esteem has been dismantled and thoughts of self-doubt, self-loathing, and / or revenge occupy the student’s mind.

This is tragic and is ultimately a devastating impact on education. I know teachers who have witnessed the impact of cyber bullying on students. Their student is unfocused and often depressed. Focusing on the importance of the Crusades or on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is not very important to the student who has had insult after insult posted on the world wide web.

My principal noted that he spends hours having to deal with altercations in the school caused by what people posted on Facebook or MySpace – places where there is no authority or rules to follow. Instead of focusing on curriculum development, he has to deal with the aftermath of very hurtful posts. The educational process is stymied as victims and educators are wondering what the next terrible posting will say.

Social networking sites like Facebook have created educational issues for students and educators to deal with.

Response to the eSchool News article by Professor Umpstead

The State of Michigan is acting wisely by creating cyber high schools for students that drop out. Drop outs, as pointed out in the article, face severe economic challenges. Often, being a drop is a precursor to jail time. Michigan, right now, cannot afford to have this economic loss and therefore, is addressing a severe problem.


It is absolutely essential that we lower our drop out statistics. Each student has the ability to learn and we must find a way to help that student grow. The article stated that high schools should focus not just on “extending learning time, providing challenging learning opportunities, aligning performance standards with college and career readiness.” Instead, they should focus “on transition from high school to college or a career.” It is imperative that I, as an educator, constantly bring real-world problems and issues into my classroom so that students know why they are doing a project, reading an assignment, or participating in a debate.

The article also made a great point that the online courses often have cross-curricular projects. Incorporating cross-curricular projects into all schools is necessary so that students begin to see the connections that all subjects have with each other. We cannot, in these current times, remain confined by our walls and teach just our subject. It is imperative that teachers collaborate and produce thought-provoking, challenging, cross-curricular projects and assignments that start to give students an idea about the world they are entering. This type of learning should also extend beyond the physical walls of the school. Online experiences can allow students to interact with the rest of the world.

Michigan is on target right now in battling the drop-out problem. We cannot sit by and watch it continue. The online courses will most definitely help not only the student mentioned in the article, but thousands of other students as well. This is an excellent program for Michigan and should be looked at by the rest of the nation. Finally, teachers of regular classrooms should examine the projects found in the cyber schools and incorporate them into their own curriculum.

Joe's Non-Netbook

“Give Me Liberty” was the title of Joe’s textbook. The textbook, ironically, was giving Joe little of the academic liberty that he was accustomed to when using his netbook. This smartly-done, witty YouTube presentation provided me with a new perspective of how beneficial online texts are and how foreign textbooks are becoming in the eyes of students.


Joe was at a loss when he wanted to gather more information on Frederick Douglass. He tried double-clicking on the image expecting to get more information, but, obviously, nothing showed. This highlighted how confining textbooks are to academic curiosity. “The only information is in the textbook. There is nothing else to learn about Frederick Douglass except for what’s in the three-sentence caption.” This is what textbooks seem to tell students. Online texts, however, are much more liberating in that students have access to literally a world of added info.

For some students with poor eyesight, the tiny text in books makes it hard for them to read, and thus, they never develop their reading skills. Netbooks give them the power to control how they view the text. Now they can actually read text by adjusting it. They can improve in reading, and, more importantly, they have ownership of their knowledge.

In the clip, Laurie pointed out that the book didn’t have links to other related information. Thus, deeper knowledge is not made and the ability to make comparisons is eliminated when simply using textbooks. Netbooks allow for accessing links to deepen knowledge quickly. Further, Laurie pointed out that definitions of difficult words are not provided in the textbook. This point impacted me greatly. Students often, when encountering just one difficult word, will stop reading. They give up. In my classroom, challenging readings often come with more than just one difficult word. If they give up, they are at a huge loss. The definition tool provided by online texts is a major benefit for students and teachers alike.

Without a doubt, the high schoolers responsible for the thought-provoking YouTube clip “Joe’s Non-Netbook” gave me a different perspective on how much online texts can do while also revealing how alien “regular” books seem to many kids nowadays. Netbooks are a powerful, liberating tool for students and can improve their understanding and reading, as long as they stay on the topic and don’t wonder off by cyberdreaming, the 21st Century’s version of what was called daydreaming just ten years ago.

The use of Netbooks in the classroom can develop reading skill and knowledge for students.

Wikiality Blog

Michael Murphy


Wikiality Blog



“Why do we have to read this if the answer can already be found on Wikipedia?” This thought probably pours through many of my students as they sit analyzing primary sources on Afghanistan, Iraq, and India. Instant gratification: our society has become obsessed with getting the answer (or anything for that matter) immediately. Whether the answer is the truth or not really does not seem to matter at all anymore. That is why I push myself and my students to never settle for the easy answer, to avoid using Wikipedia, and to always strive to discover the material.

Stephen Colbert, in his satire “Wikiality”, states, “Any user can change any entry and if enough other users agree with it, it becomes true.” He then adds, “All we need to do is convince a majority of people that some factoid is true.” This point is reason number one that I instruct students to avoid Wikipedia when researching. Students do not know if they are accessing information that is inaccurate and thus are learning the wrong information. To them, however, they will think that they are correct, and ultimately, their perception of reality has been negatively impacted.

Often when discussing the problem of using Wikipedia when researching, students will inquire, “How do we know that books or academic websites have ‘the truth?’”. I am happy when students ask questions like this because it means they are grappling with the concepts of academic research that I am trying to teach instead of doodling and drooling on their “ancient books”. I explain that books and academic websites are put together by experts who have dedicated their lives to studying specific topics and have had their work scrutinized by colleagues. This, I doubt, probably will not turn the average 15-year-old into being an anti-Wikipedia force-fighter, however. I, in teaching why not to use Wikipedia, have to go beyond this.

Perhaps the more critical concept I try to convey to students is the importance of hard work. From Day One, I preach that hard work and dedication will gain success. Using Wikipedia is to hard work and dedication like kryptonite is to Superman. Once students use Wikipedia, it creates a strong feeling and desire of attraction. The answer is there. Google it. Click on the blue text link. Bam! The answer is there. Not needed are reading strategies that I and the rest of their teachers have taught them. Gone is the ability to synthesize information from various sources. Eliminated is the entire thought process. Soon, students (and the rest of society for that matter) may be conditioned into asking, “Why should we go to school if everything’s on Wikipedia.” Trip Gabriel’s article “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age” highlights this major issue of academic laziness. In his article, he quoted an Indiana University senior named Sarah Wilensky. In the article, Wilensky said plagiarism "'does not foster creativity, it fosters laziness.'" I completely agree with this and it is another reason why I explain to students the negative consequences of Wikipedia use. Further, I want them to be prepared for the academic rigors of collegiate-level research and writing. Letting them simply look things up in Wikipedia will doom them in the future. Wilensky also noted that high schoolers are not ready for the coursework of college. I do not want my students to fall into that category.

Some may argue that money can be saved by not using textbooks and relying solely on the computer. In Ashlee Vance’s July 31’s article “$200 Textbook vs. Free. You Do the Math.,” Scott G. McNealy, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, argues, “’We are spending $8 billion to $15 billion per year on textbooks. It seems to me we could put that all online for free.’” Although he did not argue for the sole use of Wikipedia in the classroom, he did argue for the abandonment of books in the classroom to save money. Everything could be put online. The idea of saving money is great. However, what is being lost is the opportunity for students to view a variety of texts – books, journals, magazines, blogs, educational websites, YouTube clips, and so on to synthesize information. This is something that is priceless and students must be aware of the importance of accessing and analyzing a variety of information to form conclusions.

It is without question that I am fully against the use of Wikipedia in education. Teachers, however, cannot just say, “Don’t use Wikipedia” and be done with it. They must logically explain to students the problems – academic and social – and, ultimately, the ramification of using Wikipedia for the quick answer. Otherwise, the students we have now will be teaching their kids that Africa’s herds of elephants have quintupled since they were in high school.


Works Cited

Colbert, Stephen (Producer). (2006, July 31). The Colbert Report (Television broadcast). New York, NY: Comedy Central. Retrieved from http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report- videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality.



Gabriel, Trip. (2010, August 1). “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age.” The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/education/02cheat.html?pagewanted=1.



Vance, Ashlee. (2010, July 31). “$200 Textbook vs. Free. You Do the Math.” The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/technology/01ping.html.

It is absolutely imperative that students understand the importance

of evaluating texts from a variety of sources. Not settling for instant

gratification from Wikipedia is something I stress to my students on

a daily basis, especially when in the computer lab.