The Action Research Plan question that I am working on is, "In what ways will implementing a Web 2.0 behavior modification service effect the number of conduct marks a student/class receives?" Our school has been selected to pilot a system called Review 360 in which a teacher can log into this service and document how a student behaves. In return, the system will give suggestions on how to better handle this student. If these ways are ineffective, the teacher can mark it as "ineffective" and the developers will "throw it out" and give better suggestions.
When I first talked this over with my Site Mentor, I was ecstatic! Since I am the Technology Leader on my campus, I immediately thought how fun this query would be for me. It was moments later that I thought this may also be a problem for certain teachers. While many teachers claim to be "tech savvy" we still have a few out there that are used to doing things the "old way." Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a teacher doing something their own way, but teaching them something new might be a challenge.
Another problem I might run into is the fact that implementing this program adds something else to a teacher's already full plate. While I am only selecting a few teachers to help me with this program, I do not want to feel like I am burdening them or pestering them for their data. I do also remind them that this program does have the potential to benefit their students so I am hoping that will lure them into helping me.
On paper, my Action Plan seems solid. However, we all know that we do not teach "in a perfect world" so I am going to do my best adjusting to meet the needs of my teachers and administrators helping me with this project. I am also hoping that the end results benefit their students as well!
I think you have a challenge cut out for you. If I were one of your teachers, I think I would be very excited about your research, but .... I would also have some concerns. When do the teachers enter this information into Review 360? Is this an interruption in the middle of teaching to record the behavior? I can't imagine that would be the case. If not, though, then it IS some time that teachers are going to have to carve out of their already hectic schedules. We have a tool that you might be familiar with called Laser Focus. We are supposed to document academic and behavior problems in Laser Focus. I'm a tech saavy teacher, and even I have trouble finding the time to enter the data and interventions.
ReplyDeletePart of the problem with Laser Focus is that there isn't anyone to tell us which kids we should document, and some teachers never document anything at all. Nobody knows who is documenting (online) and who is not. I think you might need to consider some kind of way of knowing who is doing their part. Is there some kind of report you can generate for accountability? If so, maybe if they know about the report ahead of time they will be more likely to take the time to enter the data & interventions. Just a thought ...