3.7 Communication and Collaboration
Candidates utilize digital communication and collaboration tools to communicate locally and globally with students, parents, peers, and the larger community.
Artifact:
Using Blackboard to Build Learning Communities
Note: I have made several important segments of our Blackboard Shell available for public viewing. If you would like to see the "real thing," please click on the title above, then enjoy perusing the Announcements, D.R.A.W. Initiative, Common Core, Cool iPad Apps, Coach's Corner, and Data Teams segments.
Note: I have made several important segments of our Blackboard Shell available for public viewing. If you would like to see the "real thing," please click on the title above, then enjoy perusing the Announcements, D.R.A.W. Initiative, Common Core, Cool iPad Apps, Coach's Corner, and Data Teams segments.
Reflection:
Griffin’s Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS), my beloved Capstone project, came about at the inception of KSU’s Masters Program. I had always wanted to use Blackboard in my classroom and try to do a few “flipped classroom” projects. However, time got away from me, and I was not able to move forward on that project. When we were given the Capstone project, Blackboard is what I immediately thought of as a way to get teachers to share their ideas with each other and to use as a resource to make teachers’ lives much easier. This was especially important this past year as we began to implement the Common Core Curriculum and our school-wide literacy program. Our Blackboard LMS has become a great deal more than this, and I will elaborate on that in my Capstone Report. Suffice it to say, I saw a critical need at my school and I opted to take advantage of that need by providing an awesome solution.
This artifact establishes mastery of Standard 3.7, because Blackboard is a vehicle for utilizing digital communication and collaboration tools to communicate locally and globally with students, parents, peers, and the larger community. As a matter of fact, I have taken our Blackboard concept on the road and have presented it to our Cobb County School District’s “Teachers Leading Cobb” Conference this past summer, and I have presented it to the Georgia Council of Teachers of English at their annual Conference this past March. Many people have seen the concept and are interested in pursuing a similar model at their own schools. I have even set up a “visitor’s class” of people who can log into our system and see for themselves how we are using Blackboard for everything we do.
Now that I have birthed this mammoth project, there is no stopping it now! It keeps growing as I keep processing our daily school activities through the lens of seeing how Blackboard can improve operations at our school. As I continue with this project, I am constantly changing and improving our current practices. I plan to continue to add resources for both our school-wide literacy program and our Common Core segments. This next year, our focus will continue with the aforementioned programs, but I will also add more to our Data Team segment, as we will be renewing our commitment to data analysis as a school-wide initiative, beginning this summer with a training that I will be conducting using what I have learned in my Data Analysis class.
Our Blackboard LMS has morphed from an idea in my mind to a living, thriving learning community of teachers and administrators—a place in which we can come together to share a common purpose and a common vision: increased academic achievement using practical, available technology. It has impacted school improvement by providing an efficient way to communicate with teachers and staff. It has impacted faculty development by encouraging teachers to branch out into a new form of technology, thereby providing useful resources that contribute to their competence and professionalism as teachers. Finally, Blackboard has indirectly impacted student learning by providing teachers with the tools they need to build lessons of excellence, aligned with content literacy goals and Common Core objectives. This impact can be measured by our improved performance on the CRCT test this past year, as much as nine percentage points in some areas. Our numbers grew in every content area as students performed with the stamina and fervor we had built throughout the year using Blackboard technology.
This artifact establishes mastery of Standard 3.7, because Blackboard is a vehicle for utilizing digital communication and collaboration tools to communicate locally and globally with students, parents, peers, and the larger community. As a matter of fact, I have taken our Blackboard concept on the road and have presented it to our Cobb County School District’s “Teachers Leading Cobb” Conference this past summer, and I have presented it to the Georgia Council of Teachers of English at their annual Conference this past March. Many people have seen the concept and are interested in pursuing a similar model at their own schools. I have even set up a “visitor’s class” of people who can log into our system and see for themselves how we are using Blackboard for everything we do.
Now that I have birthed this mammoth project, there is no stopping it now! It keeps growing as I keep processing our daily school activities through the lens of seeing how Blackboard can improve operations at our school. As I continue with this project, I am constantly changing and improving our current practices. I plan to continue to add resources for both our school-wide literacy program and our Common Core segments. This next year, our focus will continue with the aforementioned programs, but I will also add more to our Data Team segment, as we will be renewing our commitment to data analysis as a school-wide initiative, beginning this summer with a training that I will be conducting using what I have learned in my Data Analysis class.
Our Blackboard LMS has morphed from an idea in my mind to a living, thriving learning community of teachers and administrators—a place in which we can come together to share a common purpose and a common vision: increased academic achievement using practical, available technology. It has impacted school improvement by providing an efficient way to communicate with teachers and staff. It has impacted faculty development by encouraging teachers to branch out into a new form of technology, thereby providing useful resources that contribute to their competence and professionalism as teachers. Finally, Blackboard has indirectly impacted student learning by providing teachers with the tools they need to build lessons of excellence, aligned with content literacy goals and Common Core objectives. This impact can be measured by our improved performance on the CRCT test this past year, as much as nine percentage points in some areas. Our numbers grew in every content area as students performed with the stamina and fervor we had built throughout the year using Blackboard technology.