Module 7 - Laura Funk

Laura Funk

South Middle School Teacher

Technology Integration Initiative

Needs Assessment (Rationale)

We have over 750 students at South Middle School.  Our school services students in 6th, 7th and 8th grades.  We are in a low-income area and test in the mid-ranges on the county standardized tests.  Most classrooms at South are utilized during all periods.  Teachers give up their classrooms during their planning periods to facilitate school wide needs, such as our special education teachers, reading teachers and any remedial or advanced classes that require a quiet space to work with smaller groups of students. 

At South Middle School we are moderately equipped for general technology usage school-wide.  We have a few mobile laptop carts that are shared between grade levels and 3 computer labs are reserved to use throughout the school year.  I have personally raised the bar in my department by working very hard to save levy funds from past years to acquire ipads for my students.   By the New Year, I hope to have received the remainder of my ipad order so that I have a complete classroom set of ipads to be a one-to-one classroom.  I have decided to pursue acquiring the “genius kit” offered by OSMO programs for each of my ipad devices in the New Year, to further push the effectiveness of the ipads as educational tools.  The OSMO programs will come with 5 options for educational exploration:  Words, Tangram, Newton, Masterpiece & Numbers.  The ipad devices are currently used solely by the art department, so are not loaned out around the school.  However, with all of the interactive educational opportunities these kits provide for our students, I may look into loaning out (trading) my classroom with other teachers so that these OSMO capabilities can be utilized to their full potential in all subject areas, not just ART.  I would need to train teachers on how to use the devices beforehand, but I feel the educational possibilities with the genius kit is going to be immense.  The OSMO features are very user-friendly and basic, so students of all developmental levels should be able to complete the tasks with ease on their own, with a partner, or with an aide.  The use of this technology supports student engagement in learning across the board! - Vocabulary, shapes, colors and their relationships, facilitates creativity and out-of-box thinking, as well as group collaboration and math development.  As I mentioned above, the learning options are vast with the OSMO genius kit.  I believe the integration of the OSMO devices at South would be hugely beneficial and would increase confidence, engagement and participation. 

Cost-Benefit Analysis

OSMO Genius Kit  $99.99 x 25 (ipad devices) = $2,499.75 Total

Tax free & free shipping. 

Cost to educate teachers in the school $0

Grant I would apply for

Investing in Innovation – US Department of Education

This program provides competitive grants to applicants with the purpose of improving student achievement and attainment in order to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are shown to have an impact on improving student achievement or student growth.

I feel this grant would be perfectly suited for my project needs and the needs of my school long-term.  This could be the beginning of a larger-scale endeavor that stems school and countywide.   

The site does not list a deadline.  They state “The FY 2015 competitions are closed and award announcements will be made by the end of December 2015” I think this particular grant has a gradual grant approval rate as the year progresses depending on monies available and worthy applicants.   Perhaps a first come, first serve motto. 

Technology Implementation Plan

To Do

·      Acquire funding approval from a grant committee.

·      Purchase OSMO Genius Kits

·      Upon arrival of OSMO Kits, set up each ipad device with the programs, apps and accessories needed to be fully operational and OSMO tricked out. 

·      Train myself and a group of willing teachers in how to properly utilize the OSMO learning stations for optimum learning and efficiency. 

·      Get started with classrooms using the OSMO learning stations and unleash the potential!

Professional Development Materials

Why reinvent the wheel here?!  OSMO has created several short video clips highlighting the various learning benefits of the OSMO programs and how easy and user-friendly the accessories are, so for this part I would be sure to show each video clip to the whole faculty to give them a glimpse of the possibilities within their classrooms in using the OSMO learning stations.  

I would then explain to them that I have acquired grant monies to purchase the programs and will be using them soon with my classes.  At this point I would also express to the faculty that I would be willing to train and loan out my classroom so that others may benefit from the devices if interested.  I’m sure my list of interested teachers would be growing fast at this point and I would move on to training teachers and setting up an OSMO Station schedule. 

My professional development will NOT be a required training for all faculty and staff.  The professional development will only be required for those interested in utilizing my OSMO stations for their classes.  I will provide deadlines for those interested, so everyone can be trained at once in an efficient manner and we can begin to set up a schedule for trading classrooms.  I will provide a short survey at the conclusion of the training, after the teachers have spent at least 3 classes utilizing the OSMO stations.  I feel that timeframe will give the teachers a good scope for how much the stations can impact the learning of their students. 

Here is the reflective survey I created for the professional development:

OSMO Survey

Addendum

The OSMO programs are fairly new, so relevant information is limited to video advertisements, reviews, demonstrations, and blogs, so those are what I have listed in my resources. 

Resources

Chatzopoulos, N. (2015, April 6). How to use Osmo in the classroom - Daily Genius. Retrieved November 4, 2015, from http://dailygenius.com/use-osmo-classroom/

Eligibility - Investing in Innovation Fund (i3). (2015, April 22). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/innovation/eligibility.html

Make Better Decisions with the World's #1 Survey Platform. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from https://www.surveymonkey.com

Masterpiece for Osmo. (2015, March 12). Retrieved November 18, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0upQlA6K5YI

Moynihan, T. (2015, March 12). A Simple iPad Add-On That Helps You Draw Flawlessly. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://www.wired.com/2015/03/simple-ipad-add-helps-draw-flawlessly/

NAEA - National Art Education Association. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.arteducators.org/grants/additional-grant-tips-scholarships

Osmo Masterpiece is iPad Freehand Drawing Magic (HP Sprout beater). (2015, March 12). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from https://youtu.be/UjLM5GFcut4

Osmo from Tangible Play. (2014, July 8). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from https://youtu.be/fx1ecLoBkss

Osmo in Schools. (2014, November 20). Retrieved November 7, 2015, from https://youtu.be/zEsJwwdq4r8

Osmo | Educational Games System for iPad. (2015, June 14). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://www.ourkidsmom.com/osmo-educational-games-system-for-ipad/

Seidman, L. (2014, September 14). Osmo for iPad Review - Educational apps that interact with real objects. Retrieved December 6, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERwtTmdJxgA

Simms, G. (2015, April 27). Our iPad Classroom. Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://ouripadclass.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-one-where-i-share-all-things-osmo.html

Playosmo. (2015, December 2). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://blog.playosmo.com/