T_Stewart_7492 E Learning Project
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Dec 6, 2023
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Closing The Gap With Coding
1
Closing The Gap With Coding
Tara Stewart
University of West Georgia
MEDT 7492: Leadership and Administration of Online Learning
Dr. Allyson Wilcox
6/15/2023
Closing The Gap With Coding
Table of Contents
Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………..
3
Overview of Mini Project……………..……………………………………………………...
4
Description of the Resources Needed………………………………………………………..
4
Narrative Overview of Budget……………………………………………………………….
5
Reflection…………………….……………………………………...………………………… 5
References……………………………………………………………………………………..
7
Closing The Gap With Coding
Overview of Mini Project
Middle teachers encounter challenges on a daily basis engaging student in subjects that
are required but may have very little interest to students. Common Core standards and Georgia
Standards of Excellence quickly dictate what must be taught and when it should be
accomplished. While this can be frustrating, by utilizing innovative technology strategies,
learning can become more engaging, and student centered. This is quite different than the
traditional teacher centered lessons. Today’s students are digital natives. They are born with
technology in their hands. Educators must embrace the technology initiative and provide students
the opportunity to learn the way twenty-first century students learn best. Studies have shown that
utilizing gaming and simulations can increase student achievement, motivation, and engagement
(Akpinar & Aslan, 2015).)
Executive Summary
Steps for Development
Students of all ages enjoy playing games. According to Watson, Mong and Harris (2021),
students that use video games show an increase in student engagement and motivation. It is
evident that gaming increases critical thinking skills and collaboration. These twenty-first
century skills are evident in coding. Coding demands problem solving, critical thinking skills and
collaboration.
With the Georgia Milestones test, students are required to use twenty-first century
learning skills to develop short answer questions and essay questions in all subjects. This
includes Social Studies. This professional development project aims to assist the educators in this
area of need.
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Closing The Gap With Coding
The pr
ofes
sional development workshop will take place during the summer of 2024. It
will consist of five eight-hour sessions. During the five-day sessions, teachers will be trained in
basic coding skills along with how to utilize coding in instruction. During the first day of the
summer session, a member of the Code.org team will be instructing teachers on basic coding
blocks and creating games using coding. This partnership is an integral part of the success of
professional development. They will also serve as consultants as needed.
During the professional development workshop, activities will directly align with the
objectives. Teachers will be given the opportunity to explore and learn how to code. Teachers
will also better understand the necessary content for eighth grade Georgia Studies. Teachers will
explore creating lessons with coding that will enrich technology and vocabulary skills for eighth
grade students in Cobb County. There will be three follow up sessions that will give teachers the
opportunity to share their successes and discuss areas needing improvement. Teachers will also
be able to share the coding lessons they have created to determine the effectiveness of the
professional development.
The project consists of three phases during its implementation. The first phase
consists of a pre-test. The pre-test will be given during the first day of activities. The pre-test
consists of content that will be covered in the final lesson. The pre-test will be used to determine
what the participants already know and serve as a means of collecting baseline data. Debriefings
will also be held at the end of each day to continuously check for the participants’ understanding
of the content and to uncover whether anything needs to be re-covered during the next day’s
activities. They will also be given a survey that helps the facilitators determine their prior
knowledge and level of comfort with using technology.
Closing The Gap With Coding
Phase two consists of a post-test. The post-test will be given at the end of the day during
the last summer session day. The post-test determines the content knowledge gained during the
5-day workshop.
Phase three will take place during the two fall sessions and the one spring session. Phase
three consists of a survey that the participants will complete to determine the effectiveness of
professional development. The participants will also provide data from their lessons that
demonstrates their students’ completed work. This data will be used to determine the students’
knowledge of the content.
https://trello.com/invite/b/MGxjPG0Z/ATTI0bd6409e0105fc9e64c24efccefa7c581F7D38
BB/closing-gaps-through-coding
Time Management
This workshop will take place over five days, with two additional follow up days. The first day
of the workshop will begin with a brief orientation and welcome session. This will provide
information on the goals and objectives that will be covered during professional development.
Participants will be given a pretest on the content standards that will be used for the final lesson.
Participants will also be given a survey that will allow facilitators to understand previous
experience and knowledge. A coding specialist from code.org, will be facilitating this training
with instructions on basic coding.
During the working lunch participants will be encouraged to experiment with coding using
www.code.org. Students will then be given the opportunity to move through the lessons at their
own pace. During all sessions of the workshops, lunch will be provided. Lunch is considered a
working time where participants can share and collaborate. This is also a time where participants
Closing The Gap With Coding
can work together, brainstorm, and come up with some ideas that may be beneficial for the
lessons they are preparing. A group debriefing will take place at the end of the day for questions
and answers.
The second day of professional development will allow teachers to work collaboratively with
others to create lessons to enhance instruction. By utilizing the coding from day one, students
will move to the tutorial lessons where they will be able to work at their own pace. Basic coding
commands will be shared. Participants will be able to practice coding to create simple games. At
the end of this day, the small groups should have a basic idea of the lesson they would like to
create and the coding commands they will use.
The third and fourth days will focus on allowing participants to focus on the lesson they would
like to create and integrate into the curriculum. Based on the history standard of focus,
participants can create a game that will show application of content and new instructional
strategies. Two days are given for this activity to allow adequate time for coding practice and
content integration. We have learned that teachers lack adequate time for practice what they have
learned during professional development. (Sweigart, Landrum, & Pennington, 2020). Therefore,
time is built in the professional development workshops for this collaboration. As participants
move through day three and four, they are encouraged to collaborate, and problem solve together.
The final day of the summer session will consist of developing the two lessons that will be
incorporated into the curriculum. If two lessons are created and time allows, the participants
should begin creating the game using coding. Participants will be encouraged to share their
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Closing The Gap With Coding
games with the whole group. Once lessons are shared, there will be a final group discussion time
for clarification of expectations for the fall.
The first Saturday session scheduled for the fall will consist of teacher collaboration. During this
five-hour session, participants in the workshops will gather together to share what has been
successful and what needs improvement. Teachers will share successful games they have created
during the school year thus far.
The final session in the spring will be held to determine how effective the use of gaming has
been on student achievement. All the participants will complete a survey that will determine if
this strategy was effective. All lessons and games will be combined and shared in an electronic
portfolio. Teachers will share their perception of the summer workshop and if it has been
beneficial for their teaching. This will conclude the professional development session. Stipends
will be issued to all participants who have completely fulfilled the professional development
workshop.
Description of the Resources Needed
The main resource required for this project will be man-hours from the members of the
facilitators and teacher leaders, with roles being assigned in the project management plan.
Education is notorious for asking employees to take on more job duties without extra
compensation, so teachers will be paid for their time.
In regard to technology,
the curriculum guides, teacher guides, worksheets, and other resources
for Code.org and Scratch and Code are free for educators to access. A minimal amount of office
Closing The Gap With Coding
supplies (such as color copies, printouts, pens) might be required for in-person professional
development, but most material should, preferably, be hosted in a Microsoft Teams Classroom.
The Microsoft Office tools are also necessary resources, but they have already been accounted
for in the fiscal budget for the year.
Narrative Overview of Budget
Personnel
An employee from Code.org will be serving as a facilitator during the day one activities.
They will introduce the participants to Coding, the services of Code.org, and provide instruction
for creating games and simulations using coding. Her day one activities also include an Hour of
Code, setting up coding accounts for the participants, demonstration of basic coding blocks and
sequences, and let’s learn to code block. Funding is $300 for the one-day training with an
additional fee of $300 for prep time for a total cost of $600.
Participants
There are a total of twelve participants in the professional development training. Each of
these participants lives in the metro Atlanta area. The participants must attend the five-day
summer session and the three-day follow-up session to complete the training. Participants who
complete the entire eight-day training will be given a stipend of $500 to be paid at the end of the
professional development.
Meals
Closing The Gap With Coding
Boxed lunches will be provided to the participants and served during a working lunch
each day during the 8-day training. Boxed lunches are $9 per person. The twelve participants will
receive a boxed lunch for each day of the training. Funding for boxed lunches is $1,296.
Supplies
Consumables needed for the PD are a pack of pens (1 60-pack= $4.12), 3 packs of copy
paper for printing the course materials and other resources (1 3-pack= $12.88), and folders for
course materials (3 6-packs x $13.86= $41.58). Funding for supplies and consumables is $58.58.
Other costs
Since the training will be held at a school in the district, there is no cost for the venue for
the training. The school has computer labs with enough computers for all the participants and
Wi-Fi. The curriculum guides, teacher guides, worksheets, and other resources for Code.org and
Scratch and Code are free for educators to access. They will be provided to the participants at the
beginning of the PD.
Final Reflection
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Closing The Gap With Coding
The purpose of this project is to enhance the instruction within this learning community
by properly integrating technology such as coding into the middle school setting. Based on the
literature available involving gaming and simulation, it is evident that it can encourage and
increase student engagement within a lesson and provide life like examples for those who may
not be privileged to have as many experiences as others. Many researchers have been involved in
this process and have encouraged the use of gaming and simulation in lessons. The activities that
have been outlined within this project ensure that there is proper professional development for
the teachers participating in the project.
The overall goal of measurement for success is that
student engagement is increased, and teachers begin to develop more lesson plans with coding
practices in mind. The proposed project’s success with the Cobb County school district can help
guide others to incorporate coding into their subjects and ideally it can lead to other counties
adopting the same strategies.
Budget Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gDa5KKkma8er1btNsE9Srd2ra1DseuxtwcQKZjY3_Zs
/edit?usp=sharing
Closing The Gap With Coding
References
Akpinar, Y., & Aslan, Ü. (2015). Supporting children’s learning of probability through video
game programming. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 53(2), 228-259.
Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. (1994). The Program Evaluation
Standards (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Srivastava, A.K. (2021). Do smart goals lead to better performance? Performance
Management, 30-33.
Sweigart, C.A., Landrum, T.J., & Pennington, R. C. (2020) The effect of real-time visual
performance feedback on teacher feedback: A preliminary investigation. Education &
Treatment of Children, 38(4), 429.
Watson, W. R., Mong, C. J., & Harris, C. A. (2021). A case study of the in-class use of a video
game for teaching high school history. Computers & Education, 56(2), 466-474.
What is Coding? http://www.codeconquest.com/what-is-coding/