Week 11

Essential Question: How will you format and disseminate your research?

As I have already written a decent amount of my final action research project, I will have the headings of Introduction, Project Description, Literature Review, Description of Methods and Implementation, Data Collected with Analysis, and Conclusion with Reflection.

My introduction discusses the why behind my action research project. The purpose of this project is to conduct action research into the application of technology to continue learning during this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 global pandemic. I have decided to conduct research during this pandemic by gathering information from my colleagues and students about their use of technology, comfort level with technology, and where they obtain help from during this remote learning time.

My project description explains my goals and how I plan to achieve them. This will be done through a survey of WPSD middle school and high school teachers and about 55 WHS students. My survey includes a variety of questions directed towards investigating the following questions:

• Which technology tools proved most effective for digital education at secondary level?
• Where teachers and students obtained technology support during the transitional time to remote teaching?
• If and how the comfort level of using technology changed from the beginning to the end of the experience for teachers and students?

My literature review summarizes several different studies about using technology-enhanced learning. My primary goal was to learn more about the use of technology during the COVID-19 global pandemic. I plan to use the knowledge gained about technology integration in the classroom to improve my curriculum so that it is project-based, relevant, and engaging. Most importantly, I want to understand the best educational technology tools available in order to provide students with meaningful opportunities during possible future school closures that require distance education. 

My description of methods explains my role as a teacher during the COVID-19 school closure. It also includes the surveys that I created and sent out to my colleagues and students.

My data collected with analysis is information extracted from the surveys. The first survey was given at the beginning of the implementation of remote learning and the second was sent near the end of the school year. Both surveys included questions about their use of technology, comfort level with technology, and where they obtained help from during the period of remote learning. I took data from the first round of surveys and compare that to the data of the second round of surveys. 

Lastly will be my conclusion with reflection. This is the only part I have remaining, but my plan is to write a clear concluding paragraph about the data that was generated. Then compare that to the data that Amanda Gray obtained at the elementary level. And finally reflect on how this project went and how it can be used in the future. At this point, I think this information could be critical as we prepare our "Smart Start" plans throughout the state. I would love to see our action research published for districts everywhere to use as they plan for the future.