I am interested in hearing from many different primary sources. They will consist of students from a variety of school districts and teachers (so far I have been able to secure one middle school ELA teacher and three high school English teachers, all in Cranston Public Schools).
I hope to get a chance to interview or speak with a teachers from a variety of school districts, so I have begun drawing up a questionnaire that I intend to distribute them (with administration permission). Here are some of the questions I've come up with so far.
1. Does your school have personal devices/laptops/desktop computers available for student use?
2. If not can students bring one from home?
3. How often do you have students use personal devices/laptops/desktop computers to complete writing assignments?
4. How often do you have students practice pen to paper writing to complete writing assignments?
5. As a teacher, which do you prefer? Why?
6. When you are teaching a new writing technique/skill do you find yourself having students first practice with pen and paper or word processing software? Why?
7. Do you notice that students are more willing to write using pen and paper or personal devices/laptops/desktop computer?
8. Do you notice a difference in quality of student work when writing using pen and paper or word processing software?
At the beginning of the questionnaire I will introduce myself and what my intentions are and if there are any teachers that would be willing to have me observe their classroom to leave contact information.
I already have a variety of students who are willing to talk to me. I will ask questions similar to the teacher questions, but I will record their answers on my phone.
Leah,
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty clear that you know what you're doing and the questions you ask get right to the core of your search. I am curious to know how much classrooms have changed since we have left high school. I think it would be important to note that many high schools in Rhode Island have implemented laptops and distributed them to EVERY student. I wonder what effect this has made on the students and whether its been productive or not? These are questions I'd be sure to ask. I wonder what difference technology has made since this new wave, and how writing is affected. Please tell me more! I can't wait to find out!
Hey Leah. I agree with all of the comments that Brianna left above, they are very similar to what I was thinking. The only thing is, I think that it's great that you have teachers from different schools, but they are all in the same district, which means they all work under the same administration, so I feel they will all give you the same answers, even though they work at different schools. Expanding to different districts may be good, but also hard if you don't personally know the teachers. Either way, it's a good thing that you already have all your questions laid out and they are very strong questions. Keep up the good work (wow that was a super teacher-y thing to say)
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