Well, it looks as if I finally have a direction for where to go in terms of my final paper. I have been interested in student engagement for the last few years, actually ever since starting to take courses for my special ed certificate. I have been intrigued about what causes student disengagement and what schools can do to change this.
Taking this course, I have been thinking about all of the ways that technology can impact student engagement. There are so many ways that students can use technology in class: cell phones, blogging, twitter, Skype, etc. I have been looking at what type of action research project that could be undertaken that would be information that would be useful to staff here at Killarney School.
Last night I had a brainwave (it was at 3:19 am; I know this because our 5 month old was up at that time...she has a really bad cold right now) while half asleep. Last spring our school received a grant from the Killarney Foundation to help get every classroom into the digital age. Each classroom...I repeat, each classroom...was set up with a digital projector, laptop, and interactive white board (Smartboard or Mimio). Well, at 3:19 this morning, my brain started spinning and I came up with an idea for a survey for teachers and one for students that could help determine whether using an interactive smartboard increases student engagement.
After school today, I googled "interactive whiteboard, student engagement", and a plethora of research studies, powerpoints, and articles came up. I think I found my action research project thesis. Now to start writing...
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