Tech Integration Case: Communication and Collaboration

(based on a case activity created by DAWN RAUSCHER)

The grant your school applied for was awarded and you have access to several new computers in your classroom. You are excited about the computers and want to use them to support students' communication and collaboration, which are important skills for your students to have. From your previous experience, you know that students are more motivated to learn when they are given the opportunity to collaborate in groups and communicate their ideas to a "real audience". More importantly, they can help each other with difficulties and negotiate conflicting opinions though collaborative discussion, which leads to deeper understanding of course content through critical and creative thinking.

However,you remember that things don't always go smoothly when your class does collaborative projects.You remember that during the last collaborative learning project, students seemed to be actively talking to each other, but not everyone learned as much as they were expected to due to a number of problems. For example, some students contributed a lot and even dominated the teamwork, while some students were not truly engaged and kept talking about irrelevant things.Some groups of students really seemed to respond well from the activity, while others seemed to learn very little. Some students were not able to think critically or creatively about the project topic.While negotiating different ideas, some students failed to listen to each other carefully before they gave responses, which resulted in unpleasant collaboration that ended up with conflicts, disagreements, and even quarrels.

The current curriculum standard you are planning to teach can best be achieved by using teaching strategies that emphasize peer interaction and collaborative learning. You know from class that technology can provide your students with rich learning resources, productivity tools, and communication tools. You decide to integrate technology with teaching strategies to address the problems you have experienced with communication and collaboration.

Step 1: Select Curriculum Standard

Select a Maryland VSC curriculum standard from your subject/grade level that involves or requires communication and collaboration.

a) What curriculum standardwill youaddress in this lesson?

b) Why did you choose this curriculum standard?

Step 2: Identify the Challenges

Situate the standard that you are going to teach into the case scenario and think about what specific challenges, in terms of communication, collaboration, and fostering critical and creative thinking, that you might meet in teaching this standard. List your challenges in the following area (Number each challenge).

Step 3: Frame the Instructional Problem

Based on the challenges you listed in Step 2,which one is the biggest issue? This will be your instructional problem.Describe the problem that you want to solve in this case project. Make sure your instructional problem is relevant to communication and collaboration and could benefit from technology integrated teaching and learning.

a) What is your instructional problem?

b) Why is this instructional problem important?

Step 4: Generate solutions

Use the TIP model Technology Integration List to help you think about how you might incorporate technology into teaching and learning to solve your instructional problem. Respond briefly to each question. Some of these questions will be answered with information found in the case scenario; others you will need to use your imagination to answer (thinking about the context of the lesson you plan to teach, and the technology or technologies that will support it).

Phase I: Determining Relative Advantage--Why Use Technology?

Do I have topics, curriculum objectives, or insights I have difficulty teaching?

Are any of the above a good match for a technology-based solution?

What is the relative advantage of the technology-based solution?

Is the relative advantage sufficient to justify the effort and expense of using these solutions?

Phase 2: Deciding on Objectives and Assessments--How Will I Know Students Have Learned?

What outcomes do I expect of students after the instruction to show me they have learned?

What is the best way for me to assess students' learning (e.g., written tests, products)?

Do the assessment instruments (e.g., tests, rubrics) exist or do I have to develop them?

Phase 3: Designing Integration Strategies--What Teaching Strategies Will Work Best?

Will students work as pairs, small or large groups, whole class, a combination?

What sequence of activities should I teach? In other words, what are my instructional procedures?

Will students have enough time to learn the technologies?

Do I have demonstrations of equipment and the software skills student will need?

Phase 4: Preparing the Instructional Environment--Are the Essential Conditions in Place to SupportTechnology Integration?

How many computers and copies of software do I need to carry out the activities?

How many computers and copies of software are available?

Over what time period and for how long will technology resources be needed?

Do I need to schedule time in a lab or media center?

Do I need to schedule projection devices or large-screen monitors for demos?

What other equipment, software, media, and resources will I need?

Are the uses I am planning legal according to copyright laws?

Have I provided for students' privacy and safety?

Have I made all necessary access provisions for students with physical disabilities?

Am I familiar with troubleshooting procedures specific to the hardware or software?

Have I built in time to test-run an equipment setup before the students arrive?

Have I built in time to back up important files? Have I trained students to back up theirs?

Do I have a backup plan if I cannot use the resources as I had planned?

Phase 5: Evaluating and Revising Integration Strategies--What Worked Well? What Should Be Improved?

(N/A – don’t need to respond for this case project)

Step 5: Design your lesson

Turn your solution into a practical lesson plan that integrates technology using the Instructional Plan for PTE rubric.

Content Area
Grade Level
Title of Lesson
Core Learning Goal (
Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum/ Content Standards and Performance Indicators/ Specific Objectives (
Maryland Teacher Technology Standards and Performance Indicators (
INTASC Principles (see below)
Teacher Preparation/ Equipment & Materials
Technology Integration (Specific description of how hardware, software and online resources will be used.)
Instructional Procedures
Formative Assessment/ Plans for Differentiation
Discussion Prompts for Critical and Creative Thinking
Summary and Lesson Closure
Assessment Plan

Step 6: Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on your performance in this case activity. This helps you learn from your experience and do a better job in the future.

1) As I worked on the case, we did well in...

2) As I worked on the case, we had difficulties with...

3) As I worked on the case, we wish we had spent more time on...

INTASC Principles

  1. The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he/she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for the students.
  2. The teacher understands how children learn and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social, and personal development.
  3. The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to the diverse learner.
  4. The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
  5. The teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
  6. The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
  7. The teacher plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals.
  8. The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of the learner.
  9. The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.
  10. The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students' learning and well-being.

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