Wicked Problem Project Final

For the Wicked Problem Project I was asked to use technology to address a problem of practice or educational goal.  In this blog post you will read about the educational problem of practice I addressed, the technology integrated solution, and the application of TPACK to my solution.  Below you will also find a video summarizing my Wicked Problem Project.  

My Wicked Problem: For the wicked problem project I see an educational need for students to have the ability to view mini-lessons of a concept taught, especially in the area of math.  Many of my students need to review addition and subtraction strategies, while others have mastered the concept and are ready for a challenge.  Addition and subtraction is something we continually practice and learn more efficient strategies for throughout the entire school year.  By the end of second grade, students are expected to add and subtract by breaking the number into tens and ones. 

My Solution: As an elementary teacher I feel that I spend a good amount of my time assisting students who do not understand a concept or need more assistance to master a concept.  Because I devote much of my time to these students, I do not feel like my higher achieving students are getting the challenge they deserve, especially in the area of math.  My technology integrated strategy is to create short lessons using jing and powerpoint that will review the various strategies for addition and subtraction that have been taught throughout the school year. Multiple students will be able to view the jing lessons at once using an ipad.  While students are reviewing and practicing this concept, I will now have the ability to work with students who have already mastered the concept and are ready for a challenge.  
At the second grade level students have a difficult time “teaching” each other a concept.  They often want to give their classmates the answer, instead of taking the time to try and explain the process.  This is why I believe creating math tutorials using jing is a great option to assist students in learning efficient addition and subtraction strategies.  

Application of TPACK:  TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge.  The purpose of the application of TPACK is that when integrating technology into teaching and learning it should address all areas of TPACK, not just using technology to use technology.  For the wicked problem project I see an educational need for students to have the ability to view mini-lessons of a concept taught, especially in the area of math.  Many of my students need to review addition and subtraction strategies, while others have mastered the concept and are ready for a challenge. I plan to use jing to create tutorials for my students to view.  Here is my application of TPACK:

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge: I have chosen to use jing to create a guided math tutorial.  Using jing will allow me to model a math problem for students. They will also have the option to review the modeled problem by starting the tutorial over as much as needed and have the ability to work at their own pace. As the tutorial continues students will use pencil and paper to attempt a guided practice problem.  At the end students will be given an independent practice problem.  They will be asked to pause the tutorial to practice an independent problem.  Once they have completed the problem they can resume the tutorial to view another modeled problem and have instant feedback.  


Technological Content Knowledge: Giving students the ability to view the tutorial as much as needed, as well as the option to pause the video and work at their own pace will assist in making the content more intellectually accessible.  As a learner myself I know there are some topics that require multiple readings or watching videos more than once for me to understand the concept.  My students are the same way.  Having a tutorial for addition and subtraction strategies at their fingertips will allow them to pause when necessary and rewind if a part of the concept still isn’t clicking.


Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Using a tutorial to allow for guided practice through the steps of solving an addition or subtraction combination, as well as giving the students the ability to pause the tutorial and solve problems independently with instant feedback will make the content more intellectually accessible.  Through the use of the tutorial created through jing, guided practice can be done at the speed of the learner.  If the learned needs to review a step, they can rewind the tutorial and watch it again.  Once students feel they are confident with the process they can practice a problem independently, then check their work instantly.  This will aid in correcting any misconceptions before students are sent to work on their own.