Project Plan:
Course Description: Economics for Managers (Level 1) . This course introduces the basic concepts of Microeconomics with an emphasis on their application in business decisions and the analysis of market structures. It focuses on the mechanism of demand and supply, price elasticity of demand, costs of production and the basic characteristics of market structures. Students are expected to use the theoretical concepts covered to analyze UAE businesses and their industries.
In groups of 3 or 4 the students have to work as if they have been hired by a business to prepare part of an analysis of the market forces affecting the business, including the demand and supply of its products/services and its competitive position. In addition, they have been asked to analyze the impact of the economic situation in the UAE on the firm’s industry and the impact of that industry on the economic situation in the UAE in recent years (2009/2010 or 2010/2011
I plan to use Google Docs as the learning technology to support the students’ development of their project. This will enable the students to work independently but collaborate together. Google Docs will also allow me to be involved and offer support in that process.
Additional Value:
· Encourage independent work on a group project (rather than 1 person doing it and submitting on behalf of everyone.
· Allow for more frequent teacher feedback.
· Encourage student/student feedback
How do I ensure that the learning is with the technology rather than from the technology? Good question. I think using Google docs helps to foster learning because it is a social medium. The students can use the tool for discussing, collaborating and supporting each other’s learning through the project
Hi Andrew
ReplyDeleteI, too, think Google docs holds a lot of promise for encouraging collaboration and this project you're introducing it for seems very suitable. One advantage is that they keep a written record of the discussion and decisions made so showing how equitably (or otherwise) the work load was shared. I also think that writing facilitates greater thought because it's a more deliberative process. Spoken words are here and gone quickly, reading and writing text deepens thinking. I look forward to hearing how you get on.
Thanks for the reply. I agree with you about the advantages. However, I have 2 concerns. The first is that whilst it is important for me as a teacher to be able to identify who did what, there is not necessarily any connection between that and student learning. The second concern I have is that whilst I know that for me as a native speaker the written word is a more powerful and deliberative process, I am not wholly convinced that the same is true of second language speakers, particularly at the level of our students. I have absolutely no research with which to back this hunch but it seems to me that the very process of writing in English may be the thing which takes the majority of their time and effort, rather than thinking about the content of the project they are working on.
DeleteMe too. Looks like a very interesting project. Thanks Andrew for allowing us - or me at least - to look over your shoulder and watch the process.
ReplyDeleteNancy
I understand your caveats, Andrew, and I too think that it is impossible to show a link between contribution and learning. I think that it is probably the main assumption in the constructivist understanding of learning and is analogous to the formerly prevalent assumption of the transmission understanding of learning that if learners are sitting quietly and listening, then learning is occuring. We can only know that learning has occurred after the fact. With the second point, I think that certainly for most of our students, writing in English is a struggle - probably due to the fact that they were taught to write through copying of model texts which involved little thinking in terms of content or writing.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, as the students really have double the work - both working on their English skills and also the content as well. And further, what concerns me is that the topic we are reading about (in the assigned reading)asks how we can facilitate learning with technology, yet it simultaneously makes assumptions about learning with technology. Assumptions I might add, that I don't necessarily agree with. I guess what we need to keep in mind is that it's to help foster meaningful learning, and do as the author suggests, "support the intellectual functions that are required by a course of study". In my opinion, at least for my students, this is quite a conceptual leap - to be doing this on their own. Perhaps your students at the level you teach Andrew, is more familiar to individualized working. It will be really interesting to see how this all turns out. Thanks for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteNancy
Hi Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI just came across this free guide for teachers using Google docs via my PLN. I hope you find it useful.
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/04/google-docs-for-teachers-free-ebook.html
Your project sounds stimulating and I'm eager to find out how it progresses!
All the best,
Donna
I totally agree with your concerns. Google doc doesn’t let us know that who is making what changes and it will be difficult to track that whether all students are contributing in the project or not. How are you planning to overcome this.
ReplyDeleteI had a good experience with Google docs this semester. I liked it's comments feature that allows me to post comments on students work. Revision history feature in Google docs allows me to get an idea on who is making what kind of revisions to the document (provided I have edit rights).
ReplyDeleteHowever, there were some downsides to this experience. Sometimes Google docs is very slow, and hangs as well. I think it would be a good idea to have the students make backups of their work regularly or also to work offline and then update the document. I also found that it does not create sophisticated tables like word. Although I didn't use it for a group project, it was a good way to make sure students are working on their drafts and to provide them with timely feedback.