ITEC 7445 Multimedia Design Project Assessment (MDPA) Report Lin-Chiou Lee

Product URL: http://hoochaplang.weebly.com/

Analysis
Learner
This MDP project is designed for students who take the Advanced Placement Language (AP Lang) course
as 11 graders. By 11th grade, all students have cumulated a good amount of research experience with database
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and citation knowledge within EasyBib. Students have been using school-issued Microsoft Surface 3 tablets since
9th graders in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Students have prior experience with project-based learning since it
is required for all teachers to practice this research-based instructional method at least once every semester.
Students are also used to small group learning since teachers are expected to personalize instruction this way.
Context
It took about four weeks from launch to complete this project. Three English teachers with 138 students
from five different AP Language classes and I met and worked together for 50 minutes every day during their
regular AP Lang class time. Through the Fulton County Launchpad, every teacher and student’s personal and
school-issued laptop has 24-7 access to technology-rich resources and digital content. For this project, students
specifically utilized EasyBib, GALE Literature Resource Center (LCO), GALE Virtual Reference Library
(GVRL), and EBSCO Literary Reference Center (LRC) within MackinVIA. Since this project is entirely web-
based with heavy research components; other than regular class time, students were offered to work with me and
another AP Lang teacher in the media center every morning from 7:30 to 8:10. Students were also encouraged to
stay after school from 3:40 to 4:20 at the media center for additional help and internet access. From this round of
implementation, the teachers and I did not have to consider any adaptive or assistive technology. We do plan to
re-examine this project to come up with any future accommodation ideas.
 This project is designed with the following 11th Grade English – AP Lang content standards and ISTE
Standards for Students in mind.
11th Grade English – AP Lang Content Standards
Reading Literary:
 ELAGSE11-12RL1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters
uncertain
Production and Distribution of Writing:
 ELAGSE11-12W4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
 ELAGSE11-12W5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or
trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge:
 ELAGSE11-12W7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including
a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize
multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
 ELAGSE11-12W8: Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using
advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task,
purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding
plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
 ELAGSE11-12W9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and
research.
a. Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-,
nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or
more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics”).
b. Apply grades 11–12 Reading standards to literary nonfiction (e.g., “Delineate and evaluate the reasoning
in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning [e.g.,
in U.S. Supreme Court Case majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in
works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses]”).
Range of Writing:
 ELAGSE11-12W10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision)
and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Comprehension and Collaboration:
 ELAGSE11-12SL2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g.,
visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the
credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:
 ELAGSE11-12SL4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct
perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are
addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a
range or formal and informal tasks.
 ELAGSE11-12SL5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive
elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
ISTE Standards for Students
 Standard 3 – Research and Information Fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use
information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources
and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
 Standard 4 – Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making: Students use critical thinking skills to
plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate
digital tools and resources.
c. Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions
 Standard 2 – Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to
communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute
to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and
formats
Task
Students must “conduct sustained research to locate 12 pieces of relevant information from three
authoritative digital sources” (ELAGSE11-12W7 & W8) before they can further discuss a banned American
novel’s historical context, evaluate its literary merit, and make a recommendation for its continued use in schools.
Within a student’s individual literary analysis paper, “strong and thorough textual evidence must be cited to
support analysis” (ELAGSE11-12RL1). Information must also be “integrated into the entire writing process
(planning, revising, editing, rewriting) to main the flow of ideas, avoid plagiarism and overreliance on any one
source, and follow a standard format for citation” (ELAGSE11-12W5 & ELAGSE11-12SL2). During the
research process, students are expected to work individually and collaboratively with others by sharing
authoritative digital resources with others who have read the same book. Students will also have the chance to
read one another’s draft to provide peer feedback. At the conclusion of this project, it is crucial for students who
read the same book to work together as a group to orally present their novel's literary merit and why it is
recommended for its continued use in schools. This way, the entire class can gain a full understanding of how
others have performed their literature criticism and their findings.

Design
To successfully deliver the content for this project, Mr. White, Mr. McKinney, Ms. Boudreaux, and I first
examined and selected the 11th grade English and AP Lang content standards suitable for this WebQuest. To
ensure that the project content is differentiated, we decided to give students the choice to pick from a list of
American banned novels they are interested in reading and performing the literary analysis. I then suggested
EasyBib, GALE Literature Resource Center (LCO), GALE Virtual Reference Library (GVRL), and EBSCO
Literary Reference Center (LRC) within MackinVIA that can enrich the research process. To ensure that the
project process is differentiated, we decided to allow students to choose from a variety of databases to perform
their extensive research. Small group research sessions and one-on-one conferences were also offered throughout
the project to ensure that all students have gathered strong and thorough textual evidence to support their analyses
for the composing stage.
To show mastery of this project, every student must complete his or her individual thesis statement,
annotated bibliography, works cited page, paper outline, drafts, and the final literary analysis paper using
Microsoft Word or Google Docs with all the correct MLA 8 formatting. Every student must then submit all these
assignments in Turnitin.com. At the conclusion of this project, it is also required for students who read the same
book to work together as a group to orally present their novel's literary merit and why it is recommended for its
continued use in schools. The group can choose to organize their presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint, Sway,
or Prezi. To support students with visual and auditory disabilities in text reading, information organization, and
word processing, the teachers and I explored the SOLO literacy suite that are already available to all students
through the county. The text reader feature provides access to all of the new eBook formats required in IDEA
with an accessible web browser. The graphic organizer feature guides students step-by-step in outlining, note-
taking, and draft-writing to write a quality first draft. The talking word processor provides the text-to-speech
feature to help students focus on writing while the word prediction feature guides struggling writers to write
grammatically correct sentences with proper spelling. Even though this specific assistive technology tool was not
used this time, we felt that we are all prepared for next time when there is a need for it.
The Universal Design (UD) framework was also definitely on my mind. This project provided options for
executive functions (i.e., goal-setting, managing information, monitoring progress) since a detailed project
schedule is shared with students and open for modifications if necessary. This project also provided options for
sustaining effort and persistence (i.e., heightening goals and objectives, fostering collaboration, increasing
mastery-oriented feedback). A variety of short-term assignments – thesis writing, annotated bibliography to
summarize and analyze their research articles, research paper outline, and works cited page – were all built in to
ensure that students are on track to compose their final research paper during the last two weeks of project. By
identifying additional needs for assistance through the assignments, a 10-minute writing conference is offered to
those who need further guidance. Aiming to provide options for self-regulations (i.e., promoting
expectations/beliefs, developing self-assessment and reflection), peer review and feedback were also offered at
two different times during the paper writing process so that every student has the chance to evaluate each other’s
work using the project rubric. By critiquing others, students learn how to self-assess themselves using the project
rubric.

Development
After reviewing this WebQuest project’s requirements in January, I immediately started talking to all my
English teachers, seeking collaboration opportunities. The English department and I (media specialist) have
always worked closely together, finding ways to instill students with strong research skills by building a strong
traditional literacy and informational literacy curriculum, utilizing all the online reference tools provided by the
county. After one of the AP Lang teachers (Mr. White) approached me with an open mind, the two of us started
reviewing all the content standards and came up with a very preliminary idea for this WebQuest. We then brought
our idea to the AP Lang Professional Learning Community (PLC) meeting. After 3 or 4 PLC meetings together,
the three AP Lang teachers (Mr. White, Mr. McKinney, and Ms. Boudreaux) and I have finalized all the project
details on paper. I then digitized this project as a WebQuest using the Weebly platform under the consideration of
Universal Design. By the first week of February, I shared and presented this WebQuest project link to all the
teachers and received feedback for further modification before our first implementation day on February 25th.

Implementation
It took about four weeks from launch to finish for this project. Three English teachers with 138 students
from five different AP Language classes and I met and worked together for 50 minutes every day during their
regular AP Lang class time. A detailed implementation schedule can be referenced below. Before the start of the
project, I made sure to prepare enough extra school-issued Microsoft 3 Surface tablets for the next four weeks in
case any student’s device is not functioning properly. I did not have to arrange any additional technical support
since the English teachers and I are all capable of doing that on our own.
Through the Fulton County Launchpad, every teacher and student’s personal and school-issued laptop has
24-7 access to technology-rich resources and digital content. For this project, students specifically utilized
EasyBib, GALE Literature Resource Center (LCO), GALE Virtual Reference Library (GVRL), and EBSCO
Literary Reference Center (LRC) within MackinVIA. Since this project is entirely web-based with heavy research
components; other than regular class time, students were offered to work with me and another AP Lang teacher in
the media center every morning from 7:30 to 8:10. Students were also encouraged to stay after school from 3:40
to 4:20 at the media center for additional help and internet access. The English teachers and I are co-planners, co-
teachers, and instructional partners. During the research stage, I was the lead as the teachers facilitated and
learned from me while the teachers were the leads as I facilitated and learned from them during the paper writing
stage.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
2/25 2/26 2/27 2/28 3/1
Database/Easy Bib  Project formally  Research to  Work on Thesis  Work on
Lesson assigned inform thesis  Due at the end annotated
Homework: research -  Work on thesis of class to bibliography (12
Turnitin sources)
why, where, and when has
your novel been banned or  Due 3/5 by end of
challenged? Find 2 sources class
(webpage or database)
3/4 3/5 3/6 3/7 3/8
 Work on annotated  Work on annotated  Work on outline &  Work on  Finish outline &
bibliography (12 bibliography works cited outline & works works cited
sources)  Due at end of class to  Due end of class cited  Due by end of
 Due end of class Turnitin tomorrow  Due end of class to Turnitin
tomorrow class today
3/11 3/12 3/13 3/14 3/15
NO SCHOOL NO SCHOOL  Start on rough  Work on rough  Intro + 2 body
draft draft paragraphs due
 Read Slaughter- at START of class.
house  Peer Review
3/18 3/19 3/20 3/21 3/22
 Work on full rough  FULL Rough Draft due  Work on final  FINAL paper Oral Presentation
draft by START of class paper DUE
 Due tomorrow by  Peer Review  Get all last-minute  Work on oral
START of class questions presentation
answered

Evaluation
Every student is to compose his/her own literary analysis research paper with a maximum requirement of
7 pages. Within a student’s individual literary analysis paper, “strong and thorough textual evidence must be cited
to support analysis” (ELAGSE11-12RL1). Information must also be “integrated into the entire writing process
(planning, revising, editing, rewriting) to main the flow of ideas, avoid plagiarism and overreliance on any one
source, and follow a standard format for citation” (ELAGSE11-12W5 & ELAGSE11-12SL2). A variety of short-
term assignments – thesis writing, annotated bibliography to summarize and analyze their research articles,
research paper outline, and works cited page – were all built in to ensure that students are on track to compose
their final research paper during the last two weeks of project. By identifying additional needs for assistance
through the assignments, a 10-minute writing conference is offered to those who need further guidance. Peer
review and feedback were also offered at two different times during the paper writing process so that every
student has the chance to evaluate each other’s work using the project rubric. By critiquing others, students learn
how to self-assess themselves using the project rubric.
 Reflection
Project Development
I chose to design a WebQuest activity for an English research project, in hope to provide a technology-
enhanced learning experience for all the AP Language teachers and students. Since my school is determined to
utilize technology to best facilitate (1) choice and voice where students express their learning preferences as
active participants; and (2) varied strategies where students learn and access the content using traditional and
technology tools, this project is aimed to instill students with strong research skills by building a strong traditional
literacy and informational literacy curriculum, utilizing all the online reference tools provided by the county (i.e.,
all reference eBooks and databases like ebrary, Galileo, GALE, and EBSCOhost). These students also learned
how to accurately cite sources using EasyBib, maintaining and connecting the bibliographical information inside
databases like Galileo, GALE, and EBSCOhost with their EasyBib accounts. From my observation, teacher
feedback, and student product, everything went well. The teachers and I do need to re-examine this project to
come up with any future accommodation ideas and the possibility of assistive technology integration.
Instructional Design
In order for me to successfully “design and implement technology-enhanced learning experiences (i,e.,
WebQuest) addressing content and student technology standards” to satisfy “the diverse needs and interests of all
students,” I must first understand the needs out there by speaking to teachers and students (PSC 2.1 & 2.2/ ISTE
NETS-C 2a. & 2b.). When finalizing the WebQuest activity, the teachers and I made sure to “emphasize
creativity, higher-order thinking, and critical thinking skills” within the process (PSC 2.4/ ISTE NETS-C 2d.). To
differentiate the task, students must choose how to demonstrate their understanding (PSC 2.5/ ISTE NETS-C 2e.).
The teachers and I do need to re-examine this project to figure out ways to further differentiate process, product,
and content if we were to implement this lesson again next year.
Personal Growth
I learned that it is important to initiate and experiment with something new from where the needs are. In
order to collaborate with “teachers in the design and implementation of technology-enhanced learning
experiences aligned with content standards and using differentiation” (PSC 2.1/ISTE 2a.), I must nurture a
collaborative relationship and continue to empower them to implement new technology under their own volition.
To foster a school culture of collaboration and technology integration, we must keep track of our own successes,
progress, and weaknesses. The three English teachers and I opened up about our own strengths and weaknesses in
technology skills and instructional strategies. We were all active participants during the planning, development,
implementation and reflection stages of the project, working together as a team to decide what and how to
improve instruction to maximize student learning while effectively integrating technology. I felt accomplished
since I had the chance to learn from my colleagues while enlightening them to try something new with me.
Others
Teachers must now design multiple learning paths and enrichment activities for students to choose from.
Students must now reflect and evaluate their progress to further improve and strengthen their next learning
experience. WebQuest is an effective way to accomplish all these goals, so find a team of teachers who are
enthusiastic to try something new to take on a WebQuest together. If you would like to take on a WebQuest on
your own, be sure to start something small that provides authentic and differentiated tasks to students.