Castelli Change Agent Final Project

Running head: Technology Integration in US History 1
Change Agent: Technology Integration in US History: The New Deal
Haley Castelli
Towson University
Technology Integration in US History 2
Introduction
This series of lessons focuses on the New Deal and its impact on the Great Depression.
The lessons are for a 9th grade US History GT course. There are twenty-six students in the class.
Due to the pandemic, the class meets virtually using Google Meet. The materials and lesson plan
were designed prior to the pandemic. When implementing change for this lesson plan, I
considered the current virtual environment of my classes for the 2020-21 school year. It is my
hope to take the time to look at this unit and make modifications to be able to use in my US
History class next semester, which begins in February. I was able to implement one change
during the first semester with my US History GT students.
The essential question of this unit is “Was the New Deal a good deal for the United
States?” In order to be able to answer this question, the students need information on New Deal
initiatives, as well as documents or resources to help the students evaluate the success of the
New Deal. Over the course of the three lessons, the students receive information on the New
Deal and its successes and failures. By the end of the three day lesson, the students will
complete a writing assignment where they evaluate FDR and his New Deal.
SAMR Model
The SAMR model has four stages. The first two stages (Substitution and Augmentation)
fall under the category of Enhancement. If a tool falls under the Enhancement category, the tool
is merely replacing a task with traditional functions. Substitution is the most basic of the stages,
where the tool merely replaces a different tool (Puentedura, 2014). Augmentation is similar to
Substitution. It is considered the next stage because in Augmentation, the tool does offer
improvement to the task (Puentedura, 2014). The third and fourth stages (Modification and
Redefinition) call under the category of Transformation. In the Modification stage, the
technology offers a redesign of the classroom task (Puentedura, 2014). In the fourth and final
stage, Redefinition, the technology redesigns tasks (like Modification). However, the
Redefinition stage creates more opportunities for the learners. In the Redefinition stage, the
technology makes impossible tasks possible (Puentedura, 2014). I chose this integration model
for its simplicity. Puentedura provides four clear stages that are attainable through the use of
technology. The model’s simplicity allows for instructors to reach higher stages.
Strengths and Weaknesses
A major strength of this three day lesson plan is its access to primary resources. In my
experience, students are more engaged when they are looking at a primary source. The lesson
incorporates a variety of political cartoons from the 1930s and a transcript from a fireside chat by
FDR talking about the New Deal. The activities for the students, though traditional, offer a way
for students to collect the most important information on the New Deal. The students’ worksheet
from the webquest and the chart on the successes and failures can also serve as notes for the
students’ for the Great Depression/New Deal unit. While the lesson has “good bones” and
engaging primary sources for the students, there are a variety of weaknesses. First, the lesson
does not offer much opportunity for students to collaborate. There could be moments for think-
pair-share or small groups, but in the original layout of the lesson, there is no need for student
interaction. Second, the lesson’s use of technology does not transform or elevate the lesson.
Using the SAMR model, as presented, the lesson’s use of the webquest falls in the Substitution
stage. The webquest website merely gives the instructor a different way to deliver the instruction
(Puentedura, 2014). The students completing the webquest do not elevate or improve the
instruction. There are more engaging ways for students to use technology and learn about the
New Deal.
The overall goal of the lessons on the New Deal is, “Evaluate the successes and failures
of the relief, recovery, and reform measures of the New Deal and the expanded role of the
federal government in society and the economy.” This goal is both current and adequate to the
lesson’s assessment. At the end of the three days, the students will write their own evaluation of
FDR and his New Deal. In their response, the students will discuss the change in the role of
government during Roosevelt’s administration. Then, the students will evaluate the success of
the New Deal. When identifying successes and failures, the students will need to reference
agencies, outcomes, and primary sources to support their argument. The assessment aligns with
the lesson objective. The assessment, however, does note provide learners with multiple means
of expression. This is another weakness of the lessons. The instruction could be improved with
more ways for students to demonstrate their understanding of the New Deal.
Integration of Technology
For the first day, to reach the overall objective (Evaluate the successes and failures of the
relief, recovery, and reform measures of the New Deal and the expanded role of the federal
government in society and the economy.), the students first need to be able to identify major
initiatives of the New Deal. Through the webquest, the students access information on the
various agencies and initiatives of the New Deal. As stated previously, the webquest activity
falls under the Substitution stage of the SAMR model. The instructor is replacing a teacher-led
lecture or a chapter reading with the webquest. The webquest does not improve the means of the
delivery of instruction (Puentedura, 2014). To see the original lesson plan for the first day, see
Appendix A.
The Living New Deal is a website with an interactive map of the United States. The map
has records of various projects completed throughout the country because of New Deal
initiatives. To allow for student choice, the instructor could give the students time to explore a
state and projects in the state that were constructed as a part of the New Deal. With each
construction project, the students can list the New Deal agencies involved. In small groups, the
students could discuss their findings and the impact of the New Deal on selected states. The
Living New Deal website could be used as an introductory activity, which would place it in the
Augmentation stage of the SAMR model. In this second stage, the technology tool offers
improvement to the instruction (Puentedura, 2014). The Living New Deal would allow students
to pursue their own interests as related to the New Deal. The use of the Living New Deal also
improves the instruction because the students are able to apply their knowledge of the New Deal
to specific projects throughout the nation.
For the second day of the unit, the students are viewing and analyzing political cartoons
from the 1930s. FDR and the New Deal are the focus of the political cartoons in the slideshow.
While the instructor displays a political cartoon from the slideshow, the students decide if the
cartoon supports or criticizes the New Deal. In addition to writing “supports” or “criticizes” in
their notes, the students also identify features of the cartoon that helped them make their
decision. Currently, the only technology being used is the slideshow led by the teacher. A Pear
Deck could elevate the slideshow to a more engaging activity for the learners. In an interactive
Pear Deck, the learners can mark up the actual cartoon instead of listing their notes on a blank
sheet of paper. It will help the students circle, highlight, or label the cartoon. After the instructor
ends the Pear Deck, the students can receive a copy of their responses to the Pear Deck to add to
their notes. During the 2020 Fall semester, Howard County Public Schools are meeting
virtually. I was able to use the Pear Deck in my virtual US History GT classes. The Pear Deck
allowed me to view all students’ responses live and provide feedback as we went through the
slideshow. Students volunteered to explain their analysis of the political cartoons after they
labeled the cartoon in Pear Deck (Refer to Appendix C for a student example.). Using the Pear
Deck for the New Deal cartoons falls in the Augmentation stage of the SAMR model. The Pear
Deck does more than act as a substitute for a slideshow, as described in the first stage of the
SAMR model (Puentedura, 2014). The interactive slideshow gives students practice with
identifying aspects of the New Deal and FDR’s character as portrayed in the political cartoons.
It allows the instructor to provide feedback during the live instruction and a way to share the
responses with feedback to the students. In addition, the instructor can view students’ work even
though the students are not in the same room. To see the entire lesson plan for the second day,
refer to Appendix B.
For the third day of the unit, the students looked at a document with graphs and primary
sources about the successes and failures of the New Deal. For instance, there was a graph
demonstrating the rise in the national debt as the New Deal progressed. By looking at this
document, the students are able to further evaluate the New Deal’s impact on the United States
during the Great Depression. To demonstrate their evaluation of the New Deal, the students
completed a written assignment, which served as the assessment for this unit. Refer to Appendix
D to see the complete lesson plan for the third day.
The original lesson plan for day three does not utilize technology except for having the
students type out a response for their evaluation of the New Deal in a Canvas assignment. At the
end of the unit, offering student choice for the assessment would improve the instruction. This
would allow students to focus on their strengths and interests when demonstrating their
understanding of the unit. Instead of a submission for just the instructor to read, the students
could post to a discussion board and respond to their peers’ posts. The student could choose
from a list of options for how to make a post. The students could choose from writing a
response, recording a video of them responding to the prompts, or post images of political
cartoons they designed themselves to demonstrate the successes and failures of the New Deal.
Even though students’ original posts may vary in media, the students are still able to collaborate
in the discussion board. In virtual school, the students are missing out on interaction with peers.
Utilizing the discussion board will allow for peer interaction and collaboration. The discussion
board is redesigning a classroom task, which places the classroom activity in the Modification
stage of the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2014). Typically, the students would submit their
response to the instructor and receive feedback. The discussion board elevates the activity and
allows for students to share their thoughts and respond to peers. The modification to add student
choice to the assessment also enhances the instruction. Students are able to use their creativity or
focus on their strengths (writing versus speaking) when evaluating the New Deal.
Addressing UDL in the Lesson
By having the students post to a discussion board for their assessment, the use of
technology helps meet the 8.3 checkpoint, which is “foster collaboration and communication”
(Meyer, Rose, and Gordon, 2014). The students are able to interact and learn from each other
through the discussion board on their evaluation of the New Deal. The addition of choice to the
assessment and choice to the Living New Deal exploration, the use of technology meets the 4.1
checkpoint, which is “vary the methods for response and navigation” (Meyer, Rose, and Gordon,
2014). The use of Pear Deck offers a way for students to actively participate in class, even in the
virtual world. This use of technology helps meet the 7.2 checkpoint, which is “optimize
relevance, value, and navigation” (Meyer, Rose, and Gordon, 2014).

References
Meyer, A., Rose, D., and Gordon, D. (2014) Universal design for learning: Theory and practice.
Wakefield, MA: CAST Professional Publishing. http://udltheorypractice.cast.org/.
Puentedura, Ruben R. (2014). SAMR and TPCK: A Hands-On Approach to Classroom Practice.
http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/12/11/SAMRandTPCK_HandsOnAp
proachClassroomPractice.pdf
Appendix A - Day 1 Lesson Plan with Edits
Unit: The Great Depression

Lesson Title: The New Deal
Essential Question: Was the New Deal a good deal for the United States?
Identify agencies and initiatives of the New Deal and how they were designed to improve the
situation in the United States during the Great Depression.
Evaluate the successes and failures of the relief, recovery, and reform measures of the New
Deal and the expanded role of the federal government in society and the economy.
Materials:
● New Deal PowerPoint
● New Deal Webquest (website link and document with questions)
● Livingnewdeal.org website
Development/Procedures:
1. Drill (displayed in the PowerPoint): What were major issues FDR faced when he took
office in 1933? What problems of the Great Depression do you think needed to be
addressed first? OPTION 1: use the Living New Deal website to spark the students’
interest in the accomplishments of the New Deal projects.
2. As a class, discuss the students’ responses to the drill and introduce the New Deal plans
of FDR.
3. In the computer lab, students have the remainder of the class to complete the webquest.
As the students read about FDR and the New Deal initiatives, the students answer the
questions on the worksheet. Option 2: After reading about the New Deal through the
webquest (completed at home), the students in small groups select one state to
explore. The students learn more about the specific projects in the selected state and
prepare a brief presentation on the New Deal projects.
Summary/Closure:
During the last 3-5 minutes of class, the students share what “alphabet soup” New Deal
initiative seemed the most successful based on their reading of the Webquest.
Homework/Enrichment:
Students should be reviewing for their upcoming Great Depression/New Deal Assessment.
Appendix B -Day 2 Lesson Plan with Edits

Materials:
● New Deal Political Cartoon Pear Deck - To view the Pear Deck as a student, click
here.
1. Drill (displayed in the PowerPoint): Make predictions: Why might people support the
New Deal? Why might people be against the New Deal?
2. In the PowerPoint, the teacher shows students various political cartoons about FDR and
the New Deal. When each cartoon is displayed, students will jot down their thoughts
on a sheet of paper. Students will decide whether or not the cartoon supports the New
Deal. Students will identify aspects of the cartoon that supports their answer. The
students log into the Pear Deck. Instead of recording on a sheet of loose leaf, the
students record their thoughts directly on the slide with the political cartoon. The
student can circle, highlight, and/or draw lines to identify details of the cartoon.
3. To go over the cartoon’s support or criticism of the New Deal, student volunteers will
stand up and go to the white board to identify symbols that helped them decide whether
the cartoon supported or criticized the New Deal. Students still share their thoughts
on the cartoon. In the virtual environment, the students unmute in Google Meet to
share. The instructor can share the screen in order to display the volunteer’s
annotated slide.
Summary/Closure:
● Students will decide which cartoon in their opinion had the strongest
presentation of their argument and why.
● The students could draw their own cartoon to demonstrate support or criticism
of FDR and the New Deal. They could complete it using the drawing feature
of Dear Deck.
Appendix C - Student Example from Pear Deck
Appendix D - Day 3 Lesson Plan with Edits


Materials:
● New Deal Evaluation document (with graphs and primary sources on the New Deal’s
successes and failures)
1. Drill:
2. Students look at the graphs and documents to “grade” the New Deal on various
categories (banking crisis, support for the elderly, support for the unemployed, support
for African Americans, etc). The students will be filling out a chart to organize their
thoughts on the grade and their rationale for the grade.
Summary/Closure:
Using their chart, the students will write up their evaluation of the New Deal by answering the
following questions:
● How did Roosevelt change the role of government? In your opinion, was this change
positive or negative? Why?
● Overall, how successful was the New Deal? Discuss, in your opinion, the major
successes and limitations of the New Deal. Be sure to explain why the items you
identified are major successes or limitations.
For the assessment, the instructor offers different means in which students demonstrate
their evaluation of the New Deal. To encourage interaction with students in the virtual
world, the students will post their responses to a discussion board in Canvas and will
respond to peers’ posts.
● Completion of a written response to the questions
● Answering the questions in a video recording
● Using the political cartoons from day 2 as inspiration, the student creates multiple
political cartoons to answer all questions of the prompt. The students could use the
drawing feature in a Pear Deck or submit pictures of drawings done by hand.

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Running head: Technology Integration in US History 1

Change Agent: Technology Integration in US History: The New Deal

during the first semester with my US History GT students.

Strengths and Weaknesses

to specific projects throughout the nation.

D to see the complete lesson plan for the third day.

Addressing UDL in the Lesson

relevance, value, and navigation” (Meyer, Rose, and Gordon, 2014).

Wakefield, MA: CAST Professional Publishing. http://udltheorypractice.cast.org/.

Appendix A - Day 1 Lesson Plan with Edits

Unit: The Great Depression

Appendix B -Day 2 Lesson Plan with Edits

Unit: The Great Depression

Appendix C - Student Example from Pear Deck

Appendix D - Day 3 Lesson Plan with Edits

Unit: The Great Depression

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