Wicked Project: Final

Good Afternoon, My name is Dale Ehrhart and I’m part of the Education Staff here at Sloan*Longway in Flint, Michigan.  Our organization’s Mission is to “create engaging experiences for everyone that inspire lifelong curiosity in history, science and technology."  To fulfill this mission we develop and teach a wide variety of educational programs that reach students and adults throughout Genesee County and beyond. For the most part we teach at Longway Planetarium, Sloan Museum, or the Buick Gallery but we also frequently perform outreaches at Schools and Libraries.

All of our programs are hands-on, materials rich and pretty intensive so remembering the content and pedagogy of each program is challenging. We also move at a pretty fast pace, so the information needed to teach these classes needs to be immediately assessable.   Binders with lesson plans get lost or ruined, classroom computers are not an option because these spaces are frequently open to the public.  I needed a cross-platform mobile solution that leveraged the capabilities of our educators’ smartphones.

I used weebly as my platform because it automatically convert to a mobile site it’s free to use.  Due to a request from my manager I had to come up with a password protected site.  Another online web authoring platform called webs fulfilled this need, however, I didn’t like its mobile options.  I wound up creating a password site that automatically redirects to the weebly pages.  I’m really happy about the QR Code generator I found because it enables the user to create colorful QR codes with embedded images. The QR codes are posted in the classroom and on the inside lid of our class boxes.  Educators use their cell phone equipped with a QR reader app to access mobile websites containing important content information and pedagogical information.  In addition to the content I uploaded images and videos to demonstate classroom setup and safe usage of equipment like the animal traps we set off in Trappers and Traders.

Creating cross-platform mobile websites linked to QR codes gives busy Sloan*Longway educators immediate access to the important content and pedagogical information using technology that they carry with them.  This falls directly in the center of the TPACK model.

For the most part the program was implemented as planned, however, my managers request for password changed things slightly.  Usually, making and using QR codes is easy. There are a bunch of generators out there.  I made the creation of my QR codes more difficult because I wanted to use color and logos.  I’m currently adding outreach and summer activities along with assessment pieces that educators can use to test themselves over content.  One blog reader had a fantastic suggestion that I crowdsource the information I need for the assessment pieces from my fellow educators. Finally, I'm looking forward to the fall because use of the sites will be limited until the fall after MEAP testing.