Bob Poelking
Social Studies Teacher & Michigan State Grad Student
Graduate Showcase
Below lies a collection of work, the majority which happened near the dawn of 1-to-1 Chromebooks, ubiquitous smart phones, and long-lived educational platforms, this showcase will be something of a trip down memory lane. You will see ruminations on the ramifications of phones and iPads in the classroom and videos of class websites that I created only to see the cruel hand of fate erase them from existence; truly, these items are artifacts- evidence of a past time that show how something came to be. The artifacts presented here follow two primary themes that I have explored and continued to explore: technological utility (both hardware and software) in the classroom and integrating technology in the classroom. These specific artifacts are here because they illustrate ideas I loved at the time and have largely adapted to my current work in some form, or, in the case of Blackboard, wish I still had.
Note: all images function as links.
Exploring Technological Utility
Clipular Sales Pitch
Created in the Spring of 2013, this video, created with TechSmith's "Jing" program, shows a piece of technology I used for a few years before desktops got better about cropping screenshots. Clipular enables users to store and sort screenshots on the cloud. While somewhat dated at this point, the video still demonstrates the utility of the product.
Mobile Device Survey Circa 2014
The centerpiece of these two items is the "Mobile Device Usage" survey, which was conducted in the fall of 2013, which shows an increasing, but not yet overwhelming student affection for smartphones. Though this now seems like a forgone conclusion, what better artifact of my learning than witnessing and realizing I would need to adapt to a smart phone future in the classroom?
Note: I have also provided a link to the my entire process in conducting the survey.
World History on Blackboard
Recorded in the Summer of 2013, this video gives an all-too-brief look at a Blackboard website I created for a World History class. Blackboard wiped the site in 2018, much to my chagrin, however, this A/V testament provides a glimpse into a site of which I was quite proud. The site went through a couple of iterations after this video and still was not possessed of what you might call "visual panache", but it had an easy to navigate, utilitarian charm that I miss and still aim for in the web pages I curate for my classes.
TPACK-Oriented Conference Plan
The most recent creation on this page, the document to your right is a combination of multiple sources and tools I have used in class refined into a proposal for a Professional Development event (I have not run it on a large scale, but I have used various aspects of it with peers on multiple occasions). The TPACK driven event seeks to show teachers online resources that can be used either singularly or in conjunction to better their Government or American History classes. Note: I have also attached the larger document from which this schedule is derived, should you wish to see similar ideas in differing contexts.
Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Path to WWI Kiosk
Created around the same time as the Weebly Web Quest below, this PowerPoint "kiosk" as it was called sought to allow a student to navigate through a treacherous time period at their leisure and work to a series of important conclusions that would eventually culminate in an "a ha!" moment. Also- some fun pop-culture. This piece is the closest to encompassing what one of my classes looks like, with its digressions, conversational tone, and detailed content.
Invading Russia Web Quest
Web Quests have been in the Education and Technology field practically since sites like Weebly were created; this short version of one combines an example of a student driven, digital learning experience with a brief reflection on the site at the time of its rollout.
I've used WebQuests intermittently over the years, but I have a special affection for this, my first one that actually was used effectively in class.
Bob's Ed Blog
Blogger played a substantial role not only in my reflection process across MAET, but also in the retrieval of many of the artifacts I used in this showcase. Though my need for a personal blog has waned over the years due to a bespoke district web page where I can post relevant information, it still serves a fine archival role.
The specific reason for including "Bob's Ed Blog" in this collection however, is to highlight the last two entries (Nov.6 and Dec. 5) is because they show the thought process for the creation of a UDL lesson I was very proud of that sadly died when a an old hard drive literally caught on fire (don't buy a $300 Gateway netbook and expect longevity, folks), but the lesson lives on through these documents. You can't get more "artifact" than that.
Visualized Lesson Walkthrough
The video on display here is a walkthrough of an assignment I had done once before and still continue to do, albeit in a highly modified fashion. The clip shows a digitally integrated lesson that provided the students with choices as to how they could access and respond to information.
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