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Professor Uses Technology to Teach New Behaviors

September 7, 2007

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MACOMB, IL -- With the help of Western Illinois University Special Education Professor Mary Jensen during the 2006-2007 school year, students in Mary McMahon's sixth grade classes at West Prairie Middle School in Colchester (IL) learned new positive behaviors using social skills programming and innovative technology.

According to Jensen, students improved their word processing skills, learned to make iMovies, used digital video and still cameras, collected data on their new behaviors and created Excel charts to show their progress. Jensen began working with the students in September 2006 after McMahon participated in the 2006 Summer Experience Technology Conference at WIU. Jensen had presented a session for teachers on proactive and instructional behavior intervention plans using technology. McMahon was interested in trying the method in her classroom, so the teachers decided to collaborate to carry out the project.

"Incorporating technology enhanced the students' ability to learn their new target social skills and to increase academic achievement," Jensen explained. "Using technology in combination with social skills instruction increased student motivation to improve their new target behaviors."

Each student identified a behavior that he/she could improve, and the goal was to reduce the problem behavior and increase a new target replacement behavior. Jensen said the students were highly motivated to use the laptop computers, digital video and still cameras, and especially the iMovie program. Each student used iMovie to make movies of themselves discussing their new target behaviors.

"Each student used a step-by-step plan from the Skillstreaming social skills program to learn and practice their new target behaviors," she said. "Students took turns using the digital video camera to tape each other discussing the steps of their new behavior plan, and each student decided on his/her own memory strategy to help remember to carry out the steps of the plan."

The students then learned to make iMovies using their videotapes. After the students learned their new target behaviors, they collected data on daily monitoring charts and then graphed their data on Excel to show progress.

Once a week during the school year Jensen traveled to Colchester with laptop computers, digital cameras and video cameras in tow to work with the students on that week's lesson. The first day that Jensen showed up in the classroom with all the technology equipment, she

"They saw the technology and they were so excited to have the opportunity to learn how to use the computer programs and other equipment," she said.

McMahon and the sixth graders participated in Jensen's presentation at the WIU First Annual Faculty Research Symposium in October 2006. The students also participated in the College of Education and Human Services 2007 Tech Fest where they described their technology work to the participants.

After the students successfully completed the behaviors module, they moved to the Pillars of Character and Acts of Kindness lessons and iMovies using the same technology that Jensen brought to the first set of lessons. Their initial assignment under the new lesson plan was to conduct an interview on Acts of Kindness with a classmate that would be videotaped. Each student had to create at least three interview questions of their own to ask along with several Jensen provided.

"The purpose of these exercises was to improve their confidence level when speaking in front of others," Jensen said. "We worked on persuasion and explanatory speeches next. They had to persuade and explain why it's important to do random acts of kindness everyday. We also had them write online journals about acts of kindness they were doing or that they witness.

Prior to the acts of kindess and character unit, Jensen had the students again assess their own behaviors through a pre-test. Following the unit, the students assessed their behaviors to see how they had improved and changed.

"These kids really learned to support one another through all of these projects" Jensen said. "It was wonderful to see them work together and help one another."

In addition to all of the learning modules, the students also thought about how to integrate technology into their everyday classroom lessons, Jensen said. Through their own initiatives they videotaped their Science Fair projects and their holiday Snowman Gourd projects to include in the classroom DVD they compiled. Cody Pursell, one of the sixth graders, also videotaped the Eagle Days field trip and made an iMovie to document the outing.

"This program has had far-reaching benefits. It has been a positive learning experience for me as a teacher, for these students and for the students I teach at Western," Jensen added.




Posted By: Darcie Shinberger (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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