Dave Floyd and John Skrynecki

November 18, 2014

ET 610
Lesson Redesign
When deciding on our lesson redesign, we were looking for a resource that was not
applicable in a fourth grade classroom, but also one that would allow the students to take control
of their own learning. We came across Blendspace and thought it would be a good resource to
enhance lessons, especially when attempting to integrate content and technology class.
After choosing Blendspace for our technology in the redesign project, we needed to come
up with a way for the students to use the technology in an effective way. In school, my class was
working on the three states of matter and we elected to combine our lesson redesign with the
material in content. Before the redesign, the lesson was taught using a textbook and student
workbook. The addition of this resource flips the lesson and allows the students to control and
direct their learning. The lesson goes from reading a textbook and answering questions to
previewing and selecting appropriate content and synthesizing the information to create a quiz
for classmates. The lesson creates a more learner centered and student driven learning
experience by allowing the students the freedom to explore various forms of information and
having them select the appropriate representation of the information that they are studying.
When thinking about the SAMR model, we feel that our lesson reaches the modification
stage. The redesign enhances the tradition lesson and pushes it to the next level. The students
are using the technology to take command of their learning and to show their mastery of the
objective. The students must use the technology to gather the information, present the
information, and generate an assessment for their peers.
Our redesign demonstrates ISTE-T Standard 1, which says that Teachers use the
knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that

advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual
environments. The teacher enables the students to use Blendspace to demonstrate their
innovative thinking and creativity.
The lesson redesign meets ITSE Standard 1: Creativity and Innovation. Specifically,
Standard 1b, which states the students will Create original works as a means of personal or
group expression. The redesign meets this standard because the students are using the
Blendspace to create original works pertaining to the states of matter. The students are able to
use whatever information they want and are in creative control of the resources that they select.
The students also have creative control over the assessment. The students will need to base their
assessment off of the information that they have presented but will have full autonomy when
choosing the questions for the assessment. Additionally, the lesson redesign will address
standards 2b, 3a, 5, and 6a. Our lesson redesign meets 2b, which says that students will
Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media
and formats. This is evident when the students are choosing from a variety of informational
formats to display their information. Standard 3a, Plan strategies to guide inquiry is
demonstrated throughout the lesson by having the students plan the information that they will
present in their Blendspace. Throughout the lesson, the students will be demonstrating ITSE
Standard 5 by practicing good digital citizenship throughout the lesson. The students will
demonstrate their understanding of Blendspace, which will address standard 6a.
One barrier to achieving modification or redefinition is the lack of technological
resources available. A way to prevent this problem from happening and to expedite the process
is to work collaboratively with your technology teacher, who can assist in implementing the
lesson. Another impediment to the redesign is that occasionally Blendspace has links that do not

work. To avoid having this happen to the students, it is important to remind the students to
check the links before they submit their final Blendspace Canvas.
This Blendspace lesson redesign allows the students to create and share content that they
have gathered with their peers. It also allows the students to generate assessments that pertain to
their information and the content area, which demonstrates their understanding of the content
area.