Copyright by Kimberly Danielle Varela 2016
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Copyright by Kimberly Danielle Varela 2016 The Thesis Committee for Kimberly Danielle Varela Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Museum Resources and Mobile Technology in Classroom Curriculum APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Melinda M. Mayer Paul E. Bolin Museum Resources and Mobile Technology in Classroom Curriculum by Kimberly Danielle Varela, B.A. Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2016 Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my mom and my sister Tara. Thank you for believing in me fully and constantly encouraging me to follow my passions, even when it led me a thousand miles away to Texas. I’ll love you forever, and I’ll like you for always. A special thank you to Theo and Nico, for the reassurance that I could finish, and that you two would be there waiting for me when I did. Acknowledgements This thesis would never have been completed without the often kind and always realistic support from Dr. Melinda Mayer. Thank you for lending me your wisdom and expertise throughout this process. Those many meetings at Mozart’s have paid off! Your patience and encouragement helped me grow as a writer, an educator, and as a person. Thank you. I offer a sincere thank you to Dr. Paul Bolin. Thank you for being my reader and encouraging me throughout the process, but also for our impromptu baseball talks. I would also like to acknowledge the women of my cohort, especially Rachel, Amanda, Debra, Hannita, and Elise. To Rachel, we are the last ones standing, and I am proud to have gone through this with you. To the rest, thank you for encouraging me when I felt behind by leaving silly Post-It notes and sending cards, texts, and virtual hugs. To my family, from those in California to those here in Texas. Each of you have supported me in your own unique way, and I am eternally thankful for you. And last, but certainly not least, I must acknowledge the teachers who inspired me to conduct this research, and inspire me to continue my journey of learning. I hope I continue to make you proud. v Abstract Museum Resources and Mobile Technology in Classroom Curriculum Kimberly Danielle Varela, M. A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2016 Supervisor: Melinda M. Mayer In the United States, both Common Core standards and 21st century learning skills are dictating educational policy, while teachers are expected to teach to standardized tests while also providing students authentic learning experiences. Creating these authentic learning experiences involves not only ensuring learning will occur, but also connecting the lesson to real world examples. These connections are increasingly made possible in classrooms through the use of mobile technology. Art museums are also taking advantage of digital tools to develop mobile applications that extend interactions with artworks beyond the museum’s walls. It is at this intersection of classrooms, mobile technology, and art museums that this study originated. The study focuses on how two elementary educators integrated online art museum resources into their curriculum using mobile technology, and what pertinent implications arise from these experiences that can be applied to developing substantive art museum resources. I prepared myself for the study by reviewing literature concerning constructivism (Hein, 1990), andragogy (Knowles, 1990), mobile technology, technology integration into classrooms, and art museum resources. Working alongside one art specialist and one vi math teacher, I sought to understand each teacher’s experience with bringing art museum mobile applications and iPads into their curriculum. It was important to include in the study my voice as a researcher, as well as the voices of the teachers. I, therefore, adopted a narrative approach to reporting the data that enabled our three stories to intersect. The trio of narratives reflect our experiences as I interacted with the teachers as they designed and conducted lessons that utilized museum developed mobile applications of their choice and hosted on iPads. I used the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Koehler, Mishra, & Cain, 2013) to identify how each teacher’s technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge areas interacted during their teaching. Both educators’ familiarity with, and evolution of, their technological pedagogical knowledge correlated with their perceived success of the lesson. From the teachers’ experiences, I was better able to identify and understand the importance of collaborating with teachers in research, the unique opportunities for increasing interaction with art museum objects by embracing mobile technology, and the potential for collaborating between universities and art museums in digital projects. vii Table of Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................1 Central Research Question ..............................................................................2 Problem Statement ..........................................................................................3 Speculations About This Investigation ...........................................................5 Research Method ............................................................................................6 Definition of Terms .........................................................................................8 iPad 8 Mobile Application ................................................................................8 Mobile Technology ................................................................................8 Museum Resources ................................................................................9 Limitations of This Study ...............................................................................9 Significance of Study ....................................................................................10 Conclusion ....................................................................................................10 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................12 Constructivism ..............................................................................................13 Constructivism in the Classroom .........................................................14 Constructivist Teachers and Computers ..............................................16 21st Century Learning ....................................................................................17 Mobile Technology .......................................................................................21 Andragogy .....................................................................................................24 Technology Implementation .........................................................................28 Technology Implementation Evaluation ..............................................29 Pre-Service Educators and Technology Integration ............................33 Professional Development for Technology Integration .......................34 Art Education and Technology Adoption ............................................37 A Brief History of Museum Resources for Teachers: 1900-2000 .......39 Online Museum Resources for Teachers: 2000 to 2015 ......................42 viii Conclusion ....................................................................................................46 Chapter 3: Methodology ........................................................................................47 Qualitative Research .....................................................................................47 Case Study ....................................................................................................48 Role of Researcher ........................................................................................49 Participants ....................................................................................................50 Data Collection and Narrative Reporting .....................................................52 Data Analysis: TPACK .................................................................................56 Methods of Validity and Reliability .............................................................57 Conclusion ....................................................................................................58 DATA SECTIONS 60 Chapter 4: Motivations ..........................................................................................60 Teachers ........................................................................................................60 Teaching in the World of Technology ..........................................................64 My Ah-ha Moment .......................................................................................67 Becoming a Museum Educator .....................................................................68 Technology Art Museum Educator ...............................................................73 Chapter 5: Jon ........................................................................................................74 Becoming a Participant ........................................................................74