Technology and Capstone Courses

In the Guide to Capstone Education from the National Capstone Consortium there are a series of questions posed about technology and the role it should, could or might possibly play in a capstone course. It is a part of the section for capstone leaders to consider in the process of project design and evaluation. In this post, I will address each of these questions based on the definition of a capstone course at my current place of employment. It is important to note that capstone courses intrinsically vary from school to school, however, capstone as an inquiry-based process or one that is driven by student passions often rely on or use technology as a part of planning, design, and implementation. Keep in mind, even if your school has a different type of capstone course, my thoughts below could be applicable in the capstone process, learning environment, or product creation. It is my hope that you will gain something from this post. Please keep in mind that these statements are my own thoughts and may not reflect the beliefs and practices at Hawaii Preparatory Academy.

Hawaii Preparatory Academy (HPA) currently defines a Capstone Course as follows:

“Capstones are multifaceted, long-term projects that take at least a semester to complete and serve as a culminating academic and intellectual experience for students. They emphasize the “4 Cs” of creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking, and are distinguished by the extent to which they are driven by student interest, engagement, and design. All capstones include the following phases:

• Proposal creation
• Content learning
• Skill building
• Research
• Implementation

The capstone process culminates in a presentation to an authentic audience.”

With this information in mind, I will now address each question.

1. How will technology enhance the structure and requirements of the program?

Technology is a ubiquitous part of our lives and therefore needs to be a part of any capstone program. Technology can enhance the structure and requirements of the program by enabling students to do more. In “How Does Technology Facilitate Learning? | Education.com,” n.d.) it states that technology supports learning in multiple ways including, as an information vehicle for exploring knowledge to support learning by constructing, as tools to support knowledge construction, as a social medium to support learning by conversing, and as an intellectual partner to support learning by reflecting (Jonassen, 2000). Furthermore, technology can assist the structure and requirements of the program by supporting students in their own ability to keep track of and organize data gathered through the project. Technology is also able to support the 4Cs of education (Critical Thinking, Communication, Creativity and Collaboration).

Critical Thinking
Technology supports critical thinking by enabling students to learn the skill of evaluating information and applying this evaluation to the sources they are using during their research phase. Critical thinking can also be applied when choosing the skills to build for their particular project. If the project will result in a product that is technology-based critical thinking is paramount in the development of these types of products.

Communication
Technology can support communication by enabling connections to people who in the past would be impossible. The Internet and the applications which allow for connection such as social media, text applications, voice over IP and video conferencing applications enable authentic connections to each other and others outside the school walls. Students can now connect to experts outside the room to experience multiple perspectives. Technology can also make communicating student learning to a wider and more authentic audience possible. With various platforms for sharing information digitally (podcasts, websites, videos, presentations, and eBooks) students can now share not only their process but also their learning and product with the world. The tools provided in most cloud-based suites also make it easier to elicit feedback which can then be stored and retrieved easily for analysis and reflection. This can have a huge impact on the revision or iteration process taken by the students.

Creativity
Technology supports creativity by providing more outlets for students to share their understanding and learning. These include slide presentations, graphic organizers, infographics, ebooks, video presentations, websites, whiteboard app creations, graphic novels, blog posts, ePortfolios, podcasts, coded applications, digital art, video games, and VR world creations. These new forms of creativity can be easily shared with a wider more authentic audience.

Collaboration
Technology such as Google Suite for Education (GSFE) takes collaboration to the next level. A team no longer needs to be in the same room, town, city, state or even country to collaborate on a project. These tools also enable asynchronous collaboration where team members contribute to the project at a time that is right for them. As mentioned above the Internet and the applications which allow for connection such as social media, text applications, voice over IP and video conferencing applications enable authentic connections to each other and others outside the school walls. This enables collaboration with experts in the fields of study students have chosen for their capstone topic.

According to the definition of a capstone course adopted by HPA all capstones include the following phases:

• Proposal creation
• Content learning
• Skill building
• Research
• Implementation
  

Technology can support these phases in the following ways.

1. Proposal creation (GSFE, Video creation tools, audio creation tools, digital art tools, whiteboard applications, Internet and other databases)
2. Content learning (GSFE for note-taking and information organization, drawing applications for note taking, online articles, databases, videos for learning)
3. Skillbuilding (How to videos and articles to give students some examples to learn from, aids the teacher in direct instruction as well)
4. Research (Internet and other databases, articles and blogs, videos as well as GSFE tools to record and keep track of information and data gathered)
5. Implementation (Technology can be used in this area depending on what the final product is)

The capstone process at HPA culminates in a presentation to an authentic audience. (Technology enables the widest possible authentic audience. It is not necessary to present to a global audience, however, technology and the proper platforms make this easy.)

2. Is there a plan to ensure that students have equal access to technology?

Equitable access is a real problem, however, there are ways to level the playing field. Many schools have moved to Chromebooks because the price point is right and they are very capable devices that can help students do everything I mentioned above and more. In my current school, HPA, we have a program called Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) where the students are responsible for bringing a device to school. We also have adopted the Google Suite for Education and have a Learning Management System. These tools, combined with the BYOD enable HPA to offer equitable access to support the capstone program at the middle school. In our lower school, our classrooms are 1:1 iPads. The fifth grade also has access to a cart of Chromebooks.

Whatever your school decides to do, I suggest a 1:1 environment where all students have a device to use. If the students’ projects require specialized software, hardware or other components, there would need to be a budget in place for things like this. It is very important that technology is made available to capstone students. Without it, we are doing a disservice to our students. As I wrote in another blog post, “When considering everything done in an institution of learning we must gauge what we do including traditions with the following question, How is this serving the educational and emotional needs of the students in our current societal context? When considering this question educational institutions also need to give due regard to the fact that preparing students for the next step in life is not enough in our current society. We cannot only prepare students for the next grade level, division or college. It is not enough, and to continue in this manner is doing a disservice to our future generations.”

3. To what degree will the program use technology to make projects public?

This is something that needs to be consulted about within your school.  It is my opinion that using technology to make projects public is the best way to reach the widest possible audience. Websites, Blogs, Podcasts, and Vlogs, etc… have the potential to reach a very large audience. Throw social media into the mix and the potential is huge. This type of sharing can help teachers monitor progress as well as serve as a portfolio of the learning process. It is also my professional opinion that students who are older than 13 are given the opportunity to make use of these tools to share their process, learning, reflections, and products with the widest possible audience. This should be student-driven as this will help them build ownership in the learning process.

There are many reasons that I believe sharing student work with a wider more authentic audience is so important, however, this quote from a previous blog post sums it up well.

Technology enables students to share their work with a wider and more authentic audience through the use of a blogging or journal platform. The authentic audience helps students build ownership of their learning process.  Parents are more connected to the learning happening in the school and a better relationship around learning can be formed at home.  The teacher can see more clearly what students know and this can help the teacher reach more students. Overall, a better learning environment and culture is formed.

Dr. Shannon H. Doak Student Blogging: Importance of Authentic Audience and Student Ownership and Connecting Home with School

4. What resources can you devote to exploring new technological opportunities?

In this day and age, technology should not be an afterthought or a checkbox on a list of things to have. In fact, technology and having students use it to improve their learning is imperative for preparing our students for the technologically rich world they will enter. If your school or district can afford it, an educational technologist, technology coach or integrationist, can be an invaluable resource for capstone teachers and students for exploring new technological opportunities. This approach is supported in the ISTE whitepaper: Technology, Coaching, and Community Power Partners for Improved Professional Development in Primary and Secondary Education.

In fact, another valuable outcome of having someone support teachers and students in their innovative endeavors is that the culture of the school will eventually be affected by this. This is due to a relationship built on mutual trust. As I stated in another blog post, “Developing healthy supportive relationships where mutual trust is created is the key to moving a school culture forward. It is this type of culture that supports teacher progress as well as student progress. If the teacher feels supported in trying new and innovative teaching practices, they are more likely to try stepping outside their comfort zone. When this happens, students benefit immensely as the traditional methods of education are no longer enough to meet the needs of our ever-changing society.” It is my opinion that schools put resources into what they know will make a difference. Technology, when integrated properly can and will make a difference. It is, therefore, my suggestion that a school put as many resources towards technology to support learning as possible.

If the school doesn’t have the funds or other barriers are raised, there are many things a teacher can do on their own to help. The first thing I suggest is becoming a connected educator and make use of social media to build a Professional Learning Network (PLN). My own doctoral study discovered how effective PLNs can be.

Revealed in the findings was that international school teachers use various social media tools that meet specific needs, to build a PLN. Through intentional action international school educators supplemented professional development and changed their teaching practice creating an expanded and more authentic, constructivist learning environment.

Doak, Shannon H., “Social Media as a Personal Learning Network for Professional Development: Teachers in International Schools Use and Perspectives” (2018). Boise State University Theses and Dissertations. 1379. 
10.18122/td/1379/boisestate

5. What forms of technology should be required components of the program, and what should be presented as optional tools?

Students need to learn how to use technology to support their creative process, to collaborate with others in and outside the learning environment, as well as communicate their learning and share their process and product with the widest possible authentic audience. Using technology to organize their learning process is also extremely important. Technology is best used when it makes the learning process better. It is my opinion that computers should be a required component for any learning environment, not just in a capstone course. Computers and the software available enable students to stay organized and help support the 4Cs of education. Therefore, computers should be considered required as should organization tools such as cloud storage, calendars, and task lists to help students stay on task. Other components that should be required are documents to keep notes, write, reflect, store data and resources on. Many schools are Google Suite for Education schools. The tools in the suite are perfect for creation, organization, and curation.

As each capstone course is different and each student is choosing a different topic and end goal the list of possible technology can vary widely. Each project should be supported by the appropriate technology needed to complete the project. Appropriate technology for one project might not be needed for another. It is my opinion that these are the forms of technology that are optional. Some might disagree with me about needing to use computers in the learning process and that is fine, however, if computers are not included, it raises the question about the relevance in our current context. Remember, we need to always be asking ourselves as educators regarding our practice, “How is this serving the educational and emotional needs of the students in our current societal context? 

If you are involved in a capstone course or your school is implementing them, I hope that my thoughts on the topics discussed above are useful to you, the administration and the students.

Thanks for reading

Dr. Shannon H. Doak