Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

My first goal:  To develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.

One of the steps in determining effective assessment is choosing the appropriate supporting technology that will assist in the assessment of your students (Laureate Education, Inc, 2010).  This week, during my social studies class, I introduced my students to Wikis since I felt that this program would allow me to assess my students mastery of content while allowing them to collaborate with each other while learning the material.  The primary reason for introducing my students to Wikis this week was so that they could begin to learn how to use the program and all of the technological tools that can be utilized within it.  Since this was their first exposure to a Wiki, I made sure my goal for the lesson was realistic.  By the end of the lesson, students were expected to have successfully logged on to the Wiki, edit the lesson page, and save their work.  I plan on having my students work on a different Wiki page to summarize each of our social studies lessons.  As they continue to work on Wikis, I plan on adding a different skill set with each lesson.  For example, my goal for our next lesson is for students to be able to add and edit text on their page along with adding pictures to their page as well.  Ultimately, I want my students to feel comfortable enough with Wikis so that they will be able to work in small groups in order to create their own pages that they will be able to use to teach the class with when we are studying our unit over the regions of the United States later this year.  This activity will also work as a performance-based assessment that will allow me to determine the level as to which my students understand the content they are sharing with their classmates (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).  However, in order for me to achieve that goal, I need to teach my students about Wikis in a step-by-step process to ensure that they do not feel overwhelmed by all of the different tools that are available on a Wiki.

My second goal:  To evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.

With the ever-changing technology that is constantly being developed, there are many emerging digital tools with the capabilities of assisting students with their learning.  My partner teacher and I were given one of these such tools this past week when we received our Smartpen.  A Smartpen is a tool that records both the written word and audio spoken during a lesson.  For example, if a teacher is trying to explain the steps needed to solve a math problem, the Smartpen will record each of the steps in the order that the teacher writes them along with any dialogue the teacher is providing while writing the steps.  When completed, the teacher can then upload the file to Livescribe website and then have the capabilities to post the lesson onto their own class website for their students to access from home if they need additional assistance with understanding the lesson.  While a tool such as this will probably be best utilized within a math class, I will still be able to use it within my science and social studies class when needed.  Students should develop a better understanding of the content due to the fact that they will be able to 'experience' the teacher's lesson for a second time from their home.  Keeping this in mind, the biggest challenge that I currently face with this new digital tool is the manner in which I will be able to incorporate it within my lessons.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach: Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Program 7: Assessing Student Learning with Technology [DVD]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Carrying Out My GAME Plan

In order to successfully carry out the goals that are listed in my GAME Plan, I am going to have to revisit them from time to time in order to monitor my progress in implementing them.  Along with monitoring my goals, I also need to know what resources will be required when implementing the necessary actions to achieve these goals.

My first goal:  To develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.

In order to achieve my goal, the primary resource that my students will need is access to computers that will allow them perform research on the Internet.  Since I only have two classroom computers and 28 students at a time, we will have to schedule time in the computer lab when it is available.  Some additional information that I will need to successfully implement my goal will be my own knowledge of technology.  During the course of the school year, I plan on having my students create projects using programs such as VoiceThread and Wikis.  Since I am planning to model these programs to my students first, I will have to be proficient in them both in order to explain how to use them efficiently and then to help with any problems that my students may encounter.  So far, my students have been introduced to a 'Sqworl' (http://www.sqworl.com) that contained websites for them to visit in order to perform their own research on the scientific method.  This activity was a basic introduction to performing your own research in order to find needed information.  On Friday, I plan on introducing my students to Wikis by having them complete pages that I have formatted for them over our current lesson in Social Studies.  Once my students become familiar with how Wikis work, my plan is for them to create their own Wiki comparing and contrasting animal and plant cells in the upcoming weeks.  By including these different technological programs, I am hoping to to promote authentic learning with my students.  By taking part in authentic learning activities, my students will be increasing their understanding of the required content through the process of doing (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).

My second goal:  To evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.

Teachers are only able to provide their students with meaningful access to technology when the teachers themselves are adequately trained on that technology (Cennamo et al, 2009).  Taking this into consideration, my second goal is focused on my own education when it comes to technology.  In order to achieve this goal, I will need access to the Internet in order to be able to follow blogs that provide articles about different programs that are available for educators to use in their classroom.  I will also be using the Internet for my own research in hopes of finding programs that are able to provide information that will assist me in teaching my content areas.  Currently, I follow 'Free Technology for Teachers' and 'The Whiteboard Blog' on Facebook.  Both of these blogs have provided me with numerous links to programs that I already have used or will be able to use within my classroom.  In addition to this, I am also hoping to attend a technology conference at some point this year so I will have the opportunity to learn about new technology or programs that I can incorporate within my classroom.  Another practice I utilize within my classroom is to solicit the opinion of my students when we use a program for the first time.  I feel that this step is important in order to learn what they think about these programs in terms of how the program functioned, meaning were they able to navigate within the program without too much difficulty, and how much knowledge was gained from using this program.

While I realize that I am still in the early stages of my GAME Plan, I do feel that I am in the process of taking positive steps towards achieving my goals.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning

My GAME Plan

            In order to best serve our students, as educators, it is our job to prepare them for the world that awaits them.  What makes this aspect of our job so challenging is the ever-changing world around us.  Our students are members of a generation that can be labeled as 'digital natives', meaning that they are growing up in a world in which technology has become an integral part of their lives.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of teachers have grown up as digital immigrants, or a part of generations in which technology has been introduced to once they have become adults.  This scenario of digital natives and digital immigrants has created an ever-changing learning environment that has educators scrambling to educate themselves about technology while creating a new set of standards that addresses the world of technology that their students are growing up in.

            Currently, I am teaching in a grade level and subject area in which state testing is the driving force behind everything that we do within our content area.  Our primary focus, at this time, is on our students performance on these state mandated tests.  While keeping my students' achievement on these tests in mind, my goal for this school year is to incorporate technology within my lessons in such a way that will introduce my students to the idea of becoming self-directed learners.  Self-directed learners tend to develop into creative thinkers who are motivated and more open to ideas in their thinking (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).  Due to this fact, my goal is to shift my style of teaching from what could be described as a drill and practice style to one that promotes the development of my students as self-directed learners.  In order to achieve this goal, I will strive to "develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress" (ISTE | NETS for Teachers).

            In order to track my progress in regards to achieving my goals, I will need to set up what is known as a GAME Plan.  A GAME Plan will assist me in creating meaningful lessons for my students that enhance not only their own personal development of self-directed learning, but mine as well.  This type of plan will consist of a goal for my students' learning, taking action through learning experiences, the monitoring of student progress, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of instruction (Cennamo, et al, 2009).  Here is what my GAME Plan looks like.

            Goal:  To develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress

            Action:  To include one technology based lesson that promotes self-directed learning amongst my students during each different unit of study.  The inclusion of collaboration within these lessons will also promote an environment of self-directed learning as well since this style encourages students to rely on their own recently gained knowledge as they work to solve a problem instead of relying on their teacher to provide the information for them.

            Monitor:  Student progress will be monitored through assessments to ensure that they are learning the needed content.  Student progression as a self-directed learner will be monitored through the quality of work that is submitted upon the completion of each unit's technology activity.

            Evaluation:  Since this will be my first time implementing self-directed lessons with my students, I will constantly be evaluating them to access their effectiveness.  In regards to the quality of the lessons, I will be evaluating to determine whether or not learning goals were met for both content and the mastery of the technology skills utilized within the lesson.  Future lessons will be shaped based on the evaluations that are made for previously implemented lessons.

            In addition, I will also strive to "evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning" (ISTE | NETS for Teachers).  While trying to develop self-directed learners, I also want to develop students who are proficient in using emerging technologies.  In order to achieve this goal, I will need to ensure that I am also proficient on these digital tools as well.  While trying to learn and keep up with all of these different technologies, I will try to enlist the help of my colleagues.  I am hoping that my sharing of knowledge about technology will inspire them to adopt this style of teaching within their lessons in order to inspire their own students to become self-directed learners as well.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach: Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.

ISTE | NETS for Teachers. (n.d.). ISTE | Membership, NETS Standards, Books, Journals and Professional Development for Teachers. Retrieved September 15, 2011, from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers.aspx