EDUC 6715: New and Emerging Technologies

Throughout this eight week course we have explored the differences between emerged and emerging technologies and their impact on our professional paths. We have explored and discussed what is means to be a teacher leader and the implications this can have on school technology decisions. We were challenged to apply McLuhan's Tetrad as it applies not only to media but our adoption of emerging technologies for our classrooms/schools.

In our exploration of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs), learning modules and digital games, each of us was asked to each was asked to develop a lesson plan, a plan for adoption and a rational for a grant proposal. Through my plan I have explored the use of the MUVE, whyville in my classroom to engage and instruct fifth graders in food chains and food web exploration. Through this course we were to explore the latest technology and strategies to decide if they were worth time and implementation. I determined that using whyville in my classroom would be engaging as well as rigorous for fifth graders in learning about food webs and using dichotomous keys. This technology is new to our building and will take time to gain acceptance with staff members.

There are a number of adjustments I plan to make within the next six months. It is important that I keep up with the current technology available for use in classrooms. It is not good enough to walk in to a Best Buy store. I find the magazine Tech & Learning focuses more on hard and software that I could use in education. Secondly, I need to keep the lines of communication open within our staff. I will only be able to bring technology into my classroom if I can bring others on board too. I plan to set up a wiki for our staff members and meetings to demonstrate how useful this platform could be. Finally, being a resource teacher, I team teach with other staff members that are willing to allow me to take the lead on lessons such as the MUVE whyville for science.

One thing many of us can agree on is that students need more communication and collaboration (encompassed in many of the above mentioned) to compete it the 21st century world.

Spotlight On Emerging Technology: Online Learning in K-12

A presentation created for Georgian Heights teachers to introduce RCampus as a possible on-line platform to create and share student work & progress.

On-line Learning at RCampus

EDUC 6714: Reaching & Engaging All Learners through Technology Reflection

Over the past eight weeks our class has participated in groups utilizing a Ning to create a Differentiation Station. The use of a social networking site is not new to our masters program courses, but I have used these resources in a very limited way outside of our class applications until recently. The use of this resource itself has made me a little more comfortable with communicating with my colleagues in such a way. I also feel that I am ready to launch into using a Ning with a small group of fifth graders next school year. One of the messages we continue to hear is that implementing technology needs to be done one small step at a time. I am hopeful that I will find a small group of students that is excited to try to implement technology into their school work and will be fairly forgiving when we hit bumps in the road.

Throughout our course we discovered how very intertwined Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction are. Universal Design for Learning is a theory that through differentiated instruction to reach students' different learning styles, profiles, and readiness, we achieve many pathways for all students to travel to reach the common learning goal. There are many resources in the differentiation station that I plan to use. One of my favorites was posted by Kevin Richstad, http://tech4di.wikispaces.com/Content+Strategies . This link takes you to a wiki that has many contributions from teachers of various backgrounds. It shows a variety of differentiation strategies that they have implemented with the lesson ideas ranging all subjects. Another site, http://scratch.mit.edu/ shared by another member, Heather Rogers, is a free resource that allows students to create games,animations, and share stories. Students choose the artifact they can complete to meet the common goal for a class, through creations that are exciting and engaging to them. Differentiated Instruction strives to engage students through various means.

There a couple of adjustments I expect to make immediately in my own instructional practice. I have already started allowing students more choice in the projects and products they are responsible for. I was inspired by Megan Webster, a teacher in one of our Media resources. She modeled guiding the students from the sidelines and truly allowing them to lead their own project. She also had many students working in teams on skills that she perceived as a weakness for them. They were so driven to complete their project that they really rose to the challenge. In my fifth grade science class last Thursday I read the class the grade level indicators that our state and district say we must address in the next three weeks (renewable and natural resources.) I followed this with a newspaper article from our Sunday paper on our cities lack of recycling. We had a wonderful discussion on the projects we could undertake as a class in the next few weeks, obstacles and tasks required to complete a project. I ended the class with a challenge, write a letter to the principal outlining what we proposed. I told the students I would not edit their letters, that was their job. I suggested things that could make their argument most persuasive. I left the next class up to them. If in a week they produced well written letters that could persuade the principal, we would proceed with our plan, if not it was back to the traditional curriculum approach to this standard. The students seemed highly motivated when I left their room and the homeroom teacher was grateful that I had just encouraged good writing for a purpose. I envision using a class wiki, excel to graph for posters & keeping job charts, and word processor for printing fliers and letters home. The technology possibilities for this project seem endless. I can't wait for their next class.

Reflection on my GAME plan for EDUC:6713

Over the past six weeks I have developed, revised and followed a GAME plan from the readings in Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use. While none of the four steps were foreign to me, the idea of writing out and planning a detailed goal driven plan was different than my norm. I have always set a goal and taken action, but do not often monitor and evaluate my progress to revise my goal. My reflection after teaching a class and revisions for the following year are similar but not as immediate. I have already adopted this new GAME plan for my own planning, believing it to be more effective as well as an excellent model for the reflection I expect of my students as they learn to evaluate their own work.

The second discovery I made was how important it was to have a sounding board to help with the monitoring and evaluating each piece of my plan. It is easy to look at ones own work and believe you have accomplished your own self-selected goals. It is much more enlightening to present and defend them to interested collegues in a blog or wiki to be evaluated by a different set of discerning eyes. I know now I need to seek out a group of professionals locally that I can contunue to ask to hold me accountable as I continue towards my goals to integrate technology into my classroom.

Finally, I understand the impact of the NETS-T standard,"engaging students in exploring real-world issues & solving authentic problems using digital tools & resources". As we explored problem-based learning, digital storytelling & social collaboration tools in our unit plans, the need for relevance to student learning became clearer. We have known for a long time that students learn and utilize information that they can conncet to something they know. The only way to teach students all the content they need is to make it relevant to their own lives. Get them excited and they want to teach themselves. After all, I am striving to create life-long learners not just sucessful middle schoolers.

References:

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

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

Over the past five weeks I have been working through the GAME plan process as described by Crennamo, Ross and Ertmer in Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use. In implementing the GAME plan process I set three goals to address ISTE standards for teachers. In the following weeks I took action, monitored what I had learned and evaluated my progress towards my goals. What I liked best about this process was that it was fluid and could be changed or adjusted as monitoring dictated. Also, the plan allows for much organization and reflection as goals and steps are the focus.

The GAME plan process could be used with my students. Many of my students have never taken a technology survey to truly assess where they are in their knowledge of available technologies. This would be a necessary first step if students are to set realistic goals for themselves. Once the class had taken individual surveys, I think it would be important to model the entire GAME plan process to elementary students by setting one class goal that would address one of the individual survey results. It would be beneficial to take the entire class through the process, one step a week, modeling each step and adjustments made. Once the class has worked through the GAME plan process with one common goal, I would challenge each student to look back at his/her survey and set one goal to work through the process individually. This would again require weekly checking in to determine progress through the plan. It may be necessary to group students with like goals for additional support.

I believe the GAME plan process will help overcome two challenges that our authors in the EDUC:6713 resources have posed. First, by having a GAME plan, students will be continually reminded of the focus of their task and will be less likely to focus on the technology itself. Second, by setting and monitoring individual goals, competition between students should not be an issue. Students need only compete with themselves.

Revising my game plan

In EDUC 6713: Integrating Technology across the Content Areas, I have learned the strong relationships that exists between self-directed learning, creative thinking, technology integration and content standards. Integrating technology plays a key role in increasing student achievement and enriching the learning experience. A GAME plan is necessary to plan and carry out actions that will integrate technology into existing curricula.

Four weeks ago I created a GAME plan to work toward achieving three of the NETS-T standards. In the first standard I address, I plan to “engage students in exploring real-world issues & solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.” I feel I have introduced more real-world problems to my students but I have fallen short to this point in using digital tools and resources effectively to assist students in solving these problems. The lack of working resources, time available with classes, and little knowledge of technology prior to the class have been challenges up to this point. The second standard I sought to address involved, “collaborating with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success.” The time it takes to build this network is much greater than I would have ever anticipated. I have begun to get e-mails from teachers, principals, and parents, but it appears there are still many participants that would prefer phone, face-to-face, or snail-mail contact over other faster forms. I anticipate this to be a year long process at the least. Finally, I chose to “address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies and providing equitable access t appropriate digital tools and resources.” I feel I have made the most progress with this standard. I have recorded technology usage throughout our building and worked with homeroom teachers to get more students accessing technology tools everyday. We still face challenges such as how to get technology out to our students housed in modular units that are not wired for any of the technology we have available.

I do not feel that I have accomplished enough to move on to other standards. I am still adjusting my timelines and educating other adults as I continue my education. In the future I will address one standard at a time so as to focus my efforts and possibly progress more rapidly.

Resources:
http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Kevin,Jaclyn & Tara,
You are correct that a wiki would be the most appropriate for me at this point. I like the idea that it doesn't have to include just words. Many of my students respond best to images.

Tara,
The idea that all creativity doesn't happen between 7:30 & 3:30 is very powerful. This is a huge shift in thinking for me.

Corey,
I have chosen to lead by example as much as I can when implementing emails, etc. with fellow colleagues and parents. "If you build it, they will come."

Susan