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

Evaluating my GAME plan progress

This week in our EDUC 6713 class we read an article titled, "Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers," from The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning. In the section of the article about "Promoting Reflective Thinking," the authors point out that "learners have a tendency to focus on the task, experiment, or project rather than on conceptual understanding of the key principles" (Ertmer & Simons, 2006). I realized that I was falling into this trap as I plowed my way through the assignment of creating a GAME plan. I was becoming focused on completing the assignment instead of reflecting on my original plan.

Upon reviewing my original GAME plan, I have come to the conclusion that creating a list with students about ways to focus our "I can" statements once a week, was too frequent given my given position. Most of my classes I see just once a week for an hour. This time is so short that the time it takes to brainstorm would take a large percentage of each class. A goal of once a quarter seems much more reasonable. Teachers often ask me to introduce, extend or review a concept that they must teach in their classroom. This leaves little room for direct student input.

I believe the "I Can" statements we use with our students are still a good focus. They are the state standards for the given content area and grade level. The statements appear to be an aide for me to find "good problems" as discussed by Dr. Ertmer in our media presentation in this week's resources. Our standards are broad enough to explore in a number of ways, but each is focused enough as to give teachers and students alike some borders.

I am still challenged by lack of emails and blogs used both by the students and parents. (Our teachers aren't really using these either. I am in that boat alone.) My tracking of laptops, document cameras and digital cameras has motivated me to meet with my colleagues to offer assistance in getting these into their classrooms. As for the four mimios in the building, they remain in their boxes in the library, unused. I cannot find out why, and I'm frustrated that they are in our building and not available to us.

The GAME plan continues to change.

Resources:

Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40-54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program six. Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning, Part 1 [Motion Picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Area. Baltimore: Author.

My GAME plan progress

I have encountered some difficulties in progressing with my GAME plan. Students in a number of my classes have related to my that they do not have access to computers, e-mail addresses or their own cell phones outside of school. Students have difficulty coming up with a plan when they are unfamiliar with the technology. While the "I can" statements we are focusing our plans on are the state standards written in student friendly terms, many students are unfamiliar with these standards and find little relevance in their own education. I may be achieving "curriculum alignment" as defined in Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach but I am not creating relevance to the students.

My second concern is with a lack of parent interest/participation to this point. I have received a few e-mail addresses from parents, but these are adults that are working very long hours or more than one job. The parents have said they would do what they could, but introducing another item (even a fast technology) into their already overloaded schedules has proven less than fruitful.

I have been successful in tracking the use of our laptop cart for the building. Teachers are starting to create their own Delicious.com accounts to ease students into locating teacher reference sites quickly and accessing the sites used in class at home or at the public library.

References:

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

Carrying out my GAME plan

In reviewing my GAME plan, I recognize there are a number of additional resources and information that I need to collect. It is important that I survey all my students to find out what technologies students have access to at home and personally. I also need to create a list of all emails of students and parents. As far as steps I have taken, I was at a workshop today discussing and planning to implement lessons with relevance to student learning. We discussed using concept mapping to help make student connections. We also explored and shared math and science websites to include games and journaling strategies into our existing curriculum. I have set up a Wiki for use in class, but do not plan on introducing this to students until after the break. Finally I would like to expand my current technology tracking system to look at possible links to student growth and achievement.

Developing a personal GAME plan

In reviewing the ISTE website and examining the NETS-T, I felt there were three standards that I would like to work to improve in my own instruction.

The first standard that I would like to include is 1b, "engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources." It is important that students engage in activities and learning experiences that have relevance to their own lives. At least once a week students will brainstorm with the teacher ways to implement the knowledge level skills we address in our "I can" statements focused on each state grade level indicator. Included in these lists will be uses for cell phones, ipods and computers that students have access to outside the classroom walls. Explore the viability of each option presented and plan to implement at least one idea a month with the help of student planning. Students will communicate with the teacher through blog or email problems, concerns and positive learning moments as the plan progresses. Final evaluations will be completed by students and teacher for reflection on changes to be made before the next class meeting.

The second to be included is 3b, "collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation." I was intrigued by the GAME plan presented in the text for webconferencing. It is difficult to collaborate with students, parents and community members in the same location at any common time. By using webconferencing and the use of wikis collaboration could be possible without bringing all parties together in a physical sense. First, I must learn how to use webconferencing and wikis effectively with a small group of individuals that are familiar with the terms and the technology. Next plan to "meet" to disseminate information about students on a regular basis, (monthly). To monitor and evaluate progress there must be some sense of the number of possible participants and the number of actual participants. The question will need to be address, "why are some adults participating and others are not?"

Finally I would like to work with 4b, "address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies and providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources." My goal with this standard is to track how often each student gets to use a laptop, elmo, mimio, or digital camera. Where there appears to be a gap or discrepancy, analyse what might be the cause of such difference. Where appilcable I would like to recommend to cooperating teachers that technology usage be increased in their homerooms in any content area. I would like to continue to observe fellow educators using learner-centered lessons, to best adapt these to my own best practice.

References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

EDUC 6712 - Reflection (week 8)

The most striking revelation I had about teaching the 21st century literacy skills was that this was a much greater task than just learning how to read the web. Students must have the basic reading skills to attempt understanding in an enormous collaborative like the Internet. Communication and synthesizing were necessary in order to effectively and efficiently understand and utilize all the information available to students with just a few keystrokes. This is a much more complex task than simply presenting content, practicing and testing to see what the students have retained. As the course progressed, it was clear that these are skills that as a teacher I was going to need to get up to speed with as well. As I took what I was learning back to the classrooms I serve, I was delighted that students were excited and wanted to apply what they had learned outside my science class. "To truly determine whether your students have internalized new strategies for reading and learning on the Web, be on the lookout for evidence of generalization and transfer" (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007, p.280).

Many of the things I learned from this course I took back and immediately used/taught in my classroom. The day after I realized I didn't know as much as I thought I did about search engines, I took my new knowledge back to a fifth grade class. I explained what I had learned about Google not being the only way to search. We did an example of a search first with Google, then with altavista.com using a host command to narrow the search to edu urls. The students were impresses with the difference it made. We also discussed how to determine if a website was a good source for reliable information. Two of the tools I passed on to the students were www.archive.org and whois.com. These were both new sites to me and we discussed how useful it could be to see former versions of a site or the owner/persons responsible for the content.

There are a number of professional development goals I would like to pursue, building upon my learning from this class. Prior to this class I had little experience with inquiry-based projects. I would like to learn how to effectively implement more of these in the near future. I would also like to incorporate pod casts into every class I work with, from kindergarten to fifth grade. In the process I hope to learn and share with coworkers who are leery of using this technology. Finally, I have already started discussing and modeling how we as teachers should be modeling ethical use of technology. It did not occur to me until this class how often I use something some one else has created without giving it public credit. Simply not stating it is my own work is not enough. I have started to label or credit every picture, graph or piece or information I use on a worksheet or handout. Students need to see ethical behavior if they are going to behave ethically

Reflection: Final Blog Posting for EDUC 6711

I do not believe I have modified my personal theory of learning during this course as much as I have refined it further. I would say that I was doing a good job achieving the social constructionism that I sought for my classroom. The new applications that I was introduced to in this class will enhance this collaborative learning environment I seek.

I would like to introduce my students to both concept mapping (Bubbl.us) and online collaboration (Voice Threads). Both of these tools allow students to construct an image of their learning as they see it. For so many years I have told my students that they needed to ask more questions because I couldn't see what they were thinking. With these applications I can start to "see" what they are thinking. This makes guiding learning and correcting misconceptions more possible.

My two long-term goal changes both involve time and patience. The first is to make sure that I am using technology as a learning tool in my classroom at least once a week. I am afraid I have been guilty of using it as an instructional tool to perform old tasks in new ways instead of looking for new tasks. The second is to challenge students to bring what they discover in their collaborations back to the classroom once a week for a debriefing of some kind. (This could be a good old fashioned discussion or a blog posting. There are many options available.) I think by setting my goals as once a week for both of these I will get students involved and comfortable with both soon after the year begins. I would like technology to be the way we learn in class by the end of the year, not the new thing that students want to play with.

Voice Thread

Voicethread.com/share/550480/

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

"When students work in cooperative groups, they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others" (Johnson, Johnson, & Stanne, 2000). Our goal in education should be to have students construct meaning for themselves. I find that if something I am studying isn't meaningful to me, I may remember it short term but I am unable to access that information in my memory long term. (This goes back to the brain research we study in week 1 of our course.) Many of our students thrive on the interaction of their peers. We are social animals, and it makes sense to harness our learning to that drive to be social.

In using technologies within the cooperative learning framework, we are opening up the possibly of students teaching and learning from others that they have never met, that may be experts in their field. "Teaching others helps the learner develop a deeper understanding of the content" (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). Deeper understanding is what leads students to remember and make more connections with other things they will learn. The use of Blogs, wikis and social networking sites opens up amazing possibilities for students to share with other cultures and beliefs as well. This is a piece missing from the cooperative learning model set in a classroom's four walls. How do we as educators make the most of this rich teaching opportunity while still keeping our students safe from the negative activity that is bound to come up when working without walls?

Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., & Stanne, M.B. (2000). Cooperative learning methods: A meta-analysis. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota. Retrieved May 4, 2006, from http://www.co-operation.org/pages/cl-methods.html

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Orey.

Constructivism in practice

"When students generate and test hypotheses, they are engaging in complex mental processes, applying content knowledge like facts and vocabulary, and enhancing their overall understanding of the content" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 202). Generating and testing hypotheses is very much a constructionistic strategy. Constructivism/constructionism requires that students build their own meaning by building "something that they can share with others" (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). Hypotheses are, by nature, meant to be shared and analyzed by others, leading to additional hypotheses. By posing a possible solution to a problem, students are retrieving information that is already known to them and synthesizing how this knowledge might fit with new observations.

"Technology can play a vital role in generating and testing hypotheses because new developments in probeware and interactive applets allow students to spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data - a process that can be tedious and error prone" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p. 203). Technology can be used to preform the multitude of calculations needed, accurately, allowing the student to focus on what the calculations and data show. Technology can also facilitate the exploration of possible alternative outcomes. By simply changing some of the data, students can explore the positive/negative changes that occur.

Instructional strategies like these and others correlate with the principles of constructivist/constructionist learning theories.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program seven. Constructionist & Constructivist Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore:Orey.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Using Cognitive Tools to Enhance Learning Experience

Concept maps seem like a great way to provide a "picture" that our words and ideas can connect with. I like the idea of giving students guidance with a concept map to organize and present their understanding. I believe this to be a tool I could easily create as a whole class activity with one of my classroom computers and an LCD projector. (Add the element of student playing teacher and movement within the classroom and it's sure to be a winner with the fifth grade set.) I like the idea that this application can easily be translated into an outline. Many of my students struggle with outlines. They are unsure how to pull the important part of what they hear or see from a given work. This can also reinforce basic note taking. Again, my students seem to struggle every year with, "What did I just read," and, "How can I put that in my own word(s)."

Virtual field trips provide another one of those connections to students that make learning meaningful and effective. I have shied away from virtual field trips because I wasn't sure how effective one would be if we didn't get to "go some place." I like the ideas set forth in our class reading this week about the preliminary activities students can do to give them an organizer to help get the most out of a virtual field trip and all the information it has to offer. Field trips are definitely an experience that students must be able to chunk information in order to get the most out of the experience, other wise all the imagery coming at them could be lost or overwhelming.

Behaviorism in Practice

In Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, it is stated that "effort is the most important factor in achievement. Research shows that the level of belief in self-efficacy plays a strong role in motivation for learning & achievement." The two instructional strategies presented by the authors, "Reinforcing Effort" and "Homework and Practice", both teach the value of effort and reinforce the desirable behavior. According to Dr. Michael Orey, behaviorist learning theory supports this reinforcement of desirable behaviors. In all examples in the text students are given tasks using technology that require their input to achieve the best possible outcome. Students perform each task and can do put forth little effort but they are given immediate feedback from the results they input and will quickly see that greater effort leads to the most positive results. "Without the enhancement of technology, reinforcing effort in schools is often done through individual teacher comments or by collecting and sharing vignettes, testimonials, and observations from the learning community" (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p.162). Technology makes this efficient and much more encompassing for the teachers.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program four. Behaviorist Learning Theory [Motion picture]. Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology. Baltimore: Orey.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA:ASCD.

Final thoughts on Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work & Society

My class, Understanding the impact of technology on education, work and society, has helped me by providing technology resources that I can integrate into my classroom. While I was aware that blogs and pod casts were out there, I was unaware of wikis. I had colleagues to bounce ideas off of, and I learned how to use these technology tools within the confines of my districts’ set guidelines. I learned and used more technology in these past eight weeks than in the last five years combined.

I believe what I have experienced through class assignments and my own classroom experiences have served to strengthen my belief that education needs to be student, not teacher, centered. As was stated in “Bringing the Fun into Teaching with Technology,” if the teachers move out of the way and the students take control of their own learning they will exceed even their own expectations.

I have moved away from even typing things into the desktop attached to the LCD projector in the room, because I believe that my students need to do what they can for themselves. They need to be given permission to explore and push their own comfort zones.

I believe that I need to stay connected with some of my classmates as we move away from this class. There were so many good ideas coming from so many wonderful teachers that now I know I have these resources as well. I will continue to seek out information from places like commoncraft.com, which made each new application seem much less intimidating to me as a digital immigrant. I have already subscribed to that source. I will also push to have more conversations in my building about how to get technology in the hands of the students that we seem to be failing. Achievement tests are more than just content tests, they are also about student esteem and knowing how to think. I believe we will see amazing improvements in some of our underachievers when we start connecting them with current technologies that speak to them as our slower paced classrooms have not.

Within the next year I would like to reform my math daily sign-in to be digital, preferably by posting it to a blog that can open up communication between parents, students and teachers. I believe that this can be accomplished in class with the use of one or two desktops (what I currently teach with). I am working on a permission slip for the parents, to explain the importance of communicating in new and different ways and the benefit they can reap by getting involved and even posting themselves. Within the next two years I would like to be able to send a project based homework assignment home each week. This will require I research all the alternative ways to approach such a project for the students that would have true difficulty acquiring technology at home.

My first Podcast

My first podcast was exciting for both my students and myself. I was easily able to understand how to create an episode with the help of my cell phone, and the students were excited to hear their own interview on my classroom computer. The following are the three students I interviewed.

Demographics of my students and school (Masters class #4):

Gabcast! Masters class #4



The first student (Masters class #3) is a fourth grader.

Gabcast! Masters class #3



The second student (Masters class #2)is a kindergartner

Gabcast! Masters class #2



The third student (Masters class #1)is a first grader.

Gabcast! Masters class #1




While the recording seemed smooth and easy, uploading these episodes to the blog was a much greater challenge. Hopefully this will be the first of many podcast attempts.

21st Century skills important to flourish

I found myself lost in http://www.21stcenturyskill.org/ , not because I couldn't navigate the site, but to the contrary, I was engaged by each article I read and wanted to see where each link would take me. For some reason I was surprised to see a link to an article from The Christian Science Monitor. When I clicked on this link, I found myself agreeing out loud as I read. "In a knowledge economy, the ability to articulate and solve problems, to generate original ideas, and to work collaboratively across cultural boundaries is growing exponentially in importance." Yep. Of course this is the premise that each of the 10 states that have States Initiatives posted have also bought into. Why isn't Ohio one of these states? Is the governor the reason we are holding back, or is this really because our Department of Education in Ohio is not quite to this realization? From all that I have read about President Obama, I believe all states will start to feel the push from Washington to get on board. Yes, It is going to take money and time, but these 10 states are paving the way. I find this to be exciting to me, my students and my future in teaching. I want to see us forge ahead at the speed of light. Being a project facilitator fits the style of teaching I have become accustom to. I want my students to want to ask why and what if and leave rote memorization for the history books.

I am excited about all the possibilities that blogging holds for my students. I understand that this is a learning curve that I must take at a reasonable and cautious speed. I would like to begin by introducing the class blog as an informational page for students and parents. Information including, up coming school dates, deadlines and group meetings. I think I would include a math or science "problem of the week" for all to ponder and respond to. I have a colleague in the same building that is willing to have her students respond to a weekly question posed to and answered by my classes. I am still thinking through the idea of showcasing student work. This will be a project for the coming year. I am comfortable with using the digital camera in class to capture some of the activities the students are engaged in; I'm not sure what I'd do with this to showcase it however. While I currently teach Kindergarten to fifth grade, math and science, I believe I would like to begin with the fifth graders and expand to younger grades as I gain experience. I am looking to pioneers like Anne Davis, "The Write Weblog" for ideas and inspiration.

teachersetc

Is testing the end all we are looking for? My school is sharing past scores with all 3-5 grade students in an attempt to motivate them to do their best on the state mandated tests in May. Is this what we have resorted to? I want my students to want to learn. I want them to be excited to come to my science lab. They will learn if we give them opportunities. To quote one of my favorite movies, "If you build it, they will come."