Week 6 GAME Plan

I am in week six of my GAME Plan. My district was on fall break so I was unable to work in my classrooms but it did allow me time to look at some more technology-based lessons. My professor posted a great website, http://www.bie.org/ that shows project-based learning in action using technology. I found it to be very helpful because it gave me a visual of how a classroom looks during this type of learning.

My plan is to become effective when integrating technology and content together for student learning. As I worked on a lesson plan this past week, I kept in mind the benefits and challenges of integrating technology into lessons. I made sure that I provided times for students to organize and reflect on their learning. It is through these opportunities that I will be able to assess student learning of content. I also had to remind myself that I need to provide scaffolds such as helpful websites and graphic organizers to support the learning process. I am excited about trying this lesson in a science class when they get to the specific chapter.

I am also considering how I might integrate “educational networking” (Laureate Education, 2009) into my classroom. Using technology to communicate and learn will tear down the walls of my classroom. I am facing some obstacles such as time, computer access and administrational support. These are challenges that I will seek solutions to during this upcoming week.

Jennifer P.

References

Bucks institute for education. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.bie.org

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

GAME Plan Week Five

This week I am more overwhelmed as compared to previous weeks. I am having troubles wrapping my head around the concept of problem-based learning (PBL) using technology in the classroom. As I work towards my GAME Plan goals of being able to link student learning with content and technology, I am realizing that it has definite benefits and challenges. According to Dr. Ertmer, some of the benefits of PBL are it supports self-directed learning, collaboration (a 21st century skill), integration of core subjects and authentic learning (Laureate Education, 2009). Students are engaged in inquiry-based thinking while determining solutions for a problem that has meaning to them.

The challenges that I am trying to overcome is how to link the learning with the content (standards) so that it is more than just fun and I am comfortable knowing that my students know the standards. I am not sure how to teach this or model this. Is it something that I teach? Do the students learn it naturally during the process? Dr. Ertmer suggests that as students progress through PBL, have them reflect on their learning through journaling, using checklists or blogs (Laureate Education, 2009). Since my students have not done this previously, I would need to model how to articulate one’s thoughts using a journal or blog. These items would provide a formative assessment as the learning progresses and reassure me that the students are mastering the standards in addition to learning how to think on a higher level.
I will continue to work on my PBL unit plan to help fulfill my GAME Plan. My PBL unit plan supports the STEM initiative in my state.

Is anyone else experiencing the same concerns?

Jennifer

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program 8. Spotlight on Technology: Problem-Based Learning Part 1. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author.

My GAME Plan Continues

It is week three in my efforts to master my GAME plan. This past week, I continued to research STEM projects using the internet. An abundance of information is available about inquiry-based and project-based lessons. I am learning what a good inquiry-based lesson should look like to use as a comparison when evaluating other lessons. I am learning to look at the objectives and ask myself whether or not the lesson supports the standards and if it will have real-life meaning for a student. I am looking for organization and how well the unit flows for student understanding.

When I originally had written my GAME plan, my focus was on integrating science and math together using inquiry-based units or project-based units using technology. I had not given thought to how student learning would be assessed in these lessons and units. Dr. Ross suggests that I “…develop a cadre of techniques to monitor and evaluate” (Laureate Education, 2009). I need to consider how student learning would be assessed during and at the end of the unit. I need to consider what parts of the unit need to be assessed and in what ways. For example, how will academic content be measured as compared to how will the growth in technology use be measured? Are those skills of equal importance? Dr. Ross suggests using the following steps in determining effective assessment. First, I need to identify the learning objectives. Second, I need to determine the instructional method and finally, what technology supports the objectives and method of delivery (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009). During this week, I will focus on determining how I will assess student learning when using this type of instructional delivery in my classroom.

Jennifer P.

References

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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program 7. Assessing Student Learning with Technology. [Educational video]. Baltimore: Author

My GAME Plan Journey

Authentic instruction focuses on the person being an active participant in his or her learning process. An old proverb says, “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.” (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009). This week I attended several seminars about STEM during the LEAD conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Part of my game plan is to educate myself on the STEM initiative in Race to the Top so that I can effectively and seamlessly integrate math, science and technology into my classroom instruction. I started fulfilling my GAME plan by attending this conference. My next goal is to involve myself in the process of integrating STEM projects. I will take the information back to my classroom to implement in the curriculum and to educate other teachers about the STEM initiative.

In order for me to continue working towards my GAME plan goals, I will need to continue to participate in more professional developments, webinars and educators networking sites to learn about this type of project-based curriculum. I need to obtain a schedule of future professional developments and webinars. In addition, I will need to research the STEM websites that were brought to my attention during the conference. Since I am a visual learner, I would like to find sites that have video clips of this type of learning unfolding in a classroom. I need to set aside some of my planning time to research these websites.

My plan is to journal my thoughts, ideas and successes as I complete each part of the GAME plan. Since the conference ended today, I have not had a chance to journal any thoughts yet but I plan on doing so in the next few days.

I am recognizing that I have a learning style just like my students. As I sat in some of the classes during the conference, I found my mind wandering because the presentation was lecture format with a power point of all text (no pictures). I am a visual learner and like to be engaged in the learning process. I found myself interested in the classes that engaged us with small group activities. I also like the idea that I am able to pick and choose the way in which I am gathering my knowledge about STEM. “Research suggests that collaborative learning can improve the effectiveness of most activities, and the same is true for technology-based activities” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). I am choosing to use technology and collaborative work to fulfill my GAME plan. I need to remember that my students can manage their learning if I provide support and the opportunities that match their needs.

Jennifer P.

References

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.

Application Two: My GAME Plan

I am a lifelong learner. I am driven by self-motivation to do what I need to do to master the many uses of my camera, cell phone and Facebook account. Self-directed learning is driven by one’s own desire and actions to learn something new. Self-directed learning can be divided into four steps called the GAME plan. The “G” stands for set goals, the “A” for take action to meet the goal, “M” for monitor progress towards the goal and “E” for evaluate if the goals were achieved and extend the learning (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009). As an educator and lifelong learner, I am making a GAME plan to self-direct my learning towards integrating more technology into my content area with more confidence and proficiency.

I have chosen for my goal to strengthen two of the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-S). The two standards are to use technology to provide thinking that is more critical and problem solving in addition to providing more opportunities for my students to demonstrate creativity and innovation using technology (National Education Standards for Teachers, 2009). I understand the content knowledge and I understand the uses of technology. My challenge that I would like to overcome is how to integrate the two areas together. When I meet this goal, my students will be able to self-direct their learning while they solve a problem of interest to them and create a digital product that displays their learning process. These skills will teach my students how to be critical thinkers of information and apply what they have mastered. These skills will help prepare my students for jobs of the 21st century.

I will take action to master this goal. I need to know more about how to integrate the two areas and what this type of learning looks like. STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) is a part of my state’s “Race to the Top” grant. I could attend professional developments and research STEM websites to learn more information. In addition, I could observe other educators modeling inquiry-based learning and ask other educators questions on educational social networks. I would consider co-planning and co-teaching an inquiry-based unit with technology. When I feel comfortable enough to venture out and teach my own inquiry-based lesson, I would ask another teacher to observe the lesson to provide feedback for me later.

I will need to monitor my progress towards this goal. I can do this by keeping a journal of information that I learned from professional developments, online teacher social networks and STEM websites. In addition, I would monitor how many lessons I co-teach with other educators. The more hands-on practice I have, the better I will be able to do it on my own. In addition, I would record in my journal how often I observed other teachers and the critical things that I learned from each observation. As I review my progress, I would continue to assess if I am ready to facilitate my own inquiry-based unit using technology. I would need to be objective and know when to push myself out of the safety of the nest and fly on my own. If I find that I am not able to do that after a reasonable time, I would need to reevaluate my sources and look for new ones.

Finally, I would evaluate if I met my goal. My goal is to integrate inquiry-based learning using technology into my math classroom. If after a reasonable time, I have not at least started co-teaching a unit then I would need to reevaluate my goal and strategies. When I can successfully facilitate a lesson, I will know that I met my personal goal to integrate critical thinking and creativity into a lesson to provide a better learning opportunity for my students. To extend my learning and goal, I would look at the other NETS-S to assess how I might be able to strengthen those in my classroom using the same strategies or different ones.

Jennifer P.

References

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.

Hargadon, Steve. (2010). Classroom 2.0. Retrieved from http://www.classroom20.com/group/classroom20beginnergroup

I-stem. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.istemnetwork.org/resource/educational/lesson.cfm

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

US Department of Education, . (2010). Delaware and tennessee win first race to the top grants. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/03/03292010.html

Evaluating a Website Using REAL

This screencast will walk a viewer through how to apply Dr. November's REAL method to evaluate the reliability and validity of a site. Click on the above title to link to the screencast or copy and paste the link below.

http://www.screentoaster.com/watch/stUElWR0BJRFtXQF1VXFhfVl5c/evaluating_a_website_using_real

Reflection on Classroom Instruction

As I finish the last week of this course, I have taken some time to reflect on what I have learned and how it will affect my ability to effectively and appropriately integrate technology into my classroom. I have reflected on my personal theory of learning prior to completing this course, made some immediate changes in my instructional practices regarding the integration of technology and set two long-term goals that support integration of technology.

As I reflect on my own personal theory of learning, I still support the continued use of the constructivism/constructionist learning theory. I believe that students need to be able to construct their own meanings for the knowledge to be useful and remembered. Originally, I did not recognize that my classroom also models behaviorism. Behaviorism seems to be viewed as old school methods of teaching. I use behaviorism through grades, point systems and extrinsic rewards to help reinforce a desirable behavior or help a student modify his or her behaviors. Used when needed, this learning theory can provide positive and effective results. I have observed the presence of the social learning theory in my instructional practices. My students are building knowledge by working together to solve problems or build projects. This will help them be ready for the 21st century workplace.

I have learned about several technology tools that I can use effectively in my instructional practices to enhance student engagement and learning. I am incorporating concept maps with graphics into the note-taking instructional strategy. Concept maps allow my students to organize and synthesize information in a way that “...replicates the network model of memory” (Laureate Education, 2009). “Graphic representation has been shown to produce a percentile gain of 39 points in student achievement (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). In addition, I have added Voice Threads within my instructional practices. Voice Threads support the social learning theory “…cooperative learning focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning. When students work in cooperative groups, they make sense of, or construct meaning for, new knowledge by interacting with others” ( Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). Voice Threads will allow my students the opportunity to share thoughts, ideas and gain knowledge from each other.

I have set two long-term goals that support the integration of technology into my instructional practices. First, my goal is to follow the “Matrix of the Four Planning Questions, the Nine Categories of Instructional Strategies, and the Seven Categories of Technology” as I plan instruction for my students (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007). The matrix provides a checklist of all of the things that I need to consider as I plan what instructional strategy will be used with what technology. This will assure that the technology used is appropriate and effective for student learning. My second goal is to stay a lifelong learner myself by attending staff developments and finishing my master’s degree. This is important because technology is constantly changing and so the way my students think and learn is constantly changing. I want to stay abreast with the new so that I can maximize my students’ learning by using current forms of technology and prepare them for the 21st century workplace.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories. Baltimore: Dr .Michael Orey.

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