My first GAME plan addressed the “Design
and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments” NETS-T indicator
(International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). My goal was to add at least two new digital
tools or assessments to one of my existing unit plans in Social Studies. The unit plan I chose to add digital tools to
was one that focused on Immigration. I
was able to successfully contact my district’s technology expert who did
finally e-mail me a few website suggestions and digital tool ideas. One website, History.com, was suggested and
looks to be a great resource for quick video clips and reading material. The only problem is that the reading material
seems to be a bit too complex for my fifth graders, so I may have to edit it
before they would read it. Also, my
district’s technology expert talked to me about using the Prezi program on the
Internet to make fun PowerPoint type presentations. I also talked to some of my teaching
colleagues and they suggested using a video camera or an audio recorder to have
students interview some people they know from different cultures whose family
members immigrated to the United States.
With the information and resources I’ve gathered, I have decided to incorporate
some of the suggested websites into my existing Immigration unit to support and
enhance the content and I also have decided to include a final project in the
unit that utilizes a digital tool. The
final project digital tool will take the form of digital storytelling. I want my students to put themselves in the
shoes of the immigrants that came over to the United States in and tell their
story using the iMovie program. The only
thing left I have to do is to create a rubric for the final project. I have gone through many revisions of this
plan but am satisfied with the end result.
My second GAME plan addressed the
“Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility” NETS-T indicator
(International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). My goal was to promote and model digital
etiquette as students participate socially with technology. I wanted to teach students how to effectively
use digital etiquette as they wrote posts and responses on the classroom blog
website. I had already located my
resources for this GAME plan and did some research on digital etiquette using
the Walden database. I came up with a
digital etiquette checklist for my students to utilize as they collaborate on
the classroom blog website (for example: “Is your writing polite?” and “Did you
use correct spelling and punctuation?”).
It has been a great tool so far and my students have been much better
about their postings. I taught one
lesson to students on digital etiquette in my class and video recorded the
lesson. During this lesson I passed out
the checklists and we went over them together and gave both good and bad
examples. It ended up being a lot of fun
and as I watched the video later, I noticed how well students were focused
throughout the process. It seems that
any time technology is involved, students are automatically engaged and
motivated. I revised this GAME plan by
only teaching one lesson on digital etiquette and by not having students really
read any of the articles I printed out from the Walden database (some of them
were a little bit too complex anyway!)
The new learning that took place for me
during this process was actually learning the process of creating a GAME
plan. I love the acronym for the process
and think it makes a lot of sense. It
helped me stay organized and on task with my goals. It was very specific and easy for me to
follow and allowed me to be reflective throughout. When thinking about my students, I know they
would also benefit from using this GAME plan step-by-step process. I would love to use it at the beginning and
end of each grading quarter and have students come up with a specific goal for
achievement. It is a great way to get
students involved in their own learning and to have them start taking more
responsibility. This process could also
be used at the start of a unit and the teacher could provide students with the
goal and they could on their own come up with their actions, ways to monitor,
and ways to evaluate their progress.
One immediate adjustment I plan to make
to my instructional practice regarding technology integration is to start using
my classroom blog website more. Also, I
am really excited about digital storytelling and the many uses it can serve in
a unit. I plan to use digital
storytelling in my Immigration unit next year as a final project. Digital storytelling is one of the best cross-curricular
tools as it can improve student writing skills and incorporate are and
creativity (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).
Problem-based learning is such an important tool to use within a
classroom as it makes learning more authentic and meaningful to students. It is easier for students to make connections
between content areas and also between the existing knowledge they have. Learning becomes more real-world and students
begin to develop a passion for it. I
plan to help students become more self-directed in their learning so they can
develop into lifelong learners, and using technology can help “support
students’ interests, creativity, and motivation” when participating in content
learning (Cennamo, Ross, Ertmer, 2010, p 40). Social networking has proven to
be a great tool to get students talking and collaborating on activities and
projects. It is a safe environment for
them to take risks and share ideas. I
love that parents and other teachers and students can be part of the social
networking collaboration process and as a team, everyone works together toward
new learning.
Resources:
Cennamo,
K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful
classroom
use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
International Society for Technology in
Education. (2008). National education standards for
teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across
Content
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