Moving Forward with my GAME Plan

To carry out Part D of the GAME plan (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009) I posted last week, I will first need access to video conferencing software. I can reach Skype at my home and use my own laptop computer, which has a webcam, but our school district blocks access to Skype in the schools. I will therefore need to consult with our technology department to try to find a way to work this out. Since I would like to include my whole classroom in video conferences, I would probably need to use a separate video camera, not a webcam, so I would need to learn how to connect the hardware.

To accomplish this goal, I will also need to network with other teachers or search online to find distant classes that could collaborate with my students. I already have one possibility for connecting with students in a state quite far from mine, but I will need to locate others if this possibility does not work out. Just as important, I need to choose a unit that gives my students an authentic reason to collaborate with other students in a distant location; I am considering a non-fiction reading unit.

Part B of my GAME plan will mainly require me to consult with my colleagues, both at my own school and online at Walden University, and to also search the internet for other ideas for authentic activities. I will also need to review the various unit plans I already have, sorting out the lessons that have particularly effective, authentic activities included.

Effectively organizing ideas may be the most challenging aspect of this part of my GAME plan. I will want a system that lets me quickly review various activities, yet also separates them by topic and type of technology use included. In addition, I will also want to consult with our technology department and get permission from my students’ parents before they create web pages that anyone can view.

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.

A GAME Plan for Integrating Technology

The International Society for Technology in Education has developed a list of five National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) (2008), each with four performance indicators. While all the standards and indicators are important, I plan to focus specifically on two indicators by using the following GAME plan (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009) to increase my confidence and proficiency.

The first standard states that teachers will “facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.” My goals involve Parts B and D of this standard. Part B says teachers should engage students “in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources” (National Educational Technology Standards, 2008). As a language arts teacher, I feel that sometimes language arts lessons are less real world than science or social studies. Although my students will need to use their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills every day in the real world, middle school students need to have authentic reading and writing assignments that are engaging, yet instructive. As Dr. Ertmer noted in the first video for this week (Laureate Education, 2009A), effectively integrating technology into education requires that teachers examine their beliefs about good teaching and learning; I believe good teaching includes authentic learning experiences, and using technology in today’s classroom makes learning both more authentic and more engaging. Therefore, I want to develop a repertoire of strategies for connecting reading and writing lessons to the real-world. I can begin learning more about how to use website creation as a learning and assessment tool, especially ways of connecting with learners in other areas who can provide feedback to my students. I can ask other teachers in my own building for ideas, but I can also search the internet or take a class. Our current textbook, Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009), also has a variety of ideas, as do the texts from our previous technology classes.

I will monitor and evaluate my progress by creating outlines of units that provide opportunities for authentic writing with technology. While some writing experiences should be informative, for example, others should be persuasive. Some may require more graphics, including original graphics created by the students. I must ask whether I will be able to provide several types of authentic writing experiences for a variety of audiences.

To extend my own learning, I will continue to learn new ways to incorporate technology into writing. For example, I would like to be able to teach the students to create and edit video, which would require developing a script: an entirely different type of writing.

My second goal is Part D of the first standard, which says teachers will “model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments” (National Educational Technology Standards, 2008). I am particularly interested in using video conferencing software to allow collaboration with classrooms in other locations. Since I have not used this technology, my action plan begins with actually learning how to use video conferencing. I have a computer equipped with a web camera, but I have not had a reason to use it so far. I would also want to learn how to set up a video camera to provide live video from my classroom. Further, I would need to reach an agreement with a teacher at a remote location regarding a purpose for a collaborative project; this project will not be successful unless there is a genuine learning purpose. As a teacher explained in this week’s second video, technology needs to fit the objective; it does not work well to formulate a lesson objective around the technology (Laureate Education, 2009B).

I will monitor my progress by keeping a record of my ability to set up the required hardware and software, which should come more quickly with practice. I can also monitor my progress by noting how often I find opportunities to use video conferencing. I will also need to evaluate whether video conferencing actually promotes learning for my students. As noted above, there must be evidence that students are learning content by using this technology and that they continue to be engaged, even when the technology becomes familiar.

I will extend my learning by finding new classroom applications for the technology if it proves to be successful.

For both goals, I will also monitor and evaluate my learning by adding samples of student work to my portfolio.

If my GAME plan is successful, I will be able to provide my students with new authentic learning opportunities that will incorporate both language arts and technology.

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). (2009A). Ertmer, P. (Speaker). Program 3, Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 1. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009B). Program 4, Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 2. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Author.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). (2008). International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved May 15, 2005 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf