Week 6: Reflect, Revise, and Expand

It is time once again to revisit my ever-changing GAME Plan that I have been working on over the past six weeks. As I have mentioned in previous posts, when I first created my GAME Plan, I thought I could look at four different technology learning/teaching tools. After the first few weeks of trying to keep pace with the workload for this class, I began to realize that I should concentrate on two rather than four learning/teaching tools. At this point in my GAME Plan, I have continued to edit and update the "Technology in Action Learning Tools" wiki (http://technology-in-action-learning-tools.wikispaces.com/) which encompasses basic information about both Twitter and Diigo, as well as, practical application and integration ideas for both of these "educational networking," learning/teaching tools (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).

What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice?
Over the last six weeks, I have have lost sight of exactly what the goals of my GAME Plan are/were. What I have come to realize is, is that I need to spend time reviewing the goals of my GAME Plan each time I work on my blog entries and the companion wiki site created for my plan. I need to make a conscious effort to spend time reflecting on my own educational choices, the choices I make in my instruction, and plan time within my lessons for my students to reflect upon their decisions, learning, and coursework. I realize I have said this numerous times over the course of my GAME Plan, but it warrants being repeated again. 


Reflection and articulation are key parts of learning and creativit. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) place emphasis on the reflective part of the learning process by explaining that:

...learners need to describe what they have done and explain what resulted and why. This is becuase when we stop to think about what we have learned and to reflect on how we learned it, we actually achieve a deeper understanding of the knowledge we have constructed, and are more likely to be able to use that new knowledge in different situations (referred to as transfer), which is yet another hallmark of creative thinkers. (p. 33)

If I hope to foster creative thinking in both my students learning and my learning, reflection is an imperative step in the thinking/learning process that needs to occur.

What goals are you still working toward?
I am still working towards all of my goals. When learning, working, and teaching with learning/teaching tools of technology, one can NEVER know all that there is to know. When commenting on my previous blog post, one of my classmates posed the questions, 

Do you find that the amount of information available to teachers on technology and other topics makes it difficult, in some ways, for teachers to find information that is meaningful? Or do you think that they may get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information and the many tools available? (Wybrant, 2010)

It is for the reasons that Sean mentioned, the amount of information, the meaningfulness of the information found, and the overwhelming fact that technology is perpetual going through transformations, that I will always be trying to reach the goals I created for myself in this GAME Plan. Thus, the goals for this GAME Plan continue to be:

Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

• demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situation

•  communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats

 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

•  participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning

• collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support students success and innovation

(Please note that the above standard is a new addition to my GAME Plan, the rational for this addition can be found in the next section of this post.)

• exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others (The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers)

Based on the NETS-T, what new learning goals will I set for myself?
At this point in my GAME Plan, I would also like to add a third part to the "Model Digital-Age Work and Learning," portion of my goals. I now realize that I have been taking part in the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) standard, "...collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation" (The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers). It is through my coursework, communications with teachers throughout the U.S. through Twitter, updating information on the Walden Grad Students Diigo page (http://groups.diigo.com/group/waldenu-gradstudents), and creating the Technology in Action wiki (http://technology-in-action-learning-tools.wikispaces.com/), that I am continuously trying to collaborate with my peers regarding technology as learning and teaching tools.

What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?
Throughout the next few weeks, I will be taking advantage of the educational networking opportunities I have with my classmates, as well as, the educator connections I have through Twitter and Diigo, to continue to learn more about how teachers can best utilize Twitter.com and Diigo.com as educational learning/teaching tools . Vicki Davis provided a plethora of ways that social networking sites can be used as "educational networking" sites and I want to utilize this new perspective while I  find new resources to add to my GAME Plan wiki (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).

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. (Producer). (2009). [Motion picture]. Social Networking and Online Collaboration Tools Part 1. Baltimore: Author.  The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers [Electronic version]. (2008). International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved July 8, 2010, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf    Wybrant, S. (210, August 4). "Week 5: Actions and Reactions." Message posted to Technology in Action, archived at, http://clausen-technology-in-action.blogspot.com/