Take a moment to think about the GAME plan process and the progress you have made over the last several weeks toward meeting the goals you established for learning about technology and technology resources.
Over the course of this class, I have been exploring different ways to both educate myself and others in the use of social networking, or as Vicki Davis calls them, "educational networking tools," Twitter and Diigo and share my findings with my classmates. Although I tried to make the information I have found applicable and user-friendly to other teachers, it is unclear whether or not my wiki, "Technology in Action Learning Tools," (http://technology-in-action-learning-tools.wikispaces.com/) has been useful to people in my learning community (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).
I realize that I am at fault for perpetually posting my blog entries late. Whether or not my learning community was commenting on my blog and/or wiki, I should have been more diligent in posting my weekly blogs on time. I wish I would have been able to work more with my learning group in helping them apply Twitter and/or Diigo to lessons that they hope to implement in their classrooms. It would have been wonderful to collaborate and brainstorm with other teachers regarding the usage of these tools in a school with limited resources or accessibility to technology.
Reviewing my goals for my GAME Plan I am not sure if I failed at meeting the goals I set for myself or if I succeeded in ways that I do not realize at this point. Once the school year starts and I begin implementing and using some of the learning/teaching tools I have been working with in my GAME Plan, I will have a better handle on my "success" or "needs improvement" on each of my goals. I have listed my GAME Plan goals and I have included the steps I have taken to help me reach these goals in order to see if I am on the right path.
- Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
- demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situation
- Created a wiki explaining both Twitter and Diigo
- Supported the information shared with material from class resources
- Explained and modeled ways that these learning/teaching tools can be applied in the classroom in a practical manner
- collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success
- Addressed issues mentioned by classmates such as security, student privacy etc. to insure the students safety when using these tools
- An on-going conversation about the uses of Twitter, Diigo, and other educational networking tools is currently going on with another of my classmates
- communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats
- Through the creation of my wiki, I presented information that was clear, accurate, and applicable to the classroom
- Presented several ideas and modeled these suggestions to my classmates through screen captures, video-clips, etc.
- Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
- participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
- Participated in on-going conversations with classmates via my blog when questions or comments were made
- Commented and asked questions on the blogs of the learning community members in my group
- Read articles and explored links that appeared on Twitter and educator websites and shared the information with my group members
- 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
- Actively shared ideas that can be integrated across different curriculum areas and/or used to form professional learning communities
- Suggested different ways to encourage educational networking as both a learning and a teaching tool
- Opened a line of communication for my learning community to discuss and/or ask questions about technology that directly related to the learning that is/was taking place throughout this course (The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers, 2008).
There are some key components of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-S) and Performance Indicators for Students that align with the standards that I have been exploring while working with the NETS-T throughout my game plan. Words and phrases which appear in both sets of standards include:
- collaboration
- "apply existing knowledge"
- communicate
- "develop cultural understanding"
- "advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use"
- "transfer current knowledge" (The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-S) and Performance Indicators for Student, 2007).
If I were to have my students apply the GAME Plan model to their learning, I would definitely make it a point to stress the importance of collaboration, communication, participation, and reflection. Although it should be a given that students would need to collaborate and participate with the members of their groups, I have found that unless there is some sort of accountability piece (formative and/or summative) involved within the assessment process, an individual's non participation may l hinder other students' progress (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).
The GAME Plan model can be implemented in many ways within a classroom, but here I would like to concentrate on using the GAME Plan in conjunction with a self-directed learning project example. If a teacher were to choose content information, decide what section of NETS-S may work well in learning/teaching this type of information, and then have the students utilize the GAME Plan model when planing research or inquiry based learning he/she would be achieving three goals within one unit. For example, students that are assigned a project that deals with the historical investigation of the Watergate Scandal, may be asked to focus on the skills in NETS-S standard "4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making, Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources" (The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-S) and Performance Indicators for Student, 2007).
Once the students have been given the assignment and made aware of the skills that they will need to focus on, they can then go about creating a GAME Plan to help them succeed in meeting their goals, beginning an investigation on the happenings of the Nixon Administration. The investigative process uses skills including creative thinking, problem-solving, reflection, and a plethora of other 21st century skills . The GAME Plan lends itself to this type of self-directed learning process because it systematically walks the students through the steps of creating a plan, deciding what actions to take, monitoring one's progress, evaluating the outcomes of specific choices, and then moving the plan forward and/or revising one's ideas. All of these skills are key components of not only the GAME Plan, but also historical investigation (Cennamo et al., 2009). Thus, the students are using the GAME Plan as a framework to learn the content information while putting into practice and strengthening the skills within the NETS-S.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). [Motion picture]. Social Networking and Online Collaboration Tools. Baltimore: Author.
The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-S) and Performance Indicators for Students [Electronic version]. (2007). International Society for Technology in Education. Retrieved August 15, 2010, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm
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
I also found it interesting to take a step back and align the NETS-T and NETS-S in order to come to an understanding of how the two are connected. While I have not looked your information on Diigo yet, your information on Twitter is helpful.
ReplyDeleteI like how analytical your response is. You have taken each aspect of your GAME plan and created the equivalent of a checklist with explanations. For each aspect of your GAME plan you have mapped out whether or not, and in what ways you did or did not, accomplish each goal. Would you expect your students to do the same?
I also appreciate the examples you give about self-direction.
Now, a few questions...and a little constructive criticism. Whether or not you created a resource that your colleagues and classmates will find useful, was your understanding of social networking extended at all throughout the course? If so, in what specific ways? (You imply that you had growth, but do not define in what ways.)
You apologize for not posting on time...I would encourage you not to. At one point during this course I also had a late blog...but it was because I was thinking deeply about what I wanted and needed to say. One of the things that I have learned through this course is that, while deadlines are important in many cases, deep thinking where the content sinks through the core and into the very soul can't be required to happen on a time table. Sometimes real learning happens as it needs to...not when we need it to. An apology included in your writing should be done with the intention of furthering the ideas in the post...if it doesn't, don't include it. Just my two cents...
And finally...unrelated but of great interest to me: Do you have a plan for how to install the Diigo toolbar for each of your students? I was dismayed to find out that the toolbar is profile specific and unless students have administrative rights on computers you have to manually install it on each profile. Unless, of course, you have found a workaround for it. ;-) I hope you have because Diigo looses a lot of its power if you don't have the toolbar.