Reflection for Integrating Technology Across Content Areas

Using the GAME plan that I developed the first week has given me great insight.  We as teachers tell our students all the time to set goals and write them down because if you write them down, then you will be more apt to take steps to accomplish them.  Requiring us to choose a goal and write it down has been very beneficial.  Because of this process, I took the steps necessary to have technology in the form of laptops in my classroom.  They were in the school and not being used, but the GAME plan I developed led me to inquire about possibilities and now my students have laptops at their disposal each day.  The other goal I had set was to be more active in participating in learning communities to share ideas.  Through the process of sharing lessons with my colleagues in discussion boards, I have realized that I do have wonderful ideas to share with others myself.  As a modification to both goals, I will continue to monitor and continue participating in learning communities and discovering technology projects that meet and enhance our standards.

            This class has encouraged me to change my way of thinking on technology integration.  Before this class, I would look at old lessons I had used in the past and think “how can I use this lesson and add in technology?”  Now, I can look at the standards and ask myself, “what can technology do to enhance this standard and make it more meaningful to my students?”  Not every lesson needs to be technology-based, but it is a strong consideration that technology increases engagement and motivation which in turn increases learning.  To keep the learning meaningful for students, I think two keys are to make it relevant to them by making it about them, their interests, or their community, and to give them the opportunity to share and collaborate on a broader scale.  This is my new goal: to justify to my district why my students should be allowed to safely share their work with other students in other places and even on safe social networking sites.  Students need their work validated by someone other than their teachers and parents.  Besides, how often do we as adults get opinions and feedback from just one person?  Students need that opportunity to be part of a global community as well.

Monitor Action Plan _Week 4

My action plan for my first goal is coming along nicely.  My problem with having to share one lab with 35 teachers may be coming to an end.  I was speaking with my principal about how I would love to use more technology with my students but the availability of the lab severely limits the possibilities.  She then called the librarian in and our old mobile laptop station is not being used.  I will be soon receiving 13 laptops to keep in my room!  This is very exciting news to me and it will be enough laptops for my largest class.  This will be an excellent resource in providing my students with more technology based activities.

Due to a comment from Derico a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded that Walden gives us a wonderful built-in learning community and I have been embracing the wealth of information in the discussion groups and the blogs.  I have also created a small learning community at school for those teachers interested to share the technology ideas they use in their classrooms.  This has been very useful since we teach the same students we can discuss what works and what doesn't.  Thanks for all of the great advice over the past couple of weeks.

Cheri Handley

Resources and Progression of GAME PLAN - Week 3

As I review and explore my GAME plan, I am attempting to formulate a list of resources.  As far as my objective to create more relevant technological activities, I have a few favorite blogs that I visit frequently, which include the following:  http://fluency21.com/blog/2013/03/26/50-education-technology-tools-every-teacher-should-know-about/, http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=4940, and http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/.  I also use the tech resources that Dr. LeBeau posts in our discussion threads each week.  I do need to focus more on appropriating more technology that I can have at my beck and call whenever I need it for my students.

My goal on joining learning communities is a bit more difficult.  I currently am part of this wonderful Walden community, but when I go to look for other workshops, conferences, blog groups, etc., I get overwhelmed.  Any assistance in narrowing down my search would be greatly appreciated.

Cheri's GAME Plan

Since the GAME Plan (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009)  is a guide for self-directed learning and we want our students to become self-directed learners, it only makes sense that I present my own GAME Plan so I can be a role model for my students.  The goals that follow are two of the indicators from ISTE.NETS-T (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). and are indicators of required standards.

Goal #1: I chose the following goal because I have the desire to use more technology and digital learning experiences, but am never sure of the quality. 

G(set goals) - Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

A (take action) – This is where I would reach out to colleagues, in my school and outside of it, to gather experiences they have used and determine if they will work for my students and be engaging to them and promote their creativity.  Also, this would be the step in which I attempt to acquire a more reliable and consistent source of technology for my students other than a lab that is used by thirty-five teachers.

M (monitor) – As I put my action plan into place, I will continuously reflect on each experience or tool I share with my students.  I will ask questions such as, “Are they engaged?  Are they being creative?  Are they learning the content?”  After each reflection I will then continue using the specified activity or tool, modify it, or never use it again. 

E (evaluate) – Evaluating is the process of determining success of you goal.  With this particular goal, I don’t see that it ever ends.  Learning experiences can always be created and new digital tools are invented each day.  This learning goal will be ongoing forever so that I can constantly add to my digital toolbox.

Goal #2:  I chose this particular goal because I think if I am an active member of these learning communities, it will assist me in meeting the goal above.

G(set goals) - Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning.

A (take action) – Action steps for this goal include researching and choosing learning communities to join.  The purpose of the chosen communities would have to be to share applications and experiences with technology in the classroom.  Another action step would be to ensure that I am an active participant in the group and not just a passive member.

M (monitor) – As I put my action plan into place, I will continuously reflect on each learning community by asking, “Am I actively participating?  Is this group giving me the learning support I need?  Am I learning more to further improve my students’ learning?”  If the answer to any of these questions is no, then it is time to find a new learning community.

E (evaluate) – Evaluating is the process of determining success of you goal.  With this goal, I feel if it is successful I will have a wealth of applications to share with my students.  Also, if this goal has been met and is successful, I may not want to leave the learning community at all.

I am apprehensive about putting these goals down in print because now I have to be accountable.  I would be ever grateful if you have any suggestions to add to or modify my GAME Plans.

Cheri Handley

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.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for

            teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

Final Reflection

               As I reflect back on my personal theory of learning that was written seven weeks ago, I notice that there have been some minor changes.  I still believe as far as behavior management, behaviorism goes a long way and is the most effective for the students to be successful with school and classroom rules.  However, I did state that my theory was in the process of change. In the beginning I stated my learning theory influence was constructionism.  I do believe that students need to be actively doing something and creating something.  However, I also believe my learning theory is now leaning more toward the social constructivism theory.  In the graphic, two people interact to help to extend each other's understanding of what makes a rainbow (Orey, 2001).  This graphic shows how two people exchange information to come up with a collaborative conclusion.  People on a daily basis gather and process information obtained from others.  Why shouldn’t we allow students in school to learn the same way others learn outside the school environment?  This course had given me more of an insight of how students learn and how we can use educational technologies to enhance their learning.

            An immediate adjustment I plan to make is to use is to use technology more as learning tools instead of instructional tools.  It is more important that the students are using technology to enhance and increase their learning than for the teachers to use it to give knowledge (Laureate, 2011).  Two technology tools I would like to begin using with my students are VoiceThread and Google Docs.  These two tools will support the social constructivist theory where students are able to share, communicate, and build products together.  They can also receive feedback so that they can effectively make changes and improve their understanding.  My repertoire of instructional skills has been enhanced greatly.  As most teachers think when they read the list of instructional strategies, I also thought, “Oh, I do that.” But, then I realized that there are steps to take to effectively implant these strategies into your instruction and you need to make one or two a major focus with almost every activity you do for them to become effective instructional strategies.

            My first long-term goal would be to acquire more technology.  I would like to have enough technology for my students in my classroom.  This will eliminate the need to find a day the lab is available and my students will be able to use technology whenever it is needed and not when it is available.  I plan first ask my principal about the feasibility of acquiring the technology and various steps I can take to accomplish this goal.  Another long-term goal I am setting is to include a technology option on every project and unit assessment I give.  The steps I would take would be to research various ways to include technology into assessments.  The main thing to remember is that the technology I implement is a learning tool.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Program thirteen: Technology: Instructional tool vs.

            learning tool [Video webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology.

            Retrieved from

            http://laureate.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5700267&CPURL=laureate.e              college.com&Survey=1&47=2594577&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=0&bhcp=1

Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved

            from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

Cooperative Learning

Children are social by nature.  They want to talk and share what they know and talk about themselves.  Cooperative Learning is synonymous with social learning theories.  When done properly, cooperative learning groups can be a productive way to create meaning and allow students to be social at the same time.  Planning is very important for cooperative learning to be successful.  Recommendations include keep group size small, use cooperative learning systematically and consistently, and to provide individual and group accountability (Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn, 2012).  Rubrics and stated expectations are key to helping students remain on task.

Technology can be quite instrumental in the success of cooperative learning.  Students can work together on creating multimedia projects or websites.  They can also participate with students not in their classroom to cooperate on producing a wiki or project using a variety of venues.  With the internet, there are limitless ways that students can interact and cooperate to create new material.

Resources:

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that

 works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

VoiceThread Link

Angry Birds and Constructionist Theory

Constructivism is creating knowledge from experiences and constructionism is building on knowledge by building or creating a product.  This week’s instructional strategy is generating and testing hypotheses.  How can technology assist in testing hypotheses and at the same time be constructionist based? 

The four steps a teacher should use to help students generate and test hypotheses are (1) systems analysis, (2) problem solving, (3) experimental inquiry, and (4) investigation (Pitler, Hubbell, & Kuhn, 2012).  Observing the steps, one would think this lends itself to mostly science classes, but there are other uses.  One of the most time consuming tasks is collecting and gathering data.  Technology can assist with gathering data so that more time can be spent on interpreting the data and creating a final product.  Classrooms can use probes that connect to computers that automatically input data.  Once the data is easily collected due to technology, students can then spend their time predicting and testing their hypotheses.

Another data gathering and all-around cool tool are simulators.  Students can predict what will happen if they choose a certain action, perform the action in the simulator and evaluate their predictions.  Some great simulators are Zoo Matchmaker, Hurricane Strike!, Star Chart, and Angry Birds.  Yes, Angry Birds applies physics and is big on trial and error, or generating and testing hypotheses.  Maybe we should explore more popular games to further engage our students in building and constructing products.

References

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., & Kuhn, M. (2012). Using technology with classroom instruction that

 works (2^nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.