As my eighth Walden course, Integrating Technology Across
the Content Areas (EDUC 6713), comes to a close, it is time to reflect over
everything I have learned. In the early
weeks of the course, the main focus was on how to be a self-directed
learner. Our world is constantly
changing and in order to meet our students’ needs, educators must continually
seek out new strategies and ideas to ensure we are meeting our students’ needs
and preparing them for their futures. As
Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer say, “learning to teach generally, and to teach with
technology specifically, are lifelong journeys” (2009, p. 1).
To help us stay focused on being a self-directed learner,
our text introduced us to the GAME plan.
This plan involves setting goals, taking action, and monitoring and
evaluating professional growth (Cennamo et al., 2009). We established our own GAME plan based on the
NETS standards for teachers identified by the International Society for
Technology in Education. The standards I
chose to focus on were:
Standard Two-Teachers design, develop, and evaluate
authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools
and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the
knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS-S (ISTE, 2012)
Standard Five- Teachers continually improve their
professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their
school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective
use of digital tools and resources (ISTE, 2012)
Have I learned everything I need to in these two areas? Absolutely not. However, I have learned a great deal through this
process. I have learned that the
timeline I set up was crucial to helping me stay on task. As teachers, we all know how it is easy to
push things aside as new challenges or situations with students evolve
daily. Our schedules are so hectic that
if something is not penciled in and have time set-aside specifically for it,
there is a good chance it will not happen.
The timeline helped me to force myself to work on these goals while
juggling the great demands of teaching on top of my Walden graduate work.
I have also learned that sometimes the web is more reliable
than working with people in person. Just
as I mentioned before, our schedules are hectic and things come up. I have found searching the web for resources
to be more successful than contacting individuals regarding ideas for authentic
tasks in my classroom. The web is always
available, I can access it in the middle of the night, or whenever works best
for me. It also allows me to save or
store the data that I find, increasing the likelihood that I will remember
these great ideas and will utilize them in my classroom. I have also found that searching the web with
a specific topic in mind is key to finding relevant lessons, and to help me use
my time more efficiently. Simply
searching for “authentic tasks+5th grade” provides too many results
and sorting through them can easily become overwhelming. I have found many great resources (check out
my previous posts for a list of math lessons I found), now I just need to
create a system to store and organize it all (this is still an area I’m working
on).
My two goals for my GAME plan go hand in hand. Through professional development, as well as
independent research, I am learning new ways to create authentic learning
experiences in my classroom. Then, I am
sharing what I have learned through informal discussions with my colleagues and
administration, sharing emails with tips of how to use a new piece of
technology, and through presentations.
This process has introduced me to a wealth of resources, it has helped
me to help my students make the connection between what we are learning in
class and how it compares to real-life, and it has helped me rekindle my spark
and excitement for teaching once again.
My GAME plan was set up to allow me to juggle my busy
schedule right now, as it allowed me to work on developing these skills
gradually. I feel that it was successful and needs few to
no adjustments. My GAME plan was
manageable, yet resulted in numerous ways for me to integrate technology into
my lessons and to create authentic tasks for my students to develop their math
skills. This was such a beneficial
experience that I would like to continue with the same plan in the future to
continue to add to my teaching repertoire.
During the process, I
sometimes lost sight of my goals for the GAME plan. If it had not been for the timeline I created
(and the course assignments) I would have forgotten about it and pushed it
aside. It is not that the goals were not
important to me; it was simply due to the fact that I had more pressing
concerns at the time. This made me
reflect on how our students must feel when they are given assignment after
assignment, with little to no choice or personal interest. Also, it made me realize that giving students
choice does not ensure they will become engaged or find the material meaningful
in any way. I had a choice on which
standards to focus on, yet I was not driven to pursue these goals simply
because something else was taking precedence in my life.
Although it is impossible to create learning experiences
that cover the standards and engage ALL students ALL the time, I do feel that
the GAME plan can be a beneficial tool in the classroom. By teaching students how to set goals, create
a plan, and monitor and evaluate their progress, we are teaching them the
skills to be lifelong learners. Once
they have learned the steps necessary to acquire new knowledge they will apply
this to the content in which they find most interesting and will seek out new
knowledge throughout their life. This
day in age information is at our fingertips; there is no longer the mindset
that everything needs to be memorized.
The GAME plan is a tool teachers can use to help students learn how to
learn, a skill that will help them in every area of their life.
Thanks to my Walden courses I have been making numerous
adjustments to my instructional practice regarding technology integration. With every week that has passed I have
learned many new ways to integrate technology.
My classes all use Edmodo to organize assignments and to communicate
with others outside of class, they have created wikis, Prezis, digital graphs,
and more. I have the reputation of being
THE technology user in the elementary, and many turn to me for ideas or advice. Technology is a great way to give students
the power to take charge of their learning.
I have also found that simply giving students a new technology tool can
grasp their interest in such a way that they become so engrossed in the task
that they often forget that they are learning.
This course has been one of my favorites. I loved learning about project-based learning
(PBL) and how to incorporate the many new technologies into my classroom. By following the GAME plan, I have been able
to focus directly on my goals and to strengthen my abilities to create
authentic learning experiences for students while integrating the 21
st
Century skills they will need to be successful in their technology-filled
future.
References
Cennamo, Ross,
& Ertmer. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful
classroom use: A standards-based
approach. (Laureate Education, Inc.,
Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
