My GAME Plan Reflection

At the outset of this course, we learned what it meant to be a self-directed learner (Laureate Education, 2009). I have always been self-motivated, but I am not certain if I was always self-directed. In regard to the GAME plan as described by Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009), my business background provided me with many opportunities to set both short and long-term goals, plan strategically how I was going to achieve the goals, and develop means by which I can monitor my progress and accumulate data to determine if the goals were achieved; however, until now I never had a template to follow.

As I reflect on my GAME plan, I can say that the original goals that I set then are the same as I would lay out for myself today. I believe that I learned how to assess my students better and how to make better decisions regarding which technologies to use or not to use as well as when a low-tech tool might be better than a high-tech tool. Furthermore, I have continuously engaged to learning about new technologies and how they can enhance the teaching and learning processes. Likewise, I believe that the actions that I outlined were what I needed in order to reach my goals. Joining PLCs, subscribing to listservs, attending webinars, and consulting with my colleagues and classmates each played a significant role in allowing me to achieve my goals.

However, I believe that where I fell short was in the area of evaluation. Upon reflection, I do not think that I accumulated enough data nor solicited enough evaluative input from others so that I can say definitely that I achieved my goals. Stated another way, from a formative assessment perspective I believe my goals were met, but I cannot say that from a summative assessment viewpoint.

So, how would I use the GAME plan for my students? As stated previously, I have never used a template like this before, but I now recognize its power and potential. Students need to set goals, think about how they will reach the goals, track their progress, and determine if they achieved success or not. The GAME plan is perfect for that use. Likewise, it is something that I would like to incorporate as part of the professional development process when I assume my new job as an Educational Technology Integration Coordinator.

In this new role, I will be responsible for working with teachers to help them integrate technology into their curriculum and in their classroom. Professional development will play a significant role in this process, and working with each teacher to develop a personal GAME plan could make the path a bit more realistic and clear for each of us.

Speaking of clarity, in one form or another I have practiced PBL, online collaboration/social networking, and digital storytelling in my classroom. I believe that this stems from my time in business, the teaching style that I am most comfortable, and simply because of the nature of the courses that I teach. However, until this course I never thought about how they are integrated. I had always looked at each as a standalone; no longer, because it is now clear that they should be interlocked.

These are exciting times. Exciting, yet challenging. Exciting, yet unnerving. Exciting, yet frustrating. I believe that many years from now, education researchers will look back at this time and determine that all the challenges were warranted and met, all of the unsettled feelings were a part of learning, and all of the frustration with technology was an essential byproduct of the evolutionary process. Furthermore, I believe that they will come to the conclusion that this is one of the most important and profound times in education. I am so happy and proud to be a teacher right now!

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). (2009). Program Two: Promoting creative thinking with technology [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Cennamo, K.

Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

The reading and video for this week could not have been timed any better for me and my stated Goals. Let me tell you how and why.

1. One of my primary concerns is whether or not I am effectively and fairly assessing my students. Furthermore, I always worry if I am providing enough ways for my diverse group of students to demonstrate their talents, knowledge, and understanding. Learning about how technology can address the various format assessments has both put my mind at ease as well as challenged me to seek even better ways of using technology to assess my students. Moreover, Cennamo et al (2009) showed me how to use technology in an effort to gather and analyze data.

2. As I read about performance and project-based assessments, I was reminded by the fact that technology is constantly changing and improving, but also the role technology can play in assessing our students (Cennamo et al, 2009 Laureate Education, 2009). Older technologies are being phased out and new ones are being introduced at a rapid pace. Case in point is that the school that I will be joining next year is very much in favor of outdoor educational programs. Every year, every student takes part in two multi-day camping, hiking, and/or canoeing trips. During these trips students apply what they have learned in the classroom to the outdoors. To that point, the school invested in handheld GPS devices a couple of years ago that are now pretty near outdated, but a viable replacement option happens to be a normal smartphone. This week I learned about GPS technology as well as how students can design and develop their own PC games that support what they are learning in their content area classes (Laureate Education, 2009).

3. Cennamo et al (2009) reinforced for me the idea that not every technology tool is applicable or right for every teaching or learning occasion; each must be looked at separately and judged separately on its own merits as to what it can do to improve my teaching.
Thankfully, I believe that my Actions are supporting my Goals and leading down the path toward Evaluation and Extension. Stay tuned!

Carrying Out My Personal GAME Plan

“Plan the work. Work the plan.” This was a common phrase around my office when I was in business. All too often people did not take the time to develop a plan, but even worse was when a plan was developed that it was not followed. As we have learned, it is difficult to get to where you want to be if you do not know how you are going to get there.

So, what have I done over the course of the week to help me realize my goals? Also, what is it that I need to assist me along the way?

First, I dedicated time to laying a foundation and building a network. This included putting my bookmarks on Diigo so that I have access to my online resources from anywhere or any device with Internet access. Furthermore, my bookmarks are now available for me to share with my group members. If you have a moment, please take a look at my burgeoning list on Diigo and feel free to recommend additional resources to me at any time (http://www.diigo.com/user/keytotech). Furthermore, as I have looked to build my social bookmark library I have found some wonderful resources and have subsequently joined groups via Twitter (i.e. Classroom 2.0) and LinkedIn (i.e. ISTE Mobile Learning special interest group) and downloaded Tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck.com) so that I can manage and monitor all of the information streaming in.

In addition, I have challenged myself with learning about at least one technology per week and, in the process, understanding how it can help enhance teaching and learning (Laureate Education, 2009). To help me with this personal challenge, I have found websites like www.teachertrainingvideos.com and EDTE.CH (http://edte.ch/blog/interesting-ways/). This week, I learned about Wallwisher (www.wallwisher.com) and delved more into the world of Google Apps for Education. I believe that this continuing effort will help me stay abreast of what is happening in the world of educational technology and keep me current with many of the rapid advances that are being made in the field (Prensky, 2008).

In order to reach one of my other goals, I have conducted research using the ISTE website to learn more about how to best assess my students and the teachers that I will be assisting in a manner conducive to a self-directed, technology-based learning environment. At present, I am in the process of reading two articles that are excerpts from various NETS for Students and NETS for Teachers projects. My next steps for this goal are to conduct further research leveraging the Walden Library and Google Scholar. Moreover, I plan to tap into the knowledge base inherent in my Walden class group as well as my growing network of external resources that I have met via Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

I am both exhausted and energized…what a great feeling!

My Personal GAME Plan

Over the past year or so, I have spent a considerable amount of time on the ISTE website for professional development purposes as well as to align our district’s core curriculum standards for technology with the ISTE NETS for Students. However, to be honest with myself, I have spent considerably less time reviewing and understanding the performance indicators for teachers. Shame on me because now that I have invested the time, I can see clearly how these indicators serve as the basis for creating a solid foundation on which the successful integration of technology across the curriculum and in the classroom rests.

In August, I will be starting a new job at a private school where the use of technology stands in high regard. The school has made the decision and the commitment to invest in technology with the objective of enhancing the teaching and learning experience. That said they also recognize that integrating technology is not a pedagogical panacea and sometimes more can be accomplished using paper and pencil rather than with an iPad and an app (King-Sears & Evmenova, 2007).

As an educational technology teacher, I need to create authentic learning experiences and to be able to assess my students’ progress both formatively and summatively (Cummano et al, 2009). Likewise, as an integration coordinator, my job will be to assist teachers in selecting the most appropriate technology or make the decision to go the “low-tech” route (King-Sears & Evmenova, 2007). Moreover, I will be working with them to design and develop technology-based instruction and assessment. Keeping this mind, I decided to make a commitment toward focusing on performance indicators #2 Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments and #5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership and have developed the following GAME plan to help me reach my objectives.

Goals

·         I will learn how to assess my students effectively so that I can make better teaching decisions that result in enhanced learning experiences.

·         I will continue to learn how to many better decisions regarding the use of certain technologies.

·         I will stay abreast of the constant and considerable changes in technology.

Actions

·         For each of my goals, I will actively participate in various networking sites and PLCs (i.e. ISTE) as well as consult with peers at other schools as well as my colleagues. I will subscribe to applicable newsletters and list serves as well as attend conferences and webinars. I will consult regularly with students to gather information about the latest technology that they might want to use for educational purposes.

Monitor

·         I will reflect on if I am obtaining enough of the right data to make informed decisions as well as determine if I am making proper modifications to my lessons to meet my desired results.

Evaluate and Extend

·         I will observe the classrooms of the teachers that I assist and I will maintain a journal noting what has and has not achieved a sufficient level of success. I will solicit input from my supervisor, colleagues, and other relevant staff and faculty. Through observation and surveys, I will note what personal technologies students might be using and then seek an educational extension.

For those of you, who did not have the chance to see this video, please take about 10 minutes to do so. I believe that you will find it to be well worth the time because it addresses why we need to create authentic digital learning experiences and how we should go about doing so in a seamless and meaningful manner.

King-Sears, M., & Evmenova, A. S. (2007). Premises, principles, and processes for integrating technology into instruction. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(1), 6–14. Retrieved from the Academic Search Complete database.