Learning about all of the Technology available for our use in the classroom can be a bit overwhelming to teachers that do not use much besides a projector. I have come to discover that not all of it is something I will use but, I can choose the ones that are best suited for my content and students.
The NETS (ISTE, 2009) are standards that promote modeling digital age self-empowerment to the students to give them the confidence to use this technology throughout their educational career and beyond. My GAME plan for this coming year is to help my students get acclimated with the technology that is available to us through our district.
My goal is to develop my student’s skills in PowerPoint, SmartBoard, blogging, and wiki’s. Assigning projects that give them the opportunity to work with these programs collaboratively, I believe they can learn to become responsible digital citizens. Although we are limited to these programs, I believe that change is coming to our district in the form of making the administration aware of our technology needs. I just discovered recently that my request for a SmartBoard was approved so I have been busily training, with the help of colleagues everywhere, to familiarize myself with its uses. I also put in a request for a faculty training session and it too was approved (all part of the GAME plan). Our staff will be formally trained by a professional this coming school year.
Learning about video storytelling also brings about a big change in how I will assign projects. This is a change for me but a refreshing addition for my students who I know will be excited to create using technology.
Finally, I would like to train my students to use the GAME plan to help them become life long self-directed learners. “Self-directed, metacognitive learners engage in three key processes: planning, monitoring and evaluating their learning activities” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009 p3). This is an imperative skill that will continue to improve and sustain their life long learning process.
Reference:
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.
ISTE. (2009). The Iste national educational technology standards (nets•t) and performance indicators for teachers. Retrieved from iste@iste.org, www.iste.org.
Wow Rodrigo, you are up and running! I need to step it up to get a SMART Board in my classroom. There are none in the school presently. I am glad to see such commitment you have for your students learning.
ReplyDeleteHi Rodrigo,
ReplyDeleteEven though you don't see a use for all of these types of technology right now for your students, it's good to keep them in the back of your mind. As you think about ways to improve your lessons for your students, some of the other ideas we've been discussing may be the best for that assignment. Blogs, wikis, and those other types of technology are great, but as we know, technology changes and evolves pretty rapidly. I'm nervous that by limiting ourselves with only what we've learned in class, we're still going to be behind the times. As you said, not all classrooms have Smartboards and other types of technology. We have to be on a continuous search for ways to help our students and prepare them for their futures with technology. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) encourage us to give our students the tools using the GAME plan. We need to not focus on specific programs, but to see the big picture. As they become older and more independent, they'll have to find new ways to show their learning. They can't always fall back on a PowerPoint, because there are even better ways to display their ideas, and I'm sure the ways will continue to improve in the future.
Sarah
HS-Special Ed/English
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.