Game Plan Evaluating Progress -Week 5

Evaluating my progress toward incorporating technology resources is difficult during summer break however; I am perusing avenues that will enhance my Game plan in the fall. The actions that will help me meet the goals include reading blogs that illustrate how to incorporate technology into the content area, adding resources to my bookmark and evaluating digital tools that will support the curriculum. I have evaluated digital tools and researched ways other colleagues have integrated technology into curriculum areas. My short term goal is to continue to investigate and master digital tools before presenting them in class.

Throughout this course, the depth of my understanding digital tools and implementing of these tools to support students in the curriculum has been steadily developing. Through course text and DVDs, I understand that technology is supportive in the curriculum and not driving instruction. Technology is the tool that educators use to unlock the knowledge (Cannamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009).

Things that I still need to learn include how to manage technology so that all students have the opportunity to use digital tools to enhance the learning. My new questions revolve around implementing the skills that I have learned into the curriculum. Some of my questions include: How will I incorporate the necessary background technological skills to students while still moving toward curricular goals? How do I manage the actual tools? How will I gain access to technology at school? What happens if I cannot access technology when it is needed? I have many questions regarding management and this will have to be addressed in the fall with administration and technology support person. The course text is a resource that will be used to support implementation of these questions.

I will adjust my Game plan based on the availability of recourses in the school. The focus will be to design lessons that address the needs of students and incorporate universal design which will challenge and support global learners.

Resources
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.

Application 4 EDUC 6712 (Week 4)

Monitoring Game Plan Progress Week 4

Monitoring Game Plan Progress

“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” Mark Victor Hansen

This quote reminds me that implementing new technology into the curriculum and providing students with 21st century skills will be challenging. However, the more I learn and grow with my technical abilities the smoother the transitions will be to incorporate digital tools into the curriculum. Through the course text, DVD and discussion threads my knowledge about implementing digital tools to enhance instruction and provide assessments is increasing. At this time, modification to my Game Plan seems unnecessary. When school begins in the fall, I will work with students and colleagues to integrate technology into the content area. At that time, my Game Plan will be modified as needed.

The resources and information that I have received from the course text, DVD and discussion threads have increased my confidence. I anticipate initiating the process of implementing instructional resources such as websites digital tools, and media at the beginning of the new school year.

Through the course text and DVD, I have learned many strategies that will allow me to use technology to enrich learning experiences. Developing my personal Game Plan, customizing instruction and assessments will be effective in meeting the needs of diverse learners. Applying skills from courses, I have developed a wiki page that will support students academically by allowing parents to access the site from home and keeping updated on information from school Creating a social bookmarking site is another resource that will be used in my classroom to access digital tools to support the curriculum. An important area that was presented in the course text is integrating technology and designing assessment formats into the curriculum. This information will assist me in planning appropriate assessments incorporating digital tools to support the curriculum. Integrating multiple assessment formats and digital tools will allow educators to monitor progress of students (Cennamo et al., 2009). Planning and implementing alternative activities into a lesson plan using universal design for learning (UDL) that will make content material meaningful for all students. Using (UDL) incorporates the use of digital tools and media to meet the unique needs of the learner. Digital media provides greater flexibility to meet the needs of all learners (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009).

My question is “Can the school district afford to fund the technology to incorporate 21st century skills into the content area”?

Resources
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.

Teaching with the World-Wide-Web

Carrying Out My GAME Plan Week 3

“There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new age technology, but if the teachers themselves are not able to bring it into the classroom and make it work then it fails” ~Nancy Kassebaum, U.S. Senator.

This quote sums up the responsibility educators have addressing 21st century learners. Reflecting on my game plan, I am reminded that as educators we are vessels providing resources that will get students actively engaged in real world situations. We are responsible for addressing content areas while upholding the challenging task of meeting the needs of diverse learners (Cennamo, Ross &Ertmer, 2009).

The goals of my GAME plan are to strengthen implementation of digital tools that facilitate experiences students learning, collaboration and creativity in a variety of learning environments and, develop assessments that will evaluate authentic learning experiences.

There are a variety of resources that are needed to carry out my Game Plan. Beginning at the school level, consultation of IT personnel will help me carry out goals with available resources. I need to understand the digital tools that are available at the district level to support students. Colleagues in the district,who may already implement technology into the curriculum using authentic learning, can be used as a mentor (Wahl & Duffield, 2005). At the county level, there are various resources available through lending digital equipment, professional development and groups that support digital tools in the classroom. Creating a networking system with individuals involved in these areas will benefit developing my game plan. At the professional level, resources available include networking with experts in the field of educating 21st century learners with digital tools. These sources include belonging to professional groups, subscribing to literature and blogs that supports digital tools in the classroom.

Steps that have taken so far to address my Game Plan include belonging to professional groups and subscribing to literature and blogs that support digital tools in the classroom. I also developed a social bookmarking site to facilitate my growth through marking sites and tools that will enhance digital tools in the classroom. Finally, I began a reflective journal to record my experience with digital tools and how they may be implemented into the curriculum.

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.

Wahl, L., & Duffield, J. (2005). Using flexible technology to meet the needs of diverse learners: What teachers can do. WestEd, pp. 1–11. Retrieved from http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/763.

Development of Personal Game Plan Week 2

Personal Game Plan Goals

In order to provide 21st century learners with a solid foundation in curriculum concepts, a Game Plan must be developed to insure progress in supporting all learners. As Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer discuss in chapter one of the course text, developing a Game Plan requires individuals to think about and plan a learning path that will lead to integrating technology into the curriculum.
After reviewing the NETS-T, I am initiating the first phase of developing my Game Plan. The plan includes:

Goal 1: Further develop Goal 1 in the NETS-T by supporting creative and innovative thinking. Support students in exploring real-world issues through authentic problem solving using digital tools and resources. Promote collaboration and reflection while clarifying the students’ understanding of concepts in face-to-face and virtual environments. As Cennamo et al. discuss in chapter three of the course text, digital tools support student learning by creating opportunity for authentic experiences as well as increasing motivation. By strengthening my ability to create authentic learning situations and increasing motivation in content areas I would be supporting the learning of the 21 century learner.

Goal 2: Further develop Goal 2 in the NETS-T by developing digital-age learning experiences and assessments for students.

(Information retrieved from: International Society for Technology in Education )

Actions: Prior to any actions taken, a review of the district's acceptable use of technology plan will be needed. After this has been done, actions that need to be taken to achieve these goals include:

Goal 1: Further broaden my understanding of digital tools that are applicable for elementary students in the content areas. Engage in tasks that require technological tools to solve authentic problems in the content areas. Incorporate the use of digital tools, enhance learning and meet the needs of diverse learners. My goal is to implement at the minimum 1-2 technology tools into the content area per month.

Goal 2: Integrate technology into grade-level content expectations when applicable to produce an environment that enriched with learning and experiences. Develop scaffold that will support all learners in this technology enriched environment. Develop formative and summative assessments , which include technology-based resources, that evaluate learning in a this environment.

Monitor: A survey of students and colleagues would allow the statistical monitoring of engagement and enthusiasm as technology is incorporated into the classroom. I plan to keep a professional journal to reflect on progress toward the goal of adding new technological tools into the curriculum and the their success. As Cennamo et al. discuss in chapter one of the course text, that a reflective journal is an evaluative component of self-directed learning.

Evaluate: Observing the attitudes of my special education students when engaging in tasks using technological tools as a way to develop understanding of the curriculum concepts will be a way to evaluate progress toward goals. Results from formative and summative evaluations will allow me to evaluate the students understanding of content information where technology has been integrated. I will use feedback from parents, staff administration and students to help me monitor and evaluate professional growth in my Game Plan.

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 Education , retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm