Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

At this point, since I am spacing out the introduction of each technological resource to my students (1 per month), I have been pretty consistent with last week's progress. The students are becoming more familiar with using Webspiration and have created numerous concept maps to reflect their knowledge in reading and writing. I hope to branch off into incorporating math into this as well.

So far, I have been finding the information and resources needed to facilitate the learning for my students. The students have also been experimenting with Kidspiration as well. I am consistent with my goal of introducing 1 technological resource each month and am currently able to keep up with that task. No modifications to my plan are needed at this time. I have learned that incorporating technology into your lessons is far easier and less time consuming than I imagined. All it really takes is motivation and resources, which I am fortunate to have in my classroom. At this point, I do not have any questions or problems with my plan. I look forward to incorporating more tools to assist my students with their learning.

GAME Plan Follow Up

In order to carry out my GAME plan, I will need access to the internet through multiple computers for my class. Currently, I have access to these resources on a daily basis in my classroom, which makes my plan much easier to manage. I know that many of these tools are free while others have free trial periods. If I find that any tool requires a yearly membership, I could look into it and see if it really positively influences the learning for my students.

Furthermore, I will need to increase my understanding of the technological resources I discussed including: podcast, wiki, blog, Webspriation, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Digital field trips). In order to increase my knowledge and skills in these areas, I think it is important for me to practice with each of these resources so that I feel proficient with teaching the main concepts of each skill. I will continue to use the resources provided by Walden to increase my knowledge in each of these areas while also collaborating with staff to identify how they incorporate these skills into their teaching.

So far, I have started instructing my students on how to use Webspiration. We are just beginning to dive into it, but already my students are intrigued and motivated. They are coming up with ideas as to how they could design graphic organizers to enhance their learning and are natural in their digital knowledge. I am excited to see where these tools take them!

GAME Plan

According to Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer (2009), there are four specific steps to encourage "self-directed learning" using the "GAME Plan" (pp.3-21). These steps include: "set Goals, take Action to meet those goals, Monitor progress toward achieving goals and Evaluate whether the goals were achieved and Extend your learning to new situations" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 3).

In order to self-direct my learning in regards to technology, I have set the following Goals taken from the NETS*T:
1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity.
2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.

My Action Plan:

To facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, I plan to start out small and build upon the technological resources I teach my students. I plan to use a new technological resource (for example: podcast, wiki, blog, Webspiration, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Digital field trip) to facilitate learning for my students each month. I will first demonstrate how to use the resource while facilitating a standards based lesson, and then I will allow my students to explore the resource while focusing on the content standards. This will enable the students to creatively develop new knowledge in an engaging and meaningful manner.

While using these resources, I will be designing and developing digital-age learning experiences and assessments for my students. They will be using the technological resources to develop their understanding of the content standards while I will be constantly assessing their knowledge.

Monitor:
I will monitor my progress as a facilitator of digitally rich content each month. My goal is to incorporate 1 new resource in my teaching. This will be easy to monitor as I will assign myself a new resource each month. If I use it within the month, I will be working toward my goal. If not, I will have to make up for it and incorporate 2 the following month. I will also be monitoring the students and their understanding of the new resources in addition to the information they are learning which relate to the content standards.

Evaluate and Extend:
Each month I will be able to determine if I meet my goal. Once I teach the students 3 new technological learning resources, I will begin to incorporate numerous tools within the same project. I will continue to build upon my knowledge as a facilitator while teaching my students to use the resources to benefit and enhance their learning.

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.