Reflection of EDUC - 6713I

 This course has introduced me to the GAME plan (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, ß2009) which is a way to plan an authentic learning project. The first step in the game plan is developing a goal that you want your students to achieve. While it is important to integrate technology, “make sure the content is tied to the standards” (Laureate, 2010). When developing rubrics with my students, I will be sure to display the standards that I want them to master by working through the project. By allowing students to look towards the end goal before starting a project, they are more aware of the expectations.

The second step of the game plan is taking action. This step is more similar to a lesson plan I have created in the past. In my past lessons I have listed the steps necessary for students to complete the goal. What this course has taught me with problem based learning, is that students are able to determine their own steps in solving the problems. They can be more independent with this step as they plan out their project, therefor taking more ownership in their learning.

The third step in the game plan is monitoring your learning. I have always monitored student learning with quizzes or through observations. I like having students monitor their own learning by posting reflections on blogs and or wikis. This form of communication would form a social network for peers to offer suggestions and comment on their peer’s reflections. This requires higher level thinking since most students will be comparing their peer’s reflections with their own results of their projects or experiments. I will also be able to monitor student thinking by reading over the student’s reflections.

The last step in the GAME plan is evaluating and extending thinking. Students will reflect upon the goals and rubric created in the first step of the game plan. They will determine whether their goals were met. If they were not, they can extend their learning by modifying the assignment to best meet their goals. This part of the GAME plan reminds me that problem based projects can be ongoing. Students can extend their learning past the initial phase of the GAME plan and continue testing out theories and finding solutions.

Throughout my courses at Walden, I have always been told to integrate technology when it meets the standards, not revolving the standards around the technology. Near the end of the school year, I was able to use use some of the tools I have learned about in this class to enrich my curriculum. I used Edmodo (www.edmodo.com) which is a free social networking program where students can carry on conversations on a chat room. My students posted their responses from literature circles both at home and at school while they were reading. Students were able to start discussions and clarify misconceptions. I will be sure to use a social network because of the positive feedback I received from implementing it this year.

I have always been a little hesitant to integrate digital storytelling because I thought it would take a lot of time and I had a difficult time determining where it would tie into my curriculum. Dr. Arnie Abrams (Laureate, 2010) gave examples of how digital storytelling can be integrated into all content areas. He also clarified that a digital story could be just pictures, it can be a movie, and it could be a powerpoint. As long as there is information that is provided by watching the product, it is a digital story. This clarification and the examples provided have made me more comfortable in implementing this tool. I plan on having my students create a three-dimensional shape scavenger hunt slideshow using digital pictures they take from around the building. This project will not be time consuming, but it will provide creative thinking skills as students are locating three-dimensional figures in their environment. 

I was also able to implement the beginning of a problem based learning project. Since summer was arriving, I had students plan a trip including the airline, hotels, and tourist attractions.  They were able to choose a destination anywhere around the world and work in small groups to design an itinerary. Although I was not able to finish this project, many of the students finished the research and were both excited about the fascinating hotels and tourist attractions they found, and surprised by how much airline tickets cost. It was a good lesson for students to learn even though they were not able to create their final product. I have discovered how necessary it is to find authentic instruction to demonstrate for the students the importance of the lessons and objectives they are learning. Without real world application, the students will lose motivation as they will not understand the application in their own world.

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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Video: Spotlight on Technology: Digital Storytelling. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Monitoring your Game Plan

My second indicator of exploring real-world issues using digital tools and resources has come along further than my first indicator of modeling safe, legal, and ethical uses of technology. My first indicator is easier to integrate within my existing curriculum. Dr. John Ross stated that you need to “choose supporting technology” (Laureate, 2010) to fit your objectives, not choose supporting objectives to fit your technology. I have found more ways to integrate effective tools to explore a real world topic, than I have been to practice and model safe uses of technology.

I have been modeling and discussing with my students the safe and ethical use of technology through their blogs, Edmodo site, and ePals correspondence. When responding to not only peers but penpals over the Internet, we have discussed the information that is safe to share and those that are not. We have also discussed why sharing specific information can be dangerous. I feel as though my students have improved in their methods of publishing online because they think about the information they share and even ask their peers or myself if it is appropriate. I have not yet had my students brainstorm safety tips, explore the http://www.wiredkids.org/wiredkids_org.html safety site, or create a skit. I may need to modify my action plan since my students only have two and a half weeks of school. I may eliminate the skit, but still have them use the Internet to research safety tips, create a poster, and display around the building. By displaying the posters around the school, students of all ages can benefit from the information. I have learned that students have not been exposed to safety practices when using Internet sources even though students of all ages use technology at home on a daily basis. Many of my students had never been exposed to safety tips and were not aware of the dangers that could occur in sharing personal information. My question that still remains, are there any other teachers in my building that think this skill is important to integrate in the classroom? If these students do not pass through my class, will they learn the safety tips? This is an easy skill to find resources on because there are plenty available. I plan on starting this indicator earlier in the year so that my students could perform skits and perform them on our morning radio. 

My second indicator has come along nicely. I have used pictures of x-rays I found on the Internet to display the location of bones in the human body. I have also used a simulation of a bone so that students could explore the layers of the bone and what they consist of. I have contacted a nurse that will be Skyping with my students to discuss questions they still have about bones.I sent home the virtual owl pellet site every student in my class. My students loved dissecting the actual bones and the experiment motivated them to want to learn more. My student that were absent the day of dissection were able to explore owl pellets online http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/flash/v4/index.htm. I wonder how many of my parents encouraged my students to continue this exploration at home, or sat down with their child to explore with them? I have learned through past experiences, that even though my students create projects online and I send the final product to the parents, about a quarter of my parents actually glance at the product. Technology makes it easier to communicate with parents by sharing online data, activities, online portfolios, and final projects. If parents are not taking an interest in the information and tools available, what motivation is that for the students to continue trying their best? To modify my plan to encourage more active parent involvement, I may have parents sign a checklist upon viewing online projects just like I do with their paper assessments. I am still looking for a problem based learning project or webquest appropriate for third grade that would continue to motivate their interest in the classroom. 

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program: Assessing Students’ Needs With Technology [Webcast]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Carrying Out Your Game Plan

The first indicator I wanted to apply to my classroom was 4a: advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources. I wanted to focus on Internet Safety. I plan on using ePals, my class blogs, and Edmoto (social networking site) to allow student to practice the safety tips presented. My class has already been participating in class using these tools while I am monitoring their work. I would like students to be aware of the safety issues that correlate with Internet use. As a class, I will have my students brainstorm a list of safety tips that they have learned. Using a concept map, we will group students ideas using a web to determine similarities and new information. Next, students will research safety concerns using http://www.wiredkids.org/wiredkids_org.html Students will learn about various Internet safety guidelines. Next, my students will design a poster on Publisher or Pages to display Internet safety tips throughout the school. Lastly, students will design and record a skit that teaches a lesson on Internet safety. These lessons will be displayed on our morning news station. Students will take ownership in being a responsible Internet user and will be less likely to become a cyberbully or misuse the Internet.

My other indicator I wanted to focus on was 1b: engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources. I would like to continue applying this indicator using my soil unit, but I am not able to teach that unit until October. I have already used the Internet to display x-rays demonstrating the various bones in a human body for our current science unit. Next, students will be dissecting owl pellets in our science unit. I plan on providing a virtual owl pellet dissection for the students that are not able to be in class, so that they could have a similar experience at home( http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/flash/v4/index.htm). I would like to set up a videoconference with a doctor so my students can ask questions about the bones, muscles, or joints. I would like to find more resources for bones, muscles, or joints in the human body that would allow my student to solve authentic problems using their knowledge. I will continue searching for a PBL (problem based learning) or webquests that are appropriate for third grade and reflects the objects in our curriculum.

Game Plan

Peggy Ertmer (2010) stated that “two of the four variables in integrating technology are knowledge of the skills and confidence in applying these skills”.  I plan on choosing two indicators from the NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) to focus on in the classroom to build on my knowledge and confidence. 

One indicator I would like to strengthen with my class is indicator 4a: advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources. Although I find there ways to integrate technology within my existing curriculum, I have a difficult time finding time to teach Internet safety. Prensky labeled the students in my class “digital natives” because they grew up in a technology driven environment. These students will need to learn how to stay safe in an online community, because they will be using this form of communication in their personal lives and when they enter the job force. To meet goal of effectively increasing my students awareness of Internet safety, I have started collecting reading material that has been published on Internet bullying. Students need to learn the characteristics of a cyber bully so they can protect themselves from them or prevent themselves from becoming one. My students have an ePals classroom in Turkey that they correspond with through email. I plan on designing some Internet safety mini-lessons lessons so students are aware of what is safe to address in an email and what is not.  I will monitor student progress and my own based on how they communicate independently on student blogs and ePals communication. Since I have the ability to approve or disapprove content before it is published or sent, I can closely monitor who understand this NET indicator and who needs some extra assistance. I will evaluate my own learning by keeping records of the mini-lessons that worked and those that did not. I will hold on the articles or scan into the computer as a digital archive. I will reflect upon the tools and strategies that encouraged safe practices for my students, so that I could use them in future years.

Another indicator that I would like to address is 1b: engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources. I believe that students learn best when an authentic problem or real world application is present. My goal is to become more aware of the authentic activities and assessments I provide my students. One of my science units is about the various soils located in North Carolina. This unit tends to be boring both for my students and for myself teaching the lessons and leading the experiments. Cennamo, Ertmer, and Ross (2009) state that after identifying my goal I need to determine the Action steps I will take to meeting my goal. My first action will be to research or develop a project based learning activity allowing students to identify a sample of soil. I will integrate either a spreadsheet for students to record their information and the characteristics of their sample soil. I will allow encourage my students to take photographs of their soil and post their spreadsheet on a classroom blog for other students to assist in the analyzing process. This will encourage higher level thinking as students compare and contrast the elements of each soil with the soil sample to determine the classification. I would invite a soil expert from one of the surrounding universities to observe the students data and comment on their work. This will provide students with expert advice and create another “real-world” connection. Vicki Davis (Laureate, 2010) states that “whatever the subject taught, others will want to collaborate”. I will reach out to my online community to see if another classroom would want to post a similar project so my students can analyze the differences between the soils in different environments.  Throughout the process I will monitor student engagement and understanding through observation, class notes, and by providing a rubric before the project so students are aware of the expectations. I will evaluate my own learning by documenting the activities that encouraged higher level thinking, or which activities were too abstract for my third grade students. If some of the activities were too difficult, I would know to simplify the project or differentiate the project the following year.

By focusing on two indicators in a year, I am increasing my knowledge and confidence integrating technology without becoming overwhelmed. When I feel as though I have mastered these indicators, I will replace the indicator with another. Since technology is always growing and changing, teachers need to continue to develop as well.

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. 

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences With Technology, Part 1. [DVD]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Prensky, M. (2008). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40–45.

British stick insect foundation website evaluation

http://www.screencast.com/t/vbeb4mWiMO8