Monitoring my GAME Plan

The exploration of technology uses in assessment has helped me move forward in the actions stage of my GAME plan. Through the reflection and discussion over the past two weeks, I have been able to develop plans for developing individualized activities based on the needs of my students. I have been able to develop some specific strategies and tools based on the UDL guidelines that allow students a variety of ways to demonstrate their learning (Center for Applied Special Technologies, 2011). In addition, I have explored the use of the iTouch and iPads that are available in my school.

The information I need is readily available and I am pleasantly surprised and pleased with the willingness of my colleagues to assist me with this goal. In addition to the technology teacher who I believe now considers me a project, another colleague in my department who has readily used iPads volunteered to train me in the basics and demonstrate some of his favorite apps for student use. Additionally, this colleague, who is leaving my school for a leadership position next year, has volunteered to return in the fall to train my content team so that we can all access the same technology for teaching. While the over-abundance of online resources continues to overwhelm me, I am finding people willing to share their knowledge and experience with me to save me some time and energy.

On that note, one of the lessons that I have learned is that many of the educational applications intended for school use are fun and engaging, but do not align to content standards. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) and Dr. John Ross (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011) warn against using technology for the novelty and encourage focusing on the use of technology to support content standards. This is likely the biggest potential trap for me to fall into on my path to success. Even the colleague who I have seen use the iPads very successfully has been guilty of this on occasion.

The lingering question I have is how to measure the impact of technology. How do you if the technology is the reason students are achieving? Is there a way to measure and show a causal relationship? I believe that technology can make learning more engaging and develop a new skill set that will benefit students. However, I also remember being very engaged in parts of my education that did not use any technology, choice, projects, or games. Good teaching may be facilitated by technology, but we cannot forget about the need for good teaching.

I am more confident than ever that my GAME plan is achievable!

 

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.

Center for Applied Special Technologies, 2011. Universal design for learning guidelines. Retrieved May 21, 2013 from http://www.udlcenter.org/sites/udlcenter.org/files/updateguidelines2_0.pdf

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Assessing student learning.  Baltimore, MD: Author.

Tools for Success

In order to move forward with my goals of teaching students how to use digital tools to investigate and solve real-world problems and uses technology to create individualized learning activities I must inventory my access to software  and web-based programs, as well as become proficient in their use.

Some tools that are available throughout my school that I am already familiar with and comfortable using are Inspiration, Kurzweil text to speech, SmartBoards and digital cameras. These are tools that I have used and taught others to use. However, Kurzweil has additional features that support writing with which I am unfamiliar. I will need to seek training in this area by contacting a teacher who presented this tool at a department meeting or accessing county wide training offered next year. Last week my department received an iTouch with photo and video capability. I am sure that this tool has many other capabilities that I am not yet aware of; I will use online resources to develop my knowledge in this area over the summer. Another resource I will access to develop in this area is the CAST website (www.cast.org). This website has a variety of technology tools and resources that can be used to individualize activities to meet students’ needs.  

The most important resource for my success will be my colleagues. Their knowledge of content and technology will provide an invaluable support that will prevent me from carrying all of this alone. One tech-savvy teacher has already offered some iTouch lessons. The technology teacher will also be an important support. She will be able to provide information and training on the tools available in my school. My next step is to reach out to colleagues and create a more thorough list of technology tools available while developing my proficiency with those tools.

My GAME Plan

The GAME plan consists of four steps: setting goals, taking action to meet the goals, monitoring progress towards the goals, and evaluating if the goals were achieved (Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer, 2009). As I continue my journey integrating technology in my instruction, I can use this process for my own growth. In order to set realistic and achievable goals, I reviewed the National Educational Technology Standards for teacher (ISTE, 2008). Specifically, my goals are teaching students how to use digital tools to investigate and solve real-world problems and using technology to create individualized learning activities that meet the needs of all the students in my class.

There are a variety of steps I will need to take and a variety of other people that I will need to recruit in order to meet these goals. I will need to gain the buy-in of the other teachers on my 9^th grade English team so that we can work together to develop lessons that address these skills directly. I can facilitate this by providing or accessing technology training within my school building. I will be able to build my confidence by practicing and demonstrating my ideas during collaborative planning sessions. One of my short term goals, which will also help me monitor my progress, is to incorporate one differentiated, technology-based activity each month for my students. Another short term goal will be to engage my students in researching and solving at least one real-world problem per marking period. Collaboration with my colleagues will be an imperative step as it will allow for problem solving in the planning phase, eliminating some potential challenges during instruction; it will also allow for a division of labor for materials and resources that may need to be created.

Monitoring will be ongoing throughout the school year. As I plan for implementing technology based activities, I will be able to monitor my comfort level and confidence when I practice or demonstrate for other teachers. The effectiveness of the lessons will be measured by the data collected as students demonstrate their learning.

Achieving my short term goals each month and marking period will also help measure progress toward the main goal and evaluate my effectiveness. If the data is showing a lack of student progress or success, I will have to reevaluate in order to modify my plan to meet the needs of students more effectively. This may mean adjusting my goals, changing the instruction that supports the use of technology, or accessing additional resources and technology tools.

The technology tools that are most comfortable to me, such as wikis, WebQuests, and SmartBoards, will likely be the tools that I use most frequently. In order to extend my learning, I will try to incorporate additional tools and technologies that are less familiar and comfortable. I will attend professional development opportunities to learn about additional tools and provide professional development to my colleagues on the tools with which I am familiar.  

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 Integration (2008). National Educational Standards for Teachers. Retrieved May 15, 2013 from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-t-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2