Sunday, December 26, 2010

Reflecting on the GAME Plan Part 2

What I have learned from this course is the simple fact that all teachers trying to implement and utilize technology in the classroom are all in the same boat. We are like sponges trying to soak up all of this information and learn as much as possible because we all want to become better educators. While I have set goals for myself, I feel that they are going to be ongoing goals that will always be a work in progress. For instance, I have learned that using Nings, blogs, wikis, and other technologies in the classroom will take time to implement. I first have to master the skills necessary in order to be able to teach these skills to my students. Furthermore, change in the classroom is a necessary component of utilizing these new technologies in the classroom. For instance, by the beginning of the second semester, I want to have all of my classroom lectures recorded as podcasts. It seems that every student nowadays has an iPod or some sort of MP3 player, and I would like to utilize this technology by providing my students with an opportunity to go back and review the class lecture/discussion in case they missed something or because they might have been absent (The Consortium for School Networking, 2006). Because of this course, I now have the confidence and the education to make this goal a reality in my classroom.

Finally, there are several changes that I will definitely make in the beginning of the second semester in terms of integrating technology in the classroom. First of all, I will make it a goal of mine to assign a project with every unit we are studying in class. In these projects, they will be standard based and utilize some type of technology. In the past, I have not done this for my World History students because I felt that the projects I assigned were not rich enough in content. This class has taught me how to develop meaningful lesson plans, projects, and assessments in order to promote critical thinking, self-directed learning, and creativity while still focusing on the content standards. I will also use technology on a daily basis in all of my classes. Whether it is creating a short digital story to introduce a topic, using video clips found online, or simply referring to something on my blog, I will make technology part of my daily routine. I will encourage students to use technology whenever possible in my classroom, even if that means using their cell phones that have Internet access. I want to create an environment that encourages the use of technology but also strive to teach content rich material at the same time.

In close, I feel this course has definitely opened my eyes to the endless possibilities of technology in the classroom. Through constant collaboration with colleagues, I feel that I have a great start to truly change the dynamic of my classroom that focuses on utilizing technology to increase student learning in my classes. Also, I feel that my classes in the future will have students engaged in the material by using their own creativity and self-directed learning to think outside of the box and engage in their own personal educational journey.

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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Program One: Promoting
self-directed learning with technology. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD.

The Consortium for School Networking. (2006, August). Hot technologies for education: What’s happening now and later? Middle Ground, 9(4), 12–15.

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