Sunday, December 16, 2012

Reflection


Course Reflection.

I feel that the GAME plan format is a very user-friendly format for teachers to use as they work to improve themselves, their instruction, their district and their students.  The GAME plan that I learned the most from in this course was the plan focused around iste.nets standard 1 Indicator D.  Indicator D calls for teachers to model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.  This is why I decided to create a professional learning community in my district with the hopes that down the road it could be county wide.  I began by gauging the interest of teachers in my district.  One of the most shocking discoveries I made was how little the technology coordinator in our district new about them and how strict the policies in our district were about social networking.  I knew that we couldn’t use Facebook, but all the other social sites were blocked by Board policy.  I had the support of co-workers and even some friends who are educators outside of the district to try and get this PLC going. 
            I now feel that this lack of liberty especially with closed forum sites like NING that are not accessible by the public that I need to make a push to change our schools policy (Laureate, 2009).   I can really transform my classroom from a traditional classroom to one that embraces the benefits of online collaboration.  I know it will help me, but this courses use of blogs, wikis, social networking and digital story telling have made it very clear that there is a place for these programs in our classroom. 
            I would not revise my plan at all.  I am currently working to create a PLC in my district and if I can open that door, maybe in time the benefits can be made clear to administration and can lead to our students being able to utilize these tools.  I think this is a great way to ease a major policy change into action.  If this action did not work, I could use the GAME plan format with my students as they created their own push to utilize technology.  As a class we can come up with a plan to reach the board members and administration to permit these types of technology sites.  Course resources stress how these mediums allow for students to build verbal communication, collaboration, writing, and technical skills as well (Laureate, 2009).  What better evidence that PLC’s are important than for the kids to demonstrate how similar technology can help them. 
            Due to the fact that right now board policy is prohibiting me from using such technology in my instructional practice, I am currently slatted to give a presentation at February’s Board meeting in which I hope to have internet rules relaxed, not done away with.  I understand the trouble that the Internet can create, but many of these can be made private.  I plan to show them that these communities can help teachers and students collaborate for their benefit.  I plan to point out that these networks let us expand beyond the text (Laureate, 2009). Initially this is about getting a PLC for my colleagues and myself, but I hope to take it a step further and open up the online world of learning for our children beyond simple Internet research.
            There is no doubt in my mind that I can use problem-based learning, social networking and digital storytelling in my curriculum.  That is a statement that I would have never made prior to this course.  The benefits are endless.  I would love to use digital storytelling for the creation of chapter reviews.  I think that by having students create the reviews to help their classmates a motivation to do well arises.  I also feel that the kids could really have fun whether they developed a song to remember the causes of the French Revolution or if the developed a graphic organizer to piece together their unit on Imperialism.  It also gives students who are uncomfortable with verbal communication the opportunity to express themselves (Laureate, 2009).  I would also love to give those students who need a little more time the opportunity to have it.  In the traditional classroom, that is not always a possibility, but with these technologies it can happen. The online environment also allows for extended collaboration and communication (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009 ).  
As teachers our job is to prepare our students for the jobs of tomorrow.  We live in the digital age and we must take initiative in preparing them to be successful.   When technology can connect them with individuals around the world for collaboration or information gathering purposes as teachers we can prepare them through the use of technologies such as Twitter and blogs.  If we in the education world can embrace these technologies and use them correctly we can go a long way in preparing today’s youth for the demands of tomorrow.

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. (2009). Spotlight on technology: Digital storytelling. Part 1 Integrating technology across the content areas. [Webcast]. Baltimore, MD

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Spotlight on technology:Social networking and online collaboration, part 1.[Webcast]. Baltimore, MD: Autho