Reflect

My game plan that was developed from Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009) has helped me learn a great deal about technologies that I will use in my classroom. Besides giving me the structure to learn wikis and podcasts Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009) have shown me a positive method to learning just about anything. By establishing goals, taking action to reach set goals, monitoring progress and evaluating allows anyone using this process to see how they learn. Game plan is certainly something I intend to use in my classroom to help student to learn content and technology. I plan on using game plan whenever I take on a new technology I want to learn. My Game plan for this class was to learn wikis and podcasting which I feel I have done. Following the steps in Game plan has given me the structure and steps I needed to take to learn how to use these technologies. Having learned these technologies my classroom can begin to change into the 21st century classroom I feel my students need.

I have learned a great deal more than I had expected by completing my game plan. With podcasting there is much more to it than just having an IPod. I learned video and audio editing which I doubt I ever would have learned without this class and game plan. I had to learn a great deal about websites and online storage needed for podcasting which can be used for more than just podcasts. I have also become more familiar with the languages used by those who are experiences created wikis and podcasts which is a huge help when explain problems to them. Without game plan I may never have learned any of this.

The adjustments that I will make to my class after taking this course are exciting to me. I am planning on having a much more student centered classroom than I have had in the past. I want to create the creative classroom so often talked about in the Laureate (2009) videos and Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009). I feel that by using the technologies I have learned following my game plan I will be able to create a better classroom for my students. The sharing of student ideas and creativity will change dramatically by having students using wikis, podcasts and digital storytelling. All of which I have never used in my classroom before. With what I have learned from this class I feel confident introducing and even centering my classroom around these technologies for the coming school year and by knowing game plan I feel confident I will be able to learn new technologies to continue improving my classroom.
Kevin Kleespies

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). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author

Week 7

For this class I have been using the game plan established in Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009). Using this framework I have been working to learn how to use wikipages and podcasts. In order to use these tools in the classroom it was necessary to become familiar and confident with these technologies. Cannamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009) Game plan has helped me achieve this goal.

Over the past seven weeks I have set a goal, taken action to accomplish these goals, monitored my own progress, then finally I evaluated my progress. I have now have confidence using podcasts and wikipages. Learning these technologies will give me the chance to use these in my classes. These technologies are important for students in the world they are growing up in. My goals established in my game plan were to promoting student reflection using collaborative tools and to design relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools (ISTE, 2008).

Wikis and podcasts are two technologies I believe will help students reach the ISTE (2008) standards I feel students need. With my new found experience with these two platforms, I will now be able to teach content as well as skills students will be able to use in their daily lives. Using wikis will give students the ability to not only interact with students outside of class time, but to share and collaborate with others besides classmates. Podcasting takes more than just shooting a video, The skills needed to create a podcast are skills that students need in today’s world. Learning these 21st century skills now is vital for students preparing to enter the digital world. By using GAME plan I now have the confidence to use these technologies in my class.
Kevin Kleespies

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.

ISTE, Initials. (2008). The Iste national educational technology standards (nets•t) and performance indicators for teachers. Retrieved from iste@iste.org, www.iste.org.

Eval

The GAME plan from Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009) has taught me a couple important lessons. What I have learned that I can use in my instructional practice is to build a solid frame work for myself and my students. By setting goals and understanding the process used to learn using the game system learning takes on a different form. As we work towards our goals using the game process we see the steps we need to take, the resources we are going to use and the method to which we will evaluate our process. Student can use the GAME process to learn content material and I can use it to become a better a teacher. I am still a long way from becoming a master of wikis and podcasts so I am still working towards accomplishing this.

There are plenty of learning goals provided by NETS-T (2008) that I will be working to integrate and accomplish in my classroom but as of right now I have not set a new goal in this area. Using what I have learned so far I will be able to change a major area of my classroom and that will be homework and discussions. Using wikis will allow students the ability to continue discussion after class has ended. Students will have a greater freedom to share and express understanding with one another. Podcasts will give students a far greater range and audience when it comes to creating final products.
I will certainly be using the GAME plan the next time I am going to learn a new technology or just about anything for that matter. Having this guide to work from has made learning difficult applications much easier by establishing a goal, the action needed to reach a goal, monitoring progress and finally evaluation (Cannamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009).

Kevin Kleespies

ISTE, Initials. (2008). The Iste national educational technology standards (nets•t) and performance indicators for teachers. Retrieved from iste@iste.org, www.iste.org.

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.

GAME TIME

Here we are the final step in the GAME plan developed by Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009) step E, evaluation. As I have mentioned in previous posts my GAME plan was developed to promoting student reflection using collaborative tools and to design relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools (ISTE, 2008). My GAME plan was created to help me learn how to podcast and create wikis. I feel that the actions that I took to meet this goal have been effective.

Using colleagues as a resource was difficult at first but offering free breakfast at a coffee shop with wifi seemed to work fairly well. Our experience levels are all around the same but all of us hope to bring podcasting and wikis into our classrooms very soon, so I guess you can say we are all motivated to learn. So far I have not learned revolutionary way to use this technology but it does help to have a group of people attempting to learn the same thing. My technology director and school tech have helped me a great deal, from explaining the technical workings of wikis and podcasting to providing workshops I could not have hoped for more. The third resource that I learned a great deal from was the web. Searching allowed me to find tutorials and examples from which I can build and learn from.

So far I have learned that it will take a great deal of planning and coordination to integrate podcasts and wikis into my classroom. I can think of a number of issues I will have to overcome to allow students the use of these tools. First being the fact that IPods are still banned in my school. A group of us have been working to lift this ban but as of yet there has been no decision made. For instructional purposes I have learned enough that I would feel confident teaching student how to use or create this technology. I think I would really have to start students off with a demo project creating a podcast or wiki. This demo would be very short but from what I have been working on it maybe too much to ask students to learn how to use these and difficult content at once.

I know there is still plenty for me to learn. Podcasting has so much that can be used with it that my questions are nearly limitless. Just from creating one I can see that editing software and video software can be complex or simple, depending on what it is you are trying to do. As of right now the only adjustment to my GAME plan I would make would be to learn more of what has been creating questions for me and that is all the editing software that can be used for podcasts. I would also like to learn more about how to store and distribute podcasts on the school servers rather than the limited storage spaces free podcast sites offer.

Kevin Kleespies

ISTE, Initials. (2008). The Iste national educational technology standards (nets•t) and performance indicators for teachers. Retrieved from iste@iste.org, www.iste.org.

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.

Keeping Score

Continuing with the GAME plan framed by Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009). I am now monitoring my progress to help me reach my goals. My goals are to promoting student reflection using collaborative tools and to design relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools (ISTE, 2008). I had decided to do this by learning how to podcast and create wikis.

Last week I listed and defined all of the different resources I would use to accomplish this goal. This week I monitored my progress towards achieving my goals. First I will have to say that getting teachers to come into school during summer is nearly impossible even when they are your friends. For a few hours with week I meet with my technology director and a tech from our technology support. The tech was great the only problem was is that I did not speak the same language as he did. I took some time but I did start to understand the terminology that he was using and that helped a great deal. I have found and used plenty of tutorials that I found on Google. I am glad that I did this before meeting the tech at the school otherwise I would have been lost. The one resource that I will have trouble accessing will be the students. With no school there is little chance to have students experiment and share what they discover.

As of this minute I have not seen the need to modify my GAME plan. Other than not having students to use as resources I have had little difficulty. What I have learned so far working on the my GAME plan is that learning difficult material is far easier when you have a clear plan in front of you. I may do this for students every day but never have I done it for myself. The other part I have learned from working on my GAME plan is that I need to learn computer terminology in order to understand the more advanced skills needed for technologies like wikis and podcasts. They are simple enough to make and produce but are not utilizing their full potential as a learning tool. To creating more complex wikis and podcasts there is a great deal more I need to learn.

Questions?! Well there are a ton of questions that have arisen from working on my two goals. I want to know how to have an updated podcast instantly upload to an ipod? Can I tell who has downloaded a podcast? What websites allow free hosting of podcasts that can be used in a school? After a wiki has been used how can you remove all posts and pages without them remaining in the wikis history? Is there a solution to the problem of two or more people editing a wiki page at one time? These are just some of the many questions that have come up in the time I have been working on my GAME Plan. Hope you are all having as much fun as I am, now if I can only get my school to unblock wikis and lift the ban on ipods!

Kevin Kleespies

ISTE, Initials. (2008). The Iste national educational technology standards (nets•t) and performance indicators for teachers. Retrieved from iste@iste.org, www.iste.org.

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.

Man of Action

Last week I established two standards I hope to achieve in my classroom. Those two standards are promoting student reflection using collaborative tools and the second being to design relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools (ISTE, 2008). I am planning on using a wiki and podcasts both are not areas of expertise for me. I have had a some experience with creating podcast and have used wikispace.com for discussions. To achieve these two standards I will have to take what I know of podcasts and wikis to a much greater level.

To teach these standards in my classroom Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009) have created a GAME plan to help us learn these technologies. Having already established my “G”oal, it is now time to move on to “A”ction. My first step to learning wikis and podcast is Google. For me, I have to either see someone else doing it well or need to be hands on when learning a new technology. I find goggle is typically the best starting point for building a base. I feel as though if you do not search what is out there before you start doing podcasts and wikis, I would have nothing to compare my work too or to aim for.

A second resource I plan on using would be my technology director. He and I have spent many hours teaching one another how to use all manner of technologies. I would also attempt to find a seminar or private tutor. My school has great support for teachers when it comes to technology in the classroom. Summiting an email to BOCES will ensure that I will have a seminar, class or tutor to teach me exactly what I want to learn. Another resource I would use to learn podcasting and wikis are my colleagues on the technology committee with me. After school a group of us show off what we know or have found on technology in the classroom. We will typically explore and share but with a goal in mind this group has taught me a great deal and I would turn to them again as a resource. Finally, I would use students, as educated as all of the people around us are, I still feel students are some of the best sources when it comes to learning things like wikis and podcasts. It is amazing to find out how many of our students actually participate in blogging and podcasting. It also makes students feel good when they are the ones teaching you! This is my plan of Action to achieve my goal of promoting student reflection using collaborative tools and the second being to design relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools (ISTE, 2008).

Kevin Kleespies

ISTE, Initials. (2008). The Iste national educational technology standards (nets•t) and performance indicators for teachers. Retrieved from iste@iste.org, www.iste.org.

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.

GAME Plan

It has become increasingly important for teachers to gain a greater understanding of technology and what it can mean for our students. There are many different ways in which technology can be used in a classroom but it takes a teacher who understands how to use this technology with each group of students to be successful. There are two areas of the NETS-T that I wish improve on, one being to promote student reflection using collaborative tools and the second being to design relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools (ISTE, 2008).

A GAME plan will help me achieve these standards (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer 2009). My goal is to promote student reflection using collaborative tools. The action I will need to take to achieve this goal will be to practice using wikispaces. I will need to know this site with great detail to be able to answer any questions students will have. Another action to complete this goal will be to design a structure in which to evaluate these collaborative efforts. I will also need to explore other teacher websites for ideas and to learn the lessons they have learned already. Lastly I would need to work closely with my tech department. In order to monitor my progress I will keep my own learning log on what I have learned or found difficult (Shellard & Protheroe, 2004). To evaluate my progress I will need to be able to set up a wiki with everything student will need to complete this standard and project.

Designing relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools is the next standard I have set a goal in (ISTE, 2008). My goal is to see students create their own Today in History podcast. The first action I will take to complete this goal will be to become more familiar with creating a podcast. I already feel comfortable with the IPod itself, however the sites and creation of podcasts are still new to me. I will need to learn from fellow teachers, students and friends who already podcast from one on one interactions. Another action that will be need to accomplish this goal will be to build a collection of sites that students can use to find what has happened in history today. Two sites come to mind right away one being the history channel which already does a today in history, which will be our model, but I would also use news sites. I want students to not only use historical events but events from today they feel are historic events nationally, statewide, locally or personally. I will monitor my progress by creating my own today in history podcasts. To evaluate my progress I will reflect on all the podcast I have done hopefully seeing a steady improvement in the podcasts themselves. These podcasts will then become a second model for students to use when creating their own.

If I can master these two technologies I feel that my classroom for next year will change dramatically. Accomplishing these two goals will allow students to share much more about themselves and to connect to content like never before.

Kevin Kleespies

ISTE, Initials. (2008). The Iste national educational technology standards (nets•t) and performance indicators for teachers. Retrieved from iste@iste.org, www.iste.org.

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.

Shellard, E. & Protheroe, N. (2004). Writing across the curriculum to increase student learning in middle and high school. Arlington, VA: Educational Research Service.