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.
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Kevin,
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! What I would not give to be in high school again. Not only am I wiser about the ins and outs of high school life and life in general, but I can also be using such amazing tools such as the wiki spaces and the podcasts to help me understand the concepts and content better. If only my history teachers had the access to this back then.
I like that you are monitoring your learning with a learning log. I have used this and feel that I sometimes get too hard on myself after I present or work with a teacher or group fo students. I am always hard on myself when I feel that the students or teachers are just not getting what they need and I sometimes cannot make that connection for them. It seems like your GAME Plan involves a tremendous amount of self-directed learning(Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). Do you have a timeline or know when you will be able to reach each goal for mastery?
Marilyn Goodrich
K-12 Ed. Con.
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.
Kevin
ReplyDeleteI can perceive that the use of Podcasts in a classroom would increase students' motivation and engage them in the learn process. What is always interesting about using technology in class instruction is the managing of time to integrate it. This is something I fight with often and I am still learning how I can better manage time to fit in my content and integrate technology. I suppose the more teachers practice using technology the easier it becomes, the more smoother it will be in planning the time for it. As Ertmer Laureate, 2009) mentioned once of the variables to enhancing our content area with technology is being comfortable with it and I would say taking the risk of using it and learning as you go along.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteCreating a relevant learning experiences is always on the mind of history teachers. It is so important for students to link with the past without being subject to memorizing facts. Technology affords us to liven up some parts of teaching history that are boring to many of our students. You have a great idea with students creating a"this day in history” podcasts. Students become self-directed by selecting events, creating and listening to their podcasts. Imagine the class archives you would have by the end of the year for years to come! Have you thought of them contributing a record of what they think would be good to include for the current week. After all yesterday's news is history. Students need to understand that they are a collected opinion that forms our historical perspective. A teacher from this week’s video expressed herself well when she said,”History informs the present and the future”(Laureate, inc., 2009)
Jim
8th SS
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI realize you are taking on rather involved tech goals so I apologize for throwing one more at you. In my GAME Plan one of my ideas was to create a screencast of how to use a wiki. In the last several months I have realized that seeing a demonstration versus reading steps when learning digital tools is much preferable for this learner. I am curious what you think about this and if you see any shortcomings to idea, or have a better idea? I applaud your goals of having students work collaboratively with wikis and podcasts. Gina Millsaps is a teacher quoted by Bardin (2008) as noting, “students really want to work together. Instead of picking friends, they pick people for their skills.” (p.19) What a wonderful observation and positive reinforcement for collaboration!
Good Luck with these endeavors,
Amy
Reference
Bardin, J. (2008). TechCamp Unleashes Creativity and Collaboration. Learning and Leading with Technology.
Jim,
ReplyDeleteYour response really was interesting. I never thought of history in that way. The podcasts that Kevin has mentioned would be an incredible concept and contribution to the library. Kevin---could you possibly go one step further and add them to your web sites/library in your district for all to hear and use?
Marilyn Goodrich
K-12 Ed. Con.
Thanks everyone;
ReplyDeleteThis is certainly not a project that will be great the first year. We always need that first year to see what not to do. I have used wikis in class before but not much experience with PodCasts. I wanted to leave this project open in terms of product for the first year. There may be better ways than podcasts to do this and I always want to see what students will come up with. Not really the most approved method for teachers but as long as it organized and teaching the students I do not mind the heavy stress that comes along with it. I agree that all of the software will have to be taught prior and definitly being able to do it while being instructed would be the best way