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.