My Personal GAME Plan

My Personal GAME Plan

This week, we were asked to explore ways in which we could enrich content learning for our students using technology. We were then asked to look at the National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) (International Society for Technology in Education, 2012), identifying indicators of the NETS-T standards we would like to become more proficient in. Finally, we used the GAME plan (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 4) to outline our strategies for increasing proficiency in those areas.

                                                                                                                                      

Here is my “A” GAME plan:

1)      Goal. NETS-T 2.c. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning “Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2012) I already know that it is important to use technology to engage students as well as to allow for various learning styles. I want to become more proficient at matching technologies to those specific diversities. I will know if I have become more proficient in this endeavor because my students will be more motivated, and there will be more even retention and results in assessments despite the variety of learners in my class.

2)      Actions. I need to become more aware of the technology that is out there in order to try to access it for all my learners. For example, several of my students are very weak spellers, and I would like to access voice software in order to help them become more successful. I can look this information up on the internet and then seek support from both the I.T. technicians at the Ministry and the Learning Support teacher at my school. The learning strategy I will use is constructivist because I already possess some background knowledge which I will need to build on, in order to develop my understanding and awareness.

3)      Monitoring. As I access the information, I will monitor it carefully to see if it is really applicable to my situation. I need to look at patterns such as cost, ease of application, and availability. I will evaluate to see if there are other avenues I can explore to meet my goal.

4)      Evaluating & Extending. Once I have identified several possible digital tools and resources that may help me meet my goal, I will need to evaluate them carefully. I will then need to decide if it possible to implement them, and how to achieve this. Finally, once implemented, I will evaluate again to see if they have truly made a difference to student motivation and retention of content information as demonstrated by results.

Here is my “B” GAME plan:

1)      Goal. NETS-T 5.a. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership “Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2012).

I have joined several professional groups as part of a previous course, and this last weekend I joined the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics). My goal is to participate actively in this membership as well as the various science ones I already have, in order to explore new and creative ways to use technology in order to improve the learning of my students. I will know if I have become successful in this regard, because I will have added to the “bank” of technical resources with which I am familiar, and will have used at least three new items with my students before the end of the month.

2)      Actions. I need to visit the sites of which I am a member more frequently, exploring the information that is there. I can subscribe to interesting looking blogs and if there are appropriate newsletters offered, I can subscribe to them. The learning strategy I will use is constructivist because I already possess some background knowledge which I will need to build on, in order to develop my understanding and awareness. In addition, I will be looking for activities that, in the main, are inquiry/constructivist based.

3)      Monitoring. As I access the information, I will monitor it carefully to see if it is really useful for my students and the content I teach. I need to balance the time I spend exploring resources with the time I need to attach them to my lesson plans.

4)      Evaluating & Extending. According to NET 5 (International Society for Technology in Education, 2012), “Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources”. By setting increased participation in my professional memberships (online) as a goal, I hope to really “walk the walk” for this NET. As checking in with the sites become a habit, and as enable additional RSS feed links to help stay on top of my explorations, I should be able to continually extend my abilities in this area.

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.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers