It's GAME Time!

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has developed a set of standards for effect teachers in integrating technology into the classroom for 21^st century classrooms.  As I was reviewing the NETS-T standards, I realized I have room to grow in each area.  Using the GAME plan, I can develop a plan for improving confidence in integrating technology in meaningful ways into the classroom through self-directed learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).

The first weak area I identified was the following: Standard 1c Promoting student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conception understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes (ISTE, 2008).  My goal for improving in this area is to research how others have used blogs and wikis as reflective tools in their classroom.  I understand a lot about how the tools work, but when it comes to implementing in the classroom, I am confused as to how others have implemented it.  After researching how others have accomplished the use of Blogs and Wikis, my action will take place in two parts.  I want to first model for my students by writing a blog post reflecting on what I have learned about using blogs and wikis. Then I will engage students in a discussion about blogs and implement at least one assignment that involves a blog or wiki.  I plan to monitor my learning throughout by keeping notes about the research I have discovered and asking myself if there is a lesson I could successfully implement my findings into.  Once discovering the where I can implement a blog or wiki in support of the content, I will evaluate the outcome of the lesson to determine whether it enhanced or deterred from the lesson and demonstrating student understanding.  Student surveys will also be administered prior to the lesson and post lesson to analyze their feelings towards using blogs to demonstrate their understanding.

The second standard I chose as a weak area is Standard 3c Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats (ISTE, 2008).  Creating some type of classroom news bulletin has been an idea floating around in my head for a while.  My problem is I do not know enough about the tools that can be used to create such bulletins.  My goal is to research tools, such as publishing software as well as audio and video tools, which can be used to create a multimedia classroom news presentation.  Ease of use is important to me as my hope is to hand the project over to my students.  My plan of action is to research classroom tools I could use to create such a publication and look at examples from other classrooms.  I will monitor my progress towards this goal by listing pros and cons about each tool I discover before selecting what I think will work best for my classroom situation.  Finally, I will choose one tool to collaborate with students to create a monthly newsletter.  I will use parent feedback to evaluate how effectively I have achieved my goal.

Although there are more areas I am weak in, I am anxious to receive feedback from others.  I would love especially to hear from others who have created student or parent newsletters before that were accessible to parents via the web.  Do your parents check your newsletters regularly?  How do you engage parents and students in the content of the newsletter?  What type of information did you include in the newsletter?  Did the parents of your students find it useful?

References

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.