The GAME plan is one of the points I will take with me into my own teaching as a guide for development of a unit plan. My instruction should be affected as I take this new approach to planning with me. I believe it helped me in making important connections between the technology standards and content standards throughout a lesson. It is not that I was not including assignments that did both, but rather it makes me aware of these connections and allows me to be more efficient in my usage of technology to meet standards. I believe another benefit from the GAME plan in the layout that addresses technology needs as our school moves towards being more technology friendly through a recently passed bond.
While I have done a significant amount of digital storytelling and some amount of problem-based learning, I will now attempt to place a greater emphasis on social networking and collaboration through technology. This is definitely a technology weakness for me and this course has made me much more comfortable with these types of technologies. While I have also gained ideas in other areas with regards to technology usage, this is an area that is foreign to me which I can now involve my students in.
The GAME plan process will be tweaked to fit my needs in planning larger, over-reaching units. I will need to adjust it to fit the different challenges that arise. I like it as a place to plan and after a lesson completion notes can be made for further adjustments. With constantly changing standards and emphasis, it is nice to have an organizational and planning strategy. It is also a great way to intentionally mesh 21st century skills with content area standards and technology use.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
GAME Plan Progress
As I progress in attempting to connect curriculum to real-world applications I believe one place in world history this can occur is the teaching of genocide throughout world history. I decided this the other day as so many students are familiar with the Holocaust or more recent genocides in Rwanda or Darfur but few if any were familiar with the Armenian genocide which precluded all of the aforementioned events.
The question that has arisen most recently is how do I want students to approach the project. What I came up with is possibly a comparison of the events taking place in the later stages of the Ottoman Empire (Armenian Genocide) to one of the other more familiar. I also believe I am going to remove the Holocaust as an option and instead have them focus on one of the more recent African genocides. I believe this combines curricular concepts, with historical events and more recent, almost current events.
The largest struggle is working through the fact that some of these internet sources are blocked and finding ways to enable students to get the best, most accurate information. It is also important to work with students on finding a way to recognize and avoid bias in their findings. I am getting closer to having a list of resources they can access that I believe will help them become informed of the events in a way that is informational.
The question that has arisen most recently is how do I want students to approach the project. What I came up with is possibly a comparison of the events taking place in the later stages of the Ottoman Empire (Armenian Genocide) to one of the other more familiar. I also believe I am going to remove the Holocaust as an option and instead have them focus on one of the more recent African genocides. I believe this combines curricular concepts, with historical events and more recent, almost current events.
The largest struggle is working through the fact that some of these internet sources are blocked and finding ways to enable students to get the best, most accurate information. It is also important to work with students on finding a way to recognize and avoid bias in their findings. I am getting closer to having a list of resources they can access that I believe will help them become informed of the events in a way that is informational.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Preparing for the GAME Plan
The technology necessary to carry out the GAME plan includes computers or a similar device and also access to the internet. The students will need access to information about real world topics of the current time as well as information about historical events in order to make relevant connections. The students will also need access to word processing and presentation programs. This should allow them to locate necessary information and create practical means for sharing or displaying their information.
As this project will involve the students making connections to current real world issues it will be imperative for me to gain an understanding of student interests. This will allow me to aid them in finding a real world topic on which to base their project. It will also be helpful to know the level of skill the students have in the area of technology. This determination would allow for the difficulty with which the project can be designed. However, if a self-paced learning environment is created it should allow for success no matter the level of technological expertise. trying to set technology requirements may hinder or limit the students ability to produce quality work and find relevant information. As the instructor I would like this knowledge to avoid slowing or limiting the progress of my students.
I have begin to look at the areas of study in my curriculum and places where students could make relevant, interesting connections to the real world they see today. Knowing that students are not usually well connected to current events I have begun to look for ways to help them make scholarly connections. I have also begun to look at units of curriculum which can be used to incorporate these types of connections.
As this project will involve the students making connections to current real world issues it will be imperative for me to gain an understanding of student interests. This will allow me to aid them in finding a real world topic on which to base their project. It will also be helpful to know the level of skill the students have in the area of technology. This determination would allow for the difficulty with which the project can be designed. However, if a self-paced learning environment is created it should allow for success no matter the level of technological expertise. trying to set technology requirements may hinder or limit the students ability to produce quality work and find relevant information. As the instructor I would like this knowledge to avoid slowing or limiting the progress of my students.
I have begin to look at the areas of study in my curriculum and places where students could make relevant, interesting connections to the real world they see today. Knowing that students are not usually well connected to current events I have begun to look for ways to help them make scholarly connections. I have also begun to look at units of curriculum which can be used to incorporate these types of connections.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
GAME Plan
In finding a GAME plan for integrating technology into teaching their are several aspects I looked at. First off was the Facilitate and Inspire student Learning and Creativity. The goal would be to find assignment that through the use of technology would encourage students to become fully engaged in the learning process. As a Social Studies teacher it is easy to allow students to identify with real world learning experiences. Students can compare and contrast current and relatively modern issues with those that have happened in the past. In order to monitor the students I would ask them to explain to me how they are tying the real world issue they have chosen into the class curriculum. I would then take the final product and evaluate what the students have done and how it aligns with our current curriculum. My one concern with emphasizing current issues in less would be that fact that students would need to make strong ties to the curriculum and not get to caught up with the new 'real world' issues.
I would also seek to engage in Professional Growth and Leadership within my district. So often teachers are caught up not wanting to change for technology or trying to use technology but not making any stride toward improving student learning. In the leadership role a teacher could aid others in finding ways to effectively improve student understanding of given curriculum with new technology. So often the key to helping students is through helping teachers with the process. By becoming a leader and helping teachers to find ways to effectively incorporate technology I would also be helping high numbers of students. This is a tricky goal as many teachers are turned off by others helping them change their methods. It is also the case that many teachers believe they are already effective in their use of technology. I would like to think many teachers will begin to see the importance as we move forward. The challenge with this strategy is that it is relatively difficult to judge your effectiveness in this type of leadership. Simple observation may be the only way to monitor the growth of colleagues in this area.
I would also seek to engage in Professional Growth and Leadership within my district. So often teachers are caught up not wanting to change for technology or trying to use technology but not making any stride toward improving student learning. In the leadership role a teacher could aid others in finding ways to effectively improve student understanding of given curriculum with new technology. So often the key to helping students is through helping teachers with the process. By becoming a leader and helping teachers to find ways to effectively incorporate technology I would also be helping high numbers of students. This is a tricky goal as many teachers are turned off by others helping them change their methods. It is also the case that many teachers believe they are already effective in their use of technology. I would like to think many teachers will begin to see the importance as we move forward. The challenge with this strategy is that it is relatively difficult to judge your effectiveness in this type of leadership. Simple observation may be the only way to monitor the growth of colleagues in this area.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Technolgy and Instruction Course Reflection
Throughout the course techniques and technologies have been introduced to improve student learning. Tying these technology tools to the specific learning theories offers a way for teachers to understand the benefits of using technology as well as see how the projects they are already doing fit with the learning theories. One of the things I took away was that much of what I had been doing is good practice, however I have gained some ways to adjust the assignments to better fit the learning theories or incorporate several into one assignment. In looking at my initial learning theory I believe I was using good teaching practice, I now just have more tools and ways to refine specific assignments.
In my learning theory in week one I discussed how I believed students learned best by working collaboratively and also being engaged in the classroom. I discussed how I felt the lecture was an outdated system of teaching and was much less effective than other alternatives. This course reinforced this by focusing on the topics of constructionism and the social learning theory. When Dr. Orey discussed social constructionism I believe he was describing the types of activities I attempt to use in my classroom. Students are working collaboratively and “building” something. The technology is built in with this theory as typically the students are “building” or “constructing” something with technology. The most common thing to construct is the PowerPoint presentation. It offers students the chance to build a presentation on a topic using information they have gathered. I believe this practice can still be improved through other techniques discussed such as nonlinguistic representations. Having students create PowerPoints with no words on them is a way to have students learn the material and discuss pictures, maps and graphs they have included in these presentations. This forces students to understand the knowledge and does not allow them to simply read what is written off of a slide. As a teacher, I could even move to a more nonlinguistic form of presentation for my instruction as well.
The course has offered several new technology tools that I believe can be used to expand the engagement in the classroom as they are used as learning tools. One of the specific tools is the VoiceThread. I believe this tool is a way to take teaching outside the confines of the classroom walls and allow students to be presented information almost anywhere at any time. Another tool I really liked was the sites such as SpiderScribe. While I was very aware of graphic organizers as a teaching tool, I now have sites where students can create the appropriate learning tool based on the information being presented. I would like to see as a part of a group presentation; students create a graphic organizer for their classmates to use during their presentations. This would have students thinking about the organization of their information before they ever present it. It would act as a check to ensure they have information organized in a way that is friendly to the classmates receiving the presentation. Finally, I cannot believe the number of virtual field trips available. I was in awe when I realized how many were actually out there. With art playing such as huge role in European History, incorporating these into the classroom we be a wonderful tool. They engage students and also give them the visual cues to add to their understanding of the information. The virtual field trip is a great way to use technology as a learning tool for the students. I also believe it is a motivating technique as their as so many options for the students to explore on each topic.
One long term goal for changing my instructional practice through the use of technology would be to have the students be more involved in the use of the technology. While this is something I have done for years, I would like to increase the frequency of this practice. Dr. Orey discusses the use of technology either being a teaching tool or learning tool, and in these terms it is using technology as a learning tool that should occur more frequently. With the limited technology available at my school I think there are still several ways to make this improvement in my instruction. We do have a mobile laptop lab with a little over a dozen laptops and a wireless network. I often use these for research type projects in order to get students searching for information. I believe I could get students into cooperative learning groups and have them create a presentation using a tool such as PowerPoint or VoiceThread. In doing so I would need to be specific on the expectations for each student in the group in order to protect against the chance of one student doing all the work for the group. Another option would be to sign out the tablets (iPads) available from the Intermediate School District for several weeks and allow students to take part in a collaborative project in which they use the tablets to create and communicate via a wiki or some other sort of template. In all of these ways students are using the technology as a learning tool as opposed to the instructor using it as a teaching tool.
Another long term goal is to have students communicate using technology. Whether it is accomplished by the development of a blog or wiki, I would like a format were students have the opportunity to carry interesting conversation beyond the classroom. Another use for this type of technology would be to put information out there that students should be familiar with before entering class. This would allow discussion and analytical thought to occur in a teacher facilitated classroom because the informative portion would be completed before arriving to class. VoiceThread or a wiki would be ways in which this could be implemented. In order to make it work for all students the topic of discussion would need to be posted several days in advance in order to give all students a chance to access a computer. While for many it would be as simple as using their phones, for some getting to the technology could be a challenge. I would like the opportunity to monitor these types of discussions as I think many students would be more willing to share in a written forum than they would in the open air classroom.
Moving forward technology will be incorporated in more lessons that it previously had. With new technologies and new ways to implement old technologies, my teaching should grow. It was refreshing to hear ideas I practiced reinforced such as the idea of learning tools opposed tio teaching tools. The basic premise of technology as a learning tool was in my practice, I now have more tools and more ways to implement those tools.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). [Webcast]. Technology: Teaching Tools vs. Learning Tools
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). [Webcast]. Technology: Teaching Tools vs. Learning Tools
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Social Learning Theories
Social learning theories are those which base much of learning on collaboration and interaction between students. Social constructionism as described by Dr. Orey can be simply put as active engagement with conversation. In other words, students are actively constructing something and at the same time collaborating with group members. While this is not the only social learning theory, social constructionism is one of the most powerful.
Cooperative learning, or group learning, is a rather broad concept and can be done in a variety of ways. One of the methods mentioned by Dr. Orey in this week's webcast was the jigsaw method. In this method you are essentially in two groups. In one group you are with several partners trying to learn about a general topic. You then combine with one person from each of the groups to research and develop information to report back to your initial group. Having used this method, I find it can be very effective if monitored correctly. One issue always becomes the fact that each group member must be involved enough to report back with good information. I find it to be effective because students become responsible for teaching their group members, and this responsibility often convinces them to make sure they have a grasp on the information. It is often the case that learning the information well enough to teach it ensures a higher level of understanding.
A webquest is another method of social learning, if done in groups. In this method students are researching sites, often provided, and organizing information in order to complete a given task. A webquest may ask for a timeline, a summary or any other type of finished project. Students are responsible for sifting through information in order to complete the final project. In the social studies classroom this can be very effective. Since much of history is learned through the evaluation of multiple sources, the webquest offers an excellent way to do this. technology is a must as often the information in coming from several websites. Another facet that could be added to the webquest at the high school level is to evaluate the bias and validity of multiple sources on the same topic. Not only is this a great historical skill, but it also plays a big part in the Advanced Placement criteria. The webquest and the needed technology are a great way for social studies students to get information and sort through it for what they need.
Social learning theories offer students a great way to learn through the help of their peers. Many activities and variations of social learning theories exist. Every subject could benefit from these concepts, though likely in different ways. Any time students are working collaboratively with technology their will be a level of motivation in the assignment. If students are excited about thier learning they will be more likely to store the information in their long-term memory.
Voicethread: http://voicethread.com/share/2509216/
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). [Webcast]. Constructionist and constructivist learning theories.
Cooperative learning, or group learning, is a rather broad concept and can be done in a variety of ways. One of the methods mentioned by Dr. Orey in this week's webcast was the jigsaw method. In this method you are essentially in two groups. In one group you are with several partners trying to learn about a general topic. You then combine with one person from each of the groups to research and develop information to report back to your initial group. Having used this method, I find it can be very effective if monitored correctly. One issue always becomes the fact that each group member must be involved enough to report back with good information. I find it to be effective because students become responsible for teaching their group members, and this responsibility often convinces them to make sure they have a grasp on the information. It is often the case that learning the information well enough to teach it ensures a higher level of understanding.
A webquest is another method of social learning, if done in groups. In this method students are researching sites, often provided, and organizing information in order to complete a given task. A webquest may ask for a timeline, a summary or any other type of finished project. Students are responsible for sifting through information in order to complete the final project. In the social studies classroom this can be very effective. Since much of history is learned through the evaluation of multiple sources, the webquest offers an excellent way to do this. technology is a must as often the information in coming from several websites. Another facet that could be added to the webquest at the high school level is to evaluate the bias and validity of multiple sources on the same topic. Not only is this a great historical skill, but it also plays a big part in the Advanced Placement criteria. The webquest and the needed technology are a great way for social studies students to get information and sort through it for what they need.
Social learning theories offer students a great way to learn through the help of their peers. Many activities and variations of social learning theories exist. Every subject could benefit from these concepts, though likely in different ways. Any time students are working collaboratively with technology their will be a level of motivation in the assignment. If students are excited about thier learning they will be more likely to store the information in their long-term memory.
Voicethread: http://voicethread.com/share/2509216/
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). [Webcast]. Constructionist and constructivist learning theories.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Constructionism in the Classroom
Constructionism is the idea that students will construct or "build" something in order to gain a better understanding of the subject. In history courses this is done by constructing a meaning based on primary and secondary sources. Students are engaged in the construction of a conclusion based on the use of several different sources.
The idea behind constructionism is that students are building something in order to learn more about it. However, it is important to note that unlike in the science classrooms, the thing being built is not always an actual solid artifact. In history you are "building" a conclusion from various information you search for. Students often have certain ideas about why or how certain things occurred in history. So, in the Social Studies classroom we take those ideas and search for sources to prove or disprove these ideas. What we are "building" is an actual historically supported theory. What we begin with is a hypothesis on the topic based on a small amount of information. Then, using primary and secondary sources we "build" a conclusion based on as much first and second hand information as we can gather. So while the "building" is different, we are still taking a hypothesis and using information or data collected to test it. While it is not through experimentation in the scientific sense, it is still a process of looking at observations through first and second hand accounts and trying to build a reasonably well supported conclusion. Through this process students become very engaged in the initial question, allowing them to learn the information and store it in their long-term memory.
As is the case with many or most learning theories, it seems the more involved the student is the better chance that understanding is going to be achieved. Constructionism is one example of students being fully engaged in the learning process.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). [Webcast]. Constructionist and constructivist learning theories.
The idea behind constructionism is that students are building something in order to learn more about it. However, it is important to note that unlike in the science classrooms, the thing being built is not always an actual solid artifact. In history you are "building" a conclusion from various information you search for. Students often have certain ideas about why or how certain things occurred in history. So, in the Social Studies classroom we take those ideas and search for sources to prove or disprove these ideas. What we are "building" is an actual historically supported theory. What we begin with is a hypothesis on the topic based on a small amount of information. Then, using primary and secondary sources we "build" a conclusion based on as much first and second hand information as we can gather. So while the "building" is different, we are still taking a hypothesis and using information or data collected to test it. While it is not through experimentation in the scientific sense, it is still a process of looking at observations through first and second hand accounts and trying to build a reasonably well supported conclusion. Through this process students become very engaged in the initial question, allowing them to learn the information and store it in their long-term memory.
As is the case with many or most learning theories, it seems the more involved the student is the better chance that understanding is going to be achieved. Constructionism is one example of students being fully engaged in the learning process.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). [Webcast]. Constructionist and constructivist learning theories.
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