Technology in the Classroom

http://www.xtranormal.com/profile/2327043/

Click here to view my movie.

I have learned that there are many resources at my fingertips by using the internet. It is a wealth of information that keeps showing more interesting ways to teach my students objectives that they find boring and uninteresting.  I will use the resources from the Differentiation Station social network in many different ways.  I can use them when incorporating flexible groups. The groups can use the resources to do web quests, I-Searches, or do research for a project assigned to them.  I can also use the resources to review the students in the form of playing games to reinforce topics taught previously. 

The immediate change that I have made to my instruction is that I use a United Streaming video to introduce every new chapter that I do with my students.  I have always used power point presentations to present lecture notes to the students. Included in these presentations are video clips that emphasize certain concepts. I also include in my review that I have before giving a chapter test is to have the students compete in a video jogger game.  This would be an excellent time to use clickers but at this time I do not have access to them. Instead we use index cards with letters on them. 

I have always been interested in including differentiating instruction into my classroom.  I have learned through this course that I have somewhat been using the strategy. I feel the pressure of teaching as many objectives as possible before the end of year test.  But I also need to take the time to differentiate my lesson plans so that more students will benefit in the long run. According to Tomlinson, “remember that becoming an expert at differentiation is a career-long goal.  One step at a time, you can get there” (Tomlinson, 1999, p.107).

References:

Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). Differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.
Retrieved from the Walden Library ebrary.

As I reflect on my GAME plan, I have found that you can and need to take every opportunity to teach all the little things that compile into the big picture of your goal or goals. I want to have a classroom blog but have not had the opportunity to start one at the present time. But I do have my students write as much as possible so that they will be ready when the time comes for them to engage in a classroom blog. If not in my class, my students will be able to do one in the next grade. I will be assigning to my students a research project that they will be able to look for information using the internet and a wiki. I will teach them in mini lessons the correct way to use each.

 I have learned many things to add to my teaching strategies. I have many places that I can go on the internet to find more ideas to include in my lessons. I can create a voice thread or a digital story to present to the students topics that are harder to understand. Using either of these applications to show the students in a different way what I am trying to teach them will enhance my teaching. I think that I have learned more steps in how to reach more of my students by being more diverse in my teaching.

 By using the GAME plan for my own use and for teaching my students how to use it in their own education will lead to more learning. They will be able to use this knowledge to help them in any future endeavor that they may have. I have learned to be even more organized in my planning by going step by step in my thought process. By doing this, I think about what I can do to go further when teaching a certain topic. I think what I can do to grab their attention and keep it. I have also learned how to teach my students twenty-first century skills that they can use in all their classes and in their future lives.

 The adjustment that I will make to my instructional practice is planning more time in the computer lab with my students. I will have students using technology to help them to be better self-learners. They will be given the opportunity to use technology more for their education than only for their pleasure.

I think the Standards for Students NETS-S on the ISTE website are interwoven with the Standards for Teachers NETS-T in a way that they complement each other.  As educators we need to ensure that the students are learning the correct ways to use the internet and technology in every way possible.

I think by educators modeling the GAME plan the students will know the correct way to follow the steps.  When they are comfortable with the steps, they will begin to follow the steps on their own to continue the process of being self-learners and critical thinkers.

After modeling the process, the students should be given the opportunity to create their own GAME plan. In the beginning, the students will be given the goal to begin the process of learning. But I do think they should follow through with all the rest of the standards to be well-rounded and educated in how to use technology. 

Students know how to use the internet and technology for socializing and fun. But they need to know how to use both as a tool for learning. They need to learn not only how to use the internet for research purposes but how to use it properly by citing all sources. They also need to be able to know how to find websites that are valid and reliable.  When social networking, they need to understand the correct procedures of how to conduct themselves when conversing with others.

All of this can be accomplished by the students setting goals for themselves by following each of the standards in the NETS-S.  Educators can do the same by setting goals for themselves using the standards in the NETS-T.  As the educator and the students set goals for themselves using the standards they are both reaching the same goals of technology literacy.

What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice? 

I have learned how to create a blog on a blog site but not on my teacher webpage as of yet. I have also learned how to decide if websites are valid and reliable. I am better prepared and experienced in the workings of a wiki. I think that this would be a wonderful way for my students to contribute to their own learning by working collaboratively in a wiki. They will be able to research websites and cite them while learning how to use the application.

What goals are you still working toward? 

I am still working toward introducing a classroom blog. But I will continue to have my students to work on their writing skills in paper form. I am going to assign my students a project in the near future where they will research websites and work on a collaborative wiki.  This will work on one of my goals of having the students learn how to research the internet and cite sources used.

Based on the NETS-T, what new learning goals will you set for yourself?

The new goal I would like to set for myself is the following:

Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness

b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources

c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning,

and creative processes

d. model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual

I feel that the above goals meet the standards of using problem-based learning in the classroom.  It encompasses all the things that students need to learn to enhance and extend their learning by discovering the answers to real-world questions.

If you are not ready to set new learning goals, how will you extend what you have learned so far?

I will incorporate my new goal with my previous goals to enhance my students learning. I believe all of the goals that I chosen will intertwine and enhance each other to help the students become better learners.

What learning approaches will you try next time to improve your learning?

I will use more cooperative groups that are homogenous instead of heterogeneous to help all my students to be better learners. I will include a classroom blog so that my students will increase their higher-order thinking, writing, and collaborative skills.  I feel that for my students to use a classroom blog will increase their social skills as well. I will assign more projects to create a classroom community of self-learners.  More projects will also help me reach the goals of my students learning how to use the internet to do meaningful research.

Reference:

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final

• How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals? 

So far I have not been able to incorporate a classroom blog.  But I have been able to do some writing assignments in order for my students to work on their writing and communicating skills.  The students have done some internet research earlier in the year. Recently I have assigned in one of my classes a debate about alternative energy sources in which they were to research internet articles they were required to cite.

• What have you learned so far that you can apply in your instructional practice? 

I have learned the importance of blogging. I feel that this type of communication will enable my classroom community to become more close knit and cooperative with  each other. They will be able to learn to work together better when I assign them a project using problem-based learning.  Blogs can be used for the reflection that is needed to see if everyone in the group is on target with the project(Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a). 

• What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?

Basically what I have left to learn is how to be able to use the blog portion of my teacher webpage. If I am not able to be formally trained when I have the extra time I will teach myself how to use it.  I will also ask colleagues if they use a classroom blog using another site and advice on what to do to start one in my classes.  Any new questions that I have are how much extra time will be needed to incorporate a classroom blog.

• How will you adjust your plan to fit your current needs?

I will continue to assign writing assignments to increase writing and communication skills.  I will also require my students to answer reflective prompts in their binders in order for me to assess their learning.  I think that this will prepare them for when I am able to start a classroom blog. If not, they will be prepared for next year, where I know that they will participate in a blog in their American History class.  I will also start to incorporate problem-based learning strategies to increase the skill level of students in cooperative group work, higher order thinking skills, self-directed learning, and the use of technology.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009a). Program eight. Spotlight on technology: Problem-based learning, part 1 [Motion picture]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Ertmer, P.

As I monitor my progress in my GAME plan, I find that I making a slow progression toward my goals. But this is still encouraging to me. 

For my goal of incorporating a classroom blog, I found out that we are to receive training on how to use the blog portion on our webpages. I do not now the exact time but I do know that in near future we are to receive the training.  But I have been doing mini lessons and using teachable moments teach correct behavior that students should use when communicating with each other.

For the Internet reseaching skills that I want to the students to learn, they have done some researching about alternative energy sources that included informally citing their sources.  As of right now, I have not yet starting reseaching websites for any upcoming projects. But I do have several  topics in mind that I am thinking  about assigning to my classes in the upcoming new year.  The topics will be Gregor Mendel, genetic disorders, advances in genetics, and genetic engineering. Not only will these topics be good research topics, I also think they will be good topics for journal entries.  This can be done in  a blog format or in a journal.

I am finding some of the information that I need but the technology resources are what I am lacking. I do have a student computer and a laptop that can be used.  I think I will try to use these two computers to start an informal class blog or journal in one of my classes.

I do not think that I need to modify my action plan. I feel that the goals that I have set for myself are attainable. But I do feel that it will continue to be a work in progress until I am able to access a computer lab more often, be able to access the blog portion on my webpage, and not to feel the pressure of teaching  new standards.

There are a few things that I have learned so far. I need to have the patience to wait on things that I have no control over. I also need to teach social skills to my students every possible moment to get them to understand how to treat each other, in person and online. 

The questions that I have are still the  same ones that I had at the beginning.  But the question that stands most promiently in my mind is-How do I integrate technology into my classroom with the most limited access to technology?

In my GAME plan, I plan to improve my students skills in researching on the Internet and how to participate in a class blog.  My plan is to assign my students a project where they will have to create essential questions, find reliable websites and conduct research. I will require them to include a bibliography to cite their sources. I will also look into starting a classroom blog in which all of my classes can participate. 

The resources and additional information that I will use to carry out my plan will be to speak with the technical director about how to use the blog section that is included in the webpage that each teacher at my school has. If this is not feasible, I will ask permission to start a classroom blog using a different source. As for the project that I will be assigning to my students, I will decide which topic I will use out of the textbook and research websites that the students can use as a starting point for their project.

The steps that I have taken so far is to assign some of students the task of researching  an alternative energy source instead of using fossil fuels. This was assigned for the purpose of a debate between which was the most feasible solar power versus hydropower.  I stressed to the students given the assignment that they were to research their alternative energy source and to be prepared to cite their sources. One student did a very good job of researching and citing her sources. She found several reliable sources from government and educational sites.

As I studied the NETS·T standards, I found that encouraging my students to work together cooperatively and trying to incorporate technology as much as possible in my classes is included in the standards.  But I have noticed I also need to encourage and teach my students the correct procedures to follow when using technology.  I need to teach them how to be responsible when using websites and citing sources.  I need to teach them the proper way to conduct conversations online with their fellow classmates.  The final thing I need to improve in my teaching is to expose my students to real-life problems and how to find ways to research in order to discover ways to solve them.

An action plan that I can use to improve the skills that my students need can be done in several ways.  I can begin a class blog, teach mini lessons in netiquette, teach them research techniques and how to cite sources. I can teach many of these by modeling and using minilessons as a way to introduce and teach the proper way to conduct conversations and do research on the internet.

One way that I can monitor if the students have synthesized the information given to them is to closely monitor the class blog.  I will be sure to stop and correct any improper behavior.  I can also create projects that the students will need to search the internet for information.  I will have the students keep a journal of their progress with class blog, as well as any projects that they are conducting.

I will extend my learning by doing more professional development that pertains to technology. I will also need to research the internet for up-to-date information for new technology applications and ethical use of information obtained from the internet.