Final Reflection

As I reflect on the past seven weeks, I am greatly amazed at the progess that I have made, the amount of information that I have learned and the value of the GAME plan on my instruction.  Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer (2009) incorporate the GAME plan as part of being a self directed learner.  They define self directed learning as “any increase in knowledge, skill, accomplishment, or personal development that an individual selects and brings about by his or her own efforts using any method in any circumstance at any time” (Cennamo, Ross and Ertmer, 2009, p.2).  At the beginning of this course we were asked to create a GAME plan and to work on our GAME plan throughout the duration of this course.

           

My GAME plan goal was to integrate technology tools that allowed students to demonstrate their creativity and to incorporate various methods of assessments incorporating both content and technology standards.  Throughout the duration of this course, I have learned many new tools and have learned how to think outside of the box in regards to my instruction and the impact that technology has on my instruction.  I must admit that the integration of various forms of technology for student creativity has been a difficult task.  This has been a difficult task primarily due to the availability in which I am able to reserve the computer lab in my school.   Although this is the case, I have multiple ideas that will allow students to utilize their creavitiy with technology.  For example, when it comes to learning about nutrition and balanced diet, I will be taking my students to the lab to create a daily meal plan and then they will work with partners to evaluate their designed meal plans.  This will provide students with the opportunity to think creatively.  Creative thinking is defined as “complex thinking that requires efforts and produces valued outcomes” (p.25). 

 

As I think about the progress that I have made with my GAME plan, I have been able to assess my students in multiple ways.  They include through the use of paper and pencil assessments, total participation strategies and the use of ActiVotes in my classroom.  With this knowledge, I have been able to complete half of my GAME plan to date and I do not feel the need to make any modifications to my GAME plan.  However, I do feel that I need to ensure that my students are getting a fair opportunity to engage in higher level thinking activities and should have fair access to the computer lab to do so.  As a result of my learning, I feel that it is important that students be provided with the opportunity to engage in projects and activities that require them to think at a higher level.  As educators we want students to become self-directed learners.  The use of the GAME plan strategy, supports students in becoming self-directed learners and evaluate their actions(Laureate Education, Inc., 2010a).

 

Through my learning and understanding of the content that I have learned throughout this course, I know that it will have immediate impact on my instruction.  The integration of technology will be highly important in order to continually engage my students.  Furthermore, the use of problem based learning as well as social networking and online collaboration have a high value that will benefit students, especially in regards to the Physical Education curriculum.  We know that there are many benefits to social networking and online collaboration.  However, with respect to Physical Education when students can publish fitness and wellness plans through a blog or wiki and receive feeback from their peers it can greatly impact their learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b).  Furthermore, problem based learning and digital storytelling serve a great role of extending the content and curriculum for students.  It provides them with the opportunity to connect to the content and internalize what they have learned.  Vicki Davis stated “Teachers are not just teachers, they are connectors.  Our job is to connect our students to the content, to the resources and to other classrooms around the world” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010b).

 

Inconclusion, I have thoroughly enjoyed this class.  I have learned a great deal of information and it will greatly impact my instruction.  I want to take the time to thank you for challenging all of us to require more of ourselves and of each other with the greatest impact occurring in our classrooms.

 

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.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Promoting self-directed learning with

technology. [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore,

MD: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Spotlight on technology: Social

networking and onling collaboration, Part 1 [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the

content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Monitoring the GAME Plan

As I continue to work with my students, I am amazed at the creative ideas they have and how easily they can take the content and relate it to their own personal lives.  Through the implementation of my GAME plan, I have found myself thinking outside of the box more in terms of integrating more technology into my instruction.  Additionally, as a result I have found that as a Physical Education department, we are having more discussions about project based learning and creative ways to get our kids into the computer lab to utilize technology and demonstrate their knowledge of concepts that they have been taught.

I have found great success in accessing resources to help with this plan.  Collaboration has been critical.  Fortunately, I have been able to work with numerous colleagues from our media specialist to special educators and even some general educators.  Everyone has been super helpful.  All of us together, understand how important it is have students engaged with technology and provide them with the opportunity to be creative.  In the video Meeting Students’ Need with Technology Part 2, Vicki Davis discusses how the project based environment allows students to work in their own element where they are comfortable and it also provides students with an avenue to communicate(Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). 

When I think about the time that it will take for students to complete projects due to the schedule in which I see them for class, I am concerned.  It will take students quite a long period of time to complete projects, but I also have to ensure that they are getting physical activity as well.  However, I would to continue to build my collaborative relationships with the media specialist, general education teachers and special educators and hopefully together we can find enough time for students to work and complete their projects. 

At this point in time, I have had the opportunity to attend a technology workshop for Pixie 3.  Pixie 3 is creation software designed for kids.  The software includes templates, the option to record their voice and the option to have students collaborate on one project from multiple computers.  This has opened up a whole new window of options for students in terms of their projects.  I have learned that students often know more than we do about technology and their ideas of much larger than I have ever imagined.  Finally, as I think about the end in mind with allowing students more opportunity to create in relationship to the content that they have been taught, I have had a few questions arise.  How can students share their projects with their families, other students and globally?  Is there a way to split students into groups to have a faster production rate?  How do I find the balance between students being physically active and having the opportunity to interact and create using technology?

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Meeting Students’ Needs With Technology, Part 2 [Webcast]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Carrying Out the GAME Plan

The goal of my GAME plan is to integrate technology tools that allow students to demonstrate their creativity and to incorporate various methods of assessments incorporating both content and technology standards.  When considering my goal, I recognize that I will need assistance and access to resource in order to effectively carry out my plan. 

First and foremost, I will need to work with the Media Specialist to determine times that are appropriate to utilize the computer lab as well as the various technology programs that are available for student use.  Additionally, I will need to work the Special Education Teachers and the Gifted and Talented Teacher at my school and make a determination of which programs work the most effectively in addressing specific learning needs.  All of these individuals will serve as great resources as I am aware of the content standards associated with my curriculum in addition to the technology standards, but I am seeking ways to assist students in being creative, connecting to our content and producing something that is meaningful for them as their “take away” from a particular lesson.  For example, my third grade students have to be able to describe a balanced diet.  In the past I would have taught this by introducing and reviewing the food groups and then having students complete a paper pencil type of assessment where they would put in writing what they viewed to be a balanced meal that is part of a balanced diet.  Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer (2009) state “… digital media promises to provide the greatest flexibility in terms of planning, implementing, and assessing learning activities” (p.117).  With this knowledge, students will be utilizing the computer lab and working on the Choose My Plate website to play the blast off game where they choose foods to put together a balanced meal utilizing the Choose My Plate guidelines.  After they have spent some time working with the blast off game, they will then begin working on putting together their description of a balanced meal that they would eat.  They will have the choice of putting it together in a format of their choice, such as: concept map, placemat design using Pixie 3, word document, powerpoint presentation or photo story.  The objective is for students to be able to demonstrate their knowledge of a balanced diet and create something that they would have in their own lives.  With my example, I will also be in need of other various resources such as video clips discussing the Choose My Plate guidelines, children discussing a balanced diet and a visual representation of what a sample plate would look like based on the Choose My Plate guidelines.

At this point in time, I have been able to schedule a time in the computer lab where students will have the opportunity to interact with the Choose My Plate website, the Blast off Game and to begin work on their final products for describing a balanced meal in their lives.  I have also had the opportunity to consult with the Special Education Teachers and the Gifted and Talented Teacher to discuss my plan and the specific learning needs of students in my third grade class.  I am excited to engage in this process with my students and to see how much they learn about a balanced diet through their exploration.

References 

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: Astandards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth,Cengage Learning.

GAME Plan

Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer (2009) state that “As you set goals, take action, monitor your learning, and evaluate your progress, you take control of your own learning process” (p.7).  When I think about my GAME plan in relationship to increasing my confidence with the NETS-T, I would like to gain more confidence with are standard two and indicators a and d.  The focus of my GAME plan based on standard two, indicators a and b state “a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity” and “d. Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching” (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008, p.2). 

My GAME Plan for ISTE NETS-T  are as follows (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009):

Goals – integrate technology tools that allows students to demonstrate their creativity and to incorporate various methods of assessments incorporating both content and technology standards

Actions – plan lessons that provide students access to technology where students are able to demonstrate their creativity and provide students with multiple forms of assessment

Monitoring – monitor student progress of creativity and performance as it relates to content and technology standards; make the appropriate modifications to instruction based on student performance of related assessments

Evaluate – determine student growth of mastery of concepts based on final created products and performance on assessment

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

fromhttp://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx

Final Reflection

Over the past seven weeks, I have learned a great deal of information.  As I reflect on my learning, I cannot help but to think about how my learning will greatly impact how I deliver instruction to my students.  Having a greater understanding of how learning theories, the brain and technology all connect together have provided me with resources and information that will help me to grow professionally.

During week one of this course we were asked to articulate our own personal learning theory.  I had shared that I believed that all students can learn and that I felt that students learned best when they were able to experience what we were discussing in class.  I had also shared that I tend to teach my students in the same way that I learn, which is through lists and visual representations.  However, through our learning in this course, we have a greater understanding of how the brain works and impacts learning.  With this understanding I feel that I am better able to address the needs of my students.  Understanding that the brain is visual and remembers information that is used frequently helps me to understand how and why students remember the things that they do.  For example, I have created an acronym that I use with my students to help them remember the components of fitness.  As a group, I have the recite it when they come in for class to aid in remembering their components of fitness and how each letter represents a different component.  Additionally, this course has helped me gain a better understanding of learning theories and educational technologies to support student learning.  In regards to learning theories, I have recognized that it is a good practice to use a variety of learning theories within my classroom.  This practice will allow me to address and meet the learning styles of all of the learners that are in my classroom.  Finally, the opportunity to create and use the various forms of technologies during this class has greatly expanded my teaching toolbox.  Many of these tools will have a significant impact on instruction in my classroom, with the intention of reaching more of my students by keeping them engaged.

When I think about the immediate changes that I would like to make to my instruction, I think about the use of visuals and how students are better able to connect, relate and remember information through the use of visuals.  I have already made some adjustments by when creating my daily objectives for students, I have added a visual representation for the lesson.  This helps give students a clue about what they are learning, it immediately engages them and helps them to remember for future reference.  

Technology also plays a critical role in engaging students.  I have decided that the two types of technologies that I would like to integrate into my instruction is the use of VoiceThread and Spider Scribe.  The use of both of these tools allows students to use visual representations when learning about new or reviewing previous concepts.  Both of these applications will allow students to create an artifact of their learning.  However, the artifacts would be different in respect to the fact that the VoiceThread would serve as a means of a response to a presented question and Spider Scribe would serve as a means for students to organize information that they have learned.

Part of the learning process also includes goal setting and making changes to what I currently am doing within my own classroom.  I have considered what we have learned over the last seven weeks and the two long term changes that I would like to make within my classroom are to utilize visual representations as a means of conveying information to students and providing opportunities for students to participate in projects in which they produce something as a result of their participation.  When thinking about utilizing visual representations as a means of conveying information to students, I want to get away from writing lists and use pictures instead.  I have learned that the brain is visual and in order for students to best learn they need those visual representations to assist them in the process.  I will start with adding pictures to their daily objectives and then use pictures to describe activities and concepts during class.  It is my intention that students will be able to envision the visual representations to assist them with remembering and relating to content in the classroom.  For my second goal of providing students with the opportunity to create their own artifacts in a project based setting, I would like to take some of our deeper cognitive concepts within the Physical Education curriculum and allow students to make artifacts and participate within a group to complete their projects.  For example, my students have the tendency to struggle with nutrition and how it impacts their general well being.  Therefore, if they are provided with the opportunity to create something in relation to nutrition and their well being they may be better able to make better lifestyle choices and have a greater understanding of how to take care of their bodies.

In conclusion, this class has provided me with a wealth of knowledge.  The knowledge that I have gained from the brain, learning theories, educational technologies and instructional strategies have deepened my understanding of learners and how to efficiently meet the needs of all of my students.  Additionally, it has added to my teacher toolbox, which has allowed me to grow professionally.  Thank you for all of your support and providing us with the opportunity to experience these new technologies!  

Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice

This week we took a look at social learning and connectivism in practice.  We explored cooperative learning as an instructional strategy with a focus on social learning.  As a Physical Education Teacher, I utilize cooperative learning frequently in my classroom.  Students are grouped in squad lines or base groups at the beginning of the school year and remain the same throughout the duration.  However, there are times throughout the year where modifications to groups must be made for the benefit of all group members. 

When considering the Social Learning Theory and how it applies to learning, we have quickly learned that it certainly provides a unique opportunity in our classroom.  Social learning has many benefits because it allows students to collaborate and when combined with the cooperative learning instructional strategy each student plays a role and has a responsibility within the group. 

Cooperative learning directly relates to the social learning theories that we explored this week.  One of our focuses is with the use of technology, social learning and cooperative learning.  "Technology can play a unique and vital role in cooperative learning by facilitating group collaboration, providing structure for group tasks, and allowing members to of groups to communicate even if they are not working face to face." (Pitler, p. 140).  When I think about cooperative learning, I envision students working together to create some sort of a final product.  Additionally, when we consider the role that social networking has on learning, the possibilities are limitless.  Through the use of technology, students can interact with one another from home and with other students all over the world.  George Siemens shared that within the theory of connectivism there is an abundant amount of information and that our networks are rich.  With this knowledge and the careful consideration of technology our students can connect with one another and other students all over the world through blogs, wikis, Facebook, WebQuests and many other avenues.  Through their connections students have the opporutnity to interpret the material and information that they are discussing in their own way, but can also learn something additional through their interaction with others.  The social learning theory directly targets and allows the benefits of social networking.  Our students are engrossed with the use of social networking in their everyday lives, why not include it in our instruction? 

https://voicethread.com/share/2907947/

References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Social Learning Theories. [DVD]. Bridging Learning Theory Instruction and Technology. Baltimore, MD: Author
Pitler H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Constructivism in Practice

This week we have explored the Constructionism and Constructivism Learning Theories and how they apply in today's classrooms.  As teachers, we spend our time ensuring that students are learning and that their learning needs are met.  Both of these theories address the individual learner and the process of learner.  Dr. Orey discusses how beneficial the constructionism learning theory is in the classroom.  He states that Constructionism is "a theory of learning that states people learn best when they build an external artifact or something they can share with others."  Through this view, we can easily recognize that students do in fact take more knowledge away from a specific learning experience when they are able to create an artificat and share with others what they have learned. 

In the Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works book, we took a look at Generating and Testing Hypotheses and how it relates to the Constructionism/Constructivism learning theory.  While reviewing the material presented in this resource, I quickly realized how it directly relates to this learning theory.  Within the text, they discussed the use of spreadsheet software to simulate savings and investments from a financial perspective.  When students have the opportunity to interact with this type of software they are exploring how saving money builds interest and earns additional funds of an extended period of time. 

When considering Constructivism and Constructionism in the classroom, the use of spreadsheet software directly applies.  Student learning begins with interacting with an already designed spreadsheet and learning how to use the spreadsheet to manipulate and see the potential growth of money over a period of time.  As students become comfortable with the software, they then have the opportunity to "create" or "construct" their own spreadsheet to simulate or demonstrate what they have learned.

The topic of constructivism vs constructionism can be a hot topic among teachers due to their individual theories of how student learn.  However, I feel as though that both constructivism and constructionism both have large role in the classroom.  As teachers, we know that there are times where we have to present content in a factual way due to the nature that students need to know the information and then there are times when students can be provided the opportunity to create something based on their learning.  The key to working with both of these learning theories is keeping them both in balance or equilibration.  While students may be learning information that they need to know, they need to be able to relate to the information and this is where the creating component comes into view. 

As a Physical Education teacher, I struggle with this creationg component a great deal.  I spend the vast majority of my time teaching students what they need to know and providing them with activities in realtionship to the content that has been presented.  Rarely do I have the opportunity to allow students to create an artifact based on what they have learned.  However, as an educator I have to take the time and see the value in allowing students to create something based on what they have learned.  This is where careful examination of learning outcomes become significant.  I have evaluate the outcomes and the outcomes that have more value to them for student learning are the ones that I should provide students with the opportunity to create an artifact based on their learning.

Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer) (2010) Constructionist and Constructivist Learning Theories. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com 

Pitler H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD