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.
You have an exciting GAME plan. Our PE teacher is great. I will say she does not incorporate a lot of technology into her teaching, so it has been neat to read how you find the time to do so.
ReplyDeleteCan you team up with another teacher? Do they take a technology class? Are you able to integrate your technology ideas into another curricular area?
It seems like most of your projects would have to be done outside of class, because you have them for so little time and you have to include the physical activity.
Depending on the type of project you would create- I would think you could share them on a Wiki, a Blog, or even VoiceThread? A lot of our classmates have been talking about Edmodo- that could even be a possibility. It seems like there are many options to share work online depending on the style of the project.
Peggy Ertmer (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012) stressed how important a supportive culture was to effectively integrating technology. You are lucky you have a group that you can share and brainstorm with.
Keep up the good work!
Renee Scott
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2012). Enriching content area Learning experiences with technology, part 1 [DVD]. Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.