Developing My Personal GAME Plan

Dr. Ertmer claims that there are four variables present when effectively using technology: knowledge, confidence, beliefs, and supportive culture (Laureate Education Inc., 2009b). As I reflected on the NET Standards there were two areas that I felt far less confident about applying than the rest.

Set Goals:

The goals I chose fall under the “Model Digital-Age Work and Learning” and “Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences” NET Standards (2008). My first goal is to create a website to communicate information to my students and their parents. The second goal is to use a variety of technology tools to assess my students’ knowledge of the content.

Take Action:

I will create a website with a variety of different pages for the students and parents to use. Some of the sections will include: schedules, homework, upcoming events, extra practice, and useful websites. I will inform the parents of my website on meet the teacher night and encourage them to use the website on a daily basis to stay informed. To meet my second goal I will explore the options available to me to assess my students. I will try a few of the assessment options, such as SMART Board response systems, PowerPoint presentations, and Digital Storytelling (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009)

Monitor:

I will send a short survey home to poll the parents about how often they use the website and if they found the website helpful. I will include a section in the survey where the parents can offer suggestions for the website and comment on the ease of use. I will do the same activity with my students. After trying some of the assessment strategies I researched, I will decide the advantages and disadvantages of assessing the students in these ways. I will also look at the validity of the results and make sure the type of assessment shows the students knowledge of the content.

Evaluate and Extend:

Once I get the results of the parent and student surveys, I will update the website. I will then add interactive components where the parents can contact me and where the students can interact with each other on the website as well. I will also display student work, without giving out student information (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). I will continue to use the forms of assessment I found successful and continue to research new ideas for testing students’ knowledge. Nichole Allmann discusses using technology to target multiple intelligences (Laureate Education Inc., 2009a). During assessment, this is necessary as well because some students may need the test read aloud or students may need the use of visuals or manipulatives. Finally, I will collaborate with my colleagues to see which assessments work best in their classroom.

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 Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers. Retrieved September 14, 2010, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009a). Program four. Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 2 [Motion picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009b). Program three. Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology, Part 1 [Motion picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.