GAME plan progress -- Week 4

This week we were asked to reflect on our progress on our GAME plan on addressing two of the NETS-T proficiency standards and any changes we feel that we need to make.  The steps that I have taken toward meeting my GAME plan goals are as follows:

  2a - Design/adapt relevant learning experiences incorporating digital tools.

  I have found this one of the NETS-T easiest to find information for since my district has a very good ITD department that helps out anyway that they can. One of the members came out to my building and helped me with the problem I was having with creating questions and adding them into Active Inspire.  The issue was that I had a newer version of the software that did not fit with the directions that I had to work with.  We created and tested four questions with the students in order to test the software.  I still have not had a chance to check out the resource given to me by my school librarian, but am planning to do so during the holiday.

  I do not feel that I will not need to change my GAME plan on this performance indicator, since I still have many other sites to check out when finding resources to use with my Promethean Board, and now that the issue of creating questions has been resolved, I am looking forward to using this to create new learning activities for my students.

  Questions that I still have fall mainly in the area of how to use technology to further learning experiences in my classroom.  What I mean is, what other resources are out there?  How will these resources improve student engagement and results on assessments?

  After reading this weeks course literature, I am very interested in trying to use more technology in how I assess the students, especially with trying to make sure I am using the techniques that lend themselves to higher level thinking questions like open-based questions and some forced-option questions (written at a higher cognitive level) on a web based platform, might make student engagement and assessment more meaningful for my subject.

  5c - Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice

  By the very nature of this blog, I am finding myself reflecting on how I am trying to increase my technology use in my classroom.  I have been talking with members of my ITD department on where technology is heading in my district.  We are currently working toward each classroom having a Promethean Board with a class set of 32 Active Remotes.  The reason why we are taking these steps is in order for the students to be used to using interactive technologies in the future.  I also rely on the optional readings for this course to help monitor technology in the classroom, and am finding myself questioning whether the mandatory use of technology in the classroom is not leaving behind groups of students, who may not be in homes with internet access, or schools that do not have the funds or support for technology the same as mine.

  I do not feel that I need to change my GAME plan on this indicator, either.  What I do need to do is take more active steps in locating information such as searching the Walden Library and subscribing to more technology in education blogs.

  The new learning that I have made is predominately in how to use e-portfolios and how they can be used to to drive assessment and student learning.  I am familiar with paper portfolios, having to keep one when I was taking my education courses for my certification.  I also watched them being used by the science department in my school, until they were banned due to how they were being used, which was not as a forum for the students to showcase their best work, instead as a major assignment that students had to do or fail the course.  I am intrigued with the portfolio as an example of their learning and reflections.  

  So far, there are not really any new questions that I have.  Obviously this may change once I have found some new sources of information and have been able to look it over.  One thing that I am very interested in finding more information on is how the use of social networking can be used in the classroom.  The concern that I have is that most social networking sites lead to the students having no set guidelines to what they post and how they post, which could make it very difficult to translate into a classroom where there are clearly delineated goals and guidelines that we have to set up as part of the lesson.