As a teacher who loves technology and uses it on a daily
basis, believes in it, and really cannot see living with out it, you would
think that I would incorporate in every lesson that I could. However, this is not the case, and is
probably most unfortunate for my students because most of them are just as in
love with technology as I am. I am
a high school math teacher, and part of why I do not incorporate technology all
that much (in fact it is very rare that I do) is because I think you should
understand what the technology piece is doing before you go ahead and use
it. In my personal experience, I
primarily use the Internet to teach myself about concepts that I have a
personal interest in. As for my
math students, they want to use technology to make math easier, which means
find a piece of technology that can do their work for them. For instance, I have not found one yet,
but I am sure there is a calculator some where on the Internet that can factor
polynomials for them. This idea
that there is technology out there that takes the work out of things is what
scares me the most, however, I know that technology has must more to offer than
making things easier and letting it do all of the work for us.
I recently reviewed the standards set by the International
Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), which they dub the NETS-S. They have five main standards, and all
of them have a number of performance indicators that teachers can use to help
just their progress on incorporating technology into their teaching. I have identified two performance
indicators that were of particular interest to me, and seem to fit where I am
at in my willingness and readiness to bring more technology into my
classroom.
The first performance indicator that I am setting as a goal
falls under the second standard:
2. Design and
Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
b. Design or
adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and
resources to promote student learning and creativity (International, 2008)
Part of why I chose this goal is due to the fact that it
seems to reflect why I love the Internet so much. I use the Internet to delve into topics that I want to learn
more about and I always seem to find something about whatever it is I am
looking for. I will be using GAME
model to help set my goals, which involve me setting Goals, taking Action to
achieve those goals, Monitoring the progress on achieving the goals I have set,
and finally Evaluating the progress on my goals (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer,
2009). So for this goal, I would
like to try and provide more opportunity for my student to use the Internet to
learn the content of my course.
This will provide opportunity for more self-directed learning, which I
feel will ultimately inspire creativity.
In order to achieve this goal, I will have to take time to bring my
students to the computer lab and cut down on the lecturing and direct
instruction, which is currently the my main method of instruction. In order to monitor the progress of
this goal, I will look at students’ assessment scores (both quizzes and tests)
in order to see how well students are doing with this new style of
learning. Finally, I will evaluate
the overall effectiveness of this goal to see if I will continue on with my
original plan, or make a change in order to improve on the process.
The second performance indicator that I am setting as a goal
falls under the third standard:
3. Model
Digital Age Work and Learning
c.
Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents,
and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats (International,
2008)
The main reason why I want to set this as a goal is because
I want to make things more convenient for all, which includes my students,
their parents, and myself. Part of
what I want to do to achieve this goal is to create a classroom website where I
can upload different kinds of classroom information. Whether it is class notes, homework assignments, tutorial
videos, or math help websites, I want a ‘central hub’ where my students can go
to access information for my class.
So my goal is to incorporate a classroom website where I can openly
communicate with students and their parents, as well as provide classroom
materials and math support. In order
to achieve this goal I will have to find a software that will allow me to
create a website. Next I will have
to upload various classroom documents and links to websites and videos for my
students. In order to monitor the
progress of this goal, I can periodically ask students if the website is
helpful or not, and also allow student to give feedback and suggestions on the
website to improve it if necessary.
Finally, I can evaluate all the input I get back from students and
parents to decide if the website is working or not, and also fix any flaws that
may have been pointed out along the way.
Resources
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 from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers
Ricky~
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. Your plan to design and implement a class website to address your second GAME plan seems entirely sound and reasonably argued from beginning to end. As an advocate of tech within the classroom myself, I find that I agree with much of your thoughts, as well; especially the latent potential such applications have to really motivate and extend my students’ learning in ways that truly address their varying needs/ levels. My school already enforces a policy that has each teacher create and maintain their own "class" portion of a larger "school" website they have designed through Edline.net. To this end, I have some experience with the tools you are looking to incorporate.
At present, I primarily use my class site to communicate daily homework/ project deadlines to parents a week at a time, as well as post digital copies of any major assignments for student/ parent access. One area I would love to see our site access expand to accommodate would be to allow for a comments area (similar to this one always present with a blog) so that students or parents could more readily communicate directly to me regarding a class issue/ question they might generally have. This is much like the “central hub” you cite.
Turning for a moment to your initial indicator/ goal, I wonder what resources you already have in your repertoire to allow your students to access your content via the Internet? A few sample tools/ websites you may recommend from previous experiences & successes would be appreciated and, while I teach Language Arts myself, I’d be happy to pay them forward to my peers in the Math dept. in a bid to share the wealth and press for better technological inclusion across the contents.
Thanks in advance. Cheers~
That is great that you have a website in place that you use regularly to communicate information to your students and parents. Our school also has a similar website system, where we have a major site for the entire district, then one for each school, and finally a page for each teacher. Now we are not required to use the website, although we are encouraged to, a few teachers have taken the opportunity to make it a 'central hub' type of website. I started to do this at the end of this past summer, but once school started, I no longer had time for it. All I managed to include in my website, thus far, is a section with some math help links. This was one of my major goals for the website, so I was happy that I was able to get at least that done. I used this section to include links to YouTube and Google (because they are great starting points for help with anything), a link to a couple free online graphing calculators, and also a link to Khan Academy, which is a great supplemental math resource. I would like to keep an updated calendar on my website as well as include assignments and class notes, but again I have other things that are necessary that eat up my time. I know I will eventually get it up and running, and I hope it will be beneficial when I do.
DeleteThanks,
Ricky
Ricky—
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful goal to set for yourself to make a classroom website for your students and parents. Does your district offer anything such as this? My school district gives all of us a homepage on which we can post assignments and information. Every year I begin with the intention of writing a blog and sticking to it. I will do the blog for a month or two, and then become swamped with other things. You are more than welcome to take a peek http://my.ccsd.net/mrsschaeffer/ as long as you promise not to judge that I have not done a blog update since October. The best laid plans right? Anyway, every teacher in our district has one of these and we are required to update them at least once a month. Our new principal has let that idea go by the wayside, but I still would love to have the time and energy to update it weekly. Have you experienced any use with Edmodo? The great thing I find about Edmodo is the fact that both parents and students can have access to the teacher’s page and communicate directly with the teacher. I use my Edmodo quite often and my students love the interface and the ease of use. I can send messages that will pop up in their email or as a notification (if they are turned on of course) on parent’s smart phones. Things can be scheduled to go out at certain days and times so if in the case that you become swamped (as we often are), you do not having to think about sending out the project update, or homework reminder because it was scheduled ahead of time. Prensky (2008) discussed the idea that it is the things and technologies students are using after school time that will most likely prepare them best for their futures. Your plans to tap into that through the use of a communicating classroom site will help them make the connection between their lives outside and inside of school.
Prensky, M. (2008). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40–45.
I have a very similar situation as far as website setup goes in my school district. I did take a look at your website, and I will say that you have made more progress than I have with mine! Good job with that, and I am hoping to find more time for mine, but like you said, I also get swamped. My website does not have the blog option that yours does. That seems like a feature that I would eventually like to have, because part of my goal is to open up communication outside of my classroom. I know there are many free blog websites that I could use, but it would be nice to have everything in one package.
DeleteThanks,
Ricky
Hello Ricky,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! You have a great plan to improve the two performance indicators. To provide more opportunities to use the internet, there are some great opportunities on this social network: http://www.classroom20.com/. As far as incorporating a class website, I think that’s a great idea as well. You could also use a wiki to accomplish the same effect. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2010) offered that a wiki is server software that allows students to collaborate as they quickly create and edit information online.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Wow, classroom 2.0 seems to have a lot of great information on it, as well as a great support system. I do like the idea of a class Wiki, especially for math, because it allows students to showcase their self-directed learning. By having a class Wiki, my students would be able to contribute source information on the topics that we are studying, which shows both understanding and ownership of the material.
DeleteThanks,
Ricky
Ricky,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your GAME plan. You describe your goals for meeting the standards very well. In the first one, I can only agree with you that one has to know what the outcome of technology is; if you do not know, the lesson will fail. Throughout the description, I was able to see how carefully you think through your lesson plans, yet open-minded to grow personally and professionally. I like the way you try to approach educational technology slowly but appropriately. Like you stated, educational technology has to be authentic if it is to be effective (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). Your GAME plan is reasonable and very similar to mine.
The second standard that you address is very intriguing. Parent-teacher-student communication plays a pivotal role in meeting the educational needs of the students. Today’s technologies offer a perfect opportunity to promote communication. Setting your goal to reach parents and students with a classroom site is a very good idea. I only wish I would have the opportunity to do so as well.
Great GAME plan and strategies in your post! Keep up the good work and determination to accomplish your goals.
Oscar
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer), (2010a). Promoting Creative Thinking with
Technology. [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_552936_1%26url%3D
Parents play a major role in their students' education, and the fact that math is a difficult subject for most students, parents need to be aware when their students is struggling and what they can to do help. Math takes practice, so part of why I want to open up communication with parents is to help them help their student. Even if the parent is not well versed in math, they should be checking on their student to see if they are completing and UNDERSTANDING their math homework when they have it, and helping them find resources if they are struggling. Education starts at home, then gets enriched when they come to school. Parents need to know how vital their role is to their student's success.
DeleteThanks,
Ricky