Getting in the G.A.M.E.

As I continue the hunt for those precious gems of technology and groups who are using them the progress is slower than I thought.  The main reason is not that I cannot find anything, but that I am finding too much.  My searches bring back memories of the Bing commercials from a few years back related to search overload.  For fun (and practice) you can watch a few in the following YouTube video Bing: Cure for the Search Overload (Teccom747, 2009):

In looking for the right programs, blogs, and communities I have been sorting through suggestions from classmates, colleagues, and stuff I have found through search engines.  Now, I am working more about narrowing down the searches and finding the best, most useful stuff.  The following is a synopsis of my findings thus far.

Standard 1c) “Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes” (ISTE, 2008).

Last week I discussed collecting all of my findings in a document on Google Drive.  The goal of this is to allow a place where I can store my findings and research in a way that I can easily share it with others and allow other to add to it as well.  I have set up the basics and thrown a few resources on a document, but am not quite prepared to open it up to the public.  More to come here.

Speaking of Google Drive, last week Hansen (2012a) directed me towards the specific use of Google Groups.  My research into it is limited, but essentially, groups can be set up based on invitation or interest and members correspond using threaded discussion.  As the discussions can be public or private, it is another interesting piece of software to add to our collaborative arsenal.  Check out Hansen’s blog for more updates at They Just Call Me “Hansen” (Hansen, 2012b)

Another classmate, Brunswick (2012) also directed me to a great blog that often has information about collaborative tools.  The blog is called Blogging about the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom (Anderson, 2012).  I actually like enough of the content in this blog that I linked it on my own blogs home page (over on the left under My Blog List).  There are many useful tips on how to use technology for all sorts of things, including collaboration.  This is the type of resource I am looking for to enhance my own knowledge of the tools available.

While clicking through several other educational technology sites and blogs I came across another gold nugget that I will share.  In a blog post titled 50 Free Collaboration Tools That Are Awesome for Education (Accredited Online Colleges, 2010), you find a list of exactly what the title says.  It is broken down into five groups of ten sources each by category of what you would like to accomplish.  Examples are completing Group Projects, Social Networking, and Note taking.  Many of the programs are ones you have heard of before, like Wikispaces and Twitter. However, there is a large list of software I have not heard of that seem very useful too.  Though geared for college-aged students, almost all of these look feasible in high school classrooms.

Although I am finding good resources, they are more in the form of databases.  The piece I am still missing is finding a community to belong to and communicate with.  I understand that blogs are a form of community and that by subscribing and commenting you are becoming part of that.  However, not being in a classroom right now I crave a little more communication than that.  Any suggestions on where to look?  Or even what media format would be good to search through?

Standard 2b) “Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress” (ISTE, 2008).

Educational technology is often multifaceted.  The same goes for resources associated with educational technology.  Many of the resources I have mentioned in relation to the last standard are also useful here.  One distinction I mentioned in last week’s post is that this standard seems to tie in very well with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). (see Sticking with my G.A.M.E. Plan for more details)  Therefore, I wanted to specifically seek out resources and communities that link UDL and educational technologies.

One great source I found is a blog called Universally Designed: AT, IT and UDL Tips and Tricks (Universally Designed, 2012).  It would have been nice to find this last week when we were studying UDL, but it is still superb.  It gives you excellent walk-throughs of technologies and techniques.  Some posts even have step-by-step photo tutorials with screenshots.  Another feature that is not as common as it should be in blogs, is the ability to search posts by category.  For example, you can look for Apps, Instructional Strategies, UDL, and more.  Well worth your time to check out.

Again here, I would like to find a more interactive community.  I also need to look through and pick out some specific tools and strategies to try when I get back into a classroom again.  I am creating a database on Google Drive with this category as well, though I have both of my resources in the same document as of now due to their relatedness.   Any more resources or advice would be greatly appreciated.  

Resources:

Accredited Online Colleges (2010, April 7). 50 Free collaboration tools that are awesome for education (Web log post). Retrieved September 25, 2012 from http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com/blog/2010/50-free-collaboration-tools/

Anderson, S. (2012). Blogging about the web 2.0 connected classroom (Web log). Retrieved from http://blog.web20classroom.org/

Brunswick, S. (2012, September 23). Sticking with my G.A.M.E. plan (Web log reply). Retrieved from http://hiscitech.blogspot.com/2012/09/sticking-with-my-game-plan.html

Hansen, R. (2012a, September 23). Sticking with my G.A.M.E. plan (Web log reply). Retrieved from http://hiscitech.blogspot.com/2012/09/sticking-with-my-game-plan.html

Hansen, R. (2012b). They just call me “Hansen” (Web log).  Retrieved from http://justhansen.blogspot.com/

ISTE (2008). NETS-T. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

Teccom747 (2009, June 8). Bing: Cure for the search overload. Retrieved September 25, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAwUUgnBhCU&feature=related

Universally Designed (2012). Universally Designed: AT, IT and UDL Tips and Tricks (Web log). Retrieved from http://www.systemsofsupport.org/udlblog/

Sticking with my G.A.M.E. Plan

This week we are supposed to describe the progress we have made on our G.A.M.E. plan.  If you look at the picture below, you will see the progress I have made.  On Friday morning, my wife and I had a beautiful baby boy whom we named Kasen.  Came into the world a whopping 9 lbs. 1 oz. and 22 inches long, making it a stressful delivery (are any not?).  However, all are doing well now and we are settling in nicely.

Between him and my two-year-old daughter, Aubree, we have had our hands pretty full since we first submitted our G.A.M.E. plan.  Therefore, in terms of progress there has been none, so this post will contain more about what I need to do rather than what has been done.  Without further ado, let us look at the ISTE (2008) standards I have chosen and discuss how to move forward.

Standard 1c) “Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes” (ISTE, 2008).

Action Plan: The only way to learn about how to teach collaboration is to collaborate myself.  As I am not currently teaching, this poses a small problem.  The solution is to become a part of an online community.  As Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) explain, the web is exceptional resource for teacher collaboration.  To reach my goal of learning how to incorporate collaborative technology in my classroom, I am going to have to branch out and find (or start) an online community that is focused on that.  My goal is to find at least one online community that I can participate in and contribute to with the goal of learning how to better incorporate collaborative technologies into our classrooms.   I will also be looking for other resources such as blogs, current articles, and YouTube videos on the topic. I am going to avoid printed books, as they seem to date themselves quickly with the speed at which technology is moving.

Additional Info/Monitoring:  As I find resources and groups to help me achieve my goal I need to have a place to compile my findings for further research and ease of use.  Originally, I was thinking that a word document would suffice.  However, I am now thinking that would be selfish as my findings would only be for my eyes.  I am now thinking of using a form of Google Docs (now Google Drive) that I can make public and link to my blog or teaching website.  This would allow others to view and modify what I have found, which fits the spirit of collaboration I am looking for in the first place.  

Standard 2b) “Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress” (ISTE, 2008).

Action Plan:  As I look at this standard, the first thing that pops into my mind is how closely it relates to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that we have looked at through this week’s resources.  Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) discus the benefits of UDL when they explain: “the more flexible the teaching strategies, materials, and assessments you use in a classroom, the more accessible they will be to the diverse needs and preferences of all the students” (p 117).  (For more information on UDL check out http://www.cast.org/udl)  In my opinion, UDL mimics the goals of Standard 2b, in that it is encouraging flexibility in how students learn and what they use to demonstrate that learning, and flexibility translates into more student autonomy over time.

In terms of resources, I am still going to look for online resources where teachers demonstrate this flexibility within their classes.  Much like the first standard I am looking at (1c), I will also be looking for online communities, blogs, articles, and videos demonstrating just that.  However, I will now be searching through the lens of UDL.

Additional Info/Monitoring:  I would like to create an online “diary” of my applications using a blog.  In this way, I will keep track of what I am doing while encouraging input and support from a global community. Additionally, I will create a living document, like the one described in the first standard, where I can keep track of and share the resources I find. 

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.

ISTE (2008). NETS-T. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

 

Pitler, H., Hubbel, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Denver, CO: McREL.

Creating a G.A.M.E. Plan

This week we began deciding our own GAME plan based on Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer’s (2009) advice on becoming self-directed learners when it comes to technology integration in our classrooms.  To begin this process we were asked to look at the International Society for Technology in Education’s(ISTE) standards for educators which are known as the NETS-T (ISTE, 2008).  From these we were asked to reflect upon our teaching and skills and select two indicators which we could use some strengthening and confidence.  Below I have listed my chosen two and created a basic GAME plan for each. 

1c) “Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes” (ISTE, 2008).

Goals – The key part to this indicator is the “using collaborative tools.”  Now, using them just for the sake of using them does not do anything but waste valuable class time.  However, using them with the purposes described within this indicator can greatly increase student learning and engagement.  I already have a list of software tools that I have seen used for collaborative efforts among students, both within and across classrooms.  However, I would like to know more about the actual structure of lessons incorporating these tools.  For example, I know blogs are a good tool to use for student collaboration and I have seen how we use them in our class, but thinking about actually implementing that with my students with limited access to crowded computer labs is another story. 

Action – What I will be looking for in terms of information are more detailed descriptions of the way other teachers have implemented this.  Rather than the examples we often get through our class resources which basically explain what the technology is and how it helped students learn, I would like to see lesson plans describing things like how students were grouped, how often they posted, and how they were graded.  One resource I will look for is teacher blogs and descriptions of what they did.  I believe this may have to be outside of the realm of published papers as there are often too many criteria in published work for the amount of detail I desire.  Another resource is going to be finding other teachers, or communities of teachers, who are already implementing such skills.

Monitor – In order to monitor my progress, I will keep a log of any resources I find.  These resources will include people, and communities of people.  I will also be on track if I start actually developing my own lessons based on my research and work towards implementation.  Through this, I will be able to pick up patterns of what successful implementation looks like. 

Evaluation – Ideally, I will know if I succeeded after I have successfully implemented a lesson or two using collaborative technology within my own class.  However, with no current classroom and a new baby boy coming in the next 48 hours, this is going to be put on hold for a little while.  Instead, I will have to determine whether I feel ready to implement the lesson as opposed to actually doing it.  In terms of a learning community, this may mean giving advice rather than just taking it after researching online.  It will also mean that I have a solid document I have created based on my research that has all of the best practices I have discovered that is ready to go when I am in a position to implement this with students.

 2b) “Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress” (ISTE, 2008).

Goals – Like the last one, this indicator also has many different facets.  The part I would like to focus on is the piece on students pursuing “their individual curiosities.”  Now, success in that means having them set goals, manage their learning, and assessing their progress, thereby requiring the rest if the indicator.  However, I just want to focus initially on how to design projects that target the core content while allowing for student’s personal taste to be part of their work in terms of topic and delivery.  My goals here are very similar to the goals with the other standard above, and I actually believe that they can be learned together, especially when thinking about a learning community.

Action – My action plan is essentially the same as the previous indicator.  One key difference would be the added benefit of finding a learning community focused on biology, or at least science, so I could see specifically what type of lessons they are doing.  This would also allow for more overlap in content and resources. 

Monitor – My plan for monitoring is also very similar to standard 1c.  One note I would add is that this indicator seems as if it would be easier to work into with projects I have already designed, offering more freedom and presentation options as students advance and I feel more comfortable with the flexibility.  A journal of my implementation would be beneficial, as it will allow me to reflect on the pro and cons of my lesson planning decisions which I can build upon in the future.

Evaluate – All of my sentiments from the first indicator are shared here as well.  However, this standard seems easier to work into slowly as opposed to requiring everything to be in place.  I will know when I am meeting my goals when I am able to pass on information and advice to others based on my experiences.  On issue with each of these standards is that you can never truly master them, rather you can just keep getting better at how you do them.

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.

ISTE (2008). NETS-T. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers