Week 8 Reflection

Over the last eight weeks I have spent time learning how to integrate technology into my teaching and set professional goals to help me become a better educator with technology. The GAME plan for self-directed learning has been the strategy I used to set and follow through on my goals. As I went through the process of setting, acting, monitoring, and evaluating my goals for professional development with technology, I recorded each step on a blog. According to Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009), this type of reflection supported my learning and helped keep me on track with my plan. I found, even more than the actual goals I achieved, I gained a lot from the process of the GAME plan. By writing each week on the blog about what I had already done and planning what to do next, I was more conscious than I have ever been about the status of my goals. Additionally, the support and suggestions from colleagues kept me motivated to fulfill the goals I had set. Consequently, I was able to make progress on both of my goals. I was able to “model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning” through the creation of a website evaluation checklist that my students and I now use (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). Over the long-term I hope this will result in students who are more critical of the information they consume. I also began the process of “participat[ing] in local and global learning communities” to explore the use of my new IWB (International Society for Technology in Education, 2008). Although I still have a few steps left to complete this goal, I am confident I will complete it because of the practice I have had in monitoring and evaluating my goals over these last weeks. I am now a more self-directed learner, a necessary skill for technology which Cennamo reminds us constantly changes (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). Keeping up with educational technology will require that I continue to develop as a self-directed learner. This will make me a more relevant and effective teacher who can adequately prepare students for the skills required for the 21st century.

As a result of this course there are two specific areas in which I will be immediately applying my new knowledge about technology integration in the content areas. The first is the evaluation of information component from my GAME plan. The website evaluation checklist I created is going to be an ongoing requirement for both myself and students. Secondly, I will be delivering the content area unit plan that I wrote. This plan includes effective teaching techniques and tools like problem-based learning, digital stories, and online collaboration. Due to my work in this course I am ready to tackle lessons like that and hopefully make them an integral part of my instructional practice. Despite the fact that I came into this course without any knowledge of digital stories, I am now prepared to use them with my students, along with other unfamiliar digital tools. I know that I just need to keep working to find tools that will help my students learn. (I need another GAME plan!)

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 of Technology in Education. (2008). NETS for Teachers. Retrieved January 10, 2011, from http://www.iste.org/Libraries/PDFs/NETS_for_Teachers_2008_EN.sflb.ashx
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Promoting Self-Directed Learning with Technology. [Motion Picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). Learning for the 21st century: A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved April 4, 2010, from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/downloads/P21_Report.pdf