Reflecting on Integrating Technology
As my class on Integrating Technology comes to close, and the school year is at its genesis; it is appropriate to take stock on the change that has taken place in my approach to learning. The main goals I had in my GAME plan (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2010) utilizing the ISTE NETS-T Standards (2008) were to develop a classroom website, model digital learning and citizenship, and become more proficient at the latest technological teaching tools.
I originally started a classroom website on Wikispaces (McVey, 2010a), but when I could not edit on the school computers I realized that I probably should switch websites, so I created another classroom website on Google Sites (McVey, 2010b). I have used this webpage everyday of the school year for the following operations: posting class agendas and goals, links to lesson resources, and attaching presentation and homework files used in the classroom. The webpage is really easy to create and modify, especially with all of the work that I have done with wikis and blogs because of my master’s degree program. I am sure that the website will be more useful for my students as the year goes on, but right now it is invaluable to me in conducting the day to day operations of my classroom.
By conducting class in person and online, I am sharpening my digital learning and teaching skills. I have found that posting what I do in my classroom on the internet makes it public and provides a real-world audience that holds me accountable for my work. Whenever I do something online, I try to show and model for my students how and why I am doing what I am doing. This way my class becomes even more driven on student 21st Century skill development (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2010). I am really stressing in my classes that success in life is a work in progress. The skeleton of a website I have now will transform into a beautiful, useful virtual gathering place with both style and substance.
This journey into integrating technology into my lessons also includes adopting the latest in technology. I received training in Smart Response systems, and now I am very comfortable with using this interactive assessment tool on any given day in the class. My students seemed to enjoy taking formative quizzes with these remotes and did not object to potentially using it as a summative assessment tool. Another tool that I just learned how to use and even demonstrated to social studies department is Prezi (2010). Prezi gives teachers and students the opportunity to create a presentations in an interactive virtual blank space that uses panning, and zooming to make presentations. I have received excellent feedback from my students and colleagues about this tool, and I plan to use it on a regular basis for presenting information in an engaging way.
By developing a unit plan on integrating technology into my teaching of the Great Depression, I am very confident that I can maximize the technology available to me to create dynamic learning experiences suited for all learners. It is exciting to empower people to skillfully produce and consume information in this changing world.
Paul
High School Social Studies
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS•T). Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
McVey, P. (2010a). Paul McVey’s class website. Retrieved August 8, 2010 from http://mcveysclass.wikispaces.com/.
McVey, P. (2010b). Paul McVey’s Lessons website. Retrieved August 22, 2010 from https://sites.google.com/site/mcveyslessons/
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2010). Partnership for 21st Century Skills homepage. Retrieved August 22, 2010 from http://p21.org/
Prezi Inc. (2010). Prezi home page. Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://prezi.com/your/
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
"NETS" for Teachers and Students
"NETS" for Teachers and Students
It is fitting that the National Educational Technology Standards acronym is “nets” because it indeed is something that if followed will serving as a tool to ‘catch’ and process important information in the vast that ocean that is the internet.
The International Society for Technology in Educations provides standards to facilitate better implementation of technology for both teachers and students, both the NETS-T and the NETS-S provide the structure necessary to promote excellence in classroom technology usage (ISTE, 2008). A summary of the standards for students are: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts. Through my technology GAME plan (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2010) will help students develop in each of those standards (ISTE, 2007).
By developing a classroom website and becoming a equipped with technology skills like Smart Response systems, I am modeling creativity and innovation to my students. I am adapting my teaching practices, with the idea that these tools will help students learn better. As I equip myself with these skills, I can train my students to use them as well. I cannot expect my students create their own websites or collaborate on a wiki if I do not do these things myself. Much of what I have learned in Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas has been associated with providing students with the learning experiences to unleash their creativity, particularly digitally.
One of the main reasons I chose the goal of developing a classroom website is to increase communication with my students. My success as a teacher depends upon the clarity in which I am able to deliver lessons. The website provides an environment where students can check in to see what we have done, are doing, and will be doing. As I build on my class website, I will give students a chance to process what they are learning through the use of blogs and wikis. Thus my students will be able to “interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media” (ISTE, 2007).
My second main goal was to “Model Digital Age Work and Learning” (ISTE, 2008). By modeling and explaining proper behavior in online conversations and research, students will see what it means to consume and produce information in an ethical way. This corresponds with the NETS-S Standard 3 Research and Information Fluency (ISTE, 2007) and NETS-S Standard 5 Digital Citizenship. Many of the activities that we will undergo in the digital-friendly classroom revolve around reading and researching using online sources, how students compile that information into new products such as digital stories is of the utmost importance.
The activities that teachers design when integrating technology place the teachers in more of a role of a guide, where the students will be place in a variety of decision making situations through the use of simulations, web quests, and product development. Whenever students are asked to create and innovate, they will have to critically think. Sometimes that means troubleshooting through technology skills and applying previously learned technology skills to new applications (ISTE, 2007).
Lao Tzu is attributed with the famous quote “give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime” (Tzu, ?). Technology with “NETS” in mind certainly is putting the latter part of the quotation into practice.
Paul
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS•T). Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
Tzu, L. (?). Lao Tzu Quotes. Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/laotzu121559.html
It is fitting that the National Educational Technology Standards acronym is “nets” because it indeed is something that if followed will serving as a tool to ‘catch’ and process important information in the vast that ocean that is the internet.
The International Society for Technology in Educations provides standards to facilitate better implementation of technology for both teachers and students, both the NETS-T and the NETS-S provide the structure necessary to promote excellence in classroom technology usage (ISTE, 2008). A summary of the standards for students are: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts. Through my technology GAME plan (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2010) will help students develop in each of those standards (ISTE, 2007).
By developing a classroom website and becoming a equipped with technology skills like Smart Response systems, I am modeling creativity and innovation to my students. I am adapting my teaching practices, with the idea that these tools will help students learn better. As I equip myself with these skills, I can train my students to use them as well. I cannot expect my students create their own websites or collaborate on a wiki if I do not do these things myself. Much of what I have learned in Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas has been associated with providing students with the learning experiences to unleash their creativity, particularly digitally.
One of the main reasons I chose the goal of developing a classroom website is to increase communication with my students. My success as a teacher depends upon the clarity in which I am able to deliver lessons. The website provides an environment where students can check in to see what we have done, are doing, and will be doing. As I build on my class website, I will give students a chance to process what they are learning through the use of blogs and wikis. Thus my students will be able to “interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media” (ISTE, 2007).
My second main goal was to “Model Digital Age Work and Learning” (ISTE, 2008). By modeling and explaining proper behavior in online conversations and research, students will see what it means to consume and produce information in an ethical way. This corresponds with the NETS-S Standard 3 Research and Information Fluency (ISTE, 2007) and NETS-S Standard 5 Digital Citizenship. Many of the activities that we will undergo in the digital-friendly classroom revolve around reading and researching using online sources, how students compile that information into new products such as digital stories is of the utmost importance.
The activities that teachers design when integrating technology place the teachers in more of a role of a guide, where the students will be place in a variety of decision making situations through the use of simulations, web quests, and product development. Whenever students are asked to create and innovate, they will have to critically think. Sometimes that means troubleshooting through technology skills and applying previously learned technology skills to new applications (ISTE, 2007).
Lao Tzu is attributed with the famous quote “give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime” (Tzu, ?). Technology with “NETS” in mind certainly is putting the latter part of the quotation into practice.
Paul
References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007.htm
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS•T). Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
Tzu, L. (?). Lao Tzu Quotes. Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/laotzu121559.html
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Revising my Technology Game Plan
Revising my Technology GAME Plan
My GAME Plan is going well. I have made great progress on “modeling digital-age work and learning” through developing a classroom Website on Wikispaces (ISTE, 2008). I have created a nice home page, a page for Life Lessons which will be character development and inspirational lessons I will incorporate on a daily basis, U.S. and World History pages where I will post schedules and assignments, and links to great history websites. The address for my website is http://mcveysclass.wikispaces.com/ (McVey, 2010). I am excited about streamlining my delivery, and organization of lessons by using a website, but I am most excited about the increased communication that will take place with my students, including the use of asynchronous discussion through blogs, and wikis.
My second goal is to Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility (ISTE, 2008). By publishing a website, I am holding myself accountable to being professional with how give credit to resources. I will post lessons and resources I use online, so students, parents, and administrators will know what is going on in my classroom. This will make me a more responsible teacher. I am excited about having a place where students can access class information without having to get it all from me in person. If they miss a day of class, I can just tell them to go to the website and download what they missed. This will place more responsibility on the student and make my classroom more student-centered. Also, through the use of wikis and blogs, students will be placed a situation where they will have to communicate in a responsible and school-appropriate way, and I will have to model those discussions, and teach them what is acceptable and unacceptable in online discourse.
The next goal I will work towards is ISTE Standard 5: “Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership” (2008). As I work to perfect the use of a classroom website and using Smart Response remotes in my classroom, I will need to consult other teachers on how they use these and other technology tools in the classroom. In addition, I will become more of an advocate for technology and show other teachers how easy and effective it can be for them to develop websites of their own, and make use of Smart Response remotes for formative and summative assessments.
I am very pleased with how my next goal will become a practical application to and extension of my initial technology integration goals. Developing a website and becoming more proficient at using technology tools have been milestones on my journey towards becoming a master teacher.
Paul
References:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S). Retrieved July 9, 2010 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
McVey, P. (2010). Paul McVey’s class website. Retrieved August 8, 2010 from http://mcveysclass.wikispaces.com/.
My GAME Plan is going well. I have made great progress on “modeling digital-age work and learning” through developing a classroom Website on Wikispaces (ISTE, 2008). I have created a nice home page, a page for Life Lessons which will be character development and inspirational lessons I will incorporate on a daily basis, U.S. and World History pages where I will post schedules and assignments, and links to great history websites. The address for my website is http://mcveysclass.wikispaces.com/ (McVey, 2010). I am excited about streamlining my delivery, and organization of lessons by using a website, but I am most excited about the increased communication that will take place with my students, including the use of asynchronous discussion through blogs, and wikis.
My second goal is to Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility (ISTE, 2008). By publishing a website, I am holding myself accountable to being professional with how give credit to resources. I will post lessons and resources I use online, so students, parents, and administrators will know what is going on in my classroom. This will make me a more responsible teacher. I am excited about having a place where students can access class information without having to get it all from me in person. If they miss a day of class, I can just tell them to go to the website and download what they missed. This will place more responsibility on the student and make my classroom more student-centered. Also, through the use of wikis and blogs, students will be placed a situation where they will have to communicate in a responsible and school-appropriate way, and I will have to model those discussions, and teach them what is acceptable and unacceptable in online discourse.
The next goal I will work towards is ISTE Standard 5: “Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership” (2008). As I work to perfect the use of a classroom website and using Smart Response remotes in my classroom, I will need to consult other teachers on how they use these and other technology tools in the classroom. In addition, I will become more of an advocate for technology and show other teachers how easy and effective it can be for them to develop websites of their own, and make use of Smart Response remotes for formative and summative assessments.
I am very pleased with how my next goal will become a practical application to and extension of my initial technology integration goals. Developing a website and becoming more proficient at using technology tools have been milestones on my journey towards becoming a master teacher.
Paul
References:
International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S). Retrieved July 9, 2010 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
McVey, P. (2010). Paul McVey’s class website. Retrieved August 8, 2010 from http://mcveysclass.wikispaces.com/.
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