As
I complete this class, Integrating Technology Across Content Areas, I am reflecting
on what I have learned and the immediate applications that learning will have
on my classroom. Through the use of the
GAME Plan template, I have focused my lessons around setting goals, taking
action, monitoring my lesson and the students’ learning, and evaluating and
extending my lesson (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010). I have sectioned my
learning into two main categories: using
the GAME Plan and integrating technology across content areas.
The
template of the GAME Plan allowed me to neatly focus my teaching and reminded
me of the essentials of a good lesson that integrates technology into my
classroom. I chose to focus on two main
areas of the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education)
Standards: engage
students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using
digital tools and resources and design or adapt relevant learning
experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student
learning and creativity (ISTE, 2008).
What I would like to do to further my education and develop my teaching
is to incorporate different standards and continue to try new strategies to
relate to my learners. As I completed my
GAME Plan lessons, I realized that although using new technologies captured
student interest, using ones that were more familiar to them eases
frustration. Guhlin(2007) cited several
older technologies that still met our requirement for incorporating digital
storytelling, but I will continue to look for new ones. While PowerPoint and
Google Presentation were two platforms they were familiar with, VoiceThread was
not, and students with less confidence in trying new modes were more
comfortable with what they knew. In the
future, I will continue to monitor my lessons carefully as I balance pushing
new technology with making sure the objective can be met and not overwhelm my
students. One of my favorites from this class is the digital story
telling. In my opinion, it blends the ideas of social networking such as Vine
and Instagram nicely without putting me as a teacher in a difficult position
with social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook that my students do
not have access to at school. I find the comic strip format an outstanding way
to summarize using not only photos but words.
Even
though our text was divided among the various content areas when it came to
giving specific suggestions for the implementation of the GAME Plan, with the
use of Problem Based Learning (PBL), I realize more than ever the ease and
importance of integrating more than one content area into as many lessons as
possible. I would even add a category
into the GAME Plan template to document the various content areas that the
lesson covers. Showing students the connectivity
and relevance of what one class does in relation to others and more global issues
is important to me, and in the future I would like to do more of that. It fits into the International Baccalaureate
Middle Years Program (IB MYP) format our school is adopting and is very timely
and pertinent to the diverse student population at my school.
Integrating
Technology Across Content Areas has added one more piece to my teaching repertoire
as I have studied the GAME Plan template and learned new ways to integrate
technology into my classroom that connects students, content material, and
global learning. While my students and I
have honed some of our skills with tools we have used before, we have also
tried new technologies. Some lessons
were met with greater success than others, but monitoring what worked and what
needs improvement will not be difficult and analyzing the results will allow me
to set new goals.
References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology
integration for meaningful classroom
use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Guhlin, M. (2007). Web-based tools for creating
digital stories and more. TechEdge,
27(1), 26–
28.
International
Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education standards for
teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved fromhttp://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers
