Saturday, December 17, 2011

GAME Plan Reflection

As I created my GAME plan at the beginning of this course, I was quite hesitant about using technology in the classroom as a way for students to reflect upon their learning. The reason for this is because my students do not have much experience nor opportunities to use technology in both their personal and academic lives. Throughout this course, as I have been implementing new technology tools, I have learned just how flexible, eager to learn, and adaptable my students truly are. I was surprised by how quickly every single student picked up on the technology tools and how they were able to use them effectively. In this process, I have learned and seen with my own eyes that technology can really "level the playing field" and reach out to every single student – no matter his/her academic level. There were still some challenges with my struggling readers because they could not read the websites so they required more guidance, but they were still able to be successful with the tools we used, such as the online graphic organizer, SpiderScribe. Along the way, I have revised the tools I used in my original GAME plan. I started with the idea of using VoiceThread, then changed to PowerPoint, and ended up using SpiderScribe. I think SpiderScribe has been a great starting point for my students. They are all progressing with the tool and are finding success in creating graphic organizers about what they have learned in Social Studies. I think from this point as we progress, we can start using other tools, such as PowerPoint and VoiceThread. I have learned that with a solid and straightforward introduction to these tools, students will naturally learn how to be successful with them.

I have made it my goal to incorporate some sort of technology tool into every unit and possibly most chapters, depending on the content and time we have. I have seen how much more engaged students are when technology plays a role in the learning. It is not just about me using technology to instruct them either, they want to be the creators as well. Using PowerPoint to teach them is definitely much more engaging than a plain lecture, but I think because I use it often, it too is becoming less engaging for them. We are moving in the direction where students need more hands-on opportunities, which is also where problem-based learning, social networking/online collaboration, and digital storytelling come into the picture. These sorts of strategies and tools require students to be in charge of their learning and I think I will find more success by integrating them into the classroom more often. I think if I stick with my goal of incorporating one of these tools/strategies into every unit and perhaps most chapters, I will see a difference in the classroom.