6715-final reflection

This course has helped me gain a better understanding of emergent, emerged, and divergent technologies and their impact on schools and learning. With new technologies continuously on the horizon and all of the technology that is already available, it’s critical that educators who are familiar with technology and it’s impact on learning, take leadership roles within their schools and guide their co-workers in implementing and feeling comfortable in using these technologies.
Implementing digital games such as Wolf Quest can engage and extend students knowledge of content material by students participating and being able to explore, survive, and adapt as wolves at the same time allowing students to communicate and collaborate as team members in wolf packs. These types of activities let students tap into their critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity skills. Students also are able to learn from and lead peers in applying content material related to the standards.
To help lead the influence into my school, I will need to make sure I stay informed on the latest and greatest technologies and research. I also need to continuously implement technology within my classroom so I am comfortable in exposing coworkers to these technologies and their benefits so they can employ them within their own classroom. More importantly, I will need to help ensure that administration is on board with the impact these technologies have on learning so interactive games and multimedia sites are not blocked.

Application 4

I used Rcampus to create a webpage to post the following presentation on Web-based Course Management Systems.

Copy and paste into the URL box-

http://www.rcampus.com/fsitehomeshellc.cfm?id=84392&rt=8&sms=home&xsite=joyethompson&nocache=1275258433614

Copy and paste into the URL box-

http://www.rcampus.com/fsitehomeshellc.cfm?id=84392&rt=8&sms=home&xsite=joyethompson&nocache=1275258433614

Final Reflection-6714

This course has really deepened my understanding of differentiation and the principles of UDL. By posting and collaborating on Ning, I have been able to gain resources to help me share the principles of UDL with my colleagues so they too will gain an understanding so they can aid the different learners that come to them each year. Using Ning with members of this class has given me resources from the web for conducting surveys for learning more about students’ interest, learning style, profile, and intelligences. I was also able to gain many on-line resources and activities. These will be valuable tools as I plan for differentiation based on readiness, content, and process.
Even though I incorporate technology often in my classroom, I have never used it with differentiating in mind. This will be an immediate adjustment that I will make. Technology with careful planning can make differentiating easier and easier to manage. Technology provides means of reaching all learning styles in conjunction with providing students and myself with immediate feedback and allowing for deeper learning to take place and richer products to be produced. I didn’t realize there were so many resources available for differentiation. I have been given valuable tools to help me encourage my students to be life long learners.

week 8-final reflection

The GAME plan has given me a new perspective in learning about technology and incorporating it into the classroom. I have realized that I can take the initiative to expand my professional growth in small steps without being overwhelmed in having to learn it and do it all at once. By doing this, I am allowed the opportunity to self-monitor and evaluate and reflect on the direction I am going to achieve my goals.
By having the opportunity to put into play a GAME plan to implement and learn new technology, I have learned that I can manage the time to learn a new tool and pass it on to my students so they may expand their creativity and desire in being a self-directed learner. I will continue to practice the GAME plan I have started and continue to learn new tools and effective ways to intertwine technology into the content areas I teach. I will also allow students the opportunity to participate in project-based learning activities so they can continue to grow and learn and employ the tools I have shared with them to express their knowledge of the content and their creative abilities.
There is so much out there and when I look at the big picture, I do become a bit intimidated. But, the GAME plan is a great method to accomplish this goal as any others you desire in the various aspects of your life. But more importantly, in the 2nd program of the DVD-Promoting Creative Thinking with Technology, Katherine Cennamo shares that we need innovated thinkers-those that can build upon problem-solving skills. She goes on to say creative thinkers need to be confident, motivated, persistent, and open-minded. Without continuing my professional knowledge and know how and building my own confidence in these skills, I will not be successful in instilling these components to my students.

week 7-standards

I think the best way to use the GAME plan to help students become proficient in the NETS-S standards is to post them, let the students be aware of what we are trying to accomplish in class and then introducing them to new tools and allowing them the opportunity to use them to create a product that relates to the content standards. The GAME plan can help the teacher and student work together in accomplishing these standards. When setting our goals for our GAME plan, I think it would be beneficial to make sure each of the NETS-S standards are intertwined in accomplishing a product. Students can use these standards to monitor and evaluate their project to make sure it involves each standard. Meanwhile, teachers need to be learning the new tools so they can teach them and model them while at the same time modeling and instructing digital ethics and responsibility. Teachers need to continue to learn and grow in this area to help students deepen their understanding of technology and how to use it to create meaningful products. I think the GAME plan I set forth in previous blogs allows for each of us-the students and teacher (me)-to learn and grow together and allow each of us to accomplish both the NETS-T and NETS-S standards. I think as we allow students to use technology to create and produce their own products and as we continue to model ethics and direction, we are automatically implementing these standards for students.

Week 6 evaluation

This week has been fun watching my students create PowerPoints and podcasts on their own. Last week we each student did either a powerpoint or podcast on the story elements of a story we read in class-with a lot of guidance and support. This week, many have wanted to do it again but on a book they read on their own. I have given little help in this and I can't wait to see the final products! As for myself, I have moved on to wikis. I did not set up the wiki for my learning community group-I didn't know how-so now I have been playing around with that so I can set one up for my students to do their next project. I am finding it a little more difficult than I thought it would be but I'll/we'll figure it out. I am pleased with the progress so far-it has been enjoyable except for the fact the students are competing with each other to use the class computers. I definitely am going to have to make a schedule for when we don't get the computer lab-it's hard to fit everyone in when we only have three computers! I must say I have gained more confidence myself in creating a podcast and powerpoint. I'm sure there is more in-depth techniques I can learn with both, but that will come with more practice.

Week 5 Evaluating GAME Plan

For my personal goal of learning one tool a week, I am on track. I have learned more about podcasting and with our upcoming wiki project, I have reviewed tutorials on wikis-next is voicethread. I have shown my students examples of podcasts and powerpoints and how to do them. We watched a video clip on story elements and students filled out their story element sheet on the story they selected to do their PowerPoint or podcast. Now it’s off to the computer lab. Everything went great. There were a few problems with the newer computers-we couldn’t get the jingle part of Garage Band to work. But I was pleased and the student really enjoyed it! I Hope to get everyone finished by Friday.
I have learned that there are many resources to help me reach my instructional goal and many resources available to help students find information and to keep them engaged in the learning process. There are still tools out there that I am not familiar with and tools that I have limited ability in putting into practice. I really want to have confidence in using these tools and be proficient in as many as possible-one tool at a time!

Monitoring My GAME Plan

I spent the last couple of days getting the computer lab ready for students to create a podcast. I was hoping to start this week but had a few set backs-not related to getting things ready. I found a great tutorial that shows students how to use garage band to create their podcast. I had originally stated that I would try to learn a new tool a week. This will be possible to do through tutorials and help of others, but I don’t think applying them in the classroom that often will be feasible. But, I can expose students to the tools I learned by showing them examples of others work and tutorials on how to use the tool. As for now, I think I am making progress. Being our next assignment is to create a wiki, it will be my tool to investigate next. I participated in one in a previous class and it took me a whole week to figure out how to add to a chart some else created. But that’s how I learn best, by doing. It may take me awhile to figure it out, but I will eventually. If you are in my group for this activity, I apologize now, but I will figure things out and do my best.

GAME Plan Resources

Resources for GAME plan


Some of the resources that would be beneficial to my students and myself would be the computer, experts or colleagues, and any tools students might need to create such as a video camera. To help me to become familiar with the different tools available and how to use them, I will definitely employ the Internet for tutorials. With all the information available, I’m sure I could find several on each tool. Most of the time though, when I am actually trying to manipulate the tool, things don’t always work out. That’s when I look for a colleague or someone that is familiar with the tool. Currently, I am not proficient in using Excel. When I have used it, I have always had someone to hold my hand. I recently try to use it on my own and totally did not accomplish anything. I have seen how beneficial it can be in graphing and I really want to use it with my students but I am just not there yet. I will definitely need to find someone proficient to help me when I do get confident enough to incorporate into the classroom. When learning a new tool, if I can’t find anyone to assist me, I know through Internet collaboration tools, I could find someone to be of aid. Students can also be a resource, but at the moment, I don’t have one that is proficient in using the various tools. I did at the beginning of the year, but they both moved. To get started on this adventure, my students will be creating a podcast next week.

My Personal GAME Plan

The two NETS-T indicators that I would like to focus my growth in strengthening my confidence and proficiency are:


1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and

a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity

The GAME plan

Goals: learn more about the digital tools and resource that are available to aid students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems and to use those tools to promote creativity and application of content.

Action: learn one new tool a week-2 depending on the tool- for six to ten weeks and incorporate it into a lesson to model for students its availability to explore issues and to solve problems. If appropriate, students will employ the new tool to create a project that will express their creativity and learning of content.

Monitor: make a chart/rubric of the tools applied. Make note if the tool was used appropriately, if it engaged students in exploring and solving problems, and were students able to use it to demonstrate their creativity and learning the content.

Evaluate and Extend: Review notes of each tool. Determine which tools the students seemed most engaged in learning and which tools helped students express their creativity more effectively. Use the results to determine which tools would be best for specific content learning and project-based activities.

Practicing these tools and skills in the classroom is the best way to become proficient. I feel it imperative that I feel and my students feel confident in using these tools before I can move ont to some of the other indicators. Any ideas to add would be appreciated!