Thursday, December 17, 2009

Getting Students in the GAME

The GAME plan process is a systematic strategy for actively setting goals and following a sequence of steps for achieving those goals. As detailed by Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer (2009), the GAME plan allows you to take control of your own learning by setting goals, taking action, monitoring your learning, and evaluating your progress. I used the GAME plan process to establish goals for learning about technology and technology resources. I selected two indicators from the National Education Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) as a focus for my GAME plan.

According to the National Education Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T), effective teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S). By concentrating my GAME plan on NETS-T standard 2a - teachers design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity, I will provide the resources, learning environment, and support necessary for students to achieve NETS-S standard 1a - students apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes, and standard 1b- students create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

By incorporating digital tools in a variety of learning activities such as Internet research, blogging, creating Power Points, wikis, concept maps, and timelines my students have been able to successfully address several NETS-S standards. With guidance and scaffold instruction, students could employ the GAME plan process to set goals for increasing their proficiency in many NETS-S standards. For example, I am currently designing a project-based biography project involving Internet research and group collaboration creating a wiki. My students could utilize the GAME plan process to set a goal and develop an action plan for their biography project. To monitor their progress, they could assign tasks to each member and create a project timeline with scheduled completion dates. Students would complete a self-evaluation to assess their learning outcomes at the end of the project. Their GAME plan could actually become an interactive piece of the wiki where all members can track and record their progress.

Setting goals and using a systematic process for achieving those goals is a crucial skill for all life-long learners. Goal setting will play an integral part in the future success of every student sitting in our classrooms. It is not something that comes naturally for most students. It must be taught, modeled, and reinforced.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

ISTE | National Educational Technology Standards. International Society for Technology in Education | Home. Retrieved December 13, 2009, fromhttp://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS

2 comments:

  1. Donnel,

    I like your ideas here, you have a really nice blog post. I agree that much of what we are already doing in the classroom meets many of the NETS standards. I relieved to find that much of what we do in the classroom is already on track, but with a few modifications it can be more effective, more engaging, and meet more local, state, and federal standards. This is one thing I like about the standards for students and teachers, it gives us some specific things to look for and address when using technology with our students. As always, I am finding that much of what I do is on track, and witha few modifications to my lessons, I can meet more of the technology standards.

    Again, nice post here. Thanks for pointing out what we, as teachers, are doing well and ways we can be better.

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  2. Donnel,

    I think what you said about goal setting not coming naturally is an important point that we need to remember as teachers. We have to guide our students and help them to set goals for themselves in their learning. As the teacher, it is also important that we provide the example and model for our students. I do think that there are some students that set goals for themselves but may have difficulty reaching those goals without the right direction.

    Emily

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