Developing my GAME plan was more than just incorporating technology into the classroom. For me, the process really gave me a chance to practice self directed learning in a form that I had never experienced before. The whole act of self-directed learning stems from an individuals gain in knowledge, skill, or personal development that came about by their individual efforts at any point in time (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009). Although I have had my own inquiries about information, and was able to find that information through my own research methods, I had never developed a step-by-step plan to seek out information. The development of a GAME plan requires an individual to have a specific topic they would like to understand. After setting a Goal, the individual must take action in completing this goal, all the while monitoring their progress towards the achievement of this goal, and finally evaluating whether or not they have reached their goal (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009).
The GAME plan that I developed forced me to incorporate blogging into my curriculum as a form of technology integration. Prior to this course, I really had very little interest or use for blogging, but I quickly found out its amazing powers. I have always struggled with getting my students to write and as my state begins to take on new standards for literacy, the ability to engage my students in meaningful writing is becoming increasingly important. I have always thought that my students were extremely motivated to use technology, so when I developed my GAME plan I wanted to try and use technology to motivate my students towards doing something they do not like. According to Lee and Young (2011), “blogs are not intended to be spaces for formal writing, but rather they are designed for compact and causal writing that concisely communicates an idea or position (pg. 9). After signing my students up to post on a blogging site, I had my students post a blog describing the step-wise process of drawing Bohr’s models from only knowing an elements name. After students initial post, they were responsible for commenting on two classmates’ blogs with the intention of helping them strengthen their directions. Students would then re-write their directions after responding to each others and taking into account what their classmates have said about their own directions. I found that students really devoted a lot of effort in their blogs and seemed to be quite motivated in writing. I also noted that the blog strengthened all students’ step-wise directions from their initial post to their final post. It also seemed to solidify the process of drawing Bohr’s models for each student.
As I move forward with incorporating technology into my curriculum, I think it is important to remember that technology should not be used solely as a teaching tool (New, 2005). Prior to taking that large step towards technology as a teaching tool, we must first educate our students on becoming self-directed learners and the steps that are required to reach that status. I personally know that as I incorporate more technology into my curriculum, I will use it as a way to enrich learning and motivate students to becoming better learners. As time goes on, I will make advancements in teaching them to become self-directed learners through the development of their own GAME plans. Now that I have a solid understanding of developing and completing a GAME plan, I feel that the incorporation of any technology into my own curriculum, technologies such as: problem-based learning, social networking, and digital storytelling, should be an easy task with a proper understanding of what I am accomplishing and the correct GAME process mapped out.
References
Cennamo, k., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Lee, J., & Young, C., (2011). Building wikis and blogs: Pre-service teacher experiences with web-based collaboration technologies in an interdisciplinary methods course. THEN: Technology Humanities Education & Narrative, (8), 8-37. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=13&hid=107&sid=f1eb964f-7481-4a87-9996-e6c60cbdb31d%40sessionmgr112
New, J. (2005, December 2). How to use digital storytelling in your classroom. Retrieved from the Edutopic website: http://www.edutopia.org/use-digital-storytelling-classroom.
