Tuesday, October 19, 2010

NETS-S and GAME Plans

I have always considered myself a student of learning. How is it possible to teach students without having a clear understanding of their position as learners? Creating my own GAME plan allowed me to break up the learning process into small, manageable steps. Effectively utilizing technology in the classroom can be overwhelming and frustrating in the beginning stages due to the unknown and period of simple trial and error. Welcome to the world of our students.

Effective teachers support student learning when they “model and apply the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S) as they design, implement, and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; enrich professional practice; and provide positive models for students, colleagues, and the community” (ISTE 2007). Encouraging students to use the GAME plan to create goals, create a plan of action, monitor, and evaluate teaches students that learning is an on-going process and never is complete. Through technology, teachers and students now have the capabilities to extend learning far beyond the walls of a classroom.

The GAME plan lends itself well to problem-based learning. Here the students could create a goal based on a problem. By asking essential questions, the students can develop a plan to find a solution to their problem. Throughout the process, the students would be asked to monitor their progress and determine if changes need to be made to the plan. Finally, the students would be asked to evaluate the end result, reflect upon what they learned throughout the process, and determine if follow up steps are needed. Utilizing the GAME plan format encourages students to become conscious of their decisions as learners.

The NETS-S promote utilizing technology to teach creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations (ISTE 2008). Each of these skills can be practiced when technology is used to find a solution to a problem-based lesson designed using the GAME plan.

References:

http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx

http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx

1 comment:

  1. Erika,

    This is a very nice overall reflection of what we have learned and embraced throughout this course. What age appropriate problem do you think you might tackle with a GAME plan, technology integration and your classroom?

    Robyn

    ReplyDelete