Monitoring the G.A.M.E.

As I monitor my G.A.M.E. plan I, realize that there is so much out there to experience and learn. I only am working on improving a few things, and the amount of information that is out there to support me in this is vast. The standard that I am working on developing is from the NETS-T.

 

NETS-T 1) Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

C) Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.

 

Researching this standard has proven to be very informative. There is a treasure trove of free online websites that promote collaboration. One website is Web2.0: Cool Tools For School. This website has a lists, links and descriptions of numerous tech tools that are broken down by type. On the list there are about fifty collaboration tools as well as non collaborative tools.  Finding this site was not hard and I was able to use the information on it immediately. After looking for resources and trying out some of these websites, I have found that my plan of action is pot on. I am trying to learn as many different technologies and programs that facilitate collaboration. One website I have gotten to like is called todaysmeet.com. It is a basic chat room site that anyone with a link can join. I practiced using it during a staff meeting to communicate with some colleagues about the absurdity of the meeting and realized that it would be a great site to use during a film as a back channel for discussion in real time. I am excited to try it with my students. By researching this standard, I have learned about a ton of different programs that are out there to use to promote collaboration among my student. I have learned that there are more web based programs than I have time to try out. The best I can do is to find out what I need and then to look for a program that will fit the need. Collaboration is a must for students to be good at. I need to find a program that will become the platform for our online community. I have looked at different wiki sites, edmodo.com and Wiggio.com. I have found that wiggio.com will give me the most bang for my buck. It has multiple ways to collaborate. Chat rooms, virtual workspace with video conferencing, conference calling, and the ability to hold a discussion board send mass emails and shared calendars and to do lists are just a few things it offers. Other sites like edmodo.com have many of these features, but not all of them in one place.  All of this trying of web tools have taken up a rather large amount of time that I just will not always have. I wonder how I will find time to really learn the material so that I can model it in a way that it gives them the boost to engage them in the new technology. Modeling how to use the website will give the students a way to compare their approach to the technology. (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009) I need to provide this comparison and if I do not have a full grasp of the technology they students will struggle to buy into it.

Although my game plan seems at times a very daunting process, it is coming together and I am learning a ton about how to use collaboration tools to foster thinking, planning and reflection. I will continue to carry out my G.A.M.E. Plan in hope to develop myself into a metacognitive guru that helps my students become self- directed learners.

References:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Intergration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards Based Approach. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Cooltoolsforschools - Collaborative Tools. (n.d.). Cooltoolsforschools - Collaborative Tools. Retrieved July 22, 2013, from http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Collaborative Tools