When I began the Integrating
Technology Across the Content Areas course
at Walden University I had no previous knowledge on the GAME plan. Throughout
this course, I have examined this strategy and followed the steps within this
plan. When I first set up my goals I wanted to incorporate more technologies while
supporting student learning in my classroom. Once I set up this goal I quickly
realized that digital technologies and authentic instruction go together very
well. "Authentic instruction incorporates real-world and complex
problems" while digital technologies are there to help students work
through those real world situations and problems (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009,
p. 35).
I incorporated a few new technologies, one being of them
being Skype. Through this program students were able to collaborate online with
students from another school. With such technologies "connections
are relatively instant, feedback is almost immediate, and rapid productivity is
observed" which allowed for seamless digital collaboration for
the students (Hargis & Wilcox, 2008, p. 14). This
worked out very well because students not only were able to use a new
technology but also enhance their understanding of the topic and collaborate
with peers in another school.
Students had to work on a problem-based situation and
develop a solution. They had to inquire about the topics they were working on
and explore possible solutions. As stated by Thornburg,
"inquiry addresses deeper issues" and the questions associated with
inquiry are not fact based or have simple yes or no answers they are involve a
deep thought process (Thornburg, 2004, p2). Technologies like Skype enabled
students to get other perspectives on their proposed solutions. While digital
story telling allowed them to present their final product and solution to the
problem they explored. Having
students learn through inquiry is essential.
As stated by Dr. Thornburg "inquiry addresses deeper issues"
and the questions associated with inquiry are not fact based or have simple yes
or no answers (Thornburg, 2004, p2). Inquiry lessons have students dig deeper into
the content and use their critical thinking and problem solving skills. "Critical
thinking skills are not practiced in isolation; instead, generating ideas and
refining them through analysis, synthesis, and evaluation takes place in the
context of responding to some challenge or opportunity" (Cennamo, et al., 2009, p. 44). Therefore, the lesson that
students are participating in becomes very challenging, engaging, authentic and
meaningful. I was able to see this while implementing my GAME Plan.
I plan to continue working on my GAME plan even after the
semester comes to a close and further incorporate new digital technologies. I
have seen how technologies can enhance lessons and make learning fun and
engaging for students as well. I was
truly impressed with how great a tool digital storytelling can be within the
classroom. There are so many possibilities that can be incorporated in digital
stories within the social studies content I will most definitely
be adding this much more within my classes. As a lifelong learner I "will
be responsible for locating learning opportunities and completing tasks to meet
my own learning goals" (Cennamo,
et al., 2009,
p. 1-2). Learning how to incorporate new technologies into my classroom with
definitely be a major focus.
References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology
integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach.
(Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage
Learning.
Hargis,
J., & Wilcox, S. M. (2008). Ubiquitous, free, and efficient online
collaboration tools for teaching and learning. Turkish Online Journal of
Distance Education, 9(4), 9–17. Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=6&sid=24e05c3d-ff54-4716-8cf4-0687c834678d%40sessionmgr10
Thornburg,
D. (2004). Inquiry: The art of helping students ask good questions (Executive
Briefing No. 402). Retrieved from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/inquiry.pdf
