G.A.M.E.

A G.A.M.E. plan must include 4 major parts: 1) Setting a Goal 2) Decide on Actions to take 3) Monitor your actions and 4) Evaluate the results of the actions taken.

My G.A.M.E. plan surrounds the National Educational Technology Standards for Students and how I as a teacher will be implementing a section of the standards to support the students in their growth as 21st century students using 21st century skills.

The Goal I have chosen is to Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. One thing that happens in today's developed nations is that "today's kids grow up in the light. They're deeply immersed in it (technology) long before educators ever see them" (Prensky 2008). The technology allows students access to any information they might be curious about concerning the past or present world. This turns the light on to their own enlightenment. Prensky suggests that as students enter the today's classroom they are asked to "power down" and turn off their connection to the "light" as cell phones and technology are used much less in the classroom than what students naturally experience in their every day lives. My goal is to address this discrepancy in my classroom by providing more learning experiences and assessments that include technology that mirrors or enhances what the students are experiencing outside of the classroom.

Actions I have chosen to meet this goal include weekly research into new programs that teachers are incorporating in the classroom. Using computers 1 time per week in a format that uses the internet to open up a world of information. This includes facilitating student exploration of how to search the web using modifiers, different search engines, and analyzing sources of information. One time for every two weeks the students will demonstrate their learning through a digital age assessment. This will take the form of google documents, text messages, blog entries, wikispaces etc. Vicki Davis (2010b) explains that teachers should look to enrich lessons with technology, not develop lessons to meet the technology and this will be the way assessment forms will be selected.

Monitoring the actions chosen will be done in the form of blog entries tracking each category; Computer use, Internet usage, assessment techniques. This will take place in the form of a statement of what was done and a small reflection on the pros and cons of the process. By tracking in process all of the little successes and challenges a greater understanding of how to implement 21st century skills will take place.


To Evaluate the progress obtained through this G.A.M.E. process around Designing and Developing Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments I will review all of the monitoring entries on my blog. By synthesizing what was done I will be able to find the overall successes in terms of student progress as well as identify what it is that I need to focus on for my next G.A.M.E. process. This will help to highlight which of the "4 attributes of teachers with effective integration of technology" (Ertmer 2010a) I need to work on the most. Will it be my Knowledge of background skills, Confidence in what I can do with the technology pertinent to the students, Beliefs around what good teaching is and looks like, or whether I am in a supportive culture that encourages turning on the lights? Only through evaluating my process will I be able to find out.

Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010a). Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences With Technology Part I [Webcast]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore, MD: Peggy Ertmer

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010b). Enriching Centent Area Learning Experiences With Technology Part 2 [Webcast]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore, MD: Vickie Davis

Prensky, M. (2008). Turning on the lights. Educational Leadership, 65(6), 40–45.