Final Blog Post about My GAME Plan

In this final blog post for my current course at Walden, I would like to reflect on the GAME plan that I developed during the course. This was my first experience with writing a unit plan that included technology. I found that I had to change my thought processes quite a bit to incorporate technology. It is a whole different teaching style than I am accustomed to using. It truly brings meaning to the phrase ‘guide on the side.’ I am no longer standing in front of the room lecturing. I am giving instructions and then freeing students up to learn. I am available to help and direct, but now the students are responsible for finding the answers. For my GAME plan, I took a unit on Engineering and included collaboration, social media, digital technology, and digital storytelling. At this point in the process, the only thing I would change would be to implement more units like this one! I think my students will love the changes I have made to this unit.

In my new position as Career Technology teacher, I have many opportunities to integrate technology into my instructional practice. During this course, we learned about problem-based learning (PBL). I think PBL is a perfect match for my subject area. I would like to move away from module-based learning and only use PBL in this classroom. “Rather than learn through interaction with a single perspective (the teacher’s), an authentic learning environment provides the learner with the opportunity to investigate multiple ideas, roles and perspectives” (Herrington & Kervin, 2007, p. 225). Social networking and online collaboration are real-world skills that students need to learn. They “allow asynchronous teamwork, allow students to work in and out of school, and challenge students to perform at a higher level” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).

The digital storytelling piece of my GAME plan was new to me. However, several of my students have experience using digital storytelling from another class. They get excited about the opportunity to create products this way. I think using digital storytelling is a good form of assessment in my classroom. “Collaboration between teachers and students demands an assessment process that is more formative than summative” (Lambert, DePaepe, Lambert, & Anderson, 2007, p. 78).

I am still in the process of wrapping my head around this new teaching style, but I am ready to make a change. For years, I have said that the way we educate children needs to change. This course has given me a path toward the kind of change I think we desperately need. Students need to learn how to find the answers. PBL, along with digital technology and social media is the way to teach students to find answers. I am very excited to incorporate this change into my classroom!

References

Herrington, J., & Kervin, L. (2007). Authentic learning supported by technology: Ten suggestions and cases of integration in classrooms. Educational Media International, 44(3), 219–236.
Retrieved from the Academic Search Complete database.

Lambert, C., DePaepe, J., Lambert, L., & Anderson, D. (2007). E-portfolios in action.Kappa Delta Pi Record, 43(2), 76–81.
Retrieved from the ERIC database.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore, MD: Author.