Week 6 - GAME Plan Update

After going through the resources this week, I am changing my section on blogs and wikis so that it is titled social networking. Actually, I am taking the advice from Vicki Davis and I will call it educational networking. I was unaware of resources such as Ning or Think so they will definitely be included. I will also list and link to ideas and methods on how to incorporate social networking to improve learning. I have been garnering feedback from selected educators on what I have posted already and it is all very positive. Because of the scope of the actions in this project (GAME plan), I plan on working on it over the winter break and have ready for release to the district when teachers return in January.

I am still looking for excellent internet resources in the areas of webquests, concept mapping, electronic portfolios, internet literacy, educational networking, video production, online tutorials, problem based learning and assessment with technology.

My first professional improvement (GAME) plan involves documenting, with video, the collaborations between educational technologists and teachers. In the session that I filmed this week, the educator and ET had organized learning centers in a middle school science classroom. Most of the centers incorporated some form of technology and the students were thoroughly engaged in the learning activities. I also filmed a debriefing of the activity between the ET and the educator which will be extremely valuable. Educators are often so busy that they do not take the time to reflect on classroom events and learn from them. Reflection discussions between ET’s and educators are something that I will now stress as a component for effective collaboration.

One other piece of good news, I met yesterday with the IT chief for my school system. There is hope that our current Intranet will be converted into an Extranet that allows password protected access for students, parents and teachers from home. This would be a huge development and it would allow students and educators to create web content at school that could be immediately available for parents to view. My fingers are crossed that this will come to fruition.

All in all, it has been a busy and learning filled week. My professional development (GAME) plans have given me inspiration and I am excited about developing new resources that will increase the number of educators who are effectively utilizing technology to improve student learning in my district.