As I reflect on my Game Plan and the impetus to play, I am able to make a connection with this week's readings on Problem-Based Learning. My Game Plan is to integrate technology in my English 10 classroom so that students can have a more engaging and enriching learning experience. They get an opportunity to use research tools to find support for a real-world cause for which they are concerned and make proposals to solve that cause of problem. They also get an opportunity to use spell-checkers in the composing and editing processes.
The score is running in my favor, or my optimism does not permit me to see otherwise. As students are using the Internet, they get an opportunity to connect with real-world experts who will give them the pros and cons to the cause/problem that they have selected. Because the cause is personally selected by the student, he/she will remain actively engaged in it. Both active engagement and connection to real-world experts are components of learning.
After this week's assignment, I can focus on an extension to the assignment that was given. I see the wiki as a possible avenue of collaboration. Earlier, I had focused on the blog as an avenue of collaboration; but, after my second experience with the wiki, I have intentions of learning to become more efficient with its use. My weekly blog posts are making me more efficient with the blog. Becoming more and more efficient with these tools of technology and Web2.0, I will be more capable of modeling for my students the use of these tools in meeting and fulfilling the goals and objectives that they must accomplish to be successful in the classroom and in later life. After all, my experience does become my best teacher!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A Wiki is a great technology resource for helping students use creativity and collaboration. In additon, a Wiki fosters stdents' use of 21st century skills. I like to place myself at the techlogy center to during centers or small group work, in order to scaffold struggling learners. It can be challenging to meet the needs of all learners when trying to incorporate use of a Wiki in the classroom. The "universal design for learning frameworks is a tool to help make instructional decisions to suppport students with diverse needs" (Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer, 2009, p. 134). There are many technological tools that lend themselves to supporting struggling learners, but the teacher will want to plan for how the technology will be used to meet the goals for lesson. For example, your struggling leaners could type their response or information for the Wiki, into a computer document with the aid of a technology that includes special featrues geared toward the student's needs, and then show them how to copy and paste the words from the document into the Wiki. Best of luck to you in fulfulling your GAME Plan.
ReplyDeleteAlisha Cochran
5th Grade Teacher
Reference:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach (Laureate Education custom edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Shirley,
ReplyDeleteIf you have not already picked a hosting site for your class wiki may I recommend Wetpaint. I have been on a few different wiki hosting sites and I find wetpaint the easiest to moderate. Also, when you are beginning a new page and you want it to connect to another page, make sure you on physically on the page you want it to connect to when you are beginning the new page. Was that confusing? So if you want page A and B to be linked then be on page A when you go to the bottom and start a new page, which will be B.
With a wiki, as opposed to a blog, they can actually respond to each other. I have a page called Problems on my wiki and students have already posted problems and responded to each other to fix those problems. It is reminiscent of this course.
Good luck!
Ruthie
Ruth,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation. Great minds think alike. I, too, was thinking about using the interactions of this class as a model to create the interactive atmosphere of my classroom. With group information to which each group member can contribute and edit, the wiki would be the better tool to use because each person becomes a contributor of the site's information. As far as an individual's personal opinions, beliefs, plans and thoughts without the editing abilities of others, the blog will be used.
I've had a little experience with the wiki from a previous class, and my group used the Wetpaint hosting site. I have never been a moderator of any site; and the ease of Wetpaint, as you suggested, will certainly be a plus for me.
Thanks!