Monitoring Your GAME Plan Progress
It’s official, I have jumped into the deep end of the pool. I have created an account with ePals Global Community. This is a risky endeavor as I have yet to hear back from my curriculum director. Summer is a difficult time to reach staff so I have sent a follow up e mail to my principal and my curriculum director regarding online collaboration. Admittedly I am concerned, our student technology use guidelines are currently being revised and I have confirmation YouTube is blocked for students. I am worried what other venues may now be limited. Hopefully by the next post I will have more information regarding student technology access.
Even though I do not have “official” permission I signed my class up for two online projects. The two projects are “What’s it Like Where You Live” and “Jump into ePals Introductory Project”. The first project was chosen because it addresses a key element of my GAME plan, which involves working online with students from another part of our country. The second project “Jump into ePals Introductory Project” was chosen as a result of this week’s reading resources which point out the importance of coordinating lessons with assessments.
Assessing student technological skills before beginning an online project ensures that content learning will not be hindered. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) lend support by stating, “It is important to know your student’s technology proficiencies so that you can plan and implement appropriate learning activities and assessments” (p. 160). The “Jump into ePals Introductory Project” is a way for me to evaluate student competence with a variety of technology such as website navigation, copy and pasting of images, and use of a word processing program.
Content standards will still be addressed. Students must be able to communicate in an appropriate manner using correct grammar and sentence structure. However, the main focus of this unit is the acquisition of skills associated with these tools. There is a need for teachers to asses technological literacy which is defined by the International Technology Education Association as, “the ability to use, manage, assess, and understand technology” (as cited in Engstrom, 2005, p. 30). I have chosen rubrics as my main assessment tool as they are easily adapted to different subject areas and learning endeavors. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer, (2009) state, “Rubrics are malleable and can be created for any content area and assessment mode, such as the scoring of projects, essays portfolios or live or videotaped student performances” (p. 155). Once my students have moved through this introductory unit I will begin the “What’s it Like Where You Live” project.
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.
Engstrom, D. E. (2005). Assessing for technological literacy. Technology Teacher, 64(4), 30–32.
ePals global community. Retrieved July 18, 2012, from http://www.epals.com/
Hi Shelly,
ReplyDeleteI can feel your angst about this move in your writing. I can completely understand why you are feeling this way as this work may come to a halt if certain technology pieces are blocked for students. While we would love to allow students free reign on the internet, we also understand that there has to be a limit. Unfortunately, that also limits us as teachers for using technology in our teaching.
The two projects you have chosen to begin with sound great! I think it's important to begin with an introductory project as students are learning the technology and then bring in the projects involving the other classrooms. I applaud you on taking the giant leap in registering your classes for ePals Global Community and am excited to hear what happens next.
Regarding rubrics, I think this is a great way to assess students on their work on ePals. Coming from a person who uses rubrics frequently, I am glad you mentioned aligning the rubric to the content standards. As Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) state, "your rubric should relate to the standards or learning goals for the activity, lesson, or project and the descriptions should clearly describe the levels of performance rather than subjective judgments" (p. 155). By aligning the rubrics to the standards and giving the rubric to your students before you begin the project, you will find that the majority of your students will be successful and many of them will exceed your expectations. If you have not created a rubric focused specifically on the content standards before, which I am sure you have, I would be more than willing to send you some examples.
Reference
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.
Heidi,
DeleteYou are absolutely right regarding the limits placed on us by technology policies. I have been thinking of alternate ways to address the technology needs of my students. The good news is YouTube is blocked for students, but not teachers. If students created videos, I could post them. This of course is not ideal, however it still gives them experience. Voicethread to my knowledge is also a possibility. I have not given up yet.
I have used rubrics in the past, but I plan to utilize them more in the upcoming school year. I agree students should see the expectations before beginning any unit of study. As they are working through the unit, students can reference the rubric to see if their work is acceptable.
Thank you for responding.
Shelly
Shelly,
ReplyDeleteI applaud the initiative you have begun taking in reference to your GAME plan! What better way to learn about new technology tools for the classroom than to explore and experiement with them with your students! As a result of your post, I would like to check out this site for myself and explore its possibilities for my students.
One suggestion made by Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer in relation to the development of rubrics is to have the students become involved in their development for classroom use. While they point out that student involvement in creating rubrics is time-consuming and may not be suitable to do all of the time, they state that "the process helps students develop skills in determining what constitutes best performance" (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 156). You can provide examples of work that are of varying quality so that they can see for themselves what the difference is between each numbered assessment level. By involving your students in this process, they will have a better understanding not only of what the assessment is asking them to do, but also what skills they will need in order to reach their desired assessment level.
I have created rubrics on Rubistar many times and love its pre-made templates. It is very easy to use and, when you sign up for a free membershp, you can store and share your rubrics on the site. This may be a site you would want to use with your students when planning asessments ahead of time so that they understand how to use them in their own work.
Aimee
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.
Aimee,
DeleteI agree completely that showing students examples of different levels of work can be helpful. As teachers we talk about quality work but to a student that is sometimes not clear. This year in writing we as a staff have "anchor" papers that students can reference for each grade level. These pieces of student work show the different levels of proficiency. These examples act as gudes for students. They can compare their work to the "anchor" papers.
Shelly