The GAME Plan

In this week’s video many teachers discussed how they analyzed their curriculum and looked at how technology could be integrated to enhance their lessons instead of developing a lesson around a certain technology. I too share this belief that technology is meant to assist teachers, not intimidate. As an art teacher I have experienced how technology has opened “the walls” of my classroom and allows my students to virtually visit art museums and watch videos of artists at work. Technology not only assists teachers, but is a great motivator for the 21st century student, and “while technology is not essential to creating authentic, learner-centered instruction, it offers a powerful resource for engaging students in authentic experiences” (Cennamo, 2009).

One way to make sure my classroom continues to be a learning environment that not only supports critical and creative learning but creates self-directed learning is to set a GAME plan to continue to learn and apply educational technologies in my classroom. After reviewing the National Education Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T), I feel I do an efficient job in applying NETS-T Standards 1, 2, and 4 in my curriculum but I still need to work on Standard 3 (Model Digital-Age Work and Learning) and Standard 5 (Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership).
I have created the following GAME plan to assist in my goal to implement and strengthen my application of educational technology Standards 5 ( Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership) in my Art classroom.

Set Goals
Learn more about about integrating online collaborative (global) art projects with in my curriculum and seek out professional development about educational technologies like Web 2.0.

Continue to develop my Art classroom blog as a way to inform parents and community about my classroom, curriculum, and student art gallery.

Take Action
Seek out and confer with Art teachers in my district who use Web 2.0.
Research collaborative art projects.
Research Art teachers’ classroom blogs on Internet.

Monitor
Create a list of web resources for collaborative (global) art projects.
Update classroom blog once a month to keep parents and community member informed.

Evaluate and Extend
Identify which collaborative projects best fit my curriculum. Seek out other technologies to help students and community art awareness.

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.