My GAME plan is taking on a life of its own. As a result of the past two weeks’ resources, I have modified my plan. I am continuing to focus on the same goals, however some of my actions have changed. One of my goals is to model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments. I am still striving to meet this goal. One method I am integrating into my curriculum next year is digital storytelling. This will make such an impact on my students’ writing and presentation skills.
Currently, my class is mostly project-based after the first nine weeks. We study expository writing and students demonstrate their mastery of the skills through the presentation of a project on the passengers of the Titanic. They research a passenger’s life who was on the Titanic and present this passenger’s life to the class. With this GAME plan, I will implement digital storytelling to motivate my students and help them gain knowledge. They will use pictures from the computer to create the presentation on their passenger.
Through the resources in this class, I have learned just exactly what digital storytelling is. Through the use of MovieMaker and Audacity, students can easily create their product for free. They download their own images or images they find on the computer. Then they use MovieMaker to put the slides in order for their presentation. Then they record their presentation with the use of Audacity. Most web sites such as http://www.umass.edu/wmwp/DigitalStorytelling/Digital%20Main%20Page.htm help students by using step-by-step instructions that assist teachers and students. Many web sites, such as the above example, contain instructions and other project ideas that I would have never known about had it not been for this course.
Questions have arisen with this new knowledge. First, discovering everything about the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and how to give my students multiple tasks to complete their assignment has been very overwhelming. As a result, one goal is to continue to learn strategies that will involve technology into my lessons in order to make more choices available.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Technology integration can be as frustrating as it is exciting. When it works smoothly it can result in truly amazing products that would not come to fruition by any other means. When there are snags, it can leave you wondering why you ever decided to step out on that limb to complicate your life. You clearly have much experience in this regard and are proving to be an important resource to your building administration.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very sound of you to remember that it is wise to have a “Plan B” in place where technology is concerned. It can be frustrating in that you soon have the sense that you are double planning each lesson. Unfortunately the power that physically fuels technology is an unstable entity at best. The volatility that draws us to explore technology integration is ultimately also one of the profound weaknesses of the medium. Teaching students that success requires risk and perseverance in order to meet reward is a profound life lesson. Students don’t always have the patience to learn this in their youth, but over time I believe that they see this modeled in the American classroom.