The first NETS-T indicator that I want to work on is Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity. More specifically, I want to focus on the component that deals with collaborative learning in virtual environments and engaging students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources. My goal is to spend some time researching various avenues of connecting my students to others around the nation, locate a viable option and then implement a learning opportunity for my students. It is also critical for me to find a way to make this happen on my campus as I am not sure that our current bandwidth can support such an environment. This will require me to reach out to a teacher from another school in another part of the country and work collaboratively with them to develop a lesson that will be beneficial. My hope is that we can create a valuable learning experience where our students can interact with each other in focusing on issues that are current and relevant. I think the best way to monitor my own progress is to develop a checklist of the things that I need to do in order to be able to accomplish this goal and then work to check the boxes off until I have fulfilled all of the requirements. I will also set a timeline so that this doesn’t become a never-ending project. Once I have completed the steps and put together the learning experience for the students, I must implement it. It is only after this implementation that I can look back upon what went well and what did not. I can learn from what went right and what went wrong so that changes that need to be made can be brainstormed.
I find this to be the best approach for learning and reflection on lessons that I teach. Try it. Enjoy the success of what went right. Learn from and find a way to fix what went wrong.
Reference
ISTE | NETS for Teachers 2008. (n.d.). International Society for Technology in Education | Home. Retrieved May 11, 2011, from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx
Ray,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%! I love finding ways to bring in current events/issues into my classroom to make the content seem more relevant to the kids. Do this collaboratively with other students online is definitely a unique way to assess student learning. Have you come across any good sites/resources to do this?
Ryan Petraitis
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI have not found any sites yet. I intend to make that a focus for the near future.
Ray