The GAME Plan has helped me value the importance of setting specific goals for students in terms of their proficiency with technology and their progress in developing literacy and collaborative skills. Students can be the most critical of audiences for their peers, but with a rubric for peer evaluation this process rests within parameters that are safe for students who are sensitive to criticism and yet want constructive feedback. This is one of the wonderful parts of social networking: the ability to share in the editing, proofreading, and finally, in revising a piece of writing, or any other creation.
When students hear their voices for the first tine, they are sometimes shocked or surprised, so digital storytelling is a wonderful opportunity for them to get to themselves on many different levels. One of the prerequisites for understanding other cultures is in fact to understand as much as possible about oneself, and one's immediate environment. The collaborative process is actually uses prior knowledge of self as a springboard to discover more about the world, rippling out from self to include many other cultures. This a key goal of the Communication and Collaboration group of NETS-S standards. I will constantly try to develop this awareness of our microcosm of world diversity in the classroom.
Problem-solving and decision-making area also important survival elements in our world, and teaching this skill is critical if we are to guide students to construct a world that is sustainable, both in terms of the environment and in terms of global cooperation and social responsibility. If I can model to my students how to communicate effectively and how to use technology as a fast and efficient tool for communication. One of the NETS_T standards sets addressed in my personal GAME plan is Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership, and this is reflected both in various standards in NETS-S, such as collaboration, digital citizenship and critical thinking.
It is also essential that students grasp the concept that while the Internet is an invaluable resource for information and creating knowledge, it is not always infallible, and that guidelines are in place on how to navigate safely and successfully through waters that are at times turbulent. Helping students to acquire valid research skills is an extremely important part of being an educator, whether these skills are used to find the best possibile product or to develop a cure for disease.
When I heard my voice for the first time, I was shock too. I agree to the internet is full of useful information, but we have to be careful of the sneaky spam sites and scams out there. We must show our students that there are ways to identify such sites. I think your blog post here was very well constructed. Nice job.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I created my first digital story. I was very self conscious of my voice, I was thinking should I use my husband’s voice?With digital story it is an opportunity for us overcome fear of communication, The NETS-S and the NETS-T are interrelated as one is connected to students and the other is for teachers . Students need to acquire skills that will make them self directed. The teacher needs to inculcate these skills in their students using GAME plan.
It is funny that you mention the reaction students have to listening to their own voices. I find this to be a bigger hurdle than using the technology itself. Once the students get past being "camera shy" they do a wonderful job creating their projects.
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