This chapter introduces the concept of self-directed lifelong learning. It discusses the ISTE NETS standards for teachers, which emphasize self-directed learning. The chapter presents a model for self-directed learning called the GAME plan, which involves setting goals, taking action, monitoring progress, and evaluating outcomes. It also discusses developing a portfolio to document skills and guide professional development. Readers are guided through self-assessing their technology skills and developing an initial portfolio and professional development plan.
2. ISTE NETS-T
The ISTE standards emphasize the need for
self-directed learning by both teachers and
students. This chapter introduces a model of
self-directed learning, the GAME plan.
3. Outcomes
In this chapter, you will:
• Identify the components of self-directed learning
• Self-assess your current proficiency in the skills
outlined in the ISTE NETS-S
• Begin development of a portfolio in which you will
document your developing competencies in
applicable technology standards for teachers
4. Reflect on Prior Knowledge
• How do you know when you’ve learned
something? What steps do you take to
learn something well? What steps do
you take to learn a new technology?
• How have you used portfolios to
demonstrate your learning?
5. Self-Directed Learning
“any increase in knowledge, skill,
accomplishment, or personal
development that an individual selects
and brings about by his or her own
efforts using any method in any
circumstance at any time.”
– Gibbons (2002) p. 2
7. Metacognition
Metacognitive learners engage in 3 key
processes:
1.Planning – determine your individual
learning goals
2.Monitoring – implement your plan and
progress
3.Evaluating – reflect and modify
8. The GAME Plan
1. Set Goals
2. Take Action to meet those goals
3. Monitor progress toward achieving
goals and
4. Evaluate whether the goals were
achieved and Extend your learning to
new situations.
9. Set Goals
• What do I want to know or be able to
do?
• What do I already know about the
topic?
• How will I know I have been
successful?
10. Take Action
• What information do I need to meet my
goal?
• What learning strategy will I use?
• What resources are needed?
11. Monitor
• Am I finding the information I need?
• What patterns are emerging from the
information sources?
• Do I need to modify my action plan?
12. Evaluate and Extend
• Have I met my learning goals?
• If not, should I modify my goals or my
learning strategies?
• What will I do differently in the future?
13. Self-Assess Technology Skills
and Set Goals
ISTE NETS-S
1.Creativity and Innovation
2.Communication and Collaboration
3.Research and Information Fluency
4.Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and
Decision Making
5.Digital Citizenship
6.Technology Operations and Concepts
14. Apply to Practice
Assessing Your Skills:
1.Select a technology assessment tool.
2.Perform a self-assessment.
3.Identify and discuss gaps between what
you know and what you should know.
15. Develop an Action Plan
• Formal classes
– eLearning for Educators
• Informal learning opportunities
– Classroom 2.0, iLearn Technology
• Use technology to learn about technology
– Atomic Learning, Butterscotch TV,
• Online and print publications
– Educause’s 7 Things You Should Know About,
TechLearning, T.H.E. Journal
16. Apply to Practice
Practice using the GAME Plan about a
technology of interest.
• Set Goals: Select a current or emerging
technology of interest to you
• Take Action: Search the web
• Monitor Your Learning: Consider whether you
are gaining new knowledge or do you need to
modify your strategy?
• Evaluate and Extend: Did you meet your goal?
18. Portfolio Types and Purposes
• Assessment: demonstrate compliance
• Employment: present your skills
• Professional development: reflect
on skills and guide your learning
19. GAME Plan
Portfolio examples
• Set goals: Determine the type of portfolio that best
meets your current goals.
• Take action: Find examples of employment,
assessment, and professional development
portfolios.
• Monitor: Are you finding examples of each type?
Which examples best match your goal?
• Evaluate and Extend: Evaluate what you find.
Discuss your conclusions with your peers to
determine how you might generate a portfolio to meet
your goal.
20. Portfolio Development Tools
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Presentation software
Word processors
Spreadsheet software
Multimedia software
WYSIWYG or HTML generators
Weblog (blogging) software
Content management systems
Commercial portfolio development products
Proprietary portfolio products, often developed by colleges
or universities
• Open source tools
www.livetext.com
21. Steps in Portfolio
Development
1. Define your purpose, audience,
distribution medium, and development
tool.
2. Design your portfolio organization and
layout.
3. Develop the portfolio.
4. Deliver it to its intended audience.
22. Your Portfolio
1. Create the key components of your
portfolio.
2. Create a “technology resume.”
3. Reflect on how you learn about
technology.
4. Self-assess your ability to meet required
standards.
5. Develop a professional development plan.
Set Goals: The textbook is organized around the ISTE NETS-T, with specific standards addressed beginning in chapter 3. Set Goals by determining the ISTE NETS-T addressed in each chapter.
The ISTE standards emphasize the need for self-directed learning by both teachers and students. In this chapter, we introduce a model of self-directed learning (the GAME plan) that we use throughout this book as a prompt to remind you to actively plan, monitor, and evaluate your learning progress. We encourage you to self-assess your current competencies in the skills required by NETS-T and NETS-S and introduce you to critical reflection as a means of monitoring your learning. Finally, you are encouraged to develop a portfolio in order to evaluate your progress in meeting NETS-T.
Set Goals: Review the outcomes to be addressed in the chapter.
In this chapter, you will:
Identify the components of self-directed learning
Self-assess your current proficiency in the skills outlined in the ISTE NETS-S
Begin development of a portfolio in which you will document your developing competencies in applicable technology standards for teachers
Set Goals: A key component of self-directed learning is reflecting on what you already know and can do. These questions can orient your students towards the content in this chapter based on skills and knowledge they bring to the learning environment.
Take Action: Your actions include reviewing the content addressed in the textbook.
Gibbons (2002) defined self-directed learning (SDL) as “any increase in knowledge, skill, accomplishment, or personal development that an individual selects and brings about by his or her own efforts using any method in any circumstance at any time” (p. 2).
Learners who “think about thinking” and apply strategies to regulate and oversee their learning are often referred to as metacognitive learners. To support you in this lifelong learning process, many of the activities in this book require you to be self-directed.
Self-directed, metacognitive learners engage in three key processes: planning, monitoring, and evaluating their learning activities (see, for example, Ertmer & Newby, 1996; Zimmerman, 1990; Zimmerman, Bonner, & Kovach, 1996).
We have translated the recommendations for self-directed learning into the following four steps, which we call the GAME plan:
Set Goals
Take Action to meet those goals
Monitor progress toward achieving goals and
Evaluate whether the goals were achieved and Extend your learning to new situations.
The student standards (NETS-S) also can serve as a starting point for you to assess your own technology skills. After all, you will be responsible for modeling the behaviors included in the student standards. Luckily, there is a lot of overlap between NETS for Teachers (NETS-T), around which this book is organized, and the NETS for Students (NETS-S). Therefore, as you are considering ways that you can meet the required teacher standards, you can simultaneously consider ways to help your students meet the required student standards.
ISTE has developed student technology profiles that provide examples of the types of activities students should be able to do to demonstrate competency in the required standards. A total of 40 profiles have been provided by ISTE.
Monitor progress: Apply to Practice and GAME Plan activities allow students to monitor their progress towards meeting their learning goals.
Apply to Practice: Assessing Your Skills
Select an appropriate technology assessment tool from the book’s website.
Perform a self-assessment.
Identify and discuss gaps between what you know and what you should know.
After reflecting on your preferred methods for learning technology-related skills, consider how you will take action to learn more. On one hand, you can attend formal university classes. On the other hand, you can pursue informal learning opportunities by reading books, completing tutorials, asking others, or searching the web to find answers to your personal questions. In today’s Internet-connected world, tried-and-true teaching strategies are available for you to access online. In other words, you can actually use technology to learn more about technology. You’ll find educational journals and magazines; subscription e-newsletters and eZines can deliver useful tips and new ideas to your desktop. And of course, you have access to a wealth of background resources and readings.
Monitor progress: Apply to Practice and GAME Plan activities allow students to monitor their progress towards meeting their learning goals.
Apply to Practice: The GAME Plan
Practice using the GAME Plan to guide your self-directed learning about a specific technology of interest.
Set Goals: Select a current or emerging technology of interest to you. Set specific goals for learning about this topic.
Take Action: Although there are many ways to gain information to meet your learning goals, for this activity, search the web for information on your technology of interest. If needed, see the tutorial on the textbook website on How to search the web.
Monitor Your Learning: As you collect information, consider whether you are gaining the knowledge you need to meet your learning goals. Do you need to modify your learning strategy?
Evaluate and Extend Your Learning: Have you met your learning goals? What have you learned about what the technology can and cannot do? If your learning strategies were unsuccessful, what will you do differently in the future? If your strategies were successful, what have you learned that will be helpful in the future?
Discuss your experiences with a group of peers, either online or in class. How were your experiences similar to theirs? How were they different?
Take Action: Your actions include reviewing the content addressed in the textbook.
Educators describe the uses of portfolios in many different ways. For the purposes of this book, consider the following three categories of portfolio use:
demonstrate compliance with specific requirements so that others can assess your skills, as in a portfolio that you would create to document your attainment of course goals/state standards or to obtain teacher certification or licensure (referred to as assessment portfolios).
present and possibly market your skills to others, as in a portfolio that you would use to showcase your skills during your job search process (referred to as employment portfolios).
reflect on your current skills and future learning needs to guide your individual learning and professional development (referred to as professional development portfolios).
Monitor progress: Apply to Practice and GAME Plan activities allow students to monitor their progress towards meeting their learning goals.
The GAME Plan: Portfolio examples
In this book, you are encouraged to develop a portfolio to demonstrate your mastery of the ISTE NETS-T by completing the “Your Portfolio” activities at the end of each chapter.
Set Goals: Determine the type of portfolio that best meets your current goals. Whether you are demonstrating mastery of required competencies, documenting your own personal and professional development, or entering the teaching field at the beginning of your career, there are many examples to support your specific purposes.
Take Action: Find examples of employment, assessment, and professional development portfolios. Ask your friends or teachers if they have examples. There are also several excellent portfolio resources available on the web.
Monitor: Are you finding examples of each type? Which examples best match your goal? Do you need to locate additional examples before you create a portfolio for your own use?
Evaluate and Extend: Classify the examples that you find as assessment, employment, professional development, or “other” portfolios. What are some distinguishing characteristics of each type? What characteristics or strategies do you think you might adopt or adapt for your own use? Discuss your conclusions with your peers to determine how you might generate a portfolio to meet your goal.
Although there are several forms of portfolio development software, no specialized software is needed. Just about any software application that can link pages (or artifacts) can be used. The pages can be as simple as a series of word-processed documents that link to other artifacts. Tools that have been used to develop portfolios are listed on-screen.
Evaluate and Extend: Portfolio activities designed to help students demonstrate mastery of the ISTE NETS-T are included in each chapter.
Your portfolio:
1. Investigate whether your school or state has a portfolio system that you are required to contribute to for assessment purposes. If not, create the four key components of your portfolio:
Define your purpose, audience, and content
Design your layout and organization. Don’t forget to plan for future additions. You may want to organize your portfolio around the ISTE NETS-T addressed in this book.
Develop your portfolio template. Add the items that you developed in this chapter. Don’t forget about the materials you’ll add in the future.
Keep in mind the format in which you will ultimately deliver your portfolio as you plan and develop your materials.
You may also want to use the Portfolio Template included on the companion web site as a guide
2. Create a “technology resume.” Use the skills and knowledge addressed in the ISTE performance profiles listed in this chapter as a starting point. Include
A list of the skills and knowledge you already possess to help you meet the challenges of effectively integrating technology into instruction
A list of the specific experiences that have contributed to your current knowledge in technology. This may include formal or informal professional development experiences.
Reflect on how you have learned about technology in the past and how those prior experiences will influence your learning in the future.
Locate a self-assessment instrument and use it to assess your ability to achieve the NETS-T standards or the technology standards required by your state or school district. Include the name of the instrument and the results of the assessment in your portfolio.
5. Develop a professional development action plan that includes:Develop a professional
One or more goal statements that resulted from your self-assessment or technology integration plans
An action plan that describes the steps you plan to take to meet your goals, the resources you will need, and how you anticipate using the resources to help you meet your goals
A projected timeline
Evaluate and extend: In order to extend your learning, consider how the content in this chapter prepares you for the topics in the next chapter. Students may want to review the ISTE NETS-T and outcomes in the next chapter.