Using the GAME Plan With Students

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has outlined standards, National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for students as well as teachers. The standards for teachers highlight the experiences, models, and supports teachers need to provide for students to meet their standards. These student standards are:

Creativity and Innovation

Communication and Collaboration

Research and Information Fluency

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making

Digital Citizenship

Technical Operations and Concepts

(ISTE, 2007).

Without a plan in place, it could be hit or miss whether students meet these standards. The GAME Plan would provide the structure and support for meeting these standards.

Goal Setting: My students need to know what is expected of them (developing skills to meet these standards) in order to know what goals to set. The first part of our goal setting activities would include sharing the standards with them, communicating where they need to “go” so they can set a path to reach their “destination.” We would then create a KWHL chart to identify what they are already able to do, what they need to learn, and how they will do this. Goal setting encourages self-directed learning as students make plans for their learning (Laureate Education Inc., 2009). As these are life skills and will take time to develop, students will be encouraged to plan short and long-term goals.

Creating an Action Plan: This is the natural next step, as students identify what they need and want to learn, they have to figure out how they can make this happen. Their action plan brings their goals to reality. This is the H in the KWHL chart – how will they make this happen? I would show students examples of the digital tools we will use to meet the goals. Using a concept map we can make a graphical representation of what the standards look like in practice using the descriptors and including the tools we will use in the process. As a class, we will create a chart illustrating which standards are addressed by digital tools such as blogs, voice threads, and digital storytelling.

Monitoring the GAME plan: As students use digital tools to address their standards and meet their goals, they need a way to track their progress. Students could use individual charts based on their goals using the wording from the standards’ descriptors. When students’ actions relate to one of their goals they could put a check next to the goal. This would give them a sense of accomplishment and provide a visual reminder of the goals they are working towards. Learning log entries could be used to reflect on their successes and challenges. Class discussions could address any revisions needed to the GAME plan.

Evaluating the Plan: How well did the plan work? This is the time to come back to the KWHL chart and review where we started (W – what do we already know) and where we are now (L – what have we learned). As our ultimate goal is self-directed learners, this is the perfect point to set new goals to continue to develop skills to meet the NETS-S as part of a new plan using experiences from the first GAME plan as a guide.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the content areas. Baltimore: Davis, V.

National Education Standards for Students (NETS-S) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007_Standards.pdf

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

Carolyn Doyle