Assessment 2- Final Blog Posting.

REFLECTIVE SYNOPSIS

Digital Pedagogy is defined by Education Queensland (EQ), as the convergence of technical skills, pedagogical practices and understanding of curriculum design appropriate for digital learners. EQ also states that pedagogy used effectively supports, enhances, enables and transforms teaching and learning to provide rich, diverse and flexible learning opportunities for digital generations.  This is a classic example of classrooms these days moving from the days of pen and paper to the present with interactive white boards, internet access, laptops and ipads. In order for students to be taught new technology, teachers must understand and have the knowledge to use such devices.

Information communication technologies (ICT) can be taught across the board to all year levels in Queensland schools, however as year levels increase so do the student’s knowledge base of technology. An analysis of 4 digital tools have been conducted to demonstrate ways they can be enhance, support and transform student’s learning  in the classroom. These tools can be modified to suit grade 3 upwards in primary school. The higher grades will learn a lot more from the more advanced tasked, whilst the younger grades can use the simplified tasks.

Four technologies have been revised, within the four groups a single digital tool has be evaluated and researched to determine why it is the most relevant and resourceful to use in the classroom.

Group one of technologies; online spaces, web, blogs and wikis, I have chosen to explore blogs as it was a part of my assessment. Blogs are a great online space for both teachers and students to enhance their knowledge.  Teachers can use their online space for meeting other teachers, networking between colleagues to source new ideas in the classroom and to revise what worked and what didn’t in the classroom. Older Students can use blogs for a variety of tasks as well. They can be instructed to reflect in their own words what they have learnt through a period of time whether it be a single lesson or a whole term. For a display of how a student has created and used their blog to demonstrate what they have learnt over a period of time please refer to the previous blogs. Pupils can also share what they have learnt with what students that may have had trouble learning the same material. Another positive with blogs is it gives those children who may not be as outspoken to write down and share their thoughts in a different manner where they may express more than if they were presenting to a class.  This enhances children’s learning by allowing them to be more creative as it is similar to the pen and paper technique.

Schools and teachers have to be very careful when using resources that are protected with copyright. For copyright reasons there are special statutory licences and education exceptions in the Copyright Act which enable teachers to copy and communicate material on a wiki or blog. Students rely on provisions known as ‘fair dealing exceptions’ when copying and communicating material for class and homework tasks (MCEETYA, 2008).

The second group of technologies includes images, video and audio tools and I chose to use digital images. This type of technology can be used for different ages across Primary school. For the younger grades we could take photos with the schools digital camera of class mates, funny photos and friend’s groups and then with the images, upload them into the computer and print them out and put them up around the classroom. If students don’t know how to do so I will print out versions of the instruction manual and then students can read that and then work it out. This encourages group work and also teaches the children to use their initiative by reading instructions. Having photos around the class is a great way for children to feel as part of a team and to feel ‘at home’ in the classroom.

Another way that images can be added into the learning framework for the older grades is in a science class. If the unit of work is on nature, the children can be permitted to walk around the school yard and take photos of plants, flowers and leaves, when back in the classroom they can print out the images and write a report on the type of plant they took a photo of. This will support different learning styles as it’s a great task for visual learners as they can have physically have the image in front of them to write about and for kinasethic learners they have taken the photo and seen the plant so they will be assisted also.

Both these task can also promote higher order thinking by myself (as the teacher) asking them questions about the photos.  A suggestion by Harved (n.d), was to use questions relating to the images at the beginning of a new unit to motivate student’s interest.  So by asking the children what sort of plant did the leaf come from may encourage students to apply their knowledge to the topic.

Legally I will have to send a permission slip out to parents asking for permission to take photos of their children for school activities. Also, as the teacher it is my responsibility to ensure that the cameras are being used for the purpose only and not for immature behaviour.

When designing effective pedagogical strategies that both engage and challenge learning a lot has to be taken into account. The third group- learning tools included PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster- I chose PowerPoint. Microsoft PowerPoint is an excellent way for children to create a way to learn materials. Children today are very technologically advanced and new ways to keep them engaged are forever being discovered. PowerPoint and slide presentations hold students attention through using video, graphics and music/voice.

PowerPoint is also a great resource for teachers as presentations can be saved on a file-sharing system or flash drive. This can allow teachers to share the workload in creating them but also share the presentation with many classes.  Furthermore, if a teacher plans a lesson using PowerPoint on a particular day that half the class is away for sporting trials the students don’t have to miss out because the slideshow can be shown a second time if the teacher still carries out the lesson as planned.  Furthermore, if the teacher becomes ill and a relief teacher fills in for the day, a simple USB drive can be given to the fill in teacher who then can successfully present the lesson rather than them having to research the topic at the last minute. Another positive when discussing PowerPoint is that photos from an excursion, pictures from the internet and home video can all be collaborated into a single presentation, therefore allowing the children to become more eager to participate within the class (refer to my previous blog for a thinking routine of this topic).

As a way to integrate PowerPoint into the classroom students can be asked to create an informative PowerPoint presentation on a country of their choice. The presentation must have information such as capital city, main source of economic growth, size, the ocean that the country is surrounded by, icons and other interesting facts. The students must then do a two minute speech on their country. This will engage a whole classroom as students will be comparing their country to the students that is presenting their country. The students will be presenting this part of the class which allows the students to have a chance to listen to peers instead of their teacher.

Finally- Group four technologies - animations and simulations and open ended exploration. I am looking at Google Earth. Google Earth is another technology that I would use in the classroom. For subjects such as history and geography for the older grades in Primary school this program will be a great way to teach children locations of countries and oceans. Also, this can be used to teach them directions such as north and south. Google Earth also has functions such as street names and zooms. For a classroom activity I can use mapping where children need to write down directions to a familiar shopping centre or park and then as a whole class we can follow the streets that lead to the target .Another activity could be to get the children to pick a nearby town or suburb and write directions how to get there from the classroom (please refer to my previous blog for an image of a zoomed in location, the Gladstone Marina).

In conclusion, blogs, images, PowerPoint and Google Earth are great to use in the classroom for primary school age children. When used correctly and legally safe they engage children when being taught the skill and at the same time allow children to re-use the skill the have learnt outside the classroom in society.

References

Education Queensland. (2008). eLearning for smart classrooms. Retrieved April 4, 2011, from http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/pdf/scbyte-elearning.pdf

Smartcopying, (2008). Teachers and students using a wiki or blog. Retrieved April 14, 2011 from http:www.smartcopying.edu.au/swc/go/pid/948

Visual Thinking. (n.d) See Think Wonder Routine. Retrieved April 12, 2011-, from http://www.pz.harvard.edu/vt/Thinkinghtmlfiles/03ThinkingRountines/03cCorerountine

Google Earth

So I have been playing with Google Earth and this is what I have found. For children in my class I could set them a task to find a location within the town, for example the image above is of the Gladstone marina. Students could then find directions from the classroom to the location! Very handy pice of technology!

Technology in the classroom

This course is so full on! It's definatly hard to spend equal time on each subject when ICT takes so much time out of my scedule. Oh well I just hope I learn a lot from this. So I have been looking at the best resourses to use in the classroom. These are the 4 that I believe are great!

Powerpoint

Positive

• easy to create
• engages children
• makes movies and action clips
• voice can be added
• makes learning fun
• can be shared amoung teachers

Minus

• takes times to add new slides etc
• children need to remember to save document
• students need proir knowledge or instruction to create

Interesting

• can be saved and used on various computers

Interactive White Boards (IWB)

Positives

•  class can work together
• you can save lesson for students that are away

Minus

•  needs to be in a classroom
• Teachers need to know how to use them before showing students

Interesting

• new technology entering schools, both teachers and students are learning to use them

Blog

Positives

•  can use to communicate
• Use for networking

Minus

•  any one can edit
• cannot control who is looking at posts

Interesting

• the people you can meet and work with

Google earth

Positive

• excellent tool for teaching around the world
• can zoom into beaches, landmarks and streets around the world.
• Quick and easy

Minus

• children unsupervised may google off topic

 Interesting

• 
       Children find information so they will be interested to learn more

Blog Reflection on Images

Photos are memories for life. My mother got me into photography as she has cupboards full of photo albums from throughout her life and even before film cameras came out. I had my first camera when I was in primary school now I have a collection of albums myself. Photos are a great way to keep in touch with family members across the globe. As much as Facebook and other social networking sites are spoken about in  negative ways there is also another side to look at. Facebook allows pictures and images to be uploaded and therefore shared with family and friends.

Images have a huge impact on society these days. Businesses rely off customers relating their image to their product at visa versa. Images used in promotion and advertising are a huge selling point for businesses.

In the classroom, if digital cameras are available a science lesson on plant species can be planned by sending the students around the school grounds to take photos of different trees/leaves they find. When back in the classroom the photos can be uploaded onto the computers and the students can then be taught about the plants and at the same time be shown the pictures that they have taken which gives them a more hands on feeling to the task.

So, overall images are a great resourse in the classroom and will assist students to understand how they are used in society.

Assessment 1- Conclusion

It is essential for teachers to understand the diverse ways that children learn within the classroom. Just because there are twenty five children the same age sitting in front of a teacher at around the same learning level does not mean they all are capable of learning at the same pace. Being an active teacher who works hard to insure that all the children’s needs are catered for is the teacher who will become a success in the future, who will become much more than a classroom educator.

So far this term, I have discovered that classrooms have changed massively from the five years ago when I finished school. I also have acknowledged how much work goes into to the study of teaching children. Over the last three weeks the ICT’s for Learning Design course has opened my eyes to the way the world is shifting towards technology in classrooms. ICT does not just mean computers in the classroom it relates to interactive white boards, Ipads, digital camera and e-books.

A method used in teaching to grow a student’s knowledge is called scaffolding. This is where the student’s prior knowledge is relied on to elaborate further. The Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE), explains scaffolding as “the tutorial process where an adult or “expert” helps somebody who is less adult or less expert”. This was used by discovering our previous ICT knowledge and to elaborate on that by creating wikis weekly. Thinking routines have been revised when using scaffolding for this task as they have approached a complex task by breaking it down and elaborating on specific sub-goals which when compiled will reach a single large goal. Also by having steps to work though provided students with various learning styles the same opportunity to finish the task.

Firstly, I created a profile wiki and blog introducing myself to the online world and to peers. A learning styles test was also under taken which demonstrated that I was a kinaesthetic learner and my best way of learning are doing things hands on. By knowing this I can be more aware of how things in life are presented to me and things I need to alter so I can get the most out of the experience.

Week 1, by being told to construct a PMI chart allowed us to, firstly, find a partner which encourages team work and secondly, use our initiative to seek out positive, negative and interesting features on learning theories. Week 2 a discussion on mobile phones was the focus of this week’s topic, De Bono’s 6 thinking hats where used as a template for discussion.

There were varied responses when discussing whether mobile phones should be allowed in classrooms. Personally, I believe they should not be allowed do to privacy issues. As soon as footage has been recorded on a mobile phone it can go vrial within seconds and a classroom should be a safe haven for teachers, staff and students and with phones this will become the opposite.

 A study was done by the University of Nottingham and it found that, students' use of the mobile phone was concentrated on the production of images and video clips: the survey results indicated that 96% of the respondents used the still camera, often to capture evidence of activities in class; 22% also used the video application (Hartnell-Young & Hayn, 2009). This proves my statement that inappropriate footage will be shot in classrooms if phones are made acceptable. Children need to feel comfortable within the 4 walls of a classroom and if anything was to happen, whether it be an accident where the teacher falls over, a child does something embarrassing or if it’s a form of bullying the public should not be able to access such footage.

Creating these blogs were difficult at the beginning as I was acquiring new knowledge and had never done anything like that before. However using learning theories that can relate to the task came in very helpful. Creating wikis were a great way to provide students with learning tools required.

There is a number of learning theories that is used to demonstrate methods of education. The first learning theory is connectivsim, this is used in a way that everyone who is enrolled has a blog and therefore can access peer’s blogs, this way they can learn off each other, share thoughts and ideas and use networking strategies to accomplish the task while meeting new people. This was very successful in this task as we have met peers and been able to bounce off ideas from each other while working outside our comfort zones.

Another learning theory used is behaviourism, this is relevant in the way that to pass this course we must submit assignments, therefore providing us with assessment pieces due on  a specific date makes us liable. If we don’t hand in assignments the consequences are that we will not pass the course. Congnitivism is another learning theory. Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2011 believes that learning is defined as change in a learner’s schemata. Richard Mayer refers to A cognitive theory of multimedia learning based on three main assumptions: there are two separate channels (auditory and visual) for processing information; there is limited channel capacity; and that learning is an active process of filtering, selecting, organizing, and integrating information. In this learning style we got to use our own understanding and skills to reflect on our blog topics.

The final learning theory is constructivism, this was demonstrated throughout these blogs and wikis. Our learning was scaffolded thought the course work up a moodle for us to follow. By using our thoughts and adding them for others to view gave us topics to debate on and there construct more knowledge.

Digital Pedagogy is defined by Education Queensland as the convergence of technical

skills, pedagogical practices and understanding of curriculum design appropriate for digital learners. By creating a structure for our twenty first century learners to excel in the technological world eLearning will be an asset to society. eLearning is very new to me and seems very challenging but with time spent exploring and reflecting on eLearning framework and pedagogy things will become more clear. By having our learning scaffolded gives us a lead to assist us in learning thought online recourse. Creating and using our wikis and blogs to base our course framework for learning on gave us more knowledge and understanding to use in the future.

Recommendations for myself when participating in eLearning would be to take part in all class reading and activities, understanding the first step before continuing to the second and finally, because I am a kinaesthetic learning, creating study group with nearby peers.

When designing eLearning we need to be creative, need to be able to engage children for extended periods of time and assist them to use critical thinking. Also be confident that the messages are being understood by children and delivering the knowledge to a diverse range of learning styles.

 Overall, the wikis were a great way to introduce students to learning styles, learning theories and eLearning and pedagogy design. There is much more to learn but I am feeling like I have just started on my journey to discover what else is out there to learn in this course. 

Bibliography

Austalian Association for Research in Education. (2001). New Frontiers for Education Research. Retrieved March 16, 2011, from http://www.aare.edu.au/01pap/chn01046.pdf.

Education Queensland. (2008). eLearning for smart classrooms. Retrieved March 17, 2011, from http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/pdf/scbyte-elearning.pdf

Hartnell-Young, E & Haym, N. (2009). Mobile phones and students learning in secondary schools. Curriculum Journals, 26 (7). Retrieved March 16, 2011, from http://cmslive.curriculum.edu.au/leader/default.asp?id=28526&issueID=11897

Learning Theories Knowledgebase. (2011). Cognitivism at Learning-Theories.com. Retrieved March 16, 2011 from http://www.learning-theories.com/cognitivism.html

Learning Theories Knowledgebase. (2011). Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer) at Learning-Theories.com. Retrieved March 17, 2011, from http://www.learning-theories.com/cognitive-theory-of-multimedia-learning-mayer.html

learning theories wiki

For this activity we were to get into pairs and discuss a learning theory and then construct a PMI chart.

Reflection on own learning

Connectivism- using networking skills to gain new ideas and new colleagues.

Cognitivism can be used by understanding where the learner is at right now and then to work out where to go from there using the correct framework.

Behaviourism -group work requires an equal partnership, so having a reliable personality ensures group work can be done with ease.

Constructivism, in a group, learners will always be at different levels so using this theory will depend where the student is starting from so the scaffolding can be altered more for some and less for others.

Potential learning

Connectivism- by being with a partner lets them bounce ideas off each other and use networking skills to meet new people.

Cognitivism within groups there are always more than one learning styles so being aware of how to deal with a range of learners is critical.

Behaviourism- group work may result in clashes of character therefore this could be linked to behaviour of group members

Constructivism- Learners are not always at the same stage of learning and therefore will be scaffolding their learning from different points.

Mobile Phones

The mobile phone wiki was well structured and easy to understand. It is a good idea to have the topic broken down using the De Bono’ s thinking hats to connect with a topic. I chose to comment on the negative reasons to why mobile phones should be not allowed in schools. I feel like there would be more negatives  vs positives when discussing the topic.  There are forms of connectivism within the task as we are using peer teachers to discuss and give feedback about our thoughts so a joint outcome can be made. Constructivism can be used because it is our knowledge that we already know through our own experiences that we are basing our responses on. The benefits of contributing to a wiki like this are to express your own thoughts while hearing what others have to say on the same topic. The issues with it may be if a point of view has to be chosen over the other there may be conflict or difference of opinion. Drawbacks, again if a view is chosen over the other side, difference of opinion may be discovered.

The De Bono’s thinking hats is great for scaffolding learning because it gives individuals with different learning styles and thinking patterns a chance to express their thoughts. This would be good for students because it shows them how learning is scaffolded, teaches how to evaluate ideas and encourages higher order thinking.