Synopsis

Synopsis

 

The world around us has advanced dramatically in terms of technology and the world of learning managers has begun to incorporate this into curriculum of schools. Experts in the field of education have been arguing for many years that in order to successfully engage students in meaningful learning, we as educators must be mindful of the technological age in which we live and thus we must facilitate, alter and transform our teaching practices in order to reflect these societal changes (Sutherland, Armstrong, Barnes, Brawn, Breeze, Gall, Matthewman, Olivero, Taylor, Wishart & John, 2004). This report is aimed at reporting on the considerations that we as learning managers must have in mind when using technology as well as its incorporation into the curriculum in the classroom. There are many things that need to be taken into consideration when using technology in the classroom including its legal and ethical use, the advantages and the disadvantages and the importance of the pedagogy when utilising these technologies. It is very important to teach students in the classroom to work ethically and legally with technology as much of the curriculum they will encounter will require the use of technology. Not only does the curriculum expect it but students who are constantly exposed to technology expect to be engaged by this same technology in the classroom (Prensky, 2005).

ICT capabilities support and enhance learning experiences in most strands (ACARA, 2012). The world that students now study in has changed dramatically and so has the technology that is used. Curriculum needs to change according to these evolutions in the technology world. With this in mind T-Pack is a great framework for learning managers to adhere to whilst teaching students.

An important part of this course is to recognise how ICT’s fit in with learning theories. It has been acknowledged that constructivism is the best learning theory when using ICT’s to facilitate the construction of knowledge and therefore more complex learning (Fasso, 2012). When engaging in the mobile phone debate there were many random conversations and facts that were flying around but when this was scaffolded with De Bono’s six thinking hats things became a lot clearer. The conversations could be translated into clear and decisive facts and this led to a much clearer understanding of the “conversation”

ICT Tool 1- VOKI

Voki is an e program that allows students to create avatars and record voiceovers for presentation and the like. This allows students who may not be comfortable in front of audiences to have the same opportunity as those that are, and convey their presentation in a format that they will be comfortable with. It also allows pupils to come up with and use ideas that they may not have come up with because of the pressure of presenting these ideas. Every student has the right to present ideas and information even if they are less than comfortable in front of an audience.

ICT Tool 2- Wiki

Wiki’s are a great forum to convey ideas and as mentioned earlier scaffolding with other learning processes is the key. As with many technologies there are up sides and down sides. On the upside, they are easy to create and have a variety of editing tools that can be used to enhance the learning experience. They layout is completely functional and easy to use and having the information stored in an online space increases its efficiency. The downsides are that many of the tools mentioned have to be purchased and it allows for students to post inappropriate content. They are also not very visually appealing. Although there are a few downsides to wiki’s I think they are an untapped reserve and a must have in the classrooms of the present and future. Although the technology could evolve and perhaps become more appealing to students it is only a matter of time before they are readily used in classrooms. I believe that using wiki’s in a group setting will maximise its effectiveness. When undertaking assignments that require groups students can post their work on the wiki’s and have it commented on and edited by fellow members of the group. This will most definitely help the students become more organised and want to participate in the group. Students schedules will not be a hindrance to group assignments as content can be edited from any computer. In short I believe that wiki’s have a place in the classroom and if used effectively can be a very useful ICT tool.

ICT Tool 3 – Podomatic

Podcasts are a great forum for students to convey and search for ideas and information. The program that we used that was most suited to this was Podomatic. Scaffolding with the likes of de Bono’s sic thinking hats becomes very important. Like any good search there needs to be a strategy employed and as long as an effective strategy is employed while searching for podcasts, this can be a great tool for any pupil. Like voki, although not as aesthetically pleasing, it allows students to present assignments an oral presentation or the like in a format that is suited to students that aren’t comfortable in front of audiences.

ICT Tool 4 – PowerPoint

PowerPoint is a great tool that grants students the ability to embed jpeg files, audio files and movie files to come up with a presentation that is not only aesthetically pleasing but stimulating for the student as well. I have found in my personal experience that PowerPoint makes you research an issue much more thoroughly than you would a normal oral presentation. It also helps with keeping a presentation flowing as you can set slides to flow at set intervals.

Conclusion

In the past few weeks I have used many technologies and programs that I never would have used before or even considered embedding into the classroom and found that I have a totally different approach to learning management and ICT. TPACK has shown that technology in the classroom can benefit all students but it must be used safely and ethically I think that as technology moves forward and has a larger role in peoples everyday life, this needs to be translated to the curriculum of any 21^st century learning establishment and it is up to us as learning managers to recognise this and educate students accordingly.

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment Reporting Authority (2012). Information and communication technology capability. Retrieved 16 August, 2012, from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and-Communication-Technology-capability/Introduction/Introduction

          Fasso, W. (2012). A brief overview of learning theory. Retrieved 15 August, 2012, from CQUniversity e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=12563

Prensky, M. (2005). "Engage me or enrage me": what today's learners demand. Retrieved 16 August, 2012, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf

Sutherland, R., Armstrong, V., Barnes, S., Breeze, N., Gall, M., Matthewman, S., Olivero, F., Taylor, A.,Triggs, P., Wishart, J. and John, P. (2004). Transforming teaching and learning: embedding ICT into everyday classroom practice. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 20, Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Retrieved from http://www.pgce.soton.ac.uk/ict/NewPGCE/PDFs/Transforming%20teaching%20and%20learning%20embedding%20ict%20into%20everyday%20classroom%20practices.pdf

Week 4

Week 4- Resizing images

I have never resized an image or used a program like Mobaphoto before. I was very surprised at the ease of which I picked up the process. With just a few clicks of a button I was able resize the image and amazingly save it as a much smaller file. This would be very handy for students who wanted to have detailed presentations on USB drives and similar storage devices without being as restricted by space on said drive.

Voki- Voki is a voiceover technology that allows users to record up to 60 seconds of audio and places a fully animated avatar that repeats exactly what you have recorded.

This is very useful technology for students who may not have the confidence to speak in front of their peers. Using Voki in place of the student could also encourage them to come up with ideas that they may not have necessarily come up with without the technology.

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=6518211&height=267&width=200

 

Podcasts- Podcasting is a great way to post information online that can be accessed time and again. The program that I used for y first podcast was Podomatic. Podomatic is the perfect website for amateur podcasters as it offers a detailed, easy to use step by step guide to publishing a podcast. I enjoyed the flow of the site with the five steps easy to follow. I used this as an opportunity to discuss the benefits and challenges of collaborative learning. It can be found here

Podomatic can be an admirable for students to post ideas online because it’s free of charge to use and so easy to navigate. It’s a great way for students to post oral presentations and gain feedback from peers. On the negative side there is no editing so students may post negative and inappropriate content.

Glogster- glogster is a tool that allows students to create posters which can then be embedded into a variety of different programs and tools such as a blog or website. Glogster I think appeals more to primary students as opposed to secondary because content is graded as opposed to aesthetics. That being said though I think that it could provide students with the opportunity of researching in a fun way. If linked with relevant websites a glogster could be created with all the information necessary for the students all found in one convenient location. It would also stop any copyright and plaguerism worries for the learning manager as they will beresponsible for the information and the sites which are linked on the website.

 

Week 3

Weebly- I used weebly for the first time in this activity and found the template layout and step by step guide to be of huge help. Even though I did not create much of a website, I could see the tools that were available and could see that the point and click layout of the website would ensure that even amateur computer users will be able to create their own websites. This could be used to create a website that engaged the students on a number of levels. The site could utilise a number of options to portray information to the student and adapt to any individual learning styles. Many different files could be uploaded such as pictures, sounds and videos (although the videos had to be paid for) could be all used to educate and facilitate the individual learning styles of each student.

Blogger- After discovering blogger and how easy it was to create my own blog, I wondered why I had not done this a lot earlier. Blogs are invaluable learning tools when, like anything, used in an appropriate fashion. By writing or Blogging thoughts and ideas onto a website that can be accessed and commented on by others can create an online learning community where thoughts and ideas are shared across different areas.

Wiki- Wiki’s are a great forum to convey ideas and as mentioned earlier scaffolding with other learning processes is the key. As with many technologies there are up sides and down sides. On the upside, they are easy to create and have a variety of editing tools that can be used to enhance the learning experience. They layout is completely functional and easy to use and having the information stored in an online space increases its efficiency. The downsides are that many of the tools mentioned have to be purchased and it allows for students to post inappropriate content. They are also not very visually appealing.

Although there are a few downsides to wiki’s I think they are an untapped reserve and a must have in the classrooms of the present and future. Although the technology could evolve and perhaps become more appealing to students it is only a matter of time before they are readily used in classrooms. I believe that using wiki’s in a group setting will maximise its effectiveness. When undertaking assignments that require groups students can post their work on the wiki’s and have it commented on and edited by fellow members of the group. This will most definitely help the students become more organised and want to participate in the group. Students schedules will not be a hinderance to group assignments as content can be edited from any computer. In short I believe that wiki’s have a place in the classroom and if used effectively can be a very useful ICT tool.

Week 2

An online discussion about the use of mobile phones in the classroom resulted on a wiki, scaffolded by De Bono’s six thinking hats. Although I did not participate in the discussion the feedback that I read on the topic forum was a testament to its success. Firstly it must be established exactly what a wiki is. A wiki is a fairly simple website that can be set up for free and contributed by anyone with access to the site. Anything from images to actual content can be edited a saved by various contributors. Secondly we must find out about De Bono and his sketchy (that was my first impression) theory. De Bono's hats is a thinking tool that provides a framework to aid people in thinking clearly by directing them in one direction at a time ( The Opportunity Thinker, 2012). Below is a visual of the concept:

 (Sourced from http://www.olivewriting.com/six-thinking-hats/)

 

The general consensus of the discussion was that there was enormous potential in using mobile phones in the classroom, but also a world of dangers. Ultimately it is up to the individual learning manager to decide whether or not to use the technology, but I guess that wasn’t the point of the exercise. Using wiki as a forum and scaffolding the discussion using de bonos six thinking hats was a huge success I believe. Even though one person was able to edit the wiki at a time, it is still a great way of students collaborating ideas and forming well thought out opinions on different topics. It is a fairly simple technology to use and should not take a large amount of time to master, this makes it even more valuable as the student can understand quickly and will not become frustrated with new ways of doing things.

The musical hats game was something that I was familiar with beforehand and was once again astounded by its success. It provided a structured way of arguing and on reflection the conversations and reasoning behind the arguments were able to be followed with ease. With the focus of each hat arguments made were logical and appropriate to the content. It should also be noted that the provision of such rich conversation in a clear and observable fashion provides a perfect stage for the high level synthesising at the top of Blooms Taxonomy (CQU, 2012)

I think that overall the wiki forum was a great place to discuss ideas and the scaffolding of De Bono’s six thinking hats was a great compliment to logically structuring these discussions.