WEEK THREE|

WEEK THREE| creating a blog

| Reflection

Upon creating this blog, I was a little uncertain as to how I should be expressing my work. When looking through blogs that were created by other people, it became clear to me that my blog should be my own creation that expresses my own journey through this course. Before beginning this course I was unsure about what blogs entailed and what should be on a blog and most importantly how a blog related to teaching.  Looking through valuable information I have learnt that the use of blogs are a great way to communicate. Looking through the blogs made by the other people in my course I have learnt a great deal. There are several different way's in which a topic can be answered and there are a lot of people who's opinions are different and their interpretation of a question were answered differently.
In relation to talking about the thinking tool of SAWT, using the blog method can have several strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. |
What this all means is that a blog can have its disadvantages and also its positives whist using it as a teaching tool; as shown below.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Weaknesses - Students need to have the ICT skills. (preferably computer/internet skills) - Students need to have motivation to jump on this site to help with their learning (self-motivation and control) - needs internet connection  (may be an issue for students working from home) - The site may be experiencing technical difficulties

Strengths - easily accessible. - students can access this site from home/school and on their portable devices    (mobiles,Ipads) which will make it easy to access wherever you may be.

Opportunities - A great learning tool to collaborate on - Students can reflect on/learn from other students ideas - A great tool to upload assignments for feedback from peers and teachers - A great tool to be able to meet other students - A great tool to be able to have discussions with teachers after school hours - A tool in which can help students to feel 'accepted' if used properly - A tool that is parent friendly! (For parents who want to be involved in their child's learning, the parent can jump on the site and read about what their children are learning and the feedback that the teacher is giving their children in regards to their learning)

Threats - The site may not be accessible for all ages - The site needs to be monitored to avoid inappropriate behaviour  - cyber bullying may be a huge issue if the site is used incorrectly

The use of a blog is one of the many scaffolding tools that a teacher can use in order to lead students towards a better understanding about a topic.
a blog is a great tool in which teachers can upload their students assessment pieces and then the students being able to access this and comment on and elaborate on whist assessing the work of other students to help with their own understanding. In regards to scaffolding, a teacher can type out questions in order to probe students to answer and elaborate on to help with their learning, ask for each students interpretation and then provide the student with positive feedback for the purpose of improvement.
Whilst using a blog as a learning tool it may be suitable for students of all ages, teacher supervision may be required in order to ensure that all students understand how to use it and that they know what to use it for.

REFELCTION| What I found to be interesting in regards to writing my SWAT analysis was that I had more points to write about in the 'opportunities' section than I did when I was writing about the threats and weaknesses. there are so many positives when it comes to creating and using a blog for learning purposes. Writing so many positives about a blog goes to show just how much the use of a blog can really help students. I even consider the site to be parent friendly! There are many parents who want to be involved in their child's learning and so the use of a blog can be a great way in which they can monitor how well they are doing at school and with their learning.

ATTENTION: YOUR ACCESS HAS BEEN DENIED!!

Remember this nasty sign that popped up when you tried to access your social media account from the school computers which often meant you had no choice but to do your school work?
Well according to Fasso, 2012  this nasty sign is still in play when students attempt to open up their accounts to blogs or to social media sites.
Schools today, are still blocking students from access to social media sites. I have created a SWAT chart to lay out in front of us if this is a good option or not. could blocking students from blog sites or other learning sites be effecting their learning?

Threats - Particular blogging sites may be an open door for cyber bullying and/or other member of the public can contribute if not monitored constantly - Students may not be using the site appropriately - students may be accessing their own personal accounts from the school websites instead of using their school accounts - particular blogging sites may have a virus in them (unlikely, but they might!!)

Weaknesses - students may be distracted from what they are meant to be doing on the internet -

Opportunities - Students are able to collaborate with other students from other schools during school hours - Teachers are able to have a face-to-face discussion with their students based on what they have read on eachother's blogs. - students have a chance to discuss face-to-face with other students whilst reading blog information (collaborate with eachother during school)

Strenghts - The site can be monitored more effectively at school - Students who do not have internet access at home can access the blogs from school - students are able to ask questions whist at school -

Blogs are a useful tool in order for students to collaborate and to provide feedback with each other. The use of a blog (if used appropriately and positively) can help with self-esteem levels and also with ensuring that each student is on the right track in regards to homework and assignment work.
The blogs can give students the opportunity to ask questions under each post and to express their own thoughts and opinions. As a future primary school teacher, I want to be able to have my students access the blogs that I would have posted pictures and stories based on what the students are learning at the time. With this, the students can come back to the information if they ever forget or can't remember something or just want to be reminded. The internet is a powerful tool, it is filled with information and pictures and I want my blog postings to narrow down particular information based on what my students are learning at the time. This way, students can add their own knowledge on the topic underneath the posting! this is a great way in which students can collaborate while learning!


REFRENCES:
Fasso, W. (2013). Digital tool 1: Blogs for learning, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, Last viewed 22 March 2013

WEEK THREE|Creating a Wiki| Reflection

I believe a wiki can be a great tool to learn and elaborate on. What I discovered about this tool is that it holds the opportunity to upload images and videos which helps to create a great learning environment for other wiki members.
There are so many things that a wiki can do and having this useful tool in a classroom can help students to learn and to also develop their ICT skills that they may not already have.
A wiki is also a great source in which students can talk about assignment tasks or even answer questions provided by the teacher. A Wiki is a great source for students to share videos or pictures related to their learning.
what I found great about this site was that you were able to change the colour of your writing which is helpful to distinguish between which 'hat' the students fall under. changing the colour of the writing helps with distinguishing which student thinks what. An example may include the use of black representing opinion or negativity towards a topic and purple meaning that the students is in agreement and supports the topic. This is a great elaboration lesson that students can be involved in on the wiki.
Although wikis are a great learning tool they are also very 'fiddly'. It took me a long time to find out how to use the wiki and to discover what they were used for and this could be an issue in which students might be faced with in class (students need to have ICT skills to use this site) I created a SWOT analysis to help break down the positives and the negatives of using a wiki in a classroom.

Weaknesses - Students need to have the ICT skills - Students need to have the motivation to use the site. - internet connection needs to be available - Teachers providing information need to have correct references for students - The site may have 'down time' for maintenance and this could cause disruption to students when trying to access this site for homework or assignments.

Threats - cyber bullying - inappropriate use of the site can easily occur - needs to be monitored by teachers/parents

Opportunities - Learning opportunities - Students can upload videos or pictures that they have found on a topic and want to share this with their classmates/teacher.

Strengths - use of writing in different colours to help distinguish between different opinions. The 'Hat' theory. -

I found a great site that explains exactly what a Wiki is. It really helped me to develop my knowledge in using this collaborative website. Here is the link.
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf

Week two | Activities

 Week two  | Reflection on the use of Mobile phones in classrooms

I approached the wiki site with my own ideas/ opinions about the usage of mobile phones in classrooms although, it was very informative to hear what other people thought about this topic. The wiki was a great tool to use in order to have reflection and debate about this touchy subject with other members of this course. however, I found the wiki to be slightly unorganised and I felt as if though it was hard to follow at times. Needless to say I thought the use of a wiki helped deepen my learning.

In relation to the use of wiki's within a classroom, I feel the wiki activity would help contribute to the learning of students in a classroom environment  because the students have the opportunity to engage in an online discussion and debate/voice their opinions on the matter. The students are not only learning from what other students are saying, but they are also able to learn to accept other opinions that they may not have thought about or considered. The use of the wiki can be used for assessment collaboration where students can jump on to discuss the assignment and deepen their understanding on what is required and also for homework tasks that can be set by the teacher. Although there are plenty of positives about the use of wiki's, there are also some issues that should be addressed. One major issues would be that students may not have internet access at home or at their schools.

In relation to the discussion on the wiki about 'mobile phones in classrooms' I fell under the 'black hat' category. I was very quick to defend my own belief about this topic that I never stopped to consider the other positive/constructive opinions of mobile phones in classrooms said by the others on the wiki.
When being asked to collaborate  on the use of mobile phones on a wiki, there are four learning theories that would have been in use during my thinking and responding process.
Behaviourism- This theory would have been in use when I considered my own behaviour when I attended school. (When a student used a mobile phone in class, was it distracting for me? Was it something that the student got into trouble for? Were there strict rules in having mobiles in school?)
in regards to the other students collaborating, they too would have been considering their own experiences and behaviours towards Mobiles.
 constructivism- After reading the statements made by the other students, I had created new idea's and added that to the knowledge that I had previously already learnt.

WEEK TWO|

 

TPACK - Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge

TPACK is the beginning of a new way in which pedagogical content knowledge can be taught. A couple of years ago when I attended school, technology was only used within an ICT class or a Business class. Today teachers are integrating technology such as, Ipads, Mobile Phones, GPS and even Computers/laptops to help and support their teaching. Teachers of the 21st century are required to 'keep up' with the children of today who are currently using technology for everything. The power of technology is growing at a rapid rate and so it is becoming compulsory for all educators to learn exactly what it is that children are learning today on their technological devices. When we think about it how many people do we see each day using their mobile phones or their Ipads? We no longer need to write down our to-do-list on pieces of paper, why would we do that when an Ipad can record it all down for us? It is simply crazy! being young myself I finished school when the use technology was slowly becoming more frequent in my classes, although mobile phones, ipads and bringing your own personal laptop to school was 'not allowed' we had to use the school's out-of-date computers. What shocks me even more is that my teachers at school were still using blackboards to write on. I only graduated from high school 4 years ago. the use of technology has really developed over the past 4 years. According to author: Newhouse, P. (2002) the need for computer literacy became extremely influential and many school purchased computers based on this rationale.
What an interesting fact! It makes me stop to think about the use of technology being influenced by society. Is society the reason behind why we need to rely on technology so much? The information can be found on he following site: http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/downloads/pd/impactreview.pdf Newhouse, P. (2002)
to get my head around all of the information regarding TPACK  I found a diagram in which helped my understanding of what  the TPACK framework really consisted of.

 

 

 

 

 

How I understood TPACK was that teachers are simply adding the use of ICT to their traditional teaching approaches. As future teachers it is in our best interest to learn how to use technology in several ways, as learning specific information is the basis of TPACK Koehler, M. (2011).  The educator needs to ensure that they are using creative ways to link what needs to be learnt (the content) How it is going to be taught (pedagogy) and the tools in which are going to assist in this learning process (technology).

REFLECTION |

I feel that a great way in which helps students to recognise what is being learnt is to use videos. from personal experiences, I often learnt best watching a documentary on the subject being taught because I could see the information in front of me being explained and shown in great detail. This is just one of the many technological  devices that can be incorporated into students learning.


References|
 Koehler, M. (2011). What is TPACK? last viewed on: 22 March 2012, From:
http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/tpack/tpack-bibliography/ 

WEEK ONE

Week One | Learning styles

Jessica Andrews- Learning styles results
(Felder & Solomon, 1991) 

 As shown above, the Felder and Solomon's online learning styles test shows the results of how I learn and obtain information. From my understanding of the results of the first scale, I am an active learner rather than a reflective learner. I am a learner who best obtains information by actively applying it or discussing it with others. I work best in a group simply because I love hearing the creativity of others and then I love applying some of that creativity and inspiration into my own work. I learn best by listening to what others have to say about their understanding of information.

The second scale shows that I am a sensing learner. To my understanding, a sensing learner is very good at remembering facts. I find that I have a very good memory to facts that I can relate to my everyday life. I often work carefully and slowly to ensure that my work is neat and tidy and also to make sure that I have obtained the information effectively. However, I find that I do not obtain information that I cannot relate to. I normally require extra assistance to broaden my unuderstanding.

The third scale shows that I am a visual learner. I learn best by seeing rather than hearing and listening. As a visual learner I need to be be shown diagrams and charts that relate to the information rather than hearing about it and listening to others. As an aspiring primary school teacher, I need to ensure my teaching habits teaching vary between activities that require group work, hands on activities, classroom discussions and activities with movement (this activity is important in a performing arts class such as, music or drama) and visual activities where students need to sit and to listen and write. As an aspiring teacher is it in my best interest to ensure that I am completing the needs of each my students by observing how each student learns best. As a student myself, I often learnt best by seeing 'examples' of how the teacher wanted the activity to play out. By ensuring that each student is learning effectively, the teacher needs to ensure that they are mixing up the learning styles rather than keeping it one style that may not suit the needs of the other students in the class.

The final scale of the diagram shows that I am a Global learner. A global learning to my understanding means that the learner may understand the information but the educator needs to explain the information in more detail so that the student can relate it to something that they already know and understand. As a Global learner myself, Information often needs to be exaplined in more detail so that I can obtain it and understand it. I need the information to come with examples and disagrams.

REFLECTION | 
I feel that if the quiz wanted to discover every detail of how I learn it would go for pages. Having only the choice to pick one of the two answers during the quiz made me question if I was picking the 'right' answer for myself.
 At the age of 22, I am finding that I am still learning about how I learn everyday. I feel as if though I am learning better by doing my univeristy work on the internet because I can read information and have time to reflect on it and print it out and read up on it at a later date.

In relation to applying this to my students in a classroom, it would become important to identify which students participated in what activities such as, reading and writting or classroom discussions and debates and which students did well in practical activities. By reading and educating myself with the different learning styles I will then be able to apply this to my teaching plan which will ensure that I am attending to the needs of my students.

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowlege".
- Albert Einstein

A warm welcome to you all!

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to my 'ICT's For learning design' blog. This blog is about my personal reflection to adapting to students and technology in the 21st centruy. On this blog you will read about my jouney into understanding technology as a way of learning.
I am new to creating blogs so please, if you have any advice on how to make it better send me through a message! I would love to hear from you.

Thankyou for taking the time to pass by my blog. I hope you enjoy your visit.