A Reflective Synopsis of my Learning E-Journal

Assessment 2

As a requirement of becoming a teacher in the 21st century I am attempting to become technologically savvy. As I have embarked on my Graduate Diploma of Learning and Teaching (GDLT), I am not only learning new approaches in academics but also new uses of technology through my courseware in Information Communications Technologies (ICT’s). I am hoping that not only will this knowledge enhance my teaching skills but hopefully make me a better teacher as I create more relevant and engaging lessons.

As stated in Dimensions of Learning, Dimension 4. “The purpose of acquiring knowledge is to be able to use it meaningfully.” (Marzano & Pickering. 1999. P 189). I feel that this statement not only applies to school but to anyone furthering their education in general. (Not just in a scholastic sense). Taking into consideration the different learning abilities of students, technology based learning no longer disadvantages those with learning difficulties and in conjunction with being aware of different learning styles and personalities a more student centered learning environment will be produced.

Over the past several weeks I have been introduced to blogs, wikis, an-line journals (Mahara) and a multitude of technical applications to enhance many aspects of teaching and learning. Using these technologies will create a more relevant curriculum and prepare our students for their futures. As stated in Futurework (1999. P 3) “The continued evolution of technology affects both existing and future jobs.” This article stresses the importance of using technology in school, as jobs in our future will not even have been created yet.

Students today have more electronic gadgets than any generation before them and this in itself is reason enough to try and keep them engaged during the learning process. It is no wonder Greg Kearsley and Ben Shneiderman (1999. P 1) are implementing their Engagement Theory to promote “a framework for technology-based teaching and learning”. Teaching students using strategies from last century (1970’s, 80’s and 90’s) will lose their interest as there is no relevance in the class delivery.

Many of the students in my university study group have benefited by being a part of a team. Learning becomes so much easier when you communicate freely with your peers and lecturers via on-line courseware (Moodle) and our personal blogs because it has created “successful collaborative teams”. (Kearsley & Shneiderman. 1999. P1). It is in this way that using ICT’s in class succeed. Computers are a fantastic research tool but we can take that one step further, by incorporating what the students already know (LMQ 1) in their use of email and MSN as a communication tool and get them to use the same principles in school. This produces an “authentic setting for learning” (Kearsley & Shneiderman. 1999. P 5) by using the components Relate-Create-Donate, (Kearsley & Shneiderman. 1999. P1) and should improve the learning skills of individual students by giving them a relevant purpose with their work.

Making use of Wikis promotes the students to actively engage in group work in and out of school and is an indispensable tool for remote or incapacitated students to keep up to date with school projects. Being able to incorporate many other technologies into the Wiki, such as you tube clips, images, videos and Vokis provides an engaging tool to participate in class activities with authentic outcomes.

Students creating Blogs provides a tool for communication, encouraging quality work as it has the possibility of being viewed by many. Blogs can be used by teachers so that students may access lessons, for revision, or information for projects outside of school. Encouraging students to use the new software programs (for example: Photo Shop and Corel Draw, etc) to enhance/ embellish their work keeps them more focussed on the task at hand simply because they are using technology. Teaching with ICT’s promotes good rapport between the teacher and the student as we no longer appear “square or nerdy”.

Vokis and Avatars are a whole lot of fun. They are perfect to introduce new topics or electronic bodies of work by novelty factor alone. A tool that teaches unsuspectedly is priceless. The fun factor is a silent encouragement to play with visual concepts and sound. Literacy skills will be enhanced by the unwary student. I have expanded on these technologies in my previous blog entries: http://gdlts0190268.blogspot.com/2010/04/icts-in-education.html

Powerpoint presentations are a very effective way to cater for all learners. When used to their full capacity they can engage auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners. Used in conjunction with an Interactive Whiteboard this becomes a very strong teaching tool. Having had the opportunity to teach in this way recently, I found that the students are engaged and are willing to participate and contribute to the learning experience.

In conclusion the further into my studies I get, the more I realise how important it is to include ICT’s in the curriculum. Providing authentic activities to engage students will provide them with the scaffolding to become life-long learners. Using technology has now become a fact of life and in order for our students to become proficient at it, we, the teacher also need to become proficient.

Blogs I have commented on:

Anne Fletcher

Carolyne Thornton

Jess Havens

References:

Futurework. (1999) Trends and Challenged for work in the 21st century.

Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design,

http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2000/Summer/art04.pdf

Kearsley, G., and Schneiderman, B. (n.d.) Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44470

Marzano. R.J. & Pickering. D.J. (1997) Dimensions of Learning (2nd ed). Alexandria, Virginia USA. McREL.

Another Image

Playing with images

the original:

I have played around with several techniques:

Embedding a You tube clip

I found this funny little clip as I saw the "Minescule" clip just before the ABC news one evening. It has lots of funny little clips and I think that some of them would be really intersting ways to introduce topics in class.

My Introduction Voki for ICT's in Education

ICT's in Education

Reflections on my E- Journey Learning.

I am very much a kinaesthetic learner so trying to successfully set up a Mahara e-journal, a Blog and a Wiki has been a little difficult. To gain support from my partner I decided to create my Wiki about a hobby that we both share, model railroads. We both sat down together and decided what images to add and the things we wish to talk about. This made the experience a little easier on me as it was a shared hesitation about the steps to take and how it works, but after a few hours of self correction and playing around I am starting to familiarise myself with the required steps. The Blog I found a little easier, and despite this being a part of my assessment, I feel that because it is a personal journal I am not being so scrutinised.

My Wiki

I have really enjoyed writing about something that fascinates and interests me, so I can see that this would be a useful tool in education as long as the subject matter held interest for the students. I feel that it would be necessary to encourage the students to write what they feel rather that what they think the teachers want to hear (for assessment purposes). As stated in Costa’s Habits of Mind, number 13, Taking Responsible Risks. “We hope that students will learn how to take intellectual as well as physical risks. Students who are capable of being different, going against the grain of the common, thinking of new ideas and testing them with peers as well as teachers, are more likely to be successful in this age of innovation and uncertainty.”
By Embedding ICT’s into the KLA’s we can only hope that this creates the best possible way to encourage children to learn scholastically and be producing competent users of technology.
I have been discussing my course with family members, who have all been involved with the education system over the last 50 years and all of them are commenting on the difficulty of using ICT’s. This is just reinforcing the need to teach the use of technology in school so that we can give our students the best possible start to their journey into the workforce. This, of course, requires the teachers to continue to learn and modify the use of technologies.
Sharing the “16 Habits of Mind” with them has been fun for me, and illustrating to them how “Remaining Open to Continuous Learning” is a very important step in embracing the speed in which technology is becoming a part of everyday life. (Costa. 1999, P 12)

My Blog

Setting up my Blog was a relatively painless exercise as I found that Google has made navigating the setup very user friendly. I feel at times that I am technologically challenged so keeping an open mind when dealing with the specifics will be necessary. I am still having trouble getting my head around using ICT’s in visual art but thanks to the suggestion of my fellow class mate, Carolyne Thornton, this website is educating me on how to use technology in art. I know that using ICT’s when I teach SOSE will be a valuable tool. Technology is a tool and a tool stills needs a well trained operator for it to function properly. Many of the teachers that did their degrees before ICT’s became a part of the curriculum will need ongoing training, so I think it would be beneficial for the QSA to implement on- going courses in IT for teachers. On the other hand communicating with other teachers via a wiki would be a great way to share recommendations on what works where in using ICT’s in the classroom.

My Mahara

I have saved discussing my Mahara until last because I have found it the biggest challenge. I realise that many hours are needed to navigate my way around the site in order to get it to work successfully for me. I am finding this a challenge in itself as I am torn between wanting to get to know this technology better and completing all the rest of the course ware for the GDLT.

I am still composing my conclusion for this exercise.