Reflective Synopsis

Throughout my blog I have explored many different tools for teaching with technology but now I’m going to take some time to share why eLearning is so important and why you should use this technology in your classroom.

What is eLearning?

My understanding of eLearning leads me to the conclusion that e-learning entails the learning and deepening of knowledge that occurs when students are engaged in technology.  Ruth Clark (2002) supports and builds on this understanding through defining eLearning as content and instructional methods delivered on a computer, and designed to build knowledge and skills related to individual or organizational goals. However as technology increases I believe this definition would not only incorporate computers but also technology such as; iPads, mobile devices and Interactive Whiteboards.

Why is it important?

With each passing year our understanding of technology, and the technological devices available to us, increases dramatically. Along with this increase and change in ICTs is the change that is occurring in our students. According to Department of Education, Training and the Arts (DETA) (2008) this means teachers and their teaching methods must also adapt. In their article ‘eLearning for a smart classroom’ DETA (2008) addresses that the traditional classroom learning, which is limited to the knowledge the teacher has and can access, is being advanced by the contemporary learners’ own ability to find information and construct new knowledge through connecting with the world outside the classroom. Because of this we not only need to transition ICTs into the classroom but rather transform the way we teach with ICTs to engage students.

How does it link to learning?

I believe that unless students are effectively engaged in what is being taught then they are not learning. The Constructivist Learning Theory is all about how students learn or construct knowledge. Having a classroom that supports the use of technology is ‘focusing on the learner in thinking about learning’ (Exploratorium, 1996). It is student focused and enables them to experiment and construct knowledge for themselves, each learner individually and socially; whether it is through research, the collaboration of a class wiki or an online simulation. Technology can bring a whole new dimension of learning to the classroom if used effectively.

What framework can I use?
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a framework that identifies the knowledge teachers need to teach effectively with technology. As seen earlier in my blog. For learning to be truly successful there has to be an equal balance between these areas of knowledge. It does not matter how good your pedagogy is, without having a strong grasp of the content you will have nothing to teach, and if children are not engaged in what is being taught through the effective use of technology, then inevitably learning will be unsuccessful.DETA (2008) presents us with a similar framework claiming that eLearning is comprised of three components; Digital Pedagogy, Digital Content and eLearning Spaces which can be explored in more detail through the link addressed earlier.

Do ICTs require learners to think?

While using ICTs students are regularly engaging in higher order thinking skills without even realising it. They are analysing and evaluating the information that they are exposed to as they explore what information is important and of value and the functions and best way to use the tools they have. There are also endless opportunities for them to create and design new solutions, uses and ideas for the knowledge they are learning.

Am I being...

Safe? Ensure that the internet students are using is protected. Teach students how to effectively and safely use the internet, warn them of the dangers and encourage them to be careful. Also ensure equipment is being used in a safe manner; electrical items have been checked, no power cords are causing trip hazards, screens of iPads or mobile devices are not cracked.  

Legal? Ensure that students are familiar with referencing, help them to understand that it is illegal to copy other peoples work, this is called plagiarism. Lead by example, make sure that all your own work is referenced so that students can see it in practice.

Ethical? Ensure that technology such as computers, iPads and cameras are being used for their intended purpose - student’s education and not personal uses.

Where am I at with eLearning?

For me eLearning is not all about how tech savvy I am but rather my willingness to try new things. One of the points DETA (2008) makes about effective eLearning teachers is that they are ‘lifelong learners who are willing to take risks, fail and explore areas outside his or her expertise’. I believe that we don’t have to get everything right the first time as long as we learn from our experiences and keep working towards effectively engaging the learners in our classrooms.

References

Clark, R. (2002). The eLearning developers’ journal: Six principles of effective eLearning. Retrieved from http://faculty.washington.edu/farkas/HCDE510-Fall2012/ClarkMultimediaPrinciples(Mayer).pdf

Exploratorium. (1996). Institute for inquiry: Constructivist learning theory. Retrieved from http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/constructivistlearning.html

Queensland Government: Department of Education, Training and the Arts (DETA). (2008). Smart classroom bytes: eLearning for smart classrooms. Retrieved from http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/documents/strategy/pdf/scbyte-elearning.pdf

Assessment Reflection 5

This week we again explored the use of mobile devices in the classroom. As technology is rapidly advancing I do believe it is important for us as teachers to start incorporating technology into many aspects of learning. 

However I personally would find the use of mobile phones in the classroom to be very challenging. I believe that they would pose as a big distraction to the students. Also as I am specialising in early childhood I question the safety of students in younger grades having access to the communication of a mobile phone, I believe it could make them susceptible to bullying or predators.

I do however see a lot more potential for the use of iPads in the classroom.

iPads have a larger screen making them easier to read and type on, especially for younger children with less fine motor skills. They are still very portable and they do not always need to have Internet access in order to function.

Below is a list of some iPad apps that I believe would be very useful in a lower primary classroom;

•           Super Why
•           Bluster
•           Sliceit
•           Writers hat
•           ABC Spelling Magic
•           ABC Pocket phonics
•           Globe 
•           Student response system
•           Count money
•           Book creator
•           Super 7 

We were also introduced to QR Codes this week. As seen in the uploaded document I have generated a QR code as a creative way to link to my blog, as seen below. I have also thought of two ways QR codes could be effectively used in a classroom; the first in during group rotation activities and the second for a treasure hunt, requiring them to scan the code with an iPad. Rather than explaining each group activity to students have a code on the desk that they scan and it links them to the task they need to complete or instructions on what they need to do. Also during a treasure hunt, rather than students finding clues they could find a code which they must scan in order to receive their next directions.  

Assessment Reflection 4

This week I had the fun of rediscovering PowerPoint! It has become so common for me to only use PowerPoint as a presentation tool that I forgot about all it's other capabilities. Firstly I experimented with linking slides. This is done through selecting hyperlink and then selecting within document and then which slide you want to link to. One my first page I had the headings 1, 2 and 3, when you click on one of these it took you to the page with that number as a heading and then in the bottom corner I linked it back to the menu with a return to menu button. This feature can be used very effectively in the classroom for example in designing a quiz; have a question at the top with 3 different answers and when they select on they are told whether it is correct or not. It can also be used as a selection process, the students decide which animal they want to learn about, when they click on it a information page can come up. 
Another fantastic way to use PowerPoint is by inserting movies or audio. This could be used by the students in creating their own narratives, they could have images on each slide and then add their own recordings to narrate the story. Another strategy when teaching a topic could be to add a movie to the slide to engage the students more. Also diagrams and organisational charts can be included to broaden students understanding. 

Another presentation tool which is becoming more commonly known is Prezi. This tool is not linear as PowerPoint is, rather it provides the big picture and then allows you to zoom in on the details. The Prezi still works in slides as similar with PowerPoint although with the added benifit of seeing the whole thing but then moving around as appropriate to examine different sections. Within a Prezi you are also able to insert a variety of different tools to assist in creating the most effective presentation (as seen below). All of these options help in designing an engaging presentation that is not distracting the students but rather adding to what they are learning. For example if they are learning about life cycles, you can add images of animals at different stages of life, or diagrams that show the flow of energy, you can insert a video to allow the students see the animals in real life or if you've already done a PowerPoint on life cycles previously you can even add that in so as to not repeat the same work. 



The following Prezi was designed by my group for our assessment presentation in Ensuring Student Success this week. 



Gone are the days of cardboard posters, we are now being introduced to an online site which allows teachers and students to design interactive posters through Glogster. This a very fun and creative way for students to complete projects and therefore increase their interest and engagement in topics. You won't find videos and audio on a cardboard poster but you can certainly see them here. As students are using or designing using this tool they are also better learning how to manipulate technology and can even teach you a few things about how to use it. Students can use Glogster a lot more swiftly and easily; they can just hop on computers and work on their Glogster whenever and it is all there, instead of going searching for glue and scissors and magazines or having to print out information. Glogster can have a vast range of uses in the class room from teaching or learning about historical people or events, extinct animals, a creative art piece or as seen below, I have designed this Glogster as a science investigation for students in year 5. 



Overall I can see how these tools would be very effective in a classroom to help engage students. Although I believe it is important that when exposing students to the Internet that they are taught to how to use it safely the sites are protected. Also students need to be aware of how to save their work and how to get it back, so as to avoid too much frustration. 
I hope through this week's blog I have helped you learn something new about a tool or way to use it, as you have all helped me immensely!

Assessment Reflection 3

This week we explored the use of images, audio and  video and how it can be used in the classroom.

Images can have a multitude of uses ranging from their use to make things aesthetically pleasing or engaging, to tell a story, express creativity, decorate, keep memories and they can certainly be used to enhance learning in all areas of curriculum. For example having cameras in the classroom would allow the students opportunities to record the process of experiments or in designing diagrams in Science, or in Maths we can have picture graphs and pictures can be used in sums, pictures can be used to show a scene in History or help tell a story in English and especially in the arts. The uses for images are endless, although to be able to effectively use them we need to have to ability to manipulate images. The technical manual for this course gives the option of resizing images with a tool found at http://mobaphoto.mobatek.net/en/. However I rather use a program that is already on my computer called Microsoft Office Picture Manager. In this program you are given the option to edit photos and then in the editing tab you can resize an image to your own custom size or the predefined sizes of document large or small, web large or small or email large or small. The first image below is uploaded in original size and the one beneath it has been resized to a small web size.

It is easy to understand how using images as big as the first image can cause trouble in the classroom, from the time taken to upload and download photos and the issues trying to manipulate an image on a page.
It is important when uses cameras in the classroom that you teach the students to be sensible with the images and only take photos that others feel comfortable with them taking.

Another fun and engaging tool to use in the classroom is videos. Similar to images, videos can serve a variety of purposes in helping students learn. They can be used for things such as; creating films, recording speeches or science experiments, interviews they have with guest speakers or excursions out of the classroom. There are many ways to make their learning more interesting and definitely more memorable. I have uploaded the following video from my phone to demonstrate my capability of using this kind of media and how easy it would be for students to upload videos to the computer.

In class this week Gary gave us a great example of how students can create their own movies (with the teachers assistance) for drama. He also showed us how claymation can be used in the classroom which combines both image and video and can be used to assess students in a range of curriculum areas. For example they could create a story that incorporates art in the designing of it, English in the writing of the story and it could be about a science concept. It is a great way to make students learning fun, engaging and meaningful. When I was on prac last year I observed and helped the students in my class create claymations for health; they had to create a claymation to advertise their unique product. They loved making them and found it very engaging.

When using images and videos within the classroom it is extremely important to always be thinking about safe and ethical practises. Ensure students have signed permission before taking their photo or using a photo of them in any way and make sure they are ok with the photo being taken. Don't use the photo outside of the classroom, which includes passing photos on to the children's families. Ensure cameras in the classroom are clean of any old images, anything personal or any image that could be wrongly interpreted. We have to remember to take a step back and look at it from another persons point of view. Another way to use images safely is to only take from behind the students as I have done in my video.

I hope you are beginning to understand as much as me about the significance of using technology in the classroom and how to actually manipulate it and implement it into everyday classroom life.

Assessment Reflection 2

The first technology I have explored this week is a wiki. I have created a standard wikispace previously for another assignment, so this time I discovered and played with a ‘wiki classroom’. I had not seen one of these before and was very interested to find out more. According to wiki the space is designed to manage all the activity, resources, conversations, and projects in the classroom and is essential for keeping students, and teachers, organized and working together. The site allows you to add members of the class and place them into groups for projects, record important events on the calendar or just design collaborative pages for the students and/or parents.

For me personally I did not find the classroom space very user friendly, I found it quite difficult to work my way around the different aspects of the site, such as projects and assessment. Although, this may be just because I am unfamiliar with it and need some more practise and experience with it, or possibly I need students as members to help the site run more smoothly.

I can see how a wiki classroom could be very useful; I particularly like the events calendar. It could be very effective for organising plans with the students. However, if I was intending to use wiki spaces for a specific task or project with the students I would just use a standard page to avoid confusion.

http://kristysexperimentalpage.wikispaces.com/

Strengths ·      Collaborative, everyone is able to contribute and feel as though their input is valued ·      Engaging	Weaknesses ·   Information can be deleted if more than one student is editing the site ·   Can become very messy ·   Time consuming to create
Opportunities ·      Students can collaborate all their ideas for a project ·      Students can access and contribute from home	Threats ·   Students deleting another students work or speaking negatively about another student ·   Having website hacked by outsider

The second technology that I explored this week was a Weebly. This was my first time creating a Weebly, I found it to be quite an easy site to navigate and design. The ‘drag and drop’ technique allowed me to simply select the element I wished to use, such as text, images, maps or videos and drag it to the position I desired on the page.  My biggest challenge was using my creativity to fill it up without having any specific topic.

Weebly is a static website which means there is little option for collaboration or input from the students. However in designing the site there is the option of adding a poll or voting section, as seen on the ‘living things’ page. This can be helpful in gauging students’ interest or knowledge but it does not allow the students to collaborate their ideas and thoughts.

I believe this site could be effectively used for engaging and teaching children about a specific topic, by uploading tools such as videos, images and simulations. Also a class site can be created, similar to the one I started to collate the class’s activity for them to revise or families to look at.  

http://managingelearningkw.weebly.com/index.html

Positives	Minuses	Interesting
· Engages a large range of learners · Can make learning more meaningful · Students can access information from home if they have a computer · Can be presented very professionally	·   Time consuming to create ·   Unable to access if internet is having trouble ·   Anyone is able to view the content – Cannot share any personal details ·   Not collaborative – only one author – Static	·    Videos and animations can be uploaded to the Weebly site ·    You can add many pages and sub pages to each site ·    Parents can also access site to see what their children are learning

TPACK

Prior to this course I had not heard (or maybe not remembered) the framework of TPACK; Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge. Although having done some research into the framework, I feel I have grasped a deeper understanding of it and I can see the significance of its use in the classroom. The first image below (http://www.learnovationlab.org/tpack.html) helped me to grasp an understanding of the concept and the importance of a teachers knowledge in the different areas and ability to link this knowledge. Following that image is the table https://sites.google.com/site/9990epss/content/learning-tpack-by-design-workshop-a-pilot-study) which was helpful in extending my knowledge through also providing examples.   

Assessment Reflection 1

The task this week, required all students to contribute to the online wiki about our thoughts on the use of mobile phones in the classroom, scaffolded by de Bono’s 6 thinking hats. My first reaction to having mobile phones in the classroom was an immediate ‘NO!’ So the black hat was a great place to start I could easily list multiple negatives about distractions and dangers, as seen in my responses below.

http://debonoshats.wikispaces.com/de+Bono+14

Scaffolding this activity with de Bono’s six thinking hats was a very effective strategy, if merely asked to give an opinion on the ideas of mobile phones in classrooms there would be some strong opinions and not necessarily a lot of thinking. It’s very easy to tell people what you think and know about a topic, but to analyse and evaluate it from different perspectives requires a much higher level of processing.

De Bono’s 6 thinking hats are a very effective tool for developing higher order thinking skills. The green creative hat can easily be linked to Bloom’s Taxonomy level to Create, also the blue and white hats of process and objective clearly link to the level of analysing and finally the black (negative), red (intuitive) and yellow (positive) hats connect to Bloom’s Evaluate.

Analyse Separates material or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishes between facts and inferences.	Evaluate Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.	Create Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure.
Blue hat - The Process: Where are we now? What is the next step? Where have we been? What sort of thinking is needed? White hat - Information: What information do I have? What are the facts? What information do I need? What do I want to KNOW?	Black hat - Judgement: What is wrong with this? Why will this not work? Is this safe? Can this be done? Yellow hat - Benefits: What are the good points? Why can this be successful? Why is this a good thing? Red hat - Feelings: How do I feel about this? What do I like about the idea? What don't I like about the idea?	Green hat - Creativity: What new ideas are possible with this? What is my suggestion for success? Can I create something new?

The wiki worked as an effective tool for this activity, it allowed for collaborative learning as I read and responded to different peoples’ ideas and thoughts. Through maintaining an open mind I was able to see all the different possibilities for mobile phones in classrooms where I would not have thought of on my own. Through using an activity such as this in the classroom students could all be given an opportunity to share their thoughts and absorb others’ ideas. Learners have a large array of knowledge if we just provided them with a non-judgemental place to share it, where all beliefs are considered important.

I believe that the learning occurring during this wiki (or any one you may conduct in your classroom) comes very much from the social constructivism learning theory. Social Constructivism believes that learning is founded upon social interactions within a learning community which is precisely what this task was about, pooling together everyone’s knowledge, in order to support and learn from each other. 

To help my understanding of social constructivism I found this glog on social constructivism to make it a little clearer (and more fun).

The image below has been draw from the moodle site and shows how this activity provides clear links to the social constructivism theory. There was a scaffold of de Bono’s thinking hats to  support our complex reasoning, all contributions to the wiki were valued by others, thinking was clearly visible and permanent on the wiki.

http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=146071

Overall I feel that the engagement activity was very successful in beginning to develop our higher order thinking skills and ability to in turn help students develop these skills, through the use of ICT.