Bruce & Hogan, 1998 talk about technology as a tool that until recently was "transparent" in the classroom by the relatively slow pace at which technologies used to develop. Its only relatively recently that the technology, especially digital technologies, have moved faster than the teachers can keep up Misha and Koehler. So it is more important now to be aware of the technologies so that they can be used more effectively by teachers in the coming years and even decades.
Not only is the technology moving fast but the adoption by students, or "digital natives", of these technologies from a relatively early age is increasing (Prenski). It is important for teachers to be aware of this in order engage the students in their studies.
Covered within the reflective synopsis there will be a overview of the class wiki contribution, and an overview of four e-learning tools that have been reviewed. Discussing the strengths and weaknesses and how to apply it to future teaching and the legal, ethical and safety implications for users.
Wiki Reflection
What I took from the mobile phone wiki exercise is that the learning design and structure are incredibly important to support good learning. The use of Debono’s hats is an effective supporting structure because it takes into account a wide variety of points of view and lets the students work at their zone of proximal development, making it more likely they will engage. This still depends on how comfortable and willing the student is to engage with the exercise. What I did find was that the choice of how to respond using one or a combination of Debono’s hats was more engaging then just having the question of “what do you think...” without an effective scaffold to assist in answering the question. I was, however, frustrated with how the creation and formatting tools can be less than intuitive. The ability to write is simple enough and making simple changes to the format of the text to make it individualised is straight forward. But as soon as contributions are made by more than ten people who add quite a bit of information each, with their own formatting the whole site becomes confusing and not enjoyable to contribute to. I would suggest another, simpler exercise in order to get the students accustomed to using the formatting and editing tools.
Tool 1. - Online Spaces
An online space is the scaffolding on which all information and resources are hung from on the internet or network, these resources can include text, video, images and various other types of multimedia where users can then be allowed to view the space, contribute using comment boxes and in some cases edit the base resources. While the other online tools such as wikis and websites have positive traits I chose the Blog online space because of the individual creation possibilities and also the opportunity of others to respond and give feed back. A blog gives the students the opportunity to have their own input and have the ability to create their own constructivist learning environment with the possibility of others being able to comment but the work still remains primarily the product of one student. One blog format was for storytelling whereby a student starts a story and other student contribute through the comments box below. This blog was created as a means to stray from traditional diary entry type blogs, with the idea to encourage students to be creative using each others feedback comments. There are some safety aspects to consider when using blogs in this way. The students need to understand that any ideas that are not their own need to be acknowledged with the use of hyper-linking and referencing. This becomes easier to implement depending on if the blog is on a protected intranet or open to the public this can affect the type of information that is added. For example photographs of students and information that should not be shared with the general public. Also safety is a concern with regards to comments which are not respectful and constructive these can be mediated by the teacher. Because of the variety of tools for example – multimedia, graphics representations and text format at the users disposal the blog can be used in many contexts.
Tool 2. – Multi-Media
Multi-media alludes to comunication through images, audio and the combination of both in video. It is important to be aware of these tools because of the expanding literacies in the 21st century.
Covered within the reflective synopsis there will be a overview of the class wiki contribution, and an overview of four e-learning tools that have been reviewed. Discussing the strengths and weaknesses and how to apply it to future teaching and the legal, ethical and safety implications for users.
Wiki Reflection
What I took from the mobile phone wiki exercise is that the learning design and structure are incredibly important to support good learning. The use of Debono’s hats is an effective supporting structure because it takes into account a wide variety of points of view and lets the students work at their zone of proximal development, making it more likely they will engage. This still depends on how comfortable and willing the student is to engage with the exercise. What I did find was that the choice of how to respond using one or a combination of Debono’s hats was more engaging then just having the question of “what do you think...” without an effective scaffold to assist in answering the question. I was, however, frustrated with how the creation and formatting tools can be less than intuitive. The ability to write is simple enough and making simple changes to the format of the text to make it individualised is straight forward. But as soon as contributions are made by more than ten people who add quite a bit of information each, with their own formatting the whole site becomes confusing and not enjoyable to contribute to. I would suggest another, simpler exercise in order to get the students accustomed to using the formatting and editing tools.
Tool 1. - Online Spaces
An online space is the scaffolding on which all information and resources are hung from on the internet or network, these resources can include text, video, images and various other types of multimedia where users can then be allowed to view the space, contribute using comment boxes and in some cases edit the base resources. While the other online tools such as wikis and websites have positive traits I chose the Blog online space because of the individual creation possibilities and also the opportunity of others to respond and give feed back. A blog gives the students the opportunity to have their own input and have the ability to create their own constructivist learning environment with the possibility of others being able to comment but the work still remains primarily the product of one student. One blog format was for storytelling whereby a student starts a story and other student contribute through the comments box below. This blog was created as a means to stray from traditional diary entry type blogs, with the idea to encourage students to be creative using each others feedback comments. There are some safety aspects to consider when using blogs in this way. The students need to understand that any ideas that are not their own need to be acknowledged with the use of hyper-linking and referencing. This becomes easier to implement depending on if the blog is on a protected intranet or open to the public this can affect the type of information that is added. For example photographs of students and information that should not be shared with the general public. Also safety is a concern with regards to comments which are not respectful and constructive these can be mediated by the teacher. Because of the variety of tools for example – multimedia, graphics representations and text format at the users disposal the blog can be used in many contexts.
Tool 2. – Multi-Media
Multi-media alludes to comunication through images, audio and the combination of both in video. It is important to be aware of these tools because of the expanding literacies in the 21st century.
Because of its nature multimedia is incredibly versatile which includes the ease in which different media can be embedded into digital frameworks and how they target the different ways students learn.
It is because of this versatility that I’ve chosen to experiment with all of them. With all the advances of modern technology it is easier to not only manipulate but also record multi-media. Almost every phone and touch device has the ability to record and edit images, sound and video. These recordings can be shared through a number of different formats (wifi, Bluetooth, and online through email, file sharing services and the cloud) and again manipulated with different programs to achieve almost any result imaginable. It is not hard to use all these tools in schools. Because of the mandated use of technologies set by the Queensland Studies Authority and ACARA through the Australian National Curriculum who state that technologies must be used by students. This means that all school have access to different forms of technologies including different recording devices. What this can mean for the students though is if the use of these recording devices is not overseen the students may be putting themselves in danger by uploading images and recordings of themselves, other students, the schools itself and teachers, that if not uploaded to a secure server can be used by others without permission and/or unethical purposes.
Tool 3. – Presentation
Because of the advancement of technology, the presentation of ideas and information has become more engaging and easier to implement. The different ways for presenting information such as Powerpoint, Presi and Glogster give the user the opportunity to present what they want in whichever medium and in whatever style and aesthetic that they choose.
It is because of this versatility that I’ve chosen to experiment with all of them. With all the advances of modern technology it is easier to not only manipulate but also record multi-media. Almost every phone and touch device has the ability to record and edit images, sound and video. These recordings can be shared through a number of different formats (wifi, Bluetooth, and online through email, file sharing services and the cloud) and again manipulated with different programs to achieve almost any result imaginable. It is not hard to use all these tools in schools. Because of the mandated use of technologies set by the Queensland Studies Authority and ACARA through the Australian National Curriculum who state that technologies must be used by students. This means that all school have access to different forms of technologies including different recording devices. What this can mean for the students though is if the use of these recording devices is not overseen the students may be putting themselves in danger by uploading images and recordings of themselves, other students, the schools itself and teachers, that if not uploaded to a secure server can be used by others without permission and/or unethical purposes.
Tool 3. – Presentation
Because of the advancement of technology, the presentation of ideas and information has become more engaging and easier to implement. The different ways for presenting information such as Powerpoint, Presi and Glogster give the user the opportunity to present what they want in whichever medium and in whatever style and aesthetic that they choose.
Out of these tools I chose Real Time Board which is a Presi type program, but offers more in terms of versatile content eg: embedding of google documents that can be edited, and a presentation system, while also being collaborative with the ability to have multiple users contributing. The versatility of this tool means you can begin to use it even from the early planning stage because it allows you to bring in all materials in an almost infinite empty space to arrange and manipulate into a finished product. For some students this open format will be beneficial, but for others they will need scaffolding to support thier learning. For example giving students topic headings for each section of a project and requirements of a minimum amount of text, image and sound per section. This will ensure that the students who are not as comfortable have a structure to work from, while allowing any other students who feel more capable to expand their knowledge, understanding and creativity. With Real Time Board's open and collaborative nature there is also a risk that if parameters aren't set properly anyone can edit and tamper with students work and because it doesn't have the same editing protocols as a wiki some work can even be deleted. It is therefore important to ensure that the students understand the risks and take appropriate steps to save their work and ensure its security, but in saying that, at the presentation stage the options of how to share the presentation gives control to the students on how the work is viewed.
Tool 4. – Annimations and Simulations
These quirky tools while seemingly simple offer unique ways to maniqulate and present infromation through visualisations and simulations. There is a wide variety of these tools, but looking at one in particluar I chose digital concept mapping. These tools are used to create visualisations of brainstorms, timelines, tables and graphics using a wide varitety of asthetics that go beyond the two dimensional limits of pen and paper. I have chosen to use these tools because of my experience of visual art as stated in my blog, and relates to the ability to create deep multi-literary concept maps. The advantage of these tools is that they offer a short cut to creating visually spectacular concept maps, without the need for skills in artistry. Users still require an understanding of design but have a wider range of aesthetics to draw from in these tools. Students can use concept mapping tools as a way of supporting their own learning or in group collaborations. Users can create a visual representation of a KWL that can be manipulated and edited during the learning process to enhance the organisation of knowledge. There are certain limitations to consider and these are that some of the tools only give a small range of abilities to edit and manipulate the data and visualisations. These tools would be better used as quick starting points and a way to organise information rather than as a final outcome for assessments.
Conclusion
I find that the time I have spent using ICT’s over the past month both incredibly exciting and at the same overwhelmingly infuriating. The time and effort that I has gone into exploring the different tools has given me pause to think about how some students feel when they encounter these technologies, and are asked to use them in an articulate manner and how much time they will need to spend on them.
It will be important that when students are exposed to these tools that the teacher does so in a way that doesn't overwhelm them, as well as making them feel that they can use them successfully. One way that they could be implemented into my teaching methods would be to create experiences that use the tools in a design setting outlined by (Tpack). What I feel is that the context and, maybe more appropriately, the structure in which students are exposed to these tools will influence their feeling toward them and how confident they become in using them. I hope that my experiences in using these tools and the structures that I may use to implement them in teaching may be beneficial to the students I teach.
Tool 4. – Annimations and Simulations
These quirky tools while seemingly simple offer unique ways to maniqulate and present infromation through visualisations and simulations. There is a wide variety of these tools, but looking at one in particluar I chose digital concept mapping. These tools are used to create visualisations of brainstorms, timelines, tables and graphics using a wide varitety of asthetics that go beyond the two dimensional limits of pen and paper. I have chosen to use these tools because of my experience of visual art as stated in my blog, and relates to the ability to create deep multi-literary concept maps. The advantage of these tools is that they offer a short cut to creating visually spectacular concept maps, without the need for skills in artistry. Users still require an understanding of design but have a wider range of aesthetics to draw from in these tools. Students can use concept mapping tools as a way of supporting their own learning or in group collaborations. Users can create a visual representation of a KWL that can be manipulated and edited during the learning process to enhance the organisation of knowledge. There are certain limitations to consider and these are that some of the tools only give a small range of abilities to edit and manipulate the data and visualisations. These tools would be better used as quick starting points and a way to organise information rather than as a final outcome for assessments.
Conclusion
I find that the time I have spent using ICT’s over the past month both incredibly exciting and at the same overwhelmingly infuriating. The time and effort that I has gone into exploring the different tools has given me pause to think about how some students feel when they encounter these technologies, and are asked to use them in an articulate manner and how much time they will need to spend on them.
It will be important that when students are exposed to these tools that the teacher does so in a way that doesn't overwhelm them, as well as making them feel that they can use them successfully. One way that they could be implemented into my teaching methods would be to create experiences that use the tools in a design setting outlined by (Tpack). What I feel is that the context and, maybe more appropriately, the structure in which students are exposed to these tools will influence their feeling toward them and how confident they become in using them. I hope that my experiences in using these tools and the structures that I may use to implement them in teaching may be beneficial to the students I teach.
Resources
Mishra, P.
(2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for Teaching,
Teachers
College Record, 108, 1023, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00684.x
Prensky, M.
(2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, On the Horizon, 9, 1,
doi: 10.1108/10748120110424816
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from
Culatta, R., (2013), Social Development Theory (L. Vygotsky), Retrieved from
Cheek, B., (2011), Multiple intelligences, Retrieved from
Education Queensland. (n.d.). Queensland
Studies Authorities, Retrieved from
Fasso, W., (2013). ICTs for Learning Design:
A Brief Overview of Learning Theory - Social, Retrieved
from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491: ICTs for Learning Design
Australian Curriculum Assessment and
reporting Authority (ACARA). (n.d.). Information
Communication Technology (ICT) Capability, Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and
Communication-Technology-capability/Introduction/Introduction
Realtime Board.
(2013). Retrieved from http://realtimeboard.com/app/
