This posting is a reflective look and summary of what I have learned during my first 8 weeks of the Graduate Diploma in Learning and Teaching (GDLT), specifically about the use of ICTs in the classroom and digital pedagogies. One thing I would like to point out before I go any further is that it is not so much which digital technologies we use that is important, but that we are indeed using them. The technologies available will be forever changing and teachers will need to keep up with them. The digital technologies or ICTs I mention in this synopsis are just some examples that can be used in the classroom.
It is important not to forget what our goals as teachers should be. We need to remember that we are living in a knowledge society where technology is changing more rapidly than ever before and that the students of today need the skills in order to survive in this society in the future. Our society needs people who can create, who can innovate and who are able to learn and make value out of information with the new technologies that are constantly being introduced. In essence we need life-long learners and not just students who can read, write and perform mathematical calculations.
Digital technologies provide the framework for students to be creative and to develop their own creativity. During my first week of observations at school I have seen firsthand how disinterested students are with pen and paper. I have seen how disinterested students are with teachers writing text and diagrams on a whiteboard. On the other hand I have witnessed a classroom where each student had their own computer and were able to use a program that allowed them to draw graphics, to animate and to program instructions. The students were able to create, to experiment and try new things and to learn from each other. They consistently went beyond the task that they were presented with to discover what else they could do and what they could create.
Technology provides tools that we can use to engage our students and engaged students are students who are learning. Kearsley and Shneiderman write that the fundamental idea of engagement theory “is that students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks” (1998). Dale’s Cone and the Learning pyramid also support this theory by showing us that the average retention rate increases with group work, collaboration and peer-teaching. Wiki’s (which I discuss in this earlier posting) provide an excellent framework for engaging students in online collaborative based learning. Being web-based means that they also provide a way for students to “donate” back to the community and make their projects worthwhile activities.
Blogs are another tool that I will try to use as much as possible as a teacher and that I reflected on in an earlier posting. Blogs are a great way to encourage creative writing amongst your students. Whilst blogs are created and posted to by an individual, they do encourage collaboration amongst peers with the comment facility. I believe they also provide a platform for students to find their own voice and voice their opinion in a non-threatening environment. Students who may be too shy or nervous to speak up in class can easily do so by posting an article on a blog.
In this earlier posting, I discuss the uses that e.Portfolios can provide to teachers and students. On further reflection I believe that e.Portfolios are also ideal for project-based learning. They provide a framework for storing the resources that are collected as part of a project and in addition the tools or framework for presenting the finished product.
Blogs, Wikis and e.Portfolios all provide a framework for publishing content developed using a whole host of other digital technologies. The multi-literate society that we now live in requires us to make meaning from texts that are communicated via a range of modes and media. “The visual, gestural, audio and spatial join the linguistic as equals in text design.” (Healy, 2008, p 9). Students not only need to be able to read or make meaning from these multi-modal texts but they also need to create them. Digital technologies are necessary for students to participate in creating and communicating their ideas. One such technology that I have experienced during my own learning is the ability to create avatars that can be incorporated into a web page such as a blog or wiki. My article, Enhancing lessons with avatars, discusses them in more detail. One great advantage of avatars is that they use both audio and visual to communicate, which helps in providing for a diverse range of learning styles.
I have previously discussed the use of PowerPoint in the classroom from a teacher’s perspective in this posting. PowerPoint also provides a great tool for students to communicate what they have learned back to their classmates, their teacher and also the wider community in and outside the school. It provides a way for students to summarise and reflect on what they have learned, encouraging the third dimension of learning, Extending and Refining Knowledge (Marzano & Pickering, 1997, p. 114).
Digital imagery will be an important tool to both engage students and to inspire their creativity with the use of tools such as Flickr and Picnik, which I have discussed here. Photos can help to explain real-world problems that need to be solved and aid in creating an authentic scenario to introduce a learner-centred project. Photos and images can also be very helpful in communicating to students with special needs, such as those diagnosed with Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome, who relate much better to visual communication than verbal or textual.
The final piece of technology that I would like to mention in this synopsis is that of video. In my posting on using video in the classroom, I describe why I think it will be so important to include in the classroom and an example of how I have seen it used.
By using a range of ICTs in our classrooms in an effective way, we can start moving closer towards the learner-centred and engaged learning that will inspire the kind of innovation and creativity that our students will need to be successful in life.
References
Healy, A. (2008). Multiliteracies and Diversity in Education. South Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Oxford University Press.
Kearsley G, & Shneiderman B, (1998). Engagement Theory A framework for technology-based teaching and learning, retrieved from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Marzano, R. & Pickering, D. (1997). Dimensions of Learning. Teacher’s manual (2nd ed.). Aurora, Colorado 80014, US.
The Albiene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence. (2000). Why use active learning? Retrieved April 24, 2010 from http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/whyuseal2.htm
Postings that I’ve commented on from the blogs of my peers include:
http://abbysejournal.blogspot.com/2010/04/confronting-my-fears-and-establishing.html
http://learningjourneycaro.blogspot.com/2010/04/theres-glog-in-my-blog.html
http://samslearningblog2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/apple-tree-from-flickr.html
http://samslearningblog2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/creating-powerpoint.html
http://sallyjames2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/interactive-whiteboards-student.html
http://andrewsblog2teach.blogspot.com/2010/04/embedded-professional-learnning-day1.html
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Using video in the classroom
After a full week of observing lessons in the classroom I am now even more aware of how important it is to engage your learners. When students are not engaged they become bored, they start behaving badly, they don't pay attention and they cease to learn or care about learning.
Most of the lessons I have observed have been standard chalk and talk lessons, however one lesson stood above all the rest and this was a lesson performed in one of the school library rooms that had an interactive whiteboard.
I had previously witnessed this class in a standard classroom with a whiteboard, copying things down from the whiteboard and answering questions. The teacher spent a large proportion of her time managing behaviour and there was a great deal of bad behaviour to manage.
In the room with the interactive whiteboard the students had two videos to watch on the whiteboard. The teacher paused the videos at particular points to highlight important definitions or points. When I finally realised that I should be watching the students and not the videos I realised that every single student was watching the screen and genuinely seemed interested.
I taught my own lesson for the first time this week on navigation and unfortunately had a standard classroom with rows of desks and a standard whiteboard that was in no way interactive. There was no projector and no way of showing video. I made the most of what I had and took in a globe of the world instead.
When I am able to have more control over my lessons and do not have to fit in with a mentor teacher I will do whatever I can to use video in the classroom. I found the following video on YouTube that quite nicely explains latitude and longitude and would have been a great way to start the lesson and a great way to save my voice.
Students need technology. If you're not using technology in your classroom they are finding a way to introduce it themselves by listening to their iPod or sending SMS messages when they are not supposed to be. Teachers need to be using technology to focus the students on what they need to learn and avoid the students focusing their attention elsewhere.
Most of the lessons I have observed have been standard chalk and talk lessons, however one lesson stood above all the rest and this was a lesson performed in one of the school library rooms that had an interactive whiteboard.
I had previously witnessed this class in a standard classroom with a whiteboard, copying things down from the whiteboard and answering questions. The teacher spent a large proportion of her time managing behaviour and there was a great deal of bad behaviour to manage.
In the room with the interactive whiteboard the students had two videos to watch on the whiteboard. The teacher paused the videos at particular points to highlight important definitions or points. When I finally realised that I should be watching the students and not the videos I realised that every single student was watching the screen and genuinely seemed interested.
I taught my own lesson for the first time this week on navigation and unfortunately had a standard classroom with rows of desks and a standard whiteboard that was in no way interactive. There was no projector and no way of showing video. I made the most of what I had and took in a globe of the world instead.
When I am able to have more control over my lessons and do not have to fit in with a mentor teacher I will do whatever I can to use video in the classroom. I found the following video on YouTube that quite nicely explains latitude and longitude and would have been a great way to start the lesson and a great way to save my voice.
Students need technology. If you're not using technology in your classroom they are finding a way to introduce it themselves by listening to their iPod or sending SMS messages when they are not supposed to be. Teachers need to be using technology to focus the students on what they need to learn and avoid the students focusing their attention elsewhere.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Teacher's Log - Day One
After meeting my two mentor teachers (MT) yesterday, today was my first day of prac or of being a Beginning Teacher, as my MT likes to call it. I now have my own desk in the staffroom with one of my MTs and I should have a logon for the computer network by Monday. Plus we have my timetable all worked out.
Today I observed an ICT Year 9 class for periods 1 and 2, followed by a CMS (combined maths and science) Year 9 class in periods 3 and 4. I had periods 5 and 6 free as well as the two breaks so in that time we finalised my timetable and I met with the Maths HoD. I also walked with my MT on his playground duty (PGD) for 15 minutes in the first break.
The school is big, with 700 odd students. I need to remember to sign in and out every day and have a visitor’s pass to wear. The roll call is all electronic and there are photos of all the kids. The roll also involves a uniform check.
For the next 31 days I’ll be following one MT for 3 classes (Maths Years 10 and 11, ICT Year 9) and the other for CMS Year 9. The Friday afternoon maths class, year 10, is not fun! My MT warned me that the last 2 periods on a Friday are not a good time for maths class, plus it was raining, plus it was Maths A which is basically the easy maths and therefore the kids who are not interested. At least 4 of them were on behaviour management plans, there was a lot of swearing and bad behaviour and very little learning or concentrating. I did get an apology from one of the students for his particularly bad behaviour and the stuff that was aimed at me, so I guess that’s something.
Apart from the ICT class where the kids all have a computer, with internet access, there didn’t seem to be many technological resources available. There was talk of an electronic whiteboard somewhere in the school but not in any of the classrooms we have and no-one seemed to know how to use it anyway.
This school will be challenging and definitely sort out whether or not I should be a teacher. The positives are that I am blessed with 2 really good mentor teachers and I know I will learn a lot from them.
Today I observed an ICT Year 9 class for periods 1 and 2, followed by a CMS (combined maths and science) Year 9 class in periods 3 and 4. I had periods 5 and 6 free as well as the two breaks so in that time we finalised my timetable and I met with the Maths HoD. I also walked with my MT on his playground duty (PGD) for 15 minutes in the first break.
The school is big, with 700 odd students. I need to remember to sign in and out every day and have a visitor’s pass to wear. The roll call is all electronic and there are photos of all the kids. The roll also involves a uniform check.
For the next 31 days I’ll be following one MT for 3 classes (Maths Years 10 and 11, ICT Year 9) and the other for CMS Year 9. The Friday afternoon maths class, year 10, is not fun! My MT warned me that the last 2 periods on a Friday are not a good time for maths class, plus it was raining, plus it was Maths A which is basically the easy maths and therefore the kids who are not interested. At least 4 of them were on behaviour management plans, there was a lot of swearing and bad behaviour and very little learning or concentrating. I did get an apology from one of the students for his particularly bad behaviour and the stuff that was aimed at me, so I guess that’s something.
Apart from the ICT class where the kids all have a computer, with internet access, there didn’t seem to be many technological resources available. There was talk of an electronic whiteboard somewhere in the school but not in any of the classrooms we have and no-one seemed to know how to use it anyway.
This school will be challenging and definitely sort out whether or not I should be a teacher. The positives are that I am blessed with 2 really good mentor teachers and I know I will learn a lot from them.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Flickr photo sharing
This is my first Flickr photo which I uploaded as part of a set. I found the uploading quick and simple to follow. Whilst in Flickr I chose to edit the photo and was taken to Picnik where I "auto-fixed" the photo and added a frame. I didn't do a lot of manipulating of the photo as I have done a lot of that in the past when I was designing web sites. However it's the first time I have edited a photo using an online site instead of special graphics software installed on my own computer. It is very useful and empowering to know that you can easily edit photos from any computer on the internet without special software.
Flickr and Picnik are another set of extremely useful and engaging technologies that we can add to our "toolbox" of resources that we have at our disposal and will help with answering question 4 of the eight learning management questions (Lynch, D 2006). A slide show of photos, along with a piece of inspiring audio would be a great way to "hook" your students into the lesson.
Flickr and Picnik are both tools that could aid with planning lessons that follow Kearsley & Shneiderman's Engagement Theory of occurring in a group context and are project based with an authentic "real world" focus. Consider a set of lessons where students work in groups and use a Wiki to document their project. Photos can help bring the real world into the classroom and the students could use Picnik to jazz up their photos before including them in their Wiki. The opportunities are endless.
References
Kearlsey, G. & Schneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved March 2010, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Flickr and Picnik are another set of extremely useful and engaging technologies that we can add to our "toolbox" of resources that we have at our disposal and will help with answering question 4 of the eight learning management questions (Lynch, D 2006). A slide show of photos, along with a piece of inspiring audio would be a great way to "hook" your students into the lesson.
Flickr and Picnik are both tools that could aid with planning lessons that follow Kearsley & Shneiderman's Engagement Theory of occurring in a group context and are project based with an authentic "real world" focus. Consider a set of lessons where students work in groups and use a Wiki to document their project. Photos can help bring the real world into the classroom and the students could use Picnik to jazz up their photos before including them in their Wiki. The opportunities are endless.
References
Kearlsey, G. & Schneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved March 2010, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Your Amazing Brain - a powerpoint presentation
This took me quite some time to put together. Not only because I haven't used PowerPoint in quite some time, but also because I was researching for the information to put in it! I imagine that once you become familiar with PowerPoint AND you have all the information on hand for your presentation, then it shouldn't take long to create an interesting and engaging presentation. I can see presentations providing many benefits in the classroom.
Your Amazing Brain
SlideShare.net seems like it will be a very valuable site. Once your presentation is uploaded you can then view it from anywhere that there is an Internet connection. After reading the blogs of some of the other students I knew that animations would not come through on the SlideShare version of the presentation, which did cause me to alter the presentation somewhat. Knowing that in advance can save you a lot of time fiddling around with the animations in the first place.
How do I think that presentations will help in the classroom? PowerPoint presentations provide a great way to communicate to the student using a range of media. Instead of writing boring sentences on a blackboard (or whiteboard), in a PowerPoint presentation you can easily introduce colour, sound, video and humour with the simple click of a button. It also frees the teacher up to concentrate on the students instead of wasting time by writing things on the board.
SlideShare.net seems like it will be a very valuable site. Once your presentation is uploaded you can then view it from anywhere that there is an Internet connection. After reading the blogs of some of the other students I knew that animations would not come through on the SlideShare version of the presentation, which did cause me to alter the presentation somewhat. Knowing that in advance can save you a lot of time fiddling around with the animations in the first place.
How do I think that presentations will help in the classroom? PowerPoint presentations provide a great way to communicate to the student using a range of media. Instead of writing boring sentences on a blackboard (or whiteboard), in a PowerPoint presentation you can easily introduce colour, sound, video and humour with the simple click of a button. It also frees the teacher up to concentrate on the students instead of wasting time by writing things on the board.
Please tweet with me...
The following video is about a professor history in Dallas, Texas, using Twitter to encourage the students in her classroom to participate in discussion.
I found it really interesting how well the concept has taken off in her classroom and the fact that it has engaged students who would not normally participate in classroom discussion for whatever reason. Students also do not need a computer, they can use their mobile phones to post comments. If students had neither of these they could still write notes and a TA (technical assistant) would type up their comments for them onto the twitter site. With one of our main objectives as a teacher being to continally strive for inclusion and student engagement I believe that Twitter is a tool that we should not ignore.
After a bit more research I found a site in the UK, Teaching News, where I discovered that teachers were using Twitter as a mechanism for sharing resources, tips and information on teaching.
So as we embark on our first term of prac teaching I thought it might be an idea to start our own community of tweeting teachers. By using it ourselves we can start to see how we might be able to use it in the classroom (if at all), but also it might be a less formal setting to communicate with peers and help each other out. I've added a Follow Me button for Twitter to the right or you can click here to go to my Twitter page.
I found it really interesting how well the concept has taken off in her classroom and the fact that it has engaged students who would not normally participate in classroom discussion for whatever reason. Students also do not need a computer, they can use their mobile phones to post comments. If students had neither of these they could still write notes and a TA (technical assistant) would type up their comments for them onto the twitter site. With one of our main objectives as a teacher being to continally strive for inclusion and student engagement I believe that Twitter is a tool that we should not ignore.
After a bit more research I found a site in the UK, Teaching News, where I discovered that teachers were using Twitter as a mechanism for sharing resources, tips and information on teaching.
So as we embark on our first term of prac teaching I thought it might be an idea to start our own community of tweeting teachers. By using it ourselves we can start to see how we might be able to use it in the classroom (if at all), but also it might be a less formal setting to communicate with peers and help each other out. I've added a Follow Me button for Twitter to the right or you can click here to go to my Twitter page.
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