Synopsis - Assessment 2

Mandy Medhurst - Assessment 2
Managing E-Learning

A learning journey that has been very interactive, frustrating at time and a lot of 'light bulb moments'.  Technology in the classroom has not been seen a lot in the school that I have been in.  They have mostly used YouTube (to death), PowerPoint and created worksheets using tools such Excel.  I wonder if learning all of this is going to be of any significance to me in the future.

Synopsis

There are times when learning information that you mind automatically switches off and you forget what you have just learnt, with the new technologies of today hopefully this will not be happening with these tools for students or teachers.  

The learning theories that now underpin my journey with my students will greatly change due to completing this course.  I was already using social constructivism with Bloom's taxonomy, I will now look more closely at behaviourism and connectivism.  Though I am sceptical of 'connectivism' as seen in my blog Learning Theories.  Behaviourism was an eye opener for me, after looking at online tutoring programs such Reading eggs, it does not allow for the student to look outside of the box, they do not develop higher order thinking.  The whole program is step by step.  These sort of systems are probably best for ROTE learning and the basis for laying the foundations of the scaffolding for future years of learning.   I found the Prensky article very interesting and discovered my multiple intelligence's refer to blog multiple intelligence and Prensky for more information.  The multiple intelligence is very subjective it really does depend on the day you are having and how much really take notice.   

Using the correct tools to have students achieve their best result requires planning, correct strategies, differentiation for each student and achievable goals that can be extended.  Having students engaged is the key with Information Computer Technology's (ICT) in the classroom.   Preece and Davies (1992 as cited in Bochner, Duchesne & Krause, 2003) state 'ICT can do much to foster learners' construction of meaning and their own learning experiences, whether they are working at their own pace or in collaboration with others.  However, if not informed by sound educational principles and theories, computer based learning resources can impede learning, waste valuable learning time, and become a distraction rather than an assett.' The learning theory’s will greatly influence the outcomes of the students.  They no longer want to be ‘boxed in’ they want the freedom to challenge themselves and look at different ways of doing tasks and completing work.  I know as a student myself and I am bored by PowerPoint presentations and today's student  wants to see information presented in a way that brings them in, and this is how I will change my teaching strategies in the classroom.  Although I I was already using social constructivism with Bloom’s Taxonomy I will give more consideration to connectivism using Googledocs for example. See Blog written in red for Why Googledocs? for use with connectivism.

As a Learner Manager I need to ask questions for planning ICT's in a lesson:

• Is ICT the best way of delivering a concept?
• Is there an easier way to get the same result?
• Am I doing this just to use ICT or is there a real learning opportunity here?
• what role does this ICT tool play in the learning design. (Knight, Lynch & Smith, 2007, p 54).

The learning tools discovered within this course have been fun, challenging and sometimes just downright frustrating.  When used in the classroom this will also occur for students.  There are limits to what they can download, sites maybe blocked and technical issues with the schools hardware and software abilities.   Every subject can have ICT's integrated into them to make that connection with the students.

The following tools that I had most engagement where 
Tool 1- Blogs,
 Tool 2 - Weebly, example My Weebly
Tool 3 - Podcasting example minipodcast  and 
Tool 4 - Prezi example My Prezi

and I have included there links for more indepth presentations on them.  Blogs are a useful tool for students to engage with reflecting and completing peer comments on others work and thoughts.  This is a tool that I can see being used widely in classes as students become more reflective on their work and ideas.  Blogs can be used as connectivism, through the use of commenting on others work and giving opinions on where else they can find information and what they have discovered.  Weebly's for students can be so much more than just being in the classroom.  As a teacher this can be used to set up homework for students (if they have a computer and internet) and allow for greater differentiation.  This can be demonstrated that each student has their own page and you can set the minimum and the students have to work out their answers and direct themselves to the answers.  This can be also be set up as a behaviourism theory by not allowing the students to go any further and developing no higher order thinking  or simply making them flick and tick quizzes.  Podcasting as a tool was not at all overly impressed with, just reminded me of a fancy PowerPoint.   The benefits of these they can be viewed over and over again and every student receives the same information.  The student that has missed the class can then view the same information as everybody else and not be disadvantaged.  I just did not find this interactive enough and this could lead to boredom which means students become disengaged to the learning.  Prezi on the other hand was absolutely interactive.  For myself as a student I liked that you could see the overall information and then move to the finer points.  I found this very easy to navigate and emb pictures and PowerPoints too.  As a teacher for the future this will allow for presentations that give the 'wow' factor and students then make their own, once I had modeled in class how it may look and feel.  Whilst I was 'trolling' the internet looking for more tools that I could use in the classroom for students I came across ClassDojo which is an interactive behavioural chart example class, ClassDojo blog.

The overall arching learning theories that I have gained from these tools is that they are as useful as you make them.  If the proper strategies are not used they are useless.  The students will not connect if they do not understand why they are using them and the outcome that is expected.  The classroom requires collaborative  'learners learning through interaction with learners, or learning through scaffolding provided by the teacher in an atmosphere of caring, collaboration and dialogue in which students are encouraged to inquire, challenge, express feelings and opinions, and reflect on their own work.' (Brady, 2006, p 11)  The issues of cyber safety and acknowledgement of where information came from are also paramount when considering ICT's in the classroom.  As a teacher I will have to demonstrate and model cyber safety by not giving my information to unknown sites and asking students to do the same.  Though schools have filters to try to eliminate the risk I need to be aware and even look at sites before hand to make sure they are appropriate.  To make an effective learning tool the learning theories of constructivism and connectivism really need to be considered so as my students will engage and will use their time constructively.  Blooms' Taxonomy and Debono's six thinking hats should be aligned with the strategies to have all learners participate.  

As a future learner and teacher I must interact with ICT's to engage the 21st century student.  Means & Olsen (1997, as cited in Bochner, Duchesne & Krause. 2003, p. 314) state 'computers can be particularly useful for teachers interested in understanding learners' cognitive and thinking processes, since computers can make students' thinking processes visible for teachers in a ways that others of learning cannot.' 'For instance, students' choices about how to use a particular computer application can reveal their thinking and problem solving strategies' (Bochner, Duchesne & Krause. 2003, p. 314) and this is what I have to beware of when using ICT's in the classroom.   It is about authentic learning that requires the student to make real life links as to why they are learning.  The classroom of the future is not constituted by the four walls that we learnt in, it is about the whole world and being connected to it.

References

Bochner, S., Duchesne, S. and Krause, K.  (2003) Eductional Psychology for learning and teaching.  Southbank: Thomson

Brady, L. (2006) Collaborative Learning in Action. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia

Knight, B. A., Lynch, D. & Smith. R. (2007) Learning Management.  Transitioning teachers for national and international change. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia

Found a great tool for teachers called ClassDojo.

this tool allows for teachers to have an interactive behaviour chart in the classroom.  This also allows for the students to view how their behaviour is being monitored in present time.  It is a computer based reward system without having to the poster for the star chart.

Drawbacks - it can interrupt learning if the sound is not turned off.  Everytime you add/take a point it makes a noise.  That could mean potentially 28 sets of eyes lifting up from what they are doing instead of carrying on with what they are doing.

You are able to put the whole class - mark who is absent, who is late and of course of is present.  Then you are able to give points for positive behaviour and take-away points for negative behaviour.  This is a real time  behaviour chart.  The students are able to view and hear when someone is awarded a point or taken away.  The positives for the Teacher they can print a report at the end of the day which breaks down for each student why they were awarded points or lost them.   You can also email the reports to stakeholders.  this can also be done by using mobile phone or ipad to use a remote access...Students can pick their own avatars so it can be interactive for them also.  For the reports you can choose when you want the reports for, actual dates.  this would be ideal as then you have all the information at your fingertips...currently being used in a school that i work at...students love it!!

Welcome to ClassDojo

• ClassDojo is an easy way to engage your classroom by recognizing positive behaviors as they happen.


• Thousands of teachers and their students are using ClassDojo to focus on the positives and make learning fun!


• This short tour will show you how it works.

 Retrieved from: http://teach.classdojo.com/#!/welcome

Power point

Using slide share - very easy...why use it.  I am unable to see how this can be of benefit in a classroom.  I prefer prezi over this.  Prezi you can view the whole presentation as an overview then move down to the finer points.   Powerpoint is just so yesteryear...




here is my slideshare using my blog...

Slideshare 

Week 5 tools

Oh my god Prezi...where have you been all my life!! Love it...so interactive...

My first attempt at Prezi

This is my photos of my husband waterskiing - barefoot....

What a great way to set up a presentation...very easy to use, you can even send it to others for 10mins to change things on it....in the classroom this is so much better than powerpoint presentation...

Advantages is that it creates a visually impressive presentation.  You can invite others, group work can be conducted (social constructivism/connectivism) You can move around the page and check out what is on there.  Negatives could be overdone like powerpoint.  I like how students could make a story board out of it and progress from the start to finish and tell a story.

change a powerpoint to prezi also, took a lot of work..but well worth it in the end..

Power point to Prezi

glogster link

Glogster first and only attempt

Well i am not a fan...I suppose it could be useful for someone...just do not understand why glogster???

Out of all of the 3 tools i would pick prezi...

They can be adapted to show the overall picture and then down to the minute details...great for most learners.

For students that are very visual this would really help to change a ppt to a prezi and have them interact with it.  You can make is so more visually entertaining for the eye and mind.  It is a big canvas that is waiting to be made.  they can also be downloaded on ipad.  In the classroom i would use this instead of powerpoints, you can move and fourth quite easily to access information and have the overall picture showing and then move to the finer points.  It really does transform your presentations.  What I did not like can be very time consuming to set up.  Ppt are very fast to set up...Prezi does allow to insert the usual images, videos, sound, pdf and excel files and transfer ppt over to make a better presentation.  for a classroom tool this makes something that was boring into life and interesting.  I  was absolutely blown away by it.  i made two prezis i was so impressed with how easy it was.  How it changed the ppt, now I wish i made the ppt bigger..next time.

Great for students who like to see the whole picture first before they progress..

GoogleDocs....had never heard of it before hand or just did not understand what it was.  I am a new fan as a teacher.  I can see many possibilities for this.  To have more than one student working on a group assignment at a time at a computer.  It really is connectivism in the flesh.  The students do not need email accounts to access their work.  no dedicated computers either, you can use home or school.  As you are revising your work you can go back to the history and see what has been happening.  This is also allows for teachers to see who is doing most of the work.  I am unable to see any drawbacks for this.  It really does save time with being able to be accessed anywhere and anytime.  The work is forever basically.  If a student is ill they can still work in their groups and complete the work from home.

These are all programs/tools that enable students and teachers to go outside of the box and create presentations that are beyond ppt and posters... great for visual and aural learners.  You can put so many clips, sounds, voice overs and make visually appealing for students to stay engaged in what they are doing.

Week 4 journey

Well this week has had its challenges - problems with downloading of some products.  Just wastes so much of time and I become so frustrated!  how would this look to students, the teacher would look clueless and just not ready for the class.  For example my daughters class went to work on the ppt presentations the program was not responding so they had 40minutes of free time until something could be worked out!! Damn waste of time I say...

The image manipulation, loved it.  Though I did not upload a photo, I chose one from the site and played with it.  This would be great for an arts lesson in class, have  students expressing themselves.  Have them change their own profile photo to how they see themselves!!  This could be not at all interesting to students who are not interested in Art or have visual problems (colour blind).  This could lead to alot of interest in the class.  I am in no way artistic, cannot even draw a stick figure unless it is science related then 'bam' I could do it, this was very pleasing to use.

Podcasting, blah, blah, blah....not that really interesting for me.  Though i could see the use in the classroom.  Students can go online and make their own podcast and reflect on what they have learnt or what they would like to learn.  The negative if you have a student that requires images or something in front of them, they just will not engage with the material.  This could be used for visually impaired students, students who prefer to learn aurally.  This would allow for teacher/students to go back and listen and revise any missed work and advise what else they require to enhance their learning experience.   You can use podomatic to upload audio, videos and photos.  Minicasts are very easy to make and have a step by step guide also.  You can combine photos with audio files (very much like powerpoint).  Drawback need email account for students.  Takes a long time to down load images into podcast.  Learning theory could be constructivism and depending on what is being used for connectivism.  

minipodcast


Digital videos, I suppose I have already done.  Great  for technology and having students engage in the class.  They can make their own...most have phones with that ability on them!!

Just a bit cynical about this week.

Oh yeah made a Voki, but could not install due to the limitations set up by the uni...have to do it home.  Some of the constraints that will be in the schools is what we can and can't do with computers and how fast or slow it is.

Here is my Voki address..now that I am home

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=4353800&height=267&width=200

Weebly

http://236425186777398073.weebly.com/

What a great way to interact with students and parents!

This is what I like over a Wiki.  This has so much potential.  Students can upload assignments, sick at home well if they have computer and internet they can still work.  As a teacher I can make a classroom website and blog.  This also can invite parents into the classroom they may not be able to participate during the day.  You can enter all the students (upto40) and check out their work.  You can have password protected pages.    This really does allow for connectivism in the classroom.  The students can work individually find their information and then go to the site and upload what they have found in a class blog.  With having a website you can make a lot of information interactive the students have to go and find and then report back with what they have found.  This allows for the only the teacher to change the website.  Even though the teacher has the control of what is in the website the students can still interact using blogs, uploading and reading what is on the site.  Who needs a classroom when you have a weebly website.  Students of the future or even just tomorrows student will have no excuse for not getting work done.  Students do not need an email account to part of the website.

To have authentic learning pose some questions but no answers.  Ask the students to find the answers and place in their blog page.  It is not about just putting 20 questions up and answering it is about finding the answers and working as a group to find the correct answers.  This is also about connectivism, children working on their networks of peers to find the answers and working independently at the same time.

Wikis

Wikis in the classroom - how they can assist with students learning.

As a teacher you would have to be careful that is simply not an exercise in getting students to work through each page and not learn anything.  There needs to be allowance in the learning where the students need to connect and go sideways to learn.  They need to be able to look for information and add it in.  This site is also good for the fact you can go back and track changes.  Though this site is not kept in chronological order like a blog.  Careful considerations needs to be for all learning, there are some students who like to work autonomously but in real life we still need to be able to work in groups.  There are students that like face-to-face teaching, how does that happen with Wikis, as a teacher there could be videos by the teacher that have been compiled by them for the students.  In class speak about the Wikis and what is happening, have open dialogue about it.

Copyright and acknowledging where information was sourced from also has to be looked at and considered.   As a teacher i would set the standard for the students and then have the students follow.  It is also promoting honesty on the web, 'how would you like it if someone stole something from you', that is what happens if we do acknowledge who made the site.

What is paramount in my thinking of this technology is that not all schools are equal.  Blogs are required in ACARA though the problems encountered by the teachers at the schools are not able to offer this due to lack of computers, poor internet or slow computers, which is very frustrating for all.  

Blogs in the classrooms

How can blogs assist teaching strategies in the classroom.  The major like of blogs for me is that it is in chronological order.  This can assist who is keeping up and who is not.  It is not merely a discussion thread.  Depending on how the teacher scaffolds the blog depends on what strategy is being used to teach the students.  It is about the students adding their comments and being interactive, it is connectivism with a social constructivist theme.

In my teaching context, I would love the students to reflect on their week and make statements about what they have learnt and what they still do not understand.  Also so as I can use it as an assessment of my teaching practices use it as personal reflection.  I could even use it to prepare the students of new concepts and ask them what they know, what they would to know and what they think would be the best way for them to learn.  Blogs can have students and teachers interacting in a way that combines technology and thought!  A negative students may not have computers at home or able to access blogs when not at school, and this could lead to frustration and inattention to what is happening and what is being discussed.

shoes laces and TPACK

That was unreal, how to write down how to tie shoelaces - well i actually had to put the shoe on and tie my laces as i was writing it up.

Oh wow, learnt something new today, how to insert a file - had to change it to a picture and then i could upload....very excited!!!!


TPACK

My version:

Is about being multimodal in the classroom.  It is not just about putting a powerpoint presentation together and getting the students to work through it.  It is having the best available technology to assist that student in the course they are doing.  TPACK is designing meaningful classroom experiences using technology that best suits the students.  The most important things are that you know the technology being used and you know the  content that is being taught.  What is also important in the way technology is assisting the student in learning, what learning strategies are they using, as you want the student to develop high order think, the metalanguage and how it relates to authentic learning.

Learning theories..Multiple Intelligences and Prenski

Multiple Intelligences took the test - well it did not surprise me I am interpersonal, intrapersonal and logical.  How does this impact my learning, well I really am not a fan of flex learning.  I like to have a lecturer in front of me, sit down and talk and understand what is being put across.  I like to see the big picture and then digest to the smaller parts.  As I am not always available for the collaborate sessions and listen to them later it becomes frustrating.   The multiple intelligences used in the classroom is a useful tool.  It allows for me to negotiate the way I teach and learn best and how I pass  that information on to the students that is most beneficial for all parties.  There are just so many ways to pass on information it is finding the ones that best suit my style and the students to make the classroom and engaging learning environment.

Prensky - Engage or enrage  "In school they must eat what they are served"

How powerful is that statement in todays school.  Do we have to keep students in a classroom that do not want to learn?  Why do we keep trying to engage these students in learning about something they do not want?  There are some students that need more than sitting at desk, computer or where ever and need something more hands on.  I was very fortunate in a high school that I went to in the 80's was designed for the students that did not want to sit in the class.  There was woodwork, sheet metal, mechanical, how to fix your car, how to drive your car, how to tend animals (farm and domestic).  The rate of males in these classes was there were only 2 females on average for 10 boys.  But the boys turned up to class and enjoyed.  yes they still did maths and english but not to the extent that someone who wanted to go to uni did.  There was not a lot of absenteeism also, this school actually engaged!
So to stop the rage and engage the students of today need something that is computer based with learning and what is fun.  As Prensky states ' depends much less on what they see than on what they do and learn," so for this to work we need classrooms that have laptops in primary school and have the internet.  Lets stop talking about it and how about the governments doing something about it.

learning theories week 1

Learning theories, there are just so many out there.  This really does prove that education is not a one size fits all model.  In the classroom you have to use many strategies to engage students and yourself.  I have seen the 6 thinking hats used really well in a year 7 class when they conducting experiments for science, they would show what colour hat they were doing at the time and it really made it easier throughout the class to see who was doing what.   The students would also use it as a tool to see who was doing that hat and speak to them if they needed some assistance.  I really do like Bloom's taxonomy with a social constructivist teaching style.  This is how I best relay information for students to connect with the subject and me.  There is just so much out there and many opinions about how people learn, they are only theories and our brains do not come with a manual.  If you are interested in something you will learn...

ICT's can be integrated into constructivist learning environments in a range of ways.  According to Dimock and Boethel (1999), these learning environments are characterised by teachers who seek to:

• learn more students' prior knowledge, understanding and beliefs
• tap into learners' interests and enhance motivation and learning
• base classroom discussion on authentic, real world problems
• provide a variety of experiences, opportunities to experiment and non-threatening environment in which learners can negotiate meaning for themselves
• take on the role of the facilitator
• enhance students' ability to test multiple scenarios, and thus challenge preconceived notions or misconceptions
• broaden the circle of social interaction to include students' peers and also experts beyond the classroom, the school and the community..

(Bochner, S., Duchesne, S. and Krause, K.  (2003) Eductional Psychology for learning and teaching.  Southbank: Thomson)

I never thought of quizzes and such programs as readings eggs as being behaviourism, though now I understand what it is.  It is about changing the habits of the students into doing something like reading eggs, that does not require higher order thinking, as everything is all there.  There is no scope for the students to go outside of the box but just to keep working within the constraints of it.

Connectivism really!!!  It is group work where you start off as individuals and come together and share your ideas online... Old style - group work, start as individuals and then come together and discuss your findings face to face.  new way - group work, start as individuals and then come together via the internet - new name for 21st century learners - Connectivism.    Sarcastic about the name though not about the benefits.  This sort of learning and discovering assists those who put the work in.  With the new tools that are here and coming teachers and students can analyse who is doing the work and who is not..

My first time..

My very first blog, a little scary.  I never thought I would need one...well suffice to say my uni course requires that I have one to interact with others and so they can interact with me....this shall save me some paper and one rainforest..here goes my journey..