Final Culminating Blog Post

My initial thoughts about learning technologies and ICT in education prior to the study of this course were quite basic. My understanding was that, ‘teachers use technology in the classroom to retrieve information,’ and, ‘students like using computers, so teachers should use them as a behavioural management tool.’ In retrospect, the potential of ICT and learning technologies in the classroom is much more complex than recognised.

The world in which we live thrives on technology that is constantly being upgraded and customised according to the needs of its users. These constant changes have brought and will continue to bring an ever-changing curriculum and manner of teaching and learning. Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu (2011) write that the purpose of a learning experience is always changing. Each generation brings or develops, “a greater access to information” (Groundwater-Smith et al., 2011. p. 126). Therefore, the role of teachers is reshaping from being those that “know about” to those that “know how”.

Technologies have the potential to create what Herrington, Oliver & Reeves (2012) describe as, ‘authentic activities,’ and what Jonassen (2008, p. 2), describes as ‘meaningful learning’. These are activities that have relevance to reality, allow interdisciplinary learning and require students to construct their own knowledge and understanding from a variety of resources (Herrington et al., 2012). Throughout tutorials and subject readings it has become apparent to my cohorts and I that an authentic learning experience is informed by certain key attributes. I have discussed these in 'Post reacting to "Learning Technologies" by Annie Agnew', 'Flexible Learning Tasks', 'iPads for Kindergarteners', and 'Interactive White Boards in a Pedagogically Informed Manner'. They are pedagogy - the creation of a learning environment; and content – the intellectual integrity of what is being taught. However, the employ of technology in the classroom setting brings forth another dimension to the creation of a learning experience, which is why fellow pre-service teachers and I have been studying our weekly content closely with TPACK (Koehler & Mishra, 2006). TPACK is the collaboration and aim for ‘Technological, pedagogical, content knowledge.’ In addition to this concept, I have developed a thorough understanding of how teachers can use learning-technologies to reshape the 21^st century classroom. By constantly scaling the use of learning technologies in terms of ‘SAMR’ (Puentedura, 2006), I have come to the conclusion that we should not use technologies to make things merely ‘easier’ and ‘faster’, we should use technologies to redefine the purpose of our pedagogy and content.

Having said the above, I also need to voice my concern for the growing dependence and usage of technology by children of all ages. In week 8 we discussed the issues of duty of care and child protection in relation to technology, and I can understand why this was a mandatory part of the course. While the broadening of the learning environment by means of technology is without a doubt beneficial, it also has its consequences. By allowing our students to venture into ‘cyber-space’, we need to take extra caution, extend our duty of care, and educate students about their safety and the safety of others in this new dimension of the environment (Basset, 2003). In week 6 our topic of discussion was ‘equity in education,’ which is also a relevant topic. As the Vision 2020 (2008, p. 1) reading states, ‘education is central to the future of all Australians to have a successful to the future of all Australians,’ it is clear that in Australia we have a value in education and it is essential to the life of a child. Here we are at university, with an entire subject designed to shape our understanding about dear and fragile technology. Meanwhile in certain communities in our nation, and certainly many across the globe, students are grappling with what resources they have, let alone schools and teachers. I have addressed this issue in relation to indigenous education in my blog titled 'Equity? Or lack of?' These are very relevant issues when studying the use of learning technologies. Where they are used and the manner in which they are used should shape your understanding of their practise in a wider context.

My future use of learning technologies will continue to be informed by the topics within my tertiary study. However, the discourse of this subject has especially shaped my understanding of learning technologies in a multifaceted and pedagogical sense. Apart from the insights that I have written above, my practical teaching block has also accumulated my professional experience. I have described these in my blog entries 'Observations of classroom ICT use' and 'The Tech-Savvy Classroom Teacher'. It is the experiences and observations of this practicum that have made relevant the importance of what Watson and Prestridge (2003) deem as, ‘a networked learning community approach to sustain teacher ICT professional development.’ As a final statement, technology doesn’t necessarily mean ‘better’, it is how one uses it that will translate whether the task has been ‘redefined’ or ‘substituted’. As teachers, we have the responsibility to deliver k-6, diverse and engaging learning experiences that create meaningful learning. By ‘redefining’ the learning experience, and doing so in a pedagogical and content informed manner, we can ensure that we are creating meaningful learning experiences for our students of the 21^st century.

Reference List:

Basset, G. (2003). A school’s duty of care for students to whom it gives access to cyberspace. Retrieved 1 June, 2012, from

http://www.netsafe.org.nz/Doc_Library/netsafepapers_grahambassett_duty.pdf

Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R. & Le Cornu, R. (2011). Teaching: Challenges and dilemmas. Sydney: Thomson.

Herrington, J., Oliver, R. & Reeves, T. C. (2003). Patterns of engagement in authentic online learning environments. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 19, 59-71. Retrieved June 10, 2012, From http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/fullText;dn=124158;res=AEIPT.

Jonassen, D. (2008). What is meaningful learning? In D. Jonassen (Ed.). Meaningful learning with technology (3^rd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Koehler, M. & Mishra, P. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: a framework for teacher knowledge. Teacher College Record 108 (1054-1017). Retrieved April 9, 2012, from UTS E-readings.

Puentedura, R. (2006). Transformation, technology and education. Retrieved April 11, 2012, http://www.hippasus.com/resources/tte/

Save Our Schools. (2008). A Vision for 2020: Achieve equity in education. Retrieved 10 May, 2012, from http://valuesineducation.org.au/pdf/sos0804.pdf

Watson, G. & Prestridge, S. (2003). A networked learning community approach to sustain teacher ICT professional development. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 19, 227-240. Retrieved 11 June, 2012, form http://search.informit.com.au.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au/fullText;dn=129386;res=AEIPT

BLOG COUNT:

Green - 6

Blue - 6

Orange - 8

A reaction to Charlotte Fewtrell's blog post:

I recently read Charlotte Fewtrell's blog post titled 'The Digital Divide'. Unfortunately I can't quite figure out how to comment on this post, so I will write my entire reaction here.


Charlotte posted this video on her blog. She watched in during her tutorial, but I did not so I found it quite interesting! Charlotte describes that watching the video with her tutorial class was interesting and resulted in a great discussion... and now i can see why...





The presenter says, 'finally children growing up in poverty have the opportunity to click on their potential and log into a brighter future.' This is a really beautiful and inspiring video as it really shows the potential of learning technologies in education. While watching this video, I am reminded of constructivism as the presenter reminds us that the children were usually left without supervision during use of the computers. They were left to construct their own understandings of the hardware and softwares, and acquire information from the world wide web at their own discretion.

Practicum Reflection: The Tech-Savvy Classroom Teacher

When you were a primary school student, what did your teacher do and achieve with technology in the classroom? When I was in primary school my classrooms usually had two computers in them, but during class learning experiences the most that we could use would be an overhead projector, or if our teacher had planned and booked a 'computer pod room'. 


As it has been suggested that I blog about the ICT attributes of my cooperating teacher, I did have the opportunity to ask her a few questions. She rated her computing skills quite highly, but admitted to not have acquired these naturally. She had to attend a lot of course and engage in a lot of personal use to keep up with the evolving technology that can be used in a classroom. For support, there is an ICT Executive who runs planning days and professional development days and sessions as planned by the school principal. Apart from this, teachers are made aware of any extra courses or seminars that can be undertaken outside of school hours. Teachers are able to make use of the school intranet and a space similar to UTS's 'blackboard learning' website. On these websites teachers are able to share resources and communicate amongst each other. My cooperating teacher also told me that computers and learning technologies are often the subject of much discussion in staff meetings. Topics such as distribution of resources, appropriate usage by students, and censoring of websites are all common topics.


Our discussion has led me to another dimension of teaching. I really do admire my cooperating teacher for being so proactive in ICT education. I know this won't be as much of a challenge to my cohorts and myself, but hopefully we will be able to keep up and continue to grow in our professional development beyond our tertiary education.

Practical Teaching: Observations of Classroom ICT Use

Last Thursday I started my third practical teaching block at a school in the Canterbury region in Sydney. Due to my assignment to a stage 3 years 5 & 6 composite class, I have to admit I did feel extremely nervous and a little discouraged. Having done some work in after school care with year 6 students, I automatically had this perception that, 'the kids know more about technology than I do.'


 With five days left, I am currently half way through my practicum. In contrast to my first day, I really love and have enjoyed teaching stage 3! It is very different to teaching earlier stages in 'content', but the pedagogy and management aspect is quite similar. In regards to my students and technology, most of them do know more than me. However, this isn't a 'bad' thing. Students might use technology more than I do, but as a student-teacher it is I that needs to implement it as a learning technology in a pedagogically informed manner.


The classroom I am in contains the following technologies:

• IWB with its own hard drive
• 1 x Mac computer
• 4 x mini laptops
• 2 x large laptops
• 1 printer

The classroom itself seems to revolve closely around the IWB. I mean this literally. There are five lots of tables - each seat six groups of students. All the tables face the IWB, so that when engaged in lessons the teacher can easily access the IWB and computer and students can interact with these too. 

To be honest, I've hardly observed my cooperative teacher. On my observation day I was with a casual, and since then I have taught most classes. During the lessons I have watched, she does use the IWB but more as a white board as she no longer has an 'old-fashioned' board. I do know from discussing with her that she does use technology quite a lot. Photography for art; editing programs such as adobe, Garage band and iMovie for ICT; and like I said the, IWB for most lessons. She also sends all her students their homework via email, and the students send their homework back to her via email for marking. I have also observed her write reports via an online school program especially for writing student reports. The school has an intranet space for sharing resources and communication of other staff concerns. 

It's quite clear that this class, especially being stage three, engages in learning experiences that are often parallel to technology. It is my assumption that this is quite appropriate for the stage/age level of these students, as they no longer require learning that is constructed from concrete material. They have moved on to a formal operation of learning.

Post Reacting to Annie Agnew's Blog

My tutor, Annie Agnew, writes very engaging blog posts. One of her recent posts is about immediacy and technology. Agnew poses ideas that reflect the concepts of TPACK and SAMR. This is the idea of using technology to transform or redefine what you are doing, not substitute. Agnew contrasts apps that 'do/help' and apps that 'achieve/impact'. Agnew uses three examples of these. I will give my own:


'Achieve/Impact':
I am teaching an art appreciation class about Aboriginal art. My class and I want to research how Indigenous Australians create their art, and from what meanings. We google indigenous artists together, view their artworks, make inferences and give subjective responses. We watch youtube videos to view the long and meaningful process in Aboriginal art-making. To discover what an artist is representing, we may google him/her to get obtain a personal response.


'Do/Help':
We search 'google images' for Aboriginal art.


In conclusion I'd like to refer to the saying, 'faster doesn't always mean better.' Just because you can type and click to retrieve information promptly, does not mean you are delivering a better learning experience. Having said this, if you can type and click quite quickly, you have the potential to create a highly engaging learning experience that incorporates learning technologies with pedagogy and content.

Week 8 Tutorial Learning Experience

Before I forget, I'd like to recount my Week 8 tutorial learning experience with Glynis Jones. Week 8's reading was about the duty of care a school has to a student in cyberspace. Our tutorial was based on our discussions. This was engaging as we had the chance to hear the thoughts of not only Glynis but fellow class members. We discussed cyber-bullying, student behaviour on social networking websites, misuse of the internet, stranger danger and even teacher behaviour on social networking websites. 


As I posted in my previous blog, a reaction to Neilofar's blog, I think that often these dangers are not posed to students until stage 3 and beyond. Often this is too late. I believe that as immediately as technologies are introduced to a classroom learning environment, so should the dangers and risks that are stapled to them. 


In regards to teacher behaviour, I can't quite formulate a solid opinion. On one hand I believe that teachers are role-models and should act accordingly; on the other I believe that teachers are 'people' not 'supermodels' and should also act accordingly. Upon discussion about teachers who have been called upon for their certain 'behaviour choices' or 'lifestyle choices', I couldn't help but think about the audience that influences how a school community reacts to teacher behaviour. For example, religion, school policies, laws, cultures, and especially the views and perspectives of parents. 


In conclusion, 'duty of care' is a part of becoming a teacher. If the NSW DET is acknowledging 'cyber-bullying' as an official form of bullying, then duty of care must extend to the complexity of cyberspace. Teachers are role-models, and their choices beyond the gates of a school should not affect their ability to teach.

A Reaction to Neilofar's Blog

My good friend and fellow student-teacher, Neilofar Morabi, wrote an interesting blog this week about the week 8 tutorial topic - 'Duty of care in cyberspace'. I made a comment on her blog about the positivity and reinforcement of the world wide web and the usage of it across homes and schools globally. It has all this information, and all these fantastic social networks, and these blogs and photo-sharing sites and so on. As Neilofar notes in her blog, '[students] must be cautious, aware and informed of any acts that can negatively effect the negligence of the [cyber] space,' I noted in my comment that at times it isn't until stage 2 & 3 that students are made aware of the dangers and risks that are involved with activity in 'cyber space'. The definition of cyber space itself is quite intimidating; it is, 'total interconnectedness of human beings through computers and telecommunication without regard to physical geography.' Click here to view Neilofar's blog post about cyber space, and my comment on it.

PE3 Class Learning Experience

I'd like to share with you a very influential part of my learning experience in PE3 - mine, Rebecca Villis's and Kristina Likic's e-learning analysis.

 Over the last two decades, we’ve seen huge advances in technology. Does technology make the teacher obsolete? Are learning technologies delivering an authentic learning experience? Rather than replace the teacher, we should embrace new technologies and use them as a tool to redefine learning experiences. In class, our tutor Annie Agnew consistently reminds us of the TPACK model and SAMR - two scaffolds for our pedagogical input of learning technologies. We wanted to make sure that our selection of learning technologies applied these concepts and also offered our cohorts valuable resources to add to their abundant collection. Please feel free to download our recommended learning technologies!

Disney's Hot Shot Busines

•  Students learn through role-play and without noticing, they develop knowledge about the rights and responsibilities that exist in businesses such as finance, marketing and competition.
•  caters to multiple learning types and abilities. 
• The game developer uses narrative, visual, text, sound and data characteristics to ensure that the game caters to a wide variety of students.
• It’s a great learning resource for stage two and three, focusing on numeracy and the ‘Social systems and structures’ strand for HSIE
•  The students are engaged in active learning because they are developing their own skills and knowledge with little teacher intervention
• The game is constructive because it requires students to use their existing knowledge of money and businesses to create new learning experiences
•  The game offers many opportunities for intentional learning to occur – goals are given and challenges to meet. 

Google Earth

• Students can explore planets, conduct investigations and discover new information. 
• Students can use it as inspiration in art or creative writing, you can use it to measure distances in maths or you can use it as a tool in discovering different cultures and places.
• It is very multi-purpose, and because of this it is a popular cross-curricular learning resource.
• Students can compare environments, explore space, view carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, as well as viewing national geographic articles amongst other things.

Skype In the Classroom

• is a great software to use in conjunction with either of the other applications
• Teachers all over the world are using skype in the classroom to make learning more exciting and memorable
• in the classroom one skype call can mean a lot more than a phone call. Skype offers an immediate way to help students to discover new cultures, languages and ideas – all without leaving the classroom. 

My Lit-circle reading

In Week 9 my lit-circle conducted a class discussion about the 2011 Horizon report. It is a collective representation of technologies that have emerged, are emerging and will emerge eventually. It also includes the challenges of these technologies, and trends amongst the educators who use these technologies in their classrooms.


As a class, we talked about which of the technologies listed in the report we personally thought would be of most influence. The students in my discussion listed electronic books as the least influential, and mobile technologies like tablets and smart phones of most influence. We also discussed the use of 'augmented reality' and game-based learning as being influential and already in-use, and noted how the increasing use of this is foreseeable.


I also think that mobile technologies are the most useful and influential to the 21st century classroom. I think the reason why my fellow class members over looked the 'gesture based technologies' is because they were thinking about the classrooms in which they have completed their practicum experience. Gesture-based learning, particularly on tablet and smart phone devices with the appropriate applications, is particularly influential for special-needs class. For example, autistic students can used gesture-based learning technologies to represent their emotions and communicate their understandings of what is being learnt.

Another discussion point was the 'key-trends' section of the article. One point in this section that we focused on was the first key trend, "The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators in sense-making, coaching, and credentialing." (p. 3). Students discussed how this trend in emotion might surface amongst educators. I have to admit, I often feel intimidated by the same idea. Students have the world at their fingertips... 'why do they need me?' As discussed in my previous blogs Constructivism incorporates the ideas of pedagogy and content. That is, creating a learning environment with intellectual integrity. The TPACK model integrates technology into this notion. My point is, we can use the technology available to scaffold an environmental learning space in which children construct their own knowledge and meaning of their classroom content. They can watch online videos, online articles, create digital artworks, create songs, create videos, write factual and fictional texts - the list goes on. It is my opinion that teachers should not feel threatened by the influx of knowledge available; it is a resource and allows appropriate zone of proximal development (Vygotsky).

Reference:

The Horizon Report 2011 Edition. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2011-Horizon-Report.pdf.

Equity... or lack of?

Our week six reading about Equity in Education has left me lost for words. The statistics in this article seem ridiculous. I can't believe that we are living in 2012 and still struggling to close, or narrow, the gap between low socio-economic and high socio-economic as well as the indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. I have to admit that I feel mostly embarrassed that I am staring right at this reading and I haven't done anything about it.

I am studying a primary education degree that is combined with international studies, and at the moment I am focusing one of my international studies assignments on 'Indigenous education in Australia'. In the midst of research for this task, I have come across numerous videos, readings, articles about Indigenous education. 

I'd like to share this video with my viewers...

At 0:12 seconds this video has referenced Mallin (1990); "The skills which Aboriginal children bring to the classroom often remain invisible and unacknowledged." I think this is interesting because throughout most aspects of both of my courses I have been lectured about terms such as diversity, equality, multiculturalism and globalisation and yet I feel as if we aren't embracing the true Australian history and inheritors of this land. For those of you that don't know, Australian Aborigines have a history of oral communication and do not have written culture... While researching I did take notice that most scholars describe that this is one of the reasons why so many indigenous children do not succeed at school. This is only a generalisation, but due to their culture and upbringing many indigenous children are oral learners. There are numerous readings about the low success in education and how it is effected by the history of 'White Australia.' Centuries of being made to feel 'ashamed' has led generations of indigenous Australians to feel as if they do not belong in establishments like schools, and hence have low self esteem.

I believe in equal education and opportunity for all, and catering to a diversity of children, not matter their learning type, ability or disability, socio-economic status and culture.


Reference List:

A Vision for 2020: Achieve Equity in Education. A Contribution to Public Discussion of the 2020 Summit Idea by Save our Schools – the national independent advocacy group. April 2008. Retrieved from www.valuesineducation.org.au/pdf/sos0804.pdf.

Discourse of change

We all have a different perception and value of the change that has occurred in our world. One might see great value in the iPad, while others might see it as another couch potato technology... but why do we all have such a different perception of the evolution of technology? I am going to infer that it is due to our own experiences and interactions with the many softwares and hardwares that have been available.
For the purpose of teaching, pedagogy and child development, we can embrace this change and form our own value of these learning technologies. My lecturer, Annie Agnew, made an interesting point in her blog titled 'Making good choices'. She writes about the best apps to choose for children and describes these as apps that allow for teacher or parent intervention and engagement and also increase their cognitive ability through a mixture of play and discovery. She concluded that, 'The touch screen of a tablet or iPad is a significant change in technology access for young people – the real benefits come from choosing apps that are created with a visible understanding of cognitive development and are both engaging and focused on learning.'


Reference List:
Making Good Choices for Little people by Annie Agnew

It's not what the software does...

IT IS WHAT THE USER DOES!

Image From Northwest Resource Centre

Can you say, 'relevance!'? This is so true! You can have a mediocre teacher hiding behind their toys (technology) or you can have a great teacher that is at the forefront of their classroom using their learning technologies in an engaging and explorative manner! Which would you rather? 

A reaction to Jennifer Vo's blog.

I have just stumbled across a great blog written by a fellow student-teacher! Jennifer Vo cites the journal article: The importance of establishing relevance in motivating student learning (Kember, Ho & Hong, 2008). In summary, Jennifer states that although we have a syllabus and curriculum to follow, this doesn't mean we neglect the variety of needs that our diversity of students have. If we do this, the purpose of teaching is defeated. Most importantly, Vo states that we, teachers, are here to stimulate learning through providing exciting experiences that will motivate exploration.

The themes within this blog seem to flow from my last two blogs. Yes, learning technologies are great motivators for learning and therefore can be seen as a behavioural management tool. However, it is most important that we use these tools in a pedagogical manner that enhances the learning and provides opportunity for exploration.


Reference List:
http://alh.sagepub.com/content/9/3/249.abstract

Participation Vs. Presentation. How can we ensure all children are engaged with the IWB?

Yes, I am posting again about IWBs but I do feel the need to share with you some points from a discussion we had in class this week!


I think that many teachers, and myself, are guilty of using the IWB as a behavioural management tool rather than a learning technology. Yes! It is an awesome way to keep students on task and motivated, however we shouldn't just be doing everything on the IWB for the sake of keeping children entertained. Many scholars propose that we should use the many learning technologies available in the 21st century to create meaningful learning experiences, and so do I. Here are some suggestions my group and I brainstormed:

DO!

• Have group activities in which one group at a time can use the IWB in an intimate manner, while the others do table or floor activities, the rotate.
• Question students and constantly give them feedback! This will keep them engaged and show them that you are monitoring their behaviour and participation appreciatively.
• Treat children fairly! All children should be able to have a go. This point is an extension of the first - if you have smaller groups using the whiteboard each child will be likely to have an equal turn.
• Practise using the file in your classroom before the class. Check that each slide is presentable from a child's perspective.
• Use the IWB to cater to various learning types. Use the media that is available! For example; sound, text, touch, video... 
• Always have a back up plan! You never know when something might go terribly WRONG!

DON'T!

• Do what you can do on a regular whiteboard, on a magnificent IWB!
• Have long lessons in which every child is dying to have their turn and will not pay attention unless they are able to play on the whiteboard!

Interactive White Boards

I am in the midst of reading Reviewing the Literature on Interactive White Boards (Higgins et al., 2007) at the moment, and I have to say that it has really made me review these magical creations! The reading does not mention TPACK, but seems to be parallel in its themes. The authors write about teachers' use of the learning technology in a 'pedagogically interactive' manner. At the back of my head, I can hear Annie Agnew's voice lecturing myself and fellow student-teachers about the importance of using learning technologies to redefine the learning experience and to use it in a PEDAGOGICALLY INFORMED MANNER! After all, what is the point of using an IWB if you are really only using it as a WB? Learning technologies have so much to offer! They aren't toys or mere classroom management motivators... they are for enhancing the learning experience. Higgins et al. agree with me as they too state, "Good teaching remains good teaching with or without the technology; the technology might enhance the pedagogy only if the teachers and pupils engaged with it and understood its potential in such a way that the technology is not seen as an end in itself but as another pedagogical means to achieve teaching and learning goals."

Reference List:

Higgins, S., Beauchamp G. & Miller, D. (2007). Reviewing the literature
on interactive whiteboards, Learning, Media and Technology, 32:3, 213-225

My introduction to 'e-Portfolios'

This week's reading was about  'Balancing the Two Faces of e-Portfolios'. While my first co-operating teacher tried to explain to me how this works, I remained confused and astonished by how much school has changed since I left!
The Author of this reading, Barret, States,

            "An ePortfolio (electronic portfolio) is an electronic collection of 

evidence that shows your learning journey over time. Portfolios can relate to 

specific academic fields or your lifelong learning. Evidence may include 

writing samples, photos, videos, research projects, observations by mentors 

and peers, and/or reflective thinking."

If you are still confused, like I was, about what e-Portfolios are and their benefits for your career and your students' learning, I suggest you watch these videos.

This video emphasises the value of feedback - from peers, colleagues, tutors, lecturers... anyone who takes a significant place in your career or professional development. It also emphasises the presentation of the e-portfolio as a JOURNEY.

This video, which is very well presented, highlights the e-Portfolio as a method of showcasing your best work, and displaying how you have grown. We can use the e-portfolio as a method of measuring and assessing the progress of teacher and students as an entity. What were their goals? What have they achieved? How did they learn? What can the teacher add to their professional development? How could this be better implemented?


I'd like to reflect on my school days and how I remember portfolios. When I was in year two, my teacher had been assessing us and I didn't even realise! She had given us all these tasks to do - maths work sheets, creative tasks, literacy tasks. They all had one thing in common - a scale at the top which had 'working towards, achieved, working beyond' and a tick along the line somewhere. I was especially proud of my portfolio, and so were my parents. My father noticed how my handwriting had improved, my additions and subtractions were much neater and he even hung up the calendar I'd made. When I was in kindergarten, my teacher would ask a student at a time to her desk to ask a few questions and draw a picture for her. I now realise, she was asking me to reflect on my learning and progress for my portfolio! In retrospect, I really enjoyed taking home my portfolio. It was like taking home a book I had published, or a reward for all my efforts. In retrospect, I've always been adamant that I will recreate this experience for my students.


When e-portfolios surfaced as our topic of discussion this week, I was eager to learn the immediate benefits. As the first video above mentions the environmental benefits, both videos recognise the importance of feedback in education - whether it is your professional development, or the educational progression of our students. The other benefits are accessibility, the emphasis that the publication puts on spelling, grammar and other elements of presentation, and the displaying the linear relationship between the syllabus outcomes, goals, indicators and samples of how these have been achieved in class.


During our class discussion, concepts raised included:

• Professionalism of the e-Portfolio
• Sensitivity of some children towards showcasing of their own work and viewing others'
• Necessity of organisational skills 
• Using assessment and presentation as a form of student interest
• Encouraging creativity and student belonging through the portfolio

In class, we further discussed the views of Dr. Helen Barrett from whom I have borrowed the image on the right. It is important to use the portfolio to display the 'showcase' face and 'archive of learning' face in harmony. In other words, all class-learning should be documented as it is all a valuable part of the learner's journey. My tutor, Annie Agnew, stated, 'a true e-portfolio should show where a student has started something and progressed towards the end.'


Reference List:
Barret, H. (2010). Balancing the two faces of E-Portfolios. http://eft.educom.pt/index.php/eft/article/viewFile/161/102

iPads for Kindergartens?

Just read a post on the blog, NYC Literacy, about iPads for kindergarteners. It linked me to this video:

iPads for Kindergarteners?

Although this isn't the most academic or scholarly relevant video, it is a good example of arguments and opinions that exist about Apple's iPad as a learning technology. While I believe that iPads can have a significant impact on our students' learning, I also believe that we should not conform to the idea of 'replacing' or 'substituting' our already brilliant ideas with what you can do on the iPad. 


In reference to our Week 10 reading, 'iPads in the Classroom', Reid and Otashewski write that, 'Some research presents the need to focus on making use of the inherent features of handheld devices in educational contexts.' The example of the literacy activity shown on the video, to me, looked like a 'drill' game. Students aren't consolidating or synthesising their learning; they are being drilled. I could be wrong, I could be overlooking a pedagogical concept that foreshadows the app being used; but I can't help but think - isn't this just an electronic flash card? I also can't help but think that the school is using the iPad as a classroom management plan to keep the students motivated and on-task, when in fact the iPad is a learning technology or learning resource. This now leads me to think about the SAMR model. Let us REDEFINE what is being learned, not substitute or even modify. Let's not throw iPads at our students for the reason that they are not absorbing what we teach. Let's use learning technologies to add to the multifaceted learning experiences of our students.


What do you think of this video? Feel free to leave comments!


Reference List:

Reid, D. & Ostashewski, N. (2011). iPads in the Classroom – New Technologies, Old Issues: Are they worth the effort?.  In T. Bastiaens & M. Ebner (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2011 
(pp. 1689-1694). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Flexible Learning Tasks

Across my education subjects, there seems to be the same topic of concern recurring. 'How do I cater to my students' learning styles?' 'What if this lesson isn't effective enough for this learning style?' and 'WHY AREN'T THEY ABSORBING THIS? ARGHHH!!!' are all familiar points of discussion.

While blog-surfing today, I have found an incredible amount of blogs, images and databases dedicated to sharing and creating ideas for technology and e-learning in the classroom. I came across this image (right) and topic discussion, which seemed to lead my brain straight to the thought of catering for learning types. The image is from the blog entry 'Digital differentiation' by 'Cool Tools for 21st Century Learners', and I think the title of the blog is quite fitting. 

I recall doing many readings last year about the generation of children that I will soon teach. Name calling them 'the bubble wrap generation' and criticising their addiction to technology and a modernised lifestyle were amongst many slanders of generalisation. However, upon discovering of this image I thought to myself, 'if anything, the technology available offers an opportunity'. Technology infuses the many learning types; it offers flexible learning paths. For example, on one form of hardware, let's say a computer, we can facilitate an experience that offers audio, text and video digital tools to our multiplicity of learners. We can also do this in a creative or uniform manner. We can apply a combination of these, or allow the children to chose their own combination, to create a learning experience that is flexible, successful and enjoyable.

From this blog entry, I found another image which reminded me of a reading from the child development course I took part in last year. I recall reading about Vygotskian theory, the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding. When I saw this image, I immediately thought of 'SCAFFOLDING'! Teaching via learning technologies is a great way to scaffold a learning experience or skill being taught. The learning technology can ensure that teachers facilitate and guide the lesson, however, the experience may unfold to become a collaborative or independent task in which the technology is used to increase the knowledge and research that is being uncovered. It also reminded me of 'constructivism', which is a major theme in my current professional experience subject, and also the topic of our week 1 tutorial. While learning via technology has a very robotic and generic connotation, I think that it also has the possibility to become a center for constructive learning. It offers student-based learning and a flexible and diverse experience for students to develop their understanding of concepts. The knowledge constructed during technology based lessons is built by students, not passed on from teachers. Students also have a multitude of ways to represent their conceptual understanding of the content - audio, visual, written, video etc. This is truly fantastic!

Reference List:
Based on Week 1 Tutorial.