Learning Technologies

The theme of today's Professional Experience seminar was an introduction to 'learning technologies'. Though I'd always known that learning technologies were in consistent use in most classrooms and that this use has increased over the last few years, I only had some idea of how these learning technologies directly impact the learning experiences of individuals. 

We discussed concepts such as the 'SAMR model'. When my lecturer, Annie Agnew, explained this concept I said to myself, 'Oh!' The theory of this model made complete sense; we, as educators, should not be looking for a quick fix (a substitution) to keep a students on task and stimulated. The educational software and hardware that is available in this day and age can allow teachers to not only modify the learning experiences of their students but redefine what is being learnt and the student's experience.

This image has been reposted from Tech Transformation: The SAMR Model.

As a class, we brainstormed the variety of learning technologies available to students from kindergarten to year six. The list seemed endless and to be honest, many of the items on the list I'd either overlooked or underestimated as a learning technology. We had a chance to brainstorm ourselves using a program or website of our choosing. I chose to use "SimpleMind Free" for Mac to create and post my brainstorm below. 

When completing my brainstorm at home, I decided to include teacher productivity technologies. When I was researching (or 'googling') learning technologies - apps, websites, programs etc. - many of them were designed to assist teachers in their daily routine, lesson planning and assessment of students.

Upon my research for this task I have come across many different apps, websites and programs. Due to my brainstorm being so broad yet unfinished, I have only included a few specific programs. The rest I will post in future discussions as they become relevant to my study.