ICT Current Trends

I as a student never encountered an interactive white board, through my schooling experience the only ICT I ever used were individual computers or projectors rarely. I feel that I was educated well, however I also feel that integrating interactive white boards (IWB) will be extremely beneficial for most students.

 IWBs can create a fun, captivating and structured lesson plan. When used correctly they enable a teacher to interact with their class on many more levels then an average white board or projector would allow. I think that interactive white boards would be a positive attribute to every class room however they could also be a waste of money if not being used correctly. Both Alan Lesgod and Kathryn Moyle roughly describe computers in the class room as amplifiers.  The analogy that they both imply is that computers in the classroom will either make a good teacher better, or less gifted teachers worse. I agree with this statement. I believe when the teacher knows how to teach well, involving the class, being interactive but also educational then the IWB will enhance that teachers ability to teach and educate the class, however if a teacher finds it difficult to interact with their class then the whiteboard could possibly go to waste. Another possible problem with the integration of IWB is the possibility of teachers being reluctant to using IWB's in their classroom. I believe the below video answers this question as to why some teachers may be reluctant to integrating IWB's into their classroom.

J.Gage writes,

• "An IWB helps teachers to use a wide variety of different teaching styles, benefiting all types of learners. Our brains access information through visual, auditory and kinaesthetic sensory inputs and these are all available with an IWB."(p.19)  

J.Gage goes on to explain how they are all relevant, visual learners are able to enjoy the colours and graphics, while auditory learners can learn through video and audio files and lastly kinaesthetic leaners are able to enjoy moving the items around. I think this is very true and a vast improvement on the previous pedagogies, which had trouble educating all three types of learners at one time.

J.Gage also mentions a comment made by a math teacher who had been using an IWB for two and a half years.

• "Technology redefines the position of the teacher in relation to the learning process of the student. It enables the teacher to learn with the student when the technology delivers the learning... you can help them much better if you don't spend all your time writing on the board, and if there's an awareness of the technology delivering the answer, and the student and the teacher sharing in the discovery of the answer. [This can be] very motivating for a low achieving group. Technology lets the student test a working hypothesis."(p.21)

 J.Gage then proceeds to clarify that the teacher believes that when using IWBs in a classroom the IWB becomes the expert in the classroom allowing the teacher to share his new discoveries with the class. This technique has a very positive impact on the classroom environment creating a healthy relationship between the teacher and the student. No longer is the teacher up the front defining what is wrong and right, now he is working through the problems with the class explaining when needed. Therefor I think that an IWB should be a staple in every class.

Works Cited

       Gage, Jenny. "Pedagogy." How to Use an Interactive Whiteboard Really Effectively in Your Secondary Classroom. London: David Fulton Publishers, 2006, p. 17-30

       
 Peters, Dorian. "ICT in the Classroom." Learning with Models. (1st May 2008) Accessed 21st May 2013 http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/elearningresearch/2008/05/ict_in_the_classroom.html

          

Wikis and Collaborative Learning

I feel that both wiki's and collaborative learning are both incredibly beneficial to the learning experience of the modern classroom.

A good example of how beneficial they can be is found on a website talking about James Surowiecki.

• "In this book, Surowiecki tells a story about a British scientist who, after watching 800 people try to guess the weight of a fat ox, calculated the statistical mean of everyone’s guesses and discovered that the crowd thought the ox weighed 1,197 pounds. It’s actual weight? 1,198 pounds." (Ikeepsafe blog)

 This example shows us how a group of people no matter how smart have the capability to have an acquired intellect higher then anyone person in the group.

By using a wiki in your classroom you are encouraging your students to not only work together but to use each others knowledge and combine it with their own. Wikis can be used in any subject wether it be maths, science, history, english or even music.

I believe that wikis can be used in many different ways including in collaboration with either a web quest or a discovery mission. A teacher could create a wiki file and upload different information onto it about the classes topic at the time, however to add a twist the teacher would add some correct infmormation but also false information. The task would then be given to the students to research what information on the wiki is correct and what is false, and then edit the information on the wiki to create a completely accurate wiki on the classes topic. Exercises like this could benefit the students learning as they are taking part in teaching themselves the set class criteria. By taking part in their own education they may find it easier

to learn.

Other possible techniques that I believe teachers could use in their classroom to benefit their teacher student teaching experience can be found through social networking. I believe that a place for students to discuss the content of the course on a popular social networking site such at facebook, tumblr or twitter will make it easier for the student to engage with the subject matter. In a teacher guided discussion students will be able to participate in class activities while at home and partaking in their social endeavours on the internet.

Another possible way to educate students using technology can be through webquests. WebQuest direct does a fantastic job at describing what a webquest is.

• "WebQuests are activities, using Internet resources, which encourage students to use higher order thinking skills to solve a real messy problem. WebQuests are a sub-set of Problem-Based Learning."

I believe that webquests have the capability to improve the learning of all students, By collecting all of the correct information by themselves students are forced to promote their own learning.

Web quest webpages such as http://questgarden.com/search/ will help to promote webquests to teachers as the teacher need only to simply enter the type of web quest they are after and it will show them multiple possibile webquests. 

Bellow is a video created by students as to why teachers should be using webquests in the teaching.

I believe that by integrating these teaching techniques into the everyday classroom both students and teachers will be able to reap the benefits of it.

Refrences

         Graber, Diana. "Why Wikis Work." iKeepSafe Blog. (28th November 2012) Accessed 21st May 2013 http://www.ikeepsafe.org/educational-issues/why-wikis-work/

         

         Teach Thought Staff. "20 Collaborative Learning Tips and Strategies for Teachers." Teach Thought. (21st November 2012) Accessed 21st May 2013 http://www.teachthought.com/learning/20-collaborative-learning-tips-and-strategies/

Digital Story Telling

Digital story telling, is a means of educating students through the use of a graphical story.  A digital story consists of 7 major parts as seen in the above picture, and below.

1. Point of view
2. A dramatic question
3. Emotional content
4. Pacing
5. The gift of voice
6. Economy 
7. The power of soundtrack

First the creator wether student or teacher must have a topic for their digital story, after receiving the topic the creator must come up with story line for the digital story. The creator then takes either various pictures or videos relating back to and telling the creators story. Once all of the footage is taken is is then edited with either written and or spoken words to create a digital story.
All of these aspects of the story work together to create an entertaining and educational video for the students. Digital storytelling can also be used as an exercise to enhance students capabilities with technology while also educating them on the subject matter of their story. Teachers can give students the task to work in groups to create their own digital stories. The stories can be about any topics covered in class, and the students can be expected to present them to the rest of the class making particular emphasis on any information they discovered themselves.

I believe that digital story telling can be effective in almost any educating experience. Digital story telling engages with the students in a way that no teacher can do with just their voice. Digital story telling can be effective in all aged groups, however it can be used as a teaching method for primary aged students in an easy educational way. Primary aged students are most likely to lose focus quite early in the learning experience, and that is where digital story telling comes in. 

Digital story telling according to Kayleigh Willard should be used in the classroom as

• Creating digital stories enhances technology-rich project learning.
• Encourages students to think critically about different subjects and present their ideas in a creative way.
• Empowers students by letting their voices be heard and allowing them to publish their work.
• Makes learning relevant and meaningful to students.

I personally have never made or even been in class where a digital story has been used to educate, therefore I have no personal experience as to wether they are beneficial to a students education, however given the examples and information that I have researched I have deduced that they could be a beneficial exercise to most classroom environments.

Below are examples of a story being told as just audio, and the second one is a digital story.

As you have witnessed the addition of visual aid involves the viewer in a deeper way and is also more engaging.

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) is the relationship between a student knowledge and technology. Teachers aim to develop TPCK in their students through working with technology in new and innovative ways, increasing the students confidence and capabilities with technology. Digital story telling is a great tool that teachers can use to increase their students TPCK.

Below is an example on how and why to make a digital story.

Refrences

          Willard, Kayleigh. "Digital Storytelling in the Classroom." Slideshare. Accessed 22nd May 2013
http://www.slideshare.net/kayleigh9386/digital-storytelling-in-the-classroomkayleigh-willard
         
          Wolferobynm. "Digital Storytelling/Math Tutorial for EDIM 504/Finding slope." YouTube. (24th October 2009) Accessed 22nd May 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKyeI6JU9vE

Social Constructivism

"Social constructivism has been a populary adopted approach to learning by teachers and educational researchers." (Howell p.23)

Social constructivism is a learning theory in which students either individually or collaboratively expand their knowledge on relative subject matters.  Constructivism promotes an active involvement by students in the classroom experience, and is a needed teaching technique in any circumstance. According to a youtube video by BlueSofaMedia,

"Constructivism utilizes the interactive teaching strategies to create meaningful contexts that help student construct knowledge based on their own experiences."

Social constructivism can be worked out when a teacher feels that his/her students are being passive in their learning experience. Social constructivism promotes communication and collaboration between peers, allowing students to increase their knowledge by providing and receiving knowledge from other students in a group exercise.

Social constructivism also promotes higher order thinking encouraging students to gather their own thoughts and relative information in order to create their own interpretation of the subject matter.

By giving the students a more active role in the learning experience it allows the students to interact with the specific problems and the students are teaching themselves the knowledge they need. BlueSofaMedia lists different possible class exercises to incorporate social constructivism into a teachers classroom environment.

1. Role play, or reenacting moments from history.
2. Debating topics relative to where society is at.
3. Using collaborating learning groups to teach multiple opinions.
4. Allowing the students to engage in real world activities such as class excursions or internships.

All of the above exercises encourage social constructivism as they all allow the student to form his/her own opinion on the topic being covered.

The amount of teacher input in an exercise is gauged by the students capabilities to come to the correct conclusion by themselves  Teacher monitoring is needed at all times while social constructivism is being outworked as students forming wrong opinions or ideas can be detrimental to their learning experience, lowering confidence and simply implying the wrong answer.

I feel that Social constructivism can bring some fantastic benefits to the modern classroom. Encouraging students to work together and build off each others knowledge in a fun relaxed classroom environment. Allowing the students to have a 'hands on' approach in their own education gives the student control as to how much they get out of their education, and takes the teacher from a person out the front defining what is right and wrong to a helping hand working along side the students. I believe that social constructivism should be outworked in every classroom, due to its tremendous positive attributes to a students learning.

References

          Bluesofamedia. "Use a Learning Theory: Constructivism." YouTube. (30 December 2012) Accessed 22nd May 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa59prZC5gA

         Bush, Mike. "Camino Gold Rush." California's Oldest Newspaper. (21st May 2012) Accessed 22nd May 2013 http://www.mtdemocrat.com/news/students-bring-back-gold-rush-era-for-living-history-day/

          Howell, Jennifer. Teaching with ITC. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2012

    

          "Social Constructivism and the Classroom." Koonji Taplur. (7th of April 2011) Accessed 22nd May http://koonjtalpur.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/social-construction/

Assessment Using ICT

I believe that assessment using ITC is the way of the future. Although standard written tests may never go out, ICT assessment is able to give the teacher a more accurate representation of where their students are at in their course. According to Peter Kents there are eight different modes of technology that can be used for student assessment. (p.34-39)

1. Blogs
2. Wikis
3. Twitter
4. Facebook
5. Other Social Media (Flickr, Google Maps, Google Earth)
6. YouTube
7. Google Apps
8. Learning Response Systems

All of these can be used to create a practical and successful course curriculum, however I would like to just focus on the first four. Teachers can give their students the task of creating their own blog that educates its reader on a topic covered in class by the student. Creating an assignment like this can be beneficial for a teacher as they are able to see and overlook the students blog as it is being created. Instead of a student approaching a teacher for help, the teacher is able to approach the student. Another benefit for the teacher is not having to collect multiple hard copies of the assignment. Instead all the teacher needs to mark the students assignment is a computer and list of the students urls.

   

 The second use of ITC in assessment that Kent mentions is Wiki's. As described in a previous blog post wikis are a webpage similar to a blog except that the data in them can be edited by anyone. This form of assessment has all of the advantages mentioned previously about blogs plus the added benefit that the teachers are able to edit data in the wiki them self  The teacher is able to mark drafts and final assessment online straight away with a red font allowing the student istant access to the teachers feedback.

       Personally I do not see twitter as being a website to complete assessment on however it could be a powerful feedback tool. Twitter has incorporated a hashtag function that basically groups tweets by the same hashtag. Students could leave feedback for other peers assessment on twitter hash tagging the assessment title and students name, ie. #blogassignmentjamesbignill.

       Kent also lists Facebook as a website used for assessment. I also dont see this as much of a possibility however like twitter I believe it can be used as a tool. Using facebook functions such as groups, students are able to create a page where they can privately or publicly discuss and work on collaborative assignments. The teacher can also be overseeing this by being apart of the facebook group.

       Another ICT tool that can be used in assessment is online educational games. This technique will probably only be useful to younger aged students. There are multiple online games that teachers can utilize in order to both educate and assess their students. With the supervision of teachers students can partake in online games and be assessed on their knowledge in subjects such as literacy, numeracy, geography and music. Below is a link to an example of a maths game that could be used in a class room setting,

http://www.coolmath.com/games/math-man.html


References

           "ICT Literacy." NAP. (2011) Accessed 22nd May http://www.nap.edu.au/nap-sample-assessments/about-each-domain/ict-literacy/napsa-ict-literacy.html

           Kent, Peter; Campbell, Chris. "Technology for Assessment." Assessment for Teaching Today. South Yarra: Sharon Dagleish, 2013, p.34-43

           "Math Man." Cool Math Games. Accessed 22nd May. http://www.coolmath.com/games/math-man.html

Mobile Learning in the Classroom

Mobiles in the classroom can be a very controversial topic. Some people see them as a distraction and non-helpful to the average student, however some people also see mobile devices in the classroom as a positive and educational advantage. Personally I feel that that in reference to mobile devices in the classroom that the negatives out weigh the positives. In an article written by C.Dale and J.Pymm it says,

"Within a classroom environment, Slykhuis (2006) recognises the usefulness of the iPod for playing music, for use as a portable hard drive, for 
displaying pictures and for recording audio. It is unsurprising, therefore, 
that iPods have been viewed as a disruptive technology challenging the 
conventional practices of educators. (Berry, 2006)"(p.86)

As shown in this article it can be said that the mobile in the classroom can be seen as disruptive. In the modern day, a mobile can be used to access the internet, socialize with peers, listen to music, take photos and record movies. With this fantastic technology in such a small device, it can also be seen that mobile devices can be an advantage to the modern classroom giving the students a way to access information in any place at any time. In the article by C.Dale and J.Pymm they also say that,

"the iPod enables educators to generate innovative learning opportunities."

The only problem with this is that when creating a task for the students with a mobile device the teacher has to take into account that not every student is going to have the same mobile device or even a smart phone. In a blog post written by Alana she states that,

"Whilst the Australian Government through the Digital Education Revolution, is providing $2.2 billion dollars over 6 years to provide equipment, training and access to broadband internet. Mobile devices may be overlooked, this is indicated by the recent initiative within Canberra where secondary schools are being provided with smartboards, computers and internet with no mention of mobile devices."

This poses the question what can a monile device do that a laptop cannot. In a classroom environment the laptop can be seen as a far superior alternative. Athough the mobile device is small and easily portable, in todays society there are still some websites that are not mobile friendly and actually need a computer to access them properly. The government has already started to both purchase and lend laptops to students for their own private use, making a laptop a lot more accessible to a student then any mobile device.

In conclusion I think it can be said that although mobile devices provide some interesting features and few possible advantages the disadvantages are far superior  Therefore it can be said that todays society are not quite ready for the benefits of a mobile learning system.

References

            Alana. "Who Pays? The Cost of Mobile Learning." Enhanced Learning in Professional Context. (9th April 2010) Accessed 23rd May 2013. http://alana6705.blogspot.com.au/2010/04/who-pays-cost-of-mobile-learning.html

           Crispin, Dale; Pymm, John. "Pedagogy: the Ipod as a Learning Technology." Active Learning in Higher Education. (2009) Accessed 23rd May 2013. http://alh.sagepub.com.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/content/10/1/84.full.pdf

           Gifari, Arry. "M-Learning Activities." Teach One Letter Find Much Better. (28th September 2011) Accessed 23rd May 2013. http://relaxteacher.wordpress.com/tag/mobile-learning/