Reflective Synopsis

Over the last few weeks, I have investigated a variety of different e-learning tools that can be incorporated into the classroom to assist students in their learning journey. Personally, I have gained a variety of skills and new competencies surrounding technology and its application into the classroom.

Each program outlined on the course website was analysed in accordance with various learning theories and frameworks to ensure that these tools were effective in engaging students in rich and meaningful tasks.

Current learning theories such as Siemens (2005) support the use of ICT within the classroom to facilitate metacognitve and problem-solving skills (Lai, 2001). I was surprised as to how ICT linked to higher order thinking and effective pedagogical frameworks (Lankshear & Knobel, 2003). Vygotsky’s constructivist theory provides further guidance on the use of ICT within the classroom to provide a student-centred and authentic learning context (Brady, 2006).

Technology such as blogs and wikis form a foundation to develop critical literacy practices by enabling the students to make informed and educated judgements about information gathered online (Gilster, 1997). Pretensky (2001, p.1) suggests that children of today, ‘think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors.’

Each piece of technology that I have explored can have both positive and negative implications when implementing in the classroom. After reflecting on various tools, I have concluded that I would use the following within the classroom:

1. Blogs. Blogs can be used to promote literacy skills such as reading and writing, to display students’ work and promote collaboration and reflection amongst students and teachers (Huffaker, 2009). When used in an authentic context, students are able to draft, edit, revise, publish and reflect on their thoughts pertaining to the focus topic (EduBlogs, 2009). For example, when used within literacy education, as a Learning Manager, I am able to moderate punctuation, grammar and other elements and conference with students to assist them to overcome challenges they may be facing (Lankshear & Knobel, 2003).

2. Wikis. Wikis are a useful collaborative tool for students to use with peers (Victorian Government, 2005). Students can access them to edit group assignments and discuss classroom learning. I would also have access to moderate and provide scaffolding and feedback to the students. To ensure safety and privacy of students, they can configure their settings to ensure that only their peers can view, add and modify content.

3. Voki Avatars. These allow the students to enter in their text and create their own animated person that then articulates the text, which is beneficial for shy students.

4. Quizzes. These can be used within the classroom as an assessment tool for the Learning Manager. They can be utilised as formative, summative or diagnostic assessment tools (Brady & Kennedy, 2009). Students in the Early Years would need assistance using these tests, however as they progress, these can become independent learning tools. It is important to note that I would need to provide feedback for students on their achievement and provide scaffolding to assist students to acquire the knowledge they may have got incorrect.

5. YouTube. This would arguably be the most used video sharing site. Along with Teacher Tube, YouTube can provide a vast range of videos to accompany a lesson or concept within the classroom. Students could also film presentations, school excursions or class work and upload to this site. I would need to address the issue of safety online for students to ensure that faces, locations and other personal information was not shown.

6. Google Earth. This technology can be incorporated into a wide variety of lessons. Students can use this technology to explore places around the world, various environments and their local area. This can link to many KLAs such as Maths, Science, SOSE and English.

7. WebQuests. I would use this technology as an aide to a unit of work. The use of a WebQuest would be based upon an inquiry unit to which students need to present a solution to a problem in an authentic context. As students work through the site, I would scaffold their learning and provide other information and sources for exploration based upon their own questions and ideas.


8. File Storage (MediaFire). The use of technology is rapidly expanding. Users require quick and reliable retrieval of data, music, pictures and other files. Storing data on one computer, is unadvisable, therefore the use of a file storage system, as well as personal or work computers is recommended. Within the classroom, I will have a vast range of files for learning experiences; therefore, require quick access to this data. The advantage of this program is that regardless of location, data is still accessible. It is also advantageous for the students, if for example, they could upload their assignments, citing easy retrieval for myself, as the Learning Manager to mark.

This task has also proved to be interactive with my peers. By following others’ blogs, I have had an opportunity to gain an insight into their thoughts and applications of various tools. This has given me the opportunity to place comments on their blog, and in turn, they have responded to mine.

Although I would like to utilise these pedagogical tools within the classroom, the technology within schools is lacking. I have found trying to use these tools on my practicum has been ineffective, as the bandwidth at school has been too slow for some programs. I have also found that I always need to check before the lesson to ensure that the site is not blocked on EQ computers.

However, I believe that my role as a Learning Manager is to facilitate and use the technology to the best of my ability and create innovate learning experiences using the resources I have available. If I am passionate about the use of these tools in the classroom, it will be infectious for my students and that in turn will create meaningful and effective learning experiences.

During this course, I have developed my own skills and competencies in technology and have discovered how the pedagogy relates to these programs. My aim is to create a classroom where students feel connected and engaged and take ownership of their learning.

Melissa.

References

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

Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2009). Celebrating Student Achievement. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

EduBlogs. (2009). Tips on blogging with students. Retrieved August 1, 2009, from http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/2008/02/13/tips-on-blogging-with-students/

Huffaker, D. (2009). The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://english.boisestate.edu/tpeele/nfwfourohone/digital rhetoric readings/huffaker.pdf

Lai, K.-W. (Ed.). (2001). E-Learning. Dunedin, NZ: University of Otago Press.

Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2003). New Literacies: Changing Knowledge and Classroom Learning. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

Schacter, J. (1999). The Impact of educational technology on student achievement. Retrieved from http://www.mff.org/publications/publications.taf?page=161

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://wwww.elearnspace.or/Articles/connectivism.htm

Victorian Government. (2005). Glossary. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/SARC/E-Democracy/Final_Report/Glossary.htm

Wiki - A sample unit plan

Hello everyone,

Here is an outline that I have created for the use of a wiki within the classroom. I have not been able to implement this, but hopefully one day I may get the chance.

Key Question- "How does recycling save our environment?"

Grade: Year 5
Unit Length: 5 weeks
Topic: Recycling

Outcomes

Science Essential Learnings
Science can help make natural, social and built environments sustainable and may influence personal human activities.

English Essential Learnings
The purpose of writing and designing includes entertaining, informing and describing.

The intended outcomes (derived from these Essential Learnings) are:
- Students will understand the impact that recycling has upon the environment
- Students will understand what is required within the recycling process
- Students will understand the elements associated with a wiki
- Students will create and edit a wiki
- Students will write and present an oral presentation about recycling using the wiki as an aide
- Students will prepare a wiki for publishing

Task Description
In teams, students will work collaboratively and populate a class wiki, which will form the basis of a presentation in their local community about recycling. The students will also send their information into Wikipedia for verification to be published on that site.


Weekly Overview
Week One: Students are hooked into the unit by visiting the recycling centre. They are informed about the amount of rubbish that is placed into landfill that should be placed in recycling. On the wiki, they will post pictures and comments of their visit to the recycling centre. Students are able to add and edit comments where appropriate.

Week Two: Students investigate how to recycle. The Learning Manager will place links on the wiki for students to visit that will assist them in finding information about recycling. Students will view these clips and read necessary material and comment on their learning on the wiki. Within their groups, they will research recycling and place information that they find on the class wiki site. The Learning Manager will monitor the use of this wiki and ensure that all students’ workload is the same.

Week Three: Students will investigate current recycling measures within the community and identify ways that these can be improved. Students will post their thoughts and ideas to the wiki. They will also begin to identify ways that they can create an effective presentation.

Week Four: Students will begin to use the information from their wiki and use it to create their presentation. Students investigate other wikis to analyse their information and sources to ensure their classroom wiki is accurate and succinct.

Week Five: Students will finish writing their oral presentation, using the information gained from the wiki. They will give their oral presentation to the class as well as an information afternoon at the local community centre. They will use their wiki as an aide to their presentation. After the presentations, students will reflect upon their new understandings. With the Learning Manager’s assistance, students will submit their completed wiki to Wikipedia for verification before publishing.

This unit plan could also be designed to fit the Learning Engagement Theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). This could be outlined as follows:

Relate – students have identified a real world, authentic task in which they need to find a solution.
Create – students must design an effective oral presentation, using a wiki created collaboratively with peers about recycling.
Donate – students conduct their oral presentation at their local community centre. Students also submit their wiki to Wikipedia for verification before publishing.

I hope that this provides a general overview of how to effectively use a wiki within classroom instruction.

Melissa.

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory:. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Digital Storytelling

Hi everyone,

In the classroom, story time can be considered an activity where teachers sit and read a book to the students. Although this form of literacy is still vitally important in a child’s education (Winch, Johnston, Holiday, Ljungdahl, & March, 2006), Digital Storytelling has become a new way of viewing and responding to text (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009).

Digital storytelling within the classroom allows (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009):
- Engaging learning experiences
- Faster pace of learning
- Opportunities for creativity
- Use of multiple intelligences

A Digital Story needs to be (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009):
- Clear and concise
- Personal
- Planned
- Constructed with readily available resources
- Formed in collaboration with others
- Engaging for the audience

Creating a Digital Story involves (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009):
1. Planning
2. Producing
3. Presenting
4. Assessing

It seems to be really simple to create a Digital Story. The software required is, but not limited to, Windows Photo Story or Windows Movie Maker. Students can also import and edit pictures from their Picnik account.

This program could be incorporated into all year levels by creating a display of classroom work throughout the year. Specifically within the Early Years, teachers use digital portfolios to showcase students’ learning throughout the year in alignment with a report card.

This is an example of a task that I have just designed myself, which could be used within the classroom. Year Three students have been learning about sea creatures and have just been to Underwater World for an excursion. Whilst they were there, they took pictures of marine life and took notes about how to effectively care for these animals. Once they returned to school, their teacher asked them to take on the role of a sea creature and give a presentation from that creature’s perspective. Students were allowed to use photos from the trip and also from Internet searches. They were asked to present their findings by using either Windows Photo Story 3 or Windows Movie Maker.

Here is how the task relates to the Learning Engagement Theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999):

- Relate. Students would work collaboratively in teams to create a presentation from the perspective of a sea creature.

- Create. Students would gather resources from their excursion, using photos and written notes. They would also search the Internet for information pertaining to their chosen creature. Students would upload pictures and place text and sound over the images to tell the story of their chosen animal.

- Donate. Students would place their completed presentation on the Learning Manager’s MediaFire account, which is shared with other Learning Managers to use within their classroom. The students would also provide links to their completed presentation in a class handout. Students would also visit a lower grade and show them their completed stories.

Although I have not had the opportunity to use this resource within the classroom, I believe that it would be effective. It also links well with other Key Learning Areas such as, ICT, English, Arts, SOSE and Science. It is definitely a resource that I will be looking to use in the future.

As a final thought about the use of this technology, consider this quote by Marco Antonio Torres, an expert within Digital Storytelling who states, “Digital kids need learning to be relevant, meaningful and applicable now” (Lubbock Independent School District, 2009).

Until next time,

Melissa.

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory:. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Lubbock Independent School District. (2009). Digital Storytelling. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://www.lubbockisd.org/sfirenza/storytelling/

Winch, G., Johnston, R. R., Holiday, M., Ljungdahl, L., & March, P. (2006). Literacy: Reading, Writing and Children's Literature: 3ed. South Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Music (Incompetech)

Hi everyone,


I recently searched on the Incompetech website to locate a piece of royalty-free music that I could use within the classroom. In this section of the site the music is covered under the Creative Commons agreement (refer to next post).


I found a piece of music entitled, ‘Water Prelude.’ After downloading, I listened to it and it sounded relaxing. I considered how I could incorporate this into the classroom. At the beginning of the year, my Prep students had rest time. This could be played to create a sense of calm and rest within the classroom.


I also considered other music that I could search for on this site.


1. Pack-up music. This is a good way for students to be engaged when packing away materials.
2. Transition music. This could be played for the changing of group rotations.
3. Presentation music. Students could select music to play as an accompaniment to their presentations.
4. Music as a subject. Students could analyse and discuss the patterns and musical elements within the piece.


The use of music within the classroom can be aligned to the theory of Active Learning (ACU Adams Centre for Teaching Excellence, 2000). Active Learning is split into three components, input, process and output. The use of music relates to the first component in the following way:


- Input. Active Learning requires input from multiple senses. Music assists with the auditory and feeling component.


Music is an effective tool to engage or manage students within the classroom.


Feel free to leave a comment about your thoughts to the use of music within the classroom.


Melissa.


Reference


ACU Adams Centre for Teaching Excellence. (2000). How does Active Learning work? Retrieved August 3, 2009, from Active Learning Online: http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/howdoes.htm

Wikis - A valuable learning tool?

Hello everyone,

I have just recently created my own wiki page. Feel free to view this page using the following link,

http://melissawaleswiki.wetpaint.com/

Click on the following link and it will take you to a YouTube site which explains in simple terms the definition of a wiki and its uses. I found this clip extremely helpful which allowed me to create my site and reflect in this post on my experiences.

Wikis in Plain English

The following is a reflection of my understanding of the creation and use of a wiki.

A wiki is an online resource which promotes collaboration between users to add and modify content (Victorian Government, 2005). A wiki’s security setting can be set to only allow members of the site to view and modify content, or open for anyone to post comments and change data. It is the wiki’s creator that determines the level of access to their site.

When I setup my own wiki, I logged onto http://www.wetpaint.com/ and followed the online instructions to open my account. I was able to choose the colour scheme for my wiki and was able to decide the level of access I wanted other users to have. When prompted for a title, I chose, ‘Melissa’s Classroom Ideas’.

The aim of my wiki is to provide a site where members are able to add and modify pages that lists educational websites in an attempt to collate teaching resources and ideas.

After the creation of my wiki, I considered how this piece of technology could be incorporated into the classroom.

I believe that this piece of technology corresponds well with the Learning Engagement Theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). This theory states that productive learning occurs when students are engaged in meaningful tasks through interaction with their peers. Effective collaboration can occur with the Learning Manager creating a class generic page where students can add and modify information pertaining to their classroom academic work. The use of this medium for collaboration with peers emphasises this as a valuable communication tool (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999).

I believe that this tool can be effectively used within the classroom. Students could upload pictures and information that is useful for group projects, thus allowing other group members to edit the project where necessary. To ensure safety and privacy of students, they can configure their settings to ensure that only their peers can view, add and modify content.

This piece of technology is very simple to setup, maintain and control, making it an effective learning tool in the classroom.

Regards,

Melissa.

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory:. Retrieved July 10, 2009, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Victorian Government. (2005). Glossary. Retrieved July 16, 2009, from http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/SARC/E-Democracy/Final_Report/Glossary.htm