Reflective Synopsis

As a digital immigrant my ICT skills have been challenged. In order to be an effective teacher for the 21st century learner I need to transform my approach to teaching in order to equip the digital natives with the content and future skills they will require according to Prensky (2001). Returning to study and the use of ICT has been a steep learning curve, yet I see the necessity to develop my skills and have enjoyed the process of exploring and "playing" with the many different options and ideas. Consequently, it has been time consuming and sometimes frustrating, yet I am excited when I have created something new, from here I begin to see the possibilities for the application and start to shape my own digital pedagogy for the classroom. One thing I have been challenged by is my feelings about exposing my thoughts and opinions on a blog, wiki space or website, putting this information down for effectively the world to see. What if I am not right? Yet as teachers we will want to encourage our students to take learning risks within a scaffolded, safe environment. Therefore it is imperative that I am familiar with issues surrounding privacy and online security for my students. I must also be familiar with working legally and understanding copyright issues. Students need to be taught how to protect themselves and correct etiquette in the way they respond in text, largely modelled by the teacher. In my first week I created a concept map using bubbl.us to organise the 3 main learning theories; behavourism, cognitivism, and social constructism and ICT implications for each. All have a role within the learning environment. George Siemen (2004) coined the term connectivism as being the learning theory for the digital age and in the past six weeks I have started to grasp what that really is as I have engaged with different technology. I have explored how it works, considered which learning theory it aligns with, evaluated if it is purposeful or is it just for technologies sake? Finally the design framework TRACK brings together the elements of technology, pedagogy and content, all of which must be well thought-out in planning for effective learning experiences. Mishra (2006)

Reflections on the Wiki
In our second week we were asked to contribute to an online wiki about our views on mobile phones in the classroom. It is easy to go in with my opinions and thoughts on this subject, however the way the wiki was scaffolded using De Bono Six Thinking Hats meant that I was confronted to think about the issue from different perspectives. On the other hand it means I don't have to do all the work myself, I can see what others think on the topic and this can challenge my own views by raising issues I hadn't previously considered, and by doing so build knowledge. This exercise has shown me the importance of scaffolding my learner to get the best thinking, by helping direct them with a thinking framework. This type of learning fits within the social constuctism theory, knowledge is built through interactions with others and with teacher support extends the student to higher levels of thinking, beyond what they would have achieve alone what Vygotsky called ZPD. Vygotsky (1962). One could stand back and just read the content, however to participate this is connectivism, 21 Century learning.

Tool 1 - Web 2.0 tools

Blogs, Wikis and Websites. I have enjoyed the reflective side of keeping a Blog. It was easy to follow the instructions to set up, it is a fairly straight forward user friendly tool to navigate around, add and edit postings. It has allowed me to embed so many applications within the blog and demonstrate my learning.  According to Downes (2004) blogs are not about the writing, but more about reading, reflecting, criticizing, questioning and reacting. Blogs like wikis sit within the social constructism learning theory allowing students to construct meaning through interactions with others. As student's blog and add comment to others work they are building knowledge, further reflecting and assimilating information. This is 21st century connectivism, they are analysing, evaluating and most importantly creating all elements in higher order thinking. Within the classroom this could replace the daily creative writing, provided there are sufficient computers for all students. Teachers could set projects in which students reflect their learning onto their blog. Students that travel within the school year I would highly suggest they keep a blog to share their experiences with their class members and allow student to comment. I created a PMI chart to further comment on the Benefits and Dangers of Blogs in the classroom. Consequently the teacher needs to scaffold learning and model safe practise and explain appropriate etiquette.  Forums are another way of constructing knowledge and I have been able to participate in those during this course, both creating and responding to posts.

Group 2 tools - Multi Media
Images are everywhere, an image can speak 1000 words. I have experimented with Flickr, Picnik, Moviemaker, Voki, Blabbize. Images provide a great hook and discussion starters. However the tool I would like to focus on is podcasts. I had some vague idea they were out there, but have only engaged with them since I started studying and been lead through moodle to listen to them. Within the classroom there are two main elements in the way podcasts are used to enhance learning. Firstly podcasts are used to listen to the expert on a topic of study about an environmental issue or the launch of the latest space shuttle. This will engage audio listeners and emphasis the authenticity of the subject being taught. The second way is for student to use podcasting themselves, to create their own work and broadcast. It is through creating they are engaging and self editing their own work. Here is my first podcast and I have only had a basic play with the equipment. There is opportunity for students to extend these tools, add music and upload pictures. Podcasts can be made on ipods and mp3 players so are fairly low budget resources. Refer to my  Multimedia SWOT chart for more considerations concerning Multimedia.


Group 3 tools - Presentation Tools
This group of tools can be used to engage students in a lesson and the ability to embed you tube clips and images within the presentation makes for a polished lesson, to engage all but especially the visual learners within the class. I have used Powerpoint and find this effective and easy to use I was challenged to try out Prezi this is a little bit different it did take a considerable amount of time to work with and I have really only touched the basics. It's a little bit different from the linear way in which power point displays information. What I like about it is that it has the ability to start with a topic and then zoom in on that topic, words can be turned around and a dot in one slide becomes the focus of the next slide, making it interesting for the audience. These tools can be presented by the teacher or students can use as a culminating task, however as they can take a lot of time to create students need to have completed research before beginning to play with the tools as students can get caught up in the aesthetic rather than the focus of the learning. The teacher needs to allow time for students to play around with this programme. Further annotations can be found on my PMI chart as well as my observations on glogster


Group 4 tools - Learning Objects
Interactive tools are fantastic as students are able to use the mouse to manipulate and move them around. Google Earth and Learning Objects can reinforce students learning about a place, culture, and concept anything that has a learning object created. Learning Objects build on children's learning helping them remember and understand new concepts. They fall within the Cognitivism learning theory. Recently for my Maths elective we used learning objects to understand and present a concept. I think they are an incredible tool to use. Some lend themselves to going through the steps as a whole class, others are better for one person to work through by themselves. The way they are used will be dependent on the lesson and the resources available. Learning objects cover a range of topics and I was particularly interested in a couple from the resource list. Life in Darfur Sudan, interesting for a SOSE topic and the other one my son found interesting was the dissecting of a frog (much less mess). These are easy to prepare, in that the they don't need to be created. However it may take several hours searching through the many available options. Check out my SWOT chart for more thoughts on Learning Objects.  Google is a fantastic tool and recently embedded it into my SOSE webquest as students were to find out where Kiribati is located.

In conclusion the above tools have broadened my understanding and appreciation of their uses and where they can support my pedagogy and content knowledge on a topic. It is important as a teacher I model safe and ethical guidelines for my students and that I scaffold the learning so my students can feel a sense of accomplishment, like I have felt through this journey.

References:

Downs, S (2004). Educational Blogging Educause Review, 39(5),14-26.

Mishra, P. & Koehler, M . (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: a framework for teacher     knowledge. Teachers College Record , 108(6), 1017-1054

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives digital immigrants. On the Horision MCB University Press, 9(5)

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm