Week 13

Week 13: Using a pedagogical lens, write an evaluation of the impact this project has had on your own TPCK. Referring to course readings and your own experiences, include a brief discussion of your views on the social impact of technology on teachers and students.

The creation of this digital project has enabled me as a Pre-service teacher to be able to engage and interact with the tools I need to create an environment within my classroom that caters for all learners. Throughout this course my TPCK has been impacted on and I have had access to a range of resources that will aid me in my teaching to create significance and connectedness with technology for all students.

Personally Ive had a experience using PowerPoint and Prezi before completing this course so it was an excellent opportunity for me to use different resources such as Xtranormal and explore the ability of delivering the content in my classroom in a new and engaging way for students. My thoughts whilst using artefacts like Xtranormal or Screenr were if I am intrigued and interested by it, then that tells me it should promote engagement for students.

For the second assignment I used all of the multi-modal tools that gained my interest to create Narrative and Significance for students when interacting with the digital artefact. My partner and I incorporated iMovie, Screenr, Xtranormal, sound clips, Prezi, eBlogger, drop boxes and a range of visuals to cater for the diverse needs of all learners.

During the creation of this digital artefact my partner and I discussed the use of it in a Unit of Work and what stages it would be appropriate to complete each activity. Therefore we varied the level of activities to gradually have students demonstrate their technological skills. This task was enjoyable to create with the up and downs of dealing with a temperamental platform such as Wix, but it also enabled us to problem solve and be aware of the different issues our students may encounter when using it. The completion of this artefact has made me conscious of the different technological skills I now possess and helped to widen the variety of options available when I want to deliver creative content in my classroom. 

Beattie (2010) once said “The aim of education should be to teach us how to think rather than what to think, rather to improve our minds so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of others”. This expresses the idea that learners should be active members in their education and not just tourists simply going along for the ride. It promotes the inclusion for students within the classroom to have an effective voice and create meaning through multiple modes. The use of technology within the classroom is essential and has to be taken seriously with the emergence of new technologies within these students world.

Carrington et al (2006) said “In a world saturated with the multimodal media and texts of consumer society, we must take it seriously with thought into our classrooms”. This means it is essential to adjust pedagogical approaches to enable students to make connections between home and school.

I believe the social impact on both teachers and students of incorporating multimodal approaches and technology within the classroom will only strengthen the partnership of the learning process between teachers and students. The aim as students become technologically savvy is to enable them to explore the world critically and express themselves differently due to an enriched classroom context. As students move beyond Primary and head to High school it will give them the increasing ability to express their knowledge and grow through the exploration of that technology.

References

Beattie, B (2010). Education in Theory and Perspective. Explore Higher Education. Retrieved on the 23^rd October from http://explorehighereducation.com/education-in-theory-and-perspective/

Carrington, V. (2006). Rethinking middle years: Early adolescents, schooling and digital culture. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Week 10

Week 10: Discussion of the relevance of multiliteracies and multimodal approaches to support student learning.

Henderson (2007) expressed “It’s a digital life!”, therefore the use of multiple technologies is a part of our everyday life. It is essential that we enrich our classroom with multilitteracies and multimodality to ensure our students are well adjusted and engaged in the content within their classroom. Students today have access to iPods, mobile phones, computers, e-readers, the list goes on and with this increase in technology use and exposure students need to be supported and taught accordingly to support their lives and learning.

The use of technologies such as Wix, Blogger, and SMARTboard within the classroom creates significance and relevance of the content being taught. It enables them to relate and engross themselves in the topic and explore it on a variety of levels. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) reported that almost 65 per cent of 5-14 year olds have accessed the internet for leisure activities. Therefore these increasing amounts of technology savvy students need to have their curriculum delivered using a range of digital technologies.

Establishing Connectedness and Significance from the Quality Teaching Framework can be achieved through multimodal approaches for all students. For example activities within the classroom can revolve around digital technologies because it allows students to engage with multiple literacies. Students have this incredible ability to be able to decode symbols, sounds, texts and visuals in a matter of minutes, this semiotic knowledge enables them to be a significant contributor within their classroom and empower them within their learning.

Heath (1983) did considerable research surrounding the importance of identifying student’s literate strengths and capabilities at home and transferring them into the classroom. For example a teacher’s pedagogical approach can be adjusted to help students make connections from home to school literacies. It allows students to build on the literacy knowledge they already possess and extend their learning, therefore creating High Expectations within the classroom.

The sociocultural perspective of literacy as a whole relies heavily on practices that enable students to decode, make meaning, and demonstrate critical understandings of what they encounter. Whether students read from a book or a web address they are still engaging with daily sociocultural practices and building on the foundation of expertise and knowledge for the future.

We know that incorporating multilitteracies and multimodality within our classroom will cater for the needs of diverse learners and enrich content delivery for all students. It enables a new way of increasing productivity and ownership for a student over their learning.

 References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2006). 4901.0 Children's participation in cultural and leisure activities, Australia. Retrieved October 3^rd 2012, from

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/

Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life, and work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Henderson, R. (2007, November 21-24). Diverse students "doing" digital literacies. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Language, Education and Diversity, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Week 8

Week 8: Explanation of how a depth of curriculum knowledge also supports the decision

making process relating to ICT use in the classroom, with reference to a learning

moment in phase two of your project.

The world that we live in today is a knowledge society therefore a depth of curriculum knowledge is imperative for effective teaching to occur in a quality learning environment. For students to gain a deep knowledge from ICT use, teachers need to be explicitly selecting technological resources that support students learning. In order to ensure student learning is at the highest level, practices in the classroom need to be comprehensive and rigorous to improve achievement.

By understanding the syllabus content teachers are able to adapt and invigorate the learning experiences for their students with the use of ICT in the classroom. Making technology more readily available such as computer lessons in primary school and the Digital Education Revolution (DER) rollout enables students to access an array of tools to express their knowledge creatively. Chee et al (2011) expressed that “technology is indispensable in our globalised world”. In order for students to become contributors to this technological society, curriculum must be adapted to create engaging links with ICT. The use of a multi-modal approach can cater for all learning styles and deepen the knowledge and understanding of the content area.

 The integration of technology in the classroom provides challenges for students in the 21^st century of how to master different programs, features and tools by investigating its use whilst applying new knowledge learnt. According to Gibbons (2002), Student-Directed Learning is “any increase in knowledge, skill, accomplishment, or personal development that an individual selects and brings about by his or her own efforts using any method in any circumstances at any time”.

Gibbons’ (2002) notion of SDL stresses the importance of developing ownership of learning as it will motivate a learner to pursue a learning goal and persist in the learning process. Therefore teachers need to be enriched with content knowledge in order to provide their students with optimal engagement and deep knowledge through the use of ICT in the classroom. When creating my resource, a learning moment directly linked to student engagement was researching all of the available artefacts that could be used in my Webquest. Selecting appropriate technological artefacts is essential for creating significance for the students. I selected ‘I-movie and Xtranormal’ as two teaching tools to create narrative and understanding of the tasks for students. Therefore the right tools and teaching methods in the classroom will create value for both students and teachers.

References

Chee, T (2011). Self-Directed Learning with ICT: Theory, Practice and Assessment. Published in Singapore, Ministry of Education. Retrieved on the 12^th September 2012 from http://ictconnection.edumall.sg/ictconnection/slot/u200/mp3/monographs/self-directed%20learning%20with%20ict.pdf

Gibbons, M. (2002). The self‐directed learning handbook: Challenging adolescent students to excel. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass. Pp 2.

Week 6

Week 6: Description of a key learning moment during phase one of your artifacts production and an explanation of how at least two design decisions were made?

During the construction of the artifact there were many key learning moments for us because we decided to use two unknown artifacts and only one that was familiar to us. Using the integrated learning space hints and tools enabled us to work through the artifacts features, and feel confident in using them. Whilst we used Prezi as our stage for our virtual presentation for analysing a Smart Board resource we included both an Xtranormal clip and a Screenr. A key learning moment for me during phase one of our artifact was being able to embed a variety of file types and multimedia into our Prezi.

I was intrigued and interested by its timely fashion to convert video files from the web or a screenshot from Smart Board technologies. This enabled my partner and I to feel at ease when constructing our virtual presentation. It allowed us to experiment with an array of technologies to find what best suited our presentation and it didn’t limit us to just one option. During the process of collaborating ideas about our virtual presentation we were discussing how we feel when we watch a lecture, its like eating a piece of toast with no vegemite-very plain, boring and unstimulating. Therefore we decided on what we would want out of a presentation if we had the choice, therefore we decided on the fast pace and audience controlled Prezi.
It allowed us to create our own pathways, be as creative as possible and theme our stage with colours attractive to the purpose of the presentation. This design decision was based on engagement and how any virtual presentation should be stimulating. Our second design decision occurred because we wanted to express ourselves in a fun and creative way appealing for our audience.

Therefore we decided to implement an Xtranormal clip using some unusual characters from history. By using another artifact we thought it would allow for our virtual presentation to appeal to more audiences if used in the future. It helped create an unusual aspect but yet still conveyed the thoughts and ideas of the presentation. Our conversations around design features were if we engaged in the content when constructing it as a pair then it should be enjoyable to view for our intended audience.

Week 3

Week 3: Discussion of how a pedagogical lens can assist teachers in making choices relating to ICT integration in the classroom?

The main purpose of ICT’s in education is the implementation of engaging teaching tool to enhance the environment for all learners. By looking through a pedagogical lens technology enriches the classroom of the 21^st century. Whilst this is true technology integration also poses some obvious struggles for the classroom teacher. Engaging with education and training about using Web 2.0 technologies effectively for educational engagement is another aspect on top of planning and implementing curriculum.

Aligning ICT with curriculum and assessment will allow for students to engage in authentic learning. Lockwood (1992) stated that activities ‘encourage and affirm learning… they may take many forms, but essentially they encourage the learner to respond to the text rather than remain passive’. By incorporating authentic activities with ICT allows for real-world relevance, complex tasks, different perspectives, variety of resources, opportunity to collaborate and reflect, integrate and apply learning through cross Key Learning Area’s.

It allows for learners to become passionate and engage in their learning in the classroom to create value in their own right to their education. It is the use of effective planning and pedagogy by teachers to create a quality learning environment using ICT for all students. Collaboration can be encouraged through appropriate ICT tasks which allows for those learners who are not as proficient in the use of technology to learn from their peers. This creates a supportive and cohesive learning environment for all students.

In today’s society children from the age of 18 months can successfully unlock an iPhone therefore if we aren’t not arranging our K-6 classrooms according to today’s technological innovations we will lose the engagement of our young enthusiastic learners. Therefore planning accordingly with authentic activities for all students will create significance, quality, and rigorous learning to take place in an ICT integrated classroom.

Reference
Lockwood, F. (1992). Activities in self-instructional texts. London: Kogan Page.