Reflective Synopsis

A reflection on what we have completed so far??  Umm where do I start....Ok so my digital clock still flashes '12.00' at me since I bought it, but I was up to the ICT challenge, how hard could it be? that's what I thought......

Wendy in her moodle lesson this week writes " Did you think four weeks ago that you would be here, on top of the mountain, now???"
This does not apply to me at all, I am still struggling up the ICT mountain. I am spending for example 6 1/2 hours today trying to put YouTube clips on my glogster, failing to do so and am feeling physical angst and anxiety. I think the statement is too premature. 

ICT though is part of my new career as a teacher and I have to become ICT proficient. I have certainly learnt a lot so far but will be so much more skilled by the courses end. I am certainly no luddite as I will take up any technology if it improves my life.

Certainly the support the class has given each other has really helped. Everyone seems to be open to help and offer support. I'm not sure if it is because we are post graduates and older/more experienced or if its because we are all heading towards the same teaching vocation. 

I have a number of high school teacher friends and this year have discussed in depth with them about ICT in the classroom. They all would welcome more technology into their classrooms, but they are unanimous from their experiences that technology is not good enough yet. Too many times technology has let them down and so wasting theirs and students time. One example was the teacher had ipads for all students but it took the whole classtime to log everyone in. It was a problem with wifi. Prior setting up and practise does not always find every problem that can crop up. All of the teachers also discussed that when students had a screen in front of them, then the teacher could not monitor what was appropriate on the screen. Many of the children did not keep to the allocated task. Although I know of another high school where all of the students are provided with laptops and there is not the same problem there.

Safe and ethical practise with ICT is always paramount in a teachers workplace. Gary and current teachers have given me many examples of what is not acceptable and what to be aware of.  It is interesting to note that quite often what I may see as innocent such as student photographs on a computer or leaving my phone unattended is open to misbehaviour by students. Also bullying and inappropriate use of digital media by students is to be not taken lightly.

From the exploration of the digital tools over the last 6 weeks, designing pedagogy to include ICT is not only a great way to involve learning theories, but also to keep students motivated and stimulated in the classroom. A wiki lends itself to the social constructivist theory of learning from others opinions and critique. The digital tools and internet exploration allows the connectivism theory of knowing how to search and find information to be utilised fully. The use of all digital tools really makes the student think and be challenged and use complex thinking making the cognitivist learning theory come to life.

I believe when a student is presented with a task using ICT, the student starts using complex thinking to decipher the ICT. If the teacher then scaffolds using Bonos hats, PMI, Swot analysis etc then as teachers we are achieving our main objective, which is inducing complex thinking in our students. 
 
 http://kanemcguire.edu.glogster.com/kane-mcguire/
This is just proof that I have achieved some ICT skills. I'm going to now go and set my digital clock. 

Reflection 5. Week 6.

This week we can choose our favourite technology tool and reflect upon that. I am choosing digital video such as YouTube. Although I have talked about YouTube previously I will present new uses in this blog.
 
History is one of my teaching areas and I am quite passionate about the subject. History is the past, it is the study of the past and who we are and why we are that way. History is knowledge that we acquire by investigating events and circumstances of the past.

Human knowledge must come to fruition through reliable and independent sources. Investigation of the past comes from primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are original materials ( eg.newspapers/diaries/newsreels/first person interviews ) and secondary sources are an account of the original materials by another person.  Scholarly history should come almost exclusively from primary sources. 

As a secondary history teacher,  primary sources such as diaries, first person accounts, newspapers etc are very difficult to source for history students. Previously, a majority of history study in this setting is from secondary sources.

YouTube is an absolutely wonderful PRIMARY contemporary historical resource available right in our classrooms! Lending from the SAMR model of redefinition, watching an actual historical event on digital media is technology that allows for previously inconceivable learning.
Before the internet these recorded events were stored in museums, private collections, government archives etc and this type of material was simply unavailable to a secondary school. 

Certainly as with any historical study we must keep a cynical approach when searching digital media for authenticity and originality.

As teachers we are seen more and more as becoming facilitators of information. In our quest to teach the curriculum we guide our students towards the sources of information to promote complex thinking in the students. We endeavour that the students will investigate, analyse, pull apart the information to meet their task.
YouTube is a great tool to do just that. Instead of answering a history topic through secondary source text books a student can research a historical event on YouTube and actually watch an event take place. They can also find first person interviews of people that were actually at a historical event.

 

 

The video above is from a 1957 interview with some survivors from the sinking of the Titanic.  This clip is amazing historical material that can be used for historical evidence. For example, history books tell us that the Titanic was the first to use the new (at the time) SOS distress call.  In one part of this clip this is stated and the actual radio operator is interviewed.

 

Manual Arts is also my teaching area and digital media can be an

efficient use of time in the classroom.  Almost any building          project, use of tools, use of materials, safety films etc are available   on YouTube.  Instead of having to search for these resources elsewhere, they can easily be available to all in the classroom. 
                                                                                                                                                                 

 

                                     Use of Wood Lathes

                                   
                                   Safety in the workshop

Reflection 4. Week 5.

This week we are to study group 3 tools ( powerpoint, glogster and prezi) and then reflect on one of these tools.

This weeks reflection coincided with my assessment due for the subject Literacy and Numeracy. I decided to use either of these 3 tools for the L&N submission, so I got to try out these tools in depth.

All of these tools are presentation type tools that contain multimodal sources such as images, digital video, podcasting etc. I already had my content ready but I had no previous experience with the group 3 tools. These were my starting thoughts- 

*  To 'play' with loading my multimodal sources into each of the group 3 tools to see if I could use it effectively.

*   Which tool would be the most effective towards the teaching outcome.

The powerpoint and prezi were way too difficult to learn within the submission deadline so I chose the glogster. The glogster is only a 1 page format. ( imagine a 1 page website)  Being 1 page meant that it could not hold a lot of information but it suited my L&N assessment.

First and most notable reflection is to make sure all is operating as desired before giving the class lesson!! There are so many technicalities involved that students lesson time could be wasted if I am not skilled in the ICT.

Using the SAMR model to analyse a glogster, I see it being a great portable tool. The glogster can be a great augmentation/substitution of the traditional paper handout that can be lost or not make it home for the parents to view. Students/parents can view it anytime on the internet.  Another great feature is the teacher can provide access to only 50 students, providing safety and privacy.

Also because of its simplicity and ease of use a glogster can in   'itself ' be a brand new task in giving students the opportunity to increase their digital literacy. It can be quite easy to be turned off by digital technology if it is not user friendly.

 

 

 

A PMI chart is also a good pedagogical tool to help focus on the goal of achieving a teaching outcome in students.

 

Using a Glogster

 

Plus

Privacy/  User friendly/ Collaborate with others/ Fun to do/ Can be used by teachers and students/ Teacher can easily update the content/ Self expression in students

Minus

Not all homes have internet/ School may not purchase it/ Can be seen as expensive/ Can be very slow to open when it is loaded with a lot of information.

Interesting

Students may enjoy it so much that they do extra work at home.



In my teaching area of manual arts I would use it as a simple map. When students start an individual building project such as an ashtray/ coffee table/ tool box for example, I would map out a start to finish map on glogster using images or video showing each stage of the building process. The students could refer to the glogster by a lap top in class or even have a look at home. This would help students work at their own pace and also free up some time for the teacher to help out slower students.

Safety is a major area of focus in manual arts and a glogster can be used to reinforce the safety message. Typically manual arts workshops contain safety signage and posters etc. I could build into my building project maps on glogster the safety messages. Thereby intertwining the safety message within the project, on the glogster. 

Reflection 3. Week 4. 19/03/14

This week we are to study/explore Group 2 tools ( images, digital video, pod casting ) and then reflect in our blog, how one of these tools allows students to learn.

While taking in this weeks learning material I came to the realisation that there is an incredible amount of opinions, research and beliefs regarding the neuroscience/psychology/sociology of how a human being learns.

As a future educator I need to become quite concerning when analysing the faults and merits of this material. What we don't want to do is 'through the baby out with the bathwater.' 

The learning material this week links us to an article by Meris Stansbury. Stansbury discusses a report titled  'Multimodal learning through Media:What the research Says'.  From the report she states that " adding visuals to verbal instruction can result in significant gains in basic or higher order learning." 

Wow big deal. Even when I learnt my times table rote style in 1969, the teacher knew to have the tables written on the blackboard, because we learnt better by seeing what we were chanting. Does this sort of report exist to reinforce what we already know? or are educators oblivious to the benefits of    the technique of adding visuals to instructions before this report? (I hope not)  I just feel that this type of article reflects badly, on our profession as teachers. 

The report (link below) uses a lot of pages to condemn the lack of scientific study supporting the 'Cones of Learning" theory by Edgar Dale.

http://issuu.com/olliebray/docs/multimodal-learning-through-media/1?e=0 

  

   
One example that I think the report has got wrong, is on page 3 subtitled  'A Myth Shattered: Bogus Data'.

In this section the report attacks one part of the Cone of Learning theory, ".... and the unlikelihood that learners would remember 90% of anything, regardless of the learning process." 

This is against the Cone of Learning theory that states  " After 2 weeks we tend to remember 90% of what we both Say and Do. By Simulating the Real Experience ..... doing the Real Thing." [refer to the image above] 

But I would have to agree with the Cone of Learning theory, from my experience as an employer of staff for 23 years and having to educate all staff in some of their employment duties, the very best way get staff to retain information is to get them to physically do the task to be learnt. Also my teaching area is Manual Arts and I envisage that the pedagogical technique that will be most successful for me will be showing the students what to do and then getting them to DO it.    

I am not trying to vindicate either article, study or theory I am just alluding to the idea that as future teachers we need to use our own critical analytical thinking while researching learning information to be teachers.  "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water" 

The Group 2 tool that excites me in my teaching area of history this week is digital video. Digital video such as YouTube combines original audio and video of real life actual historical events. Motion picture cameras were invented in the 1890's, so since that date many historical events were recorded. This brings contemporary history to LIFE !

History is seen at times as a boring subject of dates and places but digital video can not only be used to contradict this perception but be used to extend a students learning into complex/analytical thinking.

 

For example if my history class was discussing 'the rise of Germany as a military superpower in the 1930's', usually this can involve reading about the economics, politics and also the rise of Adolf Hitler. I envisage darkening the classroom, turning up the volume and using a large screen to show them the following clip. 
             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8TUge4sKr4

 
I am aiming to get emotive complex thinking from the students. I would then use a PMI ( positive/negative/implications) chart on the whiteboard and ask students to brainstorm any feelings/thoughts/perceptions/discernment/ from watching this digital media file. 

Digital media also brings truth to contemporary history.  For example if we were studying early 20th flight, author Bill Bryson states in his book 'One Summer 1927' that "Charles Lindbergh instantly became the most famous person on the planet when he landed his plane, the Spirit of St Louis....[ he was the first to cross the Atlantic non stop] "  That's a big statement to make, but by looking through digital media clips a student can find original material to make up their own mind. The following link certainly is an eye opener for students when studying this material. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvq0vwLaeko

 

 

P.S I do not know if the links will open. I have tried to get it to work!! 

    Ok I worked it out. When you preview,  the links do not work. When its published they do!

Reflection 2. Week 3.  12/03/14

This week we have to reflect upon group 1 tools ( a blog, wiki or website) and reflect how these tools allows students to learn.

                               (my daughters mx race bike)

Ok I guess your thinking what is the picture for? Well it took me about 40 min to get a link on my blog, so now im going to leave it. Maybe its a hook! 

The big thing I want to reflect on when using ICT as a teaching tool is to MAKE SURE all of your students know the BASICS of, and the NAVIGATION around a group 1 tool. These tools are certainly not going to allow your students to learn, if they don't have the skills to use the computer tool. It may actually give them an extreme negative response towards ICT. I have been made aware of this as I have observed university educated adults struggle with the moodle/wiki/blog navigation process in the first 3 weeks of the GDTL. So we really have to be mindful that before we set a task using a group 1 tool that our students are comfortable with it. I think society  incorrectly portrays this generation of children in the 21st century as all skilled in all areas of computing, whereas I believe its an over generalisation.  

Following the SAMR model would be a good way to develop and see what level these skills are in students. Of course our goal as educators is complex thinking, but instead of jumping to the top of the SAMR model ( Redefinition) to achieve this complex thinking, we may need to start at the bottom (Substitution).  

 

 I think a Wiki is only really suitable for basic list making such as asking students to contribute a list of needs for a camping trip or who has a car available to transport students to a sports event. Any more than that it seems to get messy ( like when we did De bonos hats) and I really don't like  how students can edit other students contributions. A recipe for recalcitrant students.

 

A website is too static as an ongoing teaching tool but it would be great for a teacher to use it to show parents and students the subject to be studied for the term. Like the moodle does.

 

Blogging is my choice to influence complex thinking. Blogging, because it is still novel and just by using a computer would motivate/interest students to contribute instead of just putting pen to paper. The comment section is where the blog excels! When a student replies to or makes a new comment then they have used complex thinking. Our goal as educators!   

 

 

 

 

 

       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

  

 

 

Reflection 1. Week 2.     5/03/14

The design aspect was to reflect on 2 frameworks, Blooms Taxonomy, the SAMR model and our own personal pedagogy beliefs. By using participation of Bonos Hats to discuss the topic 'Use of mobile phones in the classroom' it put these frameworks into action.

I like to pick the eyes out of a topic to work out what is the simple dogma that needs to be always be in the forefront of what I am doing. In the learning materials overview I found ' Our goal as teachers is always complex thinking'. That has struck me as my mantra. It is my focus, so that I keep moving in the right direction as I am bombarded with an abundance of course information. "OUR GOAL AS TEACHERS IS ALWAYS COMPLEX THINKING". 

ICT has its biggest impact on learning outcomes when you are working towards complex outcomes. (learning materials wk 2)
The SAMR model is a great tool to always fall back on as a teacher to reaffirm that the technology you are exposing your students to is mainly in the modification and redefinition categories. ie. Learning tasks that you could not do without this technology.

From Blooms model I learnt the assertion, that the more complex the level of thinking, the better the understanding of the learning material. In the real world of the classroom that means to put in place pedagogy that stimulates analysis, open discussion and free will thinking.

The lecture from Dr. Judy Willis discusses neuroscience and learning. What stood out for me was the physical area of the brain (prefrontal cortex) that worked on our analytical,
conscious, reflecting, complex  thinking. AHH yes, so if we remember our mantra as teachers, then this is the area of the brain we need to target!!!!  Dr. Willis asserts that because of the flight or fight response to stimulation (that we have as human beings) the brain has to analyse that the classroom is a safe place to be. Only then will the brain transfer learning to the prefrontal cortex.

I have a big problem with the Dr, is that she lists the major causes of the flight or fight response/ causes of stress in students, BUT instead of dealing with the individual issues she instead lists ways to trick the students to forget about their cause of stress!!!!!!!   I will list her causes of stress in students in the classroom.

. Fear of being wrong
. Embarrassed to read outloud
. Test taking anxiety
. Physical and language differences
. Cliques and bullying
. Frustration with difficult material
. Boredom from lack of stimulation

Now this list is quite confronting and it concerns me that if a student has stress from bullying, cliques, physical and language differences that these problems need to be tackled head on immediately! We all know the occurrence of suicide is a very real possibility. 

Now instead of doing this the Dr gives us techniques to use so the students are fooled to forget these stresses, so the brain feels safe and comfortable to allow the information flow to the prefrontal cortex. These techniques are advertising, colours, costumes/music and movement. Not good.

If others believe that "of course she would deal with bullying etc appropriately" and that I  have been too harsh. Rubbish, this was a teaching hour long seminar and it should have been addressed. 

De Bono's 6 thinking hats is I believe one of the very best pedagogical techniques for use in a classroom.  It scaffolds, values others perspectives, allows connectivism and engages learners. From our learning material, Terry Anderson in his keynote address to the dehub summit in Sydney 2011, maintained that without a range of perspectives, analysis was neither feasible nor robust. And that is our goal as educators, to facilitate complex analytical thinking. Reading through the broad interesting contributions to the Wiki, I thought it was a fantastic technique to facilitate complex thinking. I am really looking forward to becoming adept in using De Bono's 6 thinking hats when I commence teaching.