Sea turtles hatching

Swimming turtle

Synopsis - with paragraph spacing

My synopsis (in readable formatting) can be found here. Please click on this extra link to view my comments list.

Synopsis by Sarah Harris

The role of a teacher is to plan and implement learning experiences that help students to construct knowledge, understand and make sense of the world (Killen, 2009). There are many factors to consider when designing a learning experience but the most important is the consideration as to how students’ best learn (Marzano and Pickering, 1997). There has been much research as to how people learn best and it is my belief that the theory of connectivism (Siemens, 2004) is most relevant to the “digital natives” (Prensky, 2001) of the twenty-first century. Connectivism is a learning theory which recognises that there is far too much knowledge for one person to find, understand, remember and apply, therefore people need to connect to the world (Wdrexler, 2008).Connectivism has been labelled “the learning framework of the “digital age” as people in today’s society heavily rely on technologies to communicate and learn (Siemens, 2004). If teachers want to create lessons based on learning theories, proven relevant to their students, they have no other option than to use technology within the classroom. This type of learning is known as e-learning. E-learning is any learning that occurs whilst using electronic devices (Garrison and Anderson, 2003). Electronic tools that facilitate and enhance learning can include “internet-based learning delivery packages, CD-ROM, online video conferencing, websites or email” (Ministry of Education, 2009). The follow synopsis summarises my findings of analysing various electronic tools which can be used within a primary classroom. Access and gain information There is so much information available to people today and much of it can be accessed within a matter of seconds via the internet (Eisenberg, 2001).This can be both positive and negative. Much of the information accessible is not acceptable for children to be viewing or relevant to what they need. I recently blogged about cyber safety, and I found some excellent programs which are tools to teach children how to be safe on the internet. This is a skill that needs to be taught as most children do not know or consider the dangers on the “other side of the screen”(Tapscott, 2009). Finding relevant information is also another factor when using the internet. The Big6, is a set of “skills and understandings that people use to find, process, and use information effectively” (Eisenberg, 2001). A conversation, that I had with a peer, helped me to see the benefits of teaching this process in my class. The six step process, which does not have to be linear, is 1. Task Definition, 2. Information Seeking Strategies, 3. Location and Access, 4. Use of Information, 5. Synthesis and 6. Evaluation. When gaining and accessing information, students are mainly focusing on steps two, three and four. Electronic tools to assist students in finding information, through the Big6 process include reading, viewing and interpreting credible websites, digital videos, such as YouTube and teacher created sources such as Vokis and podcasts. My blogs go into some detail about those tools, however, I am going to focus on YouTube. YouTube is a website which contains millions of digital videos created by many people all over the world (Remenyi, 2007). YouTube is very beneficial for visual and auditory learners as the data and information presented is in a video containing moving and/or still images, music and/or speech and sometimes writing (Remenyi, 2007).This type of tool couldn’t be made by a teacher as they would never have the time to create such a variety of videos, nor would students see the variety of movie making styles. There are access restrictions in various schools; however it can be avoided by embedding the YouTube clip into a blog – accessible in Education Queensland schools. I personally have found some YouTube videos to be very educational, as posted on my blog, and I believe that students would be engaged and learn through this tool. Consolidate and refine information When students receive new information, they must actively do something in their heads in order to understand, consolidate and refine it (Marzano and Pickering, 1997, p. 51). In order to do this, learners must organise newly found information. Organising information is important as students identify relevant knowledge and see possible relationships and patterns (Marzano and Pickering, p. 61). Brady (2006) states that “Graphic organisers assist students to organise their understandings and represent them diagrammatically” (p. 67).Therefore, when considering ICTs, online concept mapping tools are a great way for students to consolidate and refine information. On my blog I discussed two different mapping tools, but my favourite was bubbl.us. I found bubbl.us visually appealing and easy to navigate. There are important links to cognitive thinking and concept maps as revealed by Novak & Cañas (2008). They state some interesting facts about how concept maps assist our brains in making connections between knowledge and placing it in hierarchical fashion. But the question still arises, can’t I just create a concept map on paper? Well, yes, however I find creating the concept map online most beneficial to my learning. This is because the program allows for easy changes to ideas, there is no rubbing out of pencil to change ideas. The links between concepts and ideas can be altered easily, whereas on paper it could get confusing and the creator/reader may not understand the links. The online concept map is not limited to the size of a piece of paper, the concept map can be however big or small it needs to be. And lastly, I find computers more engaging that writing on piece of paper – that is my learning style. Transform information to develop new understandings I think of developing new understandings as the dimension four process, use knowledge meaningfully. This process requires students to engage in higher order thinking rather than reproducing information which meaningless and not beneficial to students (Marzano and Pickering, 1997). Lower order thinking is where students have knowledge and comprehension and can apply certain knowledge. Higher order thinking is when students analyse, synthesis and evaluate information (Atherton, 2010) and this allows them to “solve problems and discover new (for them) meanings and understandings” (Lingard, et al., 2001, p. 19). Higher order thinking should be incorporated into all students’ learning and can be done through questioning and the requirements of certain tasks (Brady, 2006). It is evident that higher order thinking links well to dimension 4, however how does it link to e-learning? Wikis are a tool which allows anyone to produce a website however, this website can be visited by many and edited by almost anyone. I believe that Wikis are a great tool that provides opportunity to use knowledge meaningfully, develop new understandings and use higher order thinking. For example, a class of grade 7 students, who are learning about World War 2, could create a wiki in small groups, completing certain requirements. These could be according to the level of thinking. 1. Shows knowledge and comprehension of the historical events. 2. Analyses certain decisions made and 3. Evaluate: should the leaders made different choices? What would you choose? Then I would have the students link it back to today’s society, the choices that our armed forces make and have students reflect. Why a wiki? Wikis have many benefits, but the key being collaboration and 24/7 access (Department of Education, 2010). Cohen, Manion, & Morrison (2004) state that, “we learn not only by listening passively to the teacher, but by verbalising, by talking, by discussing and arguing” (p. 229). Students who work together to create a wiki can easily express their ideas and opinions at any time. Students can also make contributions to other group wikis which promotes peer assessment. Also, work can be completed at home or at the library, outside of school hours as wikis are an online tool. Another benefit is that teachers have easy access to monitor the progress of a group (Department of Education, 2010). Present knowledge to an audience Another theory which incorporates digital technologies is the Engagement Theory. The basis of the theory is that students must be “meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks” (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). There are three key principles: Relate, Create and Donate. These principles encourage collaboration, creation of a meaningful product and a real life purpose for the product ie. Make a contribution to the wider community through learning (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). In this theory there is a large focus on the final product and how to get there. In relation to digital technologies, I believe that Movie maker has great potential to fit well with this theory. In any context, a group of students(RELATE) could create a movie (CREATE) to display their knowledge and help educate others (DONATE). There are many aspects to consider when creating a movie such as content (knowledge to be presented and in what style) visuals, sound, written language and transitions. All these aspects use various technologies such as cameras, microphones, video cameras, music making programs etc which should be used if the ICT expectations are going to be met (The State of Queensland, 2010). Other beneficial presentation tools include Voki and crossword puzzle creator. All these tools allow students to present their knowledge in an interesting way through digital technologies, which will motivate the student to complete the task. The knowledge could be displayed through another form but students would be more enthusiastic about creating a movie, Voki or online crossword as they are digital, multimodal and interactive. As Prensky (2005)prompts, shouldn’t teachers be engaging students rather than enraging them with ‘boring’ tasks and learning experiences? This leads me to the next important issue, creative thinking. Employers in today’s society are looking for creativity (Helium Inc., 2009), and teachers have a responsibility to facilitate creative learning. Marzano et al.(1988) states that “Creativity takes place in conjunction with intense desire” (p. 24). Therefore, if students are going to be creative thinkers, they need to be given authentic, motivating and engaging tasks. This needs to be done through ICTs as children of the twenty- first century are engaged when using digital technologies (Prensky, 2005). In conclusion, the Curriculum Corporation(2006) has described the many opportunities that ICT use provides. ICT provides information access in problem solving and decision making, it allows for communication and collaboration in local and global environments, students can creatively produce solutions and develop lifelong learning and thinking skills. I will definitely be using digital technologies within my classroom as it will transform, enhance and support my students’ learning. See here for my list of comment conversations and here for my references.

Spiders

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Toy Story 1 - Tuesday's lesson

Livebinder

A new orgaisational tool that I found usful for teachers is Livebinders. It is a simple way to create a 'binder' online which can store websites, images, pdfs etc. in one place. This would be excellent for teachers wanting students to access particular websites that could easily be found in the binder.

Credible websites.

There is so much content knowledge that students should be taught within their school year. A teacher is not capable of remembering all the facts accurately, that is why it is useful to send students to find the information out for themselves or find it as a whole class on the Internet. It is helpful to find certain websites for students to browse instead of saying "Google it!" because you never know what they might find. A website that I found useful for my context at the moment (Prep unit: Space) was the NASA website.

The only negative that I can see with the NASA website is that the majority of information is written and not spoken, so I prep child would defiantly find it hard to navigate through various pages, as many do not have the ability to read. Upper primary have a FANTASTIC resource as NASA for kids has encyclopedias on various topics (relating to space) a dictionary and short movies about different space technologies.

Online activities: learning to read and write

I am viewing a lot of these tools through the eyes of a Prep teacher and many are not appropriate for their age. However, today I can across a website called Read.Write.Think which has many interactive games for students learning to read and write. They are age appropriate and the games that I played, read the words to you. I will defiantly be using these games in my classroom. Students could easily complete these activities on their own, in pairs or as a whole class. There are also many games for the older students which could be modified (i.e. with teacher) to work in Prep (like writing a postcard or making a comic strip). The only down side to some of the games is that the voice over was done by an American. So, if a Prep child is learning sounds (especially z), this may have to be untaught. Obviously not all their learning would be completed via these games, so this shouldn't be a problem.

I really liked the crossword game. Most Prep children would not be able to complete a puzzle on their own, however, it is a fun and creative way of checking knowledge and also researching information together (as it provides answers within a context).

This tool also allows you to create your own crossword puzzle. As the example provided, students could create a crossword which relates to some content being learnt - demonstrating an understanding of key terminology and also thinking about how to communicate hints effectively. I would definitely use this in my classroom.

Cyber safety

Throughout this course, one thing that has been concerning me is the fact that many children and even adults do not know the dangers that are out there on the internet. Firstly, I wanted to know if there were anyways of children being protected through their searches. I personally have always used google when searching for ANYTHING! now, i generally always have a look at the URL, to see what type of source it's from (credible: edu. or gov. etc.) and also read the summary of content. However, many students may not do this or they may be searching with too few words and need to narrow it down. During one of my lectures, I was introduced to Boolify. It teaches people how to narrow their searches by using words like "and" "or" and "not".

I like this website and would have my students use this when learning to perform searches. I would then have students test their knowledge by using the terms in a usual search engine eg. google. In regards to images, I would make my own database of images for the early years of schooling and for upper primary I would have students use image search engines as mentioned in my images blog.

Students cannot be protected forever, and will have to use ICT tools which allow 'outsiders' to see in. This is why students need to be educated in cyber safety. I was browsing the internet and came across a website called Hector's world. It is a child friendly website which has movies and games to educate children on a variety of cyber safety issues. I viewed one movie which was about the use of personal information. Many young people have the mindset that all people can be trusted and that bad people won't see my details. This is not true, as is explained in the movie. Children are encouraged to have a nicname that they use online to protect themselves.

I would encourage anyone to show these movies in class or set small group time to view and discuss the issues raised.

My Voki

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After discussing (discussion can be viewed here) and researching the benefits of voki, I am more confident about using voki in the classroom. I think that learning needs to be fun and personalised, and voki is one way to do this.

English presentation resources

The English Essential Learnings and the links to multimodal texts can be found here. There are also some ideas and a few resources that may help when planning lessons based around this aspect of literacy. This is a link to the appropriate Australian Curriculum outcomes which reflect multimodal texts.

Youtube

A very interesting website, which states the facts and figures about YouTube, reveals how incredibly popular it is. Students living in South East Queensland, who have access to a computer would inevitably have accessed YouTube at one stage in their life. So, if they are using these tools at home, why not use them in the classroom. There are literally billions of clips on YouTube and many of them would be beneficial in the context of your classroom. Just have a search.

The above YouTube clip, has helped me to understand the concept of Connectivism.

Podcasts and vodcasts

http://video.kids.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/kids/ really good educational short movies - a lot of science (animals) however some history etc. info.

NASA also has some very educational podcasts and vodcasts. The following website http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/nasaeclips/search.html?terms=&category=1000 shows a NASA eClip (vodcast) which teaches students about communication tools used by astronauts. There is a large range which would definantly be useful for grade 3 to 7 who are learning about Space or other areas eg. communication.

Images

Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This image would be a great story starter.

Image: djcodrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This image shows various photography techniques (give student's ideas when taking photos). Also, is a great image that students could analyse eg. why have they blurred her face? emotion portayed? Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Images such as the one above, allow students to experience a different place, without having to leave the classroom. When I saw this photo, I thought it was strange- it shut down the assumption that it 'doesn't rain on sand dues' - obviously it does, however I always associate hot sunny weather with sand dues. Also, it gives students an image of a sand due, for those who have never seen one. This could easily start a discussion about the weather and how it affects environment.

I am a visual learner and so, I find that any images assist in my development of knowledge - compared to just hearing about it. Recently I was searching for image search engines and I came across this website http://www.eduscapes.com/tap/topic20.htm which is very beneficial for teachers as it has links to various 'search engines' for images (filtered, unlike Google images).

Also, the website that I retrieved these images from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/, allows you to use professional photos for free, if you give credit to the photographer (which isn't hard to do).

Blog appearance - just a thought

I just changed the look of my blog - which was a very simple process. I decided to do so after looking at other people's blogs. My blog used to look like this:

What I didn't like about it was that it was too loud - I think that the background was distracting and it was also difficult to view the title. Also, I didn't like how it grouped blogs that were posted on the same day - so I changed that also. Having experienced this want for change - I see it as an oppurtunity that teachers need to give to their students. I remember teachers always saying that it doesn't really matter how it looks as long as the relevant information is presented in a readable way. I do agree, however, students will take more pride in their work and be enthusiastic when given the opportunity to make their work look 'pretty'. It allows them to express themselves, which I think is a valuable thing.

I now feel much happier about other people viewing my blog and I think that students would feel the same. Do you agree?

Learning design frameworks

I've just been reading and learning about various learning frameworks. I am very familiar with the Dimensions of Learning - however I have had no experience with frameworks such as the 'Engagement Theory', 'Big 6' and 'TPACK'. All have similarities and differences. I personally find it easy to understand the 'Big 6' theory - however I struggle to see it being used other than a research process. I like how the 'Engagement Theory' has students moving beyond themselves and creating projects for "outsiders". School needs to offer students with authentic experiences - and this theory utilises that.

Engagement theory on Prezi

Learning object

Link to learning place - Weather learning object.

Movie maker

I created this movie with consideration to my Prep class. They are currently learning about the zoo and I thought that this simple movie could prompt new ideas or bring up questions that they could use in their play time.

I have a question though - in movie maker, the song "circle of life" sounds clear, however, here it is muffled. Is that because it has shrunk in size? Is there anyway I can fix this?

To make this movie, I used Movie Maker. It is a fairly simple to use program, however it was not all smooth sailing. The program froze twice, and as I wasn't consistently saving my work - I had to redo a lot of my work. The final movie does not have different transitions because I was getting frustrated (it originally did, but I lost it) so I published it as it was. Has anyone else had the program freeze on them?? Is there any other program that people think is better??

Although I did have a few hiccups, Movie Maker does create satisfactory movies. This program could be easily used in the classroom. In any subject area, students could create a movie to display their knowledge, it is group user friendly and is a fun way to display information.