ASSIGNMENT 2 – ICTs for Learning Design

“Many schools are now experimenting with new approaches to teaching and learning. They are doing so because they consider it a valuable way to encourage the development in young people of higher order thinking skills such as synthesising, analysing and evaluating, problem solving abilities, working in groups and other lifelong learning skills. They also recognise the relevance of these skills for life in the information economy.”

Lloyd M.M (2005)

ICTs can be challenging, they can be confusing and they can be fun. The optimal ICTs to use in the classroom are ones that the students will enjoy and will also learn from. With this premise I undertook the activities and experimented with the technologies in each group. All the ICTs that I explored had the potential to be used in the classroom to assist with students learning. They varied from simple, already set up ICTs such as Google Earth, to complicated ICTs that require creativity from the teacher, such as, Powerpoint and Zooming Presentations such as Prezi. The current world is increasingly technology based so to bring ICTs into the classroom is a fantastic way to connect what the students are learning to the real world; making learning relevant increases the interest of students as well the amount retained. ICTs such as digital images, digital videos and powerpoints made by the students encourage creativity in the classroom and ownership of the learning. ICTs can be used:

·      As a fun and interesting way to introduce a topic for example exploring a website.

·      As a group activity such as collaborating using a wiki or creating a timeline.

·      As a way of discovering students’ previous knowledge for example assessing understanding of podcasts.

·      As a form assessment for example, creating digital storybooks to illustrate understanding of a topic.

From the first group of ICTs I chose blogs because I deemed its usage as highly supportive of learning. Digital images were my selection from the second group because of its ability to transform a student’s learning. I enjoyed constructing an interactive scrapbook page using Glogster for the third group; it seemed to have potential to enhance the students’ learning. Finally I chose animations and simulations purely because it included both fun and learning, it seemed to have the ability to facilitate learning for different learning styles.

Throughout the ICTs course, and the Graduate Diploma of Learning and Teaching program in general, we have learnt that the ultimate goal for teachers is to facilitate higher order thinking. Higher order thinking stems from Bloom’s revised taxonomy. Bloom’s revised taxonomy is a hierarchy of order of thinking. Higher order thinking incorporates creating, evaluating and analysing. Hopson M. H., Simms R. L. & Knezek G. A. (2002) argue that the aim for teaching students is to prepare them for life as a productive member of society. Technology is a development in the world that has made certain skills, identified by Bloom as high order thinking, essential for success as an adult. Therefore, learning experiences that provide opportunities for higher order thinking need to be recurrent and standard. The students, in order to succeed, do not need only to access information but to transform it into usable and relevant information. (Hopson M. H., Simms R. L. & Knezek G. A., 2002) Throughout this reflective analysis I will explain how the ICTs I selected meet the criteria for higher order thinking.

BLOGS SUPPORT LEARNING

“Weblogs, or blogs, are Web pages often likened to online personal journals.” Ferdig R. E., Trammell K. D. (2004) Using blogs provides students with opportunities to consider and communicate their opinions and grasp of the information. Blogs create an environment where students feel they have ownership over their learning, which engages higher order thinking because it encourages them to analyse and evaluate information and their comprehension of the information, which would lead to the student making connections between what they are learning and its relevancy to the real world. I have found with using my blog that verbalizing my learning, both positive and negative experience has helped me understand not only the content more thoroughly but also understand more about my own learning journey. One example of how blogs could support learning in the classroom is through the students creating a blog of their reflections of class activities, this would be a form of assessment of their literacy skills as well as provide the teacher with an insight into students reflections of their lessons.

DIGITAL IMAGES TRANSFORM LEARNING

In everyday life children connect with digital imagery in many different ways for example, television, video games and surfing the Internet. There are a wide range of digital images available to teachers and students from clip-art, premade digital images, to programs which facilitate the students creativity in generating an image of their own and also through using a digital camera to take photos and using programs such as Picnik to modify the image. (Schiller J & Tillett B, 2004). Digital images and modifying them through Picnik I found to be enjoyable and used my creative skills to produce something that is uniquely mine. In the classroom learning can be transformed through extending from writing sequential steps in cooking lessons to taking digital photos of the steps of the recipe as well as the final product.

INTERACTIVE SCRAPBOOKS ENHANCE LEARNING

Glogster, the interactive scrapbooking online program for which I experimented with for the purposes of evaluation within this reflective paper, is an online interactive poster. Previously in poster design students were limited to text and images, with online scrapbooks students’ options are broader including videos, images, animations, music, sound and text can be included on a poster. (Gandy K. S. & Stobaugh R, 2011) I found Glogster simple to use and it encouraged me to use creativity. This could be used to enhance any school report. I also think that this is not only a great way for children to self-direct their learning but also a different and interesting way for teachers to facilitate learning, for example, instead of a worksheet being handed out, students are required to locate and interact with a Glog that the teacher had previously designed.

ANIMATIONS AND SIMULATIONS FACILITATE LEARNING

Simulations and educational animations are an online or digital attempt at recreating a real life scenario, for example, using Edheads the website I found myself experimenting with provides students with an opportunity to take part in a knee replacement, albeit a very simple reflection of the real life experience. It is self-directed learning because decision-making and problem solving are the responsibility of the learner. (Gibson D, Aldrich C, Prensky M, 2007) I believe this activity would be best used as a class group collaborative exercise encouraging students to interact with each other, debating options and making informed decisions.

Another aspect of ICTs that are addressed in this reflective paper are the legal, ethical and safety considerations for using these technologies in an educational environment. ICTs that are accessed or uploaded online such as wikis, websites, and blogs, increase risk to the students. These implications need to be considered when facilitating the use of ICTs during the lesson and outside the classroom - with reference to addressing personal use and when using these technologies for homework or assessable assignments. Schools will have their own regulations and systems in place for ICT use but students privacy, appropriate behaviour and, respect for others and equipment will all need to be communicated to the student before engaging with ICTs.

References

Ferdig R. E., Trammell K. D. (2004) Content Delivery in the ‘Blogosphere’. Technical Horizons in Education Journal, Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5006872677

Gandy K. S., Stobaugh R. (2011) Avatars, Blabberize, and Cell Phones: ABC'S of the Digital Age. School of Teacher Education Faculty Publications & Presentations. Paper 2. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/tchr_ed_fac_pres/2

Gibson D, Aldrich C, Prensky M, (2007) Games and Simulations in Online Learning, London UK: Idea Group Inc.

Hopson M. H., Simms R. L. & Knezek G. A. (2002) Using a Technology-Enriched Environment to Improve Higher-Order Thinking Skills. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(2), 109-119. Retrieved from http://eec.edc.org/cwis_docs/Vivians/Hopson_et_al.pdf

Lloyd M. M. (2005). Towards a definition of the integration of ICT in the classroom. Paper presented at the AARE '05 Education Research - Creative Dissent: Constructive Solutions.

Retrieved from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/3553/

Schiller J & Tillett B, 2004, Using digital images with young children: challenges of integration. Early Child Development and Care, 174(4), 401-414. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a713640984

Assessment 2 - Animations and Simulations - Edheads

Animations and simulations incorporates technology so well in the classroom. The teacher needs to be wise in it use and not rely on the technology to facilitate the learning but recognise that the technology is a tool that needs to be well managed in order to be effective. Specifically, I am looking at the program called Edheads. Edheads is a database of online interactive simulation-style games. The way I see something like Edheads being introduced into a classroom lesson is through whole-class participation or through group work activities. I had a look and played around with a couple of the activities and have, below, used de Bono's thinking hats as a structure to analyse the use of something like Edheads in the primary school context. For relevance I will use a specific example of the activity on the Edheads website called The Compound Machine - http://www.edheads.org/activities/odd_machine/index.htm

White - OBJECTIVE

• Uses technology
• Fun
• Multiple Learning Styles are catered for - auditory, visual and kinaesthetic
• Lots of different topics to accommodate different learning subjects

Red - INTUITIVE

• This is fun, interactive and can be used as an extra homework activity or as a collaborative classroom activity facilitated by the teacher.
• Children love to play computer games and/or love watching TV. Edheads interactive animations are like the TV characters or computer game characters are talking and working with the children.
• There is a process and with children being interactive with the game, they feel like they are important to the process and take ownership over their own learning.

Black - NEGATIVE

• Can easily be relied upon for entire learning rather than being used as a tool by teachers to facilitate learning.
• Australian contextual animations and simulations are not as common as American - this could lead to spelling and pronunciation discrepancies.
• Differences between the subtlety of real life and the exaggeration of some online simulations 

Yellow - POSITIVE

• Edheads, as well as other interactive animations, are scaffolded self-directed learning. Based on the choices of the children the final product is created.
• It is fun.
• It caters to all learning styles - visual, auditory, kinaesthetic.
• It enhances the technological skills of the learners
• Relevant and real-life scenarios can be experienced through the technology

Green - CREATIVE

• Edheads interactive animations could be used as a class collaborative task
• They could be group work for in-class tasks
• They could be homework
• They could be used as a fun and exciting way to introduce a topic.
• They could be an interesting form of assessment.
• They could be used as a way of introducing a topic.

Blue - PROCESS

• "Simulations as learning environments have a long history of use in education and training (Grabinger, 1996). Over the past decade simulations have become increasingly popular for creating realistic digital environments that closely replicate the world and the workplace." -- http://ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/ferry.html
• Online and technology based learning is the trend of education. Simulations and interactive animations such as Edheads provide relevancy and as close to a real-world situation as can be created using technology. 

Assessment 2 - Blogster (Interactive Online Scrapbook)

http://missfindlay.glogster.com/ict-glog/
A glog is an interactive online scrapbook. Its like a poster but it can have videos, sound, links and pictures.
The above link is to a glog that I made for an early literacy lesson on nouns, verbs and adjectives. It has a video for the students to watch. It has games that  teach the students how to identify and use nouns, verbs and adjectives.

Learning Benefits -


The learning benefits of this are numerous. It appeals to all learning styles - Visual, Aural and Kinaesthetic.
It increases students learning by making the task enjoyable and relevant. It promotes the use of technology. This is also a fantastic outlet for creative expression. They are flexible and can incorporate any topic and any medium e.g. video and pictures and links.

Glogster identifies a range of learning benefits in using glogs ( http://edu.glogster.com/classroom-benefits/?onemill=1)

1. A fun learning experience
2. A new way to express creativity
3. Private, secure, safe virtual classroom monitored by teachers
4. Drives new interest levels around subjects that may have been seen as “boring” before
5. Adds needed audiovisual aspects to traditionally text-oriented subjects
6. Fosters teamwork and collaboration with classmates
7. Increases drive to be independently creative
8. Unlimited shelf life
9. Improves student-teacher relationships by allowing both to explore Web 2.0 & learning concepts together
10. Keeps teachers and students up to date with modern technology
    
    

Learning Purposes -  


Interactive Online Scrapbooks could be used as a homework activity. It also could be used in a classroom context to measure students prior knowledge, to introduce a topic or even as a tool for assessment. A great way to use this tool is through making it an assignment for the students to create a glog, therefore, incorporating higher order thinking. The assignment can be on a specific topic being studied in the classroom or as a general assignment on any task.

Assessment 2 - Digital Images Analysis

before

afterr

Using digital images in the classroom and education environment enhances students learning because they are actively engaging with what they are learning. It encourages higher order thinking because it is  self-directed learning - they are either taking photos themselves with a camera and loading them onto a computer to use, or they are choosing pictures from an online search engine e.g. google images or a stock photo website e.g. flickr.

There are many means by which to use digital images in the primary school classroom. Some examples are below:

• When learning about a specific topic they could find picture relevant and use them in classroom discussion or within the construction of an assignment task.
• If learning letters or word types (e.g. noun, verb, adjective) then they could have a task to take or find pictures of objects that start with that letter or that corresponds with that word type.
• If studying the natural environment pictures can be taken on a school yard field trip.
• When creating something e.g. artwork or cooking, or when undertaking a science project, steps can be recorded through digital images.
• Enhancing pictures using online tools such as picnik.com can be an activity that encourages individual creativity.

Below is a SWOT Analysis of using Digital Images in a primary school setting:

 Strengths -
The strengths of using digital images in the classroom is that it encourages higher order thinking by asking students to create. It provides opportunities for students to express their personalities through being creative. It encourages students to interact with technology.



Weaknesses - 
I need to work on my skills to help improve the students

Opportunities - 
Increase engagement of students
Creative potential unlocked

Threats - 

Copyright issues - make sure that the images the kids use can be used legally

Possible damage to school equipment if improperly used or managed

Assessment 2 - Blog Analysis

Now that I have been using a web log or blog, as its commonly known, for a few weeks I have a larger grasp on the advantages and disadvantages of using them. I have actually created one for my upcoming travel adventures. I have chosen blogs out of Technologies Group 1 because I feel this is the easiest and more effective ICT for primary school context because it is self-directed learning through reflection. It also enhances their learning through using creativity to modify the blog to suit their personality. Below is a PMI structured analysis of using blogs in the primary school context.

• encourages creativity
• encourages interaction with technology
• provides relevant environment to improve literacy skills
• promotes higher order thinking - create, evaluate
• supports peer assessment through blog comments
• group work/collaboration occurs with shared blogs
• excellent for visual and kinaesthetic learners
• great for students with the following learning styles - active, intuitive, visual

• difficult to police for inappropriate postings/behaviour
• inappropriate behaviour between students being publicised - bullying, harassment, flirting
• not so excellent for aural learners
• not so great for students with the following learning styles - reflective, sensory, verbal

• blogs can be used within many contexts - topic specific, diary, learning process, creative outlet

Podcast Let Down

Ok, so I tried finding a podcast to post that would be appropriate for a primary school class but this proved very difficult and was unable to find one.


My reflection is that if a podcast is appropriate for my class and I am unable to find one I will make one through resources that have been made available to us.

Week 4 - Photo Fun! :)

Original Image - 

Edited Image - 

This activity could enhance a range of tasks and assignments in a school environment. It also encourages individuality and sense of creativity.




I could see the potential of this activity within the higher order thinking of Blooms Taxonomy, especially within the analyse and create levels.
For example,

Students could take photos of different flowers and then using the photos compare and contrast them analysing similarities and differences.

An assignment could be to design a CD cover or book cover and use photos to enhance that project.

Week 3 - Potential of Wikis and Webpages in Primary Schools

Wikis

What are the STRENGTHS of using Wikis?
Children interact with technology and each other
Enhances learning
Self-directed learning/constructivist
Free to create and use wikis

What are the WEAKNESSES of using Wikis?
Minimal face-to-face connection with other students

What are the OPPORTUNITIES for using Wikis?
Group collaboration activities
Individual reflection
Assignment construction

What are the THREATS for using Wikis?
Appropriate scaffolding and monitoring needs to be undertaken by teacher

Webpages

What are the STRENGTHS of using Webpages?
Children interact with technology
Enhances learning
Self-directed learning/constructivist
Free to create and use webpages
Encourages creativity

What are the WEAKNESSES of using Wikis?
Cost can be involved sometimes
Difficult for group activities (possible but difficult)

What are the OPPORTUNITIES for using Wikis?
Group assignments
Individual assignments
Individual reflection
Assignment construction

What are the THREATS for using Wikis?
Appropriate scaffolding and monitoring needs to be undertaken by teacher

 

Week 3 - Blogs in Schools

Pluses

1. Enhances communication and relationship between students and teachers.
2. Opens up opportunities to make learning relevant through interaction with professionals.
3. Students are motivated to write "authentic, credibly and accurately".
4. Creates meaning in learning through reflecting using own blog and interacting with others' blogs.
5. Students take ownership of their learning.
6. Improved writing skills through practice.
7. The diversity and range of uses for blogs means this is a useful tool.

Minuses

1. Uses higher order thinking - not appropriate for every student
2. In itself, blogs aren't automatically a learning experience, but a space for constructed learning when used properly by the teacher.

Interesting

1. Blogs are useful in scaffolding reflections of own learning.

Assessment 1

1 Down! :)

Learning Design Brief

“Learning with ICT is beneficial only when appropriate learning approaches are taken.” (Fasso, 2011)

“Learning should be authentic, it should be embedded in a real context” (Fasso, 2011)

Every student learns in a different way, which can make the role of a teacher challenging, as they should maximise the learning through their facilitation of the information in different ways.  ICTs are one tool that can enhance the students’ learning, when used appropriately. Wiki is a form of ICTs that I have been involved in using over the past three weeks and this is the conclusion on my personal learning experience in using them. The activities and using ICTs encourages a higher order thinking, a term from Bloom’s taxonomy, a learning framework. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of the six levels of learning starting with the lower levels of remembering, understanding and applying and finishing with the higher order thinking, what was being used within the wiki scaffolds, analysing, evaluating and creating. (website)

Learning Theory in Practice

Behaviourism

Behaviourism’s main foundation is that learning is distinguished by a recognizable difference in behaviour. (Fasso, 2011) Behaviourism played a role in the wiki activities because it challenged me on how to learn, my behaviour in approaching learning has changed, and I now, also, see people through their learning style and own unique blend of multiple intelligences. I previously would have naïvely assumed that everyone learns and has a preference in learning similar to mine.

Cognitivism

Cognitivism is understanding “learning in terms of mental processing”. (Fasso, 2011) Cognitivism views learning as having been achieved when information is retained from sensory register through working memory into long-term memory. This is achieved through “chunking” and schemas. (Fasso, 2011) Cognitivism played a role in the wiki activities through “chunking” theories and using them in the wikis, which aided the retention of the information. It also played a role within collaboration, in the profile wikis we were to contact someone who we believed we would work well with, this was a cogntivist activity because it was mentally processing information about people and mentally retaining that which was valuable.

Constructivism

Constructivism is the viewpoint that “learning is an active, constructive process” (Learning Theories Knowledgebase, 2011). The student constructs his or her own learning. Information is objective but through previous experience and personal learning style the student constructs that information subjectively causing differences between individual students’ learning. Constructivism was the strongest underlying theory behind the use of the wikis. Constructivism encourages students to use high order thinking which was an important factor with the wikis. The wikis were scaffolded but the students constructed the learning. Through their worldviews and past experiences students shaped the wiki information subjectively, for example, students subjectively chose profiles from the wiki they believed would work well with them, criteria was not provided for this selection but was constructed by the student. Another example of how the activities were constructed was through the mobile phone wiki, the scaffold was de Bono’s hats but the information was collaborated and constructed through the viewpoints of the students.

Online learning spaces and collaborative construction

The approach to the design of the learning activities was constructivist. The activities were scaffolded but the learning was constructed by the students through collaboration with each other and with the wikis. Using wikis for learning, I believe, caters for a specific type of learner rather than diversity. From Felder and Soloman (n.d.) Wikis would suit the learning style of a student whose bias is towards being:

·      An active learner – Wikis are effective when students are actively involved in the learning process, that is, reading and submitting feedback in the de Bono’s hat activity, collaborating with a partner in the learning theory activity and by reading other students’ profiles. Wikis have been online group work, which is the preferred method of learning for active learners.

·      An intuitive learner – Wikis were about “discovering possibilities and relationships” (Felder and Soloman, n.d.). This is exactly how intuitive learners prefer to learn.

(Felder and Soloman, n.d.)

Scaffolding e-Learning spaces for planned learning outcomes

“Learning with ICT is beneficial only when appropriate learning approaches are taken.” (Fasso, 2011)

Scaffolding was the approach used within the wikis to encourage higher order thinking as it encourages students to construct their own learning as explained within the theory of constructivism. “Scaffolding can be seen as a one-way process wherein the scaffolder constructs the scaffold alone and presents it for the use of the novice” (Daniels, 2002,as cited in Verenikina, 2003 p 3). Two examples of scaffolds that were used in the wiki activities were PMI and de Bono’s hats.

“Plus, Minuses, Interesting” (PMI) is a scaffold that aids examination of information. Pluses are the advantages of the views presented by the information, minuses are the threats or issues associated with presented information and the interesting factor is anything else the student deems worth considering in their analysis. (Fasso, 2011)

“De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats” is a scaffold that can be used by one person or by a group to investigate a variety of viewpoints on a topic. Used in conjunction with a wiki different perspectives are culminated creating a balanced examination. (Fasso, 2011) Scaffolding as can be seen in the PMI and de Bono’s Hats ensures students take into consideration other viewpoints, it ensures a holistic and self-directed approach to learning.

The implications of wikis and ICTs for my own learning design have been encouraging. The engagement theory has underpinned the whole of my learning journey thus far – “students have to be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks”. (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) The engagement theory is based on Relate-Create-Donate. Engagement theory focuses on collaborated constructed contributions. Effective learning comes not only through teacher-given information but also through interaction with others including students, and through autonomous, purposeful and relevant activities.

Bibliography

Webpages

Atherton J S (2011) Learning and Teaching; Bloom's taxonomy. Retrieved March 2011 from http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm

Felder R. M. & Soloman B.A. (n.d.) Learning Styles and Strategies. Retrieved March, 2011 from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

Kearsley G. & Shneiderman B. (1999) Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning, Retrieved March 2011 from http://home.sprynet.com/%7Egkearsley/engage.htm

Learning Theories Knowledgebase (2011). Learning-Theories.com. Retrieved March, 2011 from http://www.learning-theories.com/

Verenikina, I. (2003). Understanding scaffolding and the ZPD in educational research. Retrieved March, 2011, from https://www.aare.edu.au/03pap/ver03682.pdf

Moodle

Fasso, W. (2011). Active Learning, Learning Diversity and the Theory. Retrieved March, 2011, from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design

Fasso, W. (2011). Effective e-Learning Design. Retrieved March, 2011, from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design

Learning Theories Wiki

This activity saw me partnering up with someone who resides in Bundaberg so the use of ICTs was important in fulfilling this task as meeting up for a collaborative session unfeasible and impractical. What was valuable to my own learning was connecting with this other student and sharing viewpoints. This allowed me to see the same text from a different angle, which increased my understanding. The way my partner and I approached this task was through the perspective of our differing specialisations, which contextualised the information making the learning relevant to the real world. The way this was not used to its full potential, again on my part, was in not reading other group’s contributions. I believe that I will in the future when I perceive that their information is relevant to my learning.

This activity, especially using the PMI format, can help students convey their ideas, move their opinions from inside their head into an open forum. Forcing students to look at a certain topic from the three viewpoints will help the students deepen their understanding especially when working in a pair or group scenario because other students will perceive different aspects as pluses, minuses and interesting points.

This activity was constructivist in that it was reliant on the student to construct their own learning through following the PMI scaffold and through collaborating with their partner effectively. It is also cognitivist in nature because the PMI scaffold allows students to process information into a digestible format for which they can recall the learned knowledge later when required. Through this activity students have gained access to a database of summated, useful and specific information on topics of significance to their learning thus introducing them to a manner in which to gather and be connected to information.

The approach to be taken is open to different perspectives – diversity in students would be advantageous in increasing others’ learning as concepts and approaches not considered by one student would be the focal point of the information for another thus creating a melting point of points of views, collaborated and summated for effective learning.

Once completed this online database would be effective in supporting learning through providing the students with a place to go for quick digestible information in assistance to their learning process.

Profile Wiki Task

Admittedly, I didn’t use the wikis to their full potential. The value of this activity to me was significant in answering the questions. Some of them I had not asked myself so self-discovery to an extent was the value that I obtained out of the profile wikis. In a classroom this activity, I believe, would be more effective offline as a handout based activity and would work in a group setting or in an overall classroom situation.

This would be a great task to build the relate segment of the engagement theory. It would be an ideal activity when forming groups or, with a new class, having students get to know people in their group or class. It would reveal diversity in friendship groups. It would also be an interesting way to gather prior knowledge of a topic, assess learning, or to introduce a new topic.

Students constructed their own learning in this activity because it was dependant upon them to complete the activity, that is, answer the questions and read the other students’ responses. Thus not only learning about other people, learning from others’ experiences and knowledge base but also learning about themselves to an extent.

Through discovering different aspects about their fellow classmates students can evaluate who will be beneficial to their learning in the future.

The main point of this activity was connecting students with others in order to share knowledge and to provide a source of information and support for future learning. Knowledge is not only available in academic ICTs or resources but also in other people, their viewpoints and their experiences. For example, when I was finding it difficult to grasp terms in this course I sought other students’ understanding and through their simple explanations I found understanding for myself.   

This activity supports a diverse range of students; in fact, it would work better with a range of diversity within the classroom because this activity is based on developing connections among students due to their similarities and differences. Learning is more effective between people when there is diversity because different people see differently, learn differently and learn at a different pace.

If monitored closely and assessed appropriately it would support group activities through online engagement. Through technology this could work as an initial task to develop connection within students in the same group or class. This would also be effective in subject introduction or assessment. Students would need to be encouraged through different forms of assessment to use this activity to its full potential. For example, to ensure students have looked at other students, and not just their friends, activities for informal assessment could be devised requiring students to compare the participants under certain criteria.

Reflections - Mobile Phone Wiki

AMENDED POST - upon reflection (and assistance from fellow students) of the activity I have been made aware that the post to the blog was to not be the actual task but to be a reflection of the task.


I have an overall negative assessment of this activity. The reading was informative and interesting, although would have thought Australian-specific research, if available would have been more useful. In my opinion the wiki was ineffective as there were numerous posts by other students that were similar thus creating a lot of reading for other wiki users. This caused uneasiness and a reluctancy in posting something myself - the reason that I did not post my opinions on the wiki was because they were already covered by other students. There are a few alternatives to improve this activity:

• De Bono's hats are divided up amongst students providing them with a singular perspective to consider when reading the mobile phone text
• A like/dislike/comment system not dissimilar to facebook or even forums. That way if another student agrees with a statement they can still contribute to the wiki. If they disagree or have something to add to the statement then there will be facilities to do that also. This provides for a more user friendly wiki and encourages participation from all students

The task was constructivist in nature - the students were to construct their own learning through posting on the wiki in the format of De Bono's hats. They also were to construct their own learning by working collaboratively with other students to develop thorough ideas. This was ineffective as it appears that people posted without reading prior postings and, therefore, collaboration was not achieved to the extent it possibly could have.

Behaviourism played a major role, i believe, in the activity. Some people posted, some people didn't, some people posted the same as other people. Behaviourism, as I understand it, is behaviour affecting ability and process of learning which in turn affects behavioural changes. Previous experience, personality and self-confidence has affected the participation, and type of participation, in this activity. For example, I did not post - I did have views and have completed the activity - because my views were seemingly very similar to those already posted and, therefore, did not see the advantage of posting something that was already clearly expressed by one of my classmates.

This task was proven to be connectivism through the use of wikis, blogs for reflection and moodle for initial reading download. Using ITCs effectively, I have learnt, that this engages the student and enhance connection between the student and their learning.

Disappointingly, this activity did not cater for a range of students. It reminded me a little of high school group work - the popular, smart or extraverted students would be the voice to the rest of the group which is perfectly fine as long as the other students are being encouraged to participate in other ways. Another way to look at it is in a classroom situation where an ineffective learning environment has been created the student who keeps calling out is constantly called upon for their opinion due to his dominant personality. People with different personalities are left feeling that their view is unimportant. That is why I suggested that the task be broken down into smaller groups, this is where a smaller voice can be heard.

Overall, this task could have been a lot better structured had a few key changes been made. I enjoyed working with De Bono's hats. They were interesting and effective in looking at different perspectives, and therefore learning different viewpoints, of the one topic.

Learning Activity 2 - Multiple Intelligences

I know they are not in numerical order but where's the fun in that! (So much for me being a sequential learner! haha)

I would design learning experiences that include group based and individual based activities. I would encourage the student in their mathematical/logic activities and would not do many learning activities that are music or visual focussed.

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/

Learning Activity 3 - 21st Century Learners

What is your belief and understanding of the nature of today's learners? Is there substance to the "engage or enrage" argument?

I think that the amount and kind of technology that young people already know can be refined at school and that the more important issue in terms of the influence on the engagement of students is the pedagogy of the teacher (which includes the way they use ICTs in their classroom). Using ICTs they are familar with can be positive rather than constantly trying to up the ante with new and exciting.

Learning Activity 1 - Learning Style

Learning Styles Results

Active - 3

Sensory - 3

Verbal - 1

Sequential - 7

Activities:

http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

1. What is your learning style? What sorts of learning experiences would suit you best with your learning style?

My learning style is very focussed on a sequential style and also leaning towards active, sensory and verbal. That means that the learning experience that would cater to my learning style would be a group task that involved solving a mathematical problem.

1. In a traditional classroom of 25 students, how would you support the range of learning styles each lesson?

I would support a range of learning styles by using ICTs and varying my strategies in my approach to teaching for example having group activities as well as individual work, teaching facts as well as abstract concepts.

1. With your current knowledge of ICT, how could your design and digital pedagogy support your learners better?

Using different ICTs, such as powerpoints, videos, computer work and interactive whiteboards, would aid in all the different learning styles. With my current knowledge I can recognise that the use of ICTs would enhance the learning of the visual learner, the sequential learner and the verbal learner.

1. What sorts of profiling questions would you be asking about your learners to ensure you cater for everyone's preferences?

Are they paying attention to me explaining tasks?
Do they enjoy pictures, videos and powerpoint presentations?
Do they enjoy using their hands - playing, arts, manual arts?
Do they prefer group work or individual activities?
When are they most productive?
What do they like to do in their spare time?

1. How does ICT support differences in learning styles?

ICT contributes through enhancing variety and stimulating student's engagement. It incorporates different aspects of learning for different children.