It has been an interesting and exciting journey this past eight weeks; however I will be honest in saying that at times it was also frustrating and time consuming as well! The tears, fears, joy and feeling of achievement when I actually managed to work through the activities provided in the courseware after much experimentation and innovation thanks to my colleagues who responded so quickly to my cries for help on the forums! (Yes it is the Learning Engagement Theory and the Active Learning Theory put into practice!) has been mind boggling!
I have been forced to radically change my view of teaching today and think about the application of education in a completely different context to what I had initially visualised before commencing the GDLT program.
Gregory Heath’s article Mode 2 Learning (2001) states that knowledge is rapidly moving in the direction of Mode 2 Learning which is learning that is produced in the “context of application” and ICT’s can be used provide an avenue for the “application” of this knowledge.
As I am studying primary education I will address the technologies that I imagine could be used at this level to enhance student learning and make teaching more efficient. I will also try my best to relate these to the conceptual learning frameworks which we have covered in our online courseware.
All of the ICT’S I will mention have the potential to take learning from a Teacher Centric to a Student Centred experience and support the Learning Engagement and Active Learning frameworks.
Blogs and Wikis:
Blogs and Wikis are a great ICT to use both inside and outside the classroom environment to enhance student communication and build trust and communication with the students at a new and different level.
In reference to blogs at primary school I would use this ICT for the purpose of maintaining a classroom blog for students to contribute to as a class group activity to encourage Collaborative Learning. My blog postings http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/03/some-ideas.html and http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/03/101-ways-to-use-blogs.html
also address some other ways that blogs and wikis can be used in the classroom and provide a link to relevant online resources.
Maintaining a classroom blog incorporates Kearsley and Schneidermans (1998) Engagement Theory and Relate, Create, Donate frameworks which is based upon the idea of creating successful collaborative teams that work on ambitious projects that are meaningful to someone outside the classroom.
Working in groups to create a blog and donate this technology to a public or semi public forum certainly covers this criteria.
Creating a Wiki at a classroom level for the application of a group project as an assessment piece also incorporates this theory, wikis are a great way to enhance communication outside of the classroom and can be used for collaborative classroom projects and as a tool for teachers for tutoring and homework activities.
Vokis/Avatars:
I would definitely use these at a primary school level. Please refer to my blog posting http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/03/educational-uses-for-avatars.htm and also
http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/acvokiembed100133369600169815aaf606aed6.html
which lists the ways that Vokis and Avatars can be used in class to incorporate Kearsley and Schiedermans (1998) Engagement Theory and Dimensions of Learning and provides links to relevant resources.
I am also considering using a voki to address classroom bullying as the use of a voki has the potential to engage the students and address this issue without them feeling like they are being lectured by the teacher; these could be recorded and used at various stages when needed. This is an excellent way use vokis to promote a classroom environment of safety, respect and belonging.
As Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Norman Kunc 1992) advises, the feeling of safety and belonging (or having a social context) is a requisite for the development of self esteem which directly affects the motivation to pursue education.
PowerPoint:
Has limitless potential to be used at any level of education and is a great resource to use for students to gain declarative knowledge of a subject.
A power point is also good to introduce a topic to a classroom and prompt classroom attention and discussion on the subject being covered. Please refer to my blog posting http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/powerpoint-presentation.html where I have addressed how Power Point can be used to address different learning styles and incorporate aspects of Dols.
E-portfolios:
This has great potential for maintaining a lifelong learning portfolio for students. Please refer to my blog posting http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/03/reflection-on-process-and-learning.html which addresses this topic.
Google Earth:
At a primary school level I would use Google Earth for those visual learners to show places and landmarks! To date I have used it to show students the Fitzroy River Catchment Area as part of their integrated unit topic being covered this term. Students took turns to search for relevant landmarks (under supervision). This activity took into consideration Marzano and Pickering’s Dimensions of Learning (1997) Dol 2: Acquire and Integrate Knowledge as students first obtained declarative knowledge on the topic and then used their knowledge in the application of a new skill in the form of using Google Earth.
Please refer to my blog posting
http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/google-earth-how-to-use-this-technology.html which also makes reference to Joe Woods Wiki which has some excellent ideas for using Google Earth in classroom activities.
Flickr:
This I would use for the creation of digital story telling projects and to create virtual field trips. My blog posting http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/have-you-seeeen-light.html covers this in further detail.
YouTube/Teacher Tube:
This one was a little bit tricky as most primary schools have strict policies concerning YouTube. In my blog posting http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/writing-short-narrative.html I have used a YouTube video as an introduction to an English Narrative topic to address Dimension One: Attitudes and Perceptions of the Dols.
Wikipedia:
Dales Cone and The Learning Pyramid (2000) addresses the concept that students learn best from direct and purposeful learning experiences which are hands on or field based.
Wikipedia is a resource which has the potential to provide this type of learning experience to students. An idea I have covered in my blog posting addresses the use of Wikipedia at a primary school level as a forum to contribute an article which has been completed as a collaborative classroom project. http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/wikipedia-how-would-i-take-advantage-of.html it also addresses considerations when using Wikipedia as a research tool.
Royalty Free Music:
Music is an excellent way to help develop effective listening skills and set a mood or feeling in the classroom to promote focus on a task. Deirdre Russell-Bowie’s MMADD about the arts (2009) pg.62-65 lists ways in which music can be used in the classroom to provide relevance to their studies.
Music has the potential to be used to enhance Affective –emotional and feelings (attitude) learning, covered in Blooms Taxonomy (1956). Music can be applied to learning experiences to have a positive effect on a student’s feelings, appreciation, enthusiasm, motivation and attitudes towards a topic.
My posting http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/using-music-on-web.html provides a reference to my e-portfolio where I have an example of how music can be applied in the classroom.
I summary use of ICT’S facilitates the development of higher order and creative thinking by allowing students the opportunity to work together while completing a task which has a real life application.
If we were to think about the constructivist approach to learning ( Mergel 1998) which states that knowledge is “constructed from experience and that learning is an active process where meaning is developed on the basis of experience”, the use of ICT’S in learning would support this.
Completing this course to date has allowed me to experience a student centred approach to teaching and the opportunity for collaborative learning and I will express my thanks to Scot and all who responded to my questions so quickly on the forums and posted helpful comments and feedback on my blog.
References:
Marzano, R. J., & Pickering, D. J. (with Arrendondo, D. E., Paynter, D. E., Blackburn, G. J., Brandt, R. S., Pollock, J.E., Moffett, C.A & Whisler, J. S.). (1997). Dimensions of learning teacher’s manual (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Deirdre Russell-Bowie, (2009) MMADD about the arts! An Introduction to Primary Arts Education, Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
The Albiene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence. (2000). Why use active learning? Retrieved from http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/whyuseal2.htm
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au.
Norman Kunc, (1992) The Need to Belong: Rediscovering Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from CQUniveristy e-course EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au.
Brenda Mergel, (1998) Instructional Design and Learning Theory. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-course EDED 20491 ICT’S for learning design http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
Gregory Heath, (2001), Teacher Education and The New Knowledge Environment. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-course EDED 20491 ICT’S for learning design http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
Blooms Taxonomy of Learning Domains, The Three Types of Learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-course EDED 20491 ICT’S for learning design http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au/
Some URLS for Comments I have placed on blogs and responded to:
http://kyliegupwell.blogspot.com/2010/04/interactive-whiteboards.html?showComment=1271133022889_AIe9_BGSB6MSvgQqjXJBOPzggqbZFRsTmSjqGf5-GHFNqlq_FrIRGHVJGAkfYvhhttcs0CphOpm7Dc3mpoEdVit6MYKnNbVn9DQEuHijnrXE2RTQ4VMn-Y0YezVNzhdP6xqNdiESaXpxwrKmbm6IhSq2b1dmW1YxapNEfKEimE5XDCZBnlo53L7ah3y07dNS3y6Xt5FzulMcr4Er_LXMnCXt4hjxL6ymBh_xnBNopC5k2oVJ-y_7lxE#c2774248303140079087
http://nataliearthurgdlt.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-let-our-students-blog.html#comment-form
http://bean-the-teacher.blogspot.com/2010/04/using-video-in-classroom.html?showComment=1271933959832#c4000865193170925945
http://sallyjames2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/webquests-hard-work-but-worth-it.html?showComment=1271657284293#c7182314743022702439
http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/writing-short-narrative.html?showComment=1271933430274#c9042493118530164106
http://sallyjames2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/webquests-hard-work-but-worth-it.html?showComment=1271657284293#c7182314743022702439
http://newlearningexperience.blogspot.com/2010/04/wikipedia-how-would-i-take-advantage-of.html?showComment=1272235632882#c6100164357847967256
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