I have used three photos from my trip away this week. I used MobaPhoto, and found it difficult to follow. But, most digital stuff is like that for me. I am not use to resizing photos, I usually just copy them and reshape them individually. I have spent a lot of time trying to understand moviemaker and podcasts. I am struggling with these. I did a lot of research to find out what a Podcast is. I also had trouble finding useful podcasts. So I must be doing something wrong. I will keep trying.
6.8.11 I have been successful with moviemaker. In my next Blog I have written about the benefits for my students.
I am happy to say I have managed to do W3 activities without outside help and how my attitude toward technologies has turned from terrified to excited!
These activity's have supported my learning with step by step instructions (Behaviourism) to create a Wiki & Website while giving positive reinforcement through my success. Supporting this theory, I have included examples in my wiki and website for student learning by following links and headings.
I have used Cognitive theory by including visuals, videos, and activities for my students that are relevant, as is the information and visuals provided for my learning.
Social Constructivism is evident in my participation with others in the Tutorial, Wiki, Website and this Blog. For my students, I aimed at their past experiences with my wiki video to spark quality practice for all children. The visual pictures promote shared information and the PMI is for scaffolding their learning. Below, I will share a video I recently saw at a conference to highlight the potential of Connectivism.
Video Courtesy of Youtube.
Using these technologies will support a new pedagogy. My particular cohort in remota areas would value the information, sharing and community. Most remote students do not have a connection with other students, and using these technologies could give them that.
The website is useful for students to look at videos, visuals and read content and tasks, but does not allow them to include their ideas or thoughts, so it is limited, but still a useful tool.
The Wiki however is more flexible and scaffolds learning through shared information,ideas and comments and lets the particpants reflect on the information in one chunk. 6 hats was great for this. The Blog is an individual reflection tool where thoughts can be shared but edited only by the individual.
All technologies are responsive to learning and learning styles, but the Wiki would be my favourite due to it's flexibility.
Lorraine
Reference
Nesbitt.B., 2007, A vision of K-12 Students Today, Retrieved 22nd July, 2011 from YouTube at http://www.youtube.com
If anyone reads my blog, I would like you to know that I have certainly read yours! Thanks for your thoughts of the past 2.5 weeks. I have had some trouble leaving comments on some of your Blogs, so sorry if it's you.
I am finding this course the most difficult of them all. In between all this I have to work and next week will not be able to participte in ellimunate because I will be travelling with my work.Where I travel to also cannot help me. No Macas there. If my TAFE laptop would have allowed, I certainly would be involved in the Tutorial. For those of you who are just starting out, I am glad for you that the courses I found easier are in your future. I am also happy that this is my last.
I think I am struggling with the time it takes me to learn how to use the technology. I can follow instructions, but a lot of the words are another language to me. What's Weebly?? Also, today I went on YouTube and found plenty of videos, but they did not have Embed on them. So what do I do next??? No instruction on that! I can certainly see the benefits of all this for connecting students in their learning, but have just spent two hours trying to get elluminate again. I had it last night to test my microphone, but not able to get it tonight. Must be at that end.
So my reflection after 2.5 weeks is not the most positive and that is usual for me. But, I have a plan to get help. I will find someone who can walk me through all of this hopefully this weekend. So if anyone else feels like me, please give me a comment (if you can). I obviously need cheering up.
SWOT -
This has been interesting, searching the net looking for readings about teachers who have used multimedia in Queensland to teach in remote areas. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in finding anything current.
I presume similar barriers to my own exist for other remote TAFE teachers...the technology!! In schools I believe this exists, but in child care centres where I teach qualifcations, usually only one computer is available in the office and certainly not at home.We have done some work on Skype, which I have to do from home because of Gov. firewalls (I think). I have however tried using my wireless and laptop while in the centres but usually I don't have a signal. But....I refuse to let that stop me!! After reading Stephen Downs-Educational Blogging, the opportunities are even clearer. Strengths: Students like to share Blogs with everyone. Blogging with other child care services in other countries who are proven to be providing better care & education than Australia. It promotes reflective analysis in the learning community. Students can link to new & useful resources. It encourages students to read and write. Staying current with ever changing information about early childhood. Link with other TAFE's and Uni's. Finding a solution to access to technology. Weaknesses: Confidentiality could be beached. Photos (without permission) could be shown. Not owning or haveing access to the technology. My teaching abilities. Opportunities: Shared information & ideas. Reflection, analysis of practice and learning. Reaching educational goals (qualifications). Employment. Confidenece and resilience building. Critical thinking practices. Getting to know other educators. Threats:TAFE seeing the potential for the students. The time it will take to set up Blogging on the TAFE systems. Students not getting involved. Others in communitity not wanting the student to succeed. My own teaching ability to teach others how to use Blogs. Inapproapriate comments.
Clearly the strengths and opportunities stand out, and I will have to find a way around any other weeknesses and threats.
This framework can be used to design pedagogical strategies and analyse teacher’s successes in using technology. The authors point out that knowledge of the use of technology is different to knowledge of how to teach it. Some technologies constrain the content to be covered. That using technology will be taught differently by varied teachers. Therefore, using a standard approach to teaching the teachers how to use technology will not be as effective as the teachers being able to demonstrate their skills with the current software. This makes sense to me, and I have been a teacher who has been taught technologies, but did not know how to use them in relation to content or pedagogy. I think I might be learning now.
TPCK can be used to improve learning environments and for research into teacher knowledge and how that evolves. It supports the argument that teachers and students need to explore technologies and content in authentic contexts. The framework supports the evolving relationship of Technology and Content that is often changing with newer ideas and newer technologies.
The benefits of the TPCK framework is how it incorporates knowledge about content, pedagogy and technology and makes them the centre of TPCK’s teaching success.
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy-reflects a more active form of thinking.I have used this frameworkand the useful verbs and found it especially good for authentic contexts such as early childhood. It works well with a deeper understanding of set procedures required for legislative reasons.
The collective wisdom this week has allowed me to look at the Mobile Phone issue from a number of points of view. The Wiki's characteristics, using De Bono's 6 thinking hats and being able to read all of our perspectives and being able to share those comfortably has pointed out the usefullness of such a wiki in my future teaching.
I enjoyed researching, and definately reading everyone's input. I see the benefits of using a wiki such as this as better than face to face classroom sharing where sometimes, students will hold back their ideas for fear of confrontation. The wiki has been a good example of a productive pedagogy and has included all 8 strategies. The learning has been in a real context, collaborative and values different points of view.
This particular wiki however, has widely varied perspectives because of the range of teaching areas-primary, secondary, early childhood, TAFE. The 6 hats have been a useful tool in promoting full spectrum thinking where each of us looked at all side to the mobile phone issue. Although the Mobile Phone's were a parallel thought and thinking process, we were however coming from different age groups and this will always have varied responses and multiple solutions.
I am interested in using a Wiki for remote students. I feel they would share more and revisiting perspectives of others is very useful to learning. Certainly using the 6 hats in groups gives the students a systematic way to their parellel thinking and manages thinking in a particular direction at a time. This framework encourages collaboration and includes unique points of view and input from everyone.
The learning theory behind this weeks Wiki activity is Social Constructivism as we have constructed the Wiki collectively and from our own perceptions of experiences with Mobile Phones.
I was very glad that how to navigate this course & use Wikis & Blogs was supported by the step by step Activities and the theory of Behaviourism. Following the scaffold for Blog Reflections had helped me organise my learning & storage of thoughts. I will gladly use this cognitive constructivism theory in action in the form of concept mapping as it supports my global learning style for a need to see the whole picture each week.
The on line tutorial was a helpful Social scafolding through Wendy's questioning, examples and fellow contributions. Certainly all contributors (the expert community) have been invaluable to my learning (Social constructivism) and the scaffolding from the web sites and PMI has helped my understanding of learning theory.
Being a digital immigrant (Prensky, 2001) I have this week engaged, using my digital accent, in Blogs and Wikis. Certainly the networking advantage of Connectivism is evident after only one week!
With learning design, this week has shown me the advantages of a continuum of practice when I deliver a unit of competence.
The purpose behind this week, I believe, was to realise that point, and to highlight the advantages of accessing others who hold knowledge and information.
Personally, I have had some frustrating moments, but I believe problems can be solved. It can only get better from here!
Lorraine
Learning Style: I have realised that as a Global learner, I will need to look over a few weeks activities & assessments so I can see the Big Picture and link to what I already know. Otherwise, I sit balanced in all other dimensions. Delivering information in a variety of ways should reach all learners and is possible with classroom and remote students by using that Creativity, Sir Ken Robinson so highly revears. Because of my need to link to what I know, every activity I undertake is related to my TAFE teaching. However,TAFE has not seen Sir Ken Robinsons's presentation! That "unpredicability of what to teach" to the future students has me asking myself questions.
how many other ways can I deliver?
who are the cohort?
who can help me?
what training do I need?
what resources will I need?
what resources do the cohort need?
Engage or Enrage Me: I felt this reading was something most teachers are aware of. Finding the answers to engaging is the difficult part. With IT changing rapidly, the computers that arrive today at school could be obsolete compared to a students IPhone. This is where your student can be teaching you! If you are a digital immigrant, like myself, the students can be the teachers. Here connectivism is at it's best. Everyone wants to help, join in, and share. Also, everyone has something to teach!
I have used three photos from my trip away this week. I used MobaPhoto, and found it difficult to follow. But, most digital stuff is like that for me. I am not use to resizing photos, I usually just copy them and reshape them individually. I have spent a lot of time trying to understand moviemaker and podcasts. I am struggling with these. I did a lot of research to find out what a Podcast is. I also had trouble finding useful podcasts. So I must be doing something wrong. I will keep trying.
