Reflective Synopsis

The focus of this course has been to increase student centered learning through the use of student engaging technologies. Technology has evolved and education must too. The ICT’s used in this course have provided a starting point for pre-service teachers to incorporate digital pedagogical strategies into the classroom.

The advancement of ICT’s in education has taken place due to what Houghton & Sheehan (2000) refer to as the knowledge economy, where knowledge-intensive industries are now at the core of growth (Smith, 2002). ICT’s are not necessarily drivers of change, but the tools used for releasing the creative potential and knowledge embodied in people.

Kearsley & Schneiderman (1999) state that in order to facilitate effective learning, “students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks”. Their article on Engagement Theory reveals how technology can “facilitate engagement in ways which are difficult to achieve otherwise”. It is this theory that has driven my personal growth in the field of ICT’s for Learning Design and shows the need for teachers to become champions for the use of ICT’s in the classroom.

Marzano & Pickering (2006) state as part of Dimension 1 (Attitudes & Perceptions), students should perceive tasks as valuable and interesting as this will help them develop positive attitudes and perceptions about classroom tasks. Therefore students must be given the opportunity the engage with ICT’s which can assist in the creation of authentic products, can encourage collaboration and team-work, and have real world value.

I have learnt that ICT’s enable teachers to design effective pedagogical learning experiences which encourages Active Learning and can also create student centered learning. I believe Active Learning is an essential concept that must be recognised by educators. Active Learning indicates the most effective learning strategies, which as stated by Houghton and Sheehand (2000) include “learning by doing, learning by using, and learning by interacting”. Therefore the challenge is to incorporate ICT’s that encourage Active Learning in the classroom.

Firstly, at the centre of most classrooms ICT use is Interactive Whiteboards (IWB). By incorporating IWB’s, teachers are able to become facilitators for learning with a focus on student centered learning and student interaction. Discussions with teachers at Parkhurst State School reiterated the positive outcomes that can be achieved by developing the capabilities of student IWB use.

Wiki’s and Blogs relate directly to Kearsley and Schneiderman’s Engagement Theory article in which they encourage the use of the pedagogical strategy, "relate, create, donate". Getting students to ‘create’ a group Wiki or Blog while completing projects, would promote great student interaction. Individual Blog’s could also be setup for students as a place to analyse and evaluate learning tasks, which promotes Higher Order Thinking. I believe Wiki’s and Blog’s are also an excellent resource for teachers to communicate with their students while outside of the classroom setting and can also be a pathway for parent-teacher communication.

Voki’s can be used as a 'hook' to make sure our students are engaged in the topic at hand. Voki's can be very useful in the learning environment and can be used in a variety of ways. I would look to use Voki’s not only as a ‘hook’ for the students but also as an interactive syntactic writing learning tool. Students could incorporate a list of spelling words into a Voki which would then give verbal feedback of the word they have spelt. Voki’s could also be used for students to create a variety of spoken texts (i.e. Poem) and again is something the students can ‘create and donate’.

PowerPoint creates a great opportunity to engage students using a variety of tools. When developing a PowerPoint the content used can vary from video, audio, text, images, charts and animations which can help cater for the vast majority of learning styles. PowerPoint has become a very popular presentation tool which students can easily use to present (donate) information.

Google Earth is becoming an interactive globe with endless capabilities for enhancing student learning. This single piece of technology enables every square inch of the Earth to be analysed by students. Some popular uses that I would incorporate into the classroom would include creating virtual tours, conducting geological research and creating mathematic problems (i.e. calculating distance across the globe). Google Earth also has a huge amount of information regarding different world locations/events which is great for student research.

Music creates feel and effects moods. The use of music when completing multimedia projects (i.e. video presentations, slideshows) can dramatically affect the experience of the audience. I would look to use music during a class reading/play/dance activity to set the mood and encourage creative thinking. It could also be a great way to hook students into a lesson on creative writing or thinking. Music can also be used as a behaviour management strategy as it can change the mood of the classroom or a particular student (i.e. for students with high anger that may need to calm down).

Videos are another ICT that can compensate for the majority of learning styles. Videos can incorporate not only visual information but audio and text as well. I would look to use videos in the classroom as a motivator to enhance the excitement regarding a new topic. Short, sharp and exciting is the key.

To facilitate the above mentioned technology’s useful, tools such as Flickr and Picnik can be used to share/host and edit pictures. They are both quick and easy tools that can enhance a students ability to present information. Wikipedia is also a great site that can be used by students or teachers for quick access to information on virtually any topic. 4shared is another hosting site which enables files to be uploaded and shared with ease while still permitting confidentially.

We need to keep up with new technologies to ensure we are giving our students the best opportunities for their futures. As a result of progressing through this course, I now know that by giving students the opportunity the engage with ICTs, they are able to create authentic products that have a real world value which enhances Active Learning and student centered learning.

References
Houghton, J & Sheehan, P 2000, A Primer on the Knowledge Economy, Victoria University. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au.

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.

Marzano, R & Pickering, D 2006, Dimensions of learning: Teachers manual (2nd ed.). Victoria, Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Smith, K 2002, What is the 'Knowledge Economy'? Knowledge intensity and distributed knowledge bases. Discussion Paper. United Nations University, Institute for New Technologies, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

ICT online professional interaction:
http://chloetowns.blogspot.com/2010/03/hello-all-i-hope-you-will-take-pleasure.html

http://samanthasjourney-gdlt.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-thoughts-on-wikis-and-blogs-in.html

http://thelearningjourneyofkatrinaknight.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-discovery.html

http://nataliearthurgdlt.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-to-do-with-those-constant.html

http://ljmrocky.blogspot.com/2010/04/using-vokis.html

http://chloetowns.blogspot.com/2010/04/you-tube.html

Blog postings:
http://hillsnick116.blogspot.com/2010/04/wikis-blogs-fun-stuff.html

http://hillsnick116.blogspot.com/2010/04/vokis-are-so-much-fun-as-teachers-we.html

http://hillsnick116.blogspot.com/2010/04/powerpoint.html

http://hillsnick116.blogspot.com/2010/04/google-earth.html

http://hillsnick116.blogspot.com/2010/04/music.html

http://hillsnick116.blogspot.com/2010/04/video-hosting-websites.html

http://hillsnick116.blogspot.com/2010/04/flickr-picnik.html

http://hillsnick116.blogspot.com/2010/04/wikipedia.html

http://hillsnick116.blogspot.com/2010/04/4shared.html

4Shared

I have come across another file host website, 4shared, that allowed me to upload the mp3 file i used in my last bog post. You can sign up using a Google account which makes it very easy. Once the file was uploaded i was able to embed the mp3 file in to my blog. To my knowledge file share allows the upload of any type of file and gives you the ability to share the file freely (by direct download, URL link...). Very handy website. Recommend!

Music

Music can bring such a great feel to the classroom. It can enhance many learning experiences by helping engage the learners. A perfect example which relates directly to the Engagement Theory, would be the use of music when completing multimedia projects (i.e. video presentations, slidshows....). Another example is to play music during a class reading/play/dance activity to set the mood and encourage creative thinking. This would be a great way to hook students into a lesson on creative writing or thinking. Music can set moods in the classroom and could also be used as a behaviour management strategy (i.e. for students with high anger that may need to calm down).

INCOMPETECH is a sight that holds royalty-free music and can be used freely in the classroom. The site hosts a large supply of music which is catergorised effectively into sections, either by genre or feel.

I have downloaded one of the music files from INCOMPETECH and have placed it below, imagine using this for creative dance class!

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a great first reference point for any topic. It is often the easiest way to quickly look up facts, dates, personal profiles and any other information needed. Wikipedia does implement guidelines for the incluion/creation of information on its web pages with information being monitored for accuracy and breaches of copyright.

Due to this scrutiny the information attained on Wikipedia can be used with confidence (however not total as the goal of Wikipedia is content coverage and not 100% accuracy). Wikipedia has an easy user face with topics and facts easily found.

For pedagogical implementation this technology can be friendly to students and teachers. I believe the biggest use/advantage of Wikipedia is its ability to give fast facts on an abundance of topics. For example, a student asks the question 'What temperature is lava?'. I simple search in Wikipedia and the answer is there in front of you (Link to lava facts on wikipedia). For students it could be used as a great source for student centered learning as student could conduct their own searches for specific information.

Google Earth

Google Earth is a fantastic tool that can again enhance a student’s depth of understanding quite easily. It's uses are continually expanding and evolving allowing for a more in depth "peek" at the Earth. I have found a great link to a page which details the classroom applications for Google Earth, examples include:

Biology: Track routes of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe Forest. See the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee blog here.
Ecology: Create a short quiz like this one.
Environmental Science: Have students check Alaska's global warming problems.
Geology: Find images, links, and descriptions, with information about thousands of volcanoes around the globe.
Global Awareness: Study the Crisis in Darfur with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's unprecedented project.
History: Explore Tutankhamun's Tomb.
Humanities: Have your students scout film shoot locations.
Literature: Bring class or contemporary tales to life with Google LitTrips.
Math: Explore distance, velocity, and wave properties of tsunamis.

Google Earth is becoming an interactive globe with endless capabilities for enhancing student learning. This single piece of technology can bring every square inch of the Earth into the classroom and gives students a better understanding of any topic relating to it.

Video Hosting Websites

Youtube & other forms of video hosting sites such as Teachertube are a great resource and i believe it is underused in many professional areas, such as education. Teachertube has positioned itself as a 'safe' teacher resource as students will not be exposed to the wide variety of postings; they include strict guidelines for uploads. Although Teachertube report constant screening of videos i still believe caution is needed.

Youtube and Teachertube open up a world of ready made teaching aids. Whether planning a lesson or finding an on the spot video relating to the topic at hand in the classroom, both of these video hosting sites have a huge pool of information for students. Another advantage is that the videos can be easily embedded into wiki's or blogs.

Youtube & Videotube are another great technological tool that will engage students. Being able to show actual footage of an event, animal, person........ as everyone knows, if it happened, it will be on Youtube. To be able to bring that pool of information into the classroom is exciting and can be used for any topic. I have already seen the use of Youtube in my classroom. While discussing the upcoming Anzac Parade a student asked "What is the last post?". After a brief explanation of its origins the students were then also able to see actual footage of the last post being played at Gallipoli, which i have attached below.

Animations

I have explored the animations link provided in our coursework and am amazed at the array of content available. I engaged in the 'Science Human Body' link and spent quite a while using the 'interactive body' tool. The information provided was sensational and again was so easy to use. The interactive style of animations is the key, it encourages student interaction and engages them in the topic at hand.

I was also lucky enough to stumble onto the 'Teach Animations' website. The website provides example projects, animation processes and pedagogical strategies for teachers. I would definitely recommend having a look and probably bookmarking this page for future references.