Assessment One: Final Task - Reflective Synopsis
~Goodbye, goodbye, good friends, goodbye, and now its time to go. But hey! I say, well that's okay, 'cos we'll see you very soon I know...~
Fingers to the keyboard once more, for - in the words of Bear from the Big Blue House - it's time to go. Alas, this week marks the last mandatory weekly blog post for this course. But, in an effort to retain information (my nickname should be Dory) and reflect upon my learning ready for the next assessment, I will attempt to keep posting. So if my quirky humour has entertained you thus far, perhaps you should check in for the rest of term?
Nevertheless, onto the final blog post and it's topic - a short reflection of the past seven weeks. With it's plethora of technology and screen time, I am about ready to pick up a book, simply to touch printed papers; however, at the request of the course, I formed a familiarity with technology that, once upon a time, had no place in my own previous schooling experience.
At educators' fingertips are the new tools of technology that previous generations never had and a few new favourites with a revamp; all these tools are part of a vast tool belt at the educator's disposal - the question then becomes, "which ones do I use?" And that's the bottom line - what do I use and how do I use to best to benefit my students?
SAMR, De Bono's Hats and Bloom's taxonomy are efficient pedagogies with which to judge the technology the educator has selected. SAMR ranks the technology on a scale that translations from basic to complex with the technology moving through substitution, augmentation and modification to redefinition. This digital pedagogy is not only essential but highly effective when adapting current or creating new lesson plans with technology. Placing your technology upon this scale can demonstrate your adeptness with technology and how to develop it further.
De Bono's Hats is a activity as old as time itself that has had a recent revamp into modern education. De Bono allows the individual to split up their erratic thinking patterns into more manageable chunks - feelings, pros & cons, creativity etc. Whilst commonly used more in primary and early secondary education originally, it's comeback has found it a place within later secondary education now too. Using this activity within a lesson or unit could benefit easily benefit the students' work.
Bloom's taxonomy, after a re-arranging revamp, uses modern action verbs to class whether the technology - or activity - is of higher or lower order thinking. Bloom's taxonomy is good for rating the level of your activity - e.g. filming falls under create - but is also good for finding apps that combine together well - e.g. filming and script writing fall under create, studying film scripts falls under analyse etc. - creating a lesson plan that uses all of Bloom's taxonomy. Problem-based learning also falls under Bloom's taxonomy.
Problem-based learning is a higher order thinking process in which authentic problems are used to challenge students into thinking for themselves, solving situations and then evaluating their solutions. This form of teaching allows students to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills in a fun and informative way. Problem-based learning should happen often, but in moderation. Try perhaps for once or twice a fortnight?
Collaborative and co-operative group learning with the ability to interact with the wider world of people using technology benefits the student and teacher alike. With technology such as GoogleDocs, students can collaborate on pieces of work and assessment with each person's addition able to be tracked. The benefits with collaborative and co-operative learning are limitless, depending on the amount for free range you allow the students.
Overall, an exemplar lesson plan would include one or more of these digital pedagogies combined with normal pedagogies, and factors such as student participation and behaviour management. If you would like any information on the technology discussed over the past seven weeks, please refer to my other postings.
However, with advancements in technology, there must be advancements in internet safety. Whilst the benefits of the internet often out-weigh the downsides, as educators we must keep an eye on our students. This includes protecting them from items such as pornography, R-rated materials, bullying, cyber-bullying, cyber-abuse and vicious acts online.
So how as educators do we do this? We can't simply lock down all the sites like we have in the past, nor does anyone have the time to individually unlock and lock certain extensions of sites. A better solution has to be found, especially in the age of technology. Teaching internet safety is one of these solutions, but the message does not always sink in.
In conclusion, this course as it has been so far, has opened my eyes to the uses and downfalls of technology I had never seen nor heard of before. And I'm looking forward to the next few weeks of term!
So have you got time for a goodbye song?
Friday, 8 May 2015
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Assessment One: Embedded Task Six - Reflection On The Practical Use Of... Commenting and Collaborative Learning.
Embedded Task Four - Reflection On The Practical Uses Of... Commenting and Collaborative Learning
Communication is key; is that not the saying? And indeed, in a world of digital media and world wide connections, the ability to communicate or at the least leave your thoughts is essential. To be considered, is the commenting ability on our blogs and collaborative versus cooperative learning.
Commenting is a common function of most websites, especially multi-user sites such as YouTube, Twitter or Facebook. However, with great power comes great responsibility - the ability to comment has both its "thumbs up" and "thumbs down". In fact, many social media sites such as Facebook are structured upon communication via posting comments on people's original content and the back-and-forth it ensues. Therefore, the commenting section of the blogs should work in a similar way, should it not?
When at the hands of busy, stressed university students, apparently not - I honestly will state that many of my comments were posted on my days off, way after the original posts were uploaded. Therefore, commenting back-and-forth Facebook-style became not only time-consuming, but less likely as more assessment piled on top of us. Perhaps this is one of the drawbacks - time-consuming. Also, as stated in one of my past uploads, blogs do have limits. But they do also have their benefits.
In relation to the commenting, the benefits and drawbacks are as follows:
Benefits: Drawbacks:
*constructive criticism *harsh comments
*informative views *spamming comments
*exposure to topics/ opinions *arguments available
*able to discuss items *anyone can comment
*can delete comments *anyone can get a Google account
*needs Google account to use
Personally, my experience with this course and the technology it has presented has been varying. To begin with, I was unsure of the technology integration - I was a dirt and books kid, not a TV and video games kid - but with the range of different technologies, I began finding pieces of technology I felt comfortable with and able to use within the classroom. As a creative teacher, I always loved the idea of using cameras and video cameras in the classroom - the chance to actually do this is brilliant!
The item to consider this week was not a piece of technology - though you could use technology to support it - but two learning styles: collaborative and cooperative learning. By definition, both learning styles are part of group work, a skill developed by necessity during the educational years. According to Weimer (2013) there are 5 things students can learn through group work:
1. They can learn content, as in master the material.
2. They can learn content at those deeper levels we equate with understanding.
3. They can learn how groups function productively.
4. They can learn why groups make better decisions than individuals.
5. They can learn how to work with others.
I agreed, when I read this, that students could build these skills - but only if the group work (and the group itself) were constructed carefully with close attention during the work. Otherwise, we receive the mess that is memorable of everyone's high school career. In that case, how do we create our tasks that allow students to get the most out of it? And is it then, after its creation, collaborative or cooperative?
According to Morrison (2012), cooperative learning is classed as a 'divide and conquer' approach, whereas collaborative learning is working together to achieve a common activity goal, building off each other in the process. Applications such as Skype and GoogleDocs become essential in the collaboration process. Often the two can be combined in activities, but in the end, sometimes the individual activities are the best.
Overall, I have found both the topic for the week, the commenting section of my blog and my personal experience with the course thus far entertaining and enlightening. Until next week, for the mamma-jalamba of blog posts!
Morrison, D. (2012) Online groups - Cooperative or Collaborative?, Retrieved from https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/online-groups-cooperative-or-collaborative/
Weimer, M. (2013) Five Things Students Can Learn from Group Work, Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/five-things-students-can-learn-through-group-work/
Communication is key; is that not the saying? And indeed, in a world of digital media and world wide connections, the ability to communicate or at the least leave your thoughts is essential. To be considered, is the commenting ability on our blogs and collaborative versus cooperative learning.
Commenting is a common function of most websites, especially multi-user sites such as YouTube, Twitter or Facebook. However, with great power comes great responsibility - the ability to comment has both its "thumbs up" and "thumbs down". In fact, many social media sites such as Facebook are structured upon communication via posting comments on people's original content and the back-and-forth it ensues. Therefore, the commenting section of the blogs should work in a similar way, should it not?
When at the hands of busy, stressed university students, apparently not - I honestly will state that many of my comments were posted on my days off, way after the original posts were uploaded. Therefore, commenting back-and-forth Facebook-style became not only time-consuming, but less likely as more assessment piled on top of us. Perhaps this is one of the drawbacks - time-consuming. Also, as stated in one of my past uploads, blogs do have limits. But they do also have their benefits.
In relation to the commenting, the benefits and drawbacks are as follows:
Benefits: Drawbacks:
*constructive criticism *harsh comments
*informative views *spamming comments
*exposure to topics/ opinions *arguments available
*able to discuss items *anyone can comment
*can delete comments *anyone can get a Google account
*needs Google account to use
Personally, my experience with this course and the technology it has presented has been varying. To begin with, I was unsure of the technology integration - I was a dirt and books kid, not a TV and video games kid - but with the range of different technologies, I began finding pieces of technology I felt comfortable with and able to use within the classroom. As a creative teacher, I always loved the idea of using cameras and video cameras in the classroom - the chance to actually do this is brilliant!
The item to consider this week was not a piece of technology - though you could use technology to support it - but two learning styles: collaborative and cooperative learning. By definition, both learning styles are part of group work, a skill developed by necessity during the educational years. According to Weimer (2013) there are 5 things students can learn through group work:
1. They can learn content, as in master the material.
2. They can learn content at those deeper levels we equate with understanding.
3. They can learn how groups function productively.
4. They can learn why groups make better decisions than individuals.
5. They can learn how to work with others.
I agreed, when I read this, that students could build these skills - but only if the group work (and the group itself) were constructed carefully with close attention during the work. Otherwise, we receive the mess that is memorable of everyone's high school career. In that case, how do we create our tasks that allow students to get the most out of it? And is it then, after its creation, collaborative or cooperative?
According to Morrison (2012), cooperative learning is classed as a 'divide and conquer' approach, whereas collaborative learning is working together to achieve a common activity goal, building off each other in the process. Applications such as Skype and GoogleDocs become essential in the collaboration process. Often the two can be combined in activities, but in the end, sometimes the individual activities are the best.
Overall, I have found both the topic for the week, the commenting section of my blog and my personal experience with the course thus far entertaining and enlightening. Until next week, for the mamma-jalamba of blog posts!
Morrison, D. (2012) Online groups - Cooperative or Collaborative?, Retrieved from https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/online-groups-cooperative-or-collaborative/
Weimer, M. (2013) Five Things Students Can Learn from Group Work, Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/five-things-students-can-learn-through-group-work/
Friday, 24 April 2015
Assessment One: Embedded Task Five - Reflection On The Practical Use Of... Interactive Learning.
Embedded Task Four - Reflection On The Practical Uses Of... Interactive Learning
Pew-pew! Pew-pew-pew! Though reminiscent of the arcade, the sound of gaming shall echo through the classroom once again, at the hands of the student... but for an educational purpose this time, instead of a digital distraction.
Though early primary years offered typing tournament styled games intended to form and increase a student's skill in touch typing, secondary schooling offered little in the way of educational gaming. With the demand in young individuals for technology, and thus gaming, students would personally source their own - which often would not be educational. Because of this, a blanket ban fell across all games.
However, with the heralding of the technological age, interactive learning seems to have a second shot in the educational setting. Interactive games can now be used in order to teach students or to focus them before and/or during a lesson. One example of this is Sheep Dash, a game in which your reaction time is tested as you tranquilise the sheep dashing across the field.
Sounds easy? Not really. I dare you to try it.
But it is useful for engaging and entertaining students during the waiting periods of a lesson. Finished early? Challenge the students. Waiting for half the class? Have some fun! You could even make it into a friendly - and loud - competition on free dress days.
Another fun website for educational games is EdHeads, in which numerous games lie in wait for students to play. Personally, my favourites from childhood were the knee and hip surgeries, but there are many more to explore.
Other sites I have discovered are:
At a later date, I would love to fully explore these sites, as well as some more interactive learning tools like text2mindmap, mapping and GoogleDocs as per the idea of the NMC Horizon ideals.
Pew-pew! Pew-pew-pew! Though reminiscent of the arcade, the sound of gaming shall echo through the classroom once again, at the hands of the student... but for an educational purpose this time, instead of a digital distraction.
Though early primary years offered typing tournament styled games intended to form and increase a student's skill in touch typing, secondary schooling offered little in the way of educational gaming. With the demand in young individuals for technology, and thus gaming, students would personally source their own - which often would not be educational. Because of this, a blanket ban fell across all games.
However, with the heralding of the technological age, interactive learning seems to have a second shot in the educational setting. Interactive games can now be used in order to teach students or to focus them before and/or during a lesson. One example of this is Sheep Dash, a game in which your reaction time is tested as you tranquilise the sheep dashing across the field.
Sounds easy? Not really. I dare you to try it.
But it is useful for engaging and entertaining students during the waiting periods of a lesson. Finished early? Challenge the students. Waiting for half the class? Have some fun! You could even make it into a friendly - and loud - competition on free dress days.
Another fun website for educational games is EdHeads, in which numerous games lie in wait for students to play. Personally, my favourites from childhood were the knee and hip surgeries, but there are many more to explore.
Other sites I have discovered are:
- http://www.csitheexperience.org/webadventure.html
- http://www.darfurisdying.com/index.html
- http://quizlet.com
- www.learner.org
At a later date, I would love to fully explore these sites, as well as some more interactive learning tools like text2mindmap, mapping and GoogleDocs as per the idea of the NMC Horizon ideals.
Thursday, 9 April 2015
Assessment One: Embedded Task Four - Reflection On The Practical Uses Of... PowerPoint.
Embedded Task Four - Reflection On The Practical Uses Of... PowerPoint
Death by PowerPoint; that's an interesting epitaph to be written on your gravestone - but as far as using PowerPoint in the classroom, it is a sharp point. At what point does trusty, old PowerPoint become a dull, overused tool? And how do we change it so that it becomes fun and engaging again?Answer? Adaptability and creativity. Let's explore that, shall we? At its simplest, PowerPoint is a set of digital pages with which you can relay information to your students - white pages, black words and students taking notes. Death by PowerPoint, indeed. No wonder students are metaphorically giving up the ghost, and engaged learning alone with it.
But, through the use of PowerPoint's more technical tools, your PowerPoint lesson can be reanimated to life. Creativity and coding are your only limits in designing, texturing and colouring your slides. Links can be embedded, videos and audio attached to slides and pictures easily inserted for educational or aesthetic purposes. The standard bold, italics and underline font apply, as well as shadowing and strikethroughs. Charts, ClipArt, WordArt, transitions and animations add flair to an otherwise dull presentation.
However, PowerPoint's tools can be abused. Imagine the cringe-worthiness of badly placed pictures and audio, not only for you, but for your students - it's almost like telling a joke and not receiving a single laugh. One I distinctly remember - and not for a good reason - is the awkward, 70's television show reminiscent clap track. Bright and bad clipart, sharp background colours and illegible wording -either because of colour or size - are the bane of both the teacher and the student.
Therefore, overall, if the capabilities of PowerPoint is not abused, the low-level technology can become another tool in your arsenal. However, I must reiterate it is low-level and does not rank high upon the SAMR scale. But, in using this in conjunction with other higher ranked activities, helps support the learning of your students.
For this task, I created a hypothetical lesson plan for an English class and the PowerPoint I would use. This PowerPoint, hypothetically could be used for either a grade 9 lass first learning the subject matter or a grade 11/12 class re-learning the subject matter for assessment. Keeping in mind the ability to abuse the technology, I used simple transitions and clear lettering. Activities are included in the PowerPoint.
PowerPoint Demonstration - Literature Lesson
Students are often tasked with creating a PowerPoint to supplement their orals for assessment. However, like teachers, they have the ability to abuse the technology. Either through laziness or ignorance, students often simply pick a design, write on the slides, perhaps place a few pictures and think they are done. Finished. A+. That is not the case. Rather, we need to teach students the same - the correct use of PowerPoint.
In the end, PowerPoint remains the trusty, old Microsoft presentation tool that every 90's kid used to mess around with in accordance to Paint. But with the new decade, it has the ability to rise from the ashes like a phoenix and become much more at our hands.
Friday, 3 April 2015
Assessment One: Embedded Task Three - Reflection On The Practical Uses Of... Multimedia.
Embedded Task Three - Reflection On The Practical Uses of Media.
A pictures worth a thousand words... and I have two of them! Or rather, I have a neat little collection of them from my trip to Japan, run through a free photo editor by the name of BeFunky. Pretty funky right? Ahem. Moving along.
Introduced - or rather reintroduced - this week were the concepts of images, audio and video within the classroom. For I am a creative and sarcastic soul, my mind immediately jumped for the idea of involving videos within the classroom and curriculum. In my own school days - and university days, if we are to be honest - I adored the creative tasks in which I could create multimodal pieces.
Videos are one simple piece of media that can blossom under the craftsmanship of a student. Ranging from threading images together under a musical beat to the entire process of writing, filming, editing and publishing a masterpiece of a short movie, the possibilities for the students' creative output is near endless.
Videos are easily single authored for anyone with some time and creative - camera optional - however, it is also a multi-author platform with a little more time and planning. Privacy is also wide ranging, from having a simple home movie which no one but you, friends and family see to something posted world wide on YouTube.
Editing your videos is a virtual playground of customization - with music, text, subtitles and transitions, you can make your video into a one of a kind masterpiece. Or adjust it to follow the style of one of your favourite directors. It's your time to shine!
In the modern age of technology, filming is as easy as whipping out your phone, taking the footage and uploading it to an online editing suite. The proficiency lies here, in how well you can manipulate the editing software. Publish to YouTube and you're done!
Of course, if you are attempting to look like Hollywood, you may need to hone your skills on some amateur videos first!
An example of this type of technology at work is the assessment I've come across in the past. During high school, I took a Film and Television class and as typical for that type of class, we had to produce short scripts and films as a few of our assessment. In one, I had to create a short movie using the technique of surrealism. In university, we were tasked to create a short film in any chosen genre.
After completing these sorts of assessment myself, I firmly believe they are of a MR quality on the SAMR scale. It challenges students to go above and beyond the average for the grade and with it you can set even more challenges: early finishers get to create a blooper reel and show both to the class etc.
I am sure as I move throw this course, I'm going to reassess and add more to my list of video assessment and activities because I love them so.
A pictures worth a thousand words... and I have two of them! Or rather, I have a neat little collection of them from my trip to Japan, run through a free photo editor by the name of BeFunky. Pretty funky right? Ahem. Moving along.
Introduced - or rather reintroduced - this week were the concepts of images, audio and video within the classroom. For I am a creative and sarcastic soul, my mind immediately jumped for the idea of involving videos within the classroom and curriculum. In my own school days - and university days, if we are to be honest - I adored the creative tasks in which I could create multimodal pieces.
Videos are one simple piece of media that can blossom under the craftsmanship of a student. Ranging from threading images together under a musical beat to the entire process of writing, filming, editing and publishing a masterpiece of a short movie, the possibilities for the students' creative output is near endless.
Videos are easily single authored for anyone with some time and creative - camera optional - however, it is also a multi-author platform with a little more time and planning. Privacy is also wide ranging, from having a simple home movie which no one but you, friends and family see to something posted world wide on YouTube.
Editing your videos is a virtual playground of customization - with music, text, subtitles and transitions, you can make your video into a one of a kind masterpiece. Or adjust it to follow the style of one of your favourite directors. It's your time to shine!
In the modern age of technology, filming is as easy as whipping out your phone, taking the footage and uploading it to an online editing suite. The proficiency lies here, in how well you can manipulate the editing software. Publish to YouTube and you're done!
Of course, if you are attempting to look like Hollywood, you may need to hone your skills on some amateur videos first!
An example of this type of technology at work is the assessment I've come across in the past. During high school, I took a Film and Television class and as typical for that type of class, we had to produce short scripts and films as a few of our assessment. In one, I had to create a short movie using the technique of surrealism. In university, we were tasked to create a short film in any chosen genre.
After completing these sorts of assessment myself, I firmly believe they are of a MR quality on the SAMR scale. It challenges students to go above and beyond the average for the grade and with it you can set even more challenges: early finishers get to create a blooper reel and show both to the class etc.
Friday, 27 March 2015
Assessment One: Embedded Task Two - Reflection On The Practical Uses Of... Blogs.
Embedded Task Two - Reflection On The Practical Uses of Blogs.
Unless you are enumerating 240 different types of tobacco ash (243!)or depicting the adventures of a sociopathic yet charming mad man, blogs are not a type of technology you would commonly use in everyday life. In fact, numerous people are under the assumption that a blog is similar to a online diary shared with anyone who wishes to read it.I must admit, before this course, I was under the same assumption. Who could possibly want an online diary that anyone could read? I had not considered the possibilities beyond an online diary. But after using the technology, I'm discovering a world of alternate possibilities.
Blogs, being part of Web 2.0 technology as they are, contain the ability to be more than just the simple static text and inserted pictures of a website. Customisable to a point with a few, simple easy clicks -and even further with a few more complicated ones - blogs can become as personal or impersonal as you would like. In fact, this week I did just that - my background is now purple!
Of course, just like the websites of Web 1.0, you can insert static images, like the one below:
(Retrieved from samandfuzzy.deviantart.com)Multimedia becomes a tool at your fingertips with a blogs instead of a hindrance: videos, GIFS, links and even inserted quotes - the possibilities become endless with a little creativity.
"Creativity Is Intelligence Having Fun." ~ Albert Einstein.
Of course, blogs do have their limits, as nothing is infallible. Upfront is the restriction of it being a single author platform. Of course, multiple people could run it together, but therein lies the difficulty. Privacy settings allow only the account holder to edit, but everyone to read, comment and follow. With a touch more navigation, you can restrict search options.
Another limitation is the commenting system. There is only the ability to comment on the post, with no discussion threads to have. If you were conducting the blog as we do in the course, having one person post content, then others comment upon it, the system would be sound - to have debates, move somewhere else!
This is not to say that the technology could not be enhanced through pedagogy. Using SAMR, for example, could boost the abilities of the blogging technology. Instead of being a static blog, you could use embedded links, videos and pictures to aid and assist learning, scaffold tasks and assessment, and set students on the right research track.
But does that mean it should be integrated into my classroom and my lesson plans? After all, the adjustment and set up with this blog was easy enough, after I found which button to press! If a 19 year old who grew up with a block of a cell phone and a Nintendo 64 (I know, a bit behind the times!) could figure it out, a tech savvy student should find it a breeze!
Funnily enough, I ended up with a picture in class that asked me how you would upgrade your usage of a blog in the setting of a classroom. Call it fate or luck... but it made me think. Obviously, substituting it into the lesson plan in place of something else would be easy - but getting it to the M and R levels of SAMR would be much harder.
After a good ponder, and a bit of old-school scribbling on paper, I decided a blog of the M and R levels would have to have the following:
- Multiple readers
- An ability to interact with the creator and vice verse.
- A wide feedback response
- Multimedia - audio, video, games, links, pictures, GIFS etc.
- Be a communication hub
Perhaps this would then turn the first lesson into a pure technology lesson - how to create and use a blog. Therefore, it would become not one lesson, but a series of lessons using the technology. Creating wikis might be the next step, as the two are a well linked pair. Of course, then, we would need activities! As a history teacher, I might ask them to keep a blog series on topics learnt over the year, or ask them to role-play a blog post as one of the historical figures they are learning about - posting and commenting in character of course! Video technology certainly would come in handy there.
Really, the plans would have to change depending on my students though. I'm sure there would be a mischievous student - like I once was - who would take the role-play task and have a bit too much fun with it...
Overall, the blog in itself is a useful if slightly restricted piece of technology with a world full of possible outcomes. I will leave you with one last thought. This link.
Friday, 20 March 2015
Assessment One: Embedded Task One - Reflection On Activity: De Bono's Hats
Embedded Task One - Reflection On Activity: De Bono's Hats
De Bono's Hats; one of the most memorable and interesting primary school group tasks ever accomplished in the 00's. Familiar as I was with this type of activity, I was ready to jump right in. Metaphorically placing that first hat on my head felt like primary school all over again.That being said, De Bono's Hats is not limited to primary school. In fact, being as thought-directing as it is, De Bono's Hats can be used in any situation. For example, as an English teacher, I could utilise De Bono's Hats with my students to work out their argument in an essay or feature article piece. The possibilities, as they say, are endless.
De Bono's Hats, structured as it is, allows students to untangle their thoughts and look at one piece of the argument at a time. First off, the White hat asks them for the facts, and only the facts. No personal opinion here! The Yellow and Black hats ask for the positives and the negatives, respectively. Students, with these hats metaphorically on their heads, can focus individually on the benefits and the judgements that may arise about the issue.
The Red and Green hats turn the matter away from the facts and more toward the student's own personal opinion. The Red hat asks for the emotions and feeling about the topic, which allows the student to move from a logical and empirical outlook on the topic to a more emotion driven one. The Green hat then asks the student about possibilities and alternatives, challenging them to be creative about a solution.
All in all, a rather well thought out approach to a topic or issue. Its thought producing style encourages student's to slow down and consider each piece instead of looking too much at the picture as a whole. This keeps in mind Bloom's work and the idea about how student's must break down work to understand it.
Useful even in everyday life, this activity will remain happily amongst my pedagogy tools.
Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Reflection One - Technology Within The Classroom: It's Drawbacks... And It's Advantages.
Technology Within The Classroom: It's Drawbacks And It's Advantages.
Advances within technology means the software and hardware we use on a day-to-day basis is becoming smarter and better than ever. No longer are we rewinding VHS tapes or flipping the cassette over to the other side to hear the rest of the tape. However, these advances cause us as users and educators to ponder to question: "What place does technology take in the classroom?"The answer should be simple, should it not? If technology has a place in everyday life, surely it has a place in education - which, to many young people, is 5 days a week of everyday life. Now, as a pre-service English, History and - eventually - Japanese teacher, I am all for technology within the classroom; until the help becomes a hindrance.
Broken laptops, dead batteries, faulty internet connections and DVDs that skip the most important part; technology morphs from the greatest classroom resource a teacher could have at their finger tips, to the worst enemy ever encountered in the classroom (or at least it feels so when you can't make the stupid YouTube video work after the fourth try.) And thus, my wariness of technology within the classroom begins.
Restrictions are not limited to the technology alone, though. Students, their responsibility and their backgrounds often come into play. I never owned my own laptop until grade 10, when it was bought for me. I only bought an iPod this year. And my phone was an old web-slider until 3 years ago. Teachers now would have labelled me as having a low socio-economical background, especially as I had a single mother. My case is not unique, and many a child - especially in public school like I was - can not afford the technology demanded by the school.
Of course, this isn't to say technology is an inherently bad resource to use within the classroom. The internet, being a database - or at the very least a link - to all the information the human race has ever collected as it is, becomes a tool for not only research, but creative outlet.
As mentioned in Sir Ken Robinson's TED speech (2006), the education system puts entirely too much merit on the academia, and not enough on the creative. As a creative soul myself, I distinctly remember doing as Judy Willis mentions in her video - bored out of my mind and scribbling over my books, or staring out the window. Now, this is not simply because school in the late 90's and early 00's was boring, per say, but because the lack of creative items to engage me.
Therefore, in the end, I can only state that whilst technology is a wonderful resource I will utilise, my students will still be handwriting their English rules and History dates out in full hand on pen and paper.
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