This is a mind map of things that I have learnt from this semmester during the e-learning in the primary school subject. I created it using Inspiration:
This blog was done in the form of a podcast and was based on the you tube video Education today and tomorrow.
The Podcast:
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I have just read Tristan’s blog “A study into interactive whiteboards” and I agree with what he said to some degree. I agree that they are interactive and engage students and help them understand and develop skills in literacy. However, I have seen interactive whiteboards or smart boards being used in classrooms, and yes sometimes they have technological troubles, but they brought understanding to the children they would not have gotten from the teacher using just the whiteboard.
For example, in a year two music lesson a teacher used a website using the smart board that could organise sounds into orders and patterns and replay them back to you. It demonstrated the way students should organise sound and how to demonstrate what you mean when writing it out, in a way that you could not do if you were just using a white board, even if you had musical instruments. It gave the students instant feedback about the way their sound compilations sounded, and whether it made sense to organise the sound in the way they did.
After reading Emily’s blog on Internet use in the primary classroom and I disagree with what she said. Most schools that I have walked into have at least one room full of computers, enough for a whole classroom. I agree with her that using the internet and computers in the normal classroom activities is beneficial, and surely you would be able to book this classroom for some of that? After all, most classes only use the computer lab for at most an hour a week, and there should be some other time for the class to use the computer labs?
Also, there is usually at least one computer in each classroom. Would it be so hard to get students to go on a couple of students at a time for 10 minutes each? It is effort, but I believe it is a worthwhile level of effort.
I found the article digital stories in the classroom via UTSOnline and have really started to think about the use of digital stories to convey a message in the classroom. I agree with the article that they are a multi-sensory approach and are very intimate especially when compared to an essay. You can use them for experiences which can link into the Key Learning Areas, for example the example digital story is from a girl named Maddie who discusses Katrina’s effect on her (natural disasters in HSIE).
I found it particularly hard to actually create a digital story myself, and I have great respect for all those who can make digital stories. I feel that with time and practice, I could incorporate this very effectively into the classroom. This wasmy first attempt at digital story telling and it is why I chose to become a teacher:
Digital stories can be very personal and very emotional if they have the right story. However, they also increase the students’ knowledge of another type of computing technology. Teacher’s can use peer assessment to help each other use this technology. Also, if another student questions why a child used that specific photo or words, the student will need to justify and really think about what they are creating. This is a great piece of technology that I would encourage you to share and use in your classrooms!
All can be done just by using one of these on iMovie…
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I found Maree’s blog on Who’s teaching who? really interesting to think about, as I am only a few years out of school myself. I believe that although I am still some what of a ‘native’, the older I get, the more I become an ‘immigrant’. After all, the current ‘immigrants’ would have been native to other new technologies of the past. I hope that the professional development programs will continue to bring us teachers up to date in the future, but it needs to be said, that all teachers will need to become humble, and be taught things by the students or other younger staff members, so that they too will be able to keep up with the ever changing technology. In this way, they will be able to continue to implement new technologies into the curriculum taught, keeping the students’ motivated and engaged in the learning process.
I read Renae’s blog entry E-Learning: From Interpassivity towards interactivity recently on ‘virtual’ learning environments. I found it appealing that she had included the criteria for ‘good’ interactive educational software. I think the tools should be bought and used, if they are worthwhile, useful and fun for the students. I do not think that students should be using any software if it does not show the teacher’s pedagogy for teaching. I also agree that the interactive software must have an educational purpose. If the software does not link with the subject matter in any Key Learning Area of the curriculum, then the school should not buy it UNLESS there is a very good justification, for example if there is use for it in the hidden or moral curriculum (for example, teaching students good behaviours, good team work, etc.)
After writing this blog and rereading it through, I have reflected and I believe that the justification I gave for using this equipment if it is not in the formal curriculum is false. The hidden and moral curriculums should be able to be taught throughout your formal curriculum. There is not enough room in your school year to add more to the curriculum… so don’t!
To some degree I think this video Classroom of the future from You Tube is not realistic. But I think it has a great idea behind it. It focuses on the quality of facilities and how they contribute directly to student performance. I like how it links technology into the discussion in the same way or as a norm, just like clean air, good light, the environment and colour. It shows how easily technology can be incorporated into our daily lives in the classroom.
Some of the ideas about the future or new classroom I found a little weird. For example, have a green space inside, so literally having trees and plants just growing in the middle of your classroom?! Apart from that I found it really refreshing that the rooms naturally had round tables set up for group work, televisions with DVD players and projectors, and laptops as normal parts of the classroom. The attitude shows that the students will have a technology rich environment to grow and be nurtured in, for the future. Start thinking how you can change your classroom to incorporate it.
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I found this video and speech on “Constructionism and Instructionism” via the UTSOnline and have really found it quite intriguing. The speech giver Seymour Papert talks about the new way of how students’ learn, NOT how we can teach them.
I agree with the constructionism type of teaching, whereby children’s learning is first priority and you teach they by giving them good things to do to learn. I found it really interesting how he linked mathematics and the real world by making mathematics not just writing mathematics. They gave examples of using computing programs to make mathematics, through LOGOWriter. I am sure this is simply one example, but I still found it very intriguing! I think it is very important to learn to be able to use the information.
However I disagree with the article to some degree, because you are not fostering a sense of love for learning in the students by making them learn for a reason. There should be a balance between learning for a particular purpose and just learning in the classroom, otherwise students will not open a book or find a webpage when they are older, unless they have to for something. As a teacher you need to encourage the children to have a love for learning!
Mathematics is no longer like this:
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I read Cheryl’s blog “Is Multi-tasking Impairing our Student’s Learning?” and I thought it was very thought provoking. She mentions that Dr Poldrack “blatantly states that multi-tasking impairs learning” and we should have new information given to use when we have focused attention. It discusses the differences of Skype and Blogger, and how Skype you can be multi-tasking and cover more ground, whereas with blogging it is one thing at a time. Cheryl’s discussion on what our future classrooms astounded me, as she even discussed taking technology out of part of the day so students can sit and reflect and take in at least some of the information from the day’s worth of information overload from technology around us. This was the first time I heard someone saying that we should have some technology free zone times in the classroom. I think it would definitely be beneficial to have some time without technology, even if it is to digest knowledge. But I believe it is more beneficial than that, it allows students to observe that they still can do some things without technology!
