Imagine all the possibilities...

Who would have ever thought the things I did to make my photos better could be used in a teaching- learning context.  I can understand the importance of resizing photos now as the 2nd picture here has the properties of 800 pixels width and 599 pixels height and I have resized again once I put it into my blog as it was still too large to fit in its origanal size.  However the resized picture at the top, uploaded quicker, one of the advantages of resizing and also takes up less page space. 

400 x 300

800x599

I then decided to use Picnik to do some manipulation and came up with a sort of before and after photo.  Although not the greatest of qualities it allowed me to see what functions were available and how easily it can be used.  This could be a good lesson for students about the validity of the information found on sites and the images that are presented.   

Manipulated

 

Original 

I think my thoughts about manipulation and distortion are illustrated perfectly in this youtube clip.


My eyes have been opened up to the many creative outlets that are available online for students to use.  Although as the teacher, I must remember it is more then just about having fun and being creative, when implementing them.  It is more about achieving the learning outcome the best possible way.

No rest for the Wiki -ed - Reflection

Once again participating and creating a wiki was all a new concept for me. Not to say I havent used Wikis before though, I have used Wikipedia and Wiki Answers, numerous times and  sometimes they really have been invaluable to me but never had I edited or created one until just recently.  A task I am still getting to grips with because one thing I seem to forget is that anything I put on my wikispace can be edited if I give permission for people to do so. 

While looking at Wiki's analytically I  was going to untake a PMI and thought I might do some research and see what others had to say about Wiki's in a classroom.  What should I come across in this research none other then a WIKI dedicated to wiki's in the classroom, that included a list of the PLUS or Pros and the Minus or Cons.  Probably a much more thorough and comprehensive list then I could have ever come up with alone.  So instead of undertaking the PMI, I decided to compared Blogs and wikis through a SWOT analysis on my wiki here.

Once again Wikis are a great way for student to use the learning theories of connectivism and constructivism.  I think they are a great way of encouraging social interactions and colloboration amongst students.  While they also allow students to respond when they are ready,giving those reflective learners the opportunity to reflect before answering or participating.  Students are actively involved in creating and constructing knowledge when they are using wiki. 

Looking at both the wiki and blogs both generally and  within a classroom setting through the SWOT analysis, for me, I feel that wikis are better suited to group activities and colloboration so would be an effective tool in group projects or assignments.  A great example of one such wiki is the Wikispace, Terry the tennisball.  While I think that blogs are more suited for individual reflection work.  In essence, they could be usd in conjunction with each other to ensure that students have understood the learning outcomes.  Like we have done in our own exercise of using the Wiki and then reflecting in our blog.

To Blog or not to Blog. Reflection of blogs in classrooms.

Starting this course there has been a fairly steep learning curve and I am certainly getting an appreciation for ICT and better understanding of how it could be used within classrooms. I was very sceptical about starting a blog, it had always been something that had never really interested me but now in this course I see it is a beneficial way for me, as the student to put into practice what I have been learning and obviously communicate with the world about my understanding of the topics. 

Looking at this topic (The uses of Blogs in teaching)  analytically, I undertook a SWOT analysis.
STRENTGTHS

• Learner centred
• Students can develop their own portfolios at their own pace.  They can write as much or as little as they like
• Edited only by the "owner"
• Can be updated quickly and easily
• Give those students less likely to interact in class the opportunity to participate
• Supports multi media, including images, videos etc
• Hyperlinking allows students to see that information can be related and its interconnectivity (Connectivism learning theory)
• Gives a sense of satisfaction, which can lead to improved self esteem
• it is Free to use
• great tool for enabling student to analyse, evaluate
• Records past work
• Accessable outside of school hours

WEAKNESSES

• They need to be scaffolded effectively to ensure the right learning outcomes
• Students may be wary of having information about themselves out in the world for people to comment and possibly criticise on
• Require a computer and internet access
• Blogs are based normally only on opinions and beliefs of the writer. 

OPPORTUNITIES

• Blogs could give students the ability to have an outlet for their creativity
• They gives teachers the ability to see how students are progressing and understanding the topic and where they may need to focus their future teaching on
• A great tool to use for assignment construction and reflection

THREATS

• Online safety of students. eg hacking, predators, cyberbullying
• Students are opened to critiscism through  Negative comments which in turn could lead to demotivation

From my analysis, I definitely think there is a place for blogging in classrooms.  The positives certainly out weigh the negatives. Blogging is a great tool in implementing constructivism and connectivism learning theories into a classroom.  Through the use of Blogs, students can have the ability to construct their own meaning and understanding about particular topics and have the ability to have feedback from the world around them.  In my own experience of blogging so far, I  have found that I am better able to construct understanding and meaning sometimes through my colloboration and interaction with other students blogs.   I have found that when somethings haven't made sense for me, reading through other blogs has helped the information to fit into place.  Definitely a valuable tool in a classroom.  Students can help each other through their own expereinces.

Blogging also puts into practice Blooms Taxonomy of creating,  evaluating, analysing, applying and understanding.

http://taspd.edublogs.org/files/2007/04/bloom_taxonomy.jpg

I think it is essential that as a teacher, to be aware of the weaknesses and threats that a Blog and in fact any activity that they may undertake online can involve, and put precautions into place to ensure that they will be protected the best way possible. 

Although my time with blogging has been limited, research has found me some websites that have great ideas of  how to include blogging in a classroom. Teachers first blog ideas is one of them and the other is more concerned with the "How to" of blogging. 

Reflection on this weeks Wiki activity

This weeks task was to participate in a wiki concerning the use of mobile phones in the classroom. Although I sort of knew about wiki's this was my first time in actually participating in the editing side of one.  While using it I thought it was an interesting idea but now reflecting on it, I realised how perfect an example it was of all we have been learning, including the four dimensions of productive pedagogies, Bloom's taxonomy, TPACK and of course learning theories.  I also thought how perfectly technology can be integrated to enhance the learning outcome.   

The focus of the Wiki was to use  De Bono's 6 hats activity in order to think about all the different aspects of the use of mobile phones in classrooms.  I think the activiy really showcased the four  dimensions of productive pedagogy. 

• Intellectual quality enabled,  we the students to use higher order thinking and have a deep understanding of the topic. 
•  Connectedness as it linked a real world problem to us as future teachers. 
•  Recognition of differences by having all students participate (inclusivity and active citizenship) and finally
• supportive classroom environment was included using the scaffolding techniques to help students better understand and directed learning outcomes.

I believe that also through this wiki two of the learning theories were supported, that of constructivism and connectivism.  Constructivism learning theory is all about students being active in their learning and creating understanding for themselves. The characteristics in this activity that I believe showed the constructivism learning theory included:-

•  The collaborative nature of the activity to actively involve students
• the learning was interactive to help students build on what they already know
• students constructing their own understanding and knowledge based on their experience through the activity; and
• the teacher scaffolding the activity with questions to ensure students were reflective in nature

Even this blog reflection is part of constuctivism learning theory, as the teacher is assessing me as a student to ensure I understand.   

The second theory that was covered was that of connectivism.  Connectivism is about networking and colloborating.  We as students were encouraged to look further a field and find resources relating to all we are learning about and for this activity in particular what other people have said about it. In search result it is evident that there is much debate about this topic but an intersting page I came across called Cellphones in the Classroom certainly helped me to start thinking more positively about mobiles in classrooms.   This is one of the characteristics of connectivism, where learning happens in many different ways, so not only through this course but through our interactions with the world around us be it conversations, web searchs or perhaps reading other peoples blogs. 

One of the problems I came across for this activiy though was I came a little later and numerous people had already commented. In one way this was good as reading other peoples ideas helped give either different perspectives or confirm my own thought. On the other hand however, I felt that maybe this could influence  people when it came to putting their own ideas up,  because perhaps everything they wanted to say was already there or they were reluctant to share their own ideas . I felt  it was a good way to collaborate with others about an interesting topic. iI think it could possibly encourage those who are normally hesitant in participating in class a way to participate. ANd for those reflective learners it gives them time to reflect and participate. 

I think in this case both the wiki and the activity used (De Bono's 6 hats) were great tools that could be used in any class.  Wiki's are a great way to have all students contribute, it also allows a permanent text based record of  the way students think as it is visible and could be used in a the future for other activities.  While De Bono's activity is a great way to incorporate the different dimensions of productive pedagogy. 

The TPACK Framework

When I read this task, I thought to myself, basically they want me to pitch to myself (the uninitiated or who may not be an expert in teaching) .So here goes my pitch of TPACK to the uninitiated or those who may not be experts in teaching.

TPACK is a framework that teachers can use to ensure that they are effective teachers, by intergrating technology in their teaching. It is combining multiple types of knowledge to create TPACK. To understand the framework as a whole, I think it important to understand the individual parts. So I will start with content knowledge. Content knowledge (CK) put simply is the content the teacher knows about the subject or “the what to teach”. The facts, concepts, theories, models, frameworks, procedures and analogies. 

Next is the pedagogical knowledge (PK), this has to do with the best way yo teach or “the how to teach”. It includes such things as the planning, class rules, grouping, and teaching strategies, a teacher may use in a classroom. It is also represented by a circle.

When these two things are blended togther you get what is called Pedagogical Content knowledge (or PCK) it is represented by the space of where the 2 circles over lap. (Shulman)

Finally is the technological knowledge (TK), it is the knowledge about technologies, and the skills required to operate the technologies.

TPK is the overlap of technological and pedagogical knowledge. Basically put this is the ability as a teacher to choose the best technologies as tools for instruction and support student learning. Understanding there are a range of tools exist for particular task, and the ability to choose the tool based on its fitness. This is "the how we teach with technology tools".

TCK is the overlap of technological and content knowledge . 

The conclusion is TPACK, the blending of three knowledges in the right amounts. It is selecting the appropriate tools (TCK) with the appropriate teaching strategies(TPK) to result in effective teaching.

In my search for better understanding of TPACK I came across this youtube clip that I thought animated how I was thinking about TPACK perfectly.

Productive Pedagogies

When I first read through what was requested in this task, I felt a little daunted and had no idea where to start.  But once I started with my idea about Australian food there was so many aspects that I could have chosen explore and expand upon within a classroom. 

This is what I came up with:-

Not sure if what I have is 100% correct but feel free to let me know if you think I have added things in the wrong place or havent added them in others. 

I noticed once I had completed putting it together that although all 4 dimension of the productive pedagogies where included, that is the Intellectual quality, Connectedness, Supportive Classroom enironment and recognition of differences, not all th aspects within these 4 dimensions were covered. 

The one aspect I couldnt seem to include into any of the tasks was the explicit quality performance criteria.  Perhaps one way to include it would have been to put in, after reading the book and the discussion about Australian food, to discuss with the class, the learning outcomes and the criteria for the quality of the students performance during the tasks.  Then at the beginning of each different task continue to detail the learning outcomes and the students expectations. 

I really valued doing this exercise, I am a visual learner, so having a real life situation paired with the productive pedagogy helped me to visualise how each dimensions fits together and the different aspects of each of the dimensions.  I think that this exercise in itself used some of the strategies within productive pedagogies, including

1. Facilitating deep knowledge through high order thinkining
2. Supporting students in knowing how they learn best
3. planning learning that is problem based and situated in real life contexts
4. Is relevant to students and connects to their background knowledge; and Finally
5. Supports learning that is owned, controlled and managed by students themselves

Reflections on Prensky's Ideas

Whilst reading Prensky's Digital Natives,Digital Immigrants and "Engage me or enrage me" What Today's Learners Demand I was both intrigued and interested regarding his ideas about what he calls the "Digital Natives".

Prensky's basic view is that the current teaching styles of modern day is outdated and is no longer designed to teach students of "today".  Students whose whole lives now involve and some would even say revolve around technology. He ultimately thinks, methodology and content need to be reviewed and updated for the "Digital Natives". 

For the most part, I would have to say I  agree with his views about Digital Natives and immigrants, however there are a few things I find slightly odd and maybe differ on. 

Prensky's view that they "think and process information fundamentally differently" and they at least have "changed thinking patterns" is one of the things I find odd.  Surely throughout time, thinking process and information have continually evolved and transformed to a point where it now seems unrecognisable.

We live in an ever changing society, and due to the radically changing world that we live in, I think the change in thinking and processing information differently is not out of choice but out of necessity.  That is, it has caused students to HAVE to think and process differently or else they will be left behind.  With the explosion of media, multimedia and technology, students today are bombarded with so much information that, I think the process of thinking had to change as the amount of information we received was also changing.  It becomes a sink or swim moment, either keep up with the new world or drown in it.

When it comes to teaching methodologies I do agree with Prensky somewhat, however, I don't think that there can be a clear line drawn between should the digital natives learn the old way or should digital immigrants learn the new way. I think there needs to be a middle ground. Okay, so it might slightly favour the digital natives but I don't think the digital age necessarily enhances everything. Take manual arts for example, I think it is brilliant that teachers can integrate the new age digital technologies such as CAD to design what you are going to make but obviously the old teaching methods will need to come into play for the practical side of things. 

 I definitely believe that there is a place for ICT in classrooms and the idea that games should be integrated into learning, is a fantastic idea. The idea of having a game where students can learn geography and culture etc is one of brilliance. Even from my own experience, I know playing a game where you had to memorise flags and name the country, had me playing it for hours just so I could continue to learn different ones.

In saying all of this, I think there also needs to be some, as Prensky likes to put it "powering down" time.  To some degree I think living in a virtual world can effect students in the real world where they are unable to socialise in situations that they may encounter in everyday life. 

As teachers I think we need to accept the world is changing and so have the students that we will teach. They will be forever evolving into new learners and with that we will need   to focuses on new methodology,  and the content which is delivered.  It may not be a balance of the old and new way but I think a happy medium is really what we as teachers should strive for,. 

Multiple Intelligences

Continuing on from learning styles, I was yet to discover about Multiple Intelligences.   Howard Gardner(1975) described multiple intelligences as the variety of abilities learners have in numerous different areas, in which the learning theories or styles do not seem to cover.  He categorised them into 8 different intelligences and as I discovered, during my learning style exercise, that I am a visual, I will display the 8 intelligences how I liked to view them, through  images :).  The one on the bottom is a simplified version of the one on the top.

http://www.gp-training.net/training/educational_theory/multint/wheel2.gif

Without even completing the test and by just reading through the words in the outer circle, I picked myself to be intrapersonal(self smart), visual/spatial (picture smart) and bodily kinesthetic (body smart).  And my results.....drum roll please....



http://freshmanmonroe.blogs.wm.edu/files/2011/08/originals.gif

So no real surprises that 3 of my main intelligiences are the ones I had already picked out for myself.  Logical intelligence was one of a little surprise.  So my strongest ones here also mimic the results I discovered about my learning style. 

However,after completing a few different quizzes online, I do wonder about the accuracy of these tests, as they are purely based on my own perception of how I see myself.  I think other factors that must also effect the results are your mood and attitudes, possibly about yourself or others.  As I have found doing these simple tests from one day to the next can greatly change my results.  Another factore to consider with these questionnaires is the type of questions they ask.  For example I completed another multiple intelligence test online and the results had my interpersonal intelligience, intrapersonal and spatial intelligences as the highest, music and nature as the lowest and language,logical and movement in between.  Does that mean today I am more caring when I read the questions regarding others?

I think the main importance as a teacher is to recognise there ARE different types of intelligiences.  In recognising these differences, teachers can implement different learning designs with ICT to incorporate all the intelligiences.  So for example if I was planning a lesson about Australia, within it  you could get students to form groups or work as individuals to either write a story, source pictures or illustrate themselves, come up with a song or find an appropriate Australian songs usng numerous different computer programs.  This is a fairly simplified idea of using ICT in a class, but ultimately the potential for ICTs in learning design is really endless. 

Learning Styles

Well after completing the Felder and Soloman online questionnaire to determine my learning style, I have discovered nothing really new to me but still interesting none the less. 

The results of my learning styles showed me that I have moderate preferences towards sensing, visual and sequential, as can be seen it the results here:-

NC STATE UNIVERSITY

Learning Styles Results

Results for: Juleen Worthington ACT X REF 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 <-- --> SEN X INT 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 <-- --> VIS X VRB 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 <-- --> SEQ X GLO 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 <-- -->

If your score on a scale is 1-3, you are fairly well balanced on the two dimensions of that scale. If your score on a scale is 5-7, you have a moderate preference for one dimension of the scale and will learn more easily in a teaching environment which favors that dimension. If your score on a scale is 9-11, you have a very strong preference for one dimension of the scale. You may have real difficulty learning in an environment which does not support that preference.

The sensor learner like learning facts, doing thing in sequential ways and being practical. The visual learner remember best what they see in either pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, and demonstrations and finally the sequential learners tend to learn in methodical ways that follow logicaal steps.

As I said before the results really werent that big of a surprise to me as all I need to do is look over my past experiences with learning and it is the classes that I had the hand on experiences, visuals (demonstrations) and the learning of facts that I used to excel in.  Home economics one one of my favourite classes while at school because it was a way of incorporating all of my favourite learning styles.  As was Biology, they both contained the theory of learning the facts while incorporating demonstrations either through labs or demonstrations.  Really was the perfect learning environment for me. 

I decided to undertake another learning style online test just to see how the result would compare.  As you can see in the results here:-

The scores are out of 20 for each style. A score of 20 indicates the style is used often.


 they were pretty much the same.  With my two biggest preferences in learning being visual and physical. 

I think I would have to say that they both are very accurate when it comes to me and my learning styles.

In a class of 25, I think it is important to have a good understanding of what style suits individual students needs best and then try to tailor your lessons to ensure you have a good balance of all the types of learning styles. It is not possible to teach every students their preferred way but it is possible to use the different teaching techniques to partly teach students in their preferred style. 

I think ICT in a classroom could help to cover all the different learning styles.  For example if you were to show a powerpoint presentation to provide the information for students, while you are discussing the points of the powerpoint (verbal), the powerpoint could also include pictures, diagrams, charts for the visual people, after or during the powerpoint you could engage students in activites to help those active learners and then include a reflective activity to think about what has been learnt for the reflective learners.  I know I haven't mentioned all the different types of learners here, but I do believe that ICT could be beneficial in helping to cater for all students individual learning preferences.