Reflective Synopsis

What a fantastic opportunity this has been, to study Managing e-Learning. I thought I was quite literate when it came to technology. I am confident in the use of computers and programs like word, powerpoint, moviemaker and some educational software such as Boardmaker and clicker 5. I am aware of social networking sites like Facebook and twitter but do not engage in these. Being introduced to such a vast array of technological tools has been amazing and I was surprised how easy all of these tools are to navigate and apply. The opportunities to use these tools in the classroom are endless and I look forward to integrating many tools in the classroom in my role as a Learning Manager. The key to using technology and creating successful learning outcomes for students is by embedding the technology into lessons to complement the learning rather than technology as a stand alone tool.

We are now living in a digital era. A digital era where students are growing up with technology, iphones, laptops and many social networking sites. Students today have computer access, mobile phones, ipods and can adapt easily to constant advances in technology. Today’s learners can be referred to as digital natives, those who have grown up with technology. Most teachers today are Digital immigrants, those who have not grown up with technology, who must transform their instruction to a new way of teaching the digital natives. (Prensky, 2010)

Learning Managers need to adapt and change with the constant advances in technology. Marzano, (2010) suggests “one of the biggest challenges is how are we going to integrate technology into good teaching.” The NSW Department of Education (n.d.) created a vision for Technology Education and  suggest “The technological processes, systems, creativity, higher order cognitive skills and future-orientation that technology educators can bring to the classroom will become increasingly significant tools.” Today there are many tools available for students to engage with in the classroom, such as a using a blog, or a wiki to collaborate with peers or people from various locations and backgrounds around the world. Using these tools in the classroom, the underpinning learning frameworks will still exist, such as Bloom's taxonomy although the instruction will need to change to include the tools. (Marzano, 2010)

Fellow student, April James, posted a link to a website of Andrew Churches. Churches has created Bloom’s digital taxonomy and provides examples of tasks using technology to develop student’s lower and higher order thinking in Bloom’s six domains of learning. Churches, suggests a range of technologies to engage students in the classroom.

For example to develop evaluating skills, students could post a script of a persuasive speech or record their speech and upload it to their blog and invite student comments. (Churches, 2010)

There are many tools available to engage students in the classroom and incorporate authentic tasks to contribute to their learning. Tools which allow students to apply knowledge, analyse information, evaluate ideas and create new products. 

I believe the following tools, Powerpoint, visual images, digital video and podcasts could easily be integrated into the classroom and would benefit the students in my learning environment, supporting students with additional needs. These tools give the students the opportunity and assistance to demonstrate their knowledge by alternative means. From reading fellow student’s blogs, I have also gained knowledge and ideas on how these tools  can be integrated into the wider classroom to enhance student learning rather than stand alone technology.

PowerPoint is a program in which the design can be as simple or as complex as the user requires. Students can easily create a PowerPoint to communicate information to others. The product can include voiceovers, sounds, images or include embedded videos in the presentation this provides the opportunity to include visual, auditory or kinaesthetic styles of learning.  David Wetzel (2009), discusses the change of using PowerPoint to support student learning, “To fully engage students in learning activities, these presentations must emphasize important concepts through visual representation of data, illustrations, narratives, videos, virtual manipulatives, and more. Integration of online education technology into PowerPoint presentations supports student learning beyond note taking.” As an example in the classroom, PowerPoint could be used for students when investigating plant varieties in their environment, photos can be uploaded and students can create a voice recording of the description, location and features of each plant. 

When students are creating PowerPoint, one weakness is often the focus on presentation, which can be time consuming, rather than researching information for the content. This problem can be addressed by creating an outline view of the presentation in Word to scaffold the content for each slide. (Fasso, 2010) I have found this scaffolding useful for students to organise the information to be presented on each slide. This use of scaffolding relates with Vygotsky’s theory of Zone of Proximal Development, supporting or guiding the student to complete the task. 

The use of visual images is another tool to contribute to student learning. Supporting a student with low levels of literacy and oracy skills, I have had success in assisting them in creating a story using Boardmaker software program, the student could then read along with the story with the images replacing the text. In my teaching context visual images are used frequently to help students understand concepts. Paula Kluth, (2006) discusses visual supports for students with learning needs and suggests many of these students are visual learners who “are best able to understand and remember content when they can see it represented in some way”. 

Visual images help convey meaning, evoke emotions and stimulate thinking. Students can view images and analyse their meanings, look at an image and discuss different viewpoints. Students may look at Indigenous artwork in SOSE class and analyse the meaning of the symbols, the purpose and intended audience. Students could design and construct a photo story using images they have captured at school or use images to plan and create an instructional piece for a science experiment. Fellow student, Tanya Kleidon pointed out that images are a valuable tool in complementing written text although it is not recommended to over-stimulate students with meaningless images.

Digital videos are another tool I would use in my teaching context. Students could be filmed during presentations and view themselves so they can reflect and evaluate their performance. Students have the opportunity to view their body language, stance, gestures and listen to their speech to identify areas where they could improve their presentation. Students could participate in authentic tasks for example, creating a short video for the local council promoting the community. Students would collaborate, research, plan, record and edit a digital video to present to the local council. This type of activity aligns with the Engagement Theory, Relate, Create, Donate, where students are meaningfully engaged in activities with others to create worthwhile tasks. Digital videos can be uploaded to the internet for viewing to a wider audience. 

There are many examples of digital videos available on the internet, YouTube is a popular website containing a range of educational videos for use in the classroom. Engaging students with a short video as an introduction to the beginning of a lesson or unit of work is an effective tool. I also explored GoAnimate a website to create short videos which could be an interesting tool used to introduce a topic.

Podcasts are effective for students who are low level readers, they can download podcasts of class novels in English, this would help with hearing the tone of texts for greater understanding. The Learning Manager could create podcasts of each chapter or students who are more fluent in reading could record their voice for their peers. Students could record group discussions in any subject area and create podcasts to share with other groups, this allows all groups access to ideas and information. 

There are many other tools I look forward to implementing and sharing with my work colleagues to support the use of technology in the classroom. One area I need to further develop and embrace, is the collaboration element of this technology. Although I am a visual/aural person, and I prefer more personal contact to read people’s body language and hear the tone of their voice, I look forward to establishing a network to share ideas and strategies on e-Learning. I like this statement from Marc Prensky which I feel represents technology and student-centred learning. 

“Today’s technology, though, offers students all kinds of new, highly effective tools they can use to learn on their own   – from the Internet with almost all the information, to search and research tools to sort out what is true and relevant, to analysis tools to help make sense of it, to creation tools to present one’s findings in a variety of media, to social tools to network and collaborate with people around the world. And while the teacher can and should be a guide, most of these tools are best used by students, not teachers.”

Marc Prensky (2008)

References

Marzano, R.J., & Pickering, D.J. (1997). Dimensions of learning. Teacher’s manual. Colorado: Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory

Kluth, P. (2006) Do You See What I Mean? Creating Visual Literacy Supports for Special Needs Students. Retrieved from http://www.paulakluth.com/articles/visual_literacy.html

NSW Department of Education. (n.d) retrieved from

http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/secondary/technology/prolearn/knowledge_economy.pdf

Prensky, M. (2008) The Role of Technology in teaching and the classroom. Retrieved from

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-The_Role_of_Technology-ET-11-12-08.pdf

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved from http://marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Wetzel, David. R, (2009). PowerPoint Presentations Beyond Note Taking: Education Technology Applications That Improve Student Learning. Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/content/powerpoint-presentations-beyond-note-taking-a143795

Comments List

Tanya Kleidon - Microsoft PowerPoint 


April James - Images and Podcasts

Technology in the classroom

In this short clip, Robert Marzano discusses the changes in technology, and how teaching instruction will need to change in the future. The key understanding is for Learning Managers to change the way they teach to include technologies in the classroom. Marzano, (2010) suggests that "A great teacher with an interactive whiteboard will out-perform a great teacher without an interactive whiteboard. They have more tools at their disposal."
I admire the way Marzano acknowledges that books which he has written previously on instruction will be of little use in 10 years as new technologies are introduced in the classroom.

Podcasts

"A podcast is an audio or video file archived on the Internet in such a way that it can be automatically accessed by a personal computer, downloaded and transferred to a portable MP3 player"(Department of Education WA, 2010) The department (2010) also suggests that "creating a podcast allows students to share learning experiences. It provides them with a world-wide audience that makes learning meaningful and assessment authentic."

The podcast I made "Bad Hair Day", is an example of a personal recount from the unit "Who we are", from the Learning Place website, which I am adapting for Assessment 3.

The podcast was simple to use and is a great tool for students in the classroom. As a Learning Manager podcasts could be used for lesson reviews, book readings and a record of class discussions. Students could then download episodes onto their ipods or mp3 players. Students can create podcasts to share stories and ideas, and receive feedback from their peers, parents or teachers.

Reference
Department of Education WA, (2010) retrieved December 14 from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/podcasts/

GoAnimate

Tonight I was playing around with GoAnimate and created this short clip. This is a great website, it could be used for a range of student activities including, short stories, recounts and to create social stories for students with ASD. 




GoAnimate.com: My blog by SarahMay2

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Digital Video

The following video is a short presentation I helped my daughter create to show one of the benefits of having a uniform policy at school. This video was made using iMovie. 

During the year, I supported a student, with a disability, in Yr 11 English to create different presentations using iMovie. One presentation, "This is me, and my community", showcased the student's link to various places in and around the community. The benefits of recording included, time to rehearse and view the video, trimming sequences to eliminate pauses between speech and the use of overlays, images and music. The final presentation was fantastic and the student proudly presented the video to the class. We also included a bloopers section of out-takes. 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy is a framework which involves lower order and higher order thinking skills. Lower order thinking skills include, remembering, understanding and applying while higher order thinking skills include analysing, evaluating and creating. 

Within Education Queensland there is a focus on schools including higher order thinking in their curriculum. In reference to Queensland teachers aligning with the National Curriculum, Queensland Studies Authority (2010) states, the Learning P-12 approach includes “content and achievement standards and assessment that focus on depth of learning and higher order thinking based upon high expectations and standards for all students.” 

The following information is from Think, Organise, Write, a book from Quill and Townsend, who describe the different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and the skills involved. They also suggest a range of graphic organisers for students to use to plan and write at each level of thinking. 

Remembering

Remembering - This is the easiest thinking level where you need to show you have remembered or learned information. Skills at this level involve describing, identifying, listing, retrieving, examining, matching, retelling and naming. Use the following graphic organisers to plan and write at this level of thinking:

• Note-taking table
• Story Map
• Time-line

Understanding

This type of thinking activity shows that you understand what you have learned. Skills at this level involve summarising, classifying or comparing.  Graphic Organisers:

• Concept Map - Spider Map
• Concept Map - Hierarchical Map
• Table

Applying

Applying means to transfer something learned to a new situation i.e. to make use of information in some way. skills at this level involve implementing, constructing, examining, classifying, illustrating, solving or completing. Graphic Organisers:

• Flow Chart
• Persuasion Map
• Storyboard
• Y - chart

Analysing

Analysing is to examine something in detail in order to discover its meaning or essential featured, to break something down into its components. Skills at this level involve comparing, contrasting, inquiring, surveying, grouping, arranging, interpreting, investigating or finding. Graphic Organisers:

• Venn diagram
• Ranking ladder
• Sociogram
• For and Against
• SWOT analysis
• Cause and effect organiser (Fishbone Map)

Evaluating

Evaluating/judging is justifying a decision or new course of action; making judgements and thinking hard to support your opinions. Skills at this level involve interpreting, critiquing , judging, hypothesising, monitoring, measuring, appraising, rating, scoring, assessing or testing. Graphic Organisers:

• PMI chart
• Balance Bar/ Scale of Bias
• Effects Wheel
• Reflective Questioning
• Socratic Questioning

Creating

Creating/producing generates new ideas, ways to design products or new ways to do things. Skills at this level involve composing, integrating, proposing, arranging, planning, designing, assembling, constructing, inventing, substituting and speculating. Graphic Organisers:

• Reframing Matrix
• SCAMPER Chart
• Lotus Diagram

References

QSA. 2010. Transition to the Australian curriculum: Frequently asked questions. Retrieved Nov 28 from http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/12474.html

Quill, A & Townsend, A. 2009 Think, Organise, Write. Farr Books. Wilston, Queensland.

April James, posted some interesting information about Bloom's Digital Taxonomy, created by Andrew Churches. Follow the link to find out more:

http://aprilljames.blogspot.com/2010/11/andrew-churches.html

Engage Me!

I came across this clip on youtube which basically sums up the reasons for studying E-learning, to engage students and create positive learning experiences using tools they are familiar with.

Powerpoint

Powerpoint is commonly used by students in the classroom for presenting their work. Their presentations can be saved as a movie WMV file and uploaded to their blog. This is a quick example of what can be achieved.

Website

I have created my website which will include the unit of work for Assessment 3 of this course. I am very excited to be able to create my own website and add files, pictures, videos and links for the students to use in the classroom all in the one, easy to navigate, location.

Wikis in the classroom

Wikis are websites that allow accepted users to add, edit and update information. The teacher can control the wiki regarding the input and access, they also have the ability to track who is contributing to the wiki. There are many uses for wikis in the classroom most of which incorporate collabarative learning.

One interesting point I have seen from the use of wikis is the need to use organising frameworks so learners have an opportunity for inquiry and higher order thinking. For example, the Expert Jigsaw where students focus on a segment of material or part of a topic, or using the thinkers keys to engage students in a range of creative thinking tasks encourage higher order thinking. (Kruse, 2009) 

50 ways to use a wiki

References

Kruse, D. 2009. Thinking Strategies for the Inquiry classroom. Curriculum Corporation. Carlton South, Victoria.

Blogs in the classroom

Blog’s are online personal journals used for personal views and information intended for public view. Blogs contain a series of entries posted by the author. Blogs can cover a range of various topics. They can include links to websites and documents, and videos and images can be embedded. The author of a blog is often referred to as a blogger. Comments can be made on each posting.

There are many uses for blogs in the classroom. Given that learning itself is an inherently social activity, and we know that the digital native has significant experience in the use of technologies outside of their formal learning, it has tremendous potential. (education.edu, 2006) Some uses of blogging in the classroom include:

      • an online journal to record information from investigative science reports/experiments.
      • writing chapter summaries from a novel, adding pictures and images to support the understanding of the story.
      • Homework, students can reflect on new learnings from the day’s topics.
      • Information for parents, upcoming events

References
Education Services Australia. (2006) Blogs, Wikis, RSS and there's more? Web 2.0 on the march. Retrieved from http://www.educationau.edu.au/content/blogs-wikis-rss-and-theres-more-web-20-march

Welcome!

Get a Voki now!

Inspiration

Concept maps are a great way to organise information. In my learning environment I support students with learning difficulties/disabilities and we encourage the use of Inspiration 8IE to create concept maps for a range of learning activities. Unlike pen and paper concept mapping, in computer generated models subheadings can be rearranged and formats altered to suit the information being organised. Inspiration 8IE can transform the concept map (Figure 1) to an outline view (Figure 2) with headings and sub-headings. This organisation of ideas is useful for students when starting reports, investigations or narratives for example. Students can add images from the library, add hyperlinks to web pages and upload images all supporting the visualisation of information.

The Inspiration 8IE program also allows teachers to create a pro forma that maps the concepts of the topic or text, with key headings for students to add the relevant information under. Providing scaffolding is an important process to the learning development of students. Scaffolded instruction was developed from Vygotsky’s theory and his concept of Zone of proximal development (ZPD). McInerney and McInerney (2006, p.59) explain that “To place learning in the zone of proximal development, an appropriate level of difficulty needs to be established. This level must be challenging but not too difficult. The educator then needs to provide for assisted performance.” As the student becomes experienced in summarising and identifying key ideas for their topic, the scaffolding may be removed for students to independently organise the information into their concept map.

References

McInerney, D. M., & McInerney, V. (2006). Educational psychology: Constructing learning (4th Ed.). Australia: Pearson Education. 

Figure 1

Figure 2

Concept maps

text2mindmap

Another website which is easy to navigate is http://www.text2mindmap.com/  There is a text box on the left hand side of the screen to add text, you can use the tab button to indent the information which creates branches. Once all the information is entered the text can be converted into a mind map. Editing includes changing the colour, the text size and the bubbles can be rearranged around the centre title.

Concept maps

Bubbl.us

http://bubbl.us/ This is an easy to use website to create concept maps. Each bubble has it's own editing function which can take a little time but is very effective for colour coding and grouping information.

Learning Theory

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

“Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.”  (Prensky, 2001)

Comic strip credit: Fitz & Pirillo Blaugh.com

Definition 

Digital Natives refers to people who have grown up in the digital world using technology as a way to communicate, record, educate, and understand society. 

Digital Immigrant refers to those who were not born into the digital world but have embraced the use of new technologies.

The term “digital natives” was introduced by Marc Prensky (2001), who suggests “the arrival and rapid dissemination of digital technology in the last decades of the 20th century has lead to a discontinuity among todays learners. Although, the first mention of this theory is attributed to Don Tapscott who describes the future learners as the “Net Generation” (Helena Bukvova, 2009).

Characteristics of ‘digital natives’

• a distinct new generation with characteristics that separate it from the past generations.
• have had extensive contact to technology, particularly the Internet, throughout their upbringing. They are used to employing ICT under all circumstances.
• posses a high level of media literacy.
• certain characteristics are common to the whole generation of digital natives, characteristics directly influence the way they learn e.g. quick absorption of information, networking, work in teams, attention disorders
• the digital natives feel uncomfortable in the existing educational system. 

Applying the ‘digital native’ theory to today’s learners

Pluses 

Students are confident and familiar with using technology.

Learning activities can be presented in engaging and stimulating ways.

Minuses

All students have varying degrees of access to digital technologies, literacy skills, and participation within their peer culture.

Adapting teaching methods and incorporating new technologies requires professional development for learning managers not familiar with technology.

Availability of resources eg. hardware, software, internet connection and availability within the learning environment.

Interesting

As the same way migrants embrace and adapt to life in a new country, digital immigrants can change to include new methodologies.

“Today’s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students. This doesn’t    mean changing the meaning of what is important, or of good thinking skills. But it does mean going faster, less step-by step, more in parallel, with more random access, among other things.”

(Prensky, 2001)

“We may never become true digital natives, but we can and must begin to assimilate to their culture and way of thinking.” 

(Rupert Murdoch, April 2005)

References

Prensky, M (2001) On the Horizon: Digital Natives Digital Immigrants Vol. 9 No. 5, MCB University Press. Retrieved 7 November from http://www.marcprensky.com/default.asp