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