Landscapes Prezi

Landscapes on Prezi

Blog Synopsis - Jasmine Camps (s0173536)

In today’s world, students want and need engagement in their learning (Prensky, 2001). Due to the increase in Information and Communication Technologies outside of school, there is a push to incorporate it into the curriculum, not by merely teaching different digital tools but instead facilitating opportunities for students to learn through different technologies. In this synopsis, I am going to highlight a range of digital tools, all of which I have reviewed and see great potential for their usage within the classroom. I will be looking at these technologies through a lens such as Bloom’s Taxonomy or the Dimensions of Learning and will be explaining the benefits of these tools in regards to pedagogy within the classroom.

Firstly, after my examination, I believe that there are many tools in particular that allow for students to access information, one of which being a Blog (see My Initial Thoughts – Blogging and discussion with peer). According to Downes (2004), educational blogging can be a success in the classroom because it provides students with a space for collaborative learning to occur along with reflective analysis between peers. With a carefully constructed Blog, students can access educational information and engage in learning when they want and where they want. Pedagogically, there are different Habits of Mind (Marzano and Pickering, 2006) that can also be cultivated through the use of a Blog. For example, students could respond accurately to feedback and by doing this, participate in self and peer assessment when using a Blog. In response to this, regardless of the context, a Blog can be used to enhance student learning and help students to engage in online journaling.

Another digital tool that mediates student learning is a Wiki or website (see Weebly Blog posting and Wikis Blog posting), both being ICTs that allow students to analyse and access information. From my analysis, I have realised that a Wiki is a great way to encourage collaborate work, a notion that takes on a Vygotskian perspective. Vygotsky (1962), a Social Constructivist who created a theoretical framework, states that students learn through social interaction with others. He also states that students gain the most from learning when their Zone of Proximal Development is stretched through full collaborative work along with scaffolding of learning experiences. In response to this, a Wiki could be used as a tool which not only allows students to dabble in technology but also learn in a social atmosphere. Tools can be incorporated into a Wiki or website such as a SWOT analysis or PMI chart to prompt students into analysing and categorising central concepts from a range of perspectives. Along with this, other pedagogical elements can be incorporated into these digital tools including specially crafted Higher Order Thinking questions which help students gain deep knowledge and understanding.

Another digital tool that I encountered during this learning journey was a concept map which I created using Bubbl.us. (see my Concept Mapping Blog). I found the concept map to be a wonderful way to help students synthesise, collaborate and refine information in a simple yet effective way which I have since used in my classroom practice (see discussion with peer). Concept mapping can be seen to take on a Cognitive approach as it links new information with prior schema making it easier to remember (Mergel, 1998). Ausubel (cited in McInerney and McInerney, 2006, p. 144) states that advanced organisers such as concept maps can help students extend and refine their pre-existing knowledge when given to students before new concepts are learnt. In response to this, I have found that concept mapping is a pedagogically sound tool that promotes a variety of learning opportunities for students with all learning styles, visual in particular, and helps them to discover new information. Higher Order Thinking skills such as analysing and synthesising (Dalton & Smith, 1986) can be prompted in students as a result of concept mapping. For instance, students can be seen to analyse the chosen topic before creating new ideas around it, followed by synthesising the information when deciding on what is most relevant.

Other Information and Communication Technologies can be used for different purposes and to help students obtain and display different skills. I found the Big 6 Skills framework to be an excellent way to scaffold students by mediating learning through an ICT. I found it very easy to follow and liked the way that it promoted Higher Order Thinking (see The Big 6 Blog posting and discussion with peer). From my perspective, the Big 6 Skills framework appears to guide students carefully through each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy (cited in Dalton & Smith, 1986), first by asking students to gather knowledge followed by using the information found before evaluating on their findings. From my research of The Big 6 Skills framework, it appears that this tool can be used over a range of Key Learning Areas and also promote lifelong learning as the skills taught within the framework are easily transferable into an every day context.

The Big 6 Skills framework also aligns well with the Dimensions of Learning. It covers every dimension by requiring learners to acquire and integrate the knowledge that they have discovered into a given task, extend and refine this knowledge by synthesising and analysing it, along with using the knowledge meaningfully by generating a product or process (Marzano and Pickering, 2006). Along with this, I have identified many Dimension one and five attributes that are transferable with the Big 6 Skills framework with almost all Attitudes and Perceptions, and Habits of Mind being easily aligned with the process. Not only are specific tools used to help students analyse and transform their knowledge, there are also digital technologies available to present and display data.

Different tools can be used to cater for different audiences. Within the classroom, there are likely to be students with a variety of different learning styles. Gardner (cited in McInerney and McInerney, 2006, p. 73) has devised a range of multiple intelligences that can be used to explain the way that different people learn and what particular intelligence they rely on during this learning. There are many different tools that cater for a range of intelligences, one of which being the presentation tool of digital video (see Digital Video – MovieMaker Blog, Digital Video – Youtube Blog and discussion with peer). In my opinion, digital video was one of the most effective learning tools that I encountered because of the various applications that it has within the classroom. If included effectively into learning experiences, it can cater for a range of different intelligences such as kinaesthetic, linguistic and visual.

Along with this, Kearney and Shuck (2004) mention many benefits of digital video usage within the classroom such as student engagement. They state that videos provided a different and new task for students which makes them highly interested and very engaged in what they are doing. In response to this, I believe that digital video could be used to motivate students who are normally off-task due to the different nature of creating through a tool like this. Digital videos from such places as Youtube and Teacher TV (see Teacher TV Blog and discussion with peer) can also provide wonderful tools to stimulate students and support their learning. Fodey and Voki are other great digital tools that can help students display their information in an exciting way (see Fodey and Voki Blogs). This supports Prensky’s (2001) notion of engagement for learning. Students would be participating in Higher Order Thinking and learning without even being aware of it as well as engaging in critical thinking through validating the source the data.

Kearney and Shuck (2004) pose another valuable point in that digital video can be created by students in an individual or collaborative manner. Students could work on a project together, each having different roles in creating the video, a notion that supports Vygotsky’s (1962) concept of collaborative learning. In my opinion, digital video can provide a range of learning experiences and through students using and creating through this tool, they can gain a sense of pride and ownership of their work.

Most of the tools mentioned above can be seen to align with other frameworks as well, one being the Productive Pedagogies manual, a set of points that can serve as a reflective tool for teachers to evaluate their practice (Department of Education, 2002). I believe that there are many Productive Pedagogies which can be embedded into the use of these tools, some being Higher Order Thinking, Substantive Conversation, Social Support, Academic engagement along with a myriad of others. These pedagogies guide students to engage in life skills and helps to put the learning into context, rather than students gaining a superficial knowledge relating to a task.

Ultimately, the above digital tools that I have evaluated can provide platforms for students to analyse, evaluate, gather and present knowledge in a variety of ways. Instead of being used as the main content for learning, I have found that these tools mediate the learning, as it is the pedagogy linked to the tools that is most significant. These tools also support Twenty-first Century learners in the way they are engaging and interesting for students to learn through. All of the tools mentioned have great potential in the classroom as they all align in some way to the Dimensions of Learning and also promote Higher Order Thinking, making them valuable learning devices for use in the Twenty-first Century.

For more information, please view Academic Reference List and Professional Blog Comments List (When viewing the Professional Blogs Comment List, click on the links and they will redirect you to the comments).

Voki

Get a Voki now!


I have just created a Voki Avatar which I think would be an engaging tool for use in the classroom. I liked the different selections available and how I was able to type in the text that I wanted the Avatar to say. This could have many opportunities in the classroom such as:

• a great way to set a scene (As my avatar does)
• could introduce the lesson
• easy for students to create
• useful for students who have learning difficulties or are hesitant to speak in class
• can be embedded into tools such as Blogs and Wikis

The one that I have created could be used as part of a SOSE webquest where students investigate landfill and the impact of this on the environment.

Fodey

I have just trialled Fodey.com and made a newspaper clipping from my podcasting blog. It was very easy to generate this image (right) and I can see many uses for it in the classroom. It could serve as a wonderful engagement tool to start a new unit or lesson. It could also serve as an assessment tool where students document their findings. There are also different formats that information can be published in. The only weakness that I could see about this website are the advertisements that are present towards the sides of the page. Some are inappropriate for student viewing though I guess these may be censored by Education Queensland. Even though this is so, I can see this digital tool as being an engaging method of presenting information.

Image courtesy of Fodey.com

teachers.tv

I have just been looking on http://www.teachers.tv/resource/search?tn=writing&t=502&mtid=892&noscroll=1 and have found some wonderful short videos that provide a starting point for creative writing lessons. This would be an excellent resource as the videos are very engaging and interesting. They are also available in a range of year levels.

Digital Video - YouTube

I found this YouTube clip to be a good educational resource as I have ustilised it in a unit that I previously constructed. It is called Ocean Odyssey - Impact of an Oil Spill. Similar to the video that I constructed, this YouTube clip can also be used as a resource where students can extract information and be engaged in the mean time. It could even be used within a webquest as part of a collection of resources that students could explore to gain conceptual knowledge about a topic.

Even though YouTube has a large variety of videos available for viewing, caution should be taken as some are inappropriate for the learning context. Along with this, YouTube clips can be created and posted by anyone, hence the information that they contain is not always scholarly and correct. Even though this is so, there are many great videos on YouTube that can be informative and valuable for learning. Videos could be accessed anywhere and at any time by learners seeing that they can be embedded into tools such as Blogs, Wikis, LMS and websites. I found this YouTube clip very easy to embed after reading the instructions and think that it has many benefits for within the classroom including engagement of learners and catering for learners who have visual and auditory learning styles.

YouTube clip courtesy of NASAscifiles.

Digital Video - MovieMaker

I have just created a short movie using MovieMaker, a program which I found relatively easy to use seeing I have previously made videos with this tool. Digital videos are a great tool to use in the classroom though can sometimes be time consuming to make. I believe that they could be used in many contexts. Some of the strenghts and opportunities are:

• allowing students to reflect on their work
• providing an assessment task - students may be required to apply their knowledge and include relevant findings in a video according to a unit that they have been part of
• encourages technological literacy in students
• provides a tool for communication and evaluation
• provides stimulus for visual and auditory learners
• could be used as a hook for a lesson or crafted to be an activity that poses Higher Order Thinking questions to students
• could require students to synthesise their findings by combining information and prompting decision making and planning about what is to go into the movie to gain the best possible result

Weaknesses and threats are:

• MovieMaker may be difficult to teach because of the many functions and applications available in the program
• virtually no pedagogy in some movies
• possibility of it not be utilised as a tool which can be taught through and may not have any relevance to learning (needs to be in context)

As you can see, the movie that I have create poses a variety of questions which prompt students to reflect on what they are seeing and compare their daily life with what it might be like to live in a country other than Australia. As the students see the images, they could write down dot points to answer the questions featured within the movie. A lesson could follow this which synthesises the information found through collaboration with other peers. Students could work together to find the similarities and differences between our culture and that of Asia.