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.

Podcasts

Before embarking on this weeks blog postings, I had no idea what podcasting was though I am pleased to find out that it could be a wonderful teaching tool! Not only could it help save the teacher's voice, it could also be used to educate students about selected topics in an auditory way. A podcast that I found to be particularly interesting is called Empty Nest, a part of the Podcast collection called Cumbrian Ospreys. Click here to listen to the Podcast. I believe that this could be a useful educational podcast for students learning about lifecycles and animal instincts. If the teacher were to subscribe to all of the podcasts in this collection, they would have a series of updates about the Cumbrian Ospreys and the progress of their chicks being born, growing and then leaving the nest. According to Langwitches Blog (2010), podcasting is not solely about learning to use the technology. Rather, it is learning through the technology and engaging in skills and actions such as speaking, writing, fluency and literacy. In response to this, the teacher is not the only one who can benefit from podcasting with students being able to extend their technological knowledge and also learn lifelong skills in the process.

Cebeci and Tekdal (2006, p. 49) highlight that one of the benefits of podcasting is for students who may be visually challenged. They also state that podcasting, like other ICTs, can be accessed anywhere at any time and relies on the skill of listening rather than writing. Having read this article, podcasting seems to possess many strengths and opportunities including its mode of communication and its easy accessibility. One of the weaknesses that I believe podcasting could have is in proving a daunting task for educators to begin creating and implenting podcasts in their classrooms. To overcome this, there are a multitude of programs and tutorials available to familiarise people with this tool. Overal, podcasting seems like a terrific learning tool and could provide a refreshing way of educating learners.

I am truely beginning to see the benefits of this university course now. Seeing that it is a requirement of the course to become familiar with a repertoire of digital tools, it has pushed me out of my comfort zone but in doing this, I have expanded my horizons and now believe that I will be a much more informed and technologically savvy learning manager.

Cumbian Osprey podcast courtesy of http://www.bbc.co.uk/

References

Cebeci, Z., & Tekdal, M. (2006). Using podcasts as audio learning objects. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects. 2, 49 – 55, Retrieved from http://ijklo.org/Volume2/v2p047-057Cebeci.pdf

Langwitches Blog. (2010, January 9). It’s not about the tools. It’s about the skills. Retrieved from http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/01/09/its-not-about-the-tools-its-about-the-skills/

Images and their Advantages in the Classroom 2

Here are some photographs of young girls going about their daily lives that I took whilst travelling in Thailand. They were altered using MobaPhoto. After uploading them, I reset the size so that they were compatible to upload online. After this, I cropped the photos before uploading them to my blog. Overall, I can see many uses for these photographs within the classroom. They could provide the hook to a unit and give a point of discussion to get the students engaged and curious. Following this, the students could research different cultures and different ways of life where they could communicate with a student from a different country to obtain their own knowledge. The images could also be used as stimulus for an art lesson where students identify the colour palette and paint portaits of themselves. Another use for younger grades could be identifying different features of the human body and identify which sense is provided by which body part (touch, smell, hearing, sight, taste). As can be seen, there are a myriad of possibilities for these photographs with one of these being catering for the visual learners of the class.

Images and their Advantages in the Classroom

After accessing Flickr, I can see the broad repertoire of images available for download, many of them useful for to enhance learning experiences within the classroom. I chose to upload a photograph of the Sacred Kingfisher (right) because I could see the uses that this could have within the classroom. Giving students a visual stimulus, this image could provide the basis of a report where students identify the key aspects of the Kingfisher, describe its attributes and promote further research to discover the climate it lives in and the food sources that it needs.

Image courtesy of Flickr.com

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

From my experience with Moodle, Learning Management Systems are a great tool to collaborate all necessary information into one place. Their opportunities include that they are a way of combining any classroom blogs, wikis or other learning objects into one easily accessible location. Another strength that a LMS has is that it is password protected so only certain users can access it. Along with this, it can provide a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week classroom information site which can be accessed by students and parents anywhere, at any time. I like the way that LMS can be formatted so that the information is in categories and hence is easy to find. The weaknesses are that LMS can sometimes be difficult to navigate and occassionally quite overwhelming. Some of the LMS that I have seen are not visually stimulating so this may not spark students' interest.

Prezi

Prezi is a program which allows users to create innovative and exciting presentations. I personally did not make a Prezi presentation but I did explore some of the previously made ones. They are interactive and allow the viewer to peruse the presentation at their own pace. With the click of a mouse, you are transported to another piece of information in the sequence. Alternatively, you can click and move the presentation to view information that is specifically appealing to you. Overall, I think Prezi is a great tool and I would definitely consider using a pre-made Prezi presentation to teach my students about concepts. It appears as though it could supply a wonderful hook/introduction to a new concept as it is an engaging way to learn new information. As for teaching students how to use the tool itself, I think PowerPoint is just as effective at conveying information in the school setting and it is a tool that most students are already familiar with. I believe Prezi would be more suited to be taught to middle/upper aged primary students.

Weebly

Weebly is a tool that allows people to make their own websites in a simple and unproblematic way. I found the 'drag and drop' format of adding text relatively easy to use. After exploring and evaluating this tool, I believe that it is another effective avenue that can be taken to incorporate ICTs into the classroom. The strenghts and opportunities of this tool are that homework and extra supplimentary work can be uploaded onto the site for use by students outside of school hours. Along with this, documentation such as newsletters and permission notes could also be included on the site for parents to access. This could potentially eliminate the risk of important notes being lost by students while at school. The site could also serve as a journal/diary to inform parents of the daily happenings, with the classroom schedule being mentioned along with pictures of student work. Extra features of the website could consist of ways to email/contact the teacher and a calendar displaying the upcoming events within the classroom.

Along with these benefits, Eagleton (1999) noted that a classroom website may incorporate a variety of different modes such as written text, visual stimulus, videos and auditory resources. In response to this, it seems that a website has potential to be a very multifaceted learning tool which can cater for students' different learning styles.

The weaknesses of a classroom website are that there is virtually no teaching involved. Even though this is apparent, a website could serve as a means of displaying low-stakes information where students can follow up and practice their work rather than learn new concepts. A threat of a classroom website is that it is a public document which can be accessed by anyone (assuming that a password has not been set for the site). However, with due care and selectively incorporated materials (preferably not student photos for ethical reasons), a website can provide a means to enhance and suppliment student learning.

To visit my Weebly website, please click here.

Image courtesy of Weebly.com

References

Eagleton, M.B. (1999). The benefits and challenges of a student-designed school website. Retrieved from http://www.readingonline.org/articles/eagleton/text.html

PowerPoint Presentations

I personally enjoy using PowerPoint. In my opinion, it is very simple to use and provides a visual presentation that can stand alone or be used to suppliment another mode, an example of this being a speech/tutorial. After reading the Week 3 information on PowerPoints, my knowledge of this tool has been deepened. What struck me the most was the planning tools that can be used to make storyboards and outlines in Microsoft Word. This seems like such a wonderful way to introduce students to the aspect of organising their information and thinking ahead before creating their PowerPoints. I also believe that through planning a PowerPoint presentation in Microsoft Word, this may eliminate any hesitations from some students who have little knowledge of PowerPoint but are capable at using the Microsoft Word program. The only weaknesses that I gathered from these tools were that it may be slightly hard to teach students how to construct an outline because of the procedures around this. Some students may also already be very familiar with creating presentations from scratch in the PowerPoint program so they may not appreciate the benefits of planning initially.

Hyperlinking PowerPoint slides together also seems to be a very useful way of presenting information. This could be used by the teacher and would make it easy to navigate through the PowerPoint and return quickly to desired slides. I also believe that students could benefit greatly from this as well. According to their age levels and abilities, students could be scaffolded to explore the interactive PowerPoint presentation as a class or alternatively, this could be a self-lead activity that may require high student responsibility. Ultimately, I believe that PowerPoint is a wonderful resource which has many uses within a classroom context.

The Big 6

After reading about the Big 6 framework, it seems apparent that it is a tool which can facilitate teaching and learning with incorporation of ICTs. Eisenberg, Johnson and Berkowitz (2010) explain that technology should not be taught as a skill on its own. Instead, they believe that it should be integrated into learning experiences and used to teach skills such as problem solving and decision making. With a knowledge of this, the different skills outlined within the Big 6 framework all have some link to Information and Communication Technologies as each step endeavours to incorporate technology in a variety of innovative and educational ways (Eisenberg, Johnson and Berkowitz, 2010).

In my opinion, the Big 6 is an excellent framework for integrating Information and Communication Technologies into the classroom. It has many strengths which include:

• It is transferable over all subject areas


• Simple to understand and use


• Meaningful and engaging


• Has a focus on life-long learning


• Links to Productive Pedagogies (Higher Order Thinking in particular)


• It has many links to the Dimensions of Learning framework such as utilising all senses and acknowledging why information is important (Marzano and Pickering, 2006).

So far, I do not perceive any weaknesses regarding this framework though I do recognise the many opportunities that it can have within the classroom, as mentioned above. I think it would be a wonderful tool to use in planning all KLAs. Pictured above is a concept map showing all of the key points surrounding the Big 6 framework.

References

Eisenberg, M., Johnson, D., & Berkowitz, B. (2010). Information, communications, and technology (ICT) skills curriculum based on the big6 skills approach to information problem-solving. Retrieved from http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/file.php/4033/LMCBig6%20Curriculum_LMC_MayJune2010.pdf

Marzano, R.J., & Pickering D.J. (2006). Dimensions of learning: Teacher’s manual (2nd ed.). Heatherton, VIC: Hawker Brownlow Education

Wikis

Wikis seem to be very useful in the right context. It appears that they allow the exchange of information between people which can be edited and contributed to freely by users. This is different to a blog, a tool which is operated by and contributed to by one user. It appears that Wikis can be useful within an educational context such as Korea Internation School (view 21st Century Learning video) where the students construct their own textbooks.

This brings me to the validity of Wikis in an educational context like a classroom. With anyone being able to contribute to them, it appears that these sites could lack in credibility and also become subject to innappropriate comments and untrue remarks. Being an uncensored digital tool, I have the opinion that Wikis could be beneficial though under close supervision.
Strengths and opportunities of a Wiki:

• Fosters collaborative learning
• Easy to construct
• Engages students in Higher Order Thinking if constructed efficiently
• Allows learning anywhere, at any time
• Can be used for inquiry based learning and problem solving

Weaknesses and threats of a Wiki:

• A public webpage that anyone can view (unless access is only given to certain people)
• Unless carefully constructed, there is virtually no pedagogy involved

Click here to view my Wiki.

Concept Mapping

I have just explored the Bubbl.us concept mapping tool and found it to be very useful. It was relatively easy to use and after exploring the different applications that it has, I was able to make a concept map based around art (pictured left - also view my Topic 1 Concept Map), a topic which I have vast knowledge in. I believe that concept mapping in the classroom can be very beneficial for students and that almost all topics can be explored using this simple tool. Ausubels (as cited in Mergel, 1998) states that concept mapping can be useful because it gives students an opportunity to link their prior knowledge to a topic and align themselves with it. In response to this, I believe that concept maps have the potential to be built upon as research is undertaken about a specific topic.

I believe that Bubbl.us concept mapping can have many uses within the classroom. Students can initially brainstorm their ideas which requires them to think deeply and establish relationships between specific subject matter. I also think it is useful that Bubbl.us concept maps can be tweaked and modified with the click of a mouse. They can be saved and retrieved later when other information needs to be added to them.

References

Mergel, B. (1998). Instructional design and learning theory. Retrieved from http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/mergel/brenda.htm#The%20Basics%20of%20Behaviorism

My Initial Thoughts - Blogging

At the moment, I am slightly apprehensive about this course because I have not been exposed to blogging before. Even though this is so, I am becoming excited about what is to come and the different tools that I will learn about. After creating this, I can see how useful a blog could be within a classroom. It could have many uses by the teacher and the students. For instance, if I were to blog about the daily happenings within the class, busy parents would have the opportunity to engage in their child's learning. Learners could also benefit from the use of a blog, giving some hesitant students the opportunity to answer questions freely and individually rather than in a classroom context.