Reflective Synopsis:
Overall Reflection
Wow, how time has flown. 6 weeks
of university done for term 2!! Looking back at the past 6 weeks and what I
have learnt in MeL has been interesting. I have found that learning about and
using ICT (Information, Communication Technologies) it has given me a
rollercoaster ride of emotions, I have been frustrated and confused when I
can't figure something out and I have been happy and pleased with myself when I
finally succeed in solving a problem. I can see how today’s students will feel
these emotions especially those students who don't have much ICT use at
home. Before I had started this course I had heard from previous students
about what was expected in the course and I was a bit skeptical to how much I
would benefit from it as I didn't see how using ICT (Information, Communication
Technologies) in the classroom for teaching Manual Arts or HPE would benefit my
learners. Reflecting on how I thought back then, I can see how I was incredibly
wrong. Once I started my prac work I realized how much teaching is done through
the use of ICT's. In LM2 and MeL I have leant that the best way for students to
learn is by teaching them in a way that engages them by focusing on their
interests, strengths and learning styles. I believe that by using ICT's in the
classroom it covers all these aspects as there are that many tools to reach out
to any students interests, strengths and learning styles. These tools will be
discussed latter in my synopsis.
Teachers can provide a
comprehensive and assorted range of learning experiences through engaging
learners with ICT’s. It is important for teachers to embrace ICT as it can
assist with learning development through collaborative learning anywhere and at
anytime (competency standards modules, 2008).
The Internet is a widely used form
of ICT (Hennesy, Ruthven & Brindley, 2005 p.160). The Internet is a
powerful teaching tool which can provide students with a great deal of
information to assist them with assignments and can be used in conjunction with
other forms of ICT’s (Ellsworth, 1994). However, the Internet and ICT’s can be
very dangerous to the safety of students and can cause legal troubles for
teachers if the need for Legal, Safe and Ethical practices are taken into
consideration. In the next section of my synopsis I will mention the need for
Legal, Safe and Ethical practices when using ICT’s. Following that I will analyze and reflect on four of the ICT
tools I have used.
I never really thought about how
many dangers are out there for students using the Internet at home or at school
until we had to research and write in our blog about it. I came across a
government website called cybersmart (http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/)
which outlines problems that students may face when online and scenarios for
their parents and teachers to go over with them so in the case something does
happen the students know how to deal with it. Web aware (2010) has also highlighted that teachers and
learners need to have an understanding of the ethical and safety issues related
to e-learning.
Not only are there safety issues
that need to be addressed to the students but also there are legal and ethical
responsibilities that need to be upheld. Such as referencing correctly and
paying attribute to where students or LM’s get their information from and
understanding what it means to behave ethically online.
When I think of working legally, safely and ethically in an
education setting using ICT I think that before students are allowed to use any
form of ICT they should be made fully aware of the issues that they may face
when using them. This is so students can confidently play with, research,
explore and interact online and with ICT’s and they have the know how if a
situation occurred.
Click on this link to view my
blog posting about my opinion on children’s safety on the net.
Reflections
I have chosen blogs as my first
tool to reflect on. I have never really understood the purpose of a blog and
never really paid much attention to them before I started this course. Now,
however I can see that blogs would be a great tool to use in the classroom.
Teaching in the 21st
century means that we as LM’s need to teach using 21st century tools
(Ewing, Lowrie & Higgs, 2010). I believe that using blogs in the classroom would
benefit students immensely as they are a personalized interactive way of
communicating and as we are now, getting assessed on our evaluation of tools
and our research which shows our level of higher order thinking. Having blogs
for each student in the classroom would also assist parents in having an
understanding of what their child is doing throughout the school year. By each
child having their own blog linked to a class website other teachers and
parents can view their child’s blog.
Having students use their blogs
to reflect on the days learning’s and activities helps students as it is using
a DoL strategy; Acquire & Integrate Knowledge, Use instructional techniques
that provide students with strategies to use before, during, and after they receive
information. By reflecting on what they have done during the day it is helping
cement the new knowledge (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Another benefit of
students having blogs is the LM is able to go through each student’s blog and
find out what their strengths and weaknesses are and at what stage each child
is at.
I believe that using blogs as a
teaching tool is beneficial. Blogs are collaborative, engaging and are able to
support students interests.
For my second group tool I am
going to look at Prezie’s, which is an online presentation tool. Once again, I
was new to what a Prezie was. I found that when creating my Prezie it gave me
lots of different options on how I wanted my Prezie set up. I could make it as
complex or as simple as I wanted. Due to the fact that I did not have much time
to play around with it I made mine pretty simple. You can view my Prezie by
clicking on the link.
I believe that by using a Prezie
in the classroom it would engage all types of learners. Prezie’s are sequential
as they follow a path, visual as they include pictures, verbal as you can embed
youtube clips and they help active learners as active learners can go out and
make the presentation then come back and reflect on it.
Prezie’s work well with my first
tool, blogs. Unlike Powerpoint, where you have to just through a few hoops to
upload, Prezie is simple to upload onto your blog. I can see how I could use
Prezie in one of my classes and how I could get my students to work with
Prezie. I think that students would enjoy using Prezie as a form of assessment
as there are endless possibilities to individualize and personalize to how they
want it.
For tool 3 I decided to look at
Wiki’s. Even though I do not have my own Wiki I still collaborated through a
Wiki discussing mobile phones in the classroom using de Bonos 6 thinking hats.
I liked Wiki’s in the sense that one person does not control them; anyone who
is accepted to join the Wiki can edit what is on it. I feel that a Wiki would
be a great tool to use in the classroom especially for planning out a school
excursion or planning out a task set by the teacher. Students are able to
collaborate using the Wiki at school, home or anywhere where they have access
to the Internet. In a study done by Elgort, Smith and Toland (2008 p.203), they
found that although Wiki’s were a great tool to use, it had the effect of
closing down students minds when it came to searching for references as they
only used the Internet not hard copy books.
For tool 4 I decided to look at
the fun photo editor befunky. Befunky is an editing program on the Internet
that you can upload an image and add effects, crop and modify your image anyway
you want to. I found that it was simple to use and had lots of fun with it. You
can view my befunky image by clicking here and also view my PMI for using
befunky. I think that befunky could be used as a tool in the secondary school
discipline that I am in (manual arts) as students are required to take an image
of their completed jobs. Students could then edit their image so that they
could then present it in a folio with an edited look.
Conclusion
In conclusion I feel that if we
as Learning Managers want to keep up to date with technology, then we must
embrace the use of ICT in the classroom. ICT’s are flexible and can be tailored
to suit any type of learner. As a Learning Manager it is important to consider
safe, legal and ethical use when using ICT and to ensure that students
understand these procedures and respect them.
Reference:
Brindley,
S., Hennessy, S., Ruthven, K. (2005). Teacher
perspectives on integrating ICT
into subject teaching: commitment, constraints, caution, and change. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 37(2),
155-192. Doi: 10.1080/0022027032000276961
Elgort, I., Smith, A., & Toland, J.,
(2008). Is Wiki an Effective Platform for Group Course
Work?: Australian Journal of Educational
Technology, 24(2), 195-210.
Retrieved from http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10063/334/article.pdf?sequence=2
Ellsworth, J.H. (1994). Education on the Internet: A Hands-on Book
of Ideas, Resources,
Projects and Advice. Retrieved from http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=527686
Ewing, R., Lowrie, T., & Higgs, J.
(2010). Teaching & Communicating:
Rethinking Professional
Experiences. Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press
TPACK . (2011, March 22). TPACK in 3 Minutes (Video File).
Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wGpSaTzW58
Web Aware, 2010. Media awareness
network. Retrieved from http://www.bewebaware.ca/english/default.html
