Upon commencing the Managing E-learning
course the E-learning concept was about experiencing the use of different
technological devices, software and hardware.
Having spent the past few weeks looking more closely at the use of ICTs
in the classroom, there are many more elements to consider.
As Jacquie Poole (FAHE1101 Managing
E-Learning presented at Central Queensland University, Noosa, August 2012) has
discussed in lectures, there needs to be a purpose for students to use ICTs. This learning that surrounds technology
shouldn’t be solely about how to use the hardware or software but should
encompass curriculum content and flow seamlessly between the two areas.
Marzano (2009) states that reflection and
feedback are an imperative part of the art and science of teaching, which is
what we, as pre-service teachers are essentially doing here with this blog. Being able to analyse the effectiveness of
our processes is imperative and directly related to the learning of our future
students.
The concept of participating in the mobile
phone wiki wasn’t a new experience for me. I have been required to complete
many assessment items and to work through questions and problems surrounding
assignments, to learn and contribute collectively prior to managing e-learning subject. Personally I think using Wiki’s alone is
becoming over used and there are other ways in which to collaboratively
construct and learn through software that hasn’t been explored as much. Google docs allows for sharing of documents
but also provides a space in which students can edit a space together. There needs to be consideration for the
audience at which the learning experience is aimed to avoid copying of peers
and experts on the web and the possibility that the works of others could be
deleted either deliberately or accidentally.
The information contributed by students may not necessarily be correct
and close monitoring would be required by the teacher utilizing such a space
however, as the teacher is only monitoring, the students may gain some sense of
ownership for their work and that of their cohort.
Careful scaffolding is needed to ensure
that the contributions are purposeful and align with the content and the
learning outcomes required. Introducing DE
Bono’s thinking hats provides a framework to help structure the thinking and
processing of information by students however there are endless options as to
how a learning manager could implement this in the classroom.
Personally I don’t believe there is a place
for mobile phones in the classroom. If a
teacher was to believe that they could be used to teach because of apps and
gadgets then I would suggest using ipods or other technological devices that
can replace them and still serve the same purpose. Children need to be able to focus on the
learning required of them and in case of an emergency or getting a message to
them, there are other people employed at a school that can pass the information
on to the student. Let’s not forget
that the very first mobile phone was invented in 1973 and could only make phone
calls (When Was It Invented, n.d.) and the
first iphone wasn’t released until 2007 (Wikipedia, n.d.). Can anyone
even remember what life was like before mobile phones?
Online
Spaces:
Although I have tested wix.com on my blog I
have gone on to have the most success with Weebly.com as an online space
application. Its diversity to include
add-ons and embed external content is straightforward and reliable. I have constructed several webpages with it
for different purposes; science assignment, science expert groups allowing easy
collaboration between three group members, a numeracy assessment and for
personal use.
I have seen EdStudio in use in the
classroom and believe that Weebly would be the next best application if
EdStudio wasn’t available. The ability
to communicate with students using comments and message boards is great. A web space like this could use just one page
as an introduction to a unit or topic or contain a whole unit of work and a
place in which students would collaborate their information and extend their
learning. Other activities and links are
easily added to scaffold students learning and provides options when
differentiating assessment.
Whatever web space is utilized, careful
monitoring of the content of the page and the access needs to be
considered. The page needs to be secure
so that only those who need to access it can and that the content isn’t visible
to the whole world to protect the work and identity of those who have contributed.
Visual
& audio tools:
Its astonishing to think that Prings (2012)
research reveals “One hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second
- that’s 24 hours of video every 24 seconds, 60 hours a minute, 9 months
every 2 hours, a decade every single day and a century every 10 days”
The shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 is
evident on Avenue Nepal’s (2008) comparison with the introduction of social
media and youtube applications alike. We
have obviously moved from being a society full of consumers to consumers who
also want to produce and contribute to the abundance of information floating
around out there on the web.
I have experienced the pleasure of
successfully embedding a youtube clip into my blog based on the type of dancing
I like to do and have done for more than 10 years now. Although I have previously only uploaded one of
my own youtube videos as part of an assignment for university, I can see the
advantages to using this type of presentation in the classroom. Students could record and play their work to
the class, parents, other classes in the school or even send the link to a
class on the other side of the world. It
could also be used to inform students of particular concepts that may be
studied in class or to see how other people would approach a particular
problem.
When placing security sensitive material
like this on the web, the relevant settings need to be put in place to protect
the students and teacher. The video
upload needs to be made private so that only those people who have access to
the link are able to view it.
Presentation
tools:
Whilst I have heard many negative opinions
about Prezi, I believe there are some great features when using it. The ability to direct the progress through a
topic or information is fantastic. I do
agree that sometimes the speed and movement can make some people feel seasick
however it takes a lot of work in a software program like powerpoint to make
that same movement happen. With Prezi,
it’s as simple as mapping out the progression and clicking through.
Its disappointing that the free version
only allows limited colours and features however if you were able to purchase a
version to use in the classroom students could use Prezi to do a recount or
retell about their camp or excursion and show parents and students. The teacher could use it as a simple
feed-forward process to guide students at the beginning of a topic as to where
they will head with it and what will be required of them. This would cater to the visual learners in
the class. For older students, they may
be presented with a prezi containing information or pictures that need to be
ordered as a form of assessment. They
may be required to map out the progressions and show this to the class or
teacher.
Whilst you require a secure log in for this
application, the protection of that log in would need to be kept private. I don’t believe that there is a huge security
issue as it requires a lot of effort to finalise a presentation and post or use
a link to send to people in order to share it with others, however the content
on the prezi would be the concern of the teacher and ensuring students are
working with relevant material.
Animation/simulation
tools:
Airpano.com is my favorite find during my
course of Managing E-learning.
Imagine wishing you could go to a place in
the world to see a particular landmark or city, well just jump onto airpano.com
and you can go! Whilst they’re still working on expanding the database, this
website provides the ability for teachers and students to view a place from many
perspective abilities similar to Google Earth to toggle the angles and
definition almost as good as if you were really standing there.
This has so many applications in a
classroom for me. From SOSE geographical
topics looking at places around the world, features of the place to historical
studies like how a place has changed, looking at older photos compared with the
view on airpano.com now. Students may be
encouraged to look at calculating population per area and pick an area from
airpano.com or having picked a destination, write a persuasive piece about why
you should go there and what to see.
Perhaps they pretend to be a monument in the city or landmark from
airpan.com and they write about what they see and a day in the life of the
particular structure. Maybe it comes
down to science and having chosen an airpano.com shot, they investigate why
certain building materials have been used and their properties, how old they
are and how you could find out their age.
As airpano.com is currently provided free
by a group of photographers trying to compile a fantastic database of the
worlds landscapes and landmarks, I don’t believe that it would pose a huge
security issue however copying the video file or manipulating it into another
application wouldn’t be possible. The
correct attribution would be needed.
Having examined ICTs and their uses, it was
interesting to read in Marzano’s (2009) article a study was conducted with 85
teachers and 170 classrooms looking at the effectiveness of interactive whiteboards. Unfortunately “one of the more interesting
findings from the study was that in 23% of the cases, teachers had better
results without the interactive whiteboards.” Some reasons for this was that
the teachers weren’t following through on the outcomes of activities that used
ICTs, the timing and arrangement of the digital content wasn’t effective i.e.
not enough time for students to gain information from slides or videos and too
many images and pictures that prevented students from deciphering the information
needed.
Marzano (2009) also
stated that these types of tools needs to be used “thoughtfully in accordance
with what we know about good classroom practice.” Having spent the time to work with and
analyse a minute portion of the tools available out there I have discovered the
need to be very selective, make it purposeful and ensure that the use of ICTs
in my classroom assist in achieving learning outcomes for my students.
References
Avenues Nepal. (2008). Web1.0 Vs Web 2.0
Retrieved from http://web-updates.avenuesnepal.com/web-10-vs-web-20/
Marzano, Dr. R. (30 Nov 2009). Marzano Art & Science of Teaching
Observation and Feedback protocol [Youtube audio and video clip]. Retrieved
from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdfEm_wIEtM.
Marzano, R. (2009) The Art & Science of Teaching: Teaching with interactive
whiteboards. p. 80 – 82.
Pring, C. (2012). 100 more social media statistics for 2012. Retrieved from http://thesocialskinny.com/100-more-social-media-statistics-for-2012/
When Was It Invented. (n.d.). When
was the cell phone invented? Retrieved from http://www.whenwasitinvented.org/?s=mobile+phone
Wikipedia (n.d.) History of the iphone: origins. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_iPhone
