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Thursday, 23 April 2015

Synopsis

Reflective Synopsis- Blog Wrap up

I know since the last time I attended high school, technological device use in classrooms have increased significantly. It took me a few weeks in this course to realise how big some of these changes really were and decided to discuss these significant changes below.....

Information Communication Technology (ICT) has changed significantly in the last 5 years or so and where used correctly can help facilitate, support and enhance learning needs for all students. The learning demands of today's students requires teachers to adapt and incorporate ICT through there pedagogical approaches. Compared to previous years and decades (see video below), teachers are now required to create an environment where students don't just learn about technology, but use technology to learn (Education Victoria, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development). Teachers are also responsible for educating students on the dangers of a technology-filled world outside of school by ensuring students understand terms as such as cyber-bullying and understand the schools ICT use policy.


The introduction of the internet and use of digital technologies in and around the classroom has provided enormous opportunities for both the teachers and students to learn and improve, but however has also presented them both with many challenges. It's important to educate students on the safe and responsible use of ICTs. Education Queensland has found that teachers have a huge influence on the students they teach. Therefore it's important for teachers to develop the skills and provide the resources to ensure students become responsible online (Education Queensland, 2011, p.2)

ICT's can be used to support learning theories used by teachers, but however only a few of these learning theories have been discussed during the course:
· Behaviourism
· Cognitivism
· Constructivism, and
· Connectivism, which is yet to be confirmed as a learning theory, but more of a theory that supports learning theory.

In a basic wrap up, behaviourism sees students learn through practice, positive reinforcement, and re-shaping what they have learned during the process (A Brief Overview of Learning Theory, CQUniversity). In class teachers lead students through pre-programmed steps with a pre-determined result at the end of each lesson or term. For example, teachers could provide students with a list of sporting players and sports and create an online quiz for students to link the players with their respective sports.

Cognitivism sees information picked up by the senses and transferred to sensory memory. If the information is not used immediately it will be lost. With reinforcement and linking to other ideas, information is eventually stored in a part of the brain where long-term memory is stored. Using online concept mapping tools students can link ideas to memories or senses to help them remember information learnt in class. As displayed below, Dale’s Cone of Experience suggests that what people generally remember is determined by the senses they use during the learning process. 


For example, by watching a YouTube video on a particular topic, students can tap into the senses they use to read, see, hear and then write, in order to possibly remember 70 per cent of the content. Teachers must always remember students learn differently from one to another. Behaviourism and cognitivism theory are displayed at the lower end of the SAMR model. Describing four levels of technology integration, the SAMR (substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition) model assists teachers to design, develop and integrate learning technologies which support higher learning in and around the classroom. 

In many instances the notion of utilising ICT in the classroom is misinterpreted as a request for more 'fun' (Henderson, 2012, p.62). In these unfortunate cases, students are required to participate in routine activities that are part of the traditional pedagogical habits and styles of teaching, but are utilising technology. Typically found at the substitution and augmentation level, these activities resemble print-based texts and traditional literacy practices, but are adapted for use with digital text (Honan, 2010b). For example, using a maths website where students complete maths calculations and type their answer beside the equation. The technology is utilised, but it's not adding any value to the content being taught and is no different to handing students a worksheet and asking them to write the answers on the sheet.

Much like Bloom's Taxonomy, which encourages students to utilise their higher order thinking skills, the upper end of the SAMR model - the modification and redefinition stages - enhance the learning experience for students. These stages help transform the classroom. In the case of a traditional group project where students spend time in class, write and stick photos on cardboard, this task could be enhanced by the introduction of tools such as Glogster. Glogster allows students to create online sites with interactivity and animation. Instead of having a static presentation, students have the ability to incorporate audio, video, animation and they can do it from home or at school - effectively collaborating anywhere they have access to the internet.

Utilising the constructivism and connectivism learning theories, students can enhance and completely redefine the task. For example, students could be asked to discover an online tool for themselves that can deliver similar functions to Glogster, but was tailored to their own interests or style. From there, rather than submitting a piece of work for marking by their teacher, many of the tools similar to Glogster allow visitors to provide feedback and/or comments. This feature could pave the way for students to provide comments and feedback on their peers' work. Students could take the feedback and improve their projects with their peers' input.

By embracing the SAMR model into my lesson planning it will enable me to see if I can adapt and change my lesson to incorporate the use of an ICT tool or two. This blog task over the last six weeks has enabled me to incorporate a few ICT tools into my pre-servicing teaching in my EPL 1 and into the future. My favourite ICT tools are QR codes or an Prezi as it provides different learning revenues for the students.

I hope you have enjoyed my blog post, enjoy your teaching over the next 6 months.



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