Wednesday 30 March 2011
Tuesday 29 March 2011
Podcast
My singing daughter.
This took me a week and a half of procrastination and about an hour to actually do. Next time I'll be much quicker. I can only hope because that week and a half was a nightmare!
Take two! I tried again with the podcasting to see if I could do it any quicker and amazingly enough I could. This time I decided to make an audio recording of my daughter, the guinea pig, giving an oral critique of a portrait in my art critique wiki space. What a great idea if I do say so myself!
I have also dabbled with Audacity to create an audio recording. This is a freeware program that students can use fairly easily. Allowing students to record themselves speaking is a great way to improve their reading skills. This gives them the opportunity to hear how they read, for example, and pick up where they are going wrong and discuss ways to improve reading techniques, such as using expression and punctuation.
By the way, once you accidentally put a background colour into your posting, how on earth do you get rid of it???
This took me a week and a half of procrastination and about an hour to actually do. Next time I'll be much quicker. I can only hope because that week and a half was a nightmare!
Take two! I tried again with the podcasting to see if I could do it any quicker and amazingly enough I could. This time I decided to make an audio recording of my daughter, the guinea pig, giving an oral critique of a portrait in my art critique wiki space. What a great idea if I do say so myself!
I have also dabbled with Audacity to create an audio recording. This is a freeware program that students can use fairly easily. Allowing students to record themselves speaking is a great way to improve their reading skills. This gives them the opportunity to hear how they read, for example, and pick up where they are going wrong and discuss ways to improve reading techniques, such as using expression and punctuation.
By the way, once you accidentally put a background colour into your posting, how on earth do you get rid of it???
Monday 21 March 2011
The potential of Blogs in the teaching context
Strengths
- gives students the opportunity to reflect on their own work or collaborative work and perhaps see where to better their understanding.
- gain more knowledge from viewing different points of view.
- allows connections to be made between students.
- constructive comments can be left from teacher/students.
- allows for non-confident students to publish their thoughts without sharing verbally.
- not all students would feel comfortable about making public their thoughts.
- non-verbal students may not advance their speaking skills if only reflect via blog.
- links can be made to connect to other students work, eg. e-books, wikis etc.
- teacher could have a blog of their weeks reflections ("had a great week discovering ......") with links for students to access Learning Place activities or examples.
- can edit blog at a later date to change knowledge and information once more is gained or perception changed.
- students would have to remain on task with teacher constantly checking blogs as some students might abuse the tool and leave non-appropriate dialogue.
Saturday 19 March 2011
WIKI AND WEEBLY
My first step for week 3 was to create my own wiki and to give it a purpose in a learning context. I chose to set up a wiki to give students the opportunity to critique other student's artwork. My home page was used to give directions for adding to the wiki. These steps assume that the teacher is uploading all images leaving the students to fill in a description of the artwork, criteria and year level. Once this page is complete it's onto question time in the form of a scaffolded art critique on a separate page.
Enabling each student to comment on their peers work in this way would be a useful tool for teachers to gauge if students are actually engaging in the set task. Viewing the answers they leave could possibly indicate if the student has grasped an understanding of the art lessons. However it would be hard to know if they've actually just copied previous student's answers and haven't taken careful thought themselves.
This wiki allows students to make connections and has the potential to increase interactions with peers. Once all contributions are made group or class discussions can commence with the teacher quoting interesting observations and feedback.
The topic I chose, with the questions I left probably isn't suitable for younger year levels as they may not handle a critique that is not left in a positive way. This is where the wiki would be changed to suit.
I also created a website in conjunction with the wiki where the whole school can view student's artwork. This is the Art Gallery. There is a link in the Art Gallery that allows you, once you've finished viewing, to go to the Art Critiques page in wikispaces to get a better understanding of each artwork.
I find this to potentially be a very useful way to get student's artwork seen by the rest of the school as not all schools have the wall space to exhibit. Students would gain a sense of accomplishment and pride at having their work exhibited in a professional manner.
This website also allows other outside links to be made available, perhaps from other school's art departments, therefore allowing more connections and interactions to be made.
In an Education Queensland setting I'm not sure whether or not the implementation of such a website could be allowed. I believe blogs and wikis are able to be constructed in the Learning Place, and I know each school has there own general website that anyone can access, but for one to be set up for one specific KLA I really don't know. Maybe someone could answer that one for me?
Enabling each student to comment on their peers work in this way would be a useful tool for teachers to gauge if students are actually engaging in the set task. Viewing the answers they leave could possibly indicate if the student has grasped an understanding of the art lessons. However it would be hard to know if they've actually just copied previous student's answers and haven't taken careful thought themselves.
This wiki allows students to make connections and has the potential to increase interactions with peers. Once all contributions are made group or class discussions can commence with the teacher quoting interesting observations and feedback.
The topic I chose, with the questions I left probably isn't suitable for younger year levels as they may not handle a critique that is not left in a positive way. This is where the wiki would be changed to suit.
I also created a website in conjunction with the wiki where the whole school can view student's artwork. This is the Art Gallery. There is a link in the Art Gallery that allows you, once you've finished viewing, to go to the Art Critiques page in wikispaces to get a better understanding of each artwork.
I find this to potentially be a very useful way to get student's artwork seen by the rest of the school as not all schools have the wall space to exhibit. Students would gain a sense of accomplishment and pride at having their work exhibited in a professional manner.
This website also allows other outside links to be made available, perhaps from other school's art departments, therefore allowing more connections and interactions to be made.
In an Education Queensland setting I'm not sure whether or not the implementation of such a website could be allowed. I believe blogs and wikis are able to be constructed in the Learning Place, and I know each school has there own general website that anyone can access, but for one to be set up for one specific KLA I really don't know. Maybe someone could answer that one for me?
Wednesday 16 March 2011
In conclusion........
The past three weeks of this GDLT have seen me engage in learning theories and tools that I otherwise might not have contemplated or discussed. Overcoming the stumbling blocks of fulfilling a wiki activity has been enlightening and given me a sense of achievement.
The profile wiki activity was my beginners introduction to wikis. I found that having access to other's profiles very helpful for further activities thus allowing Connectivism (Siemens,2004), to play a relative role. This Connectivism theory has enabled a realisation of exactly how much I rely on gathering information from outer digital sources to supplement and advance my knowledge and learning practices. In today's digital age of learning, and speaking in the context of Connectivism, it is not so much the know-how or what that is priority, but where you are going to find the information. This is definitely, I feel, a key to teaching successfully in today's ICT enveloped era.
Only for a very small part I believe Behaviourism (Gredler, 2001) still exists in learning, however I only see this being effective in the P-3 years. For the years after this mentioned age group, I feel learners need more than praise to keep them engaged. An example of keeping myself engaged while learning was partaking in the Learning Theory Wiki. Undoubtedly if this task had not required collaboration and reporting digitally, I would have found it to be another long winded and lonely reading. Because this activity was conducted in a new and interesting format I was instantly connected, with the connectivity not stopping there. To be knowledgeable in other learners assigned readings, their wikis had to be accessed, therefore more connections were being made. I was able to relate this activity not only to Connectivism but also the Constructivist Learning Theory through (Modritscher, 2006,7), "The learner is to seek out the knowledge or solve the problem on their own....". Once my personal observations had taken place collaboration began.
The Mobile Phone wiki introduced another new learning tool in the way of De Bonos 6 Thinking Hats (1985). This was an enjoyable task adding to the communal opinion ladder and being able to view everyone's thoughts. Wiki's are definitely an instant way of breaking thinking patterns that have embedded over time. Thoughts and opinions of others suddenly transcended to either alter or amplify my own. Immediate learning occurred when reading other's ideas that hadn't entered my train of thought.
In conclusion I have found the three aforementioned exercises to be of great value to my personal learning. These activities have given me newly developed skills and knowledge to take to my own classroom and pass onto my learners and understand better how they learn. Digital learning relaxes the constraints of traditional methods allowing for creativity and connections to be made with a seemingly endless supply of knowledge to be acquired.
The profile wiki activity was my beginners introduction to wikis. I found that having access to other's profiles very helpful for further activities thus allowing Connectivism (Siemens,2004), to play a relative role. This Connectivism theory has enabled a realisation of exactly how much I rely on gathering information from outer digital sources to supplement and advance my knowledge and learning practices. In today's digital age of learning, and speaking in the context of Connectivism, it is not so much the know-how or what that is priority, but where you are going to find the information. This is definitely, I feel, a key to teaching successfully in today's ICT enveloped era.
Only for a very small part I believe Behaviourism (Gredler, 2001) still exists in learning, however I only see this being effective in the P-3 years. For the years after this mentioned age group, I feel learners need more than praise to keep them engaged. An example of keeping myself engaged while learning was partaking in the Learning Theory Wiki. Undoubtedly if this task had not required collaboration and reporting digitally, I would have found it to be another long winded and lonely reading. Because this activity was conducted in a new and interesting format I was instantly connected, with the connectivity not stopping there. To be knowledgeable in other learners assigned readings, their wikis had to be accessed, therefore more connections were being made. I was able to relate this activity not only to Connectivism but also the Constructivist Learning Theory through (Modritscher, 2006,7), "The learner is to seek out the knowledge or solve the problem on their own....". Once my personal observations had taken place collaboration began.
The Mobile Phone wiki introduced another new learning tool in the way of De Bonos 6 Thinking Hats (1985). This was an enjoyable task adding to the communal opinion ladder and being able to view everyone's thoughts. Wiki's are definitely an instant way of breaking thinking patterns that have embedded over time. Thoughts and opinions of others suddenly transcended to either alter or amplify my own. Immediate learning occurred when reading other's ideas that hadn't entered my train of thought.
In conclusion I have found the three aforementioned exercises to be of great value to my personal learning. These activities have given me newly developed skills and knowledge to take to my own classroom and pass onto my learners and understand better how they learn. Digital learning relaxes the constraints of traditional methods allowing for creativity and connections to be made with a seemingly endless supply of knowledge to be acquired.
Monday 14 March 2011
Sunday 13 March 2011
BLOG REFLECTIONS SCAFFOLD
The purpose of a wiki - how does it support learning?
Wikis are a great ICT tool that I had no prior knowledge of, but now, I"M EXCITED!!
As a learner I must admit initially it scared the pants off me, because it was something so foreign. Now I can see the extraordinarily large potential to myself as a learner and to my learners. Wiki's are a way of quickly collaborating and sharing ideas and knowledge. They allow amazingly easy access to other's opinions, where comparisons can be made and even the opportunity to modify other's input.
My students will probably be excited at the prospect of this information sharing as it's done individually or, (can be done in pairs or small groups) to begin with, but becomes a collaborative whole class effort in the end, not to mention the most important factor, and that is a wiki being a digital tool.
With learners posting their own ideas and sharing their thoughts and what they believe, this leads me to think this is a constructivist and cognitivist activity. I can't find elements of Behaviourism in this activity. Connectively, yes, an excellent way to make connections with other people and their information.
I'm not sure about catering for a diversity of learners using this tool, but because using a wiki can be so much fun I think it would engage most learners. Wiki's are definately a great alternative learning process that is engaging and creative.
Wikis are a great ICT tool that I had no prior knowledge of, but now, I"M EXCITED!!
As a learner I must admit initially it scared the pants off me, because it was something so foreign. Now I can see the extraordinarily large potential to myself as a learner and to my learners. Wiki's are a way of quickly collaborating and sharing ideas and knowledge. They allow amazingly easy access to other's opinions, where comparisons can be made and even the opportunity to modify other's input.
My students will probably be excited at the prospect of this information sharing as it's done individually or, (can be done in pairs or small groups) to begin with, but becomes a collaborative whole class effort in the end, not to mention the most important factor, and that is a wiki being a digital tool.
With learners posting their own ideas and sharing their thoughts and what they believe, this leads me to think this is a constructivist and cognitivist activity. I can't find elements of Behaviourism in this activity. Connectively, yes, an excellent way to make connections with other people and their information.
I'm not sure about catering for a diversity of learners using this tool, but because using a wiki can be so much fun I think it would engage most learners. Wiki's are definately a great alternative learning process that is engaging and creative.
Friday 11 March 2011
BLOG REFLECTIONS SCAFFOLD
BLOG REFLECTIONS AS A JOURNAL
Well for starters I can say I now know how to blog! If it wasn't for studying this GDLT I probably never would have considered setting one up. This is a fantastic tool for reflecting on my learning. It has made me consider more and given me a sense of achievement. Having access to other people's reflections has also been highly beneficial as it allows deeper ponderings to occur when reading something I hadn't previously considered.
Using a blog to reflect can give learners the opportunity to self assess and critique. They can make their way up the Bloom's Taxonomy (1956) ladder into higher-order thinking and bring all of their creative ideas together.
Unless someone is giving personal feedback on my blog I can't see how Behaviourism is connected to this activity. If, however, we're talking about self appraising, then I can say that after comparing my own blog to others, I have beat myself up a bit and this did have an affect on my behaviour, but I can't tell you what I did and said because it's probably not appropriate.
Through posting my findings and thoughts to a blog it enabled me to have an active role in my own learning processes. By sharing analytical thoughts, making connections and comparing to others I can see that there are elements of the 3C's - that is Constructivism, Connectivism and Cognitivism.
Posting results, thoughts, findings, etc., to a blog enables students to reflect in a way which is definately more fun and exciting then paper and pencil. It gives them the opportunity to be metacognitive before branching out and viewing other's posts and learning even more.
Well for starters I can say I now know how to blog! If it wasn't for studying this GDLT I probably never would have considered setting one up. This is a fantastic tool for reflecting on my learning. It has made me consider more and given me a sense of achievement. Having access to other people's reflections has also been highly beneficial as it allows deeper ponderings to occur when reading something I hadn't previously considered.
Using a blog to reflect can give learners the opportunity to self assess and critique. They can make their way up the Bloom's Taxonomy (1956) ladder into higher-order thinking and bring all of their creative ideas together.
Unless someone is giving personal feedback on my blog I can't see how Behaviourism is connected to this activity. If, however, we're talking about self appraising, then I can say that after comparing my own blog to others, I have beat myself up a bit and this did have an affect on my behaviour, but I can't tell you what I did and said because it's probably not appropriate.
Through posting my findings and thoughts to a blog it enabled me to have an active role in my own learning processes. By sharing analytical thoughts, making connections and comparing to others I can see that there are elements of the 3C's - that is Constructivism, Connectivism and Cognitivism.
Posting results, thoughts, findings, etc., to a blog enables students to reflect in a way which is definately more fun and exciting then paper and pencil. It gives them the opportunity to be metacognitive before branching out and viewing other's posts and learning even more.
Thursday 10 March 2011
BLOG REFLECTIONS SCAFFOLD
Mobile Wiki
Firstly this activity asked questions that I normally wouldn't ask and answer. I didn't consider allowing mobile phones into schools for this purpose. De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats (1985) is a great method to use in a wiki for the purpose of evaluating a certain topic, asking questions and allowing the formation of opinions and perspectives.
Students, I feel would benefit well from using this method of debate. The 6 hats with their different perspectives seem to be a great method for students to have their input in a relatively easy way and if used effectively delves into higher order thinking. Once everyone's thoughts are submitted discussion and evaluation can take place.
This is a great connectivist form of learning and cognitively an opportunity to share ones thoughts and opinions. Constructively, questions posed can lead to deeper individual understanding when the evaluation process occurs.
I believe the design of this activity does support a diverse range of learners as it contains elements of all styles of learning. This digital learning technique has brought what could possibly be a mundane excercise into the 21st century and would be well accepted by our "digital natives".
Firstly this activity asked questions that I normally wouldn't ask and answer. I didn't consider allowing mobile phones into schools for this purpose. De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats (1985) is a great method to use in a wiki for the purpose of evaluating a certain topic, asking questions and allowing the formation of opinions and perspectives.
Students, I feel would benefit well from using this method of debate. The 6 hats with their different perspectives seem to be a great method for students to have their input in a relatively easy way and if used effectively delves into higher order thinking. Once everyone's thoughts are submitted discussion and evaluation can take place.
This is a great connectivist form of learning and cognitively an opportunity to share ones thoughts and opinions. Constructively, questions posed can lead to deeper individual understanding when the evaluation process occurs.
I believe the design of this activity does support a diverse range of learners as it contains elements of all styles of learning. This digital learning technique has brought what could possibly be a mundane excercise into the 21st century and would be well accepted by our "digital natives".
Tuesday 8 March 2011
BLOG REFLECTIONS SCAFFOLD
Learning Theories Wiki
This activity stepped me out of my comfort zone, but in saying that I felt somewhat relieved to be sharing thoughts and perceptions with a partner. Because of this collaborative style of learning I was able to compare my sometimes uncertain interpretations with that of my chosen partner. We decided on a lengthy phone call to discuss each others opinions, however my partner did get the ball rolling with her PMI's already on the wiki. Once we'd spoken we altered or added to the wiki my interpretations as well.
A PMI wiki could be a great digital tool for students to delve more deeply into a better understanding of whatever it is they are trying to decipher. With these wikis being able to be accessed by other students it then allows for group discussion once all wikis are read.
This activity did have elements of constructivism, as opinions were formed. A definite yes to connectivism as connections were made and cognitivism showed as my partner and myself had differing thoughts and attitudes.
I'm not sure that this activity did support a diverse range of learners. I, for one, hate the sound of my own voice, whether it be out loud or in my head. Therefore, the extensive reading element wasn't good for me. Short and to the point would be good. The PMI however required that everything be read to get a good enough understanding to supply the wiki with PMI information.
Because it was asked that we choose a partner, the profile wiki had to be accessed. I specifically chose my partner from the profile wiki as it gave me a good indication of compatibilty. Then a reading was chosen, web sites accessed, a variety of readings took place with a PMI capping it off. With this being a collaborative effort it was always in the back of my mind not to let my partner down, therefore giving me more motivation. I believe we were part of a "Learning Engagement Theory" in that we worked collaboratively to plan and manage our own project in order to create a technology based summary, which was the wiki.
This activity stepped me out of my comfort zone, but in saying that I felt somewhat relieved to be sharing thoughts and perceptions with a partner. Because of this collaborative style of learning I was able to compare my sometimes uncertain interpretations with that of my chosen partner. We decided on a lengthy phone call to discuss each others opinions, however my partner did get the ball rolling with her PMI's already on the wiki. Once we'd spoken we altered or added to the wiki my interpretations as well.
A PMI wiki could be a great digital tool for students to delve more deeply into a better understanding of whatever it is they are trying to decipher. With these wikis being able to be accessed by other students it then allows for group discussion once all wikis are read.
This activity did have elements of constructivism, as opinions were formed. A definite yes to connectivism as connections were made and cognitivism showed as my partner and myself had differing thoughts and attitudes.
I'm not sure that this activity did support a diverse range of learners. I, for one, hate the sound of my own voice, whether it be out loud or in my head. Therefore, the extensive reading element wasn't good for me. Short and to the point would be good. The PMI however required that everything be read to get a good enough understanding to supply the wiki with PMI information.
Because it was asked that we choose a partner, the profile wiki had to be accessed. I specifically chose my partner from the profile wiki as it gave me a good indication of compatibilty. Then a reading was chosen, web sites accessed, a variety of readings took place with a PMI capping it off. With this being a collaborative effort it was always in the back of my mind not to let my partner down, therefore giving me more motivation. I believe we were part of a "Learning Engagement Theory" in that we worked collaboratively to plan and manage our own project in order to create a technology based summary, which was the wiki.
Monday 7 March 2011
BLOG REFLECTIONS SCAFFOLD
Profile Wiki
Navigating my path to the actual activity was a bit of a challenge as I have trust issues with ICT tools I have never used before. Call me a "Digital Immigrant". Once I surrendered myself to the Wiki and opened my mind I found it incredibly useful in terms of discovering my weaknesses and strengths, knowing the same of others and finding compatible learners to make conatact with, therefore this activity had visible elements of constructivism, cognitivism and connectivism.
This could be a useful strategy to support learning of students. Answering profile questions that are accessible by other students allows each child to have a better understanding of their own learnings and personal characteristics as well as others. This enables connections to be made not just with similar students, but with students who may be of assistance. The process therefore gives the teacher an indication of the learners abilities and where they might struggle.
Students who have no confidence or experience in ICT may have struggeld with this task slightly. On the other hand, once the profile wiki was accessed it was just a matter of filling in the answers. Initially, because I didn't know what a wiki was, I thought I was never going to understand or sucseed with this activity.
Navigating my path to the actual activity was a bit of a challenge as I have trust issues with ICT tools I have never used before. Call me a "Digital Immigrant". Once I surrendered myself to the Wiki and opened my mind I found it incredibly useful in terms of discovering my weaknesses and strengths, knowing the same of others and finding compatible learners to make conatact with, therefore this activity had visible elements of constructivism, cognitivism and connectivism.
This could be a useful strategy to support learning of students. Answering profile questions that are accessible by other students allows each child to have a better understanding of their own learnings and personal characteristics as well as others. This enables connections to be made not just with similar students, but with students who may be of assistance. The process therefore gives the teacher an indication of the learners abilities and where they might struggle.
Students who have no confidence or experience in ICT may have struggeld with this task slightly. On the other hand, once the profile wiki was accessed it was just a matter of filling in the answers. Initially, because I didn't know what a wiki was, I thought I was never going to understand or sucseed with this activity.
Thursday 3 March 2011
Multiple Intelligence Test
Well it seems I'm body smart, and looking down at my muffin top, I don't know about that. Seriously though, I can agree to a certain extent that I'm a pretty hands on type of person. (hands on the Chocolate Muffin and into the mouth)
No surprises here that I flunked in the Number Smart Dept. My brain and numbers have a long and tumultuous relationship.
Everything else seems to be okay I guess. I'm puzzled though as to why, when musically I look to be up there, that I'm not a Karaoke Rock Star!!
Finally......Learning Styles Results
I'm an active learner - that's right, I absolutely cannot sit for long periods just listening. I like to think that I do find a balance between being active and reflective, however the test shows I'm strongly on the active side. I can sometimes charge into things like a bull at a gate without proper thought first.
In regards to sensory and intuitive learning I'm on a pretty even keel which is great because that's telling me I don't have to work too hard to compensate for one or the other. It does help, however, to know how these learnings operate.
It's surprising to find that I'm only just on the visual side of the visual/verbal scale, as I thought I was a big visual learner. I do know that I definately struggle when trying to learn in a mainly spoken situation. I have a tendency to switch off even when the words are spoken in my own head while reading.
On the Sequential/Global scale, I'm leaning slightly towards being a global learner. I do jump to the end sometimes to find a solution and then find myself having to go back later to fill in the steps and justify my answers. The big picture is important to me and I need this before going ahead. My head can't deal well with short bursts of learning on many different subjects. I work much better in large bursts concentrating on one thing.
On the converse, mostly I feel I'm a pretty regimental, organised person and I do require a mapped out day. Now I'm getting confused!!
Wednesday 2 March 2011
21st Century Learners
digital natives or digital immigrants Prensky (2001)
I'm a digital immigrant and I agree that their could be a problem with people like myself trying to teach digital natives. Hopefully, though, after completing this GDLT I will be speaking with another accent.
Because children today are born into this digital age they are not struggling (like someone I know) to understand the concepts and workings as they have not yet been moulded in any one way.
Digital immigrants have to try and re-program while facing many challenges. A tendency to overanalyse as well as trust issues are just a couple that I personally face.
engage or enrage - prensky (2005)
Good old Prensky! He quotes a professor as saying, "Their short attention spans are only for the old ways of learning". Prensky's right when he says children "don't have short attention spans for their games, movies, music or Internet surfing".
I've been in many classromms where children are fidgeting, talking, yawning, rocking and then suddenly the IWB lights up displaying something eyecatchingly vibrant, which moves and talks, and hey presto!......
......we have an engaged class.
I'm a digital immigrant and I agree that their could be a problem with people like myself trying to teach digital natives. Hopefully, though, after completing this GDLT I will be speaking with another accent.
Because children today are born into this digital age they are not struggling (like someone I know) to understand the concepts and workings as they have not yet been moulded in any one way.
Digital immigrants have to try and re-program while facing many challenges. A tendency to overanalyse as well as trust issues are just a couple that I personally face.
engage or enrage - prensky (2005)
Good old Prensky! He quotes a professor as saying, "Their short attention spans are only for the old ways of learning". Prensky's right when he says children "don't have short attention spans for their games, movies, music or Internet surfing".
I've been in many classromms where children are fidgeting, talking, yawning, rocking and then suddenly the IWB lights up displaying something eyecatchingly vibrant, which moves and talks, and hey presto!......
......we have an engaged class.
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