Reflective Synopsis of Digital Technology: Assessment 2

The Ministerial Advisory Committee for Educational Renewal’s (MACER 2001) chapter ‘The Challenge: A Make-Over for Teachers’ outlines that education is, and the delivery of it should be, very different in the 21^st century. It discusses the importance of lifelong learning for educators and learners alike, as well as how changes in society have pushed and are still pushing for more creative, innovative, futures-orientated school leavers in a global society. This reflective synopsis will bring to light the potential I see for ICTs to facilitate, enhance and transform learning in my teaching area of Visual Arts. Firstly I will draw on my own experiences from experimenting with online tools and environments to identify relevant learning theories and highlight the key understandings I have gained. Following this I will provide an overview and evidence of my exploration of these tools and environments as well as the legal, safe and ethical issues that come with technology use through handy links for quick access.

From the very beginning of the course I was able to participate in and experience online learning through the exploration of  web2.0 & 3.0, websites & wikis, multimedia and group3 presentation tools in the weekly activities.

Please click on each to see my reflections on each in support of this.

Constructivist, cognitive and connectivist learning theories outline the why and how of enhanced learning through wiki activities. Contribution, reviewing, reflecting and editing our own work and the work of our peers within the online social environment of the wiki space allows us to construct our own knowledge (Pifarre & Staarman, 2011). However, meaningful learning does not artlessly occur without careful scaffolding and modeling to ensure intended learning outcomes are met.

During my explorations I have discovered that ICT (Information Communication Technology) is a powerful tool for enriching the teaching and learning experience through engagement and enhanced and extended learning, however sound and flexible pedagogy skills must be applied to frame the learning; which is central to the TPACK framework (Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge), blogged about here.

Purposeful design and scaffolding of wiki activities can provide students with opportunities to analyse, evaluate and create; all higher order thinking skills as outlined in Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (Krathwohl, 2002). Providing learners with appropriate tools and activities such as Y-charts, SWOT analysis or De Bono’s Thinking Hats (blogged about here), provide opportunities for them to use these higher order thinking skills.

My Wiki
My Weebly

During this course I have tried many new tools and learnt valuable technical skills along the way, and the importance for ICTs to be combined with appropriate pedagogy and sound content knowledge in order to create an effective platform to facilitate and enhance learning. Each tool, amazing and engaging as they are, has its limitations and these have been discussed and reflected upon in the blog postings provided throughout this analysis.

Web 2.0 tools, such as this blog, allow authors (individuals and groups), to share, network, publish, download and upload their own content. I have found during my exploration and experimentation that each of the Web 2.0 tools allowed me the prospect to create opportunities for meaningful learning.

The wiki activities were positive however, in terms of my own learning I feel I have gained the most from blogging. Already being a beginner level blogger I was amazed how easy it was to add extras and how this can enhance learning. Regularly contributing to this blog and using it as a reflective tool for my own learning allowed me to appreciate how this tool could be used as a reflective learning tool to my students too. I blogged about this here. I aim to add more followers to my blog, allowing me to respond to questions or comments posted, and to encourage deeper analysis and understanding of the process.

I experimented with and created a digital video with a voice recording using my iPad’s voice recorder app, and Windows Live Movie Maker. I encountered a few problems with this; firstly that I dislike the sound of my own voice (believing that I sound similar to a chipmunk), and secondly that the file took a very long time to upload. Please click here for evidence of my exploration. Schuck & Kearney’s report (2004, p.10) listed the three main approaches of use for digital video in education as “a communication tool, an observation or analysis and a reflection tool”. In addition, the report outlined that one of the best affordances for using digital video with learners is that the end product will have a real audience; a motivating factor to produce quality work according to their research. I aim to employ these in my classroom.

As a university student and a student teacher, I was already experienced with presentation tools, such as PowerPoint and Prezi (embedded into my blog here), having made them many times for various tasks. However, this course allowed me to discover Glogster. Glogster is an engaging way to present information to learners due to its multifaceted incorporation of text, images, audio, links and videos. At first I did not think much of Glogster, and it was not the easiest tool to use, however it looks amazing and as a visual learner it won me over. I embedded my glog poster into my weebly in a mock year 11 unit here.

My idea of implementing these tools within my classroom is that I would like to use many Web 2.0 and 3.0, as well as presentation tools and have them work seamlessly together. For example; Learners access the class web page where they will find a link to a presentation on a relevant topic. They then follow the link to a predesigned wiki which prompts the class to answer purposeful, framed questions that lead to group discussions using appropriate tools and activities to scaffold higher order thinking. Perhaps then the students could reflect upon the outcomes in their student blog, where their peers and I can comment on the post and pose more questions.

It is extremely important for teachers and learners to be aware of cyber safety, legal and ethical considerations and copyright laws when using ICTs. The minimum requirement for copyright and paying the correct attribution is the 10% fair use rule. I have blogged about this issue here. I must be aware to model this appropriately in my classroom if I am to expect my students to do the same. Guidelines for correct internet use; uploading material, acknowledging sources can be found on the Department of Education, Training and Employment Smart Classrooms (2012) web page which I have a link to within the above mentioned reflection. Just as significant is the privacy and protection for students. Care must always be taken to reduce the possible hazards involved with online environments such as the protection of student privacy by adhering to school guidelines and attaining parent/guardian and student consent for online publication of their work.

The advancement of online learning environments has meant that learning is no longer confined within the classroom walls or school grounds. Capabilities including and not limited to simulations, 3D virtual experiences (such as Visual Arts subject specific Google Art Project link: ) and the prospective worldwide connectedness encourage valid and engaging environments for teachers and learners alike. These capabilities within an education setting, as Lynch and Knight (2010) discuss, redefine the ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’ and ‘how’ of learning, and is beneficial not only to the teacher, but also the student as it suits and uses various approaches to learning, allowing all learners the opportunity to become involved and engaged, no matter what their preferred learning style may be.

The biggest stumbling block for me has been to understand the powerful teaching potential technology-rich learning environments represent and how to use and implement these into my classrooms. Modern day students are familiar with and obviously engaged by the digital media that surrounds them. Keeping up with the technology revolution is not easy for current teachers who grew up in an era when school and life were very different; certainly a lot of kids ‘back then’ (I am in this group and that’s not that long ago) were not engaged by ICT. Alas, today’s learners are being educated by the ‘back then’ kids. Day to day use of portable communication devices and technology is part of the norm for this generation of learners, and as supported by Smith and Lynch (2010), is the shape of the future for everyone.

I have since further researched tools that are relevent to my teaching area of Visual Arts. You can see where I have blogged about this here.

In this emergent world, and as a future Learning Manager for the 21^st century, value is placed on my capability to be imaginative and to take risks, to be highly tuned to changes in society for today and into the future, and to nurture curiosity and lifelong learning. I need to know the new generation of learners in my classroom, and as Knipe (2007) discusses, prepare them to operate in a future globalised world.

 

References:

Knipe, S (ed.) 2007, Middle years schooling: Reframing adolescence, Pearson, NSW.

Lynch, D & Knight, BA 2010, The theory and practice of learning management: a text for the student of learning management, Pearson, NSW.

Ministerial Advisory Committee for Educational Renewal (MACER) 2001, A creative workforce for a smart state: professional development for teachers in an era of innovation, Author, Brisbane.

Smith, R & Lynch, D 2010, Rethinking teacher education: Teacher education in the knowledge age, AACLM Press, Sydney.

Krathwohl, D 2002, A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy: An overview, Theory into Practice, 41(4), 212-218. doi: 10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2

Pifarre, M & Staarman, K 2011, Wiki-supported collaborative learning in primary education: How a dialogic space is created for thinking together, International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, 6(2), 187-205. doi:10.1007/s11412-011-9116-x

Schuck, S & Kearney, M 2004, Students in the director’s seat: Teaching and learning across the school curriculum with student generated video, retrieved from http://www.ed-dev.uts.edu.au/teachered/research/dvproject/home.html

Google Art Project & ThinkingRock 2.0

Amit Sood... thank you.

I came across this TED talk quite by accident and I am so glad that I did. Google Art Project allows you to navigate around the world's museums and galleries and explore the artworks on each wall in a 3D environment. It also has the capability for users to create their own collection of favourite artworks.

Here is the video from TEDtalks.com, where creator Amit Sood introduces this to the audience for the first time.

Here is the link to Google Art Project.
Here is a link to an ABC News article "Six Aussie galleries join Google Art Project".

ThinkingRock GTD 2.0

I am investigating this 2.0 tech as an organisational tool for students and myself to use to plan their unit of work. From what I can tell it is available as an app and does not need the internet to work. I cannot see a free version so the cost may be a deterrant but it looks pretty cool so far.
Here is the link to ThinkingRock.

Week 6: Mobile Learning

This week we had a look at using mobile devices in the classroom- iphones, ipod, ipad, as the Horizon Report K-12 2011 edition identified these tools as the most likely to have the largest effect on teaching and learning in the near future. I am still a bit dubious about this- probably because I have not seen it in action. How easy is it? do all students have access to a device? what do I do with the ones that don't? does it take ages to set these things up, and more importantly, is it worth it in the long run for effected teacching and learning?

Below are a few of the uses that I could see myself adopting for the classroom.

Learning with Mobile Phones

Sending SMS reminders: (Txttools) use an sms system to send reminders to learners; bring to the next lesson, don't forget etc.

Create a Mobile Group: (Remind101, Celly) Teachers can create a group using a service to send texts to parents, clubs, faculty.

Class Video Project: Invite the class to create a 1 minute video on a topic, share the video with the teacher using blue tooth. The whole class can watch these videos using the class projector for feedback and follow-up discussions.

Learning with iPad

Mind mapping: Use Idea Sketch to create mind maps which can be saved as an image.

Keeping records of student levels: Use TapForms to create forms that can be used to store data about your students. these can also be shared with other teachers.

Week 5: Group 3 Presentation Tools

Reflection on Glogster.

I had a look at some of the glog posters that have been created. I don’t feel that they are effective visual literacy tools as in most of them I had no idea what was being communicated. There was music, links to other websites, images. I found one that was set up like a book shelf, click on the book and it would send you to a link about the author. There was still a lot of reading involved. It’s a cool tool to introduce concepts or ideas, but I think it is mainly a resource to store and gather learning materials or research in.

I like that it is creative, colourful and individual.

It may be cool to have a link to a Glog off the main art web page where I could store links to material relevant to a unit of work that the students can access as ‘required reading’. I don’t mind this example by pbarto.

I had a go at my own here.

A screen shot of my Glog Poster

It was not as easy as it looks on the tutorial, though with a bit of time I got there in the end. I managed to embed it into my weebly page as a mock Year 11 assignment (pretty chuffed with myself), you can check it our here.

Reflection on dipity

an online timeline that allows you to link video, audio, images & text. This tool could be used in assessment as an art history timeline, or as a learning resource of art movements with links to information that I could access in the classroom.

 

Using Prezi.

I have used this presentation tool before, see below, and I still remember how impressed everyone was with the look of it. I teamed it up with a script when I presented it, outlining the similarities between Leonardo DaVinci and Banksy. I will definitely use this again.

A Man of the Time Prezi presentation

Week 4: Image & Video for learning

Use of Bogs in the art room.

As students become increasingly tech-savvy and multiple forms of visual media become the norm in their daily lives, it is only natural that instructional pedagogy embraces this trend in an endeavour to “speak their language”.



Snap shot of "Did You Know 4.0" YouTube clip

21^st century literacy implies the ability to use media to evoke emotional responses. Art, music, film, photography all have this potential and are powerful communication tools. Creativity and the ability to articulate and communicate ideas using not only words but also images and sounds is valued broadly.



Snap shot of "A Vision of Students Today" YouTube video

I would like to implement personal blogs in the form of Electronic Process Diaries (EPD) into my classroom, alongside the physical Visual Process Diaries (VPD) already in place in art classes in all year levels. Blogs can more fully engage students, allow them to articulate ideas and demonstrate concepts. Communication skills are highly valued by students and teachers alike- both in traditional forms like print and public speaking, and also in forms like multimedia, the visual arts, music and cinema (notes from 'A Global Imperative' paper).

 

Using images in eLearning: notes

Visual literacy is the ability to see, to understand, and ultimately to think, create and communicate graphically. The visual literate viewer looks at an image carefully, critically, and with an eye for the intentions of the image's creator. While accurate observation is important, understanding what we see and comprehending visual relationships are as important. These higher-level visual literacy skills require critical thinking, and they are essential to a student's success (notes from 'Reading images; an introduction to visual literacy').

 

Reflection on Podcasts:

I think that Podcasts can be a useful tool in the classroom and as set tasks for homework as part of the learning journey. I found some fantastic Podcasts from TED relevant to my subject area. I could provide access to this Podcast through links on my weebly to introduce a unit of work that the year 11 students are doing. this video would be in the 'engaging' or 'seeing' learning outcome on the designed video diagram below taken from 'It is not television anymore, Designing digital video for learning and assessment'.

Learning Outcomes for Designed Video

Creating a video for use in the classroom:

I created one for an arts subject; interview a local artist. It could be used an an example of an assessment piece for the students. Students could interview each other in pairs to create artist statements about their finished works and upload them onto their blogs. It took ages and ages and ages to upload, and eventually I had to stop it so I could actually leave the page and do something else, so I am not massively fond of it. FAIL!
So, I created a smaller one... fingers crossed.

Web 2.0 tool that I will explore and develop further is my weebly.

I have opted to explore and develop my weebly further because it is a tool that I want to use in my classroom to engage interest. Visual literacy is a major component of the arts curriculum, indeed being an assessable element, and I believe that implementing a weebly full of imagery placed in a valid context will greatly assist in communicating tasks and providing links to specific material to the students.

Idea: Pablo Picasso's Guernical analysis from 3 different perspectives.

Watch the 3 videos embedded on the weebly for year 11. First... answer the questions on the worksheet link. Then... create your own analysis of 'Guernica' and present it in your own way. this might be a small essay or you may choose to use your Voki. It must be embedded onto your blog. 

or to set up a reflective activity....

Idea: In your blog, reflect on the unit of work and the learning journey you have undergone while completing it. What was the most valuable lesson you learned from this? What was the most valuable resource for you? What advice would you give to future students undertaking this unit?

Week 3: Web 2.0 & 3.0 in an education setting

Some great uses for blogs in Education:

A screen shot of Common Craft's YouTube video "Blogs in Plain English".

• Teachers can use blogs to post class times and rules, assignment notifications, suggested readings and exercises.
• Teachers can link to internet items that relate to their course. Blogging allows the teacher to write what are in essence short essays directed specifically toward their students. These entries are not mere annotations of intersting links; they effectively model the teacher's approach and interest in the subject for their students.
• Blogs can be used to organise in-class discussions. the converstation possible on blogs is also an amazing tool to develop our community of learners. The students get to know eachother better by visiting and reading blogs from other students; blogs are personalised so students can discover, in a non-threatening way, their similarities and differences. The loud student and the quiet student have the same writing space to voice their opinion, putting students in a situation of equality.
• Students may be asked to create their own blogs as part of the course grade, and comment on others as a peer feedback activity.

Blogs are easy to use and offer a powerful tool kit for the support of collaborative and individual learning that adhears to the patterns of contemporary information-intensive work and learning outside of formal education settings.

Downs, S 2004, Educational Blogging, viewed 17 July 2012, http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/educational-blogging

Reflection on the use of Wikis in an educational setting.

A screen shot of Common Craft's YouTube video "Wikis in Plain English".

Check out my go at a Wiki for an Art Competition I made up.

A wiki is an online space where users and guests can edit, modify, add, remove information with intuitive editing tools. It could be compared to a never-ending, paginated sheet of online butcher’s paper.

Teacher context: The history function can be very useful to identify the contribution of each student to the blog, authoring dates, and progress of students.

The nature of the learning to be done must be carefully considered and scaffolded by the teacher- set a task such as the six learning hats or a PMI to generate and encourage a focused student contribution.

Student context: When partnered with a blog, students can add a link of their collaborative wiki. Can be used as a reflective tool. It’s fun and interactive.

Reflection on the use of Wikis in an educational setting.

Check out my webpage for my students across all year levels.

It is great for students to be able to access all their learning support materials in one place. Also as they progress into later year levels they are familiar already with the functionality and usage of the webpage.

It also allowed me to add fun parts such as the completion page.

Great for me to make available all my resources online.

Potential to add an “extra reading/resources” alongside the page for students who are ahead of the class to access other activities or materials to extend themselves.

I think I would prefer to have students in middle school use blogs, and have the senior years create web pages- I am not sure why.

Week 2: TPACK, Wiki's & Safe Ethical use.

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

TPACK in plain English!

The Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge framework, integrated with Bloom’s Taxonomy, is the knowledge of how to use appropriate technologies in your learning design to support the complexity, level of thinking and delivery of the content you are encouraging students to engage in.

De Bono's Six Thinking Hats

Reflection on wiki activity Mobile Phones - should they be used in the classroom?

Being the first of the Noosa crew to add a discussion to the activity did not really allow any learning in the sense of the purpose of the wiki. It was beneficial to use DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats as it allowed me to adopt Bloom’s Taxonomy to analyse and evaluate the issue from many different angles. It will be interesting and beneficial to revisit the wiki to discover what other learners have added. This in itself is an issue with a compulsory wiki contribution- once a learner has contributed to the wiki, there is no guarantee that they will revisit it. An activity such as the one suggested of evaluating the contributions and creating a list of the most important would be essential to promote a learner to revisit the wiki. As it is, I found it hard to find the link to the wiki. Also, I forgot the password I had created, which is another obstacle for use in the classroom. The link must be easy to find for the activity to be successful and for intended learning outcomes to be met.


Productive Pedagogies Activity Reflection

This learning experience was valuable in that it is similar to the thinking hats in the way it makes you consider the different aspects of a simple lesson in how to create a stencil.



My Stencilling Lesson in Productive Pedagogies

Ethics, Issues and ICT

Students must use ethical, safe and responsible practices when working with ICT. Codes of practice in terms of intellectual property and acknowledging the owner/creator of digital sources (citing references) and understanding ethical and unethical use of communication tools and social online environments are all a part of this. After going to our week 2 lecture I understood the importance of all of this and am endeavouring to include this in my own practice. More information is available on the Smart Classrooms website here.

Week 1: Learning Theory and e-Learning

Engage me or Enrage me

What is your belief and understanding of the nature of today's learners in relation to ICTs?

My belief is that today’s learners are tech savvy. They are used to getting information that they want in an instant through Google search, they are fantastic at multitasking- they listen to music, write emails, create new playlists and chat to friends on their phones and online all while doing their homework. They are constantly engaged in their own lives, so why shouldn’t they be engaged at school too? So yes, there is substance to the "engage or enrage" argument made by Prensky (2005).  

Reflection on bubble.us online mind-mapping tool

I would definitely use this in the classroom. All of the students at current EPL school have laptops that they bring to the classroom. Many of the students come up with fantastic concepts, however they are usually too broad like “technology”. A mind map would help the student to funnel that concept to develop a focus such as "communication" and a context such as "19th century compared to now" to create their artwork from. Below is an example of my concept "my cat Tommy", and how I could choose a focus such as "makes me laugh" and choose a context from there.

Example of online mind-map from bubble.us