This week I have presented my reflection with the help of VoiceThread, which is also the tool I am focussing on. I'm excited to see how you all like it, and nervous to see how I go in the "assessment" stakes with the change in how I am presenting my reflection. I'm well aware my last two have been very text based with a little YouTube and pictures thrown in, and I wanted to shake it up a bit!!
This week in ICTs for Learning
Design I was introduced to online spaces.Although I knew what a blog, website and wiki were, I actually wasn’t
aware of Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and how those spaces related to the “types” of web.
Basically Web 1.0 was the first iteration of the “world wide web” where only
those with skills in programming were able to create pages and then modify
them. Web 2.0 is most common in current times and is much more open to the
everyday person. With a reasonable level of computer literacy anyone can
create, modify and add to the web through websites, blogs, wikis and even
“apps”. I had to google Web 3.0, and that really blew my mind! Have a read
here: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-30.htm.
It takes the term “just google it” to an entire new level!!
Blogs (like this one),
websites and wikis are all types of Web 2.0 that can be used in the
classroom.
I created a website as
a way to explore how Web 2.0 can be used to transform my pedagogy.
I started by navigating to the
Weebly homepage and created account,
and then a site.The interface for
designing the webpage was very intuitive and appealed to my desire to have
things planned and ordered. Weebly even provides a “Site Planner” that steps
the creator through the stages of planning, designing and building their
website.I found this service very
useful.A myriad of functions can be
incorporated into a website.I can build
in a blog, or add a contact form, poll or survey.I can also attach documents or embed YouTube
videos and images.In fact, with the
ability to enter any custom embed code, just about any of the other tools
discussed this week can be embedded into the website.By using a static webpage, I can insert
information that does not need to change, or will not need to change
regularly.Insertion of a blog then
allows for easy and quick supply of information on a regular basis without
having to remove the previous contents.I am, however, unable to facilitate the input, collaboration and
feedback from third parties (students), beyond the use of polls or
surveys.As a standalone tool created by
the teacher, I believe a website will be largely teacher focussed, and its main
service will be for the presentation and supply of information and guidance.
However, with some thought and scaffolding, it can be used to promote many
learning outcomes from rote learning through to higher level thinking skills.The SAMR below post demonstrates how websites
can be employed in different ways to achieve this range of learning outcomes.
SAMR and Websites
S
Teacher creates a class site to
provide a central location for class notes, worked examples and maths problems to
be solved during class or as homework.
A
Teacher creates a class site to
provide a central location for class notes, worked examples and maths problems
to be solved during class or as homework, but also provides links to you tube
videos, recordings of their own worked examples done during class time, and
other websites that have more information not covered in class time.
M
Students individually create their
own website where the content is the information that would otherwise be
provided as a result of homework or class problem sets.Not only does this make worked examples of
problems and assignments available to other students for them to learn from,
the creating student also has a neat record of their work that they can use as
a study resource come exam time.
R
Students create the class website as
they progress through the unit of work.It is designed and built by them as a group, and is populated with their
own notes from class and other information provided in the traditional
classroom, and they also add their own worked examples links to other sources
of information they discover and have found helped them learn a concept.At the end of the unit of work they will have
created their own study resource.This
could even be done in collaboration by another class in the same school (or
even another school!), so that any differences in information or explanation
style by teachers can be shared across groups to widen the range of learning
theories and pedagogies used and allow students to individually benefit from
pedagogy that best suits their learning style.
My Website
When creating my website I spent
some time thinking about what I wanted to achieve from a classroom of maths and
science students (I didn’t limit it to one so that I could let my thinking on
the topic explore both teaching areas). I wanted to provide information,
promote collaboration and encourage self-driven learning. This took a bit of
learning and old fashioned brainstorming.
I created a website that is a “home
base” for the class.I have a space
where I can provide the “theory” through my class notes and links to other
sources of information on the web; this is using a website at
substitution/modification level.I then
have used the “I Do, You Do, We Do” model, with a heading for each.“I Do” is again substitution or modification,
as it is just a space for me to provide worked examples or examples of the
“ideal” for assignments.The “We Do” page
is where augmentation and redefinition comes in as I have embedded a wiki that
can be used to facilitate group activities. I think that by embedding the wiki
I can overcome some of the limitations of a teacher designed and operated
website. The “You Do” page is intended to scaffold the tasks to be undertaken
at an individual level, but will probably use the wiki as the space for
facilitating this.I need to spend more
time working with the functionality before I have this all sorted.One thing I have learned in this exercise is
that using ICTs at the Modify and Redefinition level of SAMR takes a lot of
planning and time on the teacher’s part.
I've also created some accounts and passwords so that you can check out my wikispace: Login Password mathsandscienceforgrownups1 clupha mathsandscienceforgrownups2 chinem mathsandscienceforgrownups3 souuai mathsandscienceforgrownups4 siocou
- Isabel -
References:
How Web 3.0 Will Work Accessed 21/03/15. Retrieved from:
This week I was re-introduced to the concept of the deBono’s Hats activity. When I was in late primary my teacher had actual hats in all the colours and we had to debate from the point of view of the hat we were wearing.I really loved it, and looking back I’m really grateful that I had such an awesome teacher that worked so hard on our higher order thinking skills. Did anyone else use deBono’s hats in their primary or secondary schooling?
For those of you who may be reading this and DON’T know what deBono’s Hats are, watch the YouTube video below for a brief overview.
So, why is deBono’s Hats considered
such a pedagogically sound teaching tool? I believe it is because the design of
the deBono’s Hats activity covers off on all of the eight principles of good
pedagogy introduced in this weeks course work. Take this weeks activity as an
example:
1.The questions prompted and scaffolded the development
and use of higher order thinking, hence promoting deep knowledge.
2. The online and group work aspect of this particular
deBono activity facilitated and encouraged conversation and hence collaborative
learning.
3. By not dictating the information sources that informed
this activity, the participant was able to source and learn information in a
way that they felt comfortable with and they knew suited them.
4. The topic of “Mobile Phones in Classrooms?” posed a
problem (should we let them? Or shouldn’t we let them? Why?), and related to
our potential experience in the classrooms where we will teach.
5. The topic was relevant to us as we are budding
teachers, and I believe will have connected to at least a little background
knowledge for each of us through our own experiences.
6. As with (3), learning and engagement were managed by
the participants, with only the necessary scaffolding provided by the activity
organiser.
7. The tool is socially supportive, engaging, encourages
the voicing of cultural knowledgeby incorporating ideas from a diverse group of people
in an environment where participants can feel safe to do so.
8. The
slight problem with the activity (the ability to over write someone else’s
contributions) is actually encouraging the development of active citizenship and
group identity by making participants work as a team to be considerate of
others and careful with how they enter their contributions.
So, I’ve determined that the activity ticks all the
boxes for a pedagogically sound teaching tool; but which of the learning
theories informs it? Does it take principles from just one learning theory, or
does more than one apply?
The interactive group nature of the
activity demonstrated to me that Social Constructivism was at play.A key premise of Social Constructivism is
that learning is scaffolded by more knowledgeable others. A participant in the
activity can view each of the other participants’ responses and this gives a
guide to the way they should be thinking about and approaching the
problem.I know for myself Cassandra’s
early start on the activity helped me to feel more confident that the way I was
answering the questions was on the right path.I do however see a possible pitfall with this approach, what if she had
been completely wrong, and then I followed, and the next followed etc?!? We
would be a herd of mature-aged lost university student sheep!! Definitely a
note for my own classroom use of Constructivism, keep an eye on the kiddies so
they don’t get lost.
The next learning theory I
identified in the activity was Connectivism. We were given absolutely no
background information on this topic.I
imagine fifty years ago, a class given this task would have had their own
knowledge, colleague’s knowledge and the library to work from. How lucky are we
that without leaving our camp dongas (I’m on shift at work), we can google up
all the information we could possibly need to present an informed opinion? I
think I am going to have to remove the isolation valves on the pipework that I
used when doing my thesis and had to access scholarly articles (remember the
phrase “the pipeline is more important than the contents of the pipe”). Google
can only take one so far.
Social Constructivism and
Connectivism were used as a basis for an activity that scaffolds higher order
thinking skills by asking leading and probing questions that encourage a
structured, thorough pattern of thought which considers all possible angles. The
activity encourages learning outcomes that include creativity, high order thinking and metacognitive skills. These are skills
that are not just going to be in demand, but be absolutely crucial for success
in a post-industrial age society (if you haven’t yet watched Sir Ken Robinson’s
speech from our first weeks learning materials, do it, I’ve linked it in my
references).
My brain is
loving all this new and interesting information! I’m going to go see who else
has completed their first BIG SCARY ASSESSMENT TASK.
- Isabel -
What is Pedagogy. Accessed 13/03/15. Retrieved from:
Debono’s
Six Thinking Hats: A Brief Guide. Accessed
13/03/15. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbUgJpV8t94
Monday 9 March 2015
Week #2: Engagement Activity 2 Bloom’s and SAMR
Bloomin’ SAMR!!!
Wow. Just
Wow.I spent a ridiculous amount of time
using a tool that was suggested to me by a practicing teacher, iMindMap
(comment if you want some more info!).But I’m glad I did because this is a much clearer way for me to
communicate how I believe Bloom’s Taxonomy and SAMR are interconnected.
