Reflective Synopsis

Students in today's classrooms are considered to be 'Digital Natives', having grown up and been immersed in a range of digital technologies from a very young age (Prensky, 2001). I am constantly blown away by the ICT skills that students have developed by a young age, often exceeding my own. This proves the need for effective and up-to-date teaching of ICT's in all learning contexts, and the need for Learning Managers to regularly up-date their own ICT knowledge and skills. Effective eLearning consists of "Flexible, collaborative, interactive learning delivered and enabled using ICT" (Education Queensland, 2008, p12). A major component of this is the consideration of digital pedagogy. Digital pedagogy refers to a new way of learning with ICT that provides and enhances learning experiences for our students of the Twenty-first Century, with the focal point being on "....a way of working in the digital world" (Education Queensland, 2008, p3). This means that students are not only learning the differing information, communication and technology (ICT) tools and skills, but they are also acquiring the knowledge and skills in order to use ICT tools to enhance their learning , and are involved in organisation, communication, research and problem-solving, as well as other Higher Order Thinking skills, with technology as the tool (Eisenberg, Johnson & Berkowitz, 2010).

The purpose of this synopsis is to examine and reflect on a range of ICT tools for different learning purposes that I have explored and believe to be valuable for the learning of Twenty-first century students. In order to analyse these tools, I will be looking through the lens of such frameworks such as the Big6, Bloom's Taxonomy, the Dimensions of Learning, Productive Pedagogies, and theorists Vygotsky and Piaget. I chose the Big6 Skills framework as I can see a clear link between the this, the Dimensions of Learning, and Bloom's Taxonomy (see The Big6 Skills Learning Theory). Links to classroom pedagogy and content will be made to place the tools in an early childhood context.

Tool One: Learning Management Systems (LMS)
A LMS is a great tool that enables learners to easily access and gain information. Moodle and Blackboard are both examples (See Learning Management Systems (LMS) for more information). I think this tool is a valuable learning aid, as a virtual classroom can be created. "A virtual classroom is a private online space in blackboard that teachers can use to support student learning" (Education Queensland, 2010). Information and content knowledge can be accessed through this tool, as the Learning Manager (LM) can upload a great range of differing learning instruments. Early childhood learners would need to be scaffolded in how to access the site, although as it is a tool that is able to repetitively used, it won't take them long to understand how they site works, and how to access and use all of the sub-tools. A fellow colleague (See Learning Management Systems (LMS) for professional conversation) made me aware to the fact that a limitation of this versatile tool is that it requires plenty of time from an already busy teacher. I agree with this, although if the LM was to regularly spend a small about of time a couple of days a week, then the virtual classroom would continue to be updated, and provide engaging experiences to the students.

In relation to the Big6 Skills Framework, Blackboard could be incorporated into stage 3, Location and Access (Eisenberg, 2010). A virtual classroom would allow the learners to locate and use any appropriate information or experiences provided by the LM (Eisenberg, Johnson & Berkowitz, 2010). For example, if the Early Childhood class was completing a unit on weather types, the LM could upload a range of images and digital videos depicting a range of weather types, clothing items, food and activities for the young learners to view and analyse. This also protects the safety of the students as they aren't searching on the wider web, where inappropriate content can easily be located, accidently or not. The privacy and safety of the learners is also protected, as a username and password is required to access the site. Bloom's Taxonomy can also be applied to this ICT tool. When using this tool, in the scenario of the weather unit, students are using Higher Order Thinking, as they are analyising images and videos, classifying them into different weather categories, and justifying why a certain clothing item or activity is suited to a particular weather condition. Thus, a student would be using the higher order thinking skills from Bloom's Taxonomy; application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation (Dalton & Smith, 1986). This ICT is particularly valuable, as students are able to use it a home (if a computer and the internet is available) and show their families what they are learning, thus enhancing the home-school connection.

Tool Two: An Online Concept Map

An ICT tool that enables students to consolidate and refine information is a concept map (see Concept Map: A tool for organising your thinking). "A concept map is a two-dimensional diagram representing the conceptual structure of subject matter" (McInerny & McInerny, 2006, p111). Concept maps are used to organise concepts, ideas, thoughts and information, and get an overview of a concept. For my current context (early childhood) I would use a concept map as a collaborative, whole class tool as, discussed in my blog, it may be too complex for these young learners to complete on their own (see discussion with Ashleigh on using concepts maps in the early years). As a whole class, we could brainstorm ideas on how to answer the following question (relating to unit on weather) 'What is the weather like in Summer?'. Students would provide a range of suggestions, with the Learning Manager (LM) typing these into the concept map. This provides a collaborative, concise, and refined summary, making it easier for students to understand and recall the data. Including a concept map at the beginning of the learning process provides students with "....a stable cognitive structure to which new learning can be anchored" (McInerny & McInerny, 2006, p143). Ausbel details that concept maps (a type of advanced organisers) supports learning as they prepare the students for the material about to be learned, and enable them to make sense out of the material/learning experiences (Mergel, 1998). This links to Bloom's taxonomy, specifically 'application', as students are using Higher Order Thinking to solve a problem, and connect prior knowledge to a new situation (Dalton & Smith, 1986; Johnson & Lamb, 2007). Also, Dimension Two of the Dimensions of Learning is being used as students are organising knowledge within a graphic organiser (Mazarno & Mazarno, 2006). Students are also extending and refining their prior knowledge though the use of a concept map (Mazarno & Mazarno, 2006). Overall, I believe this ICT tool to be a valuable learning aid, providing for a range of learners, learning experiences and environments.

Tool Three: Blog

The use of blogs in an Early Childhood environment allows learners to transform information into a reflective format, allowing new understandings to develop (See Blogs in a 21st Century Learning Environment for more). "Blogs are simple web pages, often made up of short, informal and frequently updated posts" (Infinite Thinking Machine, n.d.). Users of blogs can post images, movies, text, and hyperlinks to other webpages. Through my exploration of blogging, I found it to be a user-friendly, fun and an engaging reflective ICT tool, that could definitely be incorporated into any learning context. Blogs may benefit learners who are not efficient in handwriting, as the reflective writing can be typed instead, and can be enhanced through the addition of images, movies or links. In the Early Childhood environment, a blog could be used as a whole class reflective tool, or as an individual task. I would use it as a whole class at first, to help scaffold learners and model its use and functions. Then I would introduce it individually to allow learners a tool for reflective journal writing online. A colleague suggested that you use a blog as a whole class where at the end of each week the class reflects on new learnings, or what they've been doing (see Blogs in a 21st Century Learning Environment for profession conversation).

Blogs can be used as a space for the young learners to share things they have found, enjoy, or communicate with their peers through comments on others. This collaborative and social learning is a key underpinning oh Vygotsky's theory of social constructivism. As blogs encourage peer commenting, and sharing of information and thoughts, knowledge is able to be mutually and collaboratively constructed with peers (McInerny & McInerny, 2006). Vygotsky believes that it is within these social environments where students construct their own understandings (McInerny & McInerny, 2007). Learning Managers are also able to add comments to the blogs of their learners, and share their blog. "The importance of social interaction between adults and children, and in particular , the role played by adults in guiding and mediating learning for children, is paramount for Vygotsky" (McInerny & McInerny, 2007 p60). This is achievable through the facilitation of educational blogging in the classroom. In relation to the Big6 Skills framework, a blog would be beneficial in stage 6; Evaluation. In this stage, students could use their Blog as a tool to reflect on the creation and process of a particular product. In the younger years of primary, the LM would need to carefully scaffold this, and provide learners with sentence stems, and words to choose from in order for the successful completion. Evaluation can also be on the work of others, and this can be achieved by peer reviewing, then short comments being made on the posts. For example, (continuing with the weather unit) the culminating task the students had to complete might be a drawing (on Paint) for each season, containing related weather conditions, clothing, food and activities. This can then be uploaded and posted on their blog, and then peer reviewed and commented on. To enable Higher Order Thinking, the LM would need to ask questions such as 'Does this image have all the right weather conditions, clothing items, food and activities for the season? What changes would you recommend?' This is using the levels of evaluation, synthesis and analysis as students are investigating the seasons, create a representation and judging and making recommendations to their peers. Blogging enables learners to share and view a range of perspectives, which links to Dimension Three of the Dimensions of Learning where students analyse perspectives. There are many Habits of Mind embedded in the use a educational blogging such as maintain an open mind, respond appropriately to others' feelings and level of knowledge, monitor your own thinking, respond appropriately to feedback and evaluate the effectiveness of your actions (Marzano & Pickering, 2006). Blogging enhances learning as students are exposed to a wider audience, where social construction can occur, and information from a different perspectives can be explored (Zawilinski, 2009).

Finally, an important factor when using blogging in any learning environment (any digital tool actually), is the notion of netiquette. Students need to be explicitly taught what good netiquette is, and how they can work legally, safely and professionally online. This involves modelling netiquette, and exploring the consequences when it doesn't occur.

Tool Four: Digital Movies

The creation of digital movies can be used to present knowledge (see Digital Video for more). Programs such as Windows Movie Make and iMovie are commonly available. In my experience of using both of the programs, the creation of digital movies is very simple, and involves creativity and planning. It is a fun tool that enables learners to share their thoughts, knowledge, creativity and ideas with an audience. This may be useful for shy learners who do not like the focus being on them, as other modes are used to convey meaning such as voice over, text, images and moving images. According to Kearny and Shuck (2006), when students create digital videos, they are communicating, observing, analysing and reflecting. Digital videos would be used in stage 5 (synthesis) of the Big6 Skills framework as students are communicating their results, ideas, thoughts and information to a particular audience. To enhance Higher Order Thinking in the Early Childhood context, the Learning Manager could pose the question: What ways can we use to find out about what they weather will be like today? Students then need to research this idea, and present their findings of the problem in the form of a Digital Video. This would allow students to use a multimodal media to enhance their understanding and meaning making. The students could include such things as images, videos, text, music and even a voice recording, which can often have more meaning than text on paper. The creation process would need to be explicitly taught to the young learners, with plenty of time for exploration provided in order to develop the appropriate skills. The Higher Order Thinking required for this task synthesis, as students are creating, composing, planning, designing, and imagining.

Showing children digital movies from sites such as You Tube would allow learner to develop critical literacy skills as they are able to explore the authenticity and purpose of particular movies or television adverts. This is a valuable thinking experience, which when referring to Bloom's Taxonomy, involves students using the highest level of thinking; evaluation, and also in vital real life learning.

In conclusion, I have found the above tools to be engaging and valuable learning tools which can be easily incorporated into the learning environment. Learning Managers need to prepare students for the new literacies if the Twenty-first Century by explicitly teaching them in the classroom through digital pedagogy. This prepare learners for be ICT literate, and better prepare them for a digital world. This learning journey of mine through blogging has also shown me how much I do not know about the digital world, and that I need to also prepare myself to become digitally literate. I will continue to explore ICT tools available to me, and continue to be on the hunt for more. This will mean that I will be able to better prepare my learners and their ability to be successful in the modern world.

Reference List:

Dalton, J. & Smith, D. (1986). Extending Children’s Special Abilities – Strategies for primary classrooms. Retrieved 20^th of August, 2010 from http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm

Education Queensland (2008). Smart Classrooms Bytes: advice for schools on the latest ICT research for education. Brisbane: Queensland Government

Education Queensland. (2010). Virtual Classroom. Retrieved 22^nd of August, 2010 from http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/onlinelearning/virtual-classroom.html

Eisenberg, M. (2001). Big6 Skills Overview. Retrieved 15^th of August, 2010 from http://www.big6.com/2001/11/19/a-big6%E2%84%A2-skills-overview/

Eisenberg, M., Johnson, D. & Berkowitz, B. (2010). Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) Skills Curriculum Based on the Big6 Skills Approach to Information Problem-Solving. Retrieved 20^th of August, 2010 from http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/file.php/4033/LMC_Big6-ICT_Curriculum_LMC_MayJune2010.pdf

Infinite Thinking Machine (n.d.) Blogger in the Classroom. Retrieved 23^rd of August, 2010 from http://www.infinitethinkingmachine.org/stuff/Blogger.pdf

Johnson, L. & Lamb, A. (2007). Critical and Creative Thinking – Bloom’s Taxonomy. Retrieved 21^st of August, 2010 from http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic69.htm

Krause, K., Bochner, S. & Duchesne, S. (2007). Educational Psychology: for learning and teaching. 2^ndend. South Melbourne: Thomson.Marzano, R. & Pickering, D. (2006). Dimensions of Learning: teacher's manual. 2nd edn. Victoria: Hawker Brownlow Education.

McInerny, D. & McInerny, V. (2006). Educational Psychology: construct learning. 4^th edn. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: Pearson Education Australia.

Mergel, B. (1998). Instructional Design and Learning Theory. Retrieved 21^st of August, 2010 from http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/mergel/brenda.htm

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. 9(5).

Schucks, S. & Kearny, M. (2004). Teaching and Learning across the School Curriculum with Student-generated Video. Sydney: University of Technology.

Zawilinski, L. (2009) HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking. The Reading Teacher. 62(8), 651 – 661.

Links to Professional Conversations:

On my blog:

Learning Management Systems

The Power of PowerPoint

Concept Map

Blogs in a 21st Century Learning Environment

On blogs of peers:

Google Earth & Maps

Wicked Wikis

Weebly Website

Wiki

PowerPoint

Wiki

Digital Video

Scribble Maps

Scribble Maps, available here, is a fantastic tool appropriate for all levels of learning, and all contexts. It can be used for a vast range of purposes, and provides learners with an engaging tool.

It allows students to draw on Google Map, covering all countries around the world. It is free to access, and it easily found on the Internet.

Students can add text, colour, shapes and lines over a map of their home country, town, or somewhere they hope to visit. You can ask students a range of questions following Blooms Taxonomy, and they have to answer using the map. For example, in my context of Prep, you could ask them to place a blue cirlce in Queensland, or draw over the top of Australia of how you think it should be shaped, and justify your design.

The only weakness of this tool is that it requires an internet connection in order to be accessed. Overall though, it is a fun, valuable ICT tool that provides the opportunity to enhance learning of the students.

Weather Video

Fun with Fodey

Fodey is an online webpage where you can manipulate different tools, like a newspaper article, clapper board or a talking owl, to write/say whatever you want. This would be a perfect tool to use in the Synthesis stage of the Big6 framework, or the create stage of Bloom's Taxonomy, where students present knoweldge to an audience.

Here is one that I made, using a talking cat. Obviously I would need to read it out to the class, or get them to help with simple words.
This is a great tool for the LM to use to engage learners, or the students could use it to present information to an audience.
A weakness of this tool is that some of the choices has word limits of what you can write (e.g. the clapper board). Otherwise it's an interesting tool for presenting information to a specific audience.

The Big6 Skills Learning Theory

After reading about the Big6 Skills Framework, I could very easily see links to the Dimensions of Learning. "The Big6 information problem-solving model is applicable whenever people need and use information. the Big6 integrates information search and use skills along with technology tools in a systematic process to find, use, apply, and evaluate information for specific needs and tasks"

It can used across any context; topic, theme, content and year level. Also, this framework ensures that ICTs are used in all phases of learning. This enhances the outcomes for students.

The following is how I see where the Dimensions of Learning fits in with the Big6 Skills framework:

1. Task Definition - Acquire and integrate knowledge
2. Information Seeking Strategies - Acquire and integrate knowledge
3. Location and Access - Acquire and integrate knowledge
4. Use of information - Extend and refine knowledge
5. Synthesis - Use Knowledge meaningfully
6. Evaluation - Maybe HoM metacognition, or use knowledge meaningfully.

Overall, I think this is a great, simple learning framework to follow, and sucessfully integrates ICT's in a way that maximises learning opportunities.

Teachers TV

Teachers Tv has a wide range of educational videos, from tips and examples on classroom management, to lesson starters teachers can use to engage learners. Also, all year levels are covered.

Click here for a clip from teachers.tv; it is about probability.
What I like most about it, is that it provides learners with a question at the end, for them to figure out. This is such an engaging way to other introduce a mathematics concept that might have otherwise been quite dull.

Have you seen teacher.tv used in the classroom? How would you use this tool to enhance the learning of your students?

You Tube

Above is a You Tube clip which I search for, then embedded onto this posting.

I would use this short clip to engage my learners, and provide them with some stimulus for conversations or questions. This is similar to what I did described in my blog about Digital Videos.

The following is a PMI analysis of the use of You Tube clips in the Prep classroom.

Plus

- An engaging tool (if the right clip is selected)

- Easily accessed and downloaded/embedded

- A wide range of topics and themes covered

Minus

- Inappropriate materials can sometimes show up on the sides of the webpage (Clips should always be downloaded or embedded onto another safe site such as blackboard)

Interesting

- It can sometimes be difficult to find the right clip required, thus spending a lot of time searching.

Overall, I think You tube is a fantastic tool available to us as Learning Managers, and provides a wide range of topics.

What do you think?

Digital Video

I created this movie using Windows Movie Maker, and took me only about 10 minutes to make. Windowm Movie Maker and iMovie are easy to use, and you can incorportate a range of functions like images, vidoes, text, effects, music and voice over. I really enjoyed creating my movie, and as I found it easy to use, it was motivating and encouraged my creativity.

Students can use a video to create a presentation of a specific theme/idea/event, which they can then show to an audience (class, school, communitity). They can commuincate a range of ideas through a digital movie, and have the freedom to use a range of medias. Communicating through a movie also takes away the focus from the child, aiding shy students to have their voice.

I have created a short movie using iMovie for my current Prep class. It was on their current unit weather, and was used as a tool to lead into a converstaion of what they have learnt so far. It contain images of different weather situations, and some weather symbols, which has been a big focus. An upbeat song was chosen to help engage the learners and get them motivated and watching. This was a great way of prompting learners of their prior experiences/knowledge.

How did you find creating a movie using Windows Movie Maker or iMovie? How could a digital movie involved students in learning that enables them to use higher order thinking skills?

Podcast

Above is my attempt at making a Podcast using Podomatic . My voice sounds really strange as I don't have the right equipment. It was simple to make, although I would only recommend introducing the creation side to older Primary levels.

So how could Podcasting be valuable for learning in the Prep years?

The learning manager could create a range of podcast, that discuss the current unit of work, and are reading the class's favourite story. Students could listen to these individually using headphones, or as a whole class with the large speakers. This would be a great way on engaging the learners, and providing them with another way of learning. Also podcasts could be listened to at home with families, thus creating a home-school link.

In the older years of Primary schooling, students could set up a podcasting account, where they add episodes of their new learnings, or information of a certain topic they are interested in. They would become the experts of that knoweldge. The teacher could set it up like a radio station, and the class listens to eachers additions. This would be a fanataic, real-life engaging tool to encourage learners to become involved, and develop their ICT skills and knowledge.

Images - What do they offer our learners?

Flickr:

I decided to establish an account with Flickr, as it was free and I'm sure I will use it in the future. Setting up this account was very simple. While exploring the website, I had trouble finding and understanding the Creative Commons permissions and copyright notices. It took some research to understand what photos I would be able to freely use, and found that photos under the non-commercial liscenses would be best for me to use. Flickr actually has a search you can do of only these type of images. I found this very useful and time saving.

This is an image I managed to find on Flickr of a chosen topic, and saved it to my desktop. This took only a couple of minutes, and was very easy to do.

Flickr is a simple website suitable for teachers to use to gather photos. It is definitly not suitable for students to freely explore as it is not scanned for inappropriate images, often coming up with photos of a rude or inappropriate nature. This is a major downside to the website. To overcome this, the Learning Manager could create a folder on the schools database, and provide learners with a wide range of photos for them to easily access. Photos of all different sorts would be need to be supplied to encourage creativity and provide for individual likes and needs.

MobaPhoto:

As I always have trouble resizing and editing photos, I chose to download this program. It was free and quick to download, and extremely user friendly!

<- Here is an image of the screen for the resizing of images. This was so simple to do. All it asks you to do is select the images you want to resize, and what you will be doing with the images. It then resizes the images, depending on the intended use. You then choose a location to resave the images. It was so quick, and so simple. I am very impressed! You can also edit your pictures in terms of colour (making the images red, or green ect), rotation, contrast, brightness and crop, ect. This was also very simple to do.

I think that this program could definitly be taught to Primary aged learners, to enhance their ICT skills and abilities to edit and use a range of images.

I honestly cannot see any negative aspects of this tool - it is free, easy to use, and very useful, and you are able to edit many photographs at once. The only slight downside is that resized images are not of the same high-quality.

Key benefit: MobaPhoto can be saved onto a USB stick. So, instead of downloading the program to all needed computers which may not have administartive rights, it can used from a USB stick.

Image Manipulation:

I set up an account with the program Picnik, which is available here . It was easy to do, and simple to use. The site is very engaging, and the directions are clear. Sign up is free. You can choose to either download an image, or use one of their demo ones. I downloaded one from my own collection, to make the experience more personal. Once you have downloaded an images, the instructions and tasks are very clear, with simple instructions of how to use each function. Below is a screen capture of when I was editing my picture.

You can also use the create function to add a range of things to your image: texts, pictures (flowers, tiaras, clothes, different themes, ect), frames and so much more. Doing this was a lot fun, and I think children would really enjoy doing this as well. It was very simple to use.

When you have finished, you save the file following simple directions. You can even upload your edited photo onto your Flickr account following a link on the page. Unfortunately, when it came time for to do this, I had some technical errors with my computer, which ment I lost my image. This is part of using an unpredictable computer.

Exploring the pedagogy use of images, I found there needs to be purpose to providing the children with the image, not just for decoration, or only used to simply "engage" the students. They should be used to enage the learners in higher order thinking skills, and encourage them to interact with an idea/theme, and challenge their way of thinking, ir order to enhance knoweldge and understanding.

What ways have you seen images used in your prac classrooms, or what ways have you used them? Are they able to enhance learning? If so, in what way?

Learning Management System (LMS)

"LMS's offer a single platform that delivers content, manages assessment, provides communication forums and virtual collaboration spaces for students" (Moodle)



Blackboard and Moodle are both types of a LMS, and I have a good amount of experience with using them, though not with creating one.

Blackboard can be a great tool to use in the classroom, being accessed by teachers, students and their families. The teacher can upload homework, what's happening in class, class photos and resources. It is also a great tool to connect home and school life.


The following is a PMI of the use of Blackboard/Moodle:

Plus:
- Contain a lot of infomration, orgainsed in a logical way and easy to find.
- Many people can use the tool at one time.
- Connects home and school life
- Online resources can be stored by the teacher for later use.
- Parents can keep up with what is happening in their child's class if they are really busy during the day.

Minus:
- Privacy might be an issue; although a password and username is needed to get access

Interesting:
- Sometimes there can be too much information uploaded, with students ignoring some, or not getting time to look at it all.


Overall I would love to set up a Bclackboard program (Virtual Classroom) to help engage my learners, share a wide range of resources and enhance the involvment of families in the learning.

What do you think of Blackboard? Is it a valuable ICT learning and teaching tool? Let me know!

Prezi

Before this course, I had never heard of a Previ before so I was curious to find out.
I really enjoyed watching Prezi's made by others that have been shared on the website http://prezi.com/ which is where I made my own. Click here to view it.


PMI of creating and using a Prezi in the Primary classroom:

Plus:
- Very engaging, interesting to watch
- Highlights and focuses key points separately
- Builds on the commonly used PowerPoint tool

Minus:
- I found it quite complicated to use, and would sometimes end up loosing things like photos or words without meaning to.
- Would require a lot of scaffolding before older students able to use individually - time?

Interesting:
- Some students may find the Prezi distracting, as often fast and regular movements are used.


If anyone knows how to embed my Prezi onto my blog, I would love to hear how!

Overall. I didn't enjoy creating my prezi, although this may be due to my lack of experience with it. Hopefully I will be able to spend more time exploring this tool, so that I am able to better enhance my ICT skills.

What experiences did you have with Prezi? Is it something that you'd use? Why/why not?

The Power of PowerPoint

PowerPoint is probably the ICT tool that I have had the most experience in, as I was introduced to it in late Primary School, and have been using it ever since.

Before I share ways in which I have and currently use, I will first complete a SWOT analysis.

Strengths

- Most computers already have the program

- Really simple to use, and tutorial sessions can be followed

- Creative and individuallity is encouraged

- Many students may have access to PowerPoint at home

- Can be student and/or teacher directed

- Accommodates more learning styles that traditional 'chalk and talk'

Weaknessess

- If used inappropriately, could confuse and overload learners

- For learners to begin using, needs much scaffolding

Opportunities

- A range of options to present information: text, image, video, voice over (Provides learners with many options)

- Cna be used as an aid in teaching, or be created by students as part of their learning journey

Threats

- I found that while growing up, PowerPoint tended to be overused in the classroom, and often the only tool provided to present information. This may be as it is so simple to use, and most computers already have the program. A variety of tools need to be used to ensure students are engaged.
- Also, I find that sometimes PowerPoint can be overloaded with information and words, that it is too busy, and not easily read/understood, thus learners are not gaining understanding. PowerPoint needs to be clear, concise, containing key information and good balance of words and images.

The following are some of my ideas of how PowerPoint can be used by my students, and by me as a Learning Manager:

• Presentations for parents about what will be happening throughout the term/year
• As a hook to engage learners at the beginning of a lesson, containing key terms, images
• I have created a PowerPoint presentation to help my class with their counting to 20. I used PowerPoint so I could animate it, making it so that not all numbers are shown at once, and with a click of the mouse can be flown in.
• Students can use PowerPoint to create presentations that are a summative task of a unit, continous learning journey constantly being added to, or as a way of informing an audience about a chosen topic.

Do you have any other weaknesses of using PowerPoint in the classroom?

Also, what other ways have you seen it used, or have you used it yourself?

In relation to the Big6, PowerPoint could be used in stage 4 (Use of information) and stage 5(Synthesis) where students actually have to do something with the information, and engage, extract, organize and present it in some form. What do you think?

Even though I have been using PowerPoint for a while now, I am still always learning more about it. I never knew that you could create images from the PowerPoint slides, which can then be used for student collage, posters or animation. This was also very easy to do. What a great tool!

Exploration of a Wiki

I found that when initially creating my wiki, I felt lost, and unsure of what to do and where t0 start. I think that this is because there are no guidelines on what to create our wiki's about. I find that I am the type of learner who needs directions, guidelines and boundaries in order to learn effectively and confidently. This tool forced me to go out of my comfort zone, which is why it is has taken me a while to blog about it.

You can access my wiki here Feel free to edit it.

The set up of my wiki was rather easy, apart from a few technical issues. The instructions are clear, although I think having a little previous experience with website and blog creation was helpful.

A wiki is a "piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser" http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki
It is a space online where you are able to create a page which can be edited by yourself as well as guests. Information is able to be added and modified and can include links, movies and notes. Interaction and collaboration are key components. A wiki is different to a blog, as in a blog, the creator is only one who can add/edit the page, whereas in a wiki, others can come along and edit/change/modify the page, not just comment on it.

Before thinking about how I could use a wiki in the classroom, I have created a SWOT analysis to determine the effectiveness and limitations of a Wiki, trying to specifically focusing on my current context - the Prep environment.

Strengths

• Encourages collaboration and peer support
• Creativity is used in the creation of the Wiki space
• Enables more than one point of view to be considered

Weaknesses

• Learners with low ICT and literacy skills may struggle - although an opportunity to develop these skills :)
• Hard word can be deleted
• Is a Wiki too complicated for an early learner?

Opportunities

• Collaborative learning on a particular issue/topic
• Time saving - students receive different sections to research, then share findings on wiki

Threats

• Information shared by one person can be deleted by another - upsetting people who have worked hard to create something
• Rude, inappropriate modifications can occur - identifies the need for teaching of netiquette

After completing this SWOT analysis, I found that it was very difficult to imagine this tool in the early childhood environment, unless it was used by the learning manager for their own learning.
I cannot see any ways of using this tool to enhance the learning of this range of learners. Please comment with some ideas you might have to expand the use of this tool for me. I can see how it would be a great tool in the older years (5 - 7) as long as netiquette is taught, and learners understand the purpose and use of a Wiki.

Some suggestions on using a Wiki in the learning environment (mainly focusing on older year levels) are:

• Glossary: Get your class to create a glossary of terms they use and learn about in new units, adding definitions and images.
• Create exploratory projects: If you're teaching a new subject, ask your students to collect and share information in the wiki so that you can learn together.
• Peer review: Allow students to draft their papers in a wiki, then ask other students to comment it.
• School tour: Get your class to take photos of your school and write about their favourite spots on the wiki, then share it with the rest of your school and local community
• Teacher collaboration: Work with other teachers to create lesson plans and track students' success. As a lifelong learner, this key idea would be vital in the develop of my skills and knowledge, and be a great tool for professional development with colleagues.

Ideas have been retrieved from http://www.smartteaching.org/blog/2008/08/50-ways-to-use-wikis-for-a-more-collaborative-and-interactive-classroom/

In relation to learning theory, a wiki can easily be used in all of the six stages of the Big6 model, as it is so versatile.

I wanted to add an image of my wiki here using the Prnt Scrn button, although do not know how to add it to my post. Does anyone know how to do this?
Also, I wanted to play around with adding to other peers wikis, although couldn't find one to edit as they are protected. Can someone please allow me to edit their wiki so I am able to explore its potential?

Thanks
Teagan

A Weebly Website

At first glance, I considered a website to be pretty much the same as a blog and wiki, although after exploration I found that a website is in actual fact different, with differing features and uses.
The difference between this website and the blogs and wikis you have explored is that YOU decide on the content and structure alone, and nobody else is able to edit, or add to it.

I used Weebly to create my website, and found the tutorial that went with it very helpful. Without it I would have struggled to get started.

To analyse the ICT tool of a website, I will use a PMI framework.

Plus:

• Website design has a lot of freedom, and encourages creativity and independence.
• Students are able to work on the website for a long period of time, and go back and edit it, thus making it a working document.
• A great sharing tool.
• Websites can be viewed by families, peers, and people from the wider community.
• Teachers can create websites containing the current unit, helping to engage learners.

Minus:

• Website design needs to be scaffolded to be used effectively, which takes much time.
• Requires much ICT skills - although creates a great opportunity for students to develop these skills.

Interesting:

• Copyright is a major issue with the use of internet, so students need to be explicitly taught how to legally use and reference material that is not their own.
• Netiquette also needs to explicitly taught to ensure students are design websites with appropriate material.
• Creating a website is time consuming.

In my current context of a Prep environment, I think a website would be a great tool to demonstrate the content and materials used in the current unit of work. As a whole class, a website could be created to demonstrate to families what has been happening at school, and also allow learners to access this work at home, thus creating a home-school link. This could be in the form of a online classroom, or blackboard.

My prac class is currently doing a unit on weather. A website could be created on this topic, and upload onto it could be videos of different types of weather, key vocabulary words, interactive learning objects and games, and photographs of the activities completed at school. This would be a fantastic tool to enhance the learning, and value what the students are doing. Parents would also enjoy viewing this.

In relation to learning theory, the creation of a website could be used in the 5th stage of Synthesis, where students need to organise from multiple sources, and present the information.

Overall, I would love to use the creation of websites in my future learning environments.

I have given examples of how I would use a website in my current prac class....How would you use it in yours? I would love to hear some more ideas.

Concept Map: A tool for organising your thinking

After completing a concept map from both the programs (bubbl.us and Text 2 Mind Map) I have found that I much prefer the Text 2 Mind Map. This is because it allows you to get all of your thoughts down first, before beginning to play with the colours and locations of the concept map bubbles, which was the case when I was using the bubbl.us program.

Below is my finished concept map from Text 2 Mind Map.

I know it is small and hard to read, but my skills are yet to enable me to make it bigger! Hopefully I will be able to come back and edit it in the near future.

I have analysed this digital tool in relation to its use and effectiveness within the classroom using the P.M.I framework.

Plus:

• Engaging
• An effective way of organising information
• Easily edited/added to without needing to rub out pencil or add another piece of paper for more room
• A great tool for visual learners

Minus:

• Not all students are digitally active, and not able to type at an average rate. Thus it may take some students a lot of time to get their ideas down.

Interesting:

• Students may spend a lot of time designing their mind maps, looking at the colours and fonts. This may become a priority over the actual process of getting information down.

Overall, I feel that concept mapping online is an engaging tool for students to use when organising their information, although it would definitely need to be taught and modelled by the teacher before learner's can use it.

In the classroom, you could use this learning tool in a variety of ways. One way would be to provide each of the year 6 learners with a short reading on different components of a topic. The students then need to summaries the key ideas they gathered from the readings using a concept map. Students can upload their concept maps onto their blogs (if have one), or print them out to collaborate their information with their peers.

What are some other ways you could use a conept may online in your learning environment?