Learning Theory
I related to Howard Gardner’s theory of MultipleIntelligences and found completing the questionnaire insightful. Learning is a complex process and we need to
be mindful of this fact when we are preparing to teach.
Learning is constructed through our schema and experiences
in life, and builds as we go through life.
By learning collaboratively we learn more successfully because we are
participating and using other people’s thinking as well as our own.
I particularly liked Andrew Churches’ paper on Bloom’sDigital Taxonomy and his concept map. The map demonstrates that we develop our learning by the more we are involved
in the process. The more we do, the more
we understand, the more we remember, and
the more our thinking develops.
We move from simple concepts through to more complex process and problem
solving.
Mobile Phones Wiki Reflection
The Mobile Phones Wiki activity had a great scaffolding
strategy with de Bono’s Thinking Hats.
This is a great tool to get you thinking on multiple levels in an
endeavour to get a balanced and objective look at an issue. It allows you, and sometimes forces you to
consider a lot of different viewpoints which you may not have thought of
otherwise. This was a great collaborative
activity as different people offered points, and learning was constructed
through having to put on each hat. I
think the outcome was positive and enjoyable.
I gained new knowledge from the activity, as I am sure most people would
have. I was tested by a negative with
this online space of only one person being able to edit at one time. However, by being aware of this I was able to
overcome the issue to complete the task.
This is a link to my blog entry on this activity.
Online Spaces – Blogs, Wikis, Websites
These online spaces were all new spaces for me. Blogs and wikis were not in my vocabulary
before ICTs. I think all the tools have
a place in a classroom, but my favourite tool in this group is blogs. The functionality of blogging is easy enough
for young children to use and would be a great way to get children
writing. A blog could be used like a
journal to record a field trip to say a museum where images and external links
can be added to demonstrate the topic more widely. The blogs can then be shared with classmates
and parents. A blog would be the digital
version of a journal or writing book.
Multimedia – Images, Audio, Podcasting,
Videos
I have not had exposure to much multimedia other than
digital images. I find it hard to single
out one of the multimedia tools for reflection, as it is important that
learners have both visual and auditory senses stimulated during the learning
process. There is an English proverb – a
picture paints a thousand words. Images
can support words and audio, as well move a learner beyond those words and
audio. Our experiences and knowledge to
this point all influence how we interpret images.
Young children would be able to use images, and resize
them to reduce the space used and uploading time, to support their writing and
therefore their learning in a number of online spaces or presentations. Going back to the museum field trip, children
could take digital photos, or use images that are not copyright restricted, and
insert them in to their blog to support what they had learned from the
trip. The images could serve as visible
links to their writing and demonstration of content knowledge. Audio would also be support a more indepth
experience, although is not a feature able to be put in a blog.
This is a link to my blog entry on resizing images.
Whilst I have not heard of Prezi or Glogster before, I am
very familiar with PowerPoint from my accounting days. Unfortunately, I have had to view a number of
PowerPoint presentations from this time which were not very stimulating or
engaging, and therefore I don’t view this tool with much enthusiasm. The functionality within this program was not
used well or to great effect. The
program is a little complicated for very young children. Young children would be a lot more connected
with the use of Mouse Mischief, a tool which allows the use of multiple mice
within a single PowerPoint presentation.
I really liked Glogster, a digital version of creating a
poster – a digital version of traditional butchers paper projects. A Glogster would be a great way for young
children to demonstrate what they learned on their field trip to the museum by
putting in images, audio, video, words, widgets etc. It is a way to reflect on what they have
learned, and they would feel rewarded by being able to have this publicly
viewed by parents and classmates.
Glogster is also a tool which can be linked back to a blog, or other
online space. The use of Glogster links
the Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy of creating, comparing, discovering, and summarising
of the trip with using these ICT tools linking the learning process to the
knowledge acquired.
This is a link to my blog entries on Glogster, Prezi, and
PowerPoint.
Animations & Simulations
There are so many tools available, and a lot of them are free. It is really hard to know where to
start. I really like Google Maps and was
impressed by the timelines in Dipity.
The Google Maps could be used as a hook to start the process of going on
the field trip to the museum by planning a route there. You could as view where an exhibit came from.
This is a link to my blog entry on Animations &Simulations.
Legal Safe & Ethical Use
We really do have to protect our children. The web has brought with it a lot of great
things including connectivity with things we might otherwise not have ever been
exposed. I think the biggest problem
with the web is that with all this “access to everything” we unwillingly have been
connected to a lot of darkness such as bullying, harassment, exploitation, abuse,
pornography and other morally repugnant things.
There is also the misuse of things which are not our own. There is a lot of time and money in
intellectual property and therefore people protect this with things like
copyrights. We need to be mindful of
using only those images, words and sounds which people have allowed to be
shared freely. From a teaching
perspective, the Smartcopying website has a number of factsheets which give
clear guidance as to what things we should or should not be using. There is also a list of websites where you
can freely obtain information for use in your teaching material. Material that is free to use is usually
published under Creative Commons.
We started off with learning theories and now we have so
many tools it is a little daunting at knowing where to start. But at the same time it is also very
exciting. ICTs are embedded in life in
general and therefore they should be in our teaching. Whilst realistically technology is not always
available to all learners generally for economic reasons, it is still possible
to be able to utilise some technology in the classroom. In fact this is expected as evidenced in the
policies of Queensland Studies Authority.
Embedding ICTs within our teaching can create the scene for learning as well as setting up children for life after school. By using these tools constructively, creating enthusiasm for learning and really engaging children, I hope to can create a love for learning and knowledge within these children that will make them want to go and gather as much knowledge as they can. The use of ICTs can be a very empowering process which would also instil confidence in young learners and their abilities. And then they will have tools to create a positive path through their lives.
References & Readings.
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