Here is a comic developed by Bridie Moore and myself to visually express the aspects of e-learning. For Bridie’s views on our comic go to her blog. An exciting feature of this comic program is the way that constructivism is active as students can easily use the program, comic life, to develop their own comics which can be used in all Key learning areas. For example students can create their own comic to illustrate an aspect of their family or community life for HSIE, they can demonstrate their knowledge of a maths problem or practice their English skills using a different medium. The key here is to be creative, if I, a technophobic, can make a comic, i’d love to see what you or your students could create! There will be more info on the idea of constructionism to come!
Through reading a blog posting written by Loren Watson, I was encouraged to investigate further uses of podcasts, blogs and vodcasts. There are fantastic facilities such as youtube and teachertube which provide a platform for this education expression. Kath Cassidy’s youtube video seen below, and commented on in Loren’s blog offers many educational reasons for integrating technology in the classroom and offers no excuses for the technophobe. Continuing on from my last posting, I am finding more and more, that my attitude towards technology still has to change. Through ore exposure to videos such as this one, I hope that I will see the necessity and urgency of integrating technologies into the classroom.
It seems no matter how much i have already achieved in learning about technologies in the classroom, I am still afraid of technologies I do not know of. I am still reluctant to explore ways of integrating technology into the classroom, not because I don’t see the value of it, because in theory I do see how useful and valuable technology is. I think that it is more so because I hadn’t placed the necessity of it. My attitude has often been that if I didn’t have all that much access to technology and I still achieved great results in high school, if I have gotten into the educational degree I wanted to then maybe these new technologies are helpful but not Necessary!!! After watching this teacher tube however, I have begun to shift that attitude. As teachers we will be preparing students for a technological world which is rapidly changing. We are preparing students for Jobs that don’t yet exist using technologies that have not yet been developed. I need to re-evaluate my attitude towards technology, maybe you do to. Maybe we need to see the use of technology as not just another subject we are obligated to teach, but a subject that is fundamental to the future success of our students. Watch this teachertube, i hope that you will be inspired and challenged.
My first Vodcast The idea of making a vodcast was even more scary than making a podcast! But I have, with some assistance been able to create a vodcast of my own. The content of this vodcast, whilst educationally related, was not the reason for me placing it on my blog. It is more of a personal achievement that I wanted to share!
The uses of podcasts within the classroom have never been clear to me. The podcast, prior to this year, was a foreign medium that to be honest intimidated me! However I have been able to conquer that fear and create my own podcast (however rough it is) but I wanted to revisit the subject to gain a better understanding of how podcasts can be used in the classroom. The article How to use Podcasts at your School was the first logical step to thinking this through. The article provide many varied examples of Podcast uses in the school environment, all with educationally supportable uses. In particular I liked the website developed by Mr Mayo, Brandon’s online magazine, as a blogging magazine for his students with the inclusion of podcasts. I loved looking around this site and seeing the pride the students have in displaying their work an thoughts in an online format. I love this Idea!
When researching further ways that I can integrate technology within the classroom I read an article based on collaborative internet projects. This article was a huge encouragement in two particular ways. Firstly, I was encouraged by Susan Silverman’s passion for technology integration in the classroom and in particular the way that she was computer ignorant and yet she taught herself all that she now uses within the classroom. Susan is now a technology integration consultant for teachers struggling to effectively use new technologies in the classroom. It gives me hope that with determination, I too can become confident and innovative with technology, despite my lack of experience!
A second encouragement from this article was the exploration of using collaborative internet projects to effectively integrate technology into all key learning areas. The use of the internet to publish students work and compare between students throughout the world adds a new dimension to classes and would no doubt motivate students to produce a high quality of work. I was impressed with the easy accessibility of Susan’s websites and the added educational games and activities that she provides online. Her websites prove to be an invaluable support for teachers interested in learning to integrate technologies in all aspects of the classroom.
Her website also provides lesson ideas and outlines for teachers struggling to innovatively make use of the internet. I was thoroughly impressed with this article. It has inspired me to explore further uses of collaborative projects and the internet within the primary classroom environment.
I have just completed reading an article that completely explains my personal experiences of the use of technology in the classroom. This article ‘ Stuffing technology into the curriculum‘ explains clearly how teachers have been forced to push technology in the classroom but have quite often not understood how to integrate it correctly and so end up using technology that is rather useless at enhancing the lesson or tacking onto free time educational computer games.
This is how I have seen technology used within my own primary schooling and also in my last practicum, where the teacher was so afraid of technology that she herself refused to have anything to do with it and therefore left the teaching of any technological skills to the part time computer teacher. One aspect of the article that particularly challenged me was the consideration of technological tools to be used in the classroom. Tools should not be chosen and then forced into the curriculum regardless of it’s practicality or suitability to the lesson. Instead the teacher should first clarify learning goals and then consider and research how technological tools will enhance the learning experience for the students. Technology use within the classroom must be purposeful and challenging for the students rather than just slapped into the lesson in the form of a boring powerpoint presentation or left for a student’s free time.
Whilst reading my Mathematics text book ( Zevenburgen,R, Dole,S and Wright, R. Teaching mathematics in primary schools.Crows Nest, N.S.W, Allen and Unwin 2004) I was struck by a particular paragraph which detailed why technology in society has transformed the way that teachers should approach the teaching of Mathematics. The text eloquently describes how students are growing up in a technology rich world, and how in order for Mathematics education to be successful it must teach students to mathematically interpret the world around them, including technology. This paragraph was particularly helpful for me as I begin to consider the importance of integrated technology use within the classroom environment. Whilst I have used terms such as ‘integrated KLA’s’ I had not considered how this integration would specifically effect the way I combine technology with mathematics education. This can be achieved by using new technologies such as graphic calculators or the presentation of mathematics with tools such as the ’smart board’ or powerpoint programs, however these can appear tokenistic if not used correctly. I am looking forward to researching ways that technology can be used in all areas of the curriculum and hope to provide a range of practical ideas within this blog in the future.
This is a short podcast describing my passion for child discovery and the way that I as a future teacher hope to use technology to enhance the classroom environment.
To begin this e-learning journey I think it is important for me to share with you my limited background with computers and other such technology in order for you to follow my progress and understand this discovery journey that I am undertaking.
I often feel intimidated by computers because of my lack of experience. I grew up using a basic pc with a ‘Windows’ operating system. I was able to navigate around word processing software in order to complete assignments during school, but was never pushed to experiment with technology in an innovative way. My memories of computer usage within my schooling are limited but I do recall a very isolated rather than integrated style of computer usage. Technologies were not used to enhance my learning within other subjects.
With the changing face of primary education and the necessity of integrating a wide range of technologies within the classroom, I am looking forward to exploring the possibilities for e-learning in the classroom. I hope that, with research and a range of technological experiences, I will become confident to use technology within my classroom and in turn encourage and enable my students to use technology to their advantage within society.
