Another first for me this week; using Moba to resize images. After a bit of a perilous download process (the first attempt had me download something called 7-Zip File Manager instead...) I was ready to get my resize on.
Our lecturer outlined that resizing images is often necessary to reduce the data size when uploading images of student artwork and activities, and I can definitely see myself doing something similar in my teaching. Having a class website or a student blog would be a highly effective way to create a portfolio of student work, and would provide a simple way for both teachers and parents to be able to see the students progress throughout the term or year.
So in keeping with the art theme, here are two images of my kids and their artwork that I have resized using Moba.
A daycare creation that cracks me up every time!
My daughter in an early art attempt; one is not painting properly if they do not paint one's own nose.
Adorable, no? And they uploaded in a flash- mission accomplished!
Our next task for ICT's was to create a website using Weebly. (Not to be confused with the Weebles, as my daughter did. She suffered quite the disappointment when she realised I was not actually going to make a Weeble.)
But I digress. Now the best thing about ICT's for Learning Design is the fact that no matter how terrifying you find new technologies, you just have to put on your big girl pants and get on with it. And so it was onto Weebly.
Turns out I needn't have worried. Weebly is designed for people like me who shudder at the sight of HTML code. In that you don't even have to look at any code unless you want to. Big plus in my book. The site itself is quite straightforward, and uses a simple drag and drop function for the elements you want to add to your site.
For my site, I chose to make a class website for a fake Prep class, at M.F.S.S. (Marina's Fake State School). You can check it out here. I designed it to be a space where the teacher can upload class announcements and homework sheets for parents to download. If I was building a website for a real class I would include much more, but for now I think I've got the basics down pat.
So in terms of the pros and cons in a classroom situation:
PROS:
Content is decided by one person and cannot be edited by anyone else. This means they can control what goes on the site, and the potential for misuse faced in wikis does not apply.
Provides an clear and organised space to display information. Websites (if done correctly) are attractive and easy to navigate.
Best for displaying information for others to access and are accessible 24 hours a day.
An effective method for students to display their work, a website can be used as an online portfolio of sorts.
CONS:
As they are controlled by one person, they lack collaboration which has been shown to increase learning outcomes.
While they are an effective method of presenting information, they do not support others to contribute, extend upon, correct or suggest new knowledge.
Most websites can be accessed by anyone, raising privacy and intellectual property issues.
I think that websites certainly have a time and place in education, but probably aren't the most effective method. I would argue that they are best kept as a basic way to communicate class information to students and parents, and while they can be used by students to organise their work, a blog would be a better option for this. Wikis are definitely more effective than websites in terms of collaborative learning, which seems to be the best way to facilitate online education.
I've already covered my experience of using a wiki during the De Bono's Hats activity. The verdict: I need practice. Like oodles of practice. Now I've never actually put this theory into practice, so this is pure speculation. BUT. I suspect that if you provide a classroom full of Grade 6's (the digital natives that they are) with the tools on how to use a wiki they'll take to it like the proverbial duck to water. Or like a certain ex-Disney starlet to hard drugs and DUI's. You get the picture.
So I gave it a go. I've designed a wiki for my theoretical Grade 6 class to help them gather and organise information about renewable energies, with the end goal of them pooling their resources to complete a project on one of the types of alternative energies (wind, hydroelectricity, solar, biomass and geothermal). Please not that it would definitely need some more work before you would hand over to the kids, but for a rough draft I think I've included the main elements.
In this context, I think the learning potential is really quite vast. Let me break it down using a PMI analysis:
Pluses:
Encourages social learning through collaboration, and gives students a chance to pool their resources and ideas.
Is accessible 24/7, breaks down the time and physical barriers of the classroom.
Often leads to improved learning outcomes by allowing students to actively construct their own knowledge (WA Department of Education, 2013).
Provides a space to organise and structure their knowledge, if done correctly.
Using web-based learning tools develop student's online 'netiquette' skills in a world in which the Internet is becoming a dominant method of communication.
Minuses:
Potential for students to post inappropriate material, or delete legitimate material.
Does not allow two students to simultaneously edit the wiki; some information can be lost or edited over.
The structure of a wiki can be confusing or disorganised, particularly for those who are new to using them.
Some students may post incorrect material and lead the group off topic.
Interesting:
Wikis encourage learners to seek knowledge and decide what is valuable, as opposed to traditional teaching methods in which students were told what knowledge is valuable.
Wikis are subject to complex issues regarding intellectual property rights due to usually having many authors, making it difficult to prove or attribute ownership. However, it is in the inherent collaborative nature of a wiki that makes them such a valuable learning tool.
I'm interested to discover how well wikis are used in real classrooms because while I see that they have an enormous potential as a learning tool, there are also a fair number of difficulties to consider. I think the key to a successful wiki experience will be giving students the freedom to create their learning experience, whilst providing support as they navigate what will be for many of them a new learning tool.
When I first started thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of blogging in schools, I immediately thought to myself "That would probably be great for secondary school students, but in Primary schools? That wouldn't really work".
I found this great video which gives an overview of the advantages of using blogs in the classroom:
This got me thinking alot more deeply about it, so I did some research and the possibilities for incorporating blogs into classrooms are really exciting! Firstly I performed a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) and came up with this;
Strengths:
·Students are able to contribute to their classwork outside of school hours.
·Using a blog allows students more time to reflect on material
and formulate responses. They can also go back and edit past contributions as they gain a deeper understanding of the material.
·Students are able to integrate other forms of media (such as videos,
sound bites, web links) into their work, which was previously not possible when producing hard copy work.
·Blogging is great for students who prefer a more
independent approach to their learning, as they have more control over how they present their work and what
information they include.
·Blogging may encourage some learners to be more engaged with
the material over traditional classroom methods (this is dependent on their preferred learning style).
·Blogging is designed to be highly collaborative and encourage open
discussions amongst learners.
·Blogging regularly will encourage students to develop good online etiquette,
of which is imperative in this day and age considering that an increasing amount of our communication is being done online.
·Using an online forum may encourage some introverted students to engage in discussions with their peers more than they would in a face to face situation.
Weaknesses:
·Not all students have access to
internet/computers at home.
·Some students may have pressures outside of school that do not
support independent learning (poor family support, financial pressures).
·Some students prefer a one on one, more directed
learning style (although a teacher can still be very actively involved in the blog, minimising this weakness).
·Overuse of online communication may impede face to face social skills, particularly in already introverted students (which is why teachers must be careful to keep learning activities balanced).
Opportunities:
·Blogs could be used to collaborate with a class in
another country (a powerful way to learn about different cultures and reflect upon and showcase our own.
·Having an online depository of student work would make it much easier for parents to engage with what their
children are learning on a regular basis (particularly for parents who do not have time to spend at the school), and encourage them to reinforce what their children are learning by relating it to their lives at home.
A homework blog would be a fantastic way to keep students homework together, and allow both the teacher and student to include other forms of media (such as videos or web links) making it infinitely more engaging if done properly.
Threats:
·Students may contribute incorrect information
and throw other students off (blogs would require heavy monitoring by teachers to guide discussions back on track).
·Will disadvantage students that do not have
internet/computer access outside of school, giving them less time to spend on
their work than those who are able to access their blogs on their own time.
·Students may abuse their freedom and upload inappropriate
content(again, teachers would need to be closely monitoring blogs, and having strict consequences for breaches of 'nettiquete').
Overall, I think that blogs could be incorporated very effectively into the classroom. I am doing a Primary specialisation, and I think that the upper Primary grades would greatly benefit in particular by using blogs to expand upon their classwork. However I love the idea of having a 'web-pal' class from another country, giving students the opportunity to share and learn about different cultures which could be very effective for across all grades.
I think I've pretty much got this blogging thing down pat. In fact I feel a little silly about how stressed I was about learning how to create one, because it turned out to be really quite simple. So with slightly more confidence in my technological abilities, it was time to tackle Week 2 and a new challenge: participating in a wiki.
The very first thing I learnt about working on a wiki was a hard lesson. Do not take twenty minutes to formulate your response while typing it straight into the edit page. You will get edited over. You will want to throw your laptop at the wall. But don't. Just type your response into a word document, then quickly copy and paste it into the wiki edit page when you're done. Laptop saved, blood pressure stabilized That was certainly the biggest issue I had when engaging in the wiki, but I was relieved to find a simple way to minimize that risk.
Once that little hiccup was sorted out, I felt quite confident contributing to the wiki. In terms of the practical side (navigating the site and using the tools), I found it to be fairly straightforward, although I did find the format to be quite messy and at times hard to follow. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the wiki as such, or just my unfamiliarity with the layout.
For our activity, we were asked to think about the pros and cons of using mobile phones in the classroom using de Bonos Six Thinking Hats. Here's a quick overview of what the hats represent:
I really liked using de Bono's Thinking Hats for this activity. Using this scaffold forced me to think from different angles and perspectives, and compare my thoughts with the thoughts of other students. It was interesting to see the ways that our opinions differed, and which aspects were the same.
In my understanding, learning through the use of a wiki is a fantastic example of the Constructivism model due to the fact that learning takes place via the contribution of many people, information is based on both their personal experiences and the information they have chosen to search for in order to relate the material (mobile phone use in classrooms) to wider concepts and theory (could they be implemented in a useful way). It is the embodiment of Vygotsky's notion that learning is a social experience, embedded in culture. It can be said that a wiki is in itself a socially constructed arena, with the content decided upon by its members. With this inherent flexibility comes both positives and negatives.
Positive aspects of a wiki:
It is always editable, therefore information can be kept fresh as new information emerges or viewpoints change.
It is collaborative; anyone can have a say, this is especially helpful for those who do not feel comfortable speaking up in a face to face situation.
The fact that it is online allows for working from home, and eliminates the need for students to meet face to face.
There is no delay between putting the information out there and others being able to see it.
Negative Aspects of a wiki:
As anyone can edit the information there is a potential for misuse or inappropriate content to be added, or legitimate information to be deleted.
There is a risk of editing over other people's text, which is quite difficult to recover.
The organisation of a wiki can get quite disorganised due to the fact that many people are contributing and may not know how to best format their contribution.
Overall, I think that students would need to be well schooled in both how to use a wiki and keep it neat and organised, as well as the importance of online etiquette, but wikis could be successfully used to enhance learning in the classroom. I can see great potential for wikis being used in schooling, in particular as a collaborative homework space. I believe students may be more likely to complete homework tasks if done alongside their peers, in their favourite domain: cyberspace.
Despite the fact that it sounds like a fabulous name for a rapper, TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) is actually an education model which aims to assist teachers in enhancing learning experiences through the use of technologies.
CONTENT: What you actually want your students to learn (facts, concepts or ideas).
PEDAGOGY: The way you will teach the content. In other words, which methods you will use to most effectively present your content.
INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT): The tools you will use to most effectively present your content (YouTube videos, interactive eBooks, laptops, iPads, Projectors etc).
Ideally, a teacher will be able to recognise which technology can be used in which way to most effectively convey the content, in order for their students to both engage with and understand it.
Some great TPACK resources include the Teaching Teachers for the Future website and tpack.org which will be helpful if I've managed to make TPACK sound so titillating that you simply must investigate further.
I am writing this post while my two year old throws an epic tantrum in the next room because I won't let him watch any more YouTube videos of rubbish trucks due to the fact that I need the computer for blogging. Worst. Mother. Ever. So if I don't sound particularly coherent, please try to understand the sheer volume and irritating howl that I'm trying to work around. Thanks!
Connectivism: new ways of thinking about learning in a digital age
There's no doubt that the way we can access, store and share information has changed dramatically in the last 15 years or so. The development of the Internet has revolutionized how we seek information; if you don't know something off the top of your head, all it usually takes is a search engine and a couple of clicks before you can find out almost anything. Therefore, I agree that there is a need for a new way of thinking about how we learn, or at least thinking about how to most effectively use these new technologies to support learning.
After reading from several sources about Connectivism, my understanding is that these are the three main points of the theory:
It is more important to know how to access information than to be able to recite facts off the top of your head. Therefore, education should focus on how to perform internet sources, how to ascertain if a source is credible and how to check that information is current and accurate.
Connectivist theory emphasizes the need to ensure information is always kept up-to-date with new developments; this continual updating of information makes it a collaborative experience between users (and is therefore subject to cultural bias).
It is a vital skill that students are able to ascertain what information is important and which is not. With such a sheer volume of websites and links on every subject, it's easy to get distracted by unimportant side-trips while missing the big picture.
Siemens also raises the question of whether online education should be open to all; to those who are willing to engage in it, not just those who can afford to. With the physical constraints of education not really being so much of an issue anymore perhaps the idea of open education is finally something that could be viable? Potentially this could lead to a globally higher skilled society, although regulation of both the online programs and awarding qualifications would be issues that would need to be thoroughly addressed.
I found the most useful source was an article from Siemens himself entitled Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, along with one of his blogs on Connectivism. If further reading on Connectivism tickles your fancy, they're a great place to start.
Note: This short post, (with toddler in tow) has literally taken me three hours to complete. Also, if I hear the words 'rubbish truck' again today I may go mad. Luckily he is absolutely adorable when he's asleep (I'm fairly certain his cuteness is a biological survival mechanism...)
