Week 6: Reflective Synopsis

When I first started this course, I had no idea on the ways of digital tools and technology that teachers were currently using or looking to use within their classrooms that have been presented to me within this course.  

(Ericsson, 2012)

The digital tools I investigated over the 5 weeks:

• Wikispaces
• Weebly
• Flickr
• Prezi 
• Zooburst

My favourite digital tool I investigated would have to of been Weebly. Everything was there, from its privacy settings, to creativity of your own webpage with all the functions I would love for my class to use (photo albums, blog posts, forums, discussions, polls, audio and video recordings). Each student could create and manage their own Weebly and be easily marked by the teacher and receive instant feedback from their other peers. 

I loved the idea of the wikispaces and how it was set out, however I personally found the website to be for a higher learning audience tool. I think Wikispaces would be better in upper-primary and secondary schooling. It seems to be a little 'far-fetched' for a lower-primary school aged student to manage. I am also a little unsure on the use of Flickr, as it is a large social network and could breach the safely, ethically and legally guidelines. However, if students are carefully monitored, I believe this would not be an issue.

If tools were every unclear on how they worked or if I wanted to research further into their functions it could be easily found on these digital tools pages themselves or many different tutorials on YouTube. I found these digital tools to be easily mastered. 

SAMR MODEL:

Education Queensland (2013) says, The SAMR model describes four levels of technology integration that increase in complexity and effect, from simple substitution which barely changes the function, to a more complex redefinition where the technology use can provide opportunities to create what would not be possible without that technology. 

Substitution:

-  Students now using the computer to write assignments

-  Students now post to a blog website instead of printing assignments

-  Students now add photography to a website instead of creating a portfolio using a scrap book

- Teachers now use slideshows for presentations that are more interactive

Augmentation:

- Teacher allows students to add speech and thought bubbles for characters in a Zooburst story.

- Students create their own picture book through the use of Flickr's 'photo book' tool.

Modification:

- Students creating their own stories on Zooburst instead of writing in a journal pad.

- Students now use Prezi slideshows to present work such as concept maps, timelines and recipes.

Redefinition:

The students’ engagement and interaction together has transformed by them controlling their own learning. This is possible through the use of comments, forums, blogs, and being able to contact the wider community through the use of the features on these digital tools. These features include: Weebly’s forums, polls and survey functions, Flickr’s the “commons” page, and Zooburst’s ‘Augmented Reality Mode’ tool.

LEARNING THEORIES:

In my first week, I believed that all three learning theories (behaviorism, cognitivisim, and social constructivism) were all equally important, as they should be used for the various ways and thinking that different students use when learning. However, my thoughts on this have changed since using the SAMR model in conjunction with the types of digital tools I have been investigating.

The main idea when using the SAMR model is to bring students interaction within their learning to be fully transformed through the use of ICT tools in the classroom. Social Constructivism theory focuses on how students social interaction together and how they acquire more knowledge through the support of a more knowledgeable other.

Social Constructivism has ended up being my major teaching method focus with these digital tools as the main aim of them is that the students use interaction and collaboration to achieve the end goal of their are learning. An example of this is our first reflection week’s wiki space where we participated in a group forum and discussion on ‘Mobile phones in the classroom’. The learning process of the Social Constructivism process requires students to collaborate and share ideas together in order to finally obtain the new information. As a teacher, participating in these forums by adding questions that require students to go more in depth or give them another view to ponder on what would help them in reaching this goal.

Social Constructivism in conjunction with the Connectivism theory enables myself as a teacher to bring engagement and interaction to the classroom.

Siemens (2004) says, The starting point of Connectivism is the individual. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual. This cycle of knowledge development (personal to network to organization) allows learners to remain current in their field through the connections they have formed. This the Redefinition part of the SAMR model where students learning is fully transformed through the use of technology. Students learning has been transformed as they are in control of their own learning and take the initiative to gather information from other peers and community members. 

(Queensland Government, 2005)

A CONTEMPORARY LEARNER:

The above poster is  a campaign by the Queensland Government and Education Queensland to promote the learning methods a contemporary should obtain. These digital tools I investigated embedded some of these methods.

Connected – Students collaborating with friends, experts, resources and learning communities through the use of Flickr ‘Commons’ where students can search photography from world-wide museums and famous organizations such as NASA, by participating in group on-line discussions and forums on a webpage such as wikispaces, or by commenting feedback or questions on peers work on Weebly, Prezi and Zooburst. Globally engaged – Students are able to participate in worldwide events through the use of Prezis and Flickr. Visiting community members can upload a slideshow on Prezi and the teacher can later present to the class on an interactive whiteboard on his behalf. Flickr allows for students to stay in the classroom and discover the world by searching photos from different countries through the use of the 'Maps' function. Authors - students create, critiques and publishers. With the use of a Weebly students are able to create their own webpage to suit their own personality. With all five of the digital tools I investigated allows for the opportunity and encourages students to critiques each others work and publish their own. 

LEGALLY SAFELY ETHICALLY:

Working with ICT in the classroom requires teachers to do so legally, safely, ethically. By having these websites privately set, as well as being accessed and operated by passwords keeps students and their information safe from the outside world. The digital tools I investigated had either one or both of those tools in order to maintain the students’ safety when learning on-line. Sites like that of a wikispace are great as they are educationally centred and children will not stumble upon inappropriate links within the designated classroom wikispaces.

After six weeks of investigating digital tools and posting a blog reflecting on my research and analysis, I have not only changed some of my thoughts towards ICTs but also gathered some new ‘tips’ for teaching contemporary learners in our modern society. 

Over and Out,

Alanna