Week 1 - Reflections on Prensky

Hi there guys!

So I've been reading up on Prensky's ideas regarding the importance of teachers incorporating ICT into their pedagogy, and I 100% agree with him. Our world is changing dramatically and rapidly in the area of technology. Every month or even week a new technological gadget is on the market, from i-Pads to dongles, who knows what's around the corner! But more importantly - who are the people most interested, most raring to try out these new technologies?? The answer is simple... our children!

With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that Prensky's research indicates students are becoming increasingly disengaged in school due to the lack of digital-based means through which they can access the curriculum. The vast majority of today's children are exposed to highly stimulating digital material 24/7 and they naturally speak the language of technology. Quite simply, their day to day life is engrossed in technology and they thrive on it!

One of the most common sayings I have heard teachers use when talking about the issue of technology in education is 'We now have to compete with computers, video games and social media sites to gain and maintain the attention spans of our learners'. But maybe that's just it! Rather than competing with new technologies as though they are a threat to our students' education, we need to be, as Prensky suggests, investigating ways that ICT can be used to support and extend our learners' understanding of the world around them.

I think in the end the main thing really stopping teachers from embracing technology in their classrooms is fear of change. Change and fear go hand in hand, and I know very few people who would leap for joy at the thought of having to change something they were quite comfortable with already! I personally am someone who finds change very hard to embrace, no matter what area of life it is relating too.

However, whilst I 100% agree with Prensky about ensuring technology is incorporated into our teaching and learning, I believe some teachers who are struggling to embrace technology could become more fearful and reluctant as a resut of reading his 'Engage Me or Enrage Me' article. Prensky is a very passionate and knowledgeable man about this subject, there is no doubt about that. However, sometimes it seems like he believes the only way the curriculum can be 'engaging' for 21st century students is if it takes the form of a video game! I don't believe this is the only way we can engage our students using technology, and it shouldn't be the single means by which children access the curriculum (remembering the idea of a balanced approach to teaching and learning). There are many, far less complex, digital resources that can be incorporated into classroom learning - and more importantly, that anybody, no matter the experience they have had with ICT, can learn to master (with a little patience and determination of course!).

Here are a couple of simple examples:

1. Year 5 History (Videoing and Video Editing) -

Students studying the topic of the Australian Gold Rush in Year 5 could work in groups to create a drama performance reinacting events such as the Eureka Stockade. Students could video the performance using the school video camera and then use Windows Movie Maker to put together a DVD to be shown to other students, teachers and parents at the end of term/year presentation evening (the majority of state and public schools in Australia should have a school video camera. If not, negotiations could be made between schools to pool their funds and purchase a video camera to share between the schools).

2. Year 2 Science (E-mail and Webcam/Skype) -

Students studying the topic of insects in Year 2 could write an e-mail as a class to an entomologist at the Australian Museum. The students could organise an online excursion using skype or a webcam to have a live chat with the entomologist, asking them questions about different insects or finding out what their job is like. The entomologist could also take the students on a virtual tour of the museum's insect collection using the webcam facility on their laptop.

Woah! That was a long post! In closing, I think it is vital for anyone in the teaching profession, whether they have been teaching for 30 years or 2, to recognise that our job requires us to EMBRACE change. Not just so that we fulfil the requirements of teaching standards or the curriculum, but for the very sake of the children sitting in front of us. I also believe that incorporating technology into our teaching and learning should not be something to be feared. Hopefully the examples above can help you see and believe that a little more :)

Talk soon guys!

Sarah

______________________________________________________________________

Image Acknowledgement:

School Cartoon Blogs - http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/o/online_blog.asp

Apple and Blackberry - http://www.idlehearts.com/life-was-much-easier-when-apple-and/1167/

Change is Inevitable - http://deanlindsay.com/a/inspirational-motivational-quotes-speaker/

Week 1 - Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles

Hi everyone! So I am finally getting around to posting my thoughts about the first two weeks of our E-Learning course. What a journey so far! I have honestly learnt so much and am really beginning to understand the importance of incorporating ICT into whatever learning is taking place in the classroom.

So let's talk a bit about learning styles and multiple intelligences...

I always find it interesting when I complete online tests about learning styles and multiple intelligences, because it not only reminds me of the ways I best learn but of that fact that not everyone learns best in the same ways as me!

From a teaching perspective, this realisation is vital. Being conscious of the fact that everyone learns differently ensures that we as educators don't fall into the trap of only teaching our students through the ways we ourselves best learn. Furthermore, it helps us to refrain from applying a 'one size fits all' approach to the lessons we teach. By this I mean teaching every lesson with the same focus on visual aids or kinaesthetic activities simply because a group of students responded well to these types of learning experiences at some point in the past.

What about the child who retains information better when it is presented verbally? (Auditory Learner). Or the child who exhibits a strong ability to work cooperatively with others and understand their feelings? (Interpersonal Intelligence). As 21st century teachers we need to be striving to provide a learning environment that caters for the needs of all our students, and that builds on their talents and abilities. This means that we cannot just settle for presenting lesson upon lesson with the same group work activity or the same focus on building literacy and mathematical skills. We need to be ACTIVELY seeking out new activities and lesson ideas for every learning style and multiple intelligence, and then thinking about how to best incorporate these into our daily planning.

Yes, it is highly unlikely that every lesson we design will incorporate all learning styles or build upon every multiple intelligence (quite frankly there is not enough time!). However, it is certainly possible to cater for a number of learning styles and intelligences throughout the course of a day's work or a unit plan.

"But how do I do this?!! And where do I start?" you ask me.

This is where ICT comes to the rescue! Digital tools such as videos, podcasts and images are all devices that can help teachers to engage students through their favoured learning styles and intelligences.

Check out this link. A teacher by the name of Amrit Rai has created a blog that highlights each of the multiple intelligences and a number of digital-based activities, websites and programs that teachers can use to encourage the use of multiple intelligences in the classroom. I have read the entire post and it is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT. I will definitely be using these ideas in my future classroom!

Just a couple more cartoons to finish! Can you tell I'm a visual learner? :)

"It's not how smart you are that matters, what really counts is how you are smart."

~ Howard Gardner ~

______________________________________________________________________

Image Acknowledgement:

Girl and Teacher Learning Styles Cartoon -

http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer/teaching/learningstyles.html

Children with Aeroplanes - http://yolatwin2.edublogs.org/2011/11/03/glogster/

Fair Selection Cartoon - http://robmacpherson1.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/call-me-mister-difficult.html

My first official post!

Hi everyone,

So today I have had a LOT of fun setting up my blog for E-Learning. After a few hours of playing with backgrounds, layouts, fonts and piccies I am now writing my first official blog post EVER! :) yay!

If I look back to last week, the night before our first E-Learning tutorial to be exact, I was having similar emotional responses to this...

For me, working with ICT has always been a little daunting! Over time I have come to believe that working with digital technologies results in either:

1. Major frustration! (not being able to make something work...)

2. Major devastation! (...I lost a whole uni assignment once, need I say more!)

3. And on the rare occasion... Major success! (when you plan a lesson involving the interactive whiteboard, projector and a YouTube video and by some miracle IT ALL WORKS! Woo!)

I believe this course is going to change these predominantly resistant beliefs of mine though! The more I delve into this whole topic of teaching and learning in the digital world, the more I realise that my attitude and my lack of knowledge about ICT (perhaps more importantly, lack of desire to further my knowledge about ICT) will be the only things to blame if the children in my classroom are not provided with a digitally-rich learning environment.

Boy what a BIG responsibility we have to put whatever past experiences or feelings we have about working with ICT behind us and plough on to becoming confident users and teachers of digital technology in the classroom! As Wendy reminded us in our tute last week - if we aren't going to be the teachers who lead the way, then who will?

Can we do it fellow E-Learners? Yes we can! :)

______________________________________________________________________

Image Acknowledgement:

Keep Calm - http://www.pixelrobot.com/blog/?m=200902

Fun to Do the Impossible - http://pinterest.com/alicenneverland/quotes/