Week 2 - TPACK Unpacked!

Hi everyone!

So Week 2 of E-Learning saw us exploring digital pedagogy and some of the new learning design frameworks that have arisen in response to the growth in technology across our globe.

I want to look at the TPACK (Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge) learning framework in detail today and try and unpack what it means for us as teachers - in plain English!

In it's original form, the TPACK learning framework was actually called the PCK (Pedagogical Content Knowledge) learning framework. In essense, this original framework highlighted the importance of teachers having reliable content knowledge, as well as a sound understanding of the ways in which to deliver content so students learn effectively (pedagogical knowledge). Sounds pretty spot on right?

As Mishra and Koehler (2006, p. 1020) point out however, the PCK framework was really only appropriate for the education era that focused primarily on the content knowledge of the teacher, and in more recent years, the era which placed importance on having good teaching pedagogy rather than just good content knowledge.

We have now entered the 21st century education era, and whilst excellent content knowledge and teaching pedagogy are still two crucial components of successful teaching, they are not enough to meet the needs of today's students. As we have explored in my previous posts, the rapid growth in technology over the past decade has dramatically changed the world we live in - and also the way teachers must teach. We as teachers have access to a range of technological tools (eg: Wikis, Blogs, Prezi, Glogster, Movie Maker - we will explore some of these in my next posts) that can enhance our students' learning and help them access the curriculum through a means they are familiar with and love!

But for teachers to be able to use these ICT tools in the classroom they must have the technical skills to make them work. Furthermore, they need to have the pedagogical knowledge to know what type of ICT tool is best for teaching a particular concept. This is why the original PCK learning framework was transformed into the TPACK learning framework. Educators now understand that it is a mix of sound content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and technological knowledge that make for excellent learning design.

Here is a visual of how TPACK works:

To finish my TPACK unpacking, I want to give you an example of what TPACK looks like in action.

You are teaching a grade 7 class and the content you are exploring is in the English sub strand of 'Responding to Literature' (Australian Curriculum).

The content descriptor you are focusing on states - 'Reflect on ideas and opinions about characters, settings and events in literary texts, identifying areas of agreement and difference with others and justifying a point of view'.

So now that you have identified what content knowledge is required, you need to decide on the technology and pedagogy you are going to use.

Technology - Have your students create a blog (via Blogger) where they can post reflections about their opinions of the characters, settings and events in the text (this could be done periodically after reading every chapter). Have the students read their peers' posts and comment on whether they agree/disagree with their views about the book and justify their opinions. At the end of reading the text, have students write a final blog post highlighting their end viewpoint of the book and whether their viewpoint had changed from start to finish.

Pedagogy - To assist your students to achieve deep understanding and knowledge (see Productive Pedagogies) through their blog posting, provide a series of scaffolding questions for them to answer based on the Bloom's Taxonomy model.

For example:

Remembering - What has happened in the story so far? Describe the events that have occurred?

Understanding - Discuss your ideas and opinions about the characters you have met? Do you identify with any of them? Why/why not?

And so on.

For me TPACK is certainly the perfect recipe for effective learning design - add one cup of good content knowledge, one cup of great teaching pedagogy and one cup of technological skill and whala! You've got one great learning experience coming right up :)

Talk soon guys :)

Sarah

______________________________________________________________________

References:

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Retrieved from http://site.aace.org/pubs/sigs/sig-Mishra-Koehler-TCR.pdf

Image Acknowledgement:

TPACK Cartoon - http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/blog/2009/04/30/taking-tpack-in-new-directions/

PCK Venn Diagram - http://www.corndancer.com/vox/gnosis/artcls_037054/gno_now038.html

TPACK Diagram - http://maine.edc.org/file.php/1/oer/math_DTPACKimg.html

Huckleberry Finn - http://www.bookperdiem.com/2011/02/adventures-of-huckleberry-finn.html

Week 3 - Exploring blogs, wikis and websites

As we zoom into the third week of e-learning it's time to look at the first group of digital tools - Blogs, wikis and websites!

Digital Tool Number 1 - Blogs

I absolutely LOVED setting up my e-learning blog at the beginning of this course, as it allowed me to design a writing space that reflects my own personality. It was the first time I have ever created a personal blog, and I found great satisfaction in working through the process of setting it up (even though it took me a whole day!). For me, setting up a blog was actually an exercise in critical thinking, as I hit a number of walls along the way which I had to problem solve my way through. There is truly nothing Google doesn't seem to know though, and with a quick search I was able to find a plethora of tutorials and information about how to fix my problems! Now that's connectivism in action!

But how can blogs be incorporated into the classroom setting? And what are the benefits and limitations of this digital tool?

I have completed a PMI for the use of blogs below to help answer these questions.

Plus:

Images, videos and links to other websites can be easily embedded into blogs

Blogs are able to be accessed from any computer and also via mobile devices

Blogs are an online way of storing information and any information posted on a blog cannot be lost as students' work is saved when drafting posts and once posts are published.

Both classroom and global collaboration can be facilitated through blogs, with students being able to comment on their peers' work.

Through commenting on others' work, students are learning how to provide meaningful, constructive feedback

Teachers can monitor students work and understanding of content easily

Provides a place for students to reflect on their learning (gives teachers a deeper insight into their students' thinking)

Engages students in writing through allowing them to create their own personalised writing space (can decorate with their own backgound, colour schemes, fonts, images etc. - just a little more interesting than a paper notebook!)

Teachers can apply privacy settings to students' blogs to ensure they are not able to be viewed by the public, only the rest of the class

Blogger contains an in-built spell checker which helps students to correct any spelling mistakes in their posts

Minus:

Students may not use their blog appropriately - they may post comments that are completely off-task or not constructive

Some students may not feel comfortable to share their ideas on a blog because other people can see them (self-conscious)

Students with limited experience with working with the internet and ICT may find it very difficult to set up their blog (have difficulty navigating around the blog and utilising the tools required to create a blog)

Students may use blogging as a tool for bullying (instead of providing constructive comments on other students' posts they may give put-downs)

Students may not be able to work on their blog from home if they cannot access the internet

Interesting:

There are a number of engaging ways that blogs can be used to enhance classroom learning. See one of my blog posts here for an example of how blogs can be used to facilitate English learning in Year 7 (the example is featured at the end of the blog post).

One of the other e-learning bloggers I follow, Jessie, posted about 'Edublogs' as part of her exploration on blogs in the classroom. I decided to check out what an Edublog was for myself, and the results were really exciting! Edublogs is a free blogging tool that can be used by teachers and students to reflect on classroom learning. Here is an example of an Edublog created by a year 5/6 class in Canada - 'Huzzah!'.

Be sure to look at all the students' blogs located on the right hand side of the class blog homepage - their posts are very entertaining!

______________________________________________________________________

Digital Tool Number 2 - Wikis

I have used wikis on a number of occasions throughout my study at university, predominantly as a collaborative tool for group work assignments. Please check out my thoughts on wikis here.

Wikis enable a group of people to upload information (text, videos, images, tables etc.) so that information can then be used by everyone in the group to complete a task. Here is an example of two group wikis I recently participated in as part of my university courses - LM4 Wiki and Numeracy Wiki.

But how can wikis be incorporated into the classroom setting? And what are the benefits and limitations of this digital tool?

Here is a PMI for the use of wikis in the classroom.

Plus:

Allows students to share ideas and opinions with their peers (collaboration)

Can be used for both personal work and group work

Provides an online storage system for information that is saved and cannot be lost

Videos, images and links to other websites can be uploaded into the wiki

Students can edit their group members' work in the wiki (great facility for proofreading assignment tasks)

Teachers can gain access to the wiki and post comments about how students are progressing with a task

Teachers can also monitor whether group members are contributing evenly to a task via the 'History' page

Wikis can continually be added to over long periods of time - does not 'time out'

Minus:

If students are editing a wiki at the same time they face the issue of writing over/deleting the other person's work

As with blogs, students may use a wiki as a podium for inappropriate commenting (off task posts and put-down comments on others' work)

If the privacy settings are not changed, students' work can be viewed by anyone from the public (breach of copyright/child safety laws)

If the task being completed using the wiki is not scaffolded appropriately (eg: contains a series of focus questions to answer or headings to keep students work on task) then it can result in learners just uploading a lot of information with no real direction as to how to use it effectively

Wikis contain limited formatting options which can result in them being visually unappealing to read (limited font styles, background design options and layout options)

Interesting:

Wikis can not only used as a way of organising information for personal assessment tasks and collaborating for group assessment tasks, but they can used for everyday learning in the classroom. One really great example that I found was via a blog link my fellow blogger Tiana posted called '50 Ways to Use Wikis'. For learning in the KLA of Maths, teachers can create a wiki where they regularly provide problem solving questions for groups of children to solve together. This is such a simple idea, yet it effectively engages learners in using technology, collaborating with others and not to mention, is saving trees by teachers not having to print out the questions on paper! Winner!

______________________________________________________________________

Digital Tool Number 3 - Websites

I have had a little bit of experience with creating websites as I was required to create a webquest through Weebly as part of a SOSE course I undertook last year. Feel free to check it out here - Let's Get Energy Smart. I was quite happy with the end result! :)

Initially though, I remember looking at the task sheet for this SOSE assignment and nearly dying at the thought of having to create a website! I mean, aren't websites just heaps of in-depth codes in cyberspace that somehow fit together to make a webpage appear on our screens? I thought it was going to be mission impossible.

Thankfully, we were introduced to the online website creator called 'Weebly'. Weebly is a very easy program to use, because it takes away the need for the creator to know about complex web programming/coding (it does that part for you! Yay!!!) and provides simple tools that help you add in the elements of an effective website (webpages, tabs, images, videos, links to Word documents and webpages etc.). With the majority of our students today being fluent in the language of technology, I believe they could have a working website completed in a matter of hours. As with any digital tool however, there are always limitations in its use. Please see the PMI I have created below for the benefits, limitations and interesting points about using Weebly websites in the classroom.

Plus:

Weebly is an easy-to-use program with simple tools for helping teachers and learners to build websites

Does not require students to know about or use complex web programming or coding

Images, videos, links to websites and Word documents can be uploaded to the students' websites

Students are able to exercise their creativity through choosing layouts, background designs, font styles and colours etc. for their websites (this helps make learning personal and engaging for individual students)

Websites can allow teachers to organise learning tasks for students of different levels (teachers design separate pages of work for each learning level within the main website screen. Students can then access their work via tabs on the main screen)

Provides an online storage facility for students work

Supports students in engaging with multi-modal texts

Minus:

Once students have published their website, anyone can view it. This means student safety could be jeopardised, and thus teachers need to ensure their learners are not providing any personal details on their websites

Some school computers may not allow students to access the Weebly website creator (security settings/firewalls)

Websites do not allow teachers to freely access their students work to provide feedback on their progress

Collaboration with others is not facilitated through Weebly websites as their is no way for students to leave comments on their peers' work

Interesting:

A class Weebly website could be set up so that students who were away could still access that day's work. The classroom teacher could upload what tasks they were going to be completing for the day in the morning so students could access it from home if they needed to. Furthermore, having a record of every day's schoolwork on the class website would enable students to go back and revisit any information they didn't fully understand.

Weebly is a fantastic digital tool to help novices find their way around creating a website. Looking a little further into website design though, I came across another free website builder called 'Wix'. Whilst I haven't looked deeply enough into whether it would be appropriate for students to use from a security perspective, it appears to be able to incorporate some more advanced ICT components than that of Weebly (eg: Flash Player). If the security of a Wix website is in fact sound, I think this could be a great tool for students in upper primary to use for projects once they have mastered Weebly.

Overall, blogs, wikis and websites can be seen as fantastic digital tools for use in the classroom. They encourage the collaboration of ideas, promote the use of higher order thinking skills through allowing students to critically reflect on the work of others and solve problems and they engage students in tasks through letting them creatively build their own online learning environment.

______________________________________________________________________

Image Acknowledgement:

Google it - http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/2009/03/23/google-it/

Wikispaces - http://mrmcdanielsteacherpage.wikispaces.com/Collaboration

Kids Around Computer - http://www.cenet.catholic.edu.au/cenet/index.php/ournews/ournewstop/18-social-media-a-video-in-action

Wix - http://tech4teacher.wordpress.com/tag/wix/

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/