Reflective Synopsis

‘In an ever changing and developing world of technologies, what constitutes e-learning?’ Over the period of the last week six weeks I have constantly been asking myself this very question. My ideas on this topic have been ever evolving as I have progressed through this course. According to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2013) “eLearning refers to the exploration and use of a broad range of information and communication technologies to provide new learning environments…” http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/curriculum/pages/elearning.aspx E-learning consists of the use of a variety of technologies including online based, teaching pedagogy and strategies, along with current curriculum content. For a learning manager a successful digital pedagogy ensures that students use ICT’s to become global learners, engaging and exploring all curriculum areas not only on a national level but international too. To create a successfully digital pedagogy a learning manager should use the Technical Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework as a guide. “…the framework (figure 4) emphasizes the connections, interactions, affordances and constraints between and among content, pedagogy and technology.”  (Mishra & Koehler, 2006 p.125) The framework places an important emphasis on how these three key areas of knowledge need to be used together to create prosperous technology pedagogy for our 21^st century learners.

Image retrieved from Mishra & Koehler, 2006 p.125

Throughout developing my own understanding of e-learning and how to build and create a fruitful digital pedagogy I explored a number of online forums. These included sites such as Wiki and Weebly, multimedia tools resembling Movie Maker and Voki, presentation tools including Prezi and Glogster and other online technologies relating to animations and simulations. While investigating how to work these ICT’s and their benefits for classroom learning it was also important to consider many issues. These include how students can use these tools collaboratively to construct knowledge in their working environment, the safety of students using these online tools along with legal and ethical guidelines and the tools that we as educators can use to help us develop our own e-learning pedagogy.

According to Tu (2004) “…integrating collaborative learning, online learning and learning community into an online learning environment is an effective way to enhance learning”. Having the opportunity to engage with online tools in a collaborative environment scaffolds the learning journey and encourages our students to become active learners. Web 2.0 sites such as Wiki, Collaborize Classroom, Diigo and other online discussion forums and blogs create Vygotskys ‘Social Constructivist’ where by students are in the zone of proximal development. The students still have the ability to complete complex tasks and construction through social interaction and Siemens ‘Connectivism’ approach to learning which focuses more on not what the students know but their ability to research and find information. These two theories in conjunction with the correct online spaces, underline learning environments essential not only to collaborative learning, but the expansion of students’ knowledge in general. The blog post below talks more about specific online spaces and how they can be used for online collaborative learning http://elizabeerecqu.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/engagement-task-1-mobile-phone-wiki.htm Harasim (2012, p.169) believes “It is time for an educational paradigmatic shift to transform learning from didactic instruction to the collaborative knowledge-building discourse that reflects and coheres with the twenty-first century Knowledge-Age.”

There is a mass amount of literature out in relation to student safety online e.g. child safety, privacy, and cyber harassment and bullying. As future educators it is essential that we understand the importance of online safety of our students when using these sites as well as legal and ethical implications. It is common practice in this current age of technology that at the beginning of each school year / term parents receive permission forms to be completed to allow students participate in online activities (along with any media tools such as images and videos). The learning manager must ensure this form has been returned before give student’s access to sites and unfortunately for those who have not been given permission must have other activities to engage with. Schools often place blocks on certain sites and searches, it is the responsibility of the educator to investigate this and if not put their own safety procedures in place. It is imperative that the learning manager educates the learners about what is appropriate and inappropriate online behaviour. This means we must demonstrate to our students the correct use of online material i.e. copying of worksheets, adhering to the 10% rule with any resources and following the correct copyright procedures and acknowledging sources with the use of images etc. 

                                                                                       

Along with the TPACK framework to create a successfully e-learning pedagogy, learning managers can also use the Substitution, Augmentation Modification and Redefinition Model (SAMR). This model supports learning managers in manipulating, developing and integrating digital tools to support high levels of learning achievement (Department of Education, Training and Employment [DETE], 2012).  The learning manager analyses the best technology tools to use for each process that supports learning. Each one of these processes scaffolds the students learning journeys from simple substitution activities to complex redefinition tasks.

SAMR Model

Image retrieved from https://classroomconnections.eq.edu.au/topics/Pages/2013/issue-7/samr-learning-technologies.aspx

These digital pedagogy tools used in conjunction with higher order thinking processes such as Bloom’s Taxonomy, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence's and De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats, guide students to discover and build their knowledge at an independent level. These techniques not only assist our students in the concept of e-learning but prepare them to become lifelong learners in an ever evolving technological society.

In just a short six weeks I have learnt and seen the benefits of using technology as part of a digital pedagogy and how it can enhance our students learning, when we select the correct tools. As brilliant and engaging as these online sites and tools can be the most important thing is to ensure that our students are safe to use them and these digital tools have an important purpose in their learning journey.

References:

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2013). eLearning. Retrieved from:                http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/curriculum/pages/elearning.aspx

Department of Education, Training and Employment [DETE] (2012).  SAMR learning technologies.             Retrieved from:  https://classroomconnections.eq.edu.au/topics/Pages/2013/issue-7/samrlearning-technologies.aspx

Harasim, L. (2012). Learning Theory and Online Technology. New York: USA. Routledge.

Mishra, P. & Koehler, M.J. (2006).  Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for       Teacher Knowledge. Teachers College Record Volume 108, p. 1017–1054. Retrieved from               CQUniversity Course Resources Online (FAHE11001).

Tu, C.H. (2004).  Online Collaborative Learning Communities. Westport: CT. Libraries Unlimited

Engagment Task 4 - Part 2 - Animations and Simulations

The second part of the engagement activities looked thoroughly at a variety of online animations and simulation tools.

Online simulations and animations offer students a wonderful opportunity to explore, discover and develop their own understanding and knowledge of a variety of subjects. In a 21^st century learning environments, student’s involvement with these virtual experiences allow them the prospect of creating their own learning journey.  There are a variety of simulation and animation tools that have great purpose within the classroom. The PhET site http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/new

 

has a wide range of online simulations that cater for lower to upper primary students through all curriculum areas. An example of using this in the classroom would be to have students complete a simulation – based on a science concept then write a scientific report on the experience and their findings. Simulations can also be used as part of learning experiences to engage learners e.g. maths – directions – google earth. These visual redefinition tools cater to students who are also prominent audio and kinaesthetic learners. Animations can be used to engage all students of all year levels to help support them in their classroom tasks For example difficult concepts such as maths operations stepping students through activities. As with all digital tools the aspect of online safety is present again – the LM needs to use and explore these simulations and animations before presenting them to the students. Below is a link to an animation used to calculate your carbon footprint http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/  - how many planets do YOU need to live. This could be an example used in a learning experience as a fun activity which also supports and develops students understanding around chemical sciences.

Engagement Task 4 - Part 1 - PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster

The first part of week 4’s engagement activity looked closely at 3 digital tools used to assist in presenting information, PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster.

PowerPoint is a tool we are incredibly familiar with, as it is well utilized when studying at university. Sometimes this digital tool feels like it can place you into a deep sleep coma ‘death by PowerPoint’. However it was probably one of the first technologies I learnt to use, so I do have a soft spot for it and I feel like it still has a place within 21^st century classrooms.

Advantages:

·         Great to create flash cards which can be used as warm ups (explicit teaching) for all year levels.

·         Can suit all subject matter and be used to further engage students in content knowledge. For example: Maths- Year 6 Patterns and Sequences; enlighten students to Fibonacci’s Numbers through exploring PowerPoint slides.

·         It can support students in their assessment tasks e.g. oral presentations. Good idea to give students a guide as to how many slides and maybe what you would like presented.

·         Simple to use – formatting is similar to other digital programs.

·         Excellent substitution tool for lower primary students to begin to explore, good introduction to ICT’s.

Disadvantages:

·         Less is more – too much information defeats the purpose and it may as well be written on the board.

·         Have to hyper link any other information you wish to be displayed e.g. video etc. cannot be embedded into the presentation.

Diseases in Humans Caused by Micro-Organisms PP by Eliza Beere

Having used Prezi a few times for past group assignments – I seem to have lucked out and never actually created one personally. I think seeing how common this digital tool is within our university learning environment made me feel less apprehensive to create my own for this task.

Advantages:

·         The online program is very simple to use, there is a mixture of basic and complex templates. This offers a decent mixture for learners of different year levels and abilities to create their own Prezi.

·         The movements through the presentation (different directions, rotations, zoom features of slides) appear to be more exciting than that of PowerPoint.

·         Automatic save function – great for someone like me who has lost numerous sections of work because I never save reularly.

·         Presentations can be used for student-structured and teacher- structured tasks across an array of curriculum areas (the Prezi below demonstrates a Science experiment for lower primary students to complete).

·         Fantastic augmentation resource tool for students to use to create formative and summative assessment pieces and present them to the class – students can make them as elaborated as they please.

Disadvantages:

·         Adding more slides to a template can be a little frustrating. Trying to get them to connect and flow through with the rest of presentation was a little challenging.

·         If you accidently click on the screen (outside of the slide) it creates a text box where one is not wanted, after doing this a few times you soon learn quickly.

·         Trying to embed the html code within the blog – my Prezi presentation kept popping up over the top of the page (which the code was on) and I was unable to move it to copy the code.
 

http://prezi.com/ypiddh0jh_bf/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy 

Glogster, I first heard of a ‘glog’ during a first term assessment piece. I took one look at it and decided that maybe I would use one of the other online tools instead. Going back a second time I had similar feelings, however I  was determined to create my own ‘glog’.

Advantages:

·         There is a ton of engaging various layout options – great for those who like to get creative.

·         ‘Glogs’ can be used to create scrapbooks / posters over a number of cross-curricular areas such as History, English and Science (the example below reflects year 4 biological science).

·         Great online augmentation tool for a class to use while the learning manager guides them through the tasks.

·         The site would work well for upper primary students – it is interactive and engaging for learners.

Disadvantages:

·         It took a lot of playing around with (inserting video clips, images and audio), not as user friendly as other digital sites

·         The layout of a ‘glog’ can make it difficult for students to follow a specific order, without guidance – I feel there are better tools for this purpose such as Weebly.

·         Software on the computer needs to be current and up-to-date otherwise the Glogster site will not be functional.

Engagement Task 3 - Digital Audio, Images and Digital Video Tools

I spent my time this week exploring an assortment of multimedia tools, some of which I used for the very first time. This week’s digital resources included podcasts and digital audio, images and digital videos.

The first multimedia tool I engaged with was the podcasts and digital audio resources. Below I have created my own Voki. This site enables the user to create their own online Avatar.

The creation of Voki Avatar was quick, easy and simple to figure out for a first time user. The most challenging part was trying to upload the Voki to an additional site. Digital audio tools are a great strategy to use within the classroom as they give an exciting and engaging approach to learning. One example in classroom teaching would be for the learning manager to create student centred tasks and the avatar guides students through their tasks. Another example would be giving students an opportunity to create their own (audio) – instead of writing.  There are abundant audio tools that can be used to check for understanding as a means of formative assessment, along with using them for summative assessment tasks.  Podcast and other digital audio materials offer an opportunity for students to hear and learn from someone other than their learning manager. They can listen to different ideas and opinions as well as gain a different perspective on pre-existing knowledge along with new content. It offers variety within the classroom and is an amazing untapped substitution tool to enhance learning – the content is still being delivered just in a diverse way. It is incredibly important that the learning manager sits down and listens to the entire podcast before presenting to the students to ensure the content is appropriate.

Using a variety of appropriate images within the classroom can be used as an educational ‘hook’ for students at the beginning of a lesson, as well as help deepen their understanding of content knowledge. While on placement I experienced this. Using a variety of advertising images to introduce students to their persuasive unit, the amount of prior knowledge and concepts that students could come up with was outstanding. After reflecting with my mentor teacher we believe this had a lot to do with using the images instead of asking students to just list persuasive techniques.  Images can be useful augmentation tools when used for the correct purpose, in context and capturing ideas. For a future learning manager uploading images to a variety of online site is stress-free, with a variety of programs offering simple steps to edit the photos such as cropping or changing the size to be able to successfully upload the image. This is a process a lot of us are incredibly familiar with, thanks to social media. On my blog I have just uploaded a variety of my own images; however they could be purposeful in the classroom for a content strand such as art with upper primary students. The focus could be on the different elements such as light, colour, texture and shape. Another way to use images in the classroom (thanks to our very own uni lecturer) is to use images as a way to understand how students are processing knowledge. While learning content that can be quite heavy students can be given an opportunity to go and stand near the image that best describes how they are feeling about the content. I love this idea!

 

Having only physically used a ‘movie maker’ program once, I wasn’t really sure how successful the process of creating a digital video would be. However like most things I have discovered while engaging in the course, with a little bit of trial and error most things can be figured out. You could spend hours perfecting a video with different music, fading effects and editing techniques.  Digital videos are another engaging multimedia tool and can also be used as a ‘hook’ for units and lessons, as well as having students create their own as a form of assessment. For example those students who might not like performing oral presentations may want to create a video instead and present it to the class, also providing for differentiation within the classroom. From my experience a program such a media movie maker is user friendly and definitely something students could use – no fluffiness needed. Lower primary students can also be buddied up with upper primary students, so they too can create their own videos. This type of multimedia modification and redefinition tool that can be used across a range of subjects and it is surprising how successful they can be in a classroom. Speaking from experience having shown a video at the beginning of a unit then having,  how would you put it…a less conscientious student recall knowledge from the clip 3 weeks ago was fantastic. There is such a wide range of online sites for learning managers to find educational engaging videos YouTube and teacher tube just to name a few. I have created a short little video show casing my local beach. In a classroom context this could be used as a part of geography assessment. Students could create their own video of a geographical area near them.

 

 

The biggest issue when using any online materials including photos, videos and voice recordings is safety! First and foremost it is important to seek written consent from a parent or guardian to allow students to acess these materials along with being portrayed in them. It is a crucial role of the learning manager that they closely monitor students activities on these site – what they are writing / say, what images they are placing up along with anything they may be looking at.

All of these multimedia tools are terrific resources to use in the classroom but they need to be used purposefully. Utilising the TPACK framework – based around technology use, pedagogy and curriculum to guide these processes will ensure successful use for students.

Engagement Task 2 - Wikis, Blogs and Weeblys

The engagement activity this week involved exploring blogs, wikis and websites. While playing around with these different on line tools we were asked to consider SAMR Model and think about how effective these various types of technology impacted on teaching and learning.

The mentioned sites all link to at least one aspect of the SAMR Model. I found that wiki’s and blogs – if used as a way to answer questions and reflect link in with the substitute (S) and augmentation (A) area as these are still task learners can perform with or without technology – it just makes it more exciting than pencil and paper.  That being said I also believe a blog applies to modification (M) enhancing common classroom tasks, as students to add various tools to their blogs. A website is an indication of modification (M) and redefinition (R). Not only can it be used to boost learning, websites are great for student centred learning.

Wiki’s are a fantastic resource to be used within the classroom to create a collaborative learning environment. This site is user pretty friendly and easy to navigate, if you are not trying to make anything too fancy. For a novice like myself, I found it can become a little complicated when you want to add different things such as slide shows with the different HTML coding. It is a great site for users to share written ideas amongst one another.  However to use this in a classroom as a student centred activity would be quite difficult as it appears the site isn’t really developed for this purpose. It should be used for teacher guided activities along with appropriate scaffolding.

Click on the link below to take you to my Wiki site, which I have had a play around on.

http://elizabeereelearning.wikispaces.com/My+Wiki+Page

I am a big fan of the website Weebly. Having never used it before my experience at university, it seemed a little complicated to use at first. After playing around for 5 minutes or so I had enough figured out to create a successful site. I have used Weebly for a number of assessment tasks over the past 2 years and find that the layout and the simple click and drag options for text, images, documents and YouTube clips make for easy functionality. This site is a great resource for learning managers to use to create student centred activities in which the Weebly can be used to explore various content knowledge. It caters for a large range of primary learners, and students as young as year 3 can navigate a created site themselves, while offering the challenge to those students in the upper primary year 6 and 7 of creating their own Weebly’s for assessment. It can also be used as a teacher guided site for those students in the lower primary from prep to year 2. The only downside to this site I have discovered at the moment is the fact that if you’d like extra features such as audio or you want to upload your own clips it comes at a cost.

I have inserted a link with an example of a Weebly I created to teach people about the Sacrament of Marriage. Please take your time to explore my site.

http://elizabeererelg19002.weebly.com

Blogs…where do I start. Before engaging in E-Learning I had very little to do with blogs occasionally have a sneak peak at one or two thanks to something intriguing as seen on social media. So the concept of not only creating and using a blog was very overwhelming especially after having so much difficulty trying to figure out how to get onto the blogger site. After spending quite some time having a play around, I have discovered it is nowhere near as stressful as I first thought, even if there are a few tasks I am still trying to figure out. Practice makes perfect! A blog is a fantastic way to share your thoughts and ideas with the online world. People can engagement with the information and leave comments. It would be great to use within the classroom and have students individually blog about their weekly experiences - what they have learnt about, anything they found interesting and or difficult. This site could be used as a reflective tool for the students each week.

I’d like to share below with you in particular one blog that I have so recently become very interested in – this by no means has anything to do with my love of the Carlton AFL club or Chris Judd!

http://www.rebeccajuddloves.com/

Engagement Task 1 - Mobile Phone Wiki

The first reflective task saw myself and other students engage with an online Wiki to answer a question in relation to using mobile phones in the classroom. Our responses to this question were variable using De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats. To begin with the task felt quite over whelming having not engaged with Wiki too much but I soon learnt,  there was not a great deal to be worry about.

The practice of the Wiki promotes a Social Constructivist approach to learning, while incorporating the use of Connectivism. On reflection the use of an online forum such as a Wiki, encourages working collaboratively which is beneficial to learning via distance, and up to date with 21^st century learning. It is set up as a social classroom environment – the learning manager asks the questions and the students answer accordingly in writing. You are able to view each participating individual’s perspective as they update the Wiki, which in a normal classroom setting there would be no time for. It is heavily reliant on the participation of the students, who are active participants in expanding their own knowledge and understanding.

There will always be benefits and drawback in participating in a learning forum such as Wiki. The layout of the Wiki was very easy to navigate and a great introduction to the site for those not familiar with using online technologies or ‘tech savvy’. The features contained as part of the Wiki are similar to those of other sites making editing details easy to find. The benefit of using a Wiki within the classroom allows students to work collaboratively with one another to share ideas, yet they can still be completing the task individually. It is another was of presenting topics and ideas as an engaging tool for the 21^st century. I did experience difficulties with the internet connection while updating the Wiki. However, luckily a feature of the Wiki is to automatically save current work (even if you didn’t click save), which is recovered next time you access the site. Also different colours were matched up with names enabling the reader to identify the ideas of each individual; however it did cause confusion for those who chose to use the standard black font consecutively. It was difficult to tell if comments were separate paragraphs or from a new person. As mentioned the downside to using an online forum is the irregularity of the internet connection.  In the classroom this may make it difficult for the learning manager to monitor the responses of the students on Wiki, which may result in behaviour management issues. Luckily the simple editing tool makes it easy for any inappropriateness to be removed.

This Wiki activity was well scaffolded in conjunction with the use of De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats. Using this higher order thinking tool enables you to look at issues from different viewpoints such as a negative approach, the benefits, an emotional and creative approach along with looking at the process and the facts.  It provides a clear approach to higher order thinking allowing the user to focus on one hat at a time to further develop their thoughts. This has also been done by providing guiding questions relating to each individual hat. The learning outcomes are demonstrated through the use of De Bono’s Hats by enabling the respondent to look further into an issue, instead of just taking a once sided stance which is intuitive to us.