Building ICT Knowledge

This week I focused on improving my professional relationships and professional values. I attended the Qsite Gold Coast chapter PD session at Clover Hill State School. This allowed an opportunity to network and hear ICT ideas that practising teachers are implementing. The keynote speaker Associate Professor Glen Finger explained the TPACK model. Of significance for me was Finger’s statement; “The key to distinguishing the knowledge base of teaching lies at the intersection of content and pedagogy in the teacher’s capacity to transform content knowledge into forms that are pedagogically powerful.” The presentation was followed by various elective sessions. I explored Elluminate Online Video-Presentation/ Conferences and creating digital document libraries in the classroom, both of which were valuable.       

 This week I also undertook my first steps in implementing a class blog into my practicum teaching and learning. This was another opportunity to ensure I uphold Professional Values also. I met with my teacher and discussed the initial ideas of which she was very supportive and then sent enquiries to the deputy principal about school IT policies and procedures for implementing the IT into the learning.

This week’s course reading gave great insight into current trends and predictions in ICT and education and would be a useful tool for any practising teaching.

The 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition, “examines emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative expression” in the school systems. The 2010 report discussed the major trends of ICT that we are expected to see influence education from 2010 through to 2015. I strongly agree with the predicted trends and have identified them being modelled in practicum experiences. Some of the reports predictions include; “Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed” and that “technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and socializing, and aubiquitous, transparent part of their lives”. The report also predicted an issue raised in other course readings about a change in the learning environments and the possibilities of “non-formal avenues of education such as online learning mentoring and independent study”. The report has anticipated cloud computing and collaborative environment technologies are going to strengthen in the next 12 months followed closely by game based learning and mobiles in classrooms in the next 2-3years. Personally I disagree with some of the predictions and think game based learning curriculums and the use of mobile phones in the classroom may be emerging in the next 2-3 years but it will still take some time to develop in the majority of Australian classrooms due to 'fear of the unknown'.       

References

Johnson, L., Smith, R., Levine, A., and Haywood, K., (2010). 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition. Retrieved from: http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Readings/Entries/2011/3/20_Week_4.html

Changes ahead in ICT and Education

This week we took a look inside a year 2 class and how their teacher was effectively implementing ICT in the classroom through the use of blogging.

The 2M Gems class blog displayed a number of purposeful and engaging features including:

• Clear student Expectations
• Three actual class blogs; a general class blog, a writing blog and a reading blog
• Blogfolios containing students individual blogs
• Multimodal posts including text, audio recordings, photos, animation, videos and  slideshows
• A range of educational widgets.

However the thing that was most impressive from my perspective was the challenge this teacher faced in setting up the blog. It was later explained to us that the school has few ICT resources and the teacher really did everything in her power to make this happen, she has brought unused computers from other rooms and even set up a blogging cafe during lunch for all the schools students. It is examples such as this that prove to pre-service teachers that ICT can be effectively implemented in to a school even when other colleagues may be sceptical. In my own research I came across an award winning classroom blog by two team-teachers in Victoria. Their blog interacts with other classes around the world, offers blogging advise for novice ICT teachers, conducts blogging sessions with parents, offers subscriptions, the list goes on.

I thought the blogs explored this week were very appropriate as they present the cutting edge of this ‘change in education’ that is outlined in this week’s articles. The article entitled ‘Interactive Learning’ and the sister article ‘Interactive Learning: Twenty Years Later’ discussed the evolution of education systems and the drastic changes they predicted we were going to see and the actual changes that did take place. Already we see the changes creeping into primary school education settings by way of educational gaming, use of electronics and the increasing use of the internet for information and communication. However if the university settings are anything to go by, it may not be too far away before primary school students are taking the majority of their lessons online on a personalised timetable.

This week saw the beginning of our team brainstorming and evaluating ideas for our Professional Development Video.  We are looking closely at the TPACK model and have decided to challenge ourselves with a technology we are unfamiliar with.

I also started brainstorming ideas on what I need to address when implementing ICTs into my practicum.

References

Bork, A. (1980). Interactive Learning. Retrieved from: http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Readings/Entries/2011/3/14_Week_3.html

Bork, A. (2003). Interactive Learning: Twenty Years later. Retrieved from: http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Readings/Entries/2011/3/14_Week_3.html

An ICT Certificate but what does it mean for Teaching and Learning?

This week we unpacked the requirements of Queensland’s Smart Classrooms Professional Development Framework.  

The framework outlines how important it is for teachers to not just use ICT as a subject area but to implement it in all areas of their profession. I strongly agree with Fluck’s (as cited in Finger, Jamieson-Proctor, Russel, Russel, 2007, p . 8) belief that the intention of ICT integration is not to focus on ICT skills per se, but rather to focus on achieving curriculum objectives and learning outcomes by embedding ICT into the activities, strategies and resources of the curriculum plan”. The framework outlines expectations for ICT implementation through; Professional Values, Professional Relationships, Professional Knowledge and Professional Practise

So where to from here? I have expectations of a smart classroom but how can ICT be implemented effectively?  

Answer - TPACK

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge or TPACK is the framework teachers should be mindful of when developing ICT integrated curriculum. In order for TPACK to take place a teacher should consider and combine their;

• Pedagogical knowledge; is a knowledge of different teaching theories and approaches
• Content Knowledge; is a knowledge of subject area
• Technological Knowledge; a knowledge of different technologies and how they can be used to improve learning    

An example of effective TPACK may be a teacher is using Discovery Learning as the pedagogy, their content maybe geography and mapping the local community and the technology may be the use of Google Earth.

TPACK is further explained in the below video  

TPACK 101 from Clare Kilbane on Vimeo.

This week’s articles entitled ‘Generation Cut and Paste’ and ‘Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants’ particularly struck a chord with me, for several reasons. I often find myself stuck between the two generations. Sometimes I naturally think as a Digital native, attune to the ways of thinking ‘technologically’, then there are days when I sit in an ICT lesson and feel that I am becoming a digital immigrant!   

After reading ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants’ my interpretation of a digital native compared to a digital immigrant is, a digital immigrant sees the ever evolving technologies as a threat or challenge where as the digital native sees new technologies just the next transition forward.  

The article ‘Generation Cut and Paste’ stresses why we should work with technologies rather than fight them. I feel articles such as this highlight the importance of teaching our students the necessary tools to manoeuvre around the mass of information available to them in a safe way and effective way. For me this article reminded me of a previous practicum experience where students were taught of the importance of authentic work and not to believe everything they encounter on the World Wide Web. This Tree Octopus Webpage had an entire class of year 5 students convinced there was such a thing as a tree octopus.

I also explored some of the ‘101 Ways For Classroom 1-1 Computing’ on the Google Groups Forum. This document from the Victorian Department of Education’s ePotential Website had a range of great website/ terminology and software for ICT integration. Through this resource I developed:

·         An understanding of Widgets.

·         A detailed understanding of Kahootz and the teaching and learning potential.

·         An understanding of how to make a voki and built one for the top of this blog

So the message I took from this week’s adventures was the technology train has arrived and its on the move, it’s entirely up to you if you want to get on or be left behind!

 

References

Finger, G. Russell, G. Jamieson-Proctor, R. Russell, N. (2007).Transforming Learning with ICT: Making it Happen. NSW: Pearson Education Australia.

Head, B. (2008). Generation Cut and Paste. Retrieved from:        http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Readings/Entries/2011/3/7_Week_2.html

Kohler, M. (n.d.). TPACK 101. Retrieved March 10, 2011 from: http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/tpack/

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved from:  http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Lectures/Entries/2011/3/7_Lecture_2.html

Wikipedia. (2011). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_Pedagogical_Content_Knowledge#Technology_knowledge_.28TK.29

Zagami, J. (2011). 4001EPS ICT and Pedagogy Lecture 2. Retrieved from;  http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Lectures/Entries/2011/3/7_Lecture_2.html

ICT and Pedagogy Welcomed Enthusiastically

This week was an introduction to the Griffith University School of Education course; ICT and Pedagogy.

The technologies presented in week one’s lecture were varied; some I had heard of and others I hadn’t even considered. I was particularly impressed with the whole wall interactive boards, the use of avatars in professional settings e.g. Qsite meetings, Augmented Reality and curriculums based entirely on games such as World of Warcraft.

                                                                                  Whole wall interactive board presentation.

   

                                                                                      Augmented Reality Presentation. 

As with all new ideas I found there were definitely areas for improvement in many of the technologies. From a social aspect I fell that the one laptop per child (OLPC) program seems insignificant if the students don’t even have adequate shelter, food and clean water. I also feel the reality put to us by Dr. Zagami of foreign scientists teaching Australian student’s Physics online for minimal wages is troublesome. It makes me question ‘how safe and valued are Teaching Qualifications in Australia?’

This lecture was a good introduction to the latest ICTs however what I look forward to the most is new ways and examples in which we can effectively implement and incorporate these technologies.

Although Dr. Zagami explained that many pre-service teachers may find the first lecture overwhelming, my feelings were more of excitement and intrigue. The future technologies should be viewed as something that all teachers should embrace. No one can deny the fact the Information Communication Technologies are only going to become more advanced whilst becoming an integral part of education.


References

Zagami, J. (2011). 4001EPS ICT and Pedagogy Lecture 1. Retrieved from  http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Lectures/Entries/2011/2/28_Lecture_1.html