Our Final Professional Development Video

After considerable work our finished product...

Hopefully our video inspires and gives ideas to teachers to implement technology into their classrooms, particularly with Google SketchUp. 

The adventure that was.

Looking back to the following statement I made in the first week,

“what I look forward to the most is new ways and examples in which

we can effectively implement and incorporate these technologies”

I  have come to realise ICT and Pedagogy is not just about gaining a list of the latest technologies but the ability to effectively match them with pedagogy and content knowledge.  

The research has indicated that ICT in education is evolving, in some cases even faster than expected. We are going to see changes in educational settings that are like nothing we have ever seen before. Students needs are going to be more complex as they are exposed to vast amounts of information. We will be catering to a new type of student that will be working towards careers not yet discovered. 

It is apparent that having a strong ICT incorporated pedagogy is not always easy, it involves constant professional growth, always pushing for resources and developing a strong ICT culture. Mishra and Kohler explained the challenges of ICT education well when they stated “Teaching with technology is a wicked problem (in contrast to ‘tame’ problems) – contradictory, incomplete and changing requirements”.

As outlined by Jamieson-Proctor, Burnett, Finger and Watson (2008) “Many teachers already use computers to enliven teaching and inspire students. In order to build a 21^st Century schooling system, we need teachers to understand how ICT promote higher order thinking skills and deepen understanding in all key learning areas". I want to ensure that I am one of those teachers who knows how to encourage higher order thinking and develop understanding in all key learning areas through ICT.

References

Jamieson-Proctor, Romina and Burnett, Paul C. and Finger, Glenn and Watson, Glenice (2006) ICT integration and teachers' confidence in using ICT for teaching and learning in Queensland

state schools. Retrieved from: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/26393/1/26393.pdf

Mishra, P & Koehler, M. (2008). Keynote Speaker: Thinking Creatively: Teachers as Designers of Technology, Pedagogy and Content (TPACK). Keynote at Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education Conference. Retrieved from: http://site.aace.org/conf/archive/2008/mishra-site-08.htm

One Big Learning Adventure

The article entitled 'Learning to Teach with Technology: From Integration to Actualisation' (2002) raises some important issues for us as pre-service teachers and acts as a reminder not to fall into the habits of some long serving teachers. This article suggests that “a model informed by learning theory can assist teacher educators in designing appropriate and meaningful learning experiences for prospective teachers”. But it also asks readers to question their practises, asking how they can keep up with the changing technology and how they can further develop their own understanding and abilities associated with using technology. For myself this article highlights that effective ICT integration is not simple. If I continue to reflect on the practises instilled in pre-service education through my teaching career and develop as a professional, my ICT integration pedagogy ‘should’ be successful.

This week we further developed our script for our PD presentation. Team members undertook different roles in researching information on the software functionality, current research indicating the challenges of our content, and detailed research into the process and appropriateness of our chosen pedagogy. We each brought different parts together and met in chat forums, online collaborations through Google Docs, emails, texting and face to face meetings. We made adjustments and decided what was important and what could be removed.

In my own time I decided to learn more about interactive Whiteboards. I discovered online a non-profit organisation in the United States run by teachers that conducts free online professionaldevelopment for K-12 Teachers. I enrolled and attended the session through elluminate some of which is recorded below.

   

This week I also examined the world of Quest Atlantis. My initial impressions were extremely sceptical; however I was proven wrong and found many interesting aspects to the game. For me I was most impressed with the way in which current events are incorporated into the learning adventure.  The way in which they made the Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami into a learning adventure was engaging and fun. 

  

 

We utilised a variety of software in our final PD presentation; PowerPoint, Screencast-O-Matic, Camtasia Studio and Microsoft Movie Maker.  We decided to remove the avatar as it wasnt engaging and the image was distorted, we also re-recorded sections of the narration to improve the audio quality.

Also as part of my ongoing ICT ideas for practicum, I contacted the deputy principal at my  school and confirmed my plans were appropriate.

References

Gimbert, B., & Zembal-Saul, C. (2002). Learning to teach with technology: From integration to actualization. Retrieved from: http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Readings/Entries/2011/3/28_Entry_1.html

ICT is catering to 21st century Learners

This week’s article entitled ‘Twenty-first Century Skills for Twenty-first Century Learners’ outlines what students will need to be competent at, in order to succeed in today’s digital era. The article emphasises the need for a change in traditional teaching approaches stating, “Learning increases significantly when students are engaged in academic study through authentic, real-world experiences”. The article also highlighted the many digital age literacy’s, inventive thinking strategies, high communication skills and mechanisms to be highly productive that students will need to develop in order to compete.

Another article explored this week discussed “How Exemplary Computer-Using Teachers Differ From Other Teachers and the subsequent Implications for Realizing the Potential of Computers in Schools. The results varied depending on the teacher’s education, the teachers experience in computing and their gender. The study concluded that the exemplary teachers were in supportive environments, they were skilled and willing to use computers, made strong demands on available resources and openly “allowed computers to have a much greater impact in how and what they teach”.

So what are the implications of this study for pre-service teachers? I believe it is saying implementing ICT is not always easy, you have to push for IT, you have to educate yourself first, then lead by example so you can educate others and create a strong culture of ICT.   

This week I built and added a QR code to my blog after reading Jessica Newman’s post on Google Groups about how easy they are to make. After building the QR code I realised that it is these sorts of online collaborative environments that draw people in and inadvertently learning.     

Personally I am a fan of students developing a sense of ‘Australian’ identity and being able to access Australian specific resources online. This week I came across a useful website by a Gold Coast teacher I met at a PD session. The website http://ideasforteachers.wordpress.com  has an extensive list of resources for all Queensland Key Learning Areas as well as general ICT integration.

References

Becker, H.J. (2000). How exemplary computer-using teachers differ from other teachers: Implications for realizing the potential of computers in schools. Retrieved from: http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Readings/Entries/2011/3/28_Entry_1.html

                     

Metiri Group. (2003). Twenty-first Century Skills for Twenty-first Century Learners. Retrieved from: http://www.zagami.info/4001EPS/Readings/Entries/2011/3/28_Entry_1.html

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