I take my hat off to you! - Mobile Phone Wiki Reflection

Last week I completed the Mobile Phone Wiki using the provided scaffold of De Bono's 6 Thinking Hat strategy. This is the first time that I have used a wiki for collaborative discussion and I have to say I found it appealing.

Image sourced from Google images

This strategy is very much constructivist in its design. Constructivism allows learners to construct their own reality or interpret it based on own experiences. It focuses on the learning being founded upon social interactions within a learning community.

(Jonaasson,1991, cited in Mergel, 1998) After thinking about it some more, I also realised that this approach also exhibits some of the connectivist theory, as it is an online networking and collaboration of learning.

Vygotsky suggest that social interaction largely influences learning and just as importantly uses scaffolding in the learning process. This wiki definitely encapsulates this significantly. The use of De Bono's strategy to scaffold some higher order thinking and incorporating Bloom's Taxonomy was ingenious. I am beginning to understand that scaffolding is a smart way to ensure each learner can contribute successfully with a little guidance whilst allowing a lot of personal creativity and individual thought.

On a personal level, it was interesting to see how my thought process changed as I imagined myself wearing each different coloured hat [Literally, as I am a visual learner :)]. Some hats were easier to wear than others. I also found it hard at times to not just repeat what other's had said or rehash their thoughts into my own words. I suppose that this is a potential problem with using a wiki like this, expecially with children in schools. Not that I, or the students would intentionally copy someones work but when you read other's thoughts sometimes they inadvertently can become your own. I think that as we go from a lower order way of thinking to a higher order thinking that this would not happen. Thoughts anyone?

The use of a wiki like this one provides a safe and secure way to connect with students as you can  make it an invite only site. For schools this is essential for the protection of students and teachers alike. It allows students to be creative, innovative, and it creates a sense of community through positive social interaction. Scaffolding provides a guideline for those who  may struggle to understand the subject or the task they are meant to do whilst giving freedom to respond accordingly.

Below I have posted a youtube video from Edward De Bono on his Six Thinking Hat stratgey (retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3ew6h5nHcc. )

Hope you like it:)  

Knowledge becomes Practical - WAHOO!

(I cannot believe that this is the first chance I have had to blog since Friday).

I am so excited! 

Last week in our lecture Angelina took us through the safe and legal practices that a teacher should be aware of and practice, when it comes to online learning.

We also looked at some different blogs/websites through the Learning Places' EdStudio!

I am excited because when I went to the school on Friday the class I was with had some computer lab time. The teacher had just designed a new Edstudio for  her class and was showing them for the very first time. Her class is Grade 1. I cannot believe the timing of this. I was so excited about it, which in turn inspired the teacher too!

What I liked so much about the Edstudio and Learning Place is that it is extremely secure with each individual child being able to log on with their own user name and password. They are then able to create their own user profile through avatars. It was the practical applilcation of what I had been taught on Wednesday ( talk about Bloom's Taxonomy or what?) Have a look at this quick PMI chart I did up!

I was inspired to see it in action and in a grade 1 class. After sharing all of this with the classroom teacher, she said that this is still a new thing in the school and maybe only 5 of the teachers actually use it for learning. No surprise that most of those 5, were teachers of upper primary.

So why do teachers shy away from using things like the Learning Place and EdStudio when kids are obviously engaging with it and excited to learn using this kind of digital tool? Fear of the unkonwn? Maybe teachers that aren't using it are digital immigrants and not native to the use of Technology. I'm not sure. But I am going to try my very best to ensure that ICT's like this are part of my students learning journey for sure!

I have always had a passion to teach others new things but I left school on Friday with a knowledge deep within that teaching was what I was born to do! All through a little 30 minute lesson in the computer lab. Who would have thought?

Websites and the Classroom - Digital Tool #1

This year saw me head back to Uni after a 7 year break and to say that things had changed significantly is an understatement! The increased use of ICT's in the classroom especially seems to stand out more with the use of digital tools being part of our assessment tasks etc. Below are two examples of the websites I have created in Semester 1  - one for my design project in Technology and the other,  is one I designed for our group project in BLP(Building Learning Partnerships).

I definitely believe that Websites that are designed by the teacher, have a place in the Classroom. Not only can you make them interactive with links to specific sites that you want the students to go to but they also provide that added "cool" factor to an ordinarily "boring" lesson! This is one of the reasons that I love ICT's as a whole to be used in the classroom. They also add that extra dimension to learning by helping to provide scaffolding and differentiation to the way students learn their knowledge.

While they may take some time to build, once they are created they are easy to edit and keep updated. I would definitely use Websites in my classroom! Would you?

http://shells2311.wix.com/playtime

http://shells2311.wix.com/teacherresilience101

Wiki's for the Classroom - Digital Tool #1

Hello everyone!

Well I noticed on our week 3 email that the 3 digital tools that we need to use and discuss are, blogs, websites and wikis. It said to create your own wiki to show you know what to do and I thought perfect, I can use the one I created for my Technology subject last term. Well I went to the page and it said that the subscription had expired. I had issues with this just before I handed in this assignment last term and the people at Wiki assured me that it was fixed, but no it iwasn't. I was a little annoyed/frustrated as I had put a lot of hard work into this last term and would have loved to use it in the classroom at some point as I find wiki's to be ingenious.. Well suffice to say, I did something about it. I emailed the help team at wiki AGAIN and the problem was fixed in two days! It may have been my error with the type of wiki I chose to build so my bad.

Originally I posted the link to the wiki that was "broken" but now it has been fixed WAHOO! Anyway below is a copy of the wiki I created with the link to the page. If I was wearing my RED hat(De Bono) I would have had to say that I was totally dejected when I found out it wan't working. But now I am estatic that I could problem solve and have it fixed. There were some slight formatting issues with the solution but I have worked that out now too.. YEY!!!!!! Such is life when using technology.

Digital Resource – Back to the Future wikispace

The digital resource I created was a wikispace.

The first lesson at Destination 1 was totally student directed through an inquiry model.
The following four lessons use the wikispace as a guide and visual clues. For these four lessons it is used as a teacher directed resource.
You can access it on the following link: - http://designchallenge2012.wikispaces.com/
Here is a screen shot of the home page to ensure you get to the correct page (Please note that the picture no the left is no longer there):-

REFLECTION ON WIKI's as a Digital Tool

I enjoyed designing this Wiki space. It was the first one I had ever designed, but as I had already designed two websites through Wix website builder and kept my workplace website up to date I was familiar withh the process of creating wikis.

I think that wikis are a great tool, as you could hold discussions with the students and it is password protected as there is the ability for each student to have their own log in name. It could be accessed anywhere there was internet. I could embed photos or you tube clips, word documents or pdf's. It is such a great tool and I defintiely think that it could be an invaluable tool in the classroom and for homework activities. Wikis also allow for scaffolding of lessons and the use of creativity. They are a great tool to implement Bloom's Taxonomy and higher order thinking.

I wonder if I will have to create another wiki now or if this will be enough to prove I know what I am doing? Only time will tell I guess:)

Signing off

Misunderstanding Learning Theories

Image sourced from Google images

I had to post this quick blog because in my blog Learning Thoeries, styles and ICT's,
I wrote some things on Learning Theories without having the correct understanding of each theory. I had totally misunderstood them.
(I guess that is what happens when you recover from being sick. Sorry everyone)

I still think I lend to behaviourism, (because it was the way I was taught) but not neccessarily connectivism. Probably more constructivism than connectivism.

Ahhhhh too many ism's.... :)

I hope that I can understand this more and before I do the quiz.

Has anyone got any tips on how to actually remember what each one is all about?

I'd be so apppreciative to hear them!

*Photo sourced from google images

Immigrant or Native: What are you?

I have just finished reading an incredible article by Marc Prensky, "Digital Natives or Digital Immigrants". Needless to say I was challenged incredibly and surprised a little to discover that I am more immigrant than native.

So what does that actually mean? According to Prensky(2001) digital natives are those who were born into the culture of digital technology world and speak its native language. Immigrants are those of us who weren't born into this era but are fascinated by it and have even adopted and live by some of the culture. Immigrants learn to adapt to their environment but they to some degree always keep aspects of their accent. 

Take a look at these statistics from 2001 ( so no doubt would have increased by now),

The average college grad would have spent:

•  5 000hrs of their life reading
• 10 000 hrs playing video games and
• 20 000hrs watching tv

Is it no wonder then, that these kids, these digital natives who have been born into this digital age are not embracing the immigrant way of teaching?  As prensky states:

"Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach.... digital immigrant instructors, who speak an outdated language, are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language"

This hit home for me because when I did a self inventory I noticed that my methods in the classroom whilst trying to use the native digital language of my students may be outdated and in need of improvement. I will be so much more aware as I head back into the classroom next year. It is time to rethink methods and even content to ensure that these digital  natives that will be entrusted to my educational care are looked after and educated appropriately... I will have to change, not my learners. It will be a challenge but I am up to it! Are you?

Voki and Me - Digital Tool #4

Wow! I did it! I actually created a voki! Wahoooooooooo:)

After realising that there were only certain characters I could use that weren't dedicated to teachers/classrooms I actuall  managed to create a voki.

Then I had to decide what to say:) LOL

Oh dear!

Well as my Voki said I was going to share some of my digital trials and triumphs with you.

To be honest I am a problem solver so whenever I have a go at something for the first time, I do it until I figure it out.

I have absolutely loved using all these new digital tools for the first time and I just know that I can use them somehow in the classroom when I get there! My favourite would have to be Wordle and just even blogging itself!

The trial so far has actually been using flickr to get the letters spelt out on tiles. It took me a while to realise that I had to create yet another account to use this program. I have to say actually that is one of the things about this e-Learning is that all the new tools we have require usernames and passwords. I just hope I don't forget them all:)

How about you? What has been your trial/s or triumph/s so far?

I would love to hear all about it soon!

Signing off again
Shells

Learning Theories, Styles and ICT's

Each learner is different in how they best learn,  as is each teacher in the way they manage the learning of their students. Understanding the difference between learning styles not only for each of my learners but also for myself is important. This is why participating in the Learning Style questionaire (Felder and Silverman) as well as the Multiple intelligences questionaire  (Birmingham Grid for Learning) was invaluable.

Below are my results:-

It is good to see that both of these test results align with each other:) I am more a sequential and visual learner according to Fielder and Silverman and it is represented similarily in the MI test as well. How did everybody else go?

Performing these tests confirmed my understanding even more about the neccessity of profiling my learner. For how my students best learn may not neccessarily be how I teach but that is where differentiation in teaching methods need to come into play. It also means that I cannot expect Joey who is a visual learner to learn the same way that Robbie does as a verbal learner. Or a global learner to learn the same way as a sequential learner learns etc.

Looking at the 4 different Learning Theories: Behaviourism, Cognitive Constructivism, Social Constructivism and Connectivism clearly reiterates that those with particular learning styles will more than likely suit a theory of learning better. When I take a look at myself I can see how the structure of Behaviourism and Connectivism suit me the most. I am not one for working in groups but will do it if I am required to. I prefer to have structure and know where I am headed, I work better with visual clues and applying knowledge with my hands etc.

It is taking this understanding and applying it in the classroom with EACH learner!

As we move into a more digital age the question is this: Is there place for each of these learning theories in the classroom? It makes sense that the Connectivisim theory would be successful in its use of ICT's of course. However, I think that each theory has its merits, as they correlate to particular learning styles or intellligences and I think that there is a  definite place for them when used appropriately.  

Thought of the day:-

Just as we differentiate curriculum to suit learners abilities we must differentiate teaching methods to suit learning styles.

Chat soon,


       

The ABC's of Wordle and Me!

Good Morning everyone!

Well today is a brand new day and I would usually be arriving in Noosa right now for my first lecture but alas I am stuck at home recovering from a bout of tonsilitis!

So rather than let it get the best of me, I have embraced the opportunity to catch up on some required yet highly wanted blogging time.

As you can see to the left, I have attempted to use Wordle. I think it is an innovative and exciting way to highlight key words and ideas from a stock standard black and white text.

Who can guess what text I used from our Week 1 engagement activities?

I am liking the colours I chose for the words but am not quite sure about the white background... Oh well, I guess I will just need to practice a little more. Starting small!

I have to say that it did take me a while to figure out where to paste the info to get the picture up! I worked it out though - YIPEE!

You just go to the HTML button when you are editing your blog and paste all the info (code) given to you (from wordle) right there. 

The code will look similar to this:
<a href="http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/5494001/learning_theory_2" title="Wordle: learning theory 2"><img src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/5494001/learning_theory_2" alt="Wordle: learning theory 2" style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd"></a>

Then when you go back to your 'compose' page you should notice that the wordle you have created should be on your screen! You can preview it too by just hitting the preview button on the top right hand corner when you are back in the composing page:)

So my ABC's when using Worlde are:

Photo sourced from Google images

A - Attempt something new - Have a go
B - Begin with some simple text
C - Choose some different fonts and colours.

Have a little play and see what you can come up with!

Well I am about to do some reading from Week 1, so stay tuned for another blog entry real soon.

Cheers everyone:)
Shells

Photo sourced from Facebook.

Why hello there!

Welcome to my first ever blog:-)

This blog was designed as part of the assessment for my Bachelor of Learning Management Course at CQ University.

I have for a few years now, dabbled with the thought of starting a blog but have hesitated to begin due to fear of the unknown:-)

Yesterday I conquered that fear with (to my surprise) ease and excitement. I cannot wait to learn how to do even more and share my trials and triumphs along the way.

With the vast array of technology that is available today, using a web tool like blogger was easier than anticipated. Sometimes all we have to do is have a go, believe in ourselves and if we don't know what to do, partner with others and enjoy the journey together.

I enjoyed helping to create this blog alongside another student - doing it together made it even more fun!

Stay tuned for my next post - Learning Theories and ICT's.

Shells