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?
Shelley, I am excited for you just reading about your experience. Will you get to see more of these lessons? It would be great if you can see what the teacher eventually uses the studio for now that the kids have set up their avatars etc. Maybe you can show them something new that even the teacher doesn't know about - maybe embedding their own Voki? All the teacher needs to do is set them up with a page (or one each) where they have contribution rights and the rest is the same as embeding the Voki anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of learning use might you use a studio for now that you have seen one in action?
Hi Jacqui!
ReplyDeleteIt was an unbelievable day to see something that we learn about in 'theory' to be outworked in practice. It was still so fresh for this teacher too as she had only just finished the studio the night before. The kids were so excited to get onto it as well. I think that there is real opportunity for student ownership with someting like the Studios. The fact that they can be personalised for each student is incredible. I'm not sure how many more opportunities I will get to see this in action but I hope I do. It was truly inspiring. Oh and I will have to mention the voki to the teacher as well. I actually had my 6 yr old daughter create her own voki and she had a ball. (See one of my latest posts).
As to how the studios could be incorporated into the learning experiences I create for my students. Well, I think that they have many advantages. I would use them to form the basis of learning and also to extend prior learning experiences. They lend themsleves well to scaffolding lessons and allow for students to use higher order thinking. I really believe that this is a great tool to keep in contact with how the students are travelling with assessment both formative and summative. I believe that Studios could be used across all the curriculum areas and enhance the learning experiences significantly. Not only that but there is opportunity for peer teaching and individual work. I cannot wait to be able to create one for my students. I do think that it would have to be something that is "caught" by the students for it to succeed. I would need to be willing to keep the communication lines open and to encurage the students to do the same as I see potenital for something like this to "fizzle" into oblivion if not used creatively.
I would hate for it to be seen as just one more things the students have to use or the parents need to supervise.