Reflective Synopsis

  ‘There and back again’ an ICT tale by J. F. Tolkien Backen.

GIF Source: Giphy (n.d)

So there’s a pun in the title there because I liken my journey into the world of ICT’s with the up and down adventure of a hobbit's journey through middle earth. Frodo got the ring, I got ICTs, Frodo had to exit the shire and leave behind the safety-net of home, I had to step out of my comfort zone too, the ring took Frodo on a journey full of adventure and craziness, ICT’s have taken me on an adventure and made me feel a tad loopy at times, Frodo throws the ring into the fires of Mount Doom and that’s where our stories part ways, because I am not throwing ICT’s away I’m keeping the ring of power!

Check out my ICT journey through Middle Earth.

Base map source: Steam Community (2012)

ICT + Pedagogy = E-learning 

 

Garrison (2011) discusses e-learning  as the convergence of pedagogy and technology in higher education and refers to the rate of growth as explosive. One of the most arresting facts is that the students are keeping up with these technological developments, alternatively educators seem to be falling behind or hesitant to move forward. One cannot simply introduce ICT's into the current educational design, if so it will fail, and contribute to the school of thought that ICT’s are used in the classroom for the sake of using an ICT, this is exemplified by the paper ‘ICT for ICT’s sake: Secondary teachers’ views on technology as a tool for teaching and learning’ authored by Bertram & Waldrip. As educators we need to re-think, re-structure and re-design learning experiences whereby ICT's serve a particular and established purpose (Garrison, 2011).  This is not always clear cut, one way to do this is the SAMR Model, (illustrated by Puentedura, 2014), by assessing the current learning experience against criteria which support the integration of ICT's. This may result in the use of ICT's or may prove that ICT's will not enhance the learning experience in any way These criteria are, Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition, see Reflection 2 Week 3, Reflection 3 Week 4 and Reflection 4 Week  5 for examples of ICT integration using the SAMR model. The below brief list outlines some specific ICT tools encountered in the Middle Earth journey, and where they may be useful.

• Wordle: this tool will help build and record classroom discussions about various topics and be distributed to students in real time.  See Blog 1 Week 1 and Reflection 1 Week 2.
• Bubbl.us: real time concept mapping tool to record class/group discussions or to connect concepts. See Reflection 1 Week 2.
•  Voki, Fodey, Gifs: fun tools to 'hook' your learners. See Reflection 2 Week 3.
• Methods such as PMI and SWOT analysis to evaluate ICT’s. See all Reflections for examples.
• Websites: a tool to disseminate and organise information see http://johannabacken.wix.com/assignment1eded20458 for an example where I have attempted this.
• QR Codes & Apps: See Reflection 5 Week 6 for a list of Apps that could be used in a science class.
• Consider the SAMR model when planning learning experiences: Will an ICT tool make the task more engaging? Easier for the student/teacher? Allow opportunities to display higher order thinking skills?
• Wiki-space: even though it is my personal Mordor (I just need more exposure and experience), this on-line tool provides a great platform for collaborations such as developing and guiding a group through such activities as the De Bono's Hat exercise. See Reflection 1 Week 2. 

The Multi-Modal Discussion

 

We know students have diverse learning styles and in the education community we categorise this into three domains:

1.  Visual
2. Auditory
3. Kinesthetic (Hendersen, 2012).

In a traditional classroom it can be difficult to simultaneously incorporate these modes into learning experiences, though in a complete juxtaposition ICT's by their inherent nature, address the multimodal learning needs of students instantaneously. Though this can indeed be difficult to quantify, see Reflection 3 Week 4 for a comprehensive list of benefits of using ICT's as a multi-modal learning tool. In general when used effectively ICT’s can successfully engage students where you may have otherwise struggled for example, introducing or re-enforcing difficult concepts, focusing students at the beginning of class or developing a ‘hook’ by using a familiar or particularly exciting ICT tool to grab attention. They provide opportunities to better address the cognitivist theory of learning discussed by Culatta (2011), by creating captivating scenarios to convert sensory input into long-term memory, and opportunities to identify and categorise learning experiences at all levels of Blooms Taxonomy  (see Blog 1 Week 1 for detailed information on learning theories and Reflection 1 Week 2 for the Blooms Taxonomy hierarchy). ICT's can also facilitate the production of higher-order thinking skills by providing sophisticated and engrossing platforms and tools that require critical thinking to participate with and operate.

As the use of ICT's requires access and engagement with communications technologies in the public and private arena teachers must be conscientious of on-line safety protocols, governing privacy, reputation protection, cyber-bulling and other forms of cyber-crime, between students, teachers and the general public (Wishart, 2004). Having information so public generates issues relating to copyrights and plagiarism, this has been addressed in detail in Reflection 3 Week 4, this particular blog entry also contains and example of the complexity of digital copyrights in the reference for the audio track used in the movie.

This weekly blog assignment has highlighted the links between good pedagogy and the use of ICT's in meaningful ways. It has also provided an out-of this world journey littered with opportunities to explore a vast range of technology tools, and cyber-issues which may have otherwise not been encountered, which will be useful moving forward in the teaching profession.
   

This was me:

 Image source: Team Pwnicorn, 2013

References

Bertram, A. & Waldrip, B. (2013). ICT for ICT's Sake: Secondary teachers' views on technology as a tool for teaching and learning. Australian Educational Computing. 28(1). Retrieved from http://journal.acce.edu.au/index.php/AEC/article/view/9 

Culatta, R. (2011). Innovative Learning. Cognitive Theories of Learning. Retrieved 10/03/2015 http://innovativelearning.com/educational_psychology/cognitivism/index.htm

Garrison, R. D. (2012). E-learning in the 21st Century: A Framework for Research and Practice. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=aodjWyjxYbYC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=importance+of+e+learning+in+education&ots=-zlIvXRiR_&sig=qNy0rP8i0hUdCpWTMwmNqNTUu3E#v=onepage&q=importance%20of%20e%20learning%20in%20education&f=false

Giphy. (n.d.) Lord of the rings animated GIF. Retrieved from http://giphy.com/gifs/lotr-lord-of-the-rings-ring-uK6kIWoswaHBK

Puentedura, R. (2014). The SAMR Model: Enhancing technology integration. Retrieved from http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/  

Steam Community. (2012). Middle Earth Large. Retrieved from https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=103994494

Team Pwnicorn. (2013). Adventure Time: This is how I feel when someone wakes me up in the morning. Retrieved from http://www.teampwnicorn.com/adventure-time/  

Wishart, W. (2004). Internet safety in emerging educational contexts. Computers & Education. 43(2). 193-204. doi:10.1016/6.compedu.2003.12.013 

 

Reflection 5 Week 6

QR Codes

QR Code to my blog:






QR Code to my website assignment:

Reflection

I've had a look around at some stats about mobile phones and teens and as expected there is an international consensus that teens are increasingly relying upon smart phones and ipads for many aspects of life previously addressed by more primitive means. Education is one of the highest ranked forms of use of a mobile device as discussed by CEngage Learning 2015 which is illustrated in the below poster.

Image source: http://blog.cengage.com/college-students-share-their-classroom-edtech-wish-list/ 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released a 2012 report showing 59.5% of all 12-14 year olds in Australia access a mobile phone and 94% of all 12 - 14 year olds that access the internet are doing so for educational purposes at one time or another. So, we know that students are using the internet to learn and we know that (by now, 3 years later) at least half of the young teen population have mobile devices. Seeing as we know all of this it does seem like introducing mobile internet device activity into the classrooms is the perfect modern platform to appeal to young adults and integrate learning into something they are already doing. 

An interesting point highlighted by this ABS study is the lack of current research into this field. Technology is advancing at a rapid rate and it seems that the literature is really lagging behind.

As teachers we also have a responsibility to prepare our students for the world beyond school, and like it or lump it mobile internet devices are part of that. Where would we be without google maps to show us the way or netbanking to transfer $$ on the fly? Why, I remember travelling around Australia with a map and a pen! And the flashiest communication method was a phone card to put in a phone booth! 

Furthermore once students enter the world of work they may be expected to have real world applications for their mobile devices such as advance organisers, access to mobile emails, sending documents to others when out of the office, taking and sending photos of construction sites or trade projects at regular intervals and many more uses that are probably out of my technology-sphere :/

A few ways to introduce mobile internet devices into the classroom:

• This is a great looking app which performs similar functions as an Outlook Organiser but with other more advanced options http://www.mylifeorganized.net/

• Stephen Hawkins made an app! This app explains basic physics concepts in visually appealing ways http://www.randomhousedigital.com/apps/2013/12/stephen-hawkings-snapshots-of-the-universe/

• Project Noah is an interesting way for students interested in wildlife and conservation to document and share their experiences http://www.projectnoah.org/mobile

• Science through Photography is a teaching app that utilises students and teachers photos to explain scientific concepts http://www.sciencethroughphotography.com/ 

• This app is for students interested in robots or mechanics, you can view and zoom in on some really odd robots all around the world, this could be a good basis for an assignment topic http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/robots-app-is-free-during-national-robotics-week

• Labster is an app that allows students to perform microbiology experiments that may be to difficult to conduct in a high school class room https://www.labster.com/

• This is a resource that I think is going to be a big help in class, its an online survey platform that you can quickly customise and send the link around to all of your students and get real-time feedback, Its called survey monkey, try this one out, it could be sent out to students mobiles or to email addresses.

Some may say:

Image source: http://gsouto-digitalteacher.blogspot.com.au/2010/02/alice-in-wonderland-by-tim-burton-in.html

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2012. Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities. 49010DO19_201204. viewed www.abs.gov.au

Reflection 4 Week 5

Group 3

These are my attempts at the Group 3 materials. I've gone for a more generic science-y feel for my examples this week, just to shake it up.

• 3D Power Point Click Here

• Click on the computer, light bulb, painting and the rock line.

• Prezi - Soil Formation Click here

• Glogster - Chemical Experiment Click here 

 

Reflection

My major focus for the Group 3 Reflection will be on Glogster but in brief I'll address the 3D PowerPoint and Prezi. I like PowerPoint as a fall back option for lesson presentation, its something familiar and easy to use, but I have never really thought of it as more than a linear tool. Generating the 3D room was fun to do but difficult initially to organise, particularly to get the right mental image of each shape needed to create the effect. I think this could be used in junior high but may not be sophisticated enough for seniors.

Prezi is an interesting tool. I need more practice with this one as I was a tad put off by all the zooming and jumping around. I can see that it is more dynmic than say a Bubbl.us so I'll try to get a bit more time with this one.

I found Glogster to be a good tool to use in place of a static written report. In science classes experiments are always super interesting, they are hands-on and engage the majority of students. The report writing at the end of the experiment is the borrrrring part.

The abilities of the students to perform the practicals can often be overshadowed by poor supplementary reporting.  I know when I was undertaking practical experiments throughout my uni degree, I was always keen for the hands-on experience but dreaded the dry write-up, not to mention the facts never seemed as dynamic when written on paper as they are when you see them live. A glogster write-up could really change the tide on experimental reporting as its a fun and organised way to have students express their hypothesis, methods, results and conclusions using images and or videos they may have take during the experiment. I really think this has transformative potential in the science class. This being said I have created a SAMR reflection and a PMI to support this.

SAMR model

• Substitution: Use a Glogster to write up an experiment as opposed to a written report.
• Augmentation: Use a Glogster to enhance an experimental write up by including images and videos of your experiment.
• Modification: Use a Glogster template to create your own experiment.
• Redefinition: Use a Glogster experiment template as a group to design a theoretical experiment from start to finish (predicting your conclusions) based on your chemistry readings. Use information, videos and photos from the internet to complete your Glogster. Once the teacher approves the experimental design you can go ahead and perform it.

 PMI

PLUS	MINUS	INTERESTING
Visually appealing and interactive	Have to pay for more than a 7 day trial version	Image credits and copyrights could pose issues for students
Organises information	Single user only
Many templates available
Multi-modal learning

 

 

Group 4

• Bubbl.us of plant evolution

 

 

• Scribble Maps - What a great tool! Click here

Reflection

I'm a firm believer in the cognitive power of concept mapping. It helps us organise our thoughts, find links in already known knowledge and to notice gaps between our knowledge. This knowledge linking is a well defined feature of many pedagogies, one such being described in the Dimensions of Learning by Marzano and Pickering 1997.

Scientific principles can seem like a new language and in fact it does have its own metalanguage as discussed by Henderson 2012. An easy to use concept mapping tool could be a good group exercise to do at the beggining of a new topic to share and organise all of the students existing knowledge in a KWL scenario. So, if the concept was photosythesis, I would ask the students to call out some terms, or facts about it then organise it into a Bubbl.us map. This could also generate questions, such as:

 'Ok, now why did I put carbon dioxide in a box next to sunlight as opposed to oxygen? They are both gases so you would think they go together, but in this case carbon dioxide is an ingredient or input (same as sunlight) in photosynthesis and oxygen is the product or output. So I've grouped them in terms of inputs and outputs so we can generate the chemical equation'

The other Group 4 ICT tool I played around with was Scribble maps. I used this to mark out features on a local power station and coal mine which are the dominant employers in the region I will be completing my EPL. I think this is a fantastic tool! I really like how this takes abstract pieces of knowledge such as energy generation and can conceptualise it into a local and very relevant framework which when annotated really frames the subject matter. If I get the chance to look at energy management during my EPL I hope to use this as an example. I've competed a SWOT analysis for such a mapping program and a SAMR model.

SAMR model

• Substitution: Use a Scribble map to placemark energy generators in QLD (include local power stations, coal mines, hydroelectric dams, LNG processing facilities, LPG facilities, wind farms).
• Augmentation: Use a Scribble map to colour co-ordinate all renewable energy production places and the energy sources generating green house gases.
• Modification: Use the pins, circles and text box functions in Scribble maps to describe the different power generators in QLD in brief.
• Redefinition: As a project choose one energy generator you have found in your research and zoom in close on the area on your Scribble map. Describe each part of the plant or mine in detail and using arrows link each part to the next part of the power generation process i.e. link the smoke stacks to the benched areas.

Similarly, you could use this for ecology explorations. Say you were researching sea snail subpopulations along the Capricorn Coast, you could indicate with markers and text where the populations where highest, lowest and other interesting findings. I've packed this all together in a SWOT analysis.

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESS	OPPORTUNITIES	THREATS
Multi-modal learning tool.	Icon overlapping if placed to close once zoomed out.	Ecology studies, looking at habitat fractures, corridors, niches etc.	Need to ensure students still reference information in text boxes.
Incorporates spatial knowledge with subject knowledge.	Can’t click on an object and press the ‘delete’ button. You must use the eraser function which is clunky.	Geography studies, tectonic links e.g. ring of fire (you could actually draw and annotate the ring).	It’s a publicly available document, so it must be presented accurately.
Interactive media.	The map really can only be presented on screen live.	Political geography, city size, population, resources etc, then compare with another in a different country.	Landscapes change over time, the images on Scribble maps may not be the most up-to-date.
Broad applications over my subject areas (biology & geography).		Landscape evaluation, look at places close to the equator and further away, what is dominant? Why?
Creates links and highlights missing information.		I could go on…
Can be local, international, small or large scale.

References:

Henderson, R. (2012). Teaching Literacies: Pedagogies and Diversity in the Middle Years. South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press
Marzano, R. & Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: Teachers Manual. 2nd edn. Alexandria, Virginia USA. Mid-continent Regional Educational Library.

Reflection 3 Week 4

 

Travel Photos Resized with MobaPhoto - for the visual component of this weeks assignment.

For this weeks activity I thought I'd step away from linking my ICT use to Biology and go with Geography. So with that in mind I have used MobaPhoto to resize some of my travel photos from the West Coast of Australia. I definitely wouldn't have had the ability to to this without using the resizing function in MobaPhoto as these are originally high resolution images. This beats what I was doing which was importing the picture into word, resizing, then cut-and-paste into paint to save, what a long-winded approach. This would also help when emailing large image files, in my previous place of work we had a shared network drive that acted as a 'dropbox' for larger files, which was a cumbersome way of doing this, as everyone had access and could view confidential files, accidentally delete or change the file or the location of the file etc. I can see this being useful in the classroom for students to insert images into assignments, be they word docs, or something a bit more tech-happy. It would be good for their storage space and mine, and would avoid any kind of size limit restrictions which could cost time to both teacher and student.

SAMR of Online Image Sharing

• Substitute: Students use online photo sharing as opposed to taking photos, printing and displaying.
• Augmentation: Students use the tools in photosharing platforms to edit images, add labels and concept mapping features.
• Modification: Students create a series of photo-based diagrams to explain geographic principles such as plate tectonics (i.e. find images of mountains, craters, volcanoes etc to show they know the results of moving tectonic plates)
• Redefinition: Students work in groups to add images to a photosharing platform that are relevant to a concept then create a Microsoft Research Auto Collage image and speak to it as a presentation.

As we are entering an increasingly digital age I am always cautious about exactly what I want on the internet about me. I enjoy the social aspects of the web but do not like the idea of people I do not know finding out or using my personal information, particularly photos.I use email to communicate with my friends and IMs, I do not have a facebook or any other kind of social media account. I regularly check my digital foot-print and sometimes am astounded at the amount of my private information is made public such as mobile phone numbers, home phone numbers, my home address and my property history! I contact them immediately of course to get it taken down and try to track down how they happened upon this information in the first place, I usually get the good ol' fob off :)

My Musings...I've always wondered.... if you asked people to provide personal information to various institutions and people such as places of employment, banks, churches, government bodies or even just the random person walking down the street (or hiding behind a keyboard), would they freely do it...

Welcome to social media...

Why not just give these folk (or anyone with a computer) a full-colour brochure of who you are as an individual complete with a timeline, friends names, your favourite activities, workplaces, contact details, your partners name and what they like, quotes, daily thoughts on various topics, lists of attended events, and photos of you in heaps of different situations, why would you freely do it...

This being said I thought I'd have a look the Creative Commons website for this weeks activity. The purpose of Creative Commons is to license material clearly so individuals and businesses alike can confidently upload images and content and have clear agreement as to how it can be used. Content licensed under Creative Commons is ALWAYS free to share, copy and redistribute provided you abide by their four licensing terms:

• Attribution: You must always provide credit to the original author.
• Share-Alike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
  
• Non-Commercial: You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
  
• No-Derivatives: You may not distribute modified versions of the work.
  

This appeals to me and my way of viewing intellectual property. Its easy to understand, the author or originator of the work knows that what they upload WILL be shared BUT under restricted circumstances (so there are no surprises) and the individual using the content is clear about how to attribute credit. 

I have previously mentioned that I have worked as a sign developer for National Parks, in that role I had to stay at the fore-front of copyright legislation and attributions as the signs I was producing had material from so many sources. Images always had to have accreditation in a specific format (anything less was illegal). Interestingly enough even though individuals drafted the text solo, because it went through so many levels of consultation one clear author was no longer evident so the Department was the only entity able to be credited with the intellectual property.

Due to my disposition with internet security I made the conscious choice not to use a file/photo/video sharing website such as Flickr for this weeks task. I was thinking that you could generate an interesting discussion in the classroom relating to intellectual property, copyright, permissions, ownership and plagiarism. This could be applied the the geography classroom by generating discussion about how students would react if they found out one of their favourite photographs that they captured on holiday and painstakingly edited to perfection, was suddenly splashed all over the front of a travel magazine with no mention of them? You could back this up with a PMI relating to uploading images on-line, I'd imagine you would see positives such as 'socially appropriate, sharing with friends, showcasing events or photography skills'. Minus' such as 'can attract unwanted attention, people can modify the image for negative purposes, once its online its very hard to un-ring that bell'. I wonder if under the interesting heading you could ask the students to check the terms and conditions of their chosen social media platform and identify who actually owns the rights to the images they upload. A lot of the time they will find that the fine print gives the platform company a pretty wide scope of things they could do if they so desired, though this rarely seems to occur.

This article is two years old and a lot may have changed since but it outlines in plain-english who owns what on social media accounts, click here to have a look.

This could also form a conversation in the science classroom whereby intellectual property is held in very high esteem. The scientific community is very protective of individual ideas, hypothesis, contributions to theories, experiments, notions and pretty much any kind of texts, which is understandable considering the amount of dedication it can take to prepare these things.

 An emphasis could be made about plagiarism in higher education institutes for students intending to go to University.

Pug Voki with my voice - for the audio component of this weeks assignment.

Multi-modal discussion 

To cater for the vast array of diversity in students learning types, multi-modal teaching methods should always be used. Students learn in a variety of ways that are generally categorised into:

1.  Visual - Picture
2. Auditory - Listening
3. Kinesthetic - Movement

Multi-modal teaching implements activities and teaching strategies that incorporate all three. This is an umbrella approach to differentiated learning, which is important as students can furthermore be diverse in the learning styles from subject to subject, for example for biology you could be very much a visual learner, using diagrams and observing patterns but for English you may be a auditory learner, gaining more information from listening to the teacher, or through song etc. Multi-modal teaching supports the individual student learning style as well as re-enforcing the information by repeating the message across different modes. If a teacher is receptive to this, they may also encourage assignments to be presented in a variety of modes, for example, if you are a Kinesthetic learner in a science class and struggled writing up reports from experiments, perhaps you could perform another experiment on video displaying the skills you have learnt and explaining the scientific concepts verbally.

I found this list in Meris Standsbury's (2008) article to be rather helpful when justifying why ICT's are useful learning tools:

* Multimedia Principle: Retention is improved through words and pictures rather than through words alone.

* Spatial Contiguity Principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near each other, rather than far from each other on the page or screen.

* Temporal Contiguity Principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively.

* Coherence Principle: Students learn better when extraneous words, pictures, and sounds are excluded rather than included.

* Modality Principle: Students learn better from animation and narration than from animation and on-screen text.

* Individual Differences Principle: Design effects are higher for low-knowledge learners than for high-knowledge learners. Also, design effects are higher for high-spatial learners than for low-spatial learners.

* Direct Manipulation Principle: As the complexity of the materials increases, the impact of direct manipulation (animation, pacing) of the learning materials on the transfer of knowledge also increases.

Therefore, students engaged in learning that incorporates multimodal designs, on average, outperform students who learn using traditional approaches with single modes, the report says.

I think you could probably add to that list: ICTs are relevant and embedded into students social and emotional lives, and students learn best when the learning is relevant to them, so use ICT's as a common reference point. I will reference the points in this list to justify the use of ICTs when I am on-ground in the classroom, as most teachers I have spoken to thus far seem to share the opinion that ICTs are nice for ICTs sake, but they don't specifically serve a purpose that cant be achieved with traditional means.

Movie of some of my travel photos using Windows Movie Maker - for the video component of this weeks assignment.

 

Now here's the kicker - to make this move I used images that I own so the photo credit is mine (c) but the song is not. Audio credit:

Coghill, J.,Collins, J., Fanning, B., Haug, I., Middleton, D. (2000). Waiting for the sun. [Recorded by Powderfinger] on Odyssey Number Five [CD]. Brisbane Qld. Grudge/Universal.





References

Henderson, R. (2012). Teaching Literacies: Pedagogies and Diversity in the Middle Years. South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press
Meris, S. (2008). Analysis: How multimedia can improve learning. Retrieved from  http://www.eschoolnews.com/2008/03/26/analysis-how-multimedia-can-improve-learning/