Students in the 21st century or the ‘digital age’ have grown up surrounded by technology and all things digital. Prensky (2001) identifies these students as ‘digital natives’, due to the fact that students today are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, the internet and other digital devices. It is our role as Learning Managers to ask ourselves, how are we going to teach these students? Are we going to teach these ‘digital native’ students the old ways or should we as Learning Mangers learn the new? “The fact is that even if you are the most engaging old-style teacher in the world, you are not going to capture most of our students’ attention the old way” (Prensky, 2005, p.64). As John Dewey said (as cited in Fleming, n.d.), “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, then we rob our children of tomorrow.” Teaching in the Digital age means we must teach tomorrow's skills today.
Digital Pedagogy is defined as the combination of technical skills, pedagogical practices and understanding of curriculum design appropriate for digital learners. Digital Pedagogy used effectively supports, enhances, enables and transforms teaching and learning to provide rich, diverse and flexible learning opportunities for a digital generation (QLD Government, 2008). It provides the basis for engaging students in actively constructing and applying rich learning in purposeful and meaningful ways. This supports the fact that learning should be authentic; it should be embedded in a real context and should be connected to the world beyond the boundaries of the learning context. As Karl Fisch said, "We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technologies that haven't been invented in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet” (Fleming, n.d.).
I believe that students today are challenging us as Learning Managers, to create and provide engaging learning experiences which cover the curriculum in a way that they can relate to. As Prensky discusses in his article, “Engage me or enrage me, what today’s learners demand” (2005), children’s lives these days are a lot richer in terms of media, communication and creative opportunities outside of school. Teachers must compete with the likes of video games, mobile phones, Ipods and the internet for student’s attention. So why not use some of these technologies in the classroom to enhance learning? As Palfrey and Gasser (2008) said, “Television didn’t transform education. Neither will the internet. But it will be another tool for teachers to use in an effort to reach students in the classroom. It will also be a means by which students learn outside the classroom.”
In order to engage my students in the classroom and be an effective and innovative Learning Manager, I will endeavour to incorporate ICTs in my classroom. To do this, I have begun to investigate different technologies through this course, evaluating each tool in terms of how it can be used in the classroom and have recorded this on my blog. It is important that I continue to explore these tools throughout my profession to ensure that I am up to date and am able to integrate the latest technology in the classroom.
With all these great flashy ideas out there, there are some challenges and barriers with regards to implementation that I will face as a teacher. When analysing the different tools, it became evident that some required a lot of computer time which is difficult when in most classrooms I have visited, there is only two computers and sometimes these are not even working. The school often only has one computer classroom which they are given access to for one lesson a week, making it essential that I use this time wisely when I teach. I need to be able to work around this issue, finding ways to incorporate technology into the learning experiences, whether it’s bringing my own laptop from home or sourcing equipment from other classrooms or libraries. Another challenge that I could face as a Learning Manager is making sure that I use these technologies for the right reason, not just for the sake of it. There needs to be a purpose for using the tool rather than just because it is fun and exciting. The question that I need to ask myself is, ‘How can I use this technology to enhance student learning and make my teaching more effective?’ These tools have the opportunity to transform learning, connecting students with their peers, not just in the classroom or the school, but across the world. Students can search and locate information, share and sort their own ideas, create multimedia projects, edit and manipulate pictures and graphics for example.
I have had the opportunity to investigate many different tools; some which I believe would benefit primary aged students and my teaching personally. One tool that I found intriguing is the blog itself. As described in my post found at http://s0154622.blogspot.com/2010/07/blogs-blogs-everywhere.html, one of the main characteristics of blogs is the ability to make postings. Blog postings are text entries, similar to a journal, which include the date and time of the posting, pictures, links and can be commented on by others. Blogs are an excellent tool for the classroom because they are easy to set up, can be worked on at any time which creates learning that extends beyond the classroom and they are flexible in design and can be modified easily. By creating a classroom blog, this can provide a highly motivating opportunity for students to participate in the classroom, recording their thoughts and what they have learnt, having the chance to collaborate with others, and communicate to parents and community members. With regards to Productive Pedagogies (QLD DET, 2004), this tool allows for substantive conversation in terms of intellectual substance and dialogue. Students are able to have topical discussions with their peers as well as with other classes who have set up blogs. It also allows for Connectedness to the World with the opportunity to connect to others around the country. A blog also encourages inclusivity, giving all students the opportunity to access and contribute regardless of their ability.
Another tool which I found would be beneficial for students in primary school is the interactive powerpoint. As discussed on the blog, Interactive Powerpoints have replaced the traditional slide by slide powerpoint which I felt has been overused in classrooms in the past, well definitely from my experiences. This new type of powerpoint allows for student participation and easy use with the user able to click on the topic they wish to view rather than having to go through all of the slides. Powerpoints allow for the transfer of knowledge in an animated and colourful way, allowing for pictures, videos, hyperlinks and sounds etc to be viewed. I was able to locate a handy website which I linked to my blog called Powerpoints in the Classroom which steps you through how to create a powerpoint. It provides simple directions that even a novice computer user can understand and follow. This tool would be best suited to those in middle to upper primary school as it is quite time consuming to make and would be easier for these students.
I was able to have a meaningful and substantial academic discussion with my peers on the topic of interactive powerpoints. This challenged me to consider the views of others whilst keeping an open mind. My colleagues highlighted some crucial benefits that this tool offers that I had not considered, making me realise the other uses that this tool can have in the classroom.
Whilst researching in this course, I came across Wiki’s. When approached with this tool, my first thought was of Wikipedia, a website I became familiar with in high school due to the many warnings I received about its unreliability. My original concern with this tool is the ability for anyone to erase content or abuse the edit function of this tool, posting negative or fictional information on the site. Trying to keep an open mind, I created my own Wiki which I named with my university student number, s0154622. After a bit of research, I found out that to change the content on my page, a person must accept an invitation sent by the creator before this can happen. This made me less apprehensive about using the tool as I was able to see the benefits that this tool can have in the classroom. A Wiki provides a highly collaborative environment where users can work together and share their knowledge, encouraging collaborative learning. Many students find that their learning is most effective when they are actively involved in the construction of their knowledge. I can see this tool being beneficial for students working in groups to be able to communicate with each other both in class and outside of school.
With Wikis, I think it is important that Netiquette is also understood and followed. By creating guidelines for behaviour, content and editing and by stating explicitly what is not acceptable, this will reduce the amount of negative attention the Wiki receives and will make sure that students are aware of what is appropriate conduct.
A learning tool which I found interesting was the interactive whiteboard. Whilst I unfortunately haven’t been able to try this tool personally, I have heard excellent reviews stating that it is easy to use, appealing to intrinsically and extrinsically motivated students. As I highlighted in my blog post, there are many benefits of the interactive whiteboard in the classroom including accommodating for different learning styles which will improve chances of student understanding during the lesson, more memorable lessons because students are engaged and motivated and notes can be printed or saved for later use or distribution ensuring students are focused on the learning rather than on capturing everything through note taking. Having a display surface large enough for everyone to see encourages a high level of student interaction. The use of text and photos, animations and videos promotes visual learning with one teacher noting, “with our kids, what you want is visuals. You need something to grab their attention” (Cunningham et al., 2003). With kinaesthetic learners sometimes finding it difficult to engage in classroom tasks as they are generally visual or auditory related, the interactive whiteboard reinforces through exercises involving touch, movement and space. Pugh (2001) finds that the interactivity and visuals of interactive whiteboard also benefits students with specific learning difficulties or disabilities. What I find the most beneficial of this technology is the ability to plan lessons and resources prior to the class and simply bring it up on the screen.
Other tools that I investigated throughout this course were Wordle, Websites, Google, Concept Maps, Vokis, Multiple Intelligences, Learning Styles and Prezi. I was also able to have other meaningful academic discussions with my peers, some of which can be found at the following links:
http://ictsineducation1.blogspot.com/2010/08/spell-check.html#comments
http://ictsineducation1.blogspot.com/2010/08/all-knowing-google.html#comments
http://e-learningtoolkit.blogspot.com/2010/07/website-vs-wiki.html#comments
http://s0175732.blogspot.com/2010/07/playing-with-wordle.html#comments
http://s0154622.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-learning-style.html
In conclusion, at the beginning of this course, I would have to say I thought I was a pretty techno savvy young person, having just completed high school where I studied and achieved highly in ICT related courses. For me, setting up the blog was quite easy with the assistance of the website blogger.com and the straightforward menu it provided, making choosing a visually appealing background and text simple. During the lectures for this course, I was able to investigate and evaluate different ICT tools which opened my mind to what is out there and the endless possibilities that these tools can have within the classroom. I now realise how limited my knowledge is and that indeed we never stop learning, even after high school. I will now be able to use what I have discovered in my classroom to enhance student learning.
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