Week Four...

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how 

to see without a camera." - Dorothea Lane 

(Los Angeles Times, August 13 1978)

www.foundwalls.com

Digital Technologies 2

I feel very fortunate this week to have the opportunity to post about images! Why?? I LOVE photography. Finishing my Diploma in Photography this year and now extending on that knowledge, I am in the process of completing my Advanced Diploma. So this topic is a passion of mine.

In this week's activity, I had the task of exploring multimedia - images, video and audio tools, and how they benefit students in traditional and virtual classrooms. I believe to significantly enhance higher order thinking is to combine audio with images. However, images alone are a very powerful tool which should not be underestimated. A quote I read this week within the reading materials I found quite relevant to this argument;

"Literacy usually means the ability to read and write, but it can also refer to the ability to 'read' kinds of signs other than words - for example, images or gestures. The proliferation of images in our culture...makes visual literacy, the ability to 'read' images, a vital skill." - http://www.learnnc.org

To be told of current events with text/audio can create an idea for the listener/reader but nothing can give a greater appreciation of the subject than an image. Which is why I chose to support this belief by opening and exploring an account with Fickr. Access my account here!

Flickr suggests that it is;

"...almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world." - Flickr

It's users can upload images, organise photo's/video's into sets (like a story album), then sets are arranged into galleries. Flickr has mapping tools to give further data about images, a handy device when searching within your gallery for images. Users are able to add contacts, form groups, participate in discussions and explore Flickr's creative commons. This allows others to copy, distribute and display the author's work - but only if the user gives the author credit. Academia shares some advantages of teaching with this multimedia tool.

"Users have the ability in Flickr to create private groups where images and discussions can be shared away from public scrutiny, which can be ideal for teaching. Students can share their images with the group, and view and comment on each others work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Teachers can easily track student progress, comment and grade work online, freeing up time in the face-to-face class." - Academia

As an amateur photographer I personally appreciate that Flickr contains a metadata of each photograph. A brilliant tool when recalling technical aspects of the image; exposure, shutter speed and aperature. 

The added benefit within this site is the incorporation of commenting on photographs. As a learning manager I would create a 'group' for my class, upload images to share within this group and invite a class discussion. For example; for a year 11 textile class, I would upload an image of a poorly stitched garment and suggest my students to analyse and evaluate the work and how they would propose to solve the incorrections. This would create a discussion which would be elaborated on within our classroom. Using a 'placemat proforma' each student would consider how they would correct the garment. The techniques the students suggested online would be constructed by pupils using classroom machines. Each learner then would provide evidence to our online classroom by taking images of their work, uploading them to Flickr with data of their choice of stitch/cut etc.
This creates personal reflection, study of others' work which increases critical analysis skills. Collectively we would decide which option to be best. The students are then able to upload additional images, creating their own portfolio of work, archiving into galleries. 

A great read I came across while exploring this week, illustrating the strength of using Flickr within the classroom worth a read is Using Flickr in the Classroom. A beneficial concept of utilising the RSS tool within Flickr stated in the conference suggested this;

"Schools can take advantage of this RSS capability to create a database of appropriate images about their school that can be delivered automatically to parents and other community members who subscribe to the RSS feed."

My personal experience with Flickr was very positive. I found it easy to navigate and believe it's positives greatly outweigh any negatives. However, in order to fully explore and appreciate the gains of the tool, I also investigated any weaknesses. 

Finally, within the reading materials "Chapter III - Pedagogical Potentials of Multimodal Literacy" set for this week I found some insightful and inspiring messages. Firstly I was shocked to read;

"There are arguments that classrooms are in danger of becoming redundant unless significant changes are made to curriculum and assessment practices."

But then;

"While we may acknowledge this changed paradigm, we are a long way from understanding how these changes can be realised pedagogically."

"...we need to know how to develop classroom learning experiences that are appropriate for both conventional and new forms of literacy."

"To read and produce multimodal texts, students need to be able to combine traditional literacy practices with the understanding, design and manipulation of different modes of image, graphics, sound and movement with text."

I found these words to be precisely the dilema facing modern day classrooms. It emphasised to me how relevant e-Learning is for today's learning managers. 

www.foundwalls.com
www.learnnc.org
www.flickr.com
www.academia.edu
www.globaleducation.edu.au
www.jakesonline.org

Week Three...

Digital Technologies 1

After already exploring a Wiki and a Blog, this week I chose to challenge myself and create a website...and I'm pleased I did. Using the website Weebly, I was able to construct and design a website of my own. I found this online tool very user-friendly. My website I created is Little Tribe, a hobby I am very passionate about.

Being tech savvy, I have learnt some coding from a brilliant site Codecademy. Coding is what creates software, apps, websites, browsers and this very blog. However, with Weebly, there are no technical skills required. It makes it possible to create a website without needing coded languages.

Examples of Weebly Themes

It offers it's users an extensive range of formats and once chosen, a simple drag and save process is all it takes. The user can upload photo's from their computer, shuffle photo's by click and drag, add/delete pages from menu, add captions to images & create slideshows. Each page is easily personalised with text, images, media, choice of fonts/themes and structure are all chosen by the user. As their slogan suggests, Weebly is surprisingly easy.

Just as a complicated mathematical equation is broken down, Weebly is also. The user is guided through each editing page; Build, Design, Pages and Site Stats. What seemed initially to be complicated, becomes an easy process. An additional advantage is the option of including a Blog and/or Forum, converting a static website, into an interactive site. 
From a teacher's perspective, a classroom can be built easily. Through Weebly's well organised interface, learning managers can manage students from their education account, upload assignments online and inform parents of progress.

A video worthwhile watching if considering building a website on Weebly I found on YouTube is above.

From a student's perspective, they can creatively construct their own websites (providing they're over 13 years of age, otherwise they need adult consent), and engage in the blogs and forums. Regardless whether the student in the typical classroom is generally quiet and reserved or usually loud and extroverted, in a virtual classroom all students are equal. Therefore the platform that Weebly (and other sites like it) creates is a more interactive classroom and consequently increases engagement. 

Image from InsideOut

Upon completion of my degree, I hope to become a Home Economics teacher. Weebly would be a valuable tool to enhance the learning of my students. Through the textile pathway, I could upload a video of a fashion designer as inspiration and research, podcast a presentation with a local designer or textile maker, or create a slideshow which could showcase some of the creations designed by students. 

From the cooking aspect, the class could construct a virtual cookbook, a map of the origins of food's could be created using the map tool on the site, followed by a poll of what recipe should be selected to cook that week. 

Through the blogs, forums, polls and interaction within the site, the students are able to form knowledge, apply their new knowledge and ideas, collectively they are able to analyse and evaluate, which successively challenges their higher order thinking skills. Students can interact, observe and grasp the curriculum objectives in an engaging format, from anywhere. 

At the suggestion of another e-Learning student, I tested the Creately website to display a SWOT analysis I created for Weebly.

In brief, the experience I had this week with Weebly was one of great benefit. I feel confident that if I were to utilise this platform in the classroom I would operate it to it's full potential, and enhance my students' level of learning.

http://www.weebly.com
http://www.codecademy.com
http://www.youtube.com
http://www.homelife.com.au/magazine/inside+out
http://creately.com

Week Two...

Mobile Phone Wiki Activity

Social constructivism was the learning theory behind this weeks activity. Students were asked to participate and address an authentic debate 'What do you think about mobile phones in the classroom?'. Wiki was selected as the platform for the deliberation, using De Bono's Hats scaffolding. Each learner was asked to select one of the directions used in this teaching strategy.

De Bono's scaffold proved to be a successful method to maximise the problem-based learning in the activity. Challenging students to look at the topic in the 6 different categories enhanced our higher order of thinking skills. It gave an insight of diverse opinions which I had not considered. Contemplating other solutions and perspectives was beneficial in this dialogue. Comparing our thought process to Bloom's Taxonomy, as a collective we were able to achieve HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills).

Having not been familiar with Wiki classrooms before this activity, I was able to apply the new knowledge I have gained, cooperatively we were able to analyse and compare opinions, synthesis and combine viewpoints, then later reflect and evaluate through our blog. Alternatively, considering the levels of thinking to the SOLO Taxonomy the group were able to reach an extended abstract level of comprehension. 

Collaboration of learning was achieved through the platform of Wikispaces. Additionally as a collective group we were able to creatively source and invent solutions to a genuine topic. The Wiki classroom designed for this activity achieved a favourable outcome. All students participated and a multitude of opinions/strategies were compiled. So much so, that we were running out of room!

"According to Vygotsky, this type of social interaction involving co-operative or collaborative dialogue promotes cognitive development."

"...learners move beyond what is already known through the support of others, to construct new knowledge."

Terry Anderson suggests;

"...without a range of perspectives, analysis was neither feasible nor robust."

The result of this discussion was learner generated content in an online forum. The learning process was made easier as a result of the design and concepts of the activity. Thoughts were shared effectively without judgement or criticism. An excerpt I read this week from the Productive Pedagogies reading I found to be inspiring and encouraging;

This exercise reflected these points. Using Wikispaces when teaching would be an affective tool. It aids virtual teamwork and opinions in an encouraging format. Active learning is promoted in this platform and teachers can view changes and participation. Personally my experience with Wikispaces was positive. The technology was user-friendly and clear to navigate and De Bono's scaffolding is a fantastic instrument to view a range of perspectives. Students developed an open communication, which was enhanced by the Thinking Hats technique. Overall I found the task to be best summed up using an extract from this weeks reading material;

"After all, good pedagogy is good pedagogy. The principles are all the same - authentic context, problem-based learning, deep understanding and higher order thinking, collaboration for learning, and the creative and inventive solution to the problem that addresses real-world problem posed."

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7957
http://www.angelamaiers.com/2009/03/it-was-1956-when-benjamin-bloom-created-this-taxonomy-for-categorizing-levels-of-learning-and-understanding-it-has-provided.html
http://teaching.unsw.edu.au/aligning-assessment-learning-outcomes
http://www.slideshare.net/GerryC/productive-pedagogies

Week One...

Learning Theory and e-Learning

After completing week one, I'm feeling inspired and keen to complete my degree! Perhaps a bit premature...I hope this eagerness continues. I've enjoyed considering the different learning styles this week. I'm looking forward to identifying the different learning styles of my students, engaging them by mixing up teaching methods and developing lesson plans to cater for each student. When reflecting on my own learning styles I chose to look at each of the listed learning tools.

According to VAK I am a blend of all three, however slightly dominant in the visual and kinaesthetic modes. As my hobbies are creatively focused, I was pleased to see the kinaesthetic fairly high.

I completed the multiple intelligences test online and found the results fairly accurate. The outcome showed strengths in logical/visual learning, followed by naturalistic, kinaesthetic and interpersonal, an average score in linguistic and weakness' in interpersonal and music. I found that even though I consider myself an extrovert, the test focussed on study habits and therefore is accurate as I do prefer to study alone. 

Although more complex, I found the Felder and Solomon learning style inventory the most beneficial. After completing the online test I felt that if I were to teach a class, I'd be more inclined to cater for the needs of my classroom using this instrument. For me personally the results were fairly accurate. Although the results had similar peaks to Gardner's, they weren't as obvious. I found the advice given for each dimension was helpful and would be beneficial for a student's learning habits. My results showed below have a heavy sway towards visual rather than verbal styles. However, this was the second test I took (as I didn't save the first) and the first showed a level 3 rather than 9 in the visual mode, which is interesting. I personally believe that I would rate at a level 3-5 visually and not a 9. Unfortunately, the below test was taken with much more distractions then the first so may not be all that accurate. 

However for me personally, the most insightful learning material I read this week was Sir Ken Robinson's 'Do Schools Kill Creativity?'. I found his talk inspiring and factual. I highlighted two-thirds of it! My favourite points were these;

"...by the time they get to be adults, most kids have lost that capacity (being creative). They have become frightened of being wrong."

"And the result is, we are educating people out of their creative capacities."

"...every education system on earth has the same hierarchy of subjects...At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and the bottom are the arts. Everywhere on earth."

"My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status."

And my favourite;

"Picasso once said this, he said that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe this passionately, that we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather we get educated out of it."

I passionately believe this also. Rather than educate one out of their creativity, I look forward to integrating creativity within learning!

http://news.boisestate.edu/update/2011/12/12/pesky-honorfour/ (IMAGE)
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/styles/vak.html
http://www.bgfl.org/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm
http://blog.ted.com/2006/06/27/sir_ken_robinso/