Today’s students according to Prensky (Prensky, 2001, p1-2)
are “digital natives”, they have grown up around technologies such as mobile
phones, internet and video games. Our schools need to accommodate for the revolution
of the digital age as technology becomes more and more embedded in society. We need
to find ways to utilize such technologies in our teaching and learning
processes so as to engage these tech savvy students. Almost every child owns a
mobile phone or has access to the Internet whether that is at home or at
school, due to this our options for engaging students in the classroom is vast.
Technologies we can use and adapt in our
classrooms vary from simple tools such as a collaborative Wiki sites where they
can work together to solve simple math problems or have brainstorming
discussions about whether aliens really do exist , to the more complex but open
ended programs such as Prezi and Museumbox. These technologies can be used as a tool to
encourage critical thinking in students and allows teachers to use their own
approach and pedagogies.
For the past few weeks we have investigated and worked with
all sorts of programs that are readily available on the internet. This reflective
synopsis is my views on these technologies.
Wiki Activity
The Wiki activities i.e. the Quiz and Mobile phone
discussions used De bono’s Six Thinking Hats scaffolding idea. The idea is that each of the six hats represents
a different thought or critical thinking process and by using this process it
eliminates one feeling or thought overtaking the whole discussion. This
systematic approach to a discussion is an effective tool in such places as a
wiki page as it is a highly collaborative forum and peoples point of view can be easily one dimensional. See my blog post on this activity here (Appendix 1). In summary I think in a classroom wiki pages would be a very effective tool as it would allow for students to discuss their points of view, add onto or comment on other students points of view and it would give the teachers an idea on who is actually contributing to a discussion. One problem II did have with the Wiki was that you could easily publish or write over the top of someone else's answer without knowing and its quite difficult to get that back.
Group 1 Tool- Blogs
This week we explored wiki’s, blog’s and weebly’s. These tools are all grouped together as they
are all free online spaces in which a person is able to add their own content. Overall I think a blog better suited my needs
and was the most effective tool in collating all the materials I have tried and
tested throughout this course. My blog (appendix 2) can be found here, and a copy of my
reflections on blogs, wiki’s and Weebly’s (appendix 3) here. In a classroom a blog would provide a timeline of events or a journal on anything the student wants to post about and as such creating a story as they progress through a topic. Blogs are easily accessible on the internet and anyone signed up to Google can view and comment on another persons blog, but without permissions from the author of the blog they cannot edit anything. A blog could potentially increase the quality of a students work as it can be published to a wider audience, and be a place where a student can show off their individual flair. Students can share and gain ideas from each other and it could be an effective tool in encouraging participation of the shyer students that don't really participate in face-to-face group discussions. As it can be published to the wider community parents can view and see what a student has been up to in class.
Group 2 Tool- Resizing Digital Images
Group 2 Tools were all about digital media and included such things as podcasts, digital videos and resizing digital images. Resizing Digital Images required me to download a program
called Mobophoto. It is a free download and this particular download has a few
options, you can download it straight to your computer or you can download a “portable”
version which enables you to load it onto you USB and resize images straight
from your USB no matter what computer you are on. I find this option very
appealing as a lot of students would use class or public computers at their
school and this would enable them to carry this program wherever they went. Resizing
your digital images makes the size of the file smaller but does not affect the
quality of the photo at all. This is great for if you want to put pictures on a
website, blog or wiki as it would take less time to load and view. With this
program you are able to resize individual pictures or you can choose to resize
a batch f selected photos, thus saving time and energy, and creating more space
on your computer for other applications. View my blog post on resizing digital images (appendix 4) here.
Group 3 Tool- Prezi
Group 3 tools were all about presentation program tools and included programs such as PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster's. PowerPoint has been to go-to for many years and I really wanted to try something different. I decided on the Prezi simply because I loved the 3d zooming capabilities. It caught my eye and I believe it could potentially be an engaging visual presentation tool for today's high school students. Given more time to explore the other capabilities of this program and how I could link it to the curriculum I think that this program would become a very useful tool. See here for my presentation in Prezi. (Appendix 5)
Group 4- Google maps
Group 4 tools were all about "open ended" programs in the animation and simulation sense. There were so many programs that I just didn't have time to have a go at everyone of them. The Zoobox was a particular favorite of mine, Its like a popup interactive story book and Museumbox was another new and interesting digital technology that I think would be exciting to use in a classroom. Both were a little bit confusing to use but given more time I would really love to explore these two technologies more. Google maps and Google earth are two digital technologies that I use alot and I think would be very relevant in the Secondary Science classroom. From tracking whales across the Atlantic to seeing a birds-eye view of the Great Barrier Reef and the Tropical Amazonian Rainforests these tools have so much potential for activities in the classroom. Here is a link to my reflections on both group 3 and group 4 tools (Appendix 6)
As a Pre-teacher I look forward to building on my knowledge of the ICT's so as to better educate myself and therefore engage and educate the children of today’s tech savvy world.
References
Prensky ( 2001). Digital
Natives, Digital Immigrants. From On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol.9, No.5, October
2001, p.1-2, Wes Yorkshire, U.K.
Appendices:
Appendix 1 - Wiki activity blog post
http://carlyrutter85.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/week-2-activity-mobile-phones-in.html
Appendix 2 - My Blogspot home page
http://carlyrutter85.blogspot.com.au/
Appendix 3 - Blogs, wiki's and Weebly's blog post
http://carlyrutter85.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/blog-i-have-had-great-time-making-blog.html
http://carlyrutter85.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/group-2-tools-resizing-image.html
Appendix 5 - Prezi presentation on Planet Earth
http://prezi.com/5xcz77vaesfu/our-planet-earth/?kw=view-5xcz77vaesfu&rc=ref-37792151
Appendix 6 - Group 3 & 4 Technologies blog post
http://carlyrutter85.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/group-3-technologies.html
