Group 1: Blogs, Wiki's and Weebly's

BLOG:

I have had a great time making Blog so far. From choosing the theme and colour styles to adding in Pictures and editing.  I found blogging by far to be the easiest of the 3 options. There are limitations like most things, but I think the positives far outweigh the negatives. 

I have drawn up a SWOT analysis on Making a blog and its use in the classroom.

WIKI:

 Making a Wiki site was by far the most difficult of the 3. I couldn't figure out how to make it to begin with. Once I figured that out adding material to it was easy enough but it wasn't as user friendly as a weebly or a blog and I kept writing over what I had already written. The positives of a wiki site though is that it is editable by anyone.This opens it up for a great debate/discussion forum and is a great collaborating tool.

Here is a link to my Wiki - Is still in a developmental stage so there isn't much on there but feel free to comment.

I have developed a SWOT analysis on the use of Wiki's in a classroom:

WEEBLY

I created a Weebly for my Literacy and Numeracy in Secondary Unit EDED20458. I really enjoyed making my weebly. It was very fun, I could add a blog page to my weebly  for comments, add YouTube videos, photos and images its was very versatile and easy to use.

Here is a link to my Weebly site. Its is about Literacy and Numeracy in Science.

Week 2 Activity - Mobile Phones in the Classroom

This week we all participated in a wiki activity about the use of mobile phones in the classroom. We discussed the topic using De bono's six Thinking Hats. 

De bono's six Thinking Hats was created by Dr. Edward De bono and is a systematic method of thinking in a new and creative way.

The Six Thinking Hats (or modes)

The White Hat

The White Hat calls for information known or needed.

The Red Hat

The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition.

The Black Hat

The Black Hat is judgment -- the devil's advocate or why something may not work.

The Yellow Hat

The Yellow Hat symbolizes brightness and optimism.

The Green Hat

The Green Hat focuses on creativity: the possibilities, alternatives and new ideas.

The Blue Hat

The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process. 















I really enjoyed this activity. The six areas made me think critically and creatively in ways that I don't think I would have if I was just asked the question "Do you think mobile phones have a place in the classroom?. Separating my thoughts into six areas made me separate my feelings and emotions on the subject area so I could think clearly about other areas such as what possibilities mobile phones could bring to the classroom, legal and ethical problems, what information we already know about the subject and the list goes on.

After participating in this activity my thoughts are still the same as before in that mobile phones don't have a place in the classroom but not fully for the same reasons as before. 

I have done a PMI on mobile phones in the classroom

P-Plus

• Students are familiar with mobile phones
• Relatable to the real world

M-Minus

• The potential of mobile phones being misused - Facebook and texting each other
• Parents opinions on the use of mobile phones in the classroom
• Health reasons -  sore fingers from typing, radiation

I-Interesting

• Almost every student owns and knows how to use a mobile phone
• There are alot of educational Applications available

Ideas for use in the classroom

• Using the internet to research a topic
• Educational Apps - most have catchy tunes that will help students to remember
• Readings

References:
http://www.debonothinkingsystems.com/tools/6hats.htm

TPACK

TPACK is the way in which we use or select technologies to teach a subject matter effectively to our students. It is essentially a framework that helps in the decision making  and incorporates the 3 main areas. Technical Knowledge(TK) Content Knowledge(CK) and Pedagogical Knowledge(PK). These 3 areas all merge together to form Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). Refer to the picture below.

 

Source: Teaching with Technology in the Classroom

Prensky's Ideas

Prensky (2001) suggests that learners can be categorised as digital natives or digital immigrants. Natives are born into and grow up enveloped by digital technology and therefore develop a specific language and syntax around the technology, whereas immigrants are forced to adapt to a digital world. Immigrants, Prensky claims, have a digital accent and have trouble engaging with the technology, certainly to the extent that natives do. Prensky also discusses the accent and how this is a syntactic clue for younger learners. 

My thoughts are that technology is such a integral part of children and young adults lives(Digital natives) today that its become a second nature. The older generation( Digital Immigrants) have troubles adapting to these new technologies as its not something they grew up with. The digital immigrants brains were not mapped to deal with so many new technologies. There has been alot of research on the developing brain, it suggests that when the brain is still developing and they are exposed to new things (eg. technology) their brains make new connections. After a certain amount of time these new connections get less and less. I think this is why it is harder for the older generations to adapt to technology of the 21st century.

With all this new technology the question asked was do students "demand" technology in the classroom?my answer is that I don't think they do. I think that its the parents of the children that are insisting we use all this new age digital technologies in the classroom. 

And do I believe that there is any substance to the "engage or enrage" argument. Well yes and no. I believe that we need to engage students in the classroom but there is only so much we as teachers can do, its also up to the students to want to learn and what their learning environment is like at home.

My reflection on connectivism: With the internet being readily available in most households and at public libraries and schools, students can have access at any time anywhere. The focus in schools now isn't on the importance of what you know, its moving towards the importance of technology such as the internet in finding out what you need to know. 

References:
(http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=115325)

Reflection of Learning styles and multiple intelligence quiz

I like the thought that our interests influence the way we learn. Not one person in this world will be the same, we may have similar interests but have a different learning style or vice-a-verse. We as a teacher, need to be able to present what we would like the other person to learn in a variety of ways. This will encompass everyone's unique way of learning the material and to be able to catch the students interests and encourage imagination and creativity. The quiz was a simple multiple choice questionnaire and the answers I received in response I could pretty much agree on as a whole.

Multiple Intelligences Test

According to Birmingham Grid for Learning(BGfL). It is understood that every person is smart in different learning areas:

1. Linguistic
2. Logical
3. Interpersonal
4. Intra-personal
5. Musical
6. Visual
7. Naturalistic
8. Kinaesthetic.

I did a quiz so I could understand about what my intelligence areas are and here are my results:

The quiz results summarises that I am 

• Kinaesthetic (body smart) so I may be good at sports, swimming or athletics. 

• Naturalistic (Nature Smart) this means I like the world of plants and animals and enjoy Learning about them - I have a Bachelors degree In Ecology (which is the interaction between plants and animals in the environment) so this rings true. 

• Equal parts Intra-personal (Myself smart) and Interpersonal (people smart) so I know my strengths and weaknesses and I also like interacting with  people and meeting new people

Learning Styles

I did the Felder and Solomon Learning styles quiz- here are my results;

Learning Styles Results

Results for: Carly Rutter ACT X REF 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 <-- --> SEN X INT 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 <-- --> VIS X VRB 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 <-- --> SEQ X GLO 11 9 7 5 3 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 <-- --> Legend                    ACT-Active learner                     REF- Reflective Learner               SEN- Sensory Learner                INT- Intuitive learner   VIS- Visual Learner                    VRB- Verbal Learner   SEQ- Sequential Learner            GLO- Global Learner

If your score on a scale is 1-3, you are fairly well balanced on the two dimensions of that scale. If your score on a scale is 5-7, you have a moderate preference for one dimension of the scale and will learn more easily in a teaching environment which favours that dimension. If your score on a scale is 9-11, you have a very strong preference for one dimension of the scale. You may have real difficulty learning in an environment which does not support that preference. So according to this Quiz I have a Moderate preference to Active Learning which means I learn better by doing rather than thinking about the process first. I have a very strong preference to Sensory Learning which means I like to learn the facts and often like to solve problems by well established methods. I have a fairly balanced preference for Visual and Verbal Learning which means I learn best with both visual pictures and verbal words. And I have a moderate preference to Sequential Learning which means I gain understanding through logical and linear steps.