I have completed the first 5 weeks of GDLT. What a
journey!! I had a “growth spurt” in terms of knowledge, attitude and awareness as a
pre-serviced teacher. I cannot recall
any moment in recent years where I gained so much in such a short period. My last formal study was 20 years ago. I am
definitely a better learner this time around. I have ability to process
knowledge and information but also analyse and evaluate them. I am enjoying
learning.
The biggest learning curve so far was to “change” the value and approach I had for
ICTs for young learners, both educational and home environments. I worked in an industry where use of ICT was
everyday occurrence and I had opportunities to utilise innovative technology in
global scale. I am well aware of the importance of technology and user
competence. Yet, I never linked the importance with the use of ICT in teaching. I come from an era where “chalk and talk” was
“the” way of teaching, and it was
probably more so in Japanese schools. On the contrary, today’s children are
surrounded by technologies, and hence it is only natural to use the tools to
help them enjoy learning
The importance of “E-learning” is defined in the
Queensland Government website as follow;
Pedagogies that integrate information and communication
technologies can engage students in ways not previously possible, enhance
achievement, create new learning possibilities and extend interactions with
local and global communities.
(MCEETYA: Learning in an online world - Pedagogy Strategy)
Students live in a technological
world where information and communication technologies (ICTs) are integral to
everyday situations. School curriculum should provide learning and assessment
opportunities that allow students to inquire, create and communicate with ICTs,
and to use ICTs safely and responsibly to manage, store and locate information.
(Source: http://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/area/ict/index.html)
Technology is as natural as breathing for today’s young
learners. We should also remember that
learning and play are very compatible – when students are engaged and having
fun, learning becomes easy and natural. Also, with the effective and efficient use
of the tools, I truly believe that they contribute to the raising of standards
of achievements in education.
WIKI
I created my own and first wiki
in week 2, and I included PMI analysis for the tool. I find that wiki is easy to use and a
collaborative tool if the members are motivated, responsible and competent wiki
users. Otherwise I believe that it would a ‘dead-wiki”.
In my opinion, use of wiki in the classroom
requires constant attention from teachers to validate information, motivate students
to participate, guide students to right direction and supervise cyber safety. Unless
the students’ profiles as well as teachers’ motivation and energy level suit
the use of wiki, it would be the least ideal tool in classroom setting.
GROUP
1
In week 2, I created my own wiki, blog and website and
started the blog reflection on these tools. The group 1 tool I’ve
chosen to reflect on is the blog.
Unlike websites that only provide static information in
general, blogs are interactive.
They provide a great way to speak to readers or readers to speak to bloggers and give each other information
beyond what is posted. They also provide a space, as teachers and fellow
students, to motivate bloggers by leaving positive feedback and ask questions
that could support bloggers’ higher order thinking. Blogs are ideal tool for
ongoing reflection for students. Learning is formulating knowledge and
“reflective thinking” is an integral part of the process.
My intended
specialized subject, LOTE, is not only a study of language but also a learning
to gain to access other people, ideas and ways of thinking. Blog can be a
perfect space for students to exchange their ideas and understanding with their
peers, but also for interacting people from different culture and background.
They can extend and apply their knowledge and understanding in global setting.
Copyright laws apply
to a blog post about a topic/subject which a blogger found on other sources
such as blog and website. It is imperative that the blogger cite the source to
avoid plagiarism. It is also important to note a particular area of copyright law, namely “fair use”,
affects bloggers. Under the law, bloggers may republish another person’s
content to add commentary or for educational purposes. However, it is strongly
recommended that a blogger should only republish parts from other sources and
make sure to add a link to that source, and add his/her own opinion.
One of the powerful functionality of blog is that
bloggers and readers can leave comments to each other. Like the face to face
communications, there are ethical and respectful ways to post and comment. The
“Art of Commenting” is summarized in Gary’s blog. Students must be responsible bloggers who clearly understand that they are
publishing words publicly, hence they possess ethical obligations to their
readers/followers, the people they write about, and also society in
general.
GROUP
2
The group 2 tool I’ve chosen to reflect on is the video.
I created a
video in week 4, and talked about possible learning outcomes by using Bloom’s Taxonomy.
By
completing a task such as video creation, students not only improve their ICT
skills but also their literacy and numeracy skills, social skills, and
historical knowledge. Technological Pedagogical
Content Knowledge (TPACK ), is a framework designed
to illustrate the intricate interplay and characteristics of teacher knowledge
and technology integration in education. In my opinion, TPACK is a
balanced pedagogical approach, and the above task is a good example to show the
evidence of successful use of TPACK framework.
Another excellent use of video is in LOTE teaching
where students are introduced to foreign sound, concepts and culture. Visual
imagery plays a significant role by supporting learners to understand, compare
and connect to foreign concepts.
Under the Privacy Act 1988, images of
children that would enable them to be identified (e.g. school uniform, outside
their house, with their name) should not be published on the Internet without
the consent of their parents/carers.
Deciding who will have access to view the images online is another
important factor. For example, if video is uploaded onto a school website, it
is recommended that the site can be made secure by using
private pages accessible only to registered members (Education Queensland, Department of Education, Training and
Employment).
Group
3
The
best tool to use for presentation is a tool that supports a speech, visualised
complicated concepts and focus attention on a subject. Hence I chose to reflect
on PowerPoint.
I
was introduced to 2 new tools in week 5, Prezi and Glogster, which are very
colourful and fun to use. They are great tools to introduce to young learners
who are beginning to learn presentations. However, I believe that PowerPoint
has almost every feature that Prezi and Glogster have, and it has more
professional look. It is able to cover range of topics with details in one file,
and also allows embedding which promotes easy navigations during a
presentation. The use of slideshare with
PowerPoint is a great way to share the information with wider audience. One of
the powerful usage would be in distance education.
We
must remember that often young learners’ focus on presentation is on the attractiveness of the presentation, and not on
the content. It is important for
teachers to be aware when we plan to integrate ICTs into the curriculum.
As discussed in Week 4 blog, PowerPoint was a great tool to
introduce Japanese culture as a guest
speaker at the recent Harmony Day. It was easy
to embed images, videos and audio. I was
able to explain foreign objects by displaying visual images which supported
students’ deeper appreciation and comprehension. I, as a presenter, also found
it easy to follow my planning as I follow the slide sequence.
When texts, images and videos are embedded in the PowerPoint
presentation, creators need to be vigilant with the copyright guidelines. The
use of copyright images and materials are restricted by the owner. In addition,
one chapter or 10% of a work may be copied for educational purpose
(http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=115338). The same principle
applies to students. An interesting rule to point out is that use of these
materials must not be for the purpose of the school obtaining a profit or a
commercial advantage, but charging on a cost-recovery basis is acceptable
(http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/scw/go/pid/542).
Group 4
From the group 4 tools I have chosen Google Earth. Flat map looks
so uninteresting after using Google Earth! It is interactive, and it can
facilitate understanding of the Earth system, technology education, science,
social science that has a geographic component. It can stimulate learners’
engagement, and supports hands-on inquiry by students.
We, as teachers, can make learning more real which then become
lasting for students. With aerial photos taken
over Japan which show the scale of devastation after the earthquake/Tsunami in
2013, we can activate students’ thinking in area of;
1. Specific information – facts and details of earthquake
2. Concepts and Generalizations – what is earthquake, what causes it,
what is nuclear power etc.
3. Applications – use of nuclear power is right?
4. Personal values – issues that students care about, e.g., empathy
for victims.
CONCLUSION
To summarise my experiences, I
would like to present “PMI analysis” on ICT tools in general;
|
PLUS
|
MINUS
|
INTERESTING
|
|
24/7
access to information.
|
Teachers’
workload.
|
Variety
of tools available online.
|
|
Availabilities
of distance education.
|
Cyber
safety.
|
Problem solving
(see the link for an example).
|
|
Ability
to provide appropriate/adjusted goals within a classroom (for special needs,
gifted etc.).
|
Less
support from parents who do not value ICT in education.
|
Support
of students with special needs.
|
|
Global
access.
|
Cost incurred
to reputation management due to inappropriate usage in social networking.
|
Experience world events in real time.
|
|
Collaboration
with people outside of classroom.
|
Competency
gaps between schools due to availabilities of tools, teachers’ attitude etc.
|
What
is available in 10 years?
|
In relation to the cyber safety, not only students and teachers but also
parents need to be educated. Parents should talk to their children about what
they should and should not do when they are online. They should also setup
rules when they are online at home. Parents should also practice online
ethics.
Queensland Government introduced
“Smart Classrooms” that is a comprehensive strategy for digital education in
QLD state schools.
The key
to the strategy is that it is student-centric; recognising the demand, from
both students and their parents, for seamless movement between learning at
school, home, work and play. (http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/)
In order to
reach the goal for digital education, “home” and “communities” also have
responsibilities to participate creating a safe cyber environment, as well as
modelling the appropriate use of the tools.
Society as a whole has to have responsible attitude to reach the goal.
REFERENCES
CYBERJOURNALIST.NET
Smartcopying
Australian Government, Australian Institute of Family Studies
Education Queensland, Department of Education, Training and Employment
ABC NEWS: Japan Earthquake: before
and after
