Reflective Synopsis

Introduction-

To me, e-learning is about using technology as a tool to enhance learning flexibly, creatively and engagingly throughout pedagogical practices. During my time throughout this course, I have learnt that e-learning involves selecting the most appropriate tool for the learning environment, year level, and student, to achieve the best possible learning outcomes for all students. Education Queensland (2008) explains that, “The strategy is about engaging digital generation, improving individualised learning opportunities, sparking innovation in learning, enhancing teachers’ digital pedagogy and getting the best from schools’ ICT investment”. The TPACK (Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge) framework allows opportunities for this to happen (Refer to Blog: Week2Activity 2). The framework emphasizes the connections, interactions, affordances, and constraints between content, pedagogy, and technology. As the climate of classrooms integrate with the 21st century, rather than treating these forms as separate bodies of knowledge, the TPACK model emphasises the importance of using all three forms of knowledge together (Mishra and Koehler, 2006).

ICT’s used as a learning tool in conjunction with pedagogy and content, enables students to efficiently access digital information to assist with investigating issues, solving problems and decision making. These technologies assist students to produce creative solutions to support learning, communicate, share and work collaboratively in local or global environments. Importantly, they encourage students to understand the legal, ethical and safety implications of using ICT’s, and their responsibilities as users (Department of Education, 2012). Throughout my e-learning journey, I have encountered many tools that will assist me as a future learning manager. However for further explanation, I have specifically chosen these tools: Wiki, Moviemaker, PowerPoint and Bubbl.us, as they incorporate the above content.

Wiki activities-

Through my e-learning journey I have found that wiki’s can provide opportunities for a wide range of learners. The wiki activities presented throughout this course have used some elements from all of the learning theories; however, constructivism has been a large focus. Constructivism as an approach allows learners to build knowledge from their own experiences in the world, rather than having it supplied by the teacher (McInerney and McInerney, 1998). West and West (nd) state, “Although wikis hold great promise for online learning, without planning, design, and effective facilitation, a wiki is no more than an empty web page”.In the wiki’s we were presented with appropriate scaffolding, such as De Bono’s six thinking hats; providing guided practice, with clear sense of the goal or outcome (McInerney and McInerney, 1998). This allowed the e-learning class to effectively collaborate online to complete the set task.

Although there are great features of a wiki, this tool can also fail. When participating in the wiki activities, this was the case. Refer to my blog: wiki reflection for further information on the highlights and lowlights of a wiki.

Working legally, safely and ethically-

Most students are familiar with and are active users of technology. While it does facilitate learning, it can be a dangerous tool if improperly used. Knowing when to draw the line, with some forms of technology, according to your own personal comfort levels and ethics is a constant struggle for teachers. As a future teacher, I need to know how to set the boundaries, and provide students the intellectual and emotional tools to make the right decisions (Dunn, 2011). This e-learning course has allowed me to become aware of the safety, legal and ethical policies that I need to abide by, and ensure my students do the same (refer to blog: Legal, Safe and Ethical). These procedures include, ensuring the student has been given permission before using their copyright work, unless the use of the works is permitted under a statutory education license or copyright exception (The State of Queensland, 2012). Ensure the students attribute images, videos and information when using them in school projects or research. In addition, provide students with the knowledge of using reputable sources when researching materials.

I have chosen a wiki as my group 1 tool in favour of its many elements that relate to the safe, ethical and legal policies addressed above. This tool incorporates many features, as explained further in my blog post: WIKI reflection; SWOT, including uploading images and videos. Consequently, students need to be aware of the policies related, for example providing attribution. A wiki is structured so that only members of the site can view its content, unless provided with an invitation or opened to the public by the members. This helps ensure protection against predators when uploading student work, images of students, and videos etc.

Collaborative Construction of Knowledge-

It is understood by many that meaningful learning can’t be accomplished only through activities such as reading and listening (West and West, nd). West and West (nd) state that, “According to constructivist theory, meaning is gained through active learning, social interaction, and the construction of knowledge”. Social constructivists stress the importance of collaborative learning (McInerney and McInerney, 1998). When working with computers in a social interactive setting, “cognitions of the various users build on each other in a “self-scaffolding’ way” (McInerney and McInerney, 1998). A wiki can provide the tools and the collaborative work space that enable contextual teaching and learning. When working with technology, there are many tools that allow students to collaboratively construct knowledge online; a wiki allows for this to happen. West and West (nd) state, “A wiki can be defined as a collaborative web space where anyone can add content and anyone can edit content that has already been published” (Richardson, 2006, p. 8). When set up with appropriate scaffolding, a wiki allows students to collaborate on assignments and set tasks, at school or at home. It also allows students to collaboratively work nationally and globally with students from other schools. As a future learning manager, I must know how to frame wiki activities allowing them to lead to meaningful learning (West and West, nd).

Bubbl.us, an online concept mapping and brainstorming tool that allows online collaboration, was chosen as the group 4 tool. This collaborative mind mapping tool is an interactive tool that can be used to conduct a brainstorming session with students (Refer to blog: Bubbl.us PMI). Students working on assignments or tasks collaboratively, can use Bubbl.us to expand, compare and share ideas for the task (Georgia State University, 2003). When used in the classroom appropriately, the teacher can allow students to collaborate online as a class. Using a chosen learning topic, the learning manager can put Bubbl.us on the interactive whiteboard, and ask students to collaborate their ideas through brainstorming. The students will become instantly engaged as they can create and edit the concept map as much as they like. Once the concept map is made, the creator can share the map with group members and allow them to add ideas.

Importance of Pedagogy-

Throughout my time at Uni I have learnt that pedagogy is the way of teaching; the interaction between the learner and the teacher. However, as we move forward into the 21^stCentury, the use of technology is becoming more significant. Digital pedagogy is a way of working and learning with ICT’s to facilitate quality learning. The four tools I have chosen Wiki; MovieMaker, PowerPoint and Bubbl.us, can all be integrated appropriately with pedagogy when scaffolded correctly. However, two particular tools stood out in this area; PowerPoint and MovieMaker.

PowerPoint was chosen as the group 3 tool as it is a form of digital pedagogy. It holds the quality of being a focus for a class, where the teacher can present ideas to the class. Presenting a PowerPoint in front of the class can sometimes seem like you are trying to sell your students a product. However, teaching your students how to use this tool can become very beneficial (Concordia University, 2012) (Refer toblog: PowerPoint PMI). When used as a presentation tool by either the student or the teacher, PowerPoint allows integration of many learning styles to engage the learner. PowerPoint includes functions that work easily with hearing (text on page and audio), incorporates visual aspects (images and video), and also actively engages student participation (class discussion and sorting items).

When used appropriately with pedagogy, the group 2 tool MovieMaker is an impressive tool that I will use continually as a future learning manager (Refer to blog: Movie maker). Digital moviemaking for example, MovieMaker, can generally be defined as the use of a range of media such as images; sound, text, video, etc, to communicate and express understanding (Hofer and Owings-Swan, 2005). Hofer and Owings-Swan (2005) states that, “Digital moviemaking provides a unique opportunity to connect powerful, yet accessible, technology integration with core content and pedagogical practice within specific academic disciplines”. The easy access to the utilities and features that MovieMaker offers, present an abundance of opportunities to design activities that allow for a student-centered approach, are inquiry-based, and are tied to the unique goals related to each disciplinary area (Hofer and Owings-Swan, 2005).

Conclusion-

During my time at University, it has become most evident that today’s students are growing up in a world very different from many of their teachers. Today, students are showered with various forms of technology that communicate an extraordinary amount and breadth of information (Hofer and Owings-Swan, 2005). Students of the 21^st Century tend to thrive in this fast-paced, multi-tasking, multi-sensory world (Hofer and Owings-Swan, 2005). The challenge put forward to me as a future learning manager, is to explore ways to tap into this new mindset, so that my students are engaged as learners in the classroom. E-learning has given me the opportunities to explore different forms of technology and the appropriate ways to use them. Using tools such as: Wiki, MovieMaker, PowerPoint and Bubbl.u, allows students to collaboratively construct knowledge, and learn through the help of technology in a safe and legal environment.

References-

Concordia University. (2012). Pedagogy and powerpoint. Retrieved from http://teaching.concordia.ca/resources/teaching-with-new-technologies/pedagogy-and-powerpoint/

Department of Education. (2012). ICT in learning. Retrieved from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/

Dunn, J. (2011). Edudemic: a teacher’s guide to keeping students safe online. Retrieved from http://edudemic.com/2011/10/student-online-safety-guide/

Georgia State University. (2003). Enabling student collaboration for learning. Retrieved from http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwltc/howto/enablestudentcollab.htm

Hofer, M., & Owings-Swan, K. (2005). Digital moviemaking—the harmonization of technology, pedagogy and content. Retrieved from http://drofilm1.edublogs.org/files/2009/06/article-1-harmonization.pdf

McInerney,D., McInerney,V. (1998). Education psychology: Constructing learning. (2^nd Edition). French Forest, NSW; Person Education Australia

The State of Queensland. (2012). Managing consent to use student/volunteer copyright materials and /or to record, use or disclose student personal information. Retrieved from http://ppr.det.qld.gov.au/corp/governance/Pages/managing-consent-to-use-student-volunteer-copyright-materials.aspx

Toth, M. (nd). Using bubbl.us to create collaborative concept maps.Retrieved from http://alicechristie.org/classes/547_548/bubbl.pdf

West, J., M, West. (nd). Using wikis for online collaboration. Retrieved from http://www.e-reading.org.ua/bookreader.php/141435/West_-_Using_Wikis_for_Online_Collaboration.pdf

Legal, Safe and Ethical

As a future learning mananger, Wendy informed us that there are many Legal, Safe and Ethical policies that I need to follow:

• Get permission from copyright owners
• Digital book: if the book does not have a digital recording you are able to make your own, if there is already a copy, or use the images you can’t use it.
• If you play a video or radio at work, it has to be paid for.
• 10% of a book only!
• 3^rdparty: password protect.
• If you wish to get your students to edit or critique a passage, (critical thinking) eg Romeo and Juliet. Fair clause allows you to use the whole passage.
• As long as you don’t have a youtube account, you can download youtube videos: get rid of it as soon as you have finished with it, don’t use anymore than what is required.
• Source: hyperlinked, mention it is not yours eg. taken from this website
• Images need to be attributed

These are only some of the many issues when working with technology. As I move forward with my teaching, I'm sure I will learn more along the way. Just the other day, I learnt that when making a movie, even though I gave attribution, I can not have background music on the video, if posting it online, unless asking for permission. Therefore, I was quick to delete the music and upload a new video without the music. It is these sorts of things I need to make my students aware of, to ensure they abide by the legal, safe and ethical policies.

The legal aspect of this policy basically explains that, it is okay to use work the someone else has created, as long as attribution or permission is given (depending on the material, and where it is being used).

I will also need to teach my students the importance of working safely online. Keeping students privacy protected is paramount for a learning manager. As a learning manager, I need to ensure permission is given by the students before uploading images and videos to the internet.

Finally I need my students to work ethically online. They need to be aware that everything they post online, even if deleted, becomes permanent. They need to be aware of the effects of social networking, and the images they post on these sites; everything they post, can be found online.

There are perimeters in place at school to ensure students, teachers and visitors follow the correct policies and guidelines. As explained in the National Safe Schools Framework, each time any member of the school community logs onto a computer, they are required to complete a responsible usage agreement. These agreements are clearly communitcated and monitored.

As explained on the SmartCopying website, schools should take care NOT to:

• provide links on school intranets to content that is known or likely to be infringing (eg pirate music or movie sites)
• allow students to download content from sites such as Limewire or YouTube where the content is likely to be unauthorised or 'pirate' (eg scenes from a currently screening Hollywood 'blockbuster'
• allow students to 'burn' copyright content unless it is clearly for research or study purposes
• store content on the intranet or learning management systems such as Clickview unless it is licensed or clearly covered by a copyright exception.

Refer to QCAR ICT'S Cross curricular priorities, by the end of year 7.
• apply codes of practice for safe, secure and responsible use of ICTs

• review the use of ICTs in terms of safety, ethical practice, legality and responsibility

• apply values and codes of practice of the ICT environment that respect individual rights and cultural differences when accessing and delivering information online

• apply protocols to acknowledge the owner(s)/creators(s) of digital information sources and develop an awareness of legislation relating to digital theft and plagiarism

• apply a range of preventative strategies to address issues relating to health and safety when using ICTs

• develop and apply strategies for securing and protecting digital information, including personal information

• evaluate how their use of ICTs meets ethical and legal criteria

• reflect on, analyse and evaluate

References:


Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development And Youth Affairs. (2011). National safe schools framework. Retrieved from http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/NationalSafeSchools/Documents/NSSFrameworkResourceManual.pdf

National Copyright unit. (nd). 1.15 Liability of schools, TAFE institutes and individuals for copyright infringement. Retrieved from http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/scw/go/pid/670

The State of Queensland. (2007). Information and communication technologies (ICT) cross-curriculum priority by the end of year. Retrieved from http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/early_middle/qcar_ccp_ict_yr7.pdf

PowerPoint PMI

PowerPoint is a great presentation tool that I have used continually throughout my whole schooling. I have used it for assignments across a wide range of KLA areas. This allows me, as a future teacher, to be comfortable with using this in my classroom. However, I would not continually use this to teach my students. Instead, I would teach my students how to use it so that they can use it when presenting. It will make their presentation more engaging, allow them to use it instead of palm cards (use powerpoint slides as notes), and they can create the powerpoint to suit the presentation.

Ways to use PowerPoint in the classroom:

• presenting assignment/task
• animations
• note taking
• a varitey of KLA's

Below is a PMI of the positives and negatives of working with PowerPoint.
Plus-

• can be used as a presentation tool
• easy to use for a simple presentation
• add different effects eg. motion pictures, motion texts
• add colours to text
• change the type of background
• add videos, images
• upload to online sites such as wiki
• a way to engage students
• can be used as an animation tool
• Can easily input images
• Templates are built in for different appearances
• Can add notes pages
• Can easily add media and recordings
• More exciting than a simple word document or hand written presentation
• Master slides make presentations consistent

Minus-

• Some features such as animations and backgrounds can distract the audience from the actual information in the presentation
• File size can become quite large on medium to large presentations
• Some of the features can be quite complicated to use and even the simple features require some getting used to
• When at created at home, you cant rely on someone else's computer or laptop to run your presentation, there are too many software conflicts and disk space barriers.
• Takes quite a bit of time to create a complete presentation

Interesting-

• Continually updated

To view a powerpoint created previously for a different course (Ensuring Student Success) visit my wiki : http://shonaselearning.wikispaces.com/PowerPoint+

How to create a powerpoint presentation: retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TP62aNlVu0 on the 12/08/12, created by DemoTrainer, 2008.

Bubbl.us PMI

I have worked with Bubbl.us a few times throughout my time at uni and think it is a great tool that could be used in the classroom. It is a great brainstorming tool that engages students instead of using pen and paper. Sure, for some students using pen and paper works for them. However, for those other students this is a great divice I can use as a future teacher. More importantly, teach my students to use for assignments, collaborating ideas as a group, etc.

Examples of how Bubbl.us could be used in the classroom-

• interactive whiteboard for brainstorming
• collaborative assignments/ tasks
• group work
• comparision between two topics
• cause and effect

There are both positives and negatives of Bubbl.us, and below is a PMI to explain further.
Plus-

• can be used instead of pen and paper
• can be used as a collaboration tool
• online brainstorming and concept mapping tool
• Build up a mindmap very quickly - easy and simple to use
• Embed your mindmap into online spaces
• Work collaboratively on the same mindmap
• easily add and remove ideas
• free to use
• simple layout
• add colours to textbox

Minus-

• once a member, others can remove ideas created by students
• need to sign up to the account to save work
• bubbles may appear to hard to see on the screen, unless zoomed in
• site could be blocked in some schools
• if a whole class is using this site at the same time, the system can sometimes overload and freeze

Interesting-

• Once created, other members can be added to edit the map
• doesn't require a log in unless you want to save work
• Can be used as a brainstorming tool in the classroom

The image above was created by me on Bubbl.us.

Here is a video to explain how to use Bubbl.us. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TP62aNlVu0 on the 13/08/12, created by lvkre8n, 2010.

MovieMaker

 

I have had multiple experiences with movie maker. I think it is a great, easy tool that almost anyone could use. I have previously used it in the past for many projects such as, cropping sections from a well known movie, adding home videos together to make a large video and collating a group of images and adding music. The only problems I have encountered with movie maker is, the longer the movie created, the longer it takes to save. In a classroom environment this could become a problem. I also found it difficult to upload the video to my blog. I think the reason is that, when created the file was too large. Once I resized the video I was able to upload it to my wiki, however, couldn't upload it to blogger. As a future learning manager, I need to ensure my students are aware of the safe, legal and ethical policies that relate to making a movie. The images the students use need to be attributed, unless taken themself. Any images of fellow students, they need to have permission to use those images. Any information added to the movie needs to be referenced, and the references should be reputable. Finally, I need to monitor the use of music. If uploading the video online, the students can't use published music due to copyright, unless they are given permission to do so. Below is a PMI chart of the positives and negatives of working with Moviemaker. Plus-
Allows visual representation of content or parts of content Can deliver key messages in an interesting and interactive way Allows students to visually and creatively represent own ideas Allows students to explore different modes/models for learning A great visual tool to encourage student engagement Encourages creativity in student projects Can add images, text and music to create the video Crop, slit, edit previous movies Create your own movie- add images, sound, visual effects, captions Able to edit time intervals Save it as a media player file Add animations  Minus- Can take too long to complete Can stop start in-between playing May not be reliable in times of importance Not everyone might have the capabilities to record videos can create alot of distractions through the process Interesting- Opportunities for students to interact with real life application- develop real life movies Ready to use formats avaliable Ways MovieMaker can be used in the classroom: Can deliver key messages in an interesting and interactive way Themes can be reinforced with students in video form Video could be embedded on the class website to introduce a topic Video can be used to draw in student’s attention at the beginning of a lesson. setting a scene for a story in english animation presentations creativity collaboration editing well known videos (taking important information)

Visit my wiki to view this video http://shonaselearning.wikispaces.com/My+Moive-MovieMaker

 

Trying to fix this <-- can't upload :(

Images found for my movie:

http://successfulteaching.blogspot.com.au/
http://duvico.webs.com/teacherdevcourses.htm
http://www.teachertrainingdelhi.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.autism-community.com/education/teaching-strategies/

Podcast

http://podcast1568949115.podomatic.com/entry/2012-07-23T10_04_54-07_00

I made a podcast, however I encounted problems with uploading it. I wanted to keep the podcast up even though it didnt work to show that there can could be a downside to using podomatic, or technology in general.

I added in the link so that you can view my podcast.

Other than the problems with uploading the podcast, I think it would be a great too to use in the classroom.

- it could be used as a learning tool for students who struggle remembering instructions. The teacher could set it up so that students can go through the instructions at their own pase.

-the students could create their own podcast

- teacher could set it up for cooking instructions, for each podcast and image there could be a different part of the procedure

My Voki attempt

After several attempts at creating my Voki it finally work. I realised I was required to become a member of the Voki site for it to allow me copy or embed the Voki. Before realising this, I became very frustrated and can understand how easily one can become annoyed at technology. I have learnt that you can: -design from scratch your own desired Voki -use your own voice to record what you want the Voki to say -type what you would like the voki to say -change a desired background to suit what you want to say As a future learning manager, this could become a very helpful tool to use in the classroom. It would become a very engaging tool for the students. The students will be able to create their own Voki with their desired designs and elements. This could become a way for students to present assignment for those students who are not confident talking infront of the class. The voki could be used as a teaching tool for those students who have trouble following instructions. They could replay the voki several times until they are aware of what is required. The Voki is an interactive, engaging tool that would seem helpful in the learning environment.