Week 5 ...... Group 3 & 4 Technologies

            

Group 3 Technologies

              Group 3 Technologies have proven to be a lot of fun. I can see many uses of these tools in my disciplines of History and Geography. All have benefits which puts TPACK into context and they will become a regular tool in my classroom. Playing around with these has been for the most part enjoyable however I did become frustrated with my 2013 version of Microsoft Word not offering the same functions as the instructions when creating the outline in Word (or at least I could not find them). Creating the storyboard using a Word Organisation Chart was simple enough. I was then able to create an outline but had difficulty transferring the information into a PowerPoint. In the end I transferred the information manually. More practice time on this is required and will help me learn to use this tool correctly. I do see the advantage of preparing the hierarchy graphic as a time saving tool, especially for a presentation that would involve more than 6 slides.

Learning to prepare a PowerPoint involves numerous decisions as to how it will appear. An important aspect of its appearance is who the resource is targeted towards. An example I have prepared is a PowerPoint which I will use in Assignment 1, for EDED20458. This exercise introduced new skills to my limited knowledge of Power Points. “YOLO!” (You only live once) is designed for Year 12 Geography Students.  I have converted this to a video and placed this on a glogster for EDED20458 Assignment 1. I have also uploaded it to Youtube, my first experience of putting something onto YouTube. 

PMI of PowerPoint

Plus	Minus	Implications
Can include pictures, graphics, animation, multimedia, links	Pictures must be relative to the audience	Different effects can be used to hold interest, e.g. float pictures in individually instead of having all pictures on slide at transition
Numerous designs to appeal to the audience	Some Students may find designs distracting	Can add to the theme of the presentation.
Variety of transitions from one slide to the next	Too many types of transitions can have an ill effect for the viewer.	Engaging if not too many transition varieties are used.
Slide show can run automatically, but can be stopped if needed to discuss an aspect of a slide	Timing needs to be spot on to avoid manual interference which could distract the presenter and disengage the audience.	Length of slideshow is an important part of the success of the PowerPoint. Too long may disengage students.

 

Prezi as a presentation tool.

The Prezi allows the presentation to be quite dynamic and the sample I made was an effective way to ask the question “What to do”? Approaching the crossroad of their life students are faced with a choice. The Prezi template offered the perfect backdrop to answer this question. As a tool, Prezi would be useful in the classroom as an alternative to a PowerPoint presentation. It feels very modern and I believe it would be a very engaging activity for students to create and use in conjunction with their own oral assessments.          

 PMI for Prezi

Plus	Minus	Implications
Dynamic way to move through a presentation.	Students need to have access to technology at home if they are to complete this activity outside of school.	The zoom feature is incredible and smooth to watch. Gives a sense of flow or movement
Great range of templates available.
Creative modes include sound, 3D and fade-in animation.
Existing PowerPoint can be imported and given a new lease of life.

Group 4 Technologies.

Digital tools such as Google Earth, Google Maps and conceptmapping are tools that even I am familiar with prior to this course. There is great advantage to using these in the classroom to demonstrate to the students various aspects of Geography and History. They are also engaging for the students to use in the process of learning. All of these tools can be applied to Bloom’s Taxonomy. Concept mapping is a great way to get thoughts down either as a group exercise or as an individual brain storm. This example was created on bubbl.us website and is displayed here by another useful tool called snipping tool which allows an image or text to be copied and pasted to where it is required. By clicking on the image below, an enlarged version appears on the screen enabling large amounts of information to take up less display space on the page being viewed.

Among the group 4 technologies I discovered Museum Box. I found this tool interesting and engaging and a great way for Students to present their learning. I believe all year levels of secondary school could work with this tool. The example of the Bald Eagle on the Museum Box website is a good example of how it can be used by the younger students. I like the use of multimedia that this example shows but must say I was unaware that platypus are found in America and are part of the Bald Eagle food web?? In creating this Museum Box the individual has had an issue with his Black and White de Bono Hats, however guidance by his teacher could easily correct this. The method of presentation does involve applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to arrive at the end product. What a great tool for learning and a bit of fun also. The Roman Dress example displays more levels found within the box and is more in depth showing the capabilities of an older student.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PMI for Museum Box

Plus	Minus	Implications
Multimedia applications can be used	Students need to have access to technology at home if they are to complete this activity outside of school.	Such a variety of information can be presented
Can have many levels so that more information can be presented by older students	The order that the faces of the boxes are read depends on the order they are clicked. This could make information appear random if the author is not controlling the presentation	A topic can be broken down into various sub-topics
Easy for students to plan, use, and present assessment
Engaging for both student and teacher

 

The Five Dimensions of Learning (DoL) framework will be incorporated within my knowledge of technologies to ensure engagement and learning is the outcome. Attitudes and perceptions that I held towards technology have changed. My fear of failure has decreased and I know with practice these tools will be very useful. Teachers require positive attitudes and perceptions towards technology and its uses to develop within the students positive attitudes and perceptions to their learning. Understanding the attitudes and perception of the students is an important first step to planning learning for students. Converting my technology learning into teaching in the classroom will be enhanced using the DoL framework. Technologies will be used for acquiring and integrating knowledge and, extending and refining knowledge. Technologies will be used to extend the learning through the use of knowledge in a meaningful way especially through hands on application of technologies. This extends not only to the knowledge gained from technology but also the safe and appropriate application of knowledge, e.g protocol regarding which websites to access, and not using technology for inappropriate actions such as bullying. Habits of mind is the last aspect of DoL that makes up the framework and is the action that brings all the other learning dimensions together. This aspect will be applied to the learning plan by practicing and applying these technologies again and again to provide the students with skills for use both at school and for life after school. 

 

Resources:

Bald eagle http://creator.museumbox.e2bn.org/mediaCreator/show/8953

Museum Box http://museumbox.e2bn.org/

Prezi http://prezi.com

Roman Dress http://creator.museumbox.e2bn.org/mediaCreator/show/8939