Analysis of Digital Technologies
EDED20491: ICTs for Learning Design
Compulsory Wiki Activities from Week 1 and 2
de Bono’s Thinking Hats and the Practice Quiz
Reflecting on the use of mobile phones in the classroom whilst exchanging de Bono’s six thinking hats
was a fascinating exercise. It opened participants' minds to
think about a topic in six different ways, with some opinions changing as reflected
in some of their answers. This exercise exemplified how questioning techniques
and questions used can create answers resulting in different
perspectives. For ease of reading, I have uploaded my opinions onto my wiki as well as being available in the class wiki. A summary of my reflections can be found by scrolling down to "Reflection de Bono's Hats/Mobile Phone" in week 2.
My understanding of this thinking strategy is Black hat (Judgement) questions
enabled strong opinions to be stated as there was a negative context to these
questions which looked for all that is bad about the use of phone technology.
Blue hat (Process) questions stopped the negative thinking in its tracks to
remind the participants of the progress made with technology and directed the
thinking towards the possible uses and changing some participants'
opinions. Green hat (Creativity) questions started the positive thinking
process and asked for ways to make this a success
which resulted in some complete turnabout in thoughts as participants found
ways to introduce this technology in a positive light. Red hat (Emotions)
questions enabled a weighing up of what was positive and negative about phone
use and made the participants vocalise responses based on personal issues with
technology. Yellow hat (Benefits) questions put a positive spin on the issue
once
more and focused more on the benefits to the students and not the impositions
to the educators. Finally, the White hat (Information) questions addressed the
facts, the known information and what
was lacking on the participants behalf and what they needed to understand
through further education so that using this technology in their classrooms would be a possibility.
I for one was left with head spins after changing my views from the initial reaction as the mother of a teenager who does not own a phone to that of a pre-service History and Geography teacher who now believes mobile phones have their usefulness in the 21st Century classroom. The de Bono’s Hats exercise is a great tool to use as a Secondary teacher to start a lesson and to bring to the fore what the Students already know while encouraging them to think about a topic both critically and creatively to show different perspectives. Using this tool in a History class benefits students by removing prejudice opinions that may exist on a topic, e.g. The Nazis during WWII, and opens up their minds to higher order thinking.
Wikis are an interactive tool that allows editing to be done by anyone who accesses the wiki and because of this they are a great tool for practice quizzes. They enabled a group of people to work through the quiz at their own pace and participate in collaborative learning. In our Quiz Practice 11, Jo and I worked together while Kate and Michael joined in later. We could all access the quiz afterwards and make notes of the feedback that was given. I would be happy to use wikis as a revision resource or a whole class exercise but would be reluctant to use them for quiz assessment if it meant that anyone could access them and alter answers. Using this and other technology was inhibited by the problems often faced in rural areas in regards to internet connection. Week 2 reflection, The Journey Continues (can be found by scrolling down this page) summarises my personal learning of Bloom's Taxonomy in relation to technology connection in the real world.
Group 1 Technologies - Blogs
The thought of creating a blog was stressful, however on completion of the task the stress was unjustified. I now think of the combination of learning theories that I have used to create this Blog. I know I have learnt because there has been a change in my behaviour towards technology, which has involved the Five Dimensions of Learning (DoL), to inflict the changes needed to produce this Blog. My de Bono's Thinking Hats have been rotated so frequently that my hair is a mess and my floor strewn with "Coloured Hats". Following a behaviourist approach, I started building this step by step until a level of comfort was achieved in accessing the blog. Constructivisit Kerrie put on her hard hat and began evaluating, sharing, negotiating, weighing up perspectives, making decisions and creating "Kerrie's journey into technology". Connectivism and cognitivism have played a lesser role in this creation. Bloom's Taxonomy has played a major role in my behaviour to succeed in this task. Reflecting back to Week 3 - Creating a Blog, has made me realise the distance I have come on this journey and sharing these technologies in the classroom will be exciting.Group 2 Technologies - Podcasts
Being aware of how all
students learn in different ways means when planning a lesson I must cater to meet the
needs of all students. Podcasts are useful in the classromm as a valuable way of presenting declarative knowledge. There are a wide choice of free podcasts available on the
Internet such as those available at Learn Out Loud.com with many being linked
to iTunes. The length
of these lectures would involve listening to them over a few lessons or
including the activity as part of homework. Some of lectures on this site are
accompanied by video which would aid the visual learner. Historical and Geographical content is
readily available on the web, which will perhaps engage some digital learners more than
being spoken to directly. Also by making digital audio recordings and embedding them into other technologies such as a glogster, can be a useful way to ask questions to students to encourage higher order thinking. For such examples, click on the play buttons found in my glogster for EDED20458 Literacy and Numeracy in Secondary.
Group 2 Technologies - Resizing and Uploading Digital Photos
Looking at photos critically is a great way to make observations that are not "seen" in an everyday context. Geography and History are subjects where photography could enhance classroom activities that relate to excursions relative to particular subjects matter, e.g. Rock formations within the local area, or visit to the local museum. Digital photos can show an example are an instructional strategy that relates to knowledge, comprehension and application, three of the cognitive domains of of Bloom's Taxonomy. If these images are my personal property, there is no copyright issues to be concerned with otherwise acknowledgement must be made in the correct manner. Using MobaPhoto, a photos can be re-sized and uploaded in a suitable format that is easily downloaded by an email recipient or it can used in other web based technologies such as the example photograph of basalt rock in "Kerrie and her Wiki Journey." Available on the web are photos that may be used with appropriate acknowledgement. Other technologies such as phones and iPods automatically upload photos that are appropriately sized. Students would benefit from this type of technology as they could take and use their own photos which makes the learning more relevant to their life.
Group 3 Technologies
Twenty-first century learners are not afraid of technology. Scrolling down to Week 1 reflection on Prensky's "Engage or Enrage me", please note that a balance between the old and the new methodologies are required for today's digital learners. The Group 3 and 4 technologies learned have expanded the choices to use to engage students in my furture classroom. PowerPoint presentations and glogsters (found by scrolling down in these links)are two technologies available to the educator to present a concept and to the students for presenting assessment pieces. Identified in the PMI of PowerPoint are the plus, minus and implications of using this tool. Prezis are another useful tool to to help plan learning for learners. The PMI included in this part of the blog indicates the benefits of this technology.
Group 4 Technologies
Google Earth, Google Maps and concept Mapping are Group 4 technologies which many people are familiar with. All of these tools will be very useful in the classroom for investigations into History and Geography curriculum. Another new technological discovery for me - Museum Box, is a tool which would be engaging for a wide variety of age groups. This is an interesting way to present a report and it is suitable for developing skills in other group four technologies because of the ability to embed different media such as maps and video into the Museum Box. There is a US$99 per school cost to use this tool which would be well worth the investment for schools striving for a technological culture.
Copyright issues
Normal copyright guidelines for education apply to online material therefore 10% or 1 chapter may be copied of a work for the purpose of education. As a facilitator of learning it is important to correctly follow guidelines of ethical and legal behaviours. Queensland Government's Education Queensland website has information that can be used in the classroom to guide students and teachers alike to avoid copyright and intellectual property infringements.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my learning journey.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my learning journey.
Kerrie
No comments:
Post a Comment