Week 4, Reflection 3

Tools in ICT  

This week in ICTs for Learning Design we are having a look at a few more technological methods that could be used to enhance the learning environment and make in and out of class activities more engaging for the 21st century learner; images, digital audio (podcasts, etc.) and digital video.

Choosing one to focus on was hard, as all of them can be used so often and effectively to aid in learner engagement. Furthermore, often each of these three things go hand in hand and can be used simultaneously to enrich school tasks and bring out the inherent creativity in students. I'll go over each of them in brief, then cast the spotlight on the area of digital video.

Images

Pictures are everywhere- from hilarious memes, personal family portraits, to the vane and shameless "selfies" that flood social media posts. These days all are pretty much guaranteed to be in digital format, and if not, can easily be digitalized. And the wonderful and sometimes irresponsible result of this? Manipulation! Photos can be resized, doctored (cropping, green screening (also known as 'photoshopping')), text and captions can be added using a variety of software (e.g. Photoshop, Paint, even in built software in mobile phones), and all can be sent through email, posted and attached to messages and entries in blogs, websites, and other social media outlets.

Here is an example of easy manipulation of an image; resizing to make uploads and storage more manageable.  I used the Paint program to shrink the size down considerably and change the file format from a PNG to a JPG. Also note the huge difference in upload time.

Original: 1900x1200 2.25MB Upload time around 30 seconds

After resizing: 320x240  41KB  Upload time around 3 seconds

Images can engage thinking in students, getting them started in their higher order thinking processes, direct them and visually encompassing what they are learning by giving them a physical picture to guide them.Visual aids are an important element for memory and cognitive processes.


Digital Audio

For my endeavor into digital audio, I chose to download the AudioBoom app and record my sound file there. It was unbelievably straightforward and easy. After creating an account, one just hits the red record circle and away you go.  Then you publish to your account and voila, you've created a voiced audio file, free to share and post anywhere. Listen below to hear a little bit about the use of digital audio.

listen to ‘ICTs Digital Audio’ on audioBoom

Digital Video

Video is nothing new to the world, and that includes the classroom. Watching an instructional video on VHS or a documentary in primary school was always a memorable event, and that hasn't changed. Now of course, more often than not, the video format is digital. The possibilities are vast.

Using such tools and software like Windows Movie Maker or SooMeta, creation of video is a relatively simple process.  With Windows Movie Maker, one simply adds an image or video file into the program and you're pretty much set. There are a ton of options that you can choose to tweak and personalise your video of how you want it to be. For instance, you can set it to music, add captions, text, titles and so on to the clip. You can add a variety of visual effects (e.g. colour changes, washes, fade in/fade out, etc.) as well. After saving the file, it can be shared or uploaded to sites such as Youtube, a platform for sharing video files, in order to make it public to the world wide audience.

I personally have some prior experience with Movie Maker and YouTube.  Although I don't make 'movies' or 'video' in the actual sense of the word, I use them for one of my hobbies- mixing music.
After I mix and record a set, I select a still image and upload that into Movie Maker.  Then I take the audio file of my set and set that still image to the music, essentially playing the image on repeat for the duration of the audio file.  I sometimes place the artist and title of the track that is playing as a caption, adding effects like scrolling and fading. The end result is a digital 'video' that I then upload and share on my YouTube channel. As I mentioned above, this is a good example of how images, audio and video are all used together to create stimulating media.

Here is one of my mixes on YouTube. If you're interested, feel free to check out the others on my channel as well! (shameless promotion?)

Entertainment and fun are both well and good, but how could digital video by implemented in an educational setting?

Everyone has their own preferred learning style. Obviously for the visual learners, video would be an ideal method of lesson and instruction. From the teacher's side of things, video can be an effective tool for delivering knowledge to learners. Visually engaging, video is a good medium to facilitate memory and cognitive thinking, creating quick and lasting images which aid the learner's ability to retain information. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so a lengthier video must be worth much more then! In addition, some things are much easier to grasp and comprehend when we physically see them demonstrated: processes, experiments, simulations, and even recreations of historical events. Visual stimuli (usually coupled with auditory elements as well) play an important role in recalling new knowledge.

Apart from passively watching a video, having students use their knowledge and creativity to make a video would be an excellent way to demonstrate their understanding of a topic, not to mention a fun way to learn. Using all the multimedia tools, software and programs readily available today, shooting, cutting and editing an attractive video can also be relatively easily done.

Once again referring back to the SAMR model, let's have a look at some possible examples of using digital videos in the classroom at the model's four levels.

Substitution  - Students could watch an online video in class explaining a scientific or mechanical process.  This is really the same as analogue video, merely a different platform, and just replaces what a teacher could verbally do, as well. But this format might simply be more interesting to the modern learner.

Augmentation - Using mobile devices or modern cameras to watch and film digital video, with quick easy access to editing options, watching whenever and wherever (not just in class, but on the go, at home, etc.)

Modification - Students could make and edit a digital video, adding text, music, captions, etc. to highlight key points.

Re-definition -After using all the modern software to create, edit, and execute their own visual presentation, students could upload and share it on sites such as YouTube, reaching a world-wide audience.


All types of multimedia can be an excellent pedagogical tool, inside as well as outside of the classroom.  Educators must, however, be aware of certain legal, privacy, copyright and other ethical matters that modern media carries with it, and use these tools in accordance with their school's rules and legal allowances, ensuring a safe learning environment for teachers and students alike.

Week 3: Reflection 2

The Technological Tools of Pedagogy: The Blog

Source: http://unbounce.com/content-marketing/your-blog-your-rules/

This week we looked more into the tools available in the world of technology that could be used as a means of education, learner engagement, and creative productivity- blogs, wikis, and websites.  In this post I will be taking a close and analytical look at the blog (abbreviated form of web log).

What are blogs, and how are they used?

Blogs have been around for a couple of decades now, and have in that time evolved from simplistic journals and diaries to very interactive and versatile tools for information, connectivism and functionality.  Modern blogs can contain imbedded media (videos, audio, pictures, links) that give the reader (and writer!) a myriad of options to expose the world wide audience to whatever it is the author is ‘blogging’ about.  Blog topics are as endless as the imagination, ranging from mundane daily accounts of life (like a diary), updating readers on the inner thoughts and actions of the author , to professional news reports, journals, travel information, questionnaires, and much more. 

For this university course, the first thing we were to do was to set up our own blog.  I had never had my own blog before, for whatever reason I didn’t deem it totally necessary for my life.  But setting up this one I was amazed and even enthralled once I saw how easy and exciting it was to personalize it and give it the appearance and layout I wanted.  In a word: easy.  Gone are the days when the average person can only passively observe the web.  With Web 2.0 (What is Web 2.0?), construction of your own web space has been made extremely user-friendly.  For the blog, easy manipulation of provided backgrounds, colour schemes, layouts and fonts make for a simple yet interesting way of personalising your own little domain on the world wide web, done in such a way the average lay-person would get it with next to no difficulty.

What it means for education

Source: http://instructionaltechtalk.com/3-reasons-students-blogging/

Blogs also can serve as an effective education tool for learners.   Through writing, reading and commenting on blogs, learners become engaged in the learning process.  Teachers could have a blog set up with course work and information, and require students to read, reflect and comment.  For more learner centred work, the students themselves could write course appropriate blogs to analyse, reflect, and create their own tools to demonstrate their growing declarative and procedural knowledge of a topic, linking to other sites, wikis, video and tools for user interaction.  It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but in this day and age it might be more appealing to the modern tech-savvy student than perhaps a dull pen-to-paper essay or report.  Learning styles vary, and educators need to use a wide variety of media to engage and build learner enthusiasm and learner centred approaches.  Blogs are one such possibility.

In the future I plan to teach English, German, and French.  Blogs could be a useful tool in the classroom in many ways.  They could provide a scaffold and link to vocabulary activities and games for rote learning or guides to grammar and cultural topics and articles, connecting the learners with a vast international audience. Using the SAMR Model (see earlier related post here), which was developed by Dr Reuben Puentedura and describes the ways technology is used in pedagogical environments, let me explain some possible implementations of how blogs could be used in future teaching.

S (Substitution) – At this level, a blog could be used as a simple substitute for creative writing, essays, reports and reflections as opposed to pen and paper format.

A (Augmentation) – One can improve on the functionality here by having students find topic related blogs (e.g. German culture, food, travel) and interact through the provided tools and links and/or comments.

M (Modification) – Now transforming the normal classroom into a more tech-integrated experience, an example could be to have students analyse a text (e.g. Shakespeare), then share thoughts and opinions through embedded wikis or ‘jigsaw’ activities, providing students with a large online audience and a social constructivist and scaffolded approach.

R (Redefinition) – Using technology in a way that couldn’t have been possible before, students could create blogs, make personal videos, recreate scenes from novels using Upstage or Xtranormal, add interactive tools (e.g. vokis) to guide/pose/answer questions and link multimedia applications to the blog for a varied and eye-catching report.

The Good, the Bad, the Blog

I came up with a PMI (Positive/Minus/Interesting) chart for using blogs as an educational tool.  Let this voki from the distant future continue and explain. Note: His is a slightly abridged version due to text length limits. If you cannot see or hear him, you can click here 

Positive	Minus	Interesting
* Blogs are easy to make and     use - user-friendly  * As the author, you have     control over content  * Versatile with what you can     put on them  * Could be a more engaging     method of learning for     students  * Can use both teacher-centred     AND learner-centred     approaches	* Can be seen as a simple substitute      for writing on paper  *  Readers can only comment on      content, not much real interaction  *  Comments can be monitored and      removed by author or moderator	* Most schools do not allow and      block blog sites at schools  *  Would all learners benefit and find      the use of blogs helpful, engaging,      and interesting?  *  A possible medium for online      harassment and bullying?

 
And I'll leave you with a humorous interpretation of Bloom's Taxonomy according to Seinfeld.
Until next time!

Week 2: Blooms Taxonomy and the SAMR Model

This week we looked at two pedagogical models, the tried and true oldy-but-goody Bloom's Taxonomy, and the SAMR Model, each having their own attributes.

Bloom's Taxonomy was thought up in the mid 20th century (1956) and, although it has been slightly modified, remains a useful guide for educators who want to create lessons and units of work that explore beyond the scope of rote learning, challenging students into the deeper, higher order cognitive department.  It moved beyond the at the time go-to learning/teaching method of behaviourism, into broader fields, where learners not only memorize information and certain knowledge, but get a chance to apply, analyze, evaluate and use their complete knowledge and cognition to create new ideas from this learned content; a higher order of thinking.


The SAMR Model, on the other hand, was devised to show effective implementation of technology as a tool of effective pedagogy in the classroom. It shows tech use from low-level substitution and modification to more transformative means and methods, culminating in a use of technology to teach and promote a higher level of application which wasn't possible before without said technology, be it an online application, game, program, or social media tool. 

Bloom's is obviously broader in scope, where SAMR focuses specifically in the realm of tech use.  However, Bloom's can also incorporate this aspect into its model.  I found a handy diagram illustrating the relationship and integration of these two models.

Source: http://drapestak.es/that-time-where-samr-gets-us-in-trouble-2/

Week 2: Reflection 1

This week we all participated in a wiki activity using the de Bono's Hats approach about the issue of mobile phones in the classroom.  Now I was a bit baffled and it took a little bit of minor research to see what exactly these ‘hats’ entailed.  I apparently wasn’t exposed to this in primary as many of you were.  But after a quick Google search light was soon shed on this practice, and I dove in to the wiki. 

Source: peak-ict.wikispaces.com

And speaking of wikis, this was also my first experience with those. Although not altogether the same, I used to post on certain internet discussion forums, and those have a slightly similar way about them, so I it didn’t take long at all to wrap my head around what was going on. 

As for the design of the activity, I thought using a wiki as the platform for the mobile phone discussion was a good one, as well as the de Bono's Hats method.  This method of learning/discussion is a great example of how people can effectively gain insight and understanding not just from the opinions and posts of others, but by ‘putting on’ the different colored hats and thinking about the topic from another angle, self-reflection, understanding, and further analysis can also occur.  It also goes to show that this activity was a good tool of effective pedagogy.  Here’s why:

Source: http://expertbeacon.com/blooms-taxonomy/

By using the de Bono's Hats, we were presented with a topic, forced to analyse the topic from different viewpoints (regardless of our humble opinion), ranging from past, present, future and to the possible and hypothetical.  This is a perfect example of using scaffolded learning to promote those higher order thinking skills, which lie in the higher tiers of the Bloom’s Taxonomy triangle. This is what effective pedagogy aims to achieve in learners.  It goes beyond the scope of just regurgitating facts to thinking about the knowledge, applying it to a real, personal, or hypothetical scenario, analysing the reaction and/or effect, and evaluating the overall outcome or possible outcomes.   So in this way, I thought the design of the activity was very effective in getting students to think more deeply on the topic, exercising those cognitive skills, in an environment where they felt comfortable and safe voicing their opinions, therefore promoting a healthier, safer, more productive learning area.

After reading about different types of learning theories over these past few weeks, things are slowly but surely looking a bit clearer as of late in regards to the incorporation of different learning strategies in activities, and this mobile phone wiki activity was a good example of that.  Coupled with the deBono’s Hats method, the scaffolding was presented to us through the multiple hats (along with some early birds who made the first postings), guiding us through a discussion, engaging and building on, and sometimes disagreeing with the opinions of others.  Working together and learning through discussion and ‘social’ discovery represents the learning theory of Social Constructivism which was apparent in this activity.

The fact that this activity was done using an online medium known as a wiki leads one to believe this is also using a proposed learning theory for the modern era called Connectivism.  We gave our opinions online, but I am sure that many were at the same time using the internet to research more over the topic, finding handy links to add to your posts in order to gain more of an understanding of the topic and to have more of an informed opinion when posting.

Source: http://edtechvoice.com/lesson-1/the-samr-model/

Now wikis aren’t exactly a revelation or a transformative tiered medium, and citing the SAMR model, they are at best a substitute or an augmentation of what could be done without this technology.  However, one might lean toward the augmentation tier, as the online forum provides an immediate vast audience that puts a singular classroom to shame!  Without careful moderation on public wikis, however (as people can delete, alter and edit other people’s posts), it could get quite messy, confusing, and downright dirty in many situations, especially when assuming the online community as a whole is not so trustworthy or mature. Luckily our little activity was done amongst our own cohort, where we are sure we can safely voice our opinions and aren’t in danger of being bullied!

Overall, I enjoyed this activity and thought it was an insightful and effective method for getting us to use those higher order thinking skills about a topic we as future educators have a distinct opinion about. Bravo!

Week 1 Reflection (ICTs for Learning Design)

Hello all, welcome to the first of many forthcoming blog entries for our course ICTs For Learning Design.

First of all, a small tidbit of information about my background.  I have a Bachelor’s degree in languages (German and French), as well as a keen interest in linguistics in general. For the past 12 or so years I have been teaching English as a second language in various capacities and countries, from the United States, Japan and now in Australia.  I’ve taught and worked with children as young as 2 years old up to the golden ages of life.  I enjoy teaching immensely and having had this experience, I have already been privy to seeing how not only each age group of students differs in regards to how they learn, but how each individual within each age group benefits from different learning/teaching styles.

Disclaimer: Despite my love of linguistics, I am not usually one for reflecting my thoughts in the written word, and therefore, my sincere apologies if you find my writing boring, repetitive, or downright uninspiring and painful to read :)

So far this week we’ve been exposed to some interesting ideas, and for many of us, some new terminologies and theories.

No two people are alike.  This is obvious from appearance and from observed behaviour.  Therefore it also stands clear that no two people learn in the same way.  A small quote from Ignacia Estrada (which I boldly stole for use in my own blog) sums up beautifully in one small sentence what daunting task lies before a teacher:

                                                                Source : Google images

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the Learning Theories outlined in this week’s material.

Behaviourism - a worldview that assumes the learning is essentially passive, where learners respond to environmental stimuli…starting off as a clean slate, and become shaped through positive or negative reinforcement. (http://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html)

This style is often used when teaching languages, for example learning new categorized vocabulary sets (i.e. parts of the body, objects found in kitchens, etc.), especially in the basic and elementary levels.  It’s very effective, giving the students simple associated input which can also be practised and assessed in quiz or drill form.

Cognitivism – a response to behaviourism; people are not ‘programmed animals’ that merely respond to environmental stimuli.  People are rational beings that require active participation in order to learn. Cognitivism uses the metaphor of the mind as a computer: information comes in, is being processed, and leads to certain outcomes. (http://www.learning-theories.com/cognitivism.html)

Material learned gets processed and gets put into short and/or hopefully long term memory if the brain deems it necessary, applicable to life situations, or relevant and important.  Therefore practical applications of ideas and concepts aid the retention of knowledge.

Constructivism – a theory stating that the acquisition of knowledge is enhanced and built (or ‘constructed’) through interacting with others, drawing on culture, personal past experience and exposure.  It’s therefore a profoundly social process of building knowledge, through discussions with teachers and peers.

Connectivism – this theory is very applicable to this day and age, where knowledge and information can be accessed from a vast array of resources. Gone are the days when students flock to the antiquated campus or public library to do research. Information is a simple mouse-click away.  Students are encouraged to take advantage of the internet and all of its content by searching for information in the type of media that they find enlightening, accessible, and interesting, whether it is in the form of articles, blogs, audio or video.

This idea for learning is of course dear to this course, as you can see from the title. Utilising online content, media, and information from the plethora of available online sources to enhance the learning experience is a kind of self-guided learning for the 21^st century.  We’re doing it now!

I am looking forward to learning more about what possibilities lie out there to help me as an educator and, therefore, to help my future students learn in a fun, stimulating and interesting way.  Getting to know each of your students, what they like and dislike, what fascinates them as well as what shuts off their brains, is paramount in being an effective teacher.  The next step is then to USE that knowledge to come up with some ways to facilitate their learning, preferably with them not comparing the process to pulling teeth!

I really enjoyed the Youtube clip of Sir Ken Robinson (Do schools kill creativity?) 

He raises some very interesting and thought-provoking points about the dangers of stifling and muzzling the creativity of students.  Everyone learns differently, and in order to let everyone shine as bright as they can, keep your lessons as a teacher stimulating, varied, and malleable in order to bring out the inherent creativity in your students.

Until next time!