Synopsis
Interactive pedagogical technologies available are a relatively new and important concept that must be embraced in order to enhance student learning. According to Education Queensland, numerous case studies and research, the integration of ICT in the classroom and effect it has on student learning is extremely encouraging.
“ Case studies and larger systemic reviews of the literature e.g. (Meredyth 1999, Wenglinsky 1999, Comber and Green 1999, Lankshear et al. 1997) suggest that teachers and parents agreed that ICT did the following when underpinned by innovative teaching:
• Motivated and stimulated learners;
• Solved some problems of students’ ‘motivation’ for academic work and competence with literacy;• Encouraged problem solving, analytical and creative thinking;
• Improved students’ understandings, assimilation and creation of new knowledge;
•Provided new modes of communication to network locally and globally;
• Provided access to data bases, websites and discussions that were previously unavailable;
• Assisted in the development of independent learning and research skills; and
• reduced failure for at risk students. ” [i]
Classroom practice is modified to adapt to the students of today, merging e-learning with the practice of learning theories and frameworks to encourage higher order thinking like that of Blooms Taxonomy and Engagement Theory.[ii]
I looked at many of the technologies in each of the groups to see how they could be used as educational tools within a classroom. All would be beneficial to enhance and transform student learning in one way or another. However the four I have chosen were four that I feel would be most valuable at this time for my future teaching areas History and English.
From technology group one I researched Blogs, Wikispace and Web Pages though found the application ‘Wikispace’ to be such a positive catalyst for student learning within my subject areas, with the ability to bring the majority of other technologies together into one space. Thus transforming traditional teaching methods into engaging new age activities and experiences to support student learning.
Nevertheless blogging has its advantages, as do web pages, which you can see from previous postings. Yet wikis have the upper hand of student/teacher interaction and collaboration, which strongly supports constructivist based learning theories and frameworks attitude toward affective student learning.[iii]
After researching the numerous possibilities within a Wikispace, I designed a wiki to demonstrate how it could be used within History to encourage student interaction and shared learning. In teaching I would use a wiki as a platform for constructing projects, evaluating and analysing, collaborative activities like SWOT, PMI and De Bono’s hats to help their understanding of topics. With regards to English in particular, vocabulary and spelling exercises can be done within wikis, co-creation of stories and assessments can be implemented and monitored.
When considering the use of Wikis as a teaching tool, one must understand all safety and ethical concerns that come with interactive online technologies. A wiki can be made private; content can be controlled and monitored by myself. Ensuring the school’s legal, safety and ethical guidelines are implemented and Education Queensland’s risk management of web publishing for schools followed.[iv] As a teacher this is my duty for the safety of my students.
For the second technology group I chose to look closely at Digital Images. I did attempt podcasts though after a considerable amount of time, trying to create one and contemplating the benefits of podcasts to my subject area, I changed my mind. I decided that yes podcasts can be great sources to use for a History subject to inform, analyse and support. However, when compared to the advantages of using digital images and software relating to it. Digital images have more to offer in relation to enhancing student learning within my specific area of History and English. Reasons for this and examples of how I would use Digital Images within teaching can be seen within my analysis.
Digital images have the power with one glance to alter our perceptions and assumptions of the world.Safia Swimelar (2009)[v] gives dramatic examples outlining how examining the assumptions we make from images, can lead to a deeper understanding of the importance of images in creating or minimizing awareness of issues. They have the ability to produce emotions and create meaning, explain an area under discussion more efficiently than a paragraph of writing and much more.
“To make meaning from images, the ‘reader’ uses the critical skills of exploration, critique and reflection. Lapp et al (1999) use the term “intermediality” to describe the combined literacies needed to read in a multi-media world. They stress the importance of active reading based on information visualisation and the importance of visual communication to capture attention, reinforce knowledge and increase audience responses. Visual literacy is about interpreting images of the present and past and producing images that effectively communicate the message to an audience.” [vi]
Digital imagery pushes students to use critical thinking skills by interpreting, analysing and understanding images and context. There are a diverse range of digital images available for educational purposes, many can be find on sites such as Flickr. Imaging tools like that of Picnik (2010) have many options to edit imagery, modifying and manipulating them to encourage creativity and engage students. My analysis also demonstrates the use of picnik as a potential teaching tool. When using digital imagery, copyright legislation must be followed as well as safety and ethical issues tackled at the beginning. Websites such as smartcopying and the department of education and training can aid teachers with these issues. With regards to safety, permission of use of student images must be granted by student or parent, however it is advised not to use student images online.
I have chosen Glogster as my third technology as I had a chance to use it practically with my youngest sister. I believed that compared to Prezi and PowerPoint, Glogster was more suited to her creative nature and short concentration span!
Glogster is an online poster creation tool. A virtual poster board where students are given the ability to combine images, audio, video and text, to create online posters for topics, projects and assessments. Further transforming traditional assessment methods within classrooms, and improving student communicative skills and higher order thinking through the constructivist approach of self-learning. Bamford (2004) suggests “visual images are becoming the predominant form of communication across a range of learning and teaching resources, delivered across a range of media and formats.”[vii]
Seeing the benefits as a teaching tool first hand enabled me to understand its uses far better than if I had made one myself. The Glogster EDU website has listed explanations and benefits of the class account and how it improves student learning. It also states that only students within the online group can access the student pages, thus the safety of information provided within the posters and the students themselves are not at risk when using Glogster.
For my final analysis I chose the online timeline tool ‘Dipity’. As you can see from my example, Dipity is a fantastic tool for my specific area and a great tool to bring a daunting term unit or project, into a comprehensible timeline. History is stereotypically based on past events and dates. Timelines are a traditional method of explaining the order of events and key dates. Online timeline tools have the additional benefits of engaging students with the ability to embed multimedia sources, thus developing and improving visual literacy and higher order thinking skills.
It seems digital technologies are improving and transforming our teaching methods within classrooms by giving us a wider range of tools to use, catering for the modern student needs. However with this comes the disadvantage of legal, ethical and safety issues arising. The technologies chosen do pose a threat like any other online application, though when dealt with thoroughly and regulations followed the threats can be avoided. Nonetheless, the integration of ICT into the classroom will support and transform student learning in ways that were once difficult with textbooks, pen and paper. It would be interesting to see the correlation between results of student learning through traditional teaching methods and results when student learning is affected by integrating these technologies.
Through my own learning journey of digital technologies the past few weeks, I have discovered numerous tools I am confident will benefit my future students. The chosen four were ones that at this moment in time I feel I would be confident to implement within my subjects that would enhance student learning.
In the beginning I was aware e-learning was a new way of engaging students, yet I admit I was unaware the technologies would have such an impact on students development in critical thinking or communication. Or even how well they could support frameworks such as Bloom’s Taxonomy and many of the Learning Theories. I am interested in seeing the outcome of these technologies within my future classroom.
[i] http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/D63F92A3-6931-464F-9970-D599BE3E390E/4520/ICTreport.pdf
[ii] http://michaelaj86.blogspot.com/2011/03/assignment-one-reflection.html
[iii] Al-Fadhli, S., & Khalfan, A. (2009). Developing critical thinking in e-learning environment: Kuwait University as a case study. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education , 529-536 pg 530
[iv] http://education.qld.gov.au/web/schools/riskman.html
[v] Swimelar. S. (2009) http://global-ejournal.org/2009/11/11/visual-culture-and-pedagogy-teaching-human-rights-with-film-and-images/
[vi] Bamford A. (2004). The Visual Literacy White Paper, pg 1. http://www.adobe.com/uk/education/pdf/adobe_visual_literacy_paper.pdf
[vii] [vii] Bamford A. (2004). The Visual Literacy White Paper, pg 2.http://www.adobe.com/uk/education/pdf/adobe_visual_literacy_paper.pdf
www.smartcopying.com.au
http://edu.glogster.com/what-is-glogster-edu/
