Then and Now What was then? Then: I was a nervous, social-network avoiding ‘mature-age student’ coming back to study after many years away from academia. I had used technology and worked in a Federal Government department for 15 years that required heavy computer use. Opening myself up to share? Putting myself out there? No. What is now? Now: I cannot do justice in my description of the total rebirth of inspiration this course has given me. It has come exactly when I need it. I am travelling down a very fast road to becoming a teacher. There is a huge shift happening for me and ICTs in Learning Design has not only been about how I can use Information and Communication Technologies to help my students learn. It has been a learning journey of epic proportion for me. It has thrown me in the deep-end. It has said, ‘you have got to do this!’ ‘You can do this!’ With support..... ‘you have to EMBRACE! Summary of Technical Enablers And embrace I did. I created and shared a blog. It was a slow process. But it felt good. The way each week was structured was perfect for me. I could feel myself developing in both technical skill and in my confidence of sharing. And each week applying the SAMR to my learning areas was so useful for visualising how ICTs will work in my classroom. I myself was moving from learning explicitly (make a blog this way, embed that way) through to the collaboration and student-led learning of creating ways I can incorporate these new tools to my imagined lesson plans. I collaborated and shared ideas with my student cohort, growing from them and with them. I made a PowerPoint, a Prezi, an audio file for a podcast. I have explored Weebly and what you can and cannot do in there (all evidenced in my blog). My trajectory of technical growth has been exponential. I am by no means professional standard, but I am not afraid to have a go and that shift is massive. Pedagogical Understandings and SAMR Prior to exploring ICTs in an educational context, I had simply thought of teaching in very black and white terms. Someone was either a good teacher or a bad teacher. Through this course, we have looked not only at the techniques of the ICTs but also at the art and science of teaching. We have been putting together the pedagogy with the technology. I have learned how to incorporate ICTs as a tool to help me teach. I feel I have real skills now to help me apply my pedagogy. Tools to help me in the way I will teach. Tools to hook and engage students. And ultimately, what I believe are skills to help me be a good teacher. Unlike my naive view before this course, nothing is ever black and white. And pedagogy is no different. I understand now that teaching will move from explicit, or low level pedagogy, through to high level pedagogy. In my week two post I discussed the revised version of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I particularly like that Lorin Anderson’s (2000) revised version changes the categories from nouns to verbs; to doing words; so much more appropriate to my mindset. And correlating this with ICTs brings me to Dr. Ruben Puentedura’s SAMR – substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition model. Analysing, evaluating and creating take place when ICTs allow for modification and redefinition. I acknowledge that bringing the two concepts together is certainly not my revolutionary idea. The images side by side below are sourced from one of many academic pages or blogs that do just that: Literacy Teaching and Teacher Education: (https://literacyteaching.net/2015/05/01/samr-blooms-taxonomy-for-technology-education/) (Source: https://literacyteaching.net/2015/05/01/samr-blooms-taxonomy-for-technology-education/) In each of the weekly reflections and our embedded tasks we applied the SAMR model. My favourite use of this was for my week four reflection. The tool I explored was podcasts. It took me down memory lane of meeting Oodgeroo Nunuccal in 1988. I regret no teacher taking me down the analyse, evaluate and create learning experience at that once-in-a-lifetime moment. The thought of using a podcast to engage and challenge beliefs and values is so exciting. Legal, Safe and Ethical
This is the topic I find most difficult to cover. Not because I shy away from legislation. That has been my career since graduating in 2000: legislation for the Club industry, Industrial Relations laws and regulations; and for the last 15 years, social security legislation and policy in all its glory and changes. No, what I have found difficult is the enormity and complexity of being safe, legal and ethical in a school context. The lives of children are so precious and their safety is paramount. The huge responsibility for on-line safety, for ensuring legal and ethical behaviour; as a mother, as a citizen and eventually, as a teacher; is not lost on me. According to the Queensland Government’s Cybersafety in Queensland State Schools, ‘to help prevent cybersafety incidents, students are taught how to…use technology appropriately and responsibly (and) behave in ways to enhance their own safety’ (2017). And researching the way different schools produce ICT and computer use guidelines highlighted to me that schools are most certainly on the front-foot with such matters. I will not be alone in dealing with ethical, legal and safe ICT use. It is without doubt the issues are complex and ever-changing. This will not deter me from ICTs in the classroom. Quite the contrary. The world is moving faster than ever before. We must equip our young people with the knowledge and the bravery to guide this world in the right direction. The role of teachers and learners In this course, I have been the learner. I would like to model the process I have experienced in to my classroom. The school work, just like my course work, must be completed. If I embed it, if each step adds on top of the last and I provide support, as the student moves through they will progress to higher end learning. They will take confidence as they move through. The confidence will grow with the gaining of knowledge at the lower level learning and it will open the freedom to explore deeper thinking. The sharing and collaborating gives true purpose and real-world context to what the learner is doing. Unlike traditional classrooms where the teacher did the talking and instructing and the student didn’t have a voice or a contribution to the lesson, today’s classroom is very different. The teacher helps to shape the individual. No longer do we try and make the student fit in to the one shape design. Good teachers shape what the student learns around their unique talents and the diverse ways each student learns. (MCEETYA, 2008) Professional Learning The sharing of our blogs and the interaction was truly powerful for me on several levels. In my initial hesitance to share, it was the viewing of my peers’ blogs that helped me on my way. While at times envious (all that skill and speed at which it was uploaded and shared), it was seeing that we are all unique and that there is certainly more than one way to skin a cat as they say, that allowed me to dive in. And then the engaging, the commenting and replying was so motivating. You can see some of the comments here. Through reading Tutor comments on a peer’s blog, I could see what improvement was suggested. I then contacted that peer (not via a shared format due to the personal nature) and offered to support them with the suggested improvement. I referred to another peer’s blog in my reflection as I wanted other people to share in her fantastic work. I believe it is this comradery, this networking, that I will take most from this unit. And I will undoubtedly apply this as a teacher. I have heard it said that the best teachers are the ones that share what they know, share their tips, their winning ideas. Because after all, are we not there for the learning outcomes for the student? And if all the teachers at the school, in the region, in Australia, can share great ideas, tips and resources then that is better learning outcomes and better engagement for more students. In conclusion The loudest cry for productive and engaging use of ICTs in the classroom is from the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, which states ‘rapid and continuing advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) are changing the ways people share, use, develop and process information and technology. In this digital age, young people need to be highly skilled in the use of ICT. While schools already employ these technologies in learning, there is a need to increase their effectiveness significantly over the next decade’ (MCEETYA, 2008). And here it is: I declare my goal to professionally, passionately and thoughtfully use ICTs in the way I teach. I am on this road now and I am not getting off it. References Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). (2008). Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians. Melbourne, Victoria: MCEETYA Literacy Teaching and Teacher Education, SAMR: Bloom’s Taxonomy for technology education. (2017). Retrieved from: https://literacyteaching.net/2015/05/01/samr-blooms-taxonomy-for-technology-education/ Queensland Government. (2016). Cybersafety in Queensland state schools. Retrieved from: Cybersafety in Queensland state schools Queensland Government. (2016). Cybersafety in Queensland state schools. Retrieved from: Cybersafety in Queensland state schools
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |