During my participation in this topic over the semester, I feel as though I learnt many new valuable things and had alot of fun participating in learning activities. The following image demonstrates my learning curve throughout the weeks, with the learning experience being rated on a scale from 1-10.
Week 1: I was really excited to start this topic and getting back into study after having been on prac. I anticipated that I would gain new knowledge over the semester that I could use to reconsider my experiences of teaching on prac. Completing the Web 2.0 tool survey and being given the opportunity to (quickly) look at a few of the possible tools for presentation, I was really excited about the class presentations.
Week 2 + 3: We recieved our presentation tool and were given the opportunity to play with our tool during these tutorials. The largest majority of my learning about the tool occurred in the first tutorial.
Week 4: We began setting up our Wiki page and as all of the groups added their pages I became more impressed at what the class was achieving. We would learn about a range of tools, with specialist knowledge in one. I quickly became a fan of collaborative learning and was determined to include it somewhere in my unit plan.
Week 5: The tutorial presentations began and I loved hearing my classmates ideas about using their tool in the classroom. Rebecca’s lecture also challenged me but by the end of it I realised how much more the process of working backwards by design made sense. At this point I really got excited about getting some ideas together for my unit plan.
Week 6: This was the week that I gave my presentation. My thoughts about the value of group work were expanded and I began to value the experience alot more.
Week 7: After learning about the QT framework in Semester 1 I was a little confused, but being given the opportunity to learn about it again in Week 7, it all made alot more sense to me. I was excited that it had finally made sense!
Week 8: Being given the opportunity to listen to my classmates ideas for their learning plans was great. I didn’t feel as though I contributed alot to the discussion when it came to my own plan however, as it was more a swirling mass of excited ideas in my head rather than a logical plan on paper. But listening to Kristen and Mark made me determined to get to work and put my ideas on paper.
Week 9: Discussing my ideas for integrating ICT into my unit plan with Trudy was really helpful in terms of ideas, but I walked away from the discussion with too many options for Web 2.0 tools to use (not that this would ever be a bad thing, its just my time was running out!)! Being given the opportunity to also look at the IWB resources was also really helpful as I now have that as a resource for my teaching.
Week 10: My learning plan is finally complete and looking over it made me realise just how much learning had gone on for it to be able to be completed. A great feeling of satisfaction!
I think that the most valuable learning experience was the idea of Backwards by Design and being given the opporunity to use the unit plan design template. After planning lessons during prac, learning about this made me realise how much easier it would have been to know this before prac! I feel far more prepared for my next prac and believe this new knowledge will help me improve my teaching. Having another unit of work up my sleeve never hurts either!
I think the only improvement that could be made to this topic is to consider placing the QT framework lecture and Rebecca’s lecture earlier in the semester. It was during these weeks especially that I had some of the biggest learning experiences of the semester and inspired me more to get into the unit plan.
This has been by far one of the most valuable topics I have taken at university so far. As a result of this topic, I have learnt many new things that I will try to put into my own teaching. My ability to plan units has been strengthened and this has had the greatest impact on my teaching. Learning about the new Web 2.0 tools, considering my classmates ideas for implementing these tools in the classroom and being able to have access to the CEGSA page as a resource will also be something that will be incorportated into my teaching.
This semester, I have found that learning about the Backwards by Design approach to be challenging but a far more logical way to work than any other way we have been taught in other education subjects. Using the model ensures that assessment and classroom activities are far more organised and are sequenced in a logical manner. Planning an Inquiry unit is also more engaging for students as it is driven by an overarching question rather than just a word around which they will find information. For example, investigating the question ‘Disasters: An inevitable natural process or human-induced?’ is far more inviting and engaging than telling a class that they will just be learning about ‘disasters.’
My self-assessment of my culminating assessment task using the QT framework can be found by clicking here. I believe the biggest strength of the assessment task was in the Intellectual Quality section, as the task asks students to draw on their knowledge to provide an answer to a problem, while considering the opinions of others. While working with the Quality Teaching framework, I have realised how trying to aim for a high score in each element will achieve the best assessment task possible for challenging, engaging and integrating student knowledge.
Designing inquiry activities showed me that this is a far more effective way of communicating information and concepts to students as it is logically sequenced and highlights gaps far better than any other way I have experienced so far. Using the lesson plan template was also something new for me and was a great way of highlighting the best way to make the most of a lesson and getting the students engaged. All of the necessary elements, including connecting students to the material, getting them to demonstrate their understanding and reflecting on what they have learnt are all key parts of a lesson that I will try harder to employ in my next teaching prac.
The presentations we have each been involved in giving and viewing over the past weeks have been extremely useful to learn about new tools and gain understandings and idead about how they can be used in our future classrooms. My group (Ben, Mark and myself) demonstrated the Web 2.0 tool named ‘Voki‘ in Week 6 and gave the class the opporunity to create their own talking avatars to be embedded in their blogs.
The Voki has many potential uses in the classroom, including using it as a tool to safely communicate (ie without identifiable photos etc) with the wider community and globally. Our CEGSA page (found at http://cegsa.editme.com/voki) includes many ideas for using the Voki in the classroom and I have also begun to use the tool in other university subjects, including using it in my upcoming Integrated Curriculum presentation and blog. I particularly like this tool because students would be given the opportunity to create personalised characters for expressing themselves in a variety of contexts. From greetings in blogs to articulating complex ideas, there are many ways in which the Voki could be used, with students across all year levels.
This tool could have great value in our teaching careers as the tool is extremely easy to use and is engaging for all ages. For students with learning difficulties and students whose preferred learning style lies outside of the traditional ‘read and write’, the Voki gives the opportunity for listening and interacting with information and ideas presented. Students are also able to respond creatively using the tool.
Working in a group to learn about this tool had many benefits for my own understanding of the tool. We spent many tutorials learning about the tool before dividing up the necessary areas for investigation (ie use in schools, features, history etc). Sharing these ideas through the constant update of our CEGSA website was a positive experience that allowed me to experience and understand my group’s individual ideas about various aspects of the tool and potential classroom activities. As our own experiences of teaching in classrooms are also varied (in both context and time), the reflections of how the Voki could have been used in situations we experienced were also interesting and thought-provoking. In this collaborative learning situation, I believe that there were no negative points to comment on, as our group worked extremely well in sharing our knowledge and ideas of the tool and made the inquiry process alot of fun.
Our presentation in week 6 gave us the opportunity to share our experiences and ideas with out classmates, which I believe were recieved warmly by our classmates. Everyone seemed engaged by the tool and learning about its features, however during the time we allocated for interacting with the tool, I was asked by a few classmates ‘what’s the point?’. During this situation, I explained some of the situations and opporunities for using the tool in the classroom, which were described to them again before the conclusion of our presentation. In hindsight, perhaps giving our classmates a few ideas about how the tool could be used before allowing them to play with the tool would have placed it in a better context. Making use of all of the time allocated for the demonstration would also have improved the presentation, allowing our classmates more time to engage with the tool. Probably more due to nerves about whether we would fit all of our content into the time we were given, our activities may have been a little rushed. Overall, I still believe that our classmates gained the level of understanding about the tool that we had intended.
The presentations have been a great experience and have allowed me to consider various tools for use in my future teaching practice. My favourite new tool has been the Interactive White Board, which I was lucky enough to use while on my first teaching prac and school observations, but the new ways of using the tool, as demonstrated using the wireless ‘clicker’ devices and Notebook 10 software were alot of fun. I find the IWBs to be very engaging with students of all ages, as their uses can be varied to suit all year levels.
Keeping a blog using EduBlogs was another Web 2.0 tool that I have realised the potential of in the classroom. My group members in Integrated Curriculum and I have been using EduBlogs to help us design a travel blog to be viewed by students in aunit of work about cultural diversity and experiences for presentation to our peers. We realise it’s a new way to engage students, present information and also have them respond (through their own blogs or through the use of comments etc). It’s still (very much) under construction (will be completed later this week), but can be viewed at http://3608teacher.edublogs.org for an example of the potential use of EduBlogs (and Voki!) in classroom activities.
After researching the Web 2.0 tool Voki for my Learning and Computers presentation, I have discovered a few little tips and tricks to share:
-Creating your Voki: There are many great options for making your Voki character resemble the real you. Be sure to check out the ‘Tweak’ and ‘Colour’ tabs in the bottom-left corner to customise height, width and colour of your body, eyes, nose, mouth and hair!
-To use your Voki in your blog: Select the Voki you wish to embed (if you have created multiple Vokis that is..). Choose to embed in ‘Other’, choose the size you wish to use and click ‘Get Code’. Paste into your blog using the HTML mode and save!
- Sending Voki messages to a friend: This can be alot of fun and I sent messages to my group members encouraging them to join up. You can create Voki characters specific for your message, or you can use ones you have already created under the ‘Voki For My Site’ tab. Note that you can not later use the Voki messages you send to friends in blogs. If you think you may want to, it would be best to create them under the ‘For My Site’ tab first.
-Making your Voki character speak: There are several options for getting your character to talk. Call in on the phone (beware: an international call for Australian users), type in your text and select your gender and accent, record your voice using a microphone or upload a sound file (sound files are great for singing avatars!).
-Customised backgrounds: Voki provides many background options, including photographs of landscapes, typical settings around the home or famous landmarks (great for travel blogs!), just to name a few. Users can also use personal photos or drawings for a more personal touch.
-Player colour: Users can customise the colour of their player (with the play, sound and comment options). Great for those users (myself included) who are particularly fussy about matching their player colour to their background or outfit..
-Randomised Voki: For those users who cant decide on their personalised look, use the dice button in the corner of the Voki display screen to create a random character. Note that only the character changes using this button. The background image and player colour is not chosen at random.
More tips and tricks to come in later blogs as I continue to learn about this new tool.
What is your level of skills and expertise with web 2.0 tools and knowledge of how these can be used to enhance learning and teaching?
I have previously undertaken several education and computing subjects that have looked at the use of Web 2.0 tools. I am increasingly fascinated with the Web 2.0 tools that are constantly being developed and considering the ways they can be used in my future classrooms. With the research surrounding the new generation of students, referred to as Digital Natives, I think it is necessary to have an understanding of Web 2.0 tools to help to engage these new types of learners.
What frameworks and approaches do you use or know about to plan quality learning for students? What do you see as the strengths and limitations of these?
I am aware of several frameworks and approaches to teaching. These include SACSA, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, In my teaching, I try to incorporate Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and Bloom’s Taxonomy. In particular, I tried to incorporate the idea of Multiple Intelligences into my teaching on my first practicum. I believe it is important to engage students in a range of activities that cater to the various types of intelligences outlined by Gardner.
What would you really like to find out or learn in this topic?
In this topic I hope to gain experience using a wide range of Web 2.0 tools, consider the possible applications of such tools in my teaching and learning and have the opportunity to engage with my classmates, their opinions of various tools and consider their ideas for applying them in the classroom.
Welcome to my Learning with Computers blog! Here I hope to discuss my opinions and experiences using Web 2.0 tools as I learn about their potential uses in my future classrooms.
