Over the last five weeks I have studied information communication
technologies (ITC’s) and their effectiveness in a learning environment.
The first week was most daunting with the introduction of new
technologies I was yet to explore. Toward the end of week five I was feeling
confident in the use of all tools and was able to analyse their effectiveness through
the use of SWOT’s, PMI’s and Blogging.
The purpose of ITC’s in education is to engage today’s learners through
a medium they are familiar with, Prensky states “Today’s students – K
through college – represent the first generations to grow up with this new
technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using
computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all
the other toys and tools of the digital age” (Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants by
Prensky, 2001). It is important to engage students through
digital pedagogies, it’s equally important to ensure the pedagogies used produce
a productive learning outcome.
What is E-Learning?
E
Learning is the process of learning or teaching using any electronic medium. Derek Stockley training describes E
Learning as “The delivery of a learning, training or education program by
electronic means. E-learning involves the use of a computer or electronic
device (e.g. a mobile phone) in some way to provide training, educational or
learning material, E-learning can involve a greater variety of equipment than
online training or education, for as the name implies, "online"
involves using the Internet or an Intranet. CD-ROM and DVD can be used to
provide learning materials. E-learning can be "on demand". It
overcomes timing, attendance and travel difficulties” (Derek Stockley 2003).
As
Stockley points out E Learning is not limited to a formal teaching environment
and can be accessed at anytime, this creates a broader learning environment.
De
Bono and Wikis
Early
in the term we were introduced to Edward De Bono’s Six thinking hats
scaffolding and were instructed to participate in a class Wiki using the hats as a basis
for a conversation about mobile phones. I think De
Bono's six hats is a useful scaffolding tool as it allows people to take on a
number of different "thinking" roles and promotes people to think in
ways that may not have otherwise. Using it to direct learning within a Wiki was
highly successful as it created dialogue and forced participants to look at the
issue from six different perspectives. After completing this activity I drew a
“hats map” and wrote a quick summary on my blog.
The six hats would be a useful scaffolding tool to use in the classroom with
students, or for personal use when planning a learning experience, as it
requires you think about the benefits, cautions, facts and process’s
of a particular idea or activity.
Group One Technologies
The first group explored was Blogs, Wiki’s, and Websites. The greatest
learning experience for me was the blog. I feel this was because it required me
not only to present my thoughts but display them visually and to analyse my
work, creating higher order thinking. As someone with a strong visual arts
background I found I could use the blog as my “visual diary”, recording what I
see, how I use web tools and what benefits they could have for others.
The blog has endless possibilities and would be a productive way for
students to record their ideas and thoughts on certain topics. It’s potential
is furthered in that students can upload images, links, audio and film and
share them with other students across the world. I think communicating through
a blog is preferable over Weebly’s and Wiki’s because there is less anonymity
involved, blogs can be set up so only other users can make comments creating
greater ownership of ideas.
Group Two Technologies
Group two technologies involved the exploration of video, audio and
images. My favourite was the audacity
program; it has such a broad range of use’s both in and out of the classroom.
On its own it can be uploaded as a pod cast but the great thing about the
audacity program is that you have the potential to edit and manipulate your
sound file. Pod casts can be used in a number of ways to enhance a students
learning, teachers are able to record their classes so that students can listen
to them again when needed. The draw back of using only audio is that it caters
to the audible learner; however with audio files you have the option of
embedded them into Voki’s, Blogs or even Prezi’s combining them text and images
to cater to a larger audience. Through exploring the use of audio in learning I
came across a page located on the Aussie
Educator site, which lists useful pod casts and tips on how to create your
own.
Group Three Technologies
Group three technologies focused on the use of presentation tools in the
classroom. I did a direct comparison on the use of Prezi and PowerPoint.
PowerPoint can be used successfully to enhance learning; Research shows that
animated bar graphs used in PowerPoint can result in positive speaker
evaluation (Parker,
2001). In order to use PowerPoint to its full potential its important not
to depend on the technologies, PowerPoint should not be used as a substitute to
face-to-face interaction and speaking with students. The program does have the
ability to address multiple learning styles through the use of embedding video,
audio and images but the bullet-point templates it provides can become tedious
and pointless to the learner if they are not accompanied by other elements.
In comparison Prezi gives the creator a lot more freedom in terms of
type, image, audio and visual manipulation and presentation. On a whole Prezi has a lot more “wow”
factor than PowerPoint, its cutting edge, easy to use and you can access all
your Prezi presentations online. I feel that Prezi is a little harder to use
than PowerPoint but this may be because I have been using PowerPoint for a long
time. I still feel its important to rely on the content, just because the
presentation looks great it doesn’t mean it contains the essence of what you
are trying to communicate to your students.
Group Four Tools
Group four tools were more of a self-directed exploration of some of the
great things the world-wide-web has to offer. I was particularly taken by
Google maps; the discussion it created during the collaborate classes was very
insightful. Colleagues suggested it for use of in class excursions; using it to
look at Egypt’s pyramids, or explore the Great Wall of China. Other suggestions
including using it to explore site the class may visit for school camp; then
determining the terrain, feel, look of the site and listing what supplies they
may need. The possibilities are endless and I’m looking forward to implementing
some of these ideas into my own classes. As an Art teacher I think it would
great to use to see where famous artists lived or the galleries that contain
their work.
E Learning has opened up the classroom to a range of new possibilities,
children can now see other countries, talk to children in other continents and
explore their own creativity in a myriad of ways and all from the safety of the
classroom. The Internet does hold potential dangers such as adult content, and
possible predators and it is important as teachers that we educate and protect
our children from these. Students are now engaging in more technology
throughout their everyday lives and its important that teachers keep ahead (or
up to speed) with these so we can engage them on a level that is current,
entertaining and educational.
References
http://internetsafetyeducator.com/cyber-bullying/
http://www.aussieeducator.org.au/reference/general/podcasts.html
http://derekstockley.com.au/
Prensky,
M. (2001). Digital natives, Digital immigrants,
Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
