This week is the final week of our course and the full time students will be leaving the university and heading out into schools in a few short months. It's a pertinent time to reflect on what I have learnt about modern technology in the classroom and how it can be utilised.
Surveying all the technological tools and software programs available to classrooms in 2010 via the use of smartboards and the internet, I was reminded of my childhood. I attended primary school in New Zealand from 1977 until 1985. There were no computers! However, our small country school did receive a video camera for a few months, and we used it to record ourselves reading stories and poems at lunchtime. I'm not sure our teacher even thought to integrate use of the video camera into our curriculum.
Similarly, it would be possible to use the programs, tools and games that we have been introduced to this year as 'extra time' activities for early finishers or for reward systems. But I think that the best learning value to be had from these technologies will be when they are integrated with the daily curriculum, and not just used as extra stand-alone activities. Although it may take a bit of initial work to make this happen, I envisage that eventually, the ultranet, for example, could be populated with activities, games and tools such as those we have been introduced to this year, and used as part of the day-to-day curriculum. This way there will be an incremental building up of easily accessible resources.
I personally believe that too much screen time is detrimental for young, developing brains - particularly passive screen time, where children are not required to think. However, I can see that judicial use of learning technologies, integrated with an engaging, inquiring, authentic curriculum that also involves a significant amount of hands-on, creative, and inquiry-based activities and units of work, would be of great benefit to children - particularly in stimulating their interest and motivation, and allowing them some control over the design and outcome of their work. I look forward to being smart in the classroom with the technologies available to me when I begin teaching in 2012.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Week Five Animation in Primary Schools
In today's lecture we viewed a number of computer animations. These involved variously clay, toys, paper and lego animation. Greg stressed the importance of integratingthe work across learning domains particularly as ICT is an interdisciplinary strand. He also noted that it is important to celebrate children's successes but then to move on and make the work better. I could see how useful this sort of work would be in populating the student part of the Ultranet, and for parents to view from home.
Firstly in the workshop we looked at the moviemaking site DFILM at http://www.dfilm.com/live/moviemaker.html. I made a quick movie (complete with typo!):
This is going to be a great tool to use in the classroom. It's really easy to use so it will be good for all year levels. It's quite fun to do and will get the children really engaged for example when they are developing their e-portfolios.
Next we travelled to Build Your Wild Self at http://www.buildyourwildself.com/
And then Zimmer Twins! http://www.zimmertwins.com/movie/starters. The children can join up and make movies which then stay on the website for others to view. This can be introduced at any level in the school. n It looks as though it would be a great tool for introducing children to the idea of animation, storyboarding, sequencing etc.
Next up was Sketch Swap at http://www.sketchswap.com/. It's important to be aware of appropriate content for children with this site. I submitted a drawing and got back a bunch of text saying "bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored" and so on!
Reasonbly Clever - http://www.reasonablyclever.com/
RollerMache at abckids - a toolbox to help create anything you would like to! http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/rollermache/plan.htm
Here's a great website: http://www.storygames.com/. Below is an example of what can be done using Rebus:
It is great for children who are great readers at Year 3/4. For example they can do online storytelling, then complete a quiz to check their comprehension. Here's another screen grab, about fairy tales:
For science, the ABC's science site is really useful with heaps of information for research, and games for kids to play and learn such as the Catchment Detox game:
Firstly in the workshop we looked at the moviemaking site DFILM at http://www.dfilm.com/live/moviemaker.html. I made a quick movie (complete with typo!):
This is going to be a great tool to use in the classroom. It's really easy to use so it will be good for all year levels. It's quite fun to do and will get the children really engaged for example when they are developing their e-portfolios.
Next we travelled to Build Your Wild Self at http://www.buildyourwildself.com/
And then Zimmer Twins! http://www.zimmertwins.com/movie/starters. The children can join up and make movies which then stay on the website for others to view. This can be introduced at any level in the school. n It looks as though it would be a great tool for introducing children to the idea of animation, storyboarding, sequencing etc.
Next up was Sketch Swap at http://www.sketchswap.com/. It's important to be aware of appropriate content for children with this site. I submitted a drawing and got back a bunch of text saying "bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored" and so on!
Reasonbly Clever - http://www.reasonablyclever.com/
RollerMache at abckids - a toolbox to help create anything you would like to! http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/rollermache/plan.htm
Here's a great website: http://www.storygames.com/. Below is an example of what can be done using Rebus:
There are all sorts of classroom applications to be found at http://www.ziptales.com/, particularly for literacy, numeracy, and science, for example. Ziptales is $200 to subscribe to for a whole year. Here is an example of what is on offer:
It will be really worthwhile getting together a resource with all of these sites and more, and updating it as I find new sites. As a teacher I would like to integrate use of such sites into everyday teaching. Most school now have interactive whiteboards, and at least 3 or 4 computers in each classroom. There are many and varied uses and skills that can be developed. Even basic use of MS Word with the monitor turned off - dictation - to illustrate homonyms!
All in all a productive workshop....
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Week Four Dust Echoes story retell and M&Ms maths activity
DUST ECHOES
http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/
Explore: click on 'Enter Here' button. Note: be sensitive about the Dreamtime stories ie check content beforehand. Children can select a story and interpret it. The study guides interpret the story and are useful for teachers to use beforehand. The study guides also suggest classroom activities. Note - be creative when it suggests use of worksheets - are always other more hands-on alternatives using the same ideas.
Today, we are to choose one of the stories from Dust Echoes and do a retell in Inspiration (capture an image while movie is playing). Use the study guide to assist in telling the story.
In the classroom, different children could work on different aspects of a task like this - for example, some could collect the photos whilst some could construct the text. There are many link-in activities eg make own animation, construct spears, links to Art, History, Civics etc. Add value!! get people from the community into the community!
Here is my example of a retell of The Moon Man using Inspiration. I think the ABC website Dust Echoes is quite sophistocated and packed with resources and that children would be very engaged with the stories it contains. I'd love to use this in the classroom even with younger grades.
M&Ms ACTIVITIES
The next activity we did was the M&Ms candy colour chart. The templates will be available on LMS. We have to be careful in the classroom as we may not be able to use sweets (peanut allergies etc - as a parent I don't let my children have artificial colours). We will need to check the school's food policy. Alternative could be to use envelopes of different coloured stars. Some kids could do it on the whiteboard, some on the computers, some on the floor sticking pieces of paper with glue onto a large sheet of card ... don't open packages right away but have a discussion about the packet and what info is on it, get them to predict. Oopen package and get them to sort the sweets/object. Can place objects on the chart or colour in circles etc. See the M&M website...
In MS Excel can create pie chart, bar graph etc. Useful for kids to play around with when introducing the concepts.
Keep it simple for them at first. Go to M&M's Australian website, can screenshot for characters to decorate graph ... do percentages of colours of own pack, class totals, chance and data activities ... check out nutritional information ... discsuss advertising ... history of company ...Children can also do surveys using Survey Monkey. They can create books for display.
http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/
Explore: click on 'Enter Here' button. Note: be sensitive about the Dreamtime stories ie check content beforehand. Children can select a story and interpret it. The study guides interpret the story and are useful for teachers to use beforehand. The study guides also suggest classroom activities. Note - be creative when it suggests use of worksheets - are always other more hands-on alternatives using the same ideas.
Today, we are to choose one of the stories from Dust Echoes and do a retell in Inspiration (capture an image while movie is playing). Use the study guide to assist in telling the story.
In the classroom, different children could work on different aspects of a task like this - for example, some could collect the photos whilst some could construct the text. There are many link-in activities eg make own animation, construct spears, links to Art, History, Civics etc. Add value!! get people from the community into the community!
Here is my example of a retell of The Moon Man using Inspiration. I think the ABC website Dust Echoes is quite sophistocated and packed with resources and that children would be very engaged with the stories it contains. I'd love to use this in the classroom even with younger grades.
M&Ms ACTIVITIES
The next activity we did was the M&Ms candy colour chart. The templates will be available on LMS. We have to be careful in the classroom as we may not be able to use sweets (peanut allergies etc - as a parent I don't let my children have artificial colours). We will need to check the school's food policy. Alternative could be to use envelopes of different coloured stars. Some kids could do it on the whiteboard, some on the computers, some on the floor sticking pieces of paper with glue onto a large sheet of card ... don't open packages right away but have a discussion about the packet and what info is on it, get them to predict. Oopen package and get them to sort the sweets/object. Can place objects on the chart or colour in circles etc. See the M&M website...
In MS Excel can create pie chart, bar graph etc. Useful for kids to play around with when introducing the concepts.
Keep it simple for them at first. Go to M&M's Australian website, can screenshot for characters to decorate graph ... do percentages of colours of own pack, class totals, chance and data activities ... check out nutritional information ... discsuss advertising ... history of company ...Children can also do surveys using Survey Monkey. They can create books for display.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Week Three Activities and online games
Today in the workshop we looked at doing activities with cardboard/paper and then designing online games. Greg spoke to us about the need to train children in the design process - Investigate/Design, Produce, Analyse/Evaluate. (Also note problem to be solved, and resources required). Can be messy because is rough draft at first. When all designs have been completed, children can write up their final design brief and draw a picture/take a photo of their creation. The example brief that Greg gave us was to give us a picture of a frog, some cardboard to stick it to, and a rubber band, and then design a process to make it jump.
The important thing is to document the process using the Design Brief, and to have a go. Get the children using the language of design - "template" etc. If one group of children couldn't get their design to work - talk it through with them/the class - why it didn't work. In our workshop we went though all the different products and there were about 5 main ways people had designed their jumping frogs. These sorts of activities use higher order thinking processes - which, of course, should be encouraged at all times.
Frog about to jump across the desk
The important thing is to document the process using the Design Brief, and to have a go. Get the children using the language of design - "template" etc. If one group of children couldn't get their design to work - talk it through with them/the class - why it didn't work. In our workshop we went though all the different products and there were about 5 main ways people had designed their jumping frogs. These sorts of activities use higher order thinking processes - which, of course, should be encouraged at all times.
Frog about to jump across the desk
It is a good idea to do one of these activities in class each week.
Frog at rest on desk. Note rubber band.
Next we moved to Online Games - http://www.quia.com/. This website allows a 30 day free trial if you register with an email address.
Online quizzes and activities can be very useful to reinforce learning in the classroom. For example, quizzes and activities based on the book the class is reading, or country class is studying, etc. Follow these links for:- my quiz on New Zealand: http://www.quia.com/quiz/2511795.html.
- my Battleship quiz on Melbourne: http://www.quia.com/ba/409888.html
- my Hangman activity on Farm Animals: http://www.quia.com/hm/667569.html
- my Cloze activity on You, Your and You're : http://www.quia.com/cz/347254.html
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Week Two Digital Portfolios
This workshop is to tell us all about ePortfolios, and using MS Publisher as the software tool for developing an ePortfolio. I'm already thinking I might use a different program for my ePortfolio as I do not have MS Publisher at home. Maybe MS Powerpoint? Adobe InDesign? Hmmm.
My ePortfolio will be able to be used for getting jobs when I am a qualified teacher. The aim is to continue to use my ePortfolio over time as a 'live' document. It will be evidence of my developing skills and philosophy of education (including my reflections and discussion entries), my various awards, achievements, and qualifications, my referees and teaching references (get one from teaching practicums... fieldwork... ) and my career experience (eg resume) as relevant for teaching.
Remember not to just fill it up with "stuff" but make it pertinent as to how I want to be perceived as a teacher, and to help schools want to employ me! That is - what I think is important. Select, make judgments! There will be things that are relevant from past industry and univeristy experience but there is no need to include everything.
Think - what will I have as my eportfolio menu?
Hints for applying for jobs:
My ePortfolio will be able to be used for getting jobs when I am a qualified teacher. The aim is to continue to use my ePortfolio over time as a 'live' document. It will be evidence of my developing skills and philosophy of education (including my reflections and discussion entries), my various awards, achievements, and qualifications, my referees and teaching references (get one from teaching practicums... fieldwork... ) and my career experience (eg resume) as relevant for teaching.
Remember not to just fill it up with "stuff" but make it pertinent as to how I want to be perceived as a teacher, and to help schools want to employ me! That is - what I think is important. Select, make judgments! There will be things that are relevant from past industry and univeristy experience but there is no need to include everything.
Think - what will I have as my eportfolio menu?
Hints for applying for jobs:
- in online application, stick to the selection criteria! (just like the public service...)
- if shortlisted - thank them for shortlisting - exciting to be in last few candidates (think teamwork! enthusiasm!)
- be early
- write down pertinent points you want to talk about in interview so you don't forget (Piaget ... Vygotsky ...)
- always have a question ready for when they ask if you have one eg if they have missed something about you that you think is valuable, or some further information about your school, or about the mentor system (which is a requirement for VIT), or what year level might be teaching if advertised P-6
- tell schools where you have been shortlisted if you have taken another school
- leave behind copy of ePortfolio eg on DVD if they have not asked to see it
Also in today's workshop we were introduced to MS Publisher and had to use a brochure template to describe a holiday we would like to take - screen shot below:
I found MS Publisher easier to use than I thought it would be (the last time I used it was a long long time ago). Problem is, I don't have it at home and don't want to pay for it. Adobe InDesign (which I do have) is much more "techie" for graphic designers although it too has templates to use that would be easier than starting from scratch.
My homework this week will be investigating whether to use Powerpoint or InDesign for my ePortfolio, then getting it started.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Week One Blogs
This week we were introduced to ICT in primary schools. There was quite a lot to take on board ...!
Note to self - look up mind maps on wikipedia and thinkbuzan.com - the mind map is a useful function of Inspiration.
Reflecting upon the afternoon's exercise, I think I need to work out how to use Inspiration in a less simplistic way - to get beyond the simple drag-and-drop process in a way that would be useful for stimulating learning in students. This will be my week's task.
In our workshop we all set up a personal blog in which we will document our ICT learnings over the next 6 weeks. This is my first ever blog, as at home my online self is busy enough with email and facebook (and I have never been prone to diary writing anyway).
Greg introduced us to Inspiration software (TIP: it is a 30 day free download - use in lab or save until end of unit). Greg says most schools should have this software. It is used for graphing and concept mapping. Example - a Year 6 student used it for a project on Roald Dahl. We all had a play and created concept maps/diagrams. it was interesting walking around the room to see what everyone had come up with. Need to think - how might I use this in the classroom? eg - good for sorting activities, say, after a visit to the supermarket. Today I did a very basic concept map of the animals we might find on a visit to the zoo. Students would be able to add notes about each animal and its habitat etc.
Note to self - look up mind maps on wikipedia and thinkbuzan.com - the mind map is a useful function of Inspiration.
Reflecting upon the afternoon's exercise, I think I need to work out how to use Inspiration in a less simplistic way - to get beyond the simple drag-and-drop process in a way that would be useful for stimulating learning in students. This will be my week's task.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)