This week I am playing with some new resources that I haven't even heard of before and can I just say 'WOW!!'. The possibilities with these are endless and I am in awe at how engaging some of these tools are. I have set up a flipgrid account and have set up a grid to simulate an activity I might carry out with a Year 7 Civics and Citizenship class. There are some functions of Flipgrid which I think would be amazing - but require payment of a annual fee. Once I graduate, if I can incorporate a few flipgrid activities into my lesson plans, I would definately consider paying the fee to get the most out of the page.
Bloom's Taxonomy and the SAMR Model really challenged my ideas about the effective and pedagogically sound use of ICT in the classroom. Prior to this week's readings, I saw ICT as integral to the classroom but didn't recognise the importance of it not only being using to present the content of the lesson but being used in a transformational manner which supports higher level thinking and learning amongst the students.
I found that the Productive pedagogy strategies were an excellent foundation to build my thoughts on. As I read through the list, I could relate these points to my individual learning and could appreciate how they would both increase my engagement with the learning environment and how my learning outcomes could be achieved effectively. As I think forward to my practicum and the lesson planning that will go along with this, I can see the importance that each point with play in creating an lesson plan that is not only engaging for the students, but allows them to develop deep knowledge and apply higher order thinking skills to real world problems. I particularly value the principle of allowing the "classroom talk to break out of the initiation / response / evaluation pattern and lead to sustained dialogue between students and between teachers and students" (Drawn from Ezette Grauf: Heuristics on Categories of Productive Pedagogies (New Basics: Queensland trials a curriculum for tomorrow). I feel the ability of students to discuss what they have learnt and engage in a discussion with others about what their understanding is of what they have learnt, can not only display their deep knowledge and higher level thinking skills but I find it is interesting to collaborate and put thought into other people's ideas and arguments. Discussions such as these move away from simply rote learning the facts and enable students to appraise, critique, justify or reevaluate their understanding on the learning that has taken place. This evaluation concept is also identified as a higher order thinking process in Bloom's Cognitive Taxonomy which establishes a framework for the journey from lower level thinking to higher order thinking processes. This framework links directly to some of the strategies for Productive pedagogy in that it sets out the processes that a teacher may wish to follow in order to assist students in achieving higher level thinking and understanding. As a pre-service teacher, I found this framework very useful, especially the key words identified under each category as they provided prompts for me to be able to identify which category my lesson activities would fall under and enable me to push myself to create lesson plans which would involve plenty of higher level thinking skills. It was at this point in my learning this week that I realised that my initial ideas about what 'good' ICT was in the classroom, were seriously misguided. The use of ICT to merely present content or to have students undertake quizzes or programmed learning does not represent high level pedagogy. Activities such as these do not encourage a deeper understanding of the material, present the students with problem based activities or enable the students to own and manage their learning. My thoughts were then confirmed when I watched the video which presented the stages of the SAMR Model. I found this Model to be an excellent resource and it really helped me to thoroughly understand the potential for integrating ICT into the classroom in a pedagogically sound way and in a way that transforms learning rather than just enhancing teacher led learning activities. It prompted me to think back on my experiences with ICT in the classroom and I can now identify that the majority of my learning experiences which included ICT were simply using ICT at a substitution or an augmentation level. Examples of this include use of a PowerPoint to display content, use of an online multiple choice questionnaire as a form of assessment and using the internet as a research tool for an essay. This type of lower level pedagogy, of course, has its place in the classroom but in today's learning environments, it is crucial that ICT is being used as a higher level pedagogy - that is, it is being used to modify or redesign learning and student experiences. The challenge for me, moving forward in the this unit, is to continue to evolve my ideas to design lessons which follow the principles of Productive pedagogy, take into account Bloom's Taxonomy and use the SAMR Model as a reference to ensure ICT is being used in the most effective, engaging way possible to improve the learning environment for the students. My experience of pedagogy is limited to being a high school student and a university student. To be honest, before this task, I had paid little attention to how teacher's taught me information. I was more focused on acquiring the knowledge and passing the assessments. The below questions really made me think about how my learning took place and whether or not I was an engaged learner. I am interested to see how my responses evolve once I undertake practicum and complete the final column. As a learner in this unit, my main challenges are going to be carving out enough time to ensure that I not only read the learning materials but understand them and research them further if need be. I have found the material for week 1 to be engaging and presented in a variety of different ways which breaks up the monotony of reading large amounts of text. I also find that the practical aspect of setting up blogs and wikis and adding content to these pages provides me with a better understanding of the material and the outcomes for the unit. If the rest of the week's content is presented in a similar manner, I think I will find this unit interesting and challenging. As a learner, I need to commit to time each week and ensure I do not rush through the work but consider the ideas and complete all of the activities as well.
As a pre-service teacher, I know that the next year is going to be a very steep learning curve in order to ensure that we leave university as prepared as we can be for employment as a teacher. From what I understand so far, one of the biggest challenges for teachers is ensuring that their students are engaged so that effective learning can take place. I see the use of technology in the classroom as a really important aspect in getting and keeping students engaged. The majority of students in today's classroom would be using technology in the form of phones, laptops, tablets or gaming devices on a regular, if not daily, basis. Information and answers are so readily available to our students through the use of technology, it seems a waste to not harness this ease of access and knowledge for the benefit of the learners. My approach to teaching and learning is that each learner is different and has a unique set of requirements for them to learn to the best of their ability and that I, as a teacher, should use whatever means available to me to ensure that they are engaged in the classroom and are achieving their learning goals. This might mean that the students are completing activities on their devices or researching a report by consulting with other students in a different country. Activities which, when I was in high school, simply did not occur. My experience with ICT in the classroom, until recently, was limited to the use of PowerPoint presentations by teachers and the use of the internet for research assignments. Whilst studying at university, I have been exposed to Moodle which coordinates the online learning for each unit. It is a dynamic website with various mediums such as videos and links to relevant documents. I have found that it has engaged me with the content in the unit as it presents all the information which I can then work through at my own pace. Something similar may work in a high school environment to support learning in the classroom as students would be able to revise and revisit various aspects in their own time.
In terms of being prepared to teach with ICT in my classroom, I would rank myself a 5/10. I am very proficient in the use of technology and feel comfortable using different mediums of technology and software packages. I learn quickly and know that I would be able to master the use of any new software or applications. I also feel confident in my ability to teach others how to use different programs and applications which would enable me to introduce new devices or technology into the classroom and instruct the students on their use. Despite being very comfortable with the use of technology, I am unsure of how to integrate it into the classroom in an effective way and to use it in a manner which would make it a valuable teaching tool. From my initial research, it appears that there are many resources for teachers such as various educational websites, quiz builders, subject specific apps which would be interesting and engaging for the students. However, I would need to work on how these can complement the curriculum and also how they can be modified to support an inclusive classroom. I would need to learn how to determine which ICTs lead to the best learning outcomes in the classroom and which do not. I feel that I would also need further information on cyber safety practices in a school environment as well as guidelines to ensure that I adhere to copyright laws and respect the intellectual property of others. Therefore, even though technology is an integral part of my everyday life, I hope to learn how it can positively affect my students' engagement and learning. |
AuthorMy name is Carly. I'm currently studying a Graduate Diploma of Learning and Teaching (Secondary) through Central Queensland University. ArchivesCategories |