Reflective Synopsis
When I began this course the classroom seemed such a familiar place. I recall sitting in a classroom with twenty-five or so other students, listening to what we accepted as ‘the fount of all knowledge’. If a teacher didn’t know the answer, you didn’t get the answer. But that was okay, because surely anything a teacher didn’t know wasn’t worth knowing. Right?
I suppose you might say that the CQ University GDLT Course (2010) and, more particularly, ICTs for learning design (2010) opened my eyes. But it seems as though it wasn’t so much that my eyes had been tightly shut previously, as that I came to realise that there was a new direction to look in - it was as though all the information was out there if I had just glanced the other way. It sounds easy when you put it like that, but you have to learn to develop a sense of adventure and exploration: Adventure to face the fear of the unknown, and exploration to make sure new technologies don’t pass you by purely because you don’t know that they exist or that there is even a reason for them to exist.
You can see a Blog as merely being a way of presenting a text to the world, but think about how this was done only thirty years ago. Consider the difficulties of finding a publisher and getting your book onto the bookshelves. Virtually impossible… but now anyone with access to a computer and the Internet can produce a Blog. Imagine the impetus that this gives a child when asked to write a narrative or report, that they have immediate access to authentic feedback from an international audience that is interested not in assessment, but in what is being said.
Making paper planes may be fun, but think of how much more you can engage students if they get to design real planes. Providing stimulation through computer simulation isn’t just an effective pedagogy, it is a means of embedding an authentic focus in a learning experience and showing how new knowledge can be applied in the real world.
Kearsley and Shneiderman's Engagement Theory (1999) proclaims that meaningful learning, where there is a genuine outside focus, is crucial to engaging students’ interest. As learning managers, we need to ‘spot pedagogical opportunities… and analyse and evaluate the technology in terms of pedagogical requirements’ (Scot Aldred, 2010) to ensure that ICTs are presented appropriately and extensively to students to kindle engagement.
My peer Michael Rozman summarised that ‘ICTs is all about the interconnection of engagement, socialising, learning, risk taking and memorising.’ (2010) I concurred, emphasising the importance of working in and creating partnerships. In a Knowledge Economy (Haughton, J. & Sheehan, P., 2000), information equals currency. But with instantaneous transmission, and easy storage and manipulation of information, those who stand out from the crowd will not be those that have the most declarative knowledge, but those that have traits such as high communication skills and the ability to collaborate on a global scale.
WIKIs are an excellent arena for developing skills of n/etiquette and social cooperation. In my Post ‘WIKIs’ I wrote that learning to challenge other team-members opinions, defend your own, compromise and learn collaborative skills are as essential as any of the other knowledge being developed in a learning task.
Mahara applications can be used to get students thinking meta-cognitively. Provide the rubric for expected outcomes and assessment criteria then invite the students to form groups and design their own learning plan. Experimental and self-directed learning are integral to Engagement Theory, and justifying their choice of submission requires evaluation and analysis, which are the higher order thinking skills set out in Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956).
The teacher can store and assess students' work in the one location, and this will make it easier to identify patterns in learning and adapt our pedagogy as required. As Chloe Towns pointed out, Mahara is also the perfect platform to network with other professionals (2010).
Students can showcase their talents. Things that they do out of school can be recorded and uploaded to show how they have interpreted a topic; one student might incorporate a dance piece, another a narrative, and still others scientific reports. This will cater for diversity and multiple intelligences – making my teaching more efficient, as engaged learners are less likely to be disruptive ones.
When we give PowerPoint presentations we can use the editing facilities of SlideShare to include music and narrative and engage verbal as well as visual learners, and also make planning lessons more efficient, having all these applications in the one program. In my Post 'Incompetech' I outlined how music can enrich the learning experience by adding that emotional element which facilitates retention of information. Programs like Flickr can be used: Images are so important in a learning context; they provide interest, humour, colour and joy to a subject.
Students will enjoy creating their own presentations and posting them on public sites such as Scribd. Getting immediate and authentic feedback from around the globe may motivate them to produce superior works and instil a sense of excitement and satisfaction in their learning experience. When we know the world is watching, our tasks become truly meaningful.
We can use any kind of ICTs to engage learners, from the humble mobile phone, to iPods, Glogs, Blogs and Mahara. As I commented to Carolyne Thornton, here in Australia, our challenge is not so much the lack of access to these technologies, but a lack of willingness from many teachers to embrace them. But we have an obligation to embrace them, for our learners will need to be technologically literate to be successful in the 21st century.
We must make more than a token effort at incorporating new technologies, and actively involve our learners in experimenting with, evaluating and analysing them, and collaborate with others using ICTs to create meaningful and authentic tasks that are of value in the real world, and not just worthy of a tick or a cross on a piece of paper. I will be using all of the technologies I have mentioned here, and many others besides, for all the reasons mentioned. And the best thing of all, is that not only will my teaching will be more efficient, but the learners want to engage in ICTs and this learning will prepare them to enter the post-school world as confident, competent, innovative life-long learners able to participate and succeed.
REFERENCES
Bloom, B. (1956). Bloom's Taxonomy of learning domains: the three types of learning. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
Haugthon, J. & Sheehan, P. (2000). A primer on the knowledge economy. Footscray, Victoria: Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
Kearsley, G. & Schneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement theory: a framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
ONLINE PROFESSIONAL CONVERSATIONS WITH MY PEERS AND LECTURER
Aldred, S. (2010). Mahara and primary school. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Aldred, S. (2010). Beyond school. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Aldred, S. (2010). PowerPoint presentation. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Aldred, S. (2010). ICT Week 2: learning styles results and thoughts. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Aldred, S. (2010). ICT Week 2: personality. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Aldred, S. (2010). ICT Week 2: multiple and emotional intelligence. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Arthur, N. (2010). Geocaching. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Ball, R. (2010). Geocaching. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Bowman, K. (2010). ICT Week 2: learning styles results and thoughts. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Bridgeman, L. (2010). Geocaching. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Clark, A. (2010). Costa v. Marzano. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Ellis, N. (2010). Beyond School. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Gupwell, K. (2010). Google earth. Retrieved from http://kyliegupwell.blogspot.com/
Gupwell, K. (2010). Incompetech. Retrieved from http://alicecatherine-alice.blogspot.com/
Havens, J. (2010). Week 4 - roles of ICT in education. Retrieved from http://jhgdltlearningreflection.blogspot.com/
Holden, K. (2010). Social Capital. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
James, S. (2010). PowerPoint presentation: the causes of acne. Retrieved from http://alicecatherine-alice.blogspot.com/.
Knight, K. (2010). PowerPoint presentation: the causes of acne. Retrieved from http://alicecatherine-alice.blogspot.com/
Knight, K. (2010). WIKIs. Retrieved from http://alicecatherine-alice.blogspot.com/
Linderberg, J. (2010). Technology to change the learning experience. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Martyn, S. (2010). Costa v. Marzano. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Moore, L. (2010). Mahara. Retrieved from http://alicecatherine-alice.blogspot.com/
Plumb, E. (2010). Synopsis to ICT Activity week 1. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Prior, S. (2010). Geocaching. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Rozman, M. (2010). Week 5. Retrieved from http://mrozmansthoughts.blogspot.com/
Slattery, M. (2010). ICT classroom tools. Retrieved from http://miriamsblogonprimaryedu.blogspot.com/
Slattery, M. (2010). (2010). Incompetech. Retrieved from http://alicecatherine-alice.blogspot.com/
Smith, B. (2010). ICT Week 2: learning styles results and thoughts. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Stewart, K. (2010). ICT Week 2: rating learning experiences. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Stewart, K. (2010). Topic 2: outlining a learning activity. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Thornton, C. (2010): Learning and technology for the poor. Retrieved from http://learningjourneycaro.blogspot.com/
Thornton, C. (2010). Mahara and primary school
Thornton, C. (2010). PowerPoint presentation. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Thornton, C. (2010). Multiple intelligence and emotional intelligence. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Thornton, C. (2010). ICT Week 2: Mazlow's hierarchy and Kunc. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au
Towns, Chloe. (2010). Slideshare and Scribd. Retrieved from http://alicecatherine-alice.blogspot.com/
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Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
WIKIPedia
WIKIPedia is a global multi-lingual encyclopaedia that is produced by largely anonymous and unpaid contributors on the Internet. WIKIPedia pages can be edited and modified in a collaborative effort, since the format of this encyclopaedia is a WIKI, which is used as a device for pooling and modifying knowledge between multiple users.
Because I am studying for Primary School teaching, I chose a topic to research in WIKIPedia that I believed would greatly advantage most students, and that is Literacy. Immediately, a definition was given to me, with the warning underneath that 'the article's introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents.' Being a collaborative venture, there will always be the chance of misinformation or 'vandalism' on WIKIPedia pages, but there are discussion notes on the pages with warnings as to what seems to be reliable information and what is not.
This last point seems to me to be more an advatage than a disadvantage of WIKIPedia. How many other poublished texts offer so many differing perspectives on a topic, which makes for an unbiased explanation. For example, I looked into their listing for The Vietnam War, and found that they offered other names that the war was known by, including The American War. There aren't too many textbooks written by Americans that would suggest such a thing (they would suggest that a reference to The American War smacks of bloody communism, probably [I'm being tongue-in-cheek here, really!]).
Back to Literacy, where the initial information covered a few pages, but as well as these, there were links to further resources along the way. Here are a few that I looked at:
National Council of Teachers of English
International Reading Association
Critical Literacy
The International Statistical Literacy Project
So even in a few short minutes I had a list of resources to further my investigation into the topic, and by copying and pasting the RSS feeds, can now access these at the click of a button. A teacher can easily make these links available to students on a Class Blog, so that they can research a topic from home. It means that you decide which links are appropriate (except for the more experimental of them, who will go above and beyond the information you have presented to them) and it is more exciting homework to watch a video on the Viet Cong rather than read some paragraphs in a dusty old textbook, that will probably not be opened until five minutes before class the next day.
So, WIKIPedia can be very engaging. Much of the vocabulary is highly technical, so for younger year levels it will be a more appropriate resource for the teacher as opposed to the learners, but it is definitely full of interesting, relevant information that has passed the test of WIKI adjudicators and contributors.
Because I am studying for Primary School teaching, I chose a topic to research in WIKIPedia that I believed would greatly advantage most students, and that is Literacy. Immediately, a definition was given to me, with the warning underneath that 'the article's introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents.' Being a collaborative venture, there will always be the chance of misinformation or 'vandalism' on WIKIPedia pages, but there are discussion notes on the pages with warnings as to what seems to be reliable information and what is not.
This last point seems to me to be more an advatage than a disadvantage of WIKIPedia. How many other poublished texts offer so many differing perspectives on a topic, which makes for an unbiased explanation. For example, I looked into their listing for The Vietnam War, and found that they offered other names that the war was known by, including The American War. There aren't too many textbooks written by Americans that would suggest such a thing (they would suggest that a reference to The American War smacks of bloody communism, probably [I'm being tongue-in-cheek here, really!]).
Back to Literacy, where the initial information covered a few pages, but as well as these, there were links to further resources along the way. Here are a few that I looked at:
National Council of Teachers of English
International Reading Association
Critical Literacy
The International Statistical Literacy Project
So even in a few short minutes I had a list of resources to further my investigation into the topic, and by copying and pasting the RSS feeds, can now access these at the click of a button. A teacher can easily make these links available to students on a Class Blog, so that they can research a topic from home. It means that you decide which links are appropriate (except for the more experimental of them, who will go above and beyond the information you have presented to them) and it is more exciting homework to watch a video on the Viet Cong rather than read some paragraphs in a dusty old textbook, that will probably not be opened until five minutes before class the next day.
So, WIKIPedia can be very engaging. Much of the vocabulary is highly technical, so for younger year levels it will be a more appropriate resource for the teacher as opposed to the learners, but it is definitely full of interesting, relevant information that has passed the test of WIKI adjudicators and contributors.
Incompetech
Incompetech is an online site that provides access to a vast array of free legal music to download and use without fear of breaching copyright laws. Music can raise strong emotions in listeners, so can be a valuable tool in classroom situations where you want students to really take notice of something. Music can transform an unappealing text into something majestic and unforgettable.
Research has shown that emotional memory is a very powerful force. We are far more likely to recall something where we were either in a heightened state of emotion, or where images or music produced an emotional rather than neutral response.
We remember things better when they are connected to a strong emotion: why else does Hollywood invest so heavily in magnificent soundtracks for their movies. Many of the most memorable and famous moments are associated with a particular piece of music. We all felt a tremor of fear when the familiar Jaws theme was played in the movie; we all (some of us at least) get teary-eyed when the music sweeps into a crescendo of dramatic melody when a major character is dying.
To be able to cheaply and easily have access to music is incredibly important to a teacher (especially considering our wages). We can add sound to our PowerPoints to maintain interest, we can allow students to choose their own musical addition to their own projects. Some learners learn best with music playing softly in the background as they work on independent tasks, so with plenty of music at hand, we can cater to the diversity of learning styles in the classroom, and those whose intelligence is musical, or verbal-linguistic according to the Multiple Intelligences theory.
Here is an example of how music can transform something ordinary into something extraordinary.
REFERENCES
Baddeley, A., Hitch, G., Gathercole, S., Hartley, T & Jeffries, E. (n.d.) The University of York: the Centre for working memory and learning. Retrieved from http://www.york.ac.uk/res/wml/
BBC Radio 4, The memory experience: a journey of self discovery. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/memory/understand/emotional_memory.shtml
Gardner, H. (1975). Retrieved from http://www.gp-training.net/training/educational_theory/multint/multint.htm. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
Incompetech. (n.d). Retrieved from http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
Smith, J. (2007) Writers on writing. Retrieved from http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=560&title=Writers_on_Writing
Research has shown that emotional memory is a very powerful force. We are far more likely to recall something where we were either in a heightened state of emotion, or where images or music produced an emotional rather than neutral response.
We remember things better when they are connected to a strong emotion: why else does Hollywood invest so heavily in magnificent soundtracks for their movies. Many of the most memorable and famous moments are associated with a particular piece of music. We all felt a tremor of fear when the familiar Jaws theme was played in the movie; we all (some of us at least) get teary-eyed when the music sweeps into a crescendo of dramatic melody when a major character is dying.
To be able to cheaply and easily have access to music is incredibly important to a teacher (especially considering our wages). We can add sound to our PowerPoints to maintain interest, we can allow students to choose their own musical addition to their own projects. Some learners learn best with music playing softly in the background as they work on independent tasks, so with plenty of music at hand, we can cater to the diversity of learning styles in the classroom, and those whose intelligence is musical, or verbal-linguistic according to the Multiple Intelligences theory.
Here is an example of how music can transform something ordinary into something extraordinary.
REFERENCES
Baddeley, A., Hitch, G., Gathercole, S., Hartley, T & Jeffries, E. (n.d.) The University of York: the Centre for working memory and learning. Retrieved from http://www.york.ac.uk/res/wml/
BBC Radio 4, The memory experience: a journey of self discovery. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/memory/understand/emotional_memory.shtml
Gardner, H. (1975). Retrieved from http://www.gp-training.net/training/educational_theory/multint/multint.htm. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
Incompetech. (n.d). Retrieved from http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/. Retrieved from CQ University e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
Smith, J. (2007) Writers on writing. Retrieved from http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=560&title=Writers_on_Writing
WIKIs
WIKIs are a way of making communication both easy and manipulable for multiple users. Unlike an email, which is read like a letter and can only be responded to in a separate email; or a Blog, where you can comment immediately on someone else's work but may not be read or heeded, WIKIs are as collaborative as you like.
One user may put up a list of what needs to be brought to school for a project, and another can add to that list, or perhaps delete something off the original. As far as communication that is separated by space and time go, WIKIs provide probably the most similar experience to an authentic face-to-face conversation, excepting the phone. There is an interplay between users that is lacking on other non-live communication.
I started up a WIKI to communicate with my family scattered around Melbourne, to get their help in deciding what I will need to bring with me when I move back to Victoria later this year, or early next year. WIKIs really are simple to use and such an effective way of communicating with multiple people in different locations.
In a learning environment, WIKIs can be used in collaborative projects where learners need to interact with each other outside school hours. As well as the actual learning task being covered, students will also be working on social and technological etiquette, learning to challenge others' opinions and backing up their own and working out how to compromise with others to achieve a result satisfactory to all.
These social skills are essential if we want the learners to be successful in the world. Learning the appropriate ways of communicating and forming partnerships in a digital medium are imperative in the twenty-first century. We need to become collaborators and manipulators of information on a global scale to be ready for the Knowledge Economy.
If we teach our students computer skills without using social appropriateness as a backdrop, then we are doing them a disservice. Just about anyone now has access to a world of knowledge at the click of a button, so to stand above the crowd we need to practice and acquire skills that best aid communication, creativity and exploration of the new technologies.
Wikis are a step above Blogs, in that with Blogs you can receive and return feedback to an audience, but with WIKIs you then have to decide whether changes that made are acceptable, you have to learn to compromise between your ideas and the ideas offered you by others. WIKI is a way of practicing team unity inside and outside of the classroom and of giving respect, thoughtful consideration and evaluation of others opinions, as well as reflecting on your own with the aim of improvement and growth ever in mind.
One user may put up a list of what needs to be brought to school for a project, and another can add to that list, or perhaps delete something off the original. As far as communication that is separated by space and time go, WIKIs provide probably the most similar experience to an authentic face-to-face conversation, excepting the phone. There is an interplay between users that is lacking on other non-live communication.
I started up a WIKI to communicate with my family scattered around Melbourne, to get their help in deciding what I will need to bring with me when I move back to Victoria later this year, or early next year. WIKIs really are simple to use and such an effective way of communicating with multiple people in different locations.
In a learning environment, WIKIs can be used in collaborative projects where learners need to interact with each other outside school hours. As well as the actual learning task being covered, students will also be working on social and technological etiquette, learning to challenge others' opinions and backing up their own and working out how to compromise with others to achieve a result satisfactory to all.
These social skills are essential if we want the learners to be successful in the world. Learning the appropriate ways of communicating and forming partnerships in a digital medium are imperative in the twenty-first century. We need to become collaborators and manipulators of information on a global scale to be ready for the Knowledge Economy.
If we teach our students computer skills without using social appropriateness as a backdrop, then we are doing them a disservice. Just about anyone now has access to a world of knowledge at the click of a button, so to stand above the crowd we need to practice and acquire skills that best aid communication, creativity and exploration of the new technologies.
Wikis are a step above Blogs, in that with Blogs you can receive and return feedback to an audience, but with WIKIs you then have to decide whether changes that made are acceptable, you have to learn to compromise between your ideas and the ideas offered you by others. WIKI is a way of practicing team unity inside and outside of the classroom and of giving respect, thoughtful consideration and evaluation of others opinions, as well as reflecting on your own with the aim of improvement and growth ever in mind.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Aboriginal Literacy Research Project
Cor blimey! - I have been doing the Week 10 courseware for Primary Literacy, and that 'Aboriginal Literacy Research Project' (Munns, G., Lawson, J and Mootz, D., Report to the NSW Board of Studies) was some seriously heavy reading!
I notice that that the coordinator of the Literacy subject is one of the co-authors. I feel very lucky that she is involved in the GDLT course.
I can see how the effort in gaining meaning from texts that are culturally irrelevant, or for which they have limited 'cultural capital' (MCEETYA 2000) can result in students becoming disengaged from texts and feeling little confidence in their abilities if proper scaffolded support is not offered.
Lynch's 8 Learning Management Questions, which include such things as profiling the student, determining where the student is currently and where they need to be and then to decide the best pedagogy and learning experiences to achieve these outcomes, provide the same foundations as what the Aboriginal Literacy Research Project suggests, but there are specific ways of teaching that must be employed in teaching students where English (or Standard Australian English) is a second language that must be addressed when teaching bilinguals and indigenous learners. And it is vital that we address this need, especially in matters of literacy, because as Freire's dictum states, "To read the word is to read the world." (Freire and Macedo 1987, cited in 'Aboriginal Literacy Research Project').
Learning needs to be relevant and authentic; we need to have 'contextualised learning' (Malin 1998). We know this, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the same is true for indigenous students as we have determined is true for any other student. It means that we need to incorporate plenty of Aboriginal culture and language within the classroom, not only to engage these students, but to model to non-indigenous students a sense of respect for the culture and hopefully instill this respect within them all (including self-respect in the indigenous students).
We need to address the issue as a pedagogical one, and offer specific, explicit and systematic strategies to the learning experience, with the expectation that the student will deliver. If we have high expectations of the student, it will foster in them a confidence in their own ability and create motivation, not only for successful outcomes in classroom tasks, but hopefully for successful outcomes in life and their future.
The text emphasises the need to communicate with indigenous families and the broader indigenous community to better be aware of both what they can bring to/offer the school and to work hand in hand in the progress of their children. It is the ultimate goal of all of us to create students who are confident, capable and practitioners of the 'learning for life' ideology. We don't want to succeed with some students and not with others, and if we do, then the failure will not be theirs, it will be ours.
Alice Howson (GDLT Primary) Mount Morgan
I notice that that the coordinator of the Literacy subject is one of the co-authors. I feel very lucky that she is involved in the GDLT course.
I can see how the effort in gaining meaning from texts that are culturally irrelevant, or for which they have limited 'cultural capital' (MCEETYA 2000) can result in students becoming disengaged from texts and feeling little confidence in their abilities if proper scaffolded support is not offered.
Lynch's 8 Learning Management Questions, which include such things as profiling the student, determining where the student is currently and where they need to be and then to decide the best pedagogy and learning experiences to achieve these outcomes, provide the same foundations as what the Aboriginal Literacy Research Project suggests, but there are specific ways of teaching that must be employed in teaching students where English (or Standard Australian English) is a second language that must be addressed when teaching bilinguals and indigenous learners. And it is vital that we address this need, especially in matters of literacy, because as Freire's dictum states, "To read the word is to read the world." (Freire and Macedo 1987, cited in 'Aboriginal Literacy Research Project').
Learning needs to be relevant and authentic; we need to have 'contextualised learning' (Malin 1998). We know this, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the same is true for indigenous students as we have determined is true for any other student. It means that we need to incorporate plenty of Aboriginal culture and language within the classroom, not only to engage these students, but to model to non-indigenous students a sense of respect for the culture and hopefully instill this respect within them all (including self-respect in the indigenous students).
We need to address the issue as a pedagogical one, and offer specific, explicit and systematic strategies to the learning experience, with the expectation that the student will deliver. If we have high expectations of the student, it will foster in them a confidence in their own ability and create motivation, not only for successful outcomes in classroom tasks, but hopefully for successful outcomes in life and their future.
The text emphasises the need to communicate with indigenous families and the broader indigenous community to better be aware of both what they can bring to/offer the school and to work hand in hand in the progress of their children. It is the ultimate goal of all of us to create students who are confident, capable and practitioners of the 'learning for life' ideology. We don't want to succeed with some students and not with others, and if we do, then the failure will not be theirs, it will be ours.
Alice Howson (GDLT Primary) Mount Morgan
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
SlideShare and Scribd
SlideShare is a remarkable piece of technology that allows us to play around with our PowerPoint presentations in a number of significant ways. A slide show can be very effective in engaging a class, but a series of pictures on their own will quickly become dull to learners who are used to multiple digital content on the one medium.
The editing facilities of SlideShare mean that we can add music and speech to further add interest to learners. Individual slides can have narration and music put to them, rather than an ongoing running commentary throughout the entire slide show, so that, if slides are paused to communicate with the class during a presentation and allow interaction between peers and learners to teacher, the narration of the slide show will begin again at the appropriate juncture when starting play again.
I spent several hours playing around with the programs that convert MP4 files to MP3 so that it could be placed into SlideShare and I could add a narrative to my Acne PowerPoint presentation. I recorded into Audacity, then was told I had to download a program to allow me to export this file into another. I went onto Paretologic and LAME and several others I can no longer recall, but had great difficulty finding a way of moving my narration into SlideShare
I will concentrate my efforts next time into finding an Internet program to record my narration onto, so that instead of having to upload the file from my computer to SlideShare, I can just cut and paste the URL of my online file into SlideShare. I know that this will work, and I believe it will not take me so many hours for that first exploration of trialing new programs. I realise that the way I tried previously will work if I muddle around a bit longer. I think the key point to remember when you are experimenting with new technologies is 1: be patient, 2: persevere 3: record your successes so that you don't have to repeat the experimental process again the next time you need to apply the new technology 4: don't slam your computer into the wall, causing serious structural damage to the house and irreparable damage to the computer.
Scribd is a website that gives us a forum to share our files, images and slideshows with the general public, or a selected audience. Within a week of posting my PowerPoint on Scribd, I had over 60 views. This immediate feedback from people around the world would certainly capture the imagination of young learners and motivate them to present the best work they can. What a fantastic outlet to share creations and comment on the work of others. I will definitely be employing this technology to engage my learners and give them that sense of authenticity, which is so important to retaining motivation throughout the learning journey.
Here is the PowerPoint presentation that I embedded in an earlier posting through Scribd. I have embedded it this time throughm SlideShare, just to make sure I am confident using that part of the new technology.
The editing facilities of SlideShare mean that we can add music and speech to further add interest to learners. Individual slides can have narration and music put to them, rather than an ongoing running commentary throughout the entire slide show, so that, if slides are paused to communicate with the class during a presentation and allow interaction between peers and learners to teacher, the narration of the slide show will begin again at the appropriate juncture when starting play again.
I spent several hours playing around with the programs that convert MP4 files to MP3 so that it could be placed into SlideShare and I could add a narrative to my Acne PowerPoint presentation. I recorded into Audacity, then was told I had to download a program to allow me to export this file into another. I went onto Paretologic and LAME and several others I can no longer recall, but had great difficulty finding a way of moving my narration into SlideShare
I will concentrate my efforts next time into finding an Internet program to record my narration onto, so that instead of having to upload the file from my computer to SlideShare, I can just cut and paste the URL of my online file into SlideShare. I know that this will work, and I believe it will not take me so many hours for that first exploration of trialing new programs. I realise that the way I tried previously will work if I muddle around a bit longer. I think the key point to remember when you are experimenting with new technologies is 1: be patient, 2: persevere 3: record your successes so that you don't have to repeat the experimental process again the next time you need to apply the new technology 4: don't slam your computer into the wall, causing serious structural damage to the house and irreparable damage to the computer.
Scribd is a website that gives us a forum to share our files, images and slideshows with the general public, or a selected audience. Within a week of posting my PowerPoint on Scribd, I had over 60 views. This immediate feedback from people around the world would certainly capture the imagination of young learners and motivate them to present the best work they can. What a fantastic outlet to share creations and comment on the work of others. I will definitely be employing this technology to engage my learners and give them that sense of authenticity, which is so important to retaining motivation throughout the learning journey.
Here is the PowerPoint presentation that I embedded in an earlier posting through Scribd. I have embedded it this time throughm SlideShare, just to make sure I am confident using that part of the new technology.
Acne Slide Show
View more presentations from alicecatherine.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Photoshop
Photoshop gives us another avenue of editing our photos and pictures, instead of relying completetly on Picnik. I haven't delved into either program in enough depth to say what the major contrasts and comparisons are, but when I ever have free time I will be watching this series of video tutorials on Photoshop and applying them on personal projects that have been on the shelf for a long time already.
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