Reflective Synopsis

“The professional environment that new teachers will enter is rapidly changing due to the confluence of a number disparate currents for change” (Heath, 2001, p. 3). Advances in technology, globalization, social change, the new knowledge economy and ICT integration, have, by association, changed the face of education (Heath, 2001, p. 3; Houghton & Sheehan, 2000; Lynch, 2005). Throughout my journey in ICTs for Learning Design, I have indeed learnt that pedagogical approaches and learning sites have changed dramatically since I began my education 20 years ago. I reflect upon this in my post 'Learner-centric and Teacher-centric Education.'

Over the past 8 weeks, I have experimented with various tools and approaches available for eLearning design, whilst participating in an online ‘community of practice’ with my GDLT peers, and engaging in professional conversations with; teachers, GDLT students and other individuals at CQUniversity (see for example my post on ‘Student Diversity’). This reflective synopsis highlights the key ICTs and pedagogical strategies I’ve discovered and how I intend to implement them, in order to; facilitate, support, enhance and extend the learning of students.

e.Journal posts:

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-does-it-mean-to-be-teacher-in-21st.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/icts-and-diversity-program-sucess-at.html

Voki Avatars

When introduced to Voki avatars, I immediately recognized their immense potential for education. Vokis can be customized to suit a range of purposes, which I discuss in a post on vokis. Students can personalize their work, be creative and express themselves. In my teaching, avatars could serve as an exciting ‘hook’ for lessons, or to introduce a topic or homework (be it online or in the classroom). As Scot Aldred commented, avatars can also be a powerful tool for literacy development, as students can ‘play’ the text they’ve typed and learn how letters, punctuation and words relate to sound (S. Aldred, personal communication, 23 March, 2010). Furthermore, avatars cater to visual and auditory learners, addressing Smith, Lynch and Mienczakowski’s (2003) LMQ 5.

e.Journal post:

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/avatar-is-more-than-blockbuster-movie.html

Blogs and RSS

As mentioned in the post ‘Interesting Viewing,’ learning is enhanced when students learn with technologies they are familiar with and use outside of school; blogs and RSS are two such technologies. Effective learning (Dale’s Cone) and high retention (Learning Pyramid) transpires when students are involved in active learning (Abilene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, 2000). Moreover, students can develop independent learning skills and become active participants in their own learning via blogs (Ahrenfelt & Watkin, 2008, p. 64). Blogs also offer a global audience, motivating students to; produce their best work and to; analyse, evaluate and critique posts, thereby engaging in higher order thinking and productive “Habits of Mind,” such as; self-regulated thinking (Marzano & Pickering, 2009) and striving for accuracy and precision (Costa, 2010).

Blogs can be; an avenue for creative writing, a reflective space, a means to digital literacy, a place to document class projects, or a tutorial or homework space. They can extend interactions and enhance learning outside school walls, at times that suit the learner. ‘A blog on blogs,’ details the advantages and uses in education, elaborating on ten applications offered by Pearce and Bass (2008). In this course, I found Google Reader invaluable, as I followed the blogs of my peers. My post on RSS further details eLearning applications for RSS aggregrators.

e.Journal posts:

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-came-across-this-short-youtube-video.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/03/blog-on-blogs.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/rss-google-reader-blog-followers-best.html

WIKIs

WIKIs are an ideal tool for engagement and to foster learner belonging (a pre-cursor to motivation), as recommended by Kunc (1992). WIKIs hold tremendous potential for; collaboration and self-directed learning (‘Relate’), creative, purposeful, project-oriented activities (‘Create’) and meaningful, authentic tasks (‘Donate’), all of which underpin Kearsley and Shneiderman’s Engagement Theory (1999). Referring to the post on ‘Wetpaint.com,’ the WIKI I designed could be used by a group of art students to collaborate (‘Relate’) and produce an online art gallery (‘Create’), which could then be viewed by interested parties, and even form assessment (‘Donate’), addresssing LMQs 5 and 7.

‘The Power of WIKIs,’ details eLearning applications, which include; creating online text books, collaborative creative writing, class projects and for teachers, a place to share resources. WIKIs foster; teamwork, problem solving skills, social and interpersonal skills and the capability to learn; all important skills in a futures-oriented, knowledge economy (Houghton & Sheehan, 2000, p. 21; Lynch, 2005). Due to the collaborative and transparent nature of WIKIs, associated lessons or assignments are also an ideal means to promote; netiquette, cooperation and ethical and legal online practices. ‘A Practical Consideration re. Student Use of Wikis,’ notes that allowing student responsibility for WIKIs, imbues ownership and lessens webspace breaches.

e.Journal posts:

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/draft.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/wikis.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/power-of-wikis-write-edit-collaborate.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/wikis-democratic-knowledge-creation-or.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/wikipedia.html

Flickr.com and Picnik.com

Images, like music, have the power to evoke emotion, and enrich learning. The post on Flickr explores how Flickr.com could be used for students to; document and share learning experiences via online photo galleries, create online portfolios of visual work, source images and engage in social conversations with individuals across the globe. As stated in my ‘Picnik’ post, image manipulation can be used to; foster creativity, develop digital skills and engage students in active, hands-on tasks, for example editing an image for a Mother’s Day Card. Creative and enjoyable activities such as this, helps foster positive attitudes and perceptions about the classroom climate and classroom tasks (Marzano & Pickering, 2009).

e.Journal posts:

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/flickr.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/flickr.html

e.Portfolios

‘Exploring Mahara as an e.Portolio Tool’ documents my experimentation with Mahara and the learning opportunities e.Portolios present. Secondary students could document their; work, resume, goals and skills for; potential employers, tertiary admission or scholarship panels. An aspiring journalist for example, could create views of their writing and photographs. Mahara could also be used in secondary schools for assessment purposes. In primary schools, learners could record their goals and skills (which would inform LMQ 2), and create views of their ‘best work.’ My teaching e.Portfolio will be invaluable as I seek employment, and in my career to share lesson plans with teaching colleagues.

e.Journal post:

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/exploring-mahara-as-eportfolio-tool.html

Youtube, PowerPoint and SlideShare

The posts ‘YouTube’ and ‘My 4/5 Science Lesson’ discuss how I’ve incorporated videos into learning experiences to consolidate knowledge and enhance learning. YouTube and PowerPoint facilitate multimedia lessons, and can be used to cater to diverse learning styles (Felder, 1988) and multiple intelligences (Birmingham Grid for Learning, 2010). In my lesson on ‘the layers of the earth’ for example, students with dominant musical intelligence profited from the musical video played. ‘SlideShare’ can be used by teachers to store presentations and share them with colleagues (illustrating how ICTs streamline teaching practices). Narration and videos can also be added to presentations, and made available to students on SlideShare to access outside class.

e.Journal posts:

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/draft_20.html
http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/slideshare.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/year-45-science-lesson-inside-earth.html

Interactive White Boards

ICTs are a cross-curriculum priority for the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) and Education Queensland (EQ), with initiatives such as; Smart Classrooms, The Learning Place and Curriculum Exchange, highlighting EQ’s commitment to embedding ICTs in all facets of learning (Department of Education and Training, 2006). From my observations, IWBs are the cornerstone of ICT integration in primary schools. This year, I've visited three state schools, all of which use IWBs extensively. ‘IWBs – The Blackboard of the 21st Century’ highlights the benefits for teachers and learners.

As I’ve discovered first hand, learning in a classroom with an IWB, becomes a visual and interactive experience; facilitating hands-on, student-centred learning. When given the opportunity to answer questions and physically interact with the board; attention levels, excitement and participation in the classroom rise exponentially (see ‘My Year 4/5 Science Lesson’ in which students developed a KWL on the IWB). With increased engagement, learning effectiveness and achievement is enhanced.

e.Journal posts:

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/iwb-blackboard-of-21st-century.html

http://ictslearningdesign.blogspot.com/2010/04/year-45-science-lesson-inside-earth.html

My professional blog has proven a valuable reflective and communicative tool. I’ve come to realise that my role as a learning manager will be that of a; teacher, researcher, life long learner, facilitator, collaborator and eLearning manager. My learning journey is only just beginning. Research, technology and conceptions of ‘best practice’ teaching and learning are constantly evolving, and my e.Journal will continue to support my eLearning discovery and experimentation.

I’m keen to continue implementing the ICTs and pedagogical approaches I’ve encountered thus far, as I design engaging eLearning experiences that provide students with opportunities for creativity and higher order thinking. From Google Earth, to Dvolver, to WIKIs and the other technologies discussed above, eLearning has changed the face of teaching. Through ICTs, students can now experience and ‘achieve in’ an education that is; borderless, engaging, authentic, creative, motivating, stimulating, collaborative, individualised and satisfying!

References

Abilene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence. (2000). Why use active learning? Retrieved from http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/whyuseal2.htm

Ahrenfelt, J., & Watkin, N. (2008). Innovate with ICT: Enhancing learning across the curriculum. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

Birmingham Grid for Learning. (2010). Multiple intelligences. Retrieved from http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/ict/multiple_int/index.htm

Costa, A. (2010). Describing the 16 habits of mind. Retrieved from http://www.mindfulbydesign.com/about-habits-mind

Department of Education and Training (2006). ICTs and curriculum. Retrieved from http://education.qld.gov.au/curriculum/area/ict/index.html

Felder, R. (1988). Index of learning styles (ILS). Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSpage.html

Heath, G. (2001). Teacher education and the new knowledge environment. Paper Presented at the Australian Association for Educational Research Conference. Retrieved from http://www.aare.edu.au/01pap/hea01582.htm

Houghton, J., & Sheehan, P. (2000). A primer on the knowledge economy. Victoria University. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au

Lynch, D. (2005). Learning management [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-course, EDED20491 ICTs for learning design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au.

Kunc, N. (1992). The need to belong: Rediscovering Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Retrieved from http://www.normemma.com/armaslow.htm

Marzano, R. J. & Pickering, D. J. (with Arredondo, D. E., Blackburn, G. J., Brandt, R. S., Moffett, C. A., Paynter, D. E., Pollock, J. E., & Whisler, J. S). (2009). Dimensions of learning: Teachers manual (2nd ed.). Alexandra, VA: ASCD.

Pearce, J., & Bass, G. (2008). Technology toolkit: Introduction to web 2.0. South Melbourne, VIC: Nelson Cenegage Learning,

Smith, R., Lynch, D., & Mienczakowski, J. (2003). The bachelor of learning management (BLM) and education capability: Why we do not prepare teachers anymore. Change: Transformations in Education, (6)(2): 23-37. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au



Comments Posted on the e.Journals of GDLT Colleagues

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YouTube - Catering to Learning Styles

Youtube, TeacherTube and similar video sites provide a wealth of ready made educational videos which can serve to complement learning experiences. I am currently focusing on a science unit in my 4/5 EPL class where the students are studying the layers of the earth, volcanoes, rocks and minerals.

Included below are two great youtube videos about rocks. Below these videos, I describe the first video and my pedagogical rationale for using it in a lesson.





The first video above introduces students to the three main types of rocks – sedimentary rocks, igneous rocks and metamorphic rocks. The video describes each type of rock, how it is formed, provides examples/ images and other interesting facts. This video would be great to play towards the conclusion of a lesson on the three types of rocks to consolidate the learner’s knowledge and enhance the learning experience. Playing this video may serve to excite students about the study of rocks, whilst supporting the various learning styles and multiple intelligences in the classroom.

Visual/spacial and auditory learners for example, would benefit from listening to a different voice explaining the rocks types and seeing examples. On a practical note, another reason for playing this video is that certain rock samples can be difficult for teachers to access, however playing a video such as this allows students to actually see what it is that they are learning about without leaving the classroom.  Included below is a power presentation I created (incorporating this video) for a science lesson I will be delivering on Thursday.

Please feel free to share your thoughts or offer any feedback.

Rocks and the Rock Cycle

View more presentations from Karlee K.

Music for Learning - Exploring Incompetech

Today I completed the learning activity on royalty free music - visiting www.incompetech.com and downloading a piece of music to my hard drive (which I uploaded to a music hosting website and included in a link here: zSHARE - Swimmey Texture.mp3). The piece of music I chose was a calm, relaxing number called Swimmey Texture. A music file such as this would be perfect to play through the IWB sound system as the class completed a quiet activity at their desks or participated in silent reading. A more 'up-beat' track would create a more appropriate mood for times when students are tidying up the room or are involved in a more active task, such as an art activity.

During our tutorial group’s visit to Parkurst State School earlier this month, Kath Warcon (a year 4/5 teacher), described how she often plays educational tracks from itunes (that she has downloaded for free) as the students; prepare for another activity, are moving about the room or tidying up their places. Kath also uses music as an instructional strategy. When it comes time for students to finish up a task (in preparation for lunch or another activity), she plays ‘the popcorn song’ through her ipod and the IWB sound system. Whenever students hear the song, they know that it is time to pack up and finish what they were doing. Another example she gave (and played for us), was a number facts song which the students sing along to. Thus, music can also serve as a direct educational tool and would be ideal for those students with a strong musical intelligence (Birmingham Grid for Learning, 2010).

Music could also be incorporated into lessons as a hook or as a background track in power point presentations - further enhancing the learning process. Music, like images, can be a powerful tool for evoking emotion in learners and can contribute towards creating a positive classroom climate (DoL 1).  Furthermore, music stimulates another sense among learners and according to The Abilene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence (2000), the input stage of active learning involves input from multiple sources and multiple senses. Thus, by incorporating music into lessons, teachers promote active learning.

Google Earth

Today I experimented with Google Earth - viewed Yeppoon from above, found my house (shown right) and zoomed to street level. I also 'flew' to places of interest (including Yeppoon State School where I am completing my EPL) as well as famous locations across around the world.

However, Google Earth is much more than a tool for finding and viewing 'where you live' or 'Rodeo Drive in Hollywood.' This digital tool can support and enhance learning experiences and become an integral tool in the lessons teachers deliver. In Joe Wood's blog , he explains how Google Earth can be used in the classroom (video below). For example, on Joe Woods' blog, he mentions an activity in which student can create placemarks and map the paths taken by famous Americans - what a novel idea for the presentation of a SOSE assignment.

I also learnt that Google Earth can be used to make a 'global tour' and began considering how I could use this functionality in my teaching. A Year 7 English assignment for example, could involve students creating a presentation 'About Me' using Goolge Earth. The learners could search for and find landmarks (for example, where they were born, where they went to school, their childhood home, places they went to holidays), add placemarks on those locations, edit the placemarks (by adding a title, description and photo) and then save and share the virtual tour they have created of their life's journey. Through activities such as this, students participate in active learning. As Google Earth is available on the web, the project could be completed on classroom computers or at another location, such as their home or the library.

I also believe Google Earth would be a great tool to use when explaining the theory of Pangaea and the concept of continental drift during a science lesson for my EPL class. The world as presented in Google Earth could be projected onto the IWB and students could see how the various continents may have once joined together. For example, as the class sees the image shown right, you could ask them if they can see how the American and African continents were once been connected.

The science unit I am delivering also looks at volcanoes and Google Earth could be used to create a tour of the world’s active volcanoes for presentation to the class. In a secondary context, consider how much more exciting Geography lessons would be if students could view the world, continents, states and landmarks on Google Earth, rather than in their text books. These applications demonstrate how Google Earth can be used in the classroom (and outside the classroom) to support and enhance learning in a meaningful and engaging way.

SlideShare

SlideShare is a great site for teachers to keep their presentations in one place for easy access and re-use (and to even share them with other teaching professionals or their students). A feature of SlideShare is that you are able to embed videos and audio files into your presentations. Using SlideShare, I embedded a video 'The Layers of the Earth Rap' from YouYube into my 4/5 Science lesson presentation (below).

Audio files (such as a narration of the presentation) can be uploaded into SlideShare and synchronized with the slide transitions in presentations. This feature demonstrates how ICTs could be used to support learning outside the classroom, for instance, learners can listen to your presentation of the material when you are not physically present. As I do not have computer microphone, I was unable to add personal narration to my presentation, instead I downloaded some royalty free music and added the audio file to my presentation. I can certainly see the benefits of doing so for your learners. Adding an audio component (be it music or a narration), serves to stimulate a further sense, and would be particularly advantageous to auditory learners or those with a dominant musical intelligence.

4/5 Science Presentation

WIKIPedia

WIKIPedia is the world’s most extensive WIKI and online encyclopaedia, providing teachers and learners alike with access to information and images on every topic imaginable. Today I searched of WIKIpedia for resources to use in the science unit I am teaching during my EPL on ‘Inside the Earth’ and came across a vast amount of information on every topic my learners (and myself) could refer to during this unit – from volcanoes, to rocks, to the layers of the earth, to tectonic plates, continental drift and more. Many of the students in the class are aware of WIKIpedia (as I have seen some of them searching the site whilst using the classroom computers).

During one of this week’s science lessons, I will demonstrate how to use WIKIpedia to search for content on the unit of study. As students raise questions about what they are learning, I will invite them to come up to the IWB and type in a term (they are interested in finding more about) in the WIKIPedia search function and to then share what they find with the class. In this way, the site can be used as way for students to aquire information, actively participate in their own learning and develop their digital literacy skills.

Later this term, students will be working in small groups (‘Relate’) to develop (‘Create’) and present to their peers and parents (‘Donate’) a project on an aspect of ‘Inside the Earth’ (be it the different types of rocks or continental drift for example). The project will be completed both in class and outside of the classroom (likely in their home, the library or a friend’s house). WIKIPedia can be used by the students to research the topic regardless of location and I will make this benefit of the site explicit to students whilst explaining the task.

Flickr

Flickr is the portal of choice for storing images and accessing images made available from individuals located around the world.

Earlier this month, I added some recent images to my existing Flickr account, one of which is included below.

P1310100
Originally uploaded by KazaEK

I also added the below images from Flickr to my blog. There are countless photos available on the site and the search tool makes it easy to find what you are looking for.

fireworks on the willamette river - _MG_8698
Originally uploaded by sean dreilinger

In the past, I've used Flickr as;

A. a repository for my personal photos and

B. a means to search for images of interest.

However, as a pre-service teacher, I now see this site in a different light. In considering how Flickr can be used in classrooms and how the site fits in with the pedagogical frameworks discussed in ICTs for learning design, I've discovered a range of new teaching and learning applications which will now be discussed.

Thus far, my postings have focused on publishing text-based content to the web, but online photo galleries and image repositories such as Flickr present opportunities for teachers and learners to publish images to the web.

Flickr allow teachers and learners alike to create photo albums and multimedia shows to share with their parents, friends, teachers, the community and others around the globe. My EPL class at Yeppoon State School for example takes digital photos throughout the year during class activities and school events. Flickr would be a great space for the class to upload their images in one place - allowing the students and other audiences to access the images and see what has been happening in the class regardless of their location.

Flickr is a great way to document and share teaching and learning experiences - field trips, school camps, practical activities, fetes, functions, guest speakers and more could all become part of a class or school ‘photo stream.’ Furthermore, classes and learners can create separate albums for related pictures. Teachers could even encourage learners to create an online portfolio with digital images of their work. For example, a visual art class or students studying a photography unit could create an online gallery of their work on Flickr. Thus, the site is ideal for facilitating learning through images and catering to the visual learners in your class.

Flickr also affords its users a global audience, other people are able to located images by the tags you add, view descriptions added to your images and comment on those images. Thus, an online dialogue with other Flickr users can be created and learners can become involved in a community that contributes images on particular topic, creating a sense of belonging among students as recommended Kunc (1992).

You can also create an RSS feed in Flickr and be alerted when photos related to a topic you are studying are uploaded onto the site. Flickr is also a fantastic resource for learners to source images for school projects and for teachers to find images to include in lesson materials – as most photos are publicly available and can be used by anyone (provided of course, that you reference the image to Flickr). Hence, Flickr is ideal for introducing your learners to the world of digital images/ online image publishing and encouraging them to engage in social conversations/ collaborative learning with Flickr users and other students from all over the world.

Picnik and Image Manipulation

I really enjoyed using Picnik in this learning activity – who knew there was a far superior version to ‘Paint’ available free of charge on the web?

During this learning activity, I:

1. created a Picnik account,

2. uploaded an image,

3. edited the image using the various tools available (e.g. cropping, resizing, rotating, auto-fixing, sharpening, altering the colours/ contrast),

4. ‘created’ the image (adding further effects and a frame) and

5. saved the image to my computer, uploaded it Flickr and posted it to my blog.

I repeated this process using another image and the results can be seen below.

Original Photo...............................Photo After Editing.

Original Photo................................Photo After Editing.

Images: Personal photos taken and edited by Karlee Kreis

 

As you can see in the 'Coke Bottle Building' photo, the 'Neon' effect in Picnik enabled me to manipulate the image in a way that expressed the coke brand (and colour) and is far different from the original photo I took whilst on a study tour in China (I come from a Marketing background and previously worked for Coca-Cola Amatil).  Note that the image/ title at the top of my Blog (Karlee's e.Journal) was editied in Picnik and I found the process of customising an image for my blog very rewarding,

Picnik would be a great image manipulation tool for students wishing to edit images for class projects, their wiki or blog. Using the site could become a lesson in itself, where students learn how to manipulate digital images and then perhaps post them onto their (or the class) Flickr account.  The hands-on nature of Picnik would also foster creativity and could be used in learning experiences underpinned by engagement theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). For instance, students could collaborate (relate) to build an online photo gallery of digitally altered images on Flickr on the topic being studied (Create) and make these images available to an outside audience, be it their peers, the teacher or parents (Donate).

For lower primary grades, the images created could be used in special occasion cards (e.g. for Mother’s Day) or compiled and presented in a power point presentation to parents during a parent conference in the classroom. 

In fact, I am so enthusastic about Picnik, that I will be working with the learners in my ELP class next week to edit an image in Picnik for their Mother's Day card (example left).

Picnik is yet another digital tool that enables active, hands-on learning (as students use multiple senses, in an active process to produce a product as per Dale's Cone (Abilene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, 2000). Referring to the Learning Pyramid, using Picnik would also enable higher retention of the skills learnt and the learning experience itself through practical experience (Abilene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, 2000). Picnik is my new favourite website and I can't wait to share it with the learners I'm currently working with.

Dvolver Movie Maker

Thanks to Kris Holden, I too discovered Dvolver.com.

With this website, it is so easy to create your own movies in cartoon or 3D. I can see this being particularly useful in dramas classes and English lessons. It would be a great way to encourage creative writing or generally foster creativity among your learners (a key idea behind Sir Ken Robinson's presentation 'Do schools kill creativity). The site would be ideal for teaching the concept of dialogue and plot, as well as punctuation, spelling and grammar since learners can see the results of the text they type in as they preview their mini-movies.

Using this website would be a fun and exciting way to engage learners... imagine an English lesson in which you are looking at narratives and story telling. Wouldn't creating a mini-movie using this website be a fantastic way for small groups of students (or even the whole class) to collaborate on a story, present it to an outside audience (for example, their parents or peers), all the while being engaged in a direct, hands-on purposeful learning experience (in accordance with Engagement theory and Dale's Cone)? The 'Active learners' in your class (Felder & Soloman, 2009) and those with dominant visual, musical and/ or linguistic intelligences (Birmingham Grid for Learners, 2010), would surely benefit from a learning experience involving Dvolver.

This is a fantastic site, and I'm sure students would find it as much fun to use as I did. I highly recommend visiting the site, and having a go at creating your own mini movie, or even better, introducing it to your EPL class and working it into one of your lessons!

Kind regards,

Karlee

My Year 4/5 Science Lesson - Utilising Power Point and IWB Technology

On Friday 23rd April, I delivered a science lesson to the Year 4/5 I have been placed with for my first EPL. The lesson was designed to introduce a new unit of work called "Inside the Earth" - where the student's will be learning about; the layers of the earth, volcanoes, tectonic plates, rocks and minerals etc. I used this lesson as an opportunity to implement some of the ICTs I have been studying in this course, namely Power Point and IWBs.

As it was the first lesson in a new unit of work, I decided to develop a KWL with the students. A KWL table was drawn onto an IWB flipchart, and when students had an idea to contribute, they raised their hand, told the class ‘what they know’ about the topic (and later) 'what they want to know' about the topic, and then wrote their contribution on the board – the class copied down these contributions into a table in their books as we went along. I used a KWL as a KWL chart is great way for teachers to determine; what their learner already knows (LMQ 1) and where their learner needs/ wants to be (LMQ 2).

In the second part of the lesson I used power point as a teacher-based presentation tool to present information on the various layers of the earth. To finish, we labelled the layers of the earth on a diagram and watched a fun YouTube video - ‘The Layers of the Earth’ rap (which can be viewed at the end of my SlideShare presentation below).

I’m quite familiar with PowerPoint and incorporated various media and visuals to cater to the diverse learning preferences of my class as recommended by Felder (1988). For example, visual learners benefits from the text, text animations and YouTube video, auditory learners benefited from hearing my voice as I read the text and listening to the musical YouTube video and kinaesthetic learners benefited from writing on the IWB and copying the information into their books.

I also included a link to the YouTube video in the presentation which helped the lesson flow and created a seamless learning experience as I didn’t need to switch between programs on my laptop and track down the video on YouTube before playing it. By viewing the power point tutorial on the course site I certainly see that powerpoint can become a multimedia experience for learners – video, audio tracks, animations, tables, graphs and the like can all be incorporated into your presentation which gives teachers a range of ways to present information, cater to diversity in their classroom and accommodate various learning styles.

I did however find it slightly challenging to keep the information presented on the slides to a minimum – I ended up using dot points and key words which became talking points for my lesson. After viewing the YouTube video on our moodle site (re. the dangers of overusing the technology/ common mistakes made in preparing a presentation), I'm happy to report that my presentation was void of clashing colours, information overload, distracting animations and the like.

Engagement theory is a conceptual framework for technology based teaching and learning and aspects of this theory underpinned my lesson. Kearsley and Shneiderman’s (1999) engagement theory holds that “students must be engaged in learning activities through interaction with others in worthwhile tasks.” According to Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999), engaged learning occurs in a group context, is project based and has an authentic focus (outside ‘customer’). Developing the KWL table as a class on the IWB, demonstrates the ‘relate’ component of engagement theory as the class worked as a collaborative team (rather than alone), verbalising their ideas in a process of collaboration. The KWL chart created was a product of everyone’s contributions and the process of creation promoted human interaction, facilitated by the technology and myself as the teacher, and such interaction is a key feature of engagement theory.

I also found that providing the students with the opportunity to interact with the technology (by writing their contributions on the flipchart), really focused their attention on the task at hand and motivated them to participate in the discussion as they were all keen to use the IWB pens. According to Dale’s Cone, learning experiences are most effective when students are directly engaged in ‘hands-on’ experiences (Abilene Christian University Adams Center for Teaching Excellence, 2000). By providing the opportunity for students to write their ideas on the IWB, the learning experience became an active process.

Furthermore, I recognise that students have varied learning styles/ preferences, be it; active/ reflective, visual/ verbal, sensing/ intuitive, sequential/ global (Felder, 1988). The inclusion of visuals on the PowerPoint presentation and YouTube video (for visual learners), my verbalising the information (for verbal learners), the students listening to the YouTube music video (for verbal or auditory learners), the students writing on the IWB (for active or kinaesthetic learners) and the students copying information into their books and reflecting on the ideas of others (for reflective learners) accommodated the varied learning styles in the classroom.

Much to my delight, the entire class was had a positive response to the YouTube video I played at the end of the presentation. In fact, we watched it three times! Perhaps it was the novelty of watching a video and listening to the musical ‘rap.’ Nonetheless, the entire class was enthusiastic about an educational video, were excited about the new unit, and our Friday afternoon lesson ended on a positive note.

Science Presentation - Inside the Earth

View more presentations from Karlee K.

Glogster

I've been brainstorming ICTs to incorporate in a learning experience for Assessment item 3 in ICTs for Learning Design. Considering the age group of my EPL class (8 to 10 year olds), I feel that Glogs will be a more user friendly ICT than say, WIKIs or Blogs. Below is a glog I made on Gloster related to my EPL class's 'Inside the Earth' UoW. It is a sample of the type of glog I intend the students to create.

According to Glogster EDU (2010), glogs can be used for educators and learners in the following ways:

" For Educators:
- A creative, dynamic, and innovative digital outlet that captures learner’s excitement for online creations, keeps learners engaged in course content, and makes teaching and learning more fun.

For Learners:
- A fun, imaginative, and powerful learning experience which fosters independent creative self expression, positive learner-teacher relationships, and teamwork on collaborative class projects.
- A vibrant, multi-sensory learning experience which integrates learner’s knowledge and skills into traditionally text-oriented subjects and motivates learner’s desire to explore topics in which they may previously have been less interested."

Exploring Mahara as an E.Portfolio Tool

Well, I can now officially add e.portfolio to my ICT toolkit, as earlier this week, I began work on my own professional e.portfolio in Mahara.

Mahara operates on open source software, and although the software is free to obtain, my account needed to be hosted on a web server (in this case NetSpot) for a small fee. After creating an account, logging into Mahara and viewing the tutorial videos our course co-ordinated had provided, I explored how the site works, and experimented with the various features available.

To begin, I completed profile information for my profile page (contact information/ goals/ skills/ resume), uploaded a profile icon, added an RSS feed from my blog and requested ‘friendships’ with my peers. I then browsed some of the groups available to me in the Mahara community, joined the ‘GDLT Primary Students’ Group and also posted a message on the group’s forum. From here, I investigated in detail how “‘My Portfolio” works and how to create a “View.” Included below is the first view I created - “Karlee’s Professional Profile,” which is designed an introductory view on my e.portfolio. As you can see, I experimented with the ‘view’ functionality by adding; photos, an RSS feed from my Professional Blog and also a text box with a ‘welcome’ message.

From my initial interactions with the Mahara e.portfolio tool, I feel as though (in an education context) this software is best suited to pre-service teachers, teachers and secondary school students, and less applicable for primary students. I only say this because, in comparison to blogs, wikis and the other ICTs I have used and researched, Mahara appears to be a far more complex piece of software with rather professional applications that younger students may not so easily grasp or find meaningful. Perhaps as I continue to familiarise myself with Mahara, the potential for e.portfolios in primary learning will be more apparent.

Nonetheless, it is also clear that there are numerous learning opportunities an e.portfolio tool like Mahara can offer. Secondary students (particularly those in their senior years), would benefit from using Marhara and developing an e.portfolio of their high school work for presentation to potential employers or those involved in tertiary education admissions and scholarship panels.

For instance, secondary school art students could use the software to create ‘views’ of work which detail the creative process and present their artwork at various stages of completion (be it through photos, video or text etc.). Given that entry into tertiary fine arts programs frequently requires individuals to present a portfolio of work, an e.portfolio view would be a highly professional way for art students to present their best art pieces. In much the same way, an aspiring journalist could create views of their written work with supporting documentation and photographs, which could be then made available to potential employers (for example, HR officers at magazines, television stations or newspapers). Student use of Mahara could also form part of their assessment. For example, in an art class, ‘views’ could replace (or complement) visual art diaries as an assessment item. From these examples, it is evident that, e.portfolios lend themselves to learning experiences with an authentic ‘real world’ nature and in this way would be fantastic teaching tool for developing positive attitudes and perceptions about classroom tasks as suggested by Marzano et al. (2009), engaging students in task that they perceive as meaningful (Kearsley &Shneiderman, 1998).

I can also see that the teaching e.portfolio I develop in this course will be an invaluable resource as I seek employment in my chosen field as views of my work can be made available to potential employers/ principals. In addition, my teaching e.portfolio will be great way to share lessons plans and learning experiences that I have designed with my teaching colleagues in the future.

A Practical Consideration re. Student Use of Wikis

From my readings and learning activities in this course, it is evident that the educational power of WIKIs resides primarily in their capabilities for collaborative group work.

With that said, here are some questions for my followers to ponder...... do YOU consider WIKIs the ultimate tool for democratic knowledge creation - a place where students can write, edit, negotiate and create a storehouse of knowledge and collaborate on projects or... will the challenges associated with content management deter their use in your classroom?

Does the potential for student miss-use and editing issues concern you at all? Should we be giving students free rein with this technology? Will our use of this ICT be a matter of student maturity and teacher instruction?

It is my view that the tremendous collaboration and learning opportunities offered by WIKIs are too great for editorial concerns to prevent student use. I have included some thoughts below and ways in which 'easy edit' challenges can be overcome.

The open source nature of WIKIs lends them to potential vandalism and miss-use (by both students and third parties). To alleviate these concerns, teachers could choose to restrict WIKI access to only their students and administer the site – monitoring the content and edits. However, as Richardson (2006, pp. 64-65) notes, “giving students editorial control can imbue in them a sense of responsibility and ownership for the site and minimize the risk of someone adding something offensive.”

In the pursuit of knowledge creation and collaboration, teachers may therefore choose to empower their students with the responsibility for editorial control. I feel that in an information–rich world where digital literacy, knowledge and collaboration skills are becoming increasingly important, this approach would be beneficial for students. It would teach them to be critical of the content they (and others) write and edit on the WIKI – affording opportunities for students to negotiate with other collaborators in relation to the content published and to extend and refine their knowledge (DoL 3) through analysis, as they consider the relevance and accuracy of content (Marzano et al., 2009).

The Power of Wikis – Write, Edit, Collaborate, Interact.

My last post touched on ways in which WIKIs can be used in the classroom, using the example of my ‘Visual Art Space.’ However, the extensive opportunities for using WIKIs in the classroom and enhancing pedagogical practice, requires further elaboration.

So, now that I know what a WIKI is and how to create one… the important questions are: how can teachers and students use WIKIs in the classroom and how can this ICT enhance student learning?

One way to use WIKIs in the classroom is to create an online, tailor-made textbook for your subject or class (in much the same way that WIKIpedia is established). Students in a chemistry class for example, could construct a text book on the periodic table/ chemical elements in collaboration with; their teacher, peers and even chemistry classes in other schools. Images, articles, multimedia files, power point presentations and ‘prac’ write ups could all be added to the WIKI. Individuals or groups of students could even be made responsible for creating a page related to a particular element and this, in turn, could form part of their assessment – be it formative or summative. In this way, WIKIs can become a tailor-made resource, designed and edited to suit student’s needs and the learning context. Furthermore, student collaboration would create a sense of belonging as they learn (as recommended by Kunc, 1999) and their active involvement in the learning process would increase learning effectiveness and retention.

As mentioned earlier, WIKIs are designed to be a shared repository of knowledge, which grows over time and in this example, successive chemistry students could add and edit the WIKI – utilising and expanding on the knowledge base established by previous chemistry classes. This example demonstrates the Relate-Create-Donate concept underpinning Kearsley and Shneiderman’s (1998) engagement theory. This is because learning is occurring in a collaborative group context i.e. chemistry class students (‘relate’), is project-based as students are developing a textbook on the period table (‘create’) and there is an external/ authentic focus as their peers and future chemistry students can use the resource ( ‘donate’).

WIKIs would be particularly useful in a primary school context for creative writing and group activities centred on a unit of work theme. A year 5 class could create a creative writing piece on a WIKI were all students have the opportunity to add to and edit the story. The story would no doubt evolve from the original concept and this activity would encourage students to develop their literacy skills and consciously apply habits of mind from the DoL, particularly creative thinking by generating “new ways of viewing a sitation that are outside the boundaries of standard conventions (Marzano et al., 2009, p. 6). In this example, the WIKI would also be a useful tool for extending and refining knowledge as students analyse the errors and perspectives of others (DoL 3).

A WIKI could also be used by small class groups (or the entire class) to collaborate on a project, for example students could create a WIKI all about dolphins during an “under the sea” unit of work. In this example, it would be important to allow students to choose the subject of their WIKI, be it dolphins, coral, whales etc. to further foster ownership and positive attitudes towards classroom tasks (DoL 1).

In our tutorial for ICTs, Scot Alred (the course co-ordinator), explained how WIKIs are being used internationally. Schools in Singapore and Hong Kong for example, have focus on group work and problem based learning. Groups of students at an International School in Singapore frequently use WIKIs to collaborate (often over an entire term or school year) and develop solutions to problems assigned. This is a great example of students using knowledge meaningfully (through problem solving, invention and decision making for instance) as the work towards solving a problem (Marzano et al., 2009).

At the school level, entire curriculums or individual units of work could be housed on a WIKI. Using WIKIs in this way allows staff and teachers to easily access and edit units or lessons and provides transparent information about the content being taught to students, parents and the wider community. Richardson (2006) cites an innovative example - the entire national high school curriculum for South Africa is on a WIKI at wikibooks.org. Teaching professionals can also use WIKIs to create a library of lesson plans or teaching resources – available to other teachers to use (and perhaps fine tune) based on their requirements or experiences.

There are countless applications for teachers and students alike and although I hadn’t heard of WIKIs (with the exception of Wikipedia) prior to this course, I can certainly see myself using this valuable ICT in my career and in the classroom with my learners.

Wetpaint.com and My ‘Visual Art Space' WIKI

In my ICTs course, I built a wiki using wetpaint.com – a free website for creating and browsing wikis (popular alternatives include; Pbwiki.com and Wikispaces.com). At first glance, the majority of wikis on Wetpaint appear to be ‘fan sites.’ However, like blogs, wiki technology can be transferred and applied in an educational setting.

The process of creating a wiki using Wetpaint.com was surprisingly easy and following instruction, could be accomplished by all students with basic computer skills. After a couple of practice wikis (http://www.letscarpool.wetpaint.com/ and http://www.amateurartists.wetpaint.com/), I decided to create a wiki that could be used by high-school visual arts students. My wiki site "Visual Art Space: A Place to Share" can be found at http://www.visualartspace.wetpaint.com/. The wiki is designed as a place for art students to; connect, share their artworks, announce exhibitions, and discuss anything art related;  from issues they are having with creating a particular piece to tips for other students in using a particular medium.

After signing up for a wetpaint.com account, the process of creating my wiki involved three easy steps. Firstly details for the wiki site were entered, namely; the site name, URL, a description of what the site is about and the general category (in this case “Arts”). Editing preferences where also chosen. I decided anyone who joins my wiki site can edit it, add threads, add pages and the like, but no edits would be anonymous. This first step is shown in the image below.

The second step, involved selecting the site layout and confirming the site name.

The third step, was simply matter of completing a Captcha for security and site creation.

Once the “Visual Art Space” wiki was created, wetpaint asked me to email invitations to my contacts who may want to join and collaborate on the site. If I was teaching a high school art class and created the wiki for their use, it is here that I would enter the email addresses of my students (or other art students in the school) and send them an invitation to join the site. This wiki however, would be most beneficial for its users if art students from different high schools collaborated on the site. Therefore, if I intended this site for practical use, I would also inform art teachers or principals at other high schools (in my local area and beyond), asking them to pass on the invitation to art students at their school. In this way, a community of art students from geographically distant locations could unite and share on the wiki.

From here, it would be a matter of art students joining and collaborating on the wiki. With the ‘easy edit’ icon and ‘what you see is what you get’ software on wetpaint.com, students could edit the content on the wiki pages, without the need for advanced computer skills or HTML knowledge. There are pages/ features automatically available for the students to use. One such feature is a discussion forum. Here, students could post questions about an art assignment they are having trouble with, discuss artistic techniques, their favourite artists, introduce themselves or even create unrelated discussion threads in the “off-topic” forum.

There is also a ‘News’ feature where student could add their own news item to the site (for example details of an upcoming art exhibition). News could also be added via RSS feeds or twitter. For example, news from the Queensland Art Gallery website or a class blog could be fed directly to the wiki’s news page via RSS. Collaborators can also comment on news items. In the example given above, students could comment as to whether or not they will be attending the art exhibition.

The photo gallery feature would be particularly useful on this wiki as individuals can create their own album and upload images of their artworks. In the Visual Art Space wiki you will find “Karlee’s Photo Album” where I have upload photographs of some of my artworks for demonstration purposes. There is also a tool which enables users to create a thread in the discussion forum about individual photos. In much the same way, students could also use the video gallery to share videos from 'YouTube' or 'MSN Video' of their artworks, experiences etc.  Moreover, this wiki coud be used by art students to collaborate and problem solve on the wiki ('Relate'), sharing their artworks and developing an online gallery of work ('Create'), which could be viewed by teachers, peers, parents and other interested parties ('Donate').

Creating the “Visual Art Space: A Place to Share” wiki opened my eyes to the myriad of applications for wikis in the classroom and the way in which this ICT complements contemporary learning design theory. My next post will discuss various ways in which wikis can be both used to teach and be used by students.

Wikis...

As fun for students to use, as the word is to say!

An Introduction to Wikis

I've learnt of yet another new term (and excellent ICT) in this course - WIKI.

The term WIKI is derived from the Hawaiian word for quick: "wiki-wiki" (Richardson, 2006). WIKIs are a collection of freely expandable webpages, where visitors and collaborators write, re-write, edit, un-edit and publish work on the web (Fountain, 2005; Richardson, 2006). The beauty of WIKIs is that they can be accessed and edited by anyone, anytime, from anywhere in the world, and are designed to be “…a shared repository of knowledge with the knowledge base growing over time” (Goodwin-Jones, 2003). It is important to note that access and/ or editing rights can be available only to members of the WIKI or alternatively the WIKI can be open to all (as in the case of WIKIpedia).

Like blogs, WIKIs are created and maintained using free (non-technical) online publishing software located on a server. In comparison to blogs however, WIKIs provide more opportunities for site development, student collaboration and interaction (Pearce & Bass, 2008).

The most well known WIKI is WIKIpedia – a free online encyclopaedia. Anyone, wherever they are in the world, can create and edit content on the WIKIpedia WIKI site.

The vision of WIKIpedia founder, Jimmy Wales, to; create and distribute an extensive, high quality, free encyclopaedia to everyone on the planet, astounds me...

“Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing.”

Jimmy Wales, Founder of WIKIpedia
(Wales, 2004)

Avatar is More Than a Blockbuster Movie!

Official Avatar Movie

When I first heard the term avatar used in the context of teaching and ICT, I couldn’t help but mentally picture the Na'vi - blue alien-like creatures, bounding from tree to tree in the rainforests of Pandora. However, avatars are more than characters in James Cameron’s latest blockbuster movie. In fact, they can be a highly effective and creative digital tool for learning managers. This post discusses the advantages and uses of avatars in teaching, with specific reference to ‘voki’ – an online publishing tool for creating avatars.

So what exactly is a voki and how can they be used in teaching?

A voki is a personalisable cartoon avatar which enables users to create a character/ audio player and express themselves on the web using a customised message (Pearce & Bass, 2008, p. 143). Vokis are one of many ‘plug-ins’ available to learning managers for use on the web (be it on a blog, in an email message, on a site profile, or on an online learning site such as moodle). The voki webiste can be accessed at http://www.voki.com/. Once you sign up to voki, you can begin creating a basic animated voki character for free (or explore other paid options such as 'site pal' - more advanced talking characters for websites).

The capabilities of voki are such, that you can customise a voki to suit your preferences or teaching topic. A voki’s; character style, player 'skin,' facial features, background, skin, hair, makeup, voice, ‘bling,’ clothes, can all be modified (as shown in the screen shot below).

A unique capability of voki, is that you can customise the character’s audio message, using either a microphone (to record up to sixty seconds of your own voice) or the text to speech feature on the voki website. Once the voki character is complete, a HTML code is generated and can be embeded in your webpage for the world to see (and play!).

The customisable and animated nature of vokis appeals to upper primary students and teenagers, who undeniably enjoy experimenting with new technologies. Vokis can be used by students to personalise their work and express themselves, for example by creating a voki reflective of themselves or their personality to their blog as a welcome message. The fun, novel of nature of vokis make them perfect for engaging students through active learning and for motivating them to learn. Given what we know about multiple literacies and learning styles, vokis are also a great way to engage both auditory and visual learners and are thus pedagogically justified.

As my patriotic voki friend from the US Army mentioned above, vokis can also be used by teachers to enhance lessons and engage learners. For instance, teachers could employ vokis on a moodle site or a teacher administered (class or student) blog to introduce; a unit of work, topic or homework assignment.

Please press play on the voki below for an example of how a voki can be customised by learning managers to suit the topic they are teaching and introduce students to online material or a homework assignment. In the example given, Sarah Palin, introduces the topic of misrepresented quotes to an English class, beginning with her (famously misrepresented) statement "I can see Russia from my house." Further instructions and details could then be given in written format on the class site or blog. Students might be asked to research and discuss other quotes throughout history where the meaning intended was lost in translation. From this example, you can see how vokis can be customised to suit a topic and interest students in the topic from the outset with an attention grabbing introduction (or ‘hook’).