Plug-ins & Gadgets - Enhancing the Learning Experience

Over the past few days I've been customising my e.journal.  Today I added a 'gadget' in the form of a Sudoku game. You will find the game towards the bottom of my sidebar on the right, so please feel free to give it whirl and break up your blog following!

After discovering the various gadgets available online, I started considering how various ICTs, gadgets (be it a Sudoku game or a virtual pet) and plug-ins (such ‘voki’), can be used by students to express themselves and feel a sense of ownership.

The ability for students to personalise their blog or wiki for example (with different 'gadgets,' layouts, colours and the like), enables them to be creative and inject some of their own personality into their work, which would in-turn foster a sense of ownership. Moreover, the hands-on and customisable nature of digital tools such as blogs, enables students to become more invested in the learning process through active participation.

As I will discuss in a future post, vokis are one plug-in available to students to personalise web pages or emails, stamping their own personality on their work.

The video below explains how blogger account users can add gadgets.

Interesting Viewing - The Importance of Technology in Classrooms

I came across an interesting YouTube video today. It was created by Carl Anderson in 2007, and highlights the importance of using technology in modern classrooms.

Watch the video embedded below, and feel free to share your reactions and thoughts....



The video really resonated with me and I found the mix of text, images and music quite engaging.

In one section, the text reads "Digital tools improve motivation and are appropriate tools for active engagement in authentic learning tasks." Given what I have read regarding Learning Engagement Theory and Dale's Learning Cone, Anderson's statement about digital tools in this video certainly reflects the academic literature and popular thinking about e-learning.  Furthermore, by actively engaging students in authentic learning tasks as Anderson recommends, the average retention rate would be higher, as learners 'practice by doing' with ICTs and can immediately use what they have learnt.

"They [children] want to learn with the tools that will shape their future" was another key statement for me. Children use computers and digital media, including blogs, mobile phones and i-phones everyday. So, why not enhance and motivate student learning by engaging kids with the tools they; regularly use, enjoy and are familiar with? Particularly when we, as teachers, are preparing them to live and work in a 'knowledge economy' where digital tools are the foundations for the knowledge and information, society so greatly values.