Picnik

How awesome is Picnik!! I cannot believe that i never knew about this website! This website enables users to upload pictures and edit them also. The options are endless and everything you can imagine can be created to make that boring old photo into something extraordinary.

Here is a picture that I edited of my pet dog 'Buddy'. It is pretty basic editing but for students and with time they could create many great things using Picnik.

ICT's and Blogs

Integrating ICT's into learning design is an interesting and useful topic this week.

Setting up my blog was the first task which i undertook this week. I found this a rather fun experience as it gave me the chance to create my very own design and layout while giving me the options of colours and texts to be used also. I feel that a blog is rather similair to a journal with the only difference being that it accessible to anyone and everyone depending on whether the blog is private or not. I found it interesting having a look at other students profiles and getting an idea into what their thoughts and ideas were.

Using a blog in the classroom can be very beneficial in many ways as it can be used for students on a daily basis to jot down everything which they may have learnt or found interesting throughout the lesson/day. I liked the idea also in one of the examples which suggested that a tutor could get on the blog and provide both support and education outside of the classroom.

In my teaching area (H.P.E) I could definitely use Blogs as a tool for my students. A lot of the assessment in P.E requires group tasks. Students could use their blogs to share their ideas whilst me as a teacher could monitor their progress rather easily.

Mahara & Voki

Setting up my Mahara account was an experience and a half as I was placed in a new group only yesterday. I have now joined an awesome group called the CQ Raiders and can't wait to get in and work with these great people. I actually got some great advice from my team mate Laura today with regards to creating my Mahara account. This was done via Skype chat. I feel that as time goes by I will get rather familiar with this useful tool and will prove to be rather beneficial in providing myself with many new options in the classroom.

I actually created a Voki early on in the term. This was placed as the first post on my blog and I found it rather awesome actually. The whole idea of having control of what the avatar says is something which left me in awe. I think that this would be a useful tool particularly in the same way as Scott has done throughout this course for introducing topics and gaining the students attention. Students can also use the Avatar for presenting their assignments as it is new and 'cool' technology.

Learner/Student centred learning

Many students coming into Secondary School will find that technology is nothing new to them as most have used a computer from the day they were born. This then makes them a digital native, on the other hand I myself never saw a computer until I hit grade 10. This meant that I was a digital immigrant however over time I have worked alot with computers (due to the fact my brother is a massive computer geek) haha. Thanks to this chapter I feel even more of a digital immigrant than I did before.

With regards to Internet safety i feel that there are many issues related to this topic. Students in this day and age are easily exposed to inappropriate material on the internet and it is important that students are protected under the duty of care policy. Issues such as chatting with older people, porn and cyberbullying are eliminated as schools have restricted access to these materials.

When working with children of differing abilities it is important that every student is able to access materials which are both challenging and useful. I have worked with a wide range of indigenous students over the years and I have found that these two aspects are what brings the best out of each individual.

As Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) state that 'learning with ICT's must be related to a real world authentic problem scenario that is messy and ill-structered. They need to, in small teams, CREATE solutions to this problem and then DONATE the solution back into the real world. In other words students are given a problem which they must work together to solve and in order to gain a greater understanding relate it back to the real world.

When it comes to behaviour management strategies at my school I have a fairly good knowledge of the processes which they have put in place. The most common I have found is the RBC (Responsible Behaviour Classroom). This classroom is for students who are not compylying with the class rules. They are asked a group of questions for example:

What are you doing?

What should you be doing?

What are you going to do now?

What happens if you do it again?

This in turn gives the students the responsibility as to whether they want to disrupt the class again. If they decide to continue they are then sent to the RBC where they will complete a re-engagement plan to re-enter the classroom. They will also have to negotiate a time to with their teacher to discuss this re-engagement plan. This process has proven to be a success at the school.

After watching the video featuring George Lucas and Edutopia it really made me realise how right he is. The idea of being a facilitator instead of a teacher is rather interesting. Giving the students a choice and working with them to achieve their interests is what will definitely get positive results in the schooling environment. Students can then take that knowledge and use it in an everyday sense.

Lastly I would like to make a quick mention on that of the learner/student-centred learning processes and how much I love this approach. By giving the students both options and ownership it gives them some meaning. This provides motivation and there is nothing more exciting when working with children then seeing them rip in and have a go.

References

Kearsley, G,. & Shneidermann, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved March 25, 2010, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Learning Styles and Theories

I can't believe the amount of information out there particularly related to the different learning styles and personality of our learners and how it can affect one's learning experiences. I feel that as Learning Managers it is important that we get to know each of our students learning styles and personalities early on. This in turn will provide me with an oportunity to adapt to the variety of student which I am faced with. It is a process which i think would be awesome if all the school could adopt as potentially all students who have similair learning styles could be put together which i feel would create a more efficient classroom.

With regards to the different learning theories: Behaviourism (black box), Cognitivism (brain-based) and Constructivism (own interpretations) I feel that not one individual learning theory is the answer but learning involves bits and pieces of each. These theories are more focused on how information is learnt and less about what is actually being learnt. This is where the Connectivism theory is different as it focuses more on the information being learnt and how it connects to the learner. I find all this intrigueing and feel that this type of learning theory will be beneficial for myself.

Engagement Theory

Wow havent I left myself in a spot of bother!! I have so much to catch up on but in saying that I have been keeping up with the content of the course just haven't been doing the Blogging etc. SO wish me luck guys hahaha.

Week 1

When discussing the article on Engagement Theory I find that alot of what is discussed is what we as learning managers must embrace in order to gain our students full engagement. The use of technology is so widespread that we must create technology based learning opportunities for our students as much as possible. The basic principles of the Learning Engagement Theory (Greg Kearsley & Ben Schneiderman) suggest that students must be engaged in tasks that are meaningful to the students while also working together in a group context to achieve worthwhile outcmes. I feel that this is imporant particularly when working with students who have very little motivation levels. They must see the reasoning behind why they are completing a task in order to feel that it is worthwhile.