Blogging is the 21st century's way of writing a diary. We were asked as an ICT elective to start a blog. This wasn't to be just an online diary, we were to use it as a reflective tool. It was hoped that it would aid our learning.
A recent report into teacher education stated that teaching students should be reflective as it makes them better teachers. Donaldson (2010) To read the whole report online click here.
On reflection I have found the blogging experience a good reflection tool. I was very hesitant at first. I don't mind reflecting but was worried about putting so much of myself online. The Learning Curve Education provide information and resources for education on how to protect yourself online.
Throughout the process I have found it a great way to keep track of my learning. I can easily find the film I created months ago or a link to a relevant website in a few easy clicks. It was also a good tool to look back at how far I have come. My professional development during this module has impressed myself. I can now find make links for articles online. Like this one for a journal article into using blogs to enhance critical reflection and community of practice amongst teachers.
The other blogging I took part in was Tecno Teddy Bear. This was a collaborative online blog to record the activities of teddy exchange bears. Our lecturers set up a bear exchange with other countries. We sent a bear abroad and they sent a bear to us. We were paired in small groups with nursery children, university students, primary children and qualified teachers.
I have enjoyed this blog as I found it very interactive. Some students have not found it as enjoyable and worthwhile as I have. Unfortunately they have not had regular feedback from their teddy. If you look on the tecno teddy bear blog, click on the tag AUSTRIA on the right hand side you will see that the nursery and my group have been very good at updating the blog with teddys travels.
My group was split over two electives but even so we managed to work collaboratively together. We each had our own roles and worked together to create interesting blogs for the nursery children. Collaborative working has shown to aid children's learning. On Learning Teaching Scotland there are articles on sharing good practice click here. Linking with other schools has been going on for years but now with the advancements in technology it is quicker and easier to communicate.
I believe the reason I got more than some out of the teddy blog was because there was two way conversation. Blogs allow you to see who had commented on a blog or posted easily.
Please have a read of the tecno teddy blog as I think it is an example of good practice within teacher education.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Interactive Whiteboards IWB
Most schools now have IWB in the classroom. This often under used software is a brilliant piece of technology. Used correctly they can be a great tool for engaging children in their learning. At university recently we received training in SMART and PROMETHEAN software. During both our training session we were shown how to make resources on the software. These were interactive activities to go along side our lessons. I don't think there was much between the two programmes. To get the most from either of them you would have to use them yourself quite a bit. They both work in a similar way to PowerPoint where you make up slides with text and images. The difference is that you can very easily make the text and images animated using Smart and Promethean.
IWB mean teachers can purposefully include ICT in lessons with engage and interact with children. Teachers need to make sure they keep up with the advancements in technology. It is no use having and IWB in the class and never having the children up an using it.
"Teachers need to be able to make informed and imaginative decisions about how the curriculum and the teaching strategies which children encounter in schools enable them to become critical and creative participants in a 'knowledge age', not passive consumers of 'information'. " Loveless (Ed.) (2002, p8)
I think IWB allow children to interact with their education. When I grew up you just watched tv, nowadays children can create and view their own ideas. Teachers need to be aware of this development and keep up with the modern world. By using correctly IWB are a simple tool which can allow teachers to create and foster the idea that children can use technology to discover their own learning.
Curriculum for Excellence states that ICT should be used to enhance learning. Resources such as Smart and Promethean allow this to happen.
Continued Professional Development (CPD) is compulsory for all teachers.
"Teachers have high expectations placed upon them in preparing learning experiences to develop learners' knowledge and understanding in the curriculum, in their ICT capacity, in their ICT skills and in their thinking processes." Loveless (Ed.) (2002, p20)
The training we were provided with allowed me to develop my own skills. With a bit more practice I will be able to include correct, relevant and engaging ICT in the classroom through IWB. My council area uses Smart software and boards throughout the region. I have since downloaded this to my computer to allow me to keep improving my skills.
Here is an document produced by SMART on improving learning through IWB if you are interested in learning more.
Loveless, A and Dore, B (Ed.) (2002) ICT in the Primary School. New York: Open University Press
Monday, 21 March 2011
Game based Learning with Nintendo DS
Is the Nintendo DS games console beneficial to learning in the classroom?
Our very own Dr David Miller has researched this idea for LTScotland. See here
He is also quoted in a Psychology paper from Montana, USA. See here
His and partner Derek Robertson discovered that there was significant gain in both areas (controlled and experimental groups). In terms of mathematics the research showed "that the less competent children tended to improve more than the more able children" in terms of written maths assessment. The game they used was Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training.
On e-learning Derek Robertson is listed as one of their 'brillian blogs'.
If you are interested in finding out more here is a link to the Consolarium blog on LTS.
Here is a report on how Nintendo DS can support a learner diagnosed with autism.
Advantages I have found of DS as a whole:
Class very quiet- all on task
Brain training has been proven to increase memory
Hand/eye co-ordination being practiced
Disadvantages I have found of DS as a whole:
Takes a while to get into games if never played before
Can you save 30 games?
Solo working most of time
If you don't have hand, finger dexterity can you work the stylus?
Games and Stylus very small - could be easily lost.
Below is a quick review of four games I have personally tested.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village:
Here is a walk through of the game also on blogger.
Language used by professor complicated. This could be positive or negative.
Great for problem solving
Quite a bit of reading involved. This game is recommended for all age ranges but I think it would best suit primary 5 upwards(second level CfE).
Word Academy
Language based game.
Suitable for Primary 4-6
Good for forming letters. Possibly good for dyslexia.
It says it coaches you in the English language. I tried to test the spelling using the words behaviour, travelling and recognise, but it did not recognise these words in English or American?
You would need to find this out before giving it to pupils.
Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl
This game was developed from a book. It contains 6 interactive books by Eoin Colfer.
This resource is fantastic. It allows children to read the book and click on different links. Therefore if a child does not understand a word they can click on it to find more information.
This resource would be good for reluctant readers.
There is also collectible images throughout the book which adds the game/competition element to it.
Gardening Mama
This game uses hand control of the stylus in different ways.
I cannot see much learning from this game. I think it is basically a repetitive addictive game. I think children would like to play it but may not gain much from it. Others may disagree and say that it provides information about growing plants and children can learn about horticulture through it. I feel that the best was to learn about this medium is to experience it. i.e. to go out and grow plants in real life.
Conclusion
I think the nintendo ds can be an effective learning tool in class however the choice of game should be considered. This also should not be used as a reward or add on activity at the end of a lesson or in golden time. Curriculum for Excellence says that ICT should be used to enhance lessons and should be integrated throughout the lesson. If I wanted to develop great lessons with ICT I should think how I can include the technology so that my lessons are meaningful and relevant.
Our very own Dr David Miller has researched this idea for LTScotland. See here
He is also quoted in a Psychology paper from Montana, USA. See here
His and partner Derek Robertson discovered that there was significant gain in both areas (controlled and experimental groups). In terms of mathematics the research showed "that the less competent children tended to improve more than the more able children" in terms of written maths assessment. The game they used was Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training.
On e-learning Derek Robertson is listed as one of their 'brillian blogs'.
If you are interested in finding out more here is a link to the Consolarium blog on LTS.
Here is a report on how Nintendo DS can support a learner diagnosed with autism.
Advantages I have found of DS as a whole:
Class very quiet- all on task
Brain training has been proven to increase memory
Hand/eye co-ordination being practiced
Disadvantages I have found of DS as a whole:
Takes a while to get into games if never played before
Can you save 30 games?
Solo working most of time
If you don't have hand, finger dexterity can you work the stylus?
Games and Stylus very small - could be easily lost.
Below is a quick review of four games I have personally tested.
Professor Layton and the Curious Village:
Here is a walk through of the game also on blogger.
Language used by professor complicated. This could be positive or negative.
Great for problem solving
Quite a bit of reading involved. This game is recommended for all age ranges but I think it would best suit primary 5 upwards(second level CfE).
Word Academy
Language based game.
Suitable for Primary 4-6
Good for forming letters. Possibly good for dyslexia.
It says it coaches you in the English language. I tried to test the spelling using the words behaviour, travelling and recognise, but it did not recognise these words in English or American?
You would need to find this out before giving it to pupils.
Eoin Colfer Artemis Fowl
This game was developed from a book. It contains 6 interactive books by Eoin Colfer.
This resource is fantastic. It allows children to read the book and click on different links. Therefore if a child does not understand a word they can click on it to find more information.
This resource would be good for reluctant readers.
There is also collectible images throughout the book which adds the game/competition element to it.
Gardening Mama
This game uses hand control of the stylus in different ways.
I cannot see much learning from this game. I think it is basically a repetitive addictive game. I think children would like to play it but may not gain much from it. Others may disagree and say that it provides information about growing plants and children can learn about horticulture through it. I feel that the best was to learn about this medium is to experience it. i.e. to go out and grow plants in real life.
Conclusion
I think the nintendo ds can be an effective learning tool in class however the choice of game should be considered. This also should not be used as a reward or add on activity at the end of a lesson or in golden time. Curriculum for Excellence says that ICT should be used to enhance lessons and should be integrated throughout the lesson. If I wanted to develop great lessons with ICT I should think how I can include the technology so that my lessons are meaningful and relevant.
Crazy Talk
We experimented with Crazy Talk in class last week. This is an expensive software where you can make 2D images appear to talk and come to life.
Here is a clip taken from you tube where the person has used Crazy Talk in order to introduce healthy eating.
We can see on this video that there is two vegetables talking. This is an added benefit of Crazy Talk 6. You can add two animated faces to one image. Looking reflectively at this video you can only clearly hear one of the voices and the pepper has a better mouth than the turnip. The image of the cow and the beef label might also be controvershall because not all children know where meat comes from.
This refers to the experience and outcome:
By investigating the range of foods available I can discuss how they contribute to a healthy diet.
This is from The Health and Wellbeing topic under Nutrition.
Here is my video made with Crazy Talk 6 so I tried to pt two animations in.
As I did this myself I used the computer voice for Petzi and my own voice for Nessie. I found the programme easy to use and recording your vocal very easy. You dont need to use audacity you can record straight onto the programme. The only difficulty I had was saving and exporting the file but thankful my lecturer managed it the next day. On reflection I think Nessie is animated better than Petzi because you can see his eyes better. Using your own voice also works better.
My video falls under using ICT to ehance learning.
I explore and experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts.
I like this resource but think it is too complicated for children to use solo. It has benefits lower down the school because it allows you to humanise pictures, drawings and images for children. By using personification with younger children you make them relevant to their lives. Young children are very egocentric and Curriculum for Excellence mentions in its priciples making learning relevant to children. They also believe that teddies, fairies and dragons are real and regularly talk. It is the teachers role to encourage this curious and creative side within the nursery setting. As the voices are easy to record with a little help young children could put their own voice to images easily. This programme would also be good when you are doing context learning such as ' faires have started to live in the nursery garden'.
It is a shame that this programme is so expensive as I don't see many educational establishments buying it.
I have uploaded Nessie and Petzi talking to my Austrian exchange blog and hope to get some feedback from the staff there. This should hopefuly inform me if the children liked it as much as I think they will.
Here is a clip taken from you tube where the person has used Crazy Talk in order to introduce healthy eating.
We can see on this video that there is two vegetables talking. This is an added benefit of Crazy Talk 6. You can add two animated faces to one image. Looking reflectively at this video you can only clearly hear one of the voices and the pepper has a better mouth than the turnip. The image of the cow and the beef label might also be controvershall because not all children know where meat comes from.
This refers to the experience and outcome:
By investigating the range of foods available I can discuss how they contribute to a healthy diet.
This is from The Health and Wellbeing topic under Nutrition.
Here is my video made with Crazy Talk 6 so I tried to pt two animations in.
As I did this myself I used the computer voice for Petzi and my own voice for Nessie. I found the programme easy to use and recording your vocal very easy. You dont need to use audacity you can record straight onto the programme. The only difficulty I had was saving and exporting the file but thankful my lecturer managed it the next day. On reflection I think Nessie is animated better than Petzi because you can see his eyes better. Using your own voice also works better.
My video falls under using ICT to ehance learning.
I explore and experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts.
I like this resource but think it is too complicated for children to use solo. It has benefits lower down the school because it allows you to humanise pictures, drawings and images for children. By using personification with younger children you make them relevant to their lives. Young children are very egocentric and Curriculum for Excellence mentions in its priciples making learning relevant to children. They also believe that teddies, fairies and dragons are real and regularly talk. It is the teachers role to encourage this curious and creative side within the nursery setting. As the voices are easy to record with a little help young children could put their own voice to images easily. This programme would also be good when you are doing context learning such as ' faires have started to live in the nursery garden'.
It is a shame that this programme is so expensive as I don't see many educational establishments buying it.
I have uploaded Nessie and Petzi talking to my Austrian exchange blog and hope to get some feedback from the staff there. This should hopefuly inform me if the children liked it as much as I think they will.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Collaboration when collecting ideas
Todays input was all about collecting ideas in one place. How can we brainstorm collaboratively?
Brainstorming has been around for a long time. Tony Buzan has personally used mind mapping to great success for many years. He finds this the best way to collate ideas, theories and notes.
In class today we looked at the avaliable software to take this idea one stage further. We wanted to have all nine participants on a resource , sharing ideas.
The first programme we worked with was called plodder. This is a new website application which is still being tested. We experienced some problems as we were all logged on as the same user.
Next we used inspiration. This is a good programme which is avaliable within a lot of councils. There is also a childs version called Kidspiration.
Then mindmeister was the last online resource we tried out. This was better because we all logged on as seperate users.
The benefits of these resources are easy to see. Collaboration is a large key to success within the teaching profession. TES article. Since collaboration has been a focus within education Tony Buzan has renewed his ideals of how benefical mind mapping can be to lessons. here.
Curriculum for Excellence also promotes colaboration and working together this report shows how teachers, parents, services and children worked together to deliver health and wellbeing successfully.
I wonder if they used mind mapping at the start to collaborate ideas?
This other blog shows the benefits of mind mapping collaboratively
Brainstorming has been around for a long time. Tony Buzan has personally used mind mapping to great success for many years. He finds this the best way to collate ideas, theories and notes.
In class today we looked at the avaliable software to take this idea one stage further. We wanted to have all nine participants on a resource , sharing ideas.
The first programme we worked with was called plodder. This is a new website application which is still being tested. We experienced some problems as we were all logged on as the same user.
Next we used inspiration. This is a good programme which is avaliable within a lot of councils. There is also a childs version called Kidspiration.
Then mindmeister was the last online resource we tried out. This was better because we all logged on as seperate users.
The benefits of these resources are easy to see. Collaboration is a large key to success within the teaching profession. TES article. Since collaboration has been a focus within education Tony Buzan has renewed his ideals of how benefical mind mapping can be to lessons. here.
Curriculum for Excellence also promotes colaboration and working together this report shows how teachers, parents, services and children worked together to deliver health and wellbeing successfully.
I wonder if they used mind mapping at the start to collaborate ideas?
This other blog shows the benefits of mind mapping collaboratively
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Games based learning
Today we looked at how ICT games can aid learning within the classroom. We used a Nintendo wii and games "Dance on Broadway" and "Samba de Amigo". Nicole, Keira and I thought that these could be used for music or health and wellbeing lessons. The dance on broad way has familar tracks which children can relate to. This could be used when teaching rhythm to a class. The good part of the games based learning is that it is interactive, engaging, fun and the whole class can take part together. When trialing the samba de amigo we found that the maracas which connect to the controller were rubbish. They blocked the path to the sensor.
On trying to create a hole for the sensor unfortunately it broke.
One child could use wii remotes and all the other children could use actual maracas and therefore everyone would be involved.
As we encountered several problems it would be fair to say that these games should be tried before using with a class. Another consideration is the impact of dance games amongst the boys in the class. Together we thought that a good way to solve this would be to use Michael Jacksons Thriller as boys may find it easier to engage by dancing like zombies, or to use Just Dance 1 + 2.
By doing this games based learning input at university we are able to critically look at the tools and what would be best for a mixed class. If you were to just do this off the cuff one day it would not work.
Here is my Games Based Learning Powerpoint created online online in google docs.
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AZG0O9ZMxnvEZHdtcjVmY183MnI2c24yOWN6&hl=en&authkey=CNmMmqAB
One child could use wii remotes and all the other children could use actual maracas and therefore everyone would be involved.
As we encountered several problems it would be fair to say that these games should be tried before using with a class. Another consideration is the impact of dance games amongst the boys in the class. Together we thought that a good way to solve this would be to use Michael Jacksons Thriller as boys may find it easier to engage by dancing like zombies, or to use Just Dance 1 + 2.
By doing this games based learning input at university we are able to critically look at the tools and what would be best for a mixed class. If you were to just do this off the cuff one day it would not work.
Here is my Games Based Learning Powerpoint created online online in google docs.
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AZG0O9ZMxnvEZHdtcjVmY183MnI2c24yOWN6&hl=en&authkey=CNmMmqAB
Monday, 21 February 2011
ipad
I had an ipad home this week and I am struggling with the pros and cons of this device. It is easily more accessible than the ipod. You can type, read, zoom and search easily due to the larger screen but unfortunately it does not have all the benefits of a laptop. This somewhere in between device has good interactive benefits but as it cannot be a stand alone device in terms of typing and recording documents why would schools invest in them?
One school who have done just this is Cedars School in Greenock. Pupils returned to school in Aug 2010 to find they all had been given an ipod. This mammoth purchase by the school has been justified by the amount of interactive learning they can do across the curriculum. To read the article in TES Scotland click here.
I was looking after a 9 year old autistic girl this weekend and found she became animated and enthusiastic when using the device. Although she cannot read or write and was able to interact and play a phonics game. She did not become down heartened or upset when she could not complete the game but carried on. She also tried a flying pigeon app which involved hand eye coordination, hand dexterity, left and right. Although her scores were not amazing she was definitely learning.
Perhaps this is a way forward for apple, to design software and devises for children who struggle to interact with the world. Could you imagine if apple made computers for wheelchairs or devices for children to communicate in the classroom? They would have personal wi-fi, interactive media, buttons for everything and would be aesthetically pleasing.
The problem I have with the ipad is that I feel it is a solitary, stand alone device which is very expensive. The reason it works so well in both the above cases is because they have one each. Perhaps I am greedy but if I invest in an ipad i want it to do more. I want it to have a camera, a dvd drive and access to all windows programmes.
One school who have done just this is Cedars School in Greenock. Pupils returned to school in Aug 2010 to find they all had been given an ipod. This mammoth purchase by the school has been justified by the amount of interactive learning they can do across the curriculum. To read the article in TES Scotland click here.
I was looking after a 9 year old autistic girl this weekend and found she became animated and enthusiastic when using the device. Although she cannot read or write and was able to interact and play a phonics game. She did not become down heartened or upset when she could not complete the game but carried on. She also tried a flying pigeon app which involved hand eye coordination, hand dexterity, left and right. Although her scores were not amazing she was definitely learning.
Perhaps this is a way forward for apple, to design software and devises for children who struggle to interact with the world. Could you imagine if apple made computers for wheelchairs or devices for children to communicate in the classroom? They would have personal wi-fi, interactive media, buttons for everything and would be aesthetically pleasing.
The problem I have with the ipad is that I feel it is a solitary, stand alone device which is very expensive. The reason it works so well in both the above cases is because they have one each. Perhaps I am greedy but if I invest in an ipad i want it to do more. I want it to have a camera, a dvd drive and access to all windows programmes.
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