Quest Atlantis

Wk 4

I got the chance to briefly look at Quest Atlantis this week and I was quite excited to see the possibilities that it offers for me in the classroom. I love to learn any new way that I can engage the students I am teaching. The ability to engage students is always something I come up against in the classroom. Quest Atlantis looks like an engaging and fun technology tool and I can see the potential that Quest Atlantis could have when incorporated in the classroom. This ICT tool could greatly support a mode of differentiated learning to engage students of all abilities and learning styles.

I also found it really interesting this week to read the 2010 Horizon Report 

I found it very exciting to read about some of the new technologies that are beginning to be used in the classroom.  The Horizon Report allowed me to clearly see the potential for engaging technologies in the classroom. As I am only just starting to understand the outer-core of technology today, it bewildered me slightly to hear about all that is still to come in the future. Some of the technology in the report is already being used in current schools today. This made me realize that the future is truly upon us. One technology I realy liked was Cloud computing, as I am already  a google groups user, this made me feel somewhat in touch. I am excited to think about the potential, technologies such as this may play in the future classroom. My classroom.

References

The 2010 Horizon Report: K-12 Edition.  The New Media Consortium.  Retrieved March 31, 2011 from:

from://www.nmc.org/pdf/2010-Horizon-Report-K12.pdf

http://atlantis.crlt.indiana.edu/

2M GEMS 

The Gems today were so cute but also very confident and switched on. It made me a little scared but also very excited about the idea of using technology in the classroom. 

So many great possibilities! 


Wk 3

After the gems today, I have realised how fast technology is changing, and questioning, “How fast am I catching up?” It was amazing to me to see not only the Gems engagement, but their confidence in using ICT’s. I was blown away to see how easily year 2 students were using and interacting via skype. Whilst on the other hand, we all seemed like a bunch of nervous children ourselves. The Gems blog was also amazing!  Until now, I had heard about blogging through our tutes, but never really understood how possible it really was. The Gems teacher admitted to the lengthy effort it had taken to get where they were, however the endless possibilities that was now available to her and the gems was incredible.  This is now something I look forward to being able to work towards one day in the near future.

This made me realize the importance of TPACK (Koehler & Mishra, 2009) in the classroom. Teachers need to consider how to successfully create a balance of learning content and ICT’s in order to allow real learning to take place. ICT’s may effective but only when utilized in an effective and intergraded way.I now truly believe that it is important to integrate ICT into students' learning experiences, both to enhance skills and engagement with learning. To not do so would be to disadvantage our students, both now and in the future.

We learnt today about having the correct and appropriate ICT resources to aid student learning. The TPACK model provides a visual representation for me of this concept. The concept that, Learning objectives, outcomes, teacher pedagogy and technology all need to align in order for learning to have purpose. The gems teacher sets a great example of incorporating learning objectives and ICT’s in the classroom. The teacher effectively used the blog to as a tool to learn through and support curriculum objectives. The teacher did not simply rely on the blog to teach as a stand-alone tool, it was merely her device to facilitate her learning outcomes to be reached. This ideology has taught me to question the learning activities that I plan for my Practicum classroom and the way in which I use technology. This causes me to question, “why am I using this technology? What is the key learning purpose? and how am I going to facilitate through way of instruction? This has made me realise the many ways in which technologies can be used effectively, rather than merely using them to say that we have.

On top of everything I have seen and learnt this week, I am loving my new friend, Google. Google Sites, Google Reader, Google Groups and Google Documents, has already made my life and this course so much easier. I feel I am starting to be come more confident in using these applications everyday.  

There may still be hope for me yet.

References

Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge?

Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70.

http://www.2mgems.blogspot.com/

Lightbulb !

Wk2

Wow!! 

I never really got it until this week. Things all started to become clearer for me when I was teaching at practicum. So many times I have planned lessons, with great intention that students would be incredibly engaged in what I had planned. I mean, “What is better than doing fun maths with or art work with your hands?”

This week I found the answer to my question, when one day I pulled out my Iphone to look up games for the students. Within minutes students, telling me about their apple software and all they new, suddenly surrounded me. I was amazed at the interest of the students. “Ah ha”, this was a light bulb moment for me, I suppose. I was taken back to see how engaged they became in a conversation with me apple Apple applications. I was speaking their language, and they wanted to talk! This is clearly their world that I am living and teaching in. Technology is such a large part of their every day function and I intend to learn all I can from them as an immigrant into their world. I thought that I was in touch with my students and their way of learning, but clearly I still too have much more to learn. This realization reinstated Presnkys notion to me that “Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach” (Prensky 2001). Students tweet, face book and msn to talk today. Even email may soon become a thing of their past. As their technology continues to grow and speed up, I can’t help but feel I may be left behind. I had to laugh when reflecting on my past prac experience of trying to explain to my students about film, only to have them look at me like I was an “Immigrant”. This is a digital world that they are living in. I am starting to look deeper in to Prenksys belief that students, in today’s word actually have a different brain function (Prensky 2001).  As a digital immigrant I am increasingly becoming more aware every day of the limitless possibilities when incorporating both digital and material base worlds. The key is to find balance. I believe that it is important to integrate ICT into students' learning experiences, both to enhance skills and engagement with learning.

“What is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge?” TPACK (Koehler & Mishra, 2009).  I'm starting to realise that implementing technology involves, intergrading it within learning and not simply as an add-on activity. Beverley Head (2008) defines, what I believe the TPACK model truly represents. That is, allowing students the opportunity to transform, apply interpret and represent their knowledge of curriculum through the use of technologies. Students are not simply applying the “Cut and Paste” method of using ICT’s, but to investigate and greater understand what we are teaching them (Head 2008).

I am becoming more aware that I am one of "those teachers". Teachers, as Prensky believes, hold and “old fashioned" way of teaching (Prensky, 2001). Luckily for me, I have the opportunity to change. Hopefully this course is the first step in the right direction.

References:

Head, B. (2008).  Generation Cut and  Paste. APN Education Media, Sydney.

Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge?

Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70.

Presnky, M. (2001) Digital Native, Digital Immigrants: On the Horizon. NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5.

My Introduction to ICT 4001EPS 
Week 1

    

I have entered this course, not aware of what to expect. During the first week I was surprised at how easy it was to access technology tools, start my own blog and google groups page. Even using the 4001EPS ICT course page, seemed so much easier than previous courses. Starting at school teaching, for some reason I had the idea that I was somewhat up to date with technology. Maybe I was in denial or possibly I was just simply unaware of the amazing technology out there now. "Where was I when all of these new programs were made?", I ask myself. I thought that by simply using the interactive white board made me technology savvy teacher. Just within the first week, my views on how students use technology for learning have changed. It is somewhat daunting, starting this course s a beginner, however I am looking forward to learning new ways in which I can better understand the students in my current and future classroom. I have always previously thought that too much technology in the classroom would either be too hard, too time consuming or simply just not a real device for incorporating key learning outcomes. The idea of being able to use blogs, Google Docs and other learning devices as an avenue to actually support and engage students in real learning was not something I can say I have considered. Maybe it's because I remember my learning, experiences in the classroom, and the weekly trip to the computer lab to play games or look up material that had nothing to do with my learning.

I can already see the potential impact of using the variety of technology that is so easily available at my fingertips, not only for my students but also for my personal development as a teacher. I am still trying to get my head twitter and a few other things, although if I can pick things up as fast, as I have this week, I feel I should be a key tweeter in no time at all. I am aware understanding every thing that this course has to offer will not be always easy, but I feel the benefits may far way out way the cost.

I look forward to being a learner of technology!