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