Looking backwards... then onwards and forwards!

Where to from here? Watch my first ever vodcast to find out!

Article Reference: Barrett, H. (2010). Balancing the two faces of eportfolios. Educação, Formação & Tecnologias, 3(1), 6-14.

Get a Life!

     Have you ever had any days when you felt you couldn't be bothered to change out of your trackies, get off the couch and head into uni for class? Some people around the world are avoiding that problem by attending classes in the online virtual world of Second Life. Unbelievable, but true. After hearing a fellow student mention the education uses of this program, I was intrigued and did a bit of research to find out more.
     Second Life is a a free online world, where people create their own avatar, and control it as it explores the virtual space. It seems the possibilities are limitless, with people building, designing, making music, learning, making friends and more all online. And did I mention you can fly?
     Plenty of educational bodies have set up shop in Second Life, including Harvard university. The benefits of learning like this, according to those involved, is that it becomes accessible to anyone with a broadband connection, and it allows users to gain a sense of community, as the avatars gather in the same online space, to learn and discuss. Not quite the same as a real university campus in my opinion, but apparently it is pretty communal. This type of forum also easily lends itself towards allowing students to gain an international perspective, as group members could easily gather in Second Life, form any part of the physical world.
     Education in Second Life has become such a big focus, that the sector has its own wiki and delicious account to keep track of updated articles and news. Groups are using it to study health, midwifery, science and more. The possibilities seem infinite! I am not sure if I would like to leave my course and transfer online, apparently people flying overhead is quite a distraction. But it is interesting to keep an eye on... Check out this video if you're interested in finding out more...

Winner! High Score!

     Matthew’s blog post has prompted me to think more about gaming, and how it can be used in an educational setting. Admittedly, before beginning this subject, I was probably leaning towards an anti-gaming stance. Perhaps I was just more of a fresh-air-and-sunshine kind of girl, or perhaps I was just sick of the amount of xbox my boyfriend plays, but either way, I would have argued that games are bad, at least in high doses. However, I have come to see the error of my ways, and reading Two to Three Years: Game-Based Learning has given me all the more faith in gaming.

     Today’s kids and young people have grown up surrounded by digital games, “it is like the air they breathe”, and so they are a great way to reach children through a medium they are familiar with.

When used in moderation, a well-designed game can offer many education benefits for children; teaching them logical reasoning and thinking skills, how to strive for and achieve a goal, and even team work and cooperation in the right game. Aren’t these things good for kids? Yes!

     That said, not every single game around has all these good outcomes, and some I would still argue are not great for kids… many games are quite violent and aggressive, which I don’t think is a good influence for children in primary school. So the real challenge to teachers then, is how can we use games, and choose the right ones?

     I came across this fantastic video below, which really got me thinking some more… It goes beyond just ways in which we can use games to fit them into our current teaching models, but shows how we could transform and ‘gamify’ our whole approach to teaching, to make it more appealing and effective. 

     Will you accept the challenge, beat your high score and take your teaching to the next level? 

The Escapist : Extra Credits : Gamifying Education

Kafai, Y. (2006). Playing and Making Games for Learning: Instructionist and Constructionist Perspectives for Game Studies. Games and Culture, 1(1), 36-40.

Thanks to Flickr for Image: 'Day 218/366 - My Nintendo DS' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26104563@N00/2740981120

Good Morning Miss Moral?

     Most of us out there consider ourselves to be upstanding citizens, I’m sure. Moral beings. Good people. Followers of the law. But… are we?

     A moral dilemma that presents itself to teachers regularly is that of copyright.

     Miss Lydia Coulson poses a relevant question in her blog post; “Why do the generation of today feel that it is ok to steal software when we are completely against stealing physical goods?”

     I’m sure part of the problem is that when you are doing it, it doesn’t feel like stealing. You don’t look over your shoulder to see if anyone is watching. You don’t sneak it into your bag. You just do it, from the comfort of your own home or classroom.

     One difficult thing about this ethical dilemma, is that we usually don’t break copyright just for the sake of it. Especially as teachers, we feel that from time to time with education being the greater good, the end outweighs the means. Our guest lecturer posed us with a challenging thought; shouldn’t we be presenting ourselves as upstanding people in every aspect of our lives, as a model for our students?

     Part of the solution might be education for teachers. There are almost always ways to find what you need, in a way that doesn’t break copyright laws. Why not try to search for images that have Creative Commons licenses on Flickr? Or Google one of the many sites that offer royalty free images? Is there any open source software that you can use instead of copying licensed software? Chances are, there are.

Thanks to Flickr for Image: 'Sneaking out' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9674912@N07/3177929150

Where is the 'dislike' button?

     Blogging and twitter have opened up a world of information, opinions and literature that I was missing out on before I joined this world! It is great to be able to browse blog posts by people studying, working in, or writing about the same field, as I am– primary education.

     I stumbled across this post by Miss Watts, and it struck a chord with me. She was reflecting on an article she had just read in the Sunday Telegraph, about some of the dangers of mismanaged use of social networking sites. The article states that children as young as eight are undergoing therapy to be treated for anxiety triggered by their participation on sites such as Facebook. Dislike. 

     This type of reporting could be seen as sensationalist, highlighting an extreme example, but it actually serves as an example of a real possibility – and one that we should actively work to avoid. A passive approach of just hoping this doesn’t happen to more children will fail. Calling for a ban to social networking sites will fail. Trying to ban young children from Facebook will fail. But we can do something, and as teachers I feel we have an obligation to. Teaching children about safe use of social networking sites, how to protect their privacy, as well as self-esteem building in the classroom will all go a long way to avoid this situation reoccurring for other children. Importantly, involving parents in helping to manage this is important too, so that they can monitor home use and help keep their children safe. It may not be just the children who need to be education around this issue… 

Thanks to Flickr for Image: 'e16' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73344134@N00/2840194335

Use your TPACK to get learning on track.

     As teachers, we need to be competent in the content areas, as well as expert in the pedagogy. There is no point in knowing the content if we cannot share our understanding so that students can learn. And even having great ideas of how to teach and how to reach students is irrelevant if there is no subject knowledge to inform the teaching. Another element that teachers must now also be confident in, is the area of technological knowledge.

     How do these all fit together? Mishra and Koehler, composers of 'Too Cool for School? No Way!' have coined the TPACK framework. This punchy acronym stands for Technology, Pedagogy And Content Knowledge – the three different forms of knowledge required for today’s successful teacher.

     One skill that Mishra and Koehler value highly is that of repurposing. This is the process of taking ‘new toys’ or emerging technologies that have not been designed for educational purposes, and giving them value in the classroom. This has to be deeper than just tacking the technology on; it has to be used meaningfully. As we are constantly reminded, the technology cannot drive the pedagogy, but there must be a balance between the three elements. How can we use wiis, ipads, ipods, blog, xboxes, digital cameras and all the rest? 

     Should this strike fear in the hearts and minds of all teachers out there? Heck no! We should rejoice! In order to achieve this creative repurposing, and thus in order to become the best teachers we possibly can be, we need to be ‘fluent’ in the technologies, which gives us a license to play! 

     Little Miss Neet raises a good point too; the Internet gives us free access to a wealth of helpful how-to info on just about every piece of technology. Don’t know how to do something? Google it, or watch a YouTube tutorial. We are information rich, and we just need to know how to access it.

     So do you want to be an expert teacher? Yes? Well, go and do your homework; blog, wii, wiki, ipod, ipad and more until your heart is content. It is all professional development after all!

Thanks to Flickr for Image: 'excessive amount of apple products' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16941958@N02/5597918732

A Hole New World

     Want more proof of how amazing computers can be? How lovely people can be? Here is a project that I learnt about in class that gave me a whole lot of inspiration and warm fuzzy feelings. This project is literally presenting a whole new world for the students involved. So what is it? It's called Hole In The Wall. And it is amazing.

     The project sees computers installed in public places in slum areas of India, with no instructions, no fees, no restrictions. Just a free resource for the children to let their imaginations run wild. And run wild they did. The children, many of them who could speak no English, figured out on their own how to use the computers, even though the operating system was in English. Through trial and error they learnt how to access programs and play around on them, learning together and teaching each other. 
     This project shows the importance of hands on learning, and the way in which collaboration around technology can be so helpful. This is not to say that we should just let our students figure out the computers in our classroom on their own, but it does show some of the possibilities. One strategy that we could use in our classroom is adopt the mantra of 'Ask three other students your IT question before you ask the teacher'. There are probably many students in the class that could help each other by providing the answer or through trial and error experimentation. If these kids who have never seen a computer before can figure it out, imagine what your kids can do?

Thanks to Flickr Image: 'India - Kids - 113' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56796376@N00

Presenting PIES!

     Today a guest lecturer shared a handy acronym with us in class, which highlights the four areas that need attention to maintain optimal Information Technology standards and safety in schools. This links to my previous blog post and provides a more succinct and thorough list. 

     Schools need to consider their PIES, and not just the ones at the canteen! By regularly maintaining these aspects, schools are fulfiling their duty of care for the wellbeing of students.

• Policies – are there agreed and written policies in place?
• Infrastructure – are there filters in place?
• Education & training – what is being done with staff and children?
• Standards – how often are procedures reviewed? What quality control is in place?

Thanks to Flickr for Image: 'Pi Pie' 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35468154678@N01/861969