The Comic Life image I created in class demonstrates some of the core beliefs I have developed during this course. I compared an egg in a nest, simple, plain, and ordinary, with a Faberge Egg, encrusted with diamonds, and even more beautful than the egg on which it is based. This represents the fact that technology in education can add a whole new dimension, just as the diamond encrusted works of art created by Faberge outshine an ordinary egg.

The image of Tron, a character from fiction who gets sucked into his own computer program, represents the dangers of using technology just because it is available. The image of the Luddite represents the balance between the two extremes, that technology’s use ought to be justified each time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124324682@N01/503468423

Here is a podcast i created. My podcast is about how i will keep up to date with E-learning in primary education.

Lauren

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Image availabe here

My Podcast is about an article by Idit Harel called “Building Software Beats Using It”. It touches on Harel’s idea on constructionist learning.

Sammy’s post is on a paper by James Paul Gee about matching the motivation children have when playing video games to the sometimes non existant motivation of learning.

when a long and complex game is presented to a child, the excitement to get started is through the roof, but when it comes to a long and complex learning outcome…moans, sighs and procrastination arises. So lets create video games that withhold learning outcomes!

Great idea, but not so great in terms of meeting the needs of every learning style out there in todays society. Sammy states some interesting points Gee made through his paper. There were four points i would like to share, that i thought were most relevant to my own learning from the day one of learning to now.

• ‘Good learning makes the learner feel like a producer not a consumer’.
• ‘Teaching should occur through a variety of learning styles’ – of course, otherwise there would be no variation in the classroom envirnment. If you have no variation in the way you teach, your students will unfortunately tune out very quickly due to BOREDOM.
• ‘Communication skills are enhanced when individuals must apply them under pressure or “on demand” ‘- I hated all forms of oral presentations at school, but the more i was faced with them, the easier they became and i slowly but surely didnt have so many panic, nervous and anxious attacks! provided that postive feedback was made. Over all, making you a better public speaker in all forms of situations.
• ‘Humans reflect more on experiences rather than definitions and cogical principles’ – i have always related to an experience than a theoretical approach.

Sammy concludes with question – Are video games appropriate for all learning styles?

I say NO, purely because not every child learns visually! What about the pracitical learning styles? Or the ones who learn from watching others? If video games were to be used educationally, i think we would have to be selective in which Key Learning Area would best be suited. Obviously narrative writing cannot be achieved in a video game… or can it? Maths would be perfect for video games, in schools they already have the computer games such as Targeting Maths and Maths Circus. So its one option to think about and put to trial.

Lauren

Link to Sammy’s blog post here

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I have just read Sand Castles Go Digital by Idit Harvel. Prior to this reading, i have become very interest in the topic of Contructionist learning and developing the understanding that ‘children learn best when they are in the active roles of designer and constructor’ (Papert). I wanted to find an example that suited this theory of children as publishers, so i could relate and reflect back on.

Going back to the article on Sand Castles Go Digital, i was able to find an example of contructionist learning. Children learn whilst making sand castles, because their imagination is running wild and they are constantly thinking of new ideas to implement into their sand castle. BUT then it all comes crashing, when the ocean’s waves reclaim thier creation. This form of play is contructionist, but it is very limited, as children grow and develop, they can’t go back to a sand castle they made the summer before and add their new knowledge to it. However, we can turn to the computer and the internet to expand these moments and make them last longer!

Pretend the computer and the internet is your beach, play and dig around!

Lauren

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Article -  Harel, I. (2003). Sand castles go digital. Retrieved August 4, 2006 at:
http://www.mamamedia.com/areas/grownups/new/21_learning/sand_castles.html

I was just reading through Elise’s post on ‘Technology and Constructivism’ and her findings on an article based on the role technology plays in a constuctivist setting. I literally just had a light bulb moment. During the study of the subject, E-learning, i have learnt many things about technology and how it affects learning, children and the overall view of a technological classroom so to speak. Very positive things may i add!

BUT Elise mentions from the article she found and her own personal view that “computers and other technology should not be viewed as “add ons,” but as tools which are an integral part of a child’s learning experience”. Im going to confess that i have viewd technology and everything associated with it is in fact an ‘add on’ to children’s learning. I didn’t view it as an ‘intergral part’ of their learning. So i have sat back after reading this and had a little deep think. I actually now agree with Elise and the author of the article. Technology is an intergral part of a child’s learning, and it isn’t how the technology/equipment is used, it’s about the way in which it is incorporated into the teaching that makes it relevant to children and what they are learning!!

Thanks to that brief post by Elise and the quotes from the article “School reform: What role can technology play in a constructivist setting?“, i now begin to view technology a little differently from what i first i believed.. its not how you use it or how it works or what it does for children .. its how you make it relevant and how you implement the technology into education.

Lauren

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Link to Elise’s post – http://elearningcf.edublogs.org/2009/05/28/technology-and-constructivism/

After the completion of our task two assignment on technology in the classroom. I chose to elaborate on the use of ‘Interactive whiteboards’ (smart boards) and how this technology has had an impact on the classroom. I witnessed a hand writing lesson on the ‘Interactive whiteboard’. It was a basic lesson shown on the ‘interactive whiteboard’ but achieved many outcomes conveying the notion of handwriting to stage 1/2 students. The visual advantages this technology provides is wonderful, making a lesson fun and efficient that enhances learning in the classroom because it has become an innovative environment. Having a ‘Interactive whiteboard’ in the classroom is more inviting for students to learn off of than that a traditional classroom which only contains a blackboard to display demonstrations and lessons.

Not only is this technology useful for teachers and is user friendly for students, it also gives students an opportunity to use such technology themselves to portray their own work.

Lastly, to add to the simplicity and convenience the ‘interactive whiteboard’ brings to the classroom. I came across a report in a school newsletter on ‘interactive whiteboards’, informing parents the reason for using this technology in the classrooms. The teacher who wrote the report gave an example of a lesson that was difficult to teach children and how introducing the ‘interactive whiteboard’ has advanced the learning of this lesson. The teacher states “i would teach the class about money either by sitting them in a circle on the floor with the coins in the middle, or by blutacking coins on the whiteboard, where they would be too small to see from the back of the class and would promptly fall off while we were counting them, i can now show large, easy to manoeuvre images of coins on the ‘interactive whiteboard’, which I and the children can move around as we count them.”

This example of a lesson originally proved to be difficult for the class and the teacher without the use of the ‘interactive whiteboard’, but now it is an easy task to achieve thanks to this innovative technology. Helping students and teachers together.

Lauren

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Reference of school report – Ferguson, I. (2005, November). A Leap Forward in ICT. PARENTLINK, p.5.

After reading Jasmin’s post on getting the most out of student learning through kids website, it got me thinking whether I’d have the skills or the resources to achieve meaningful learning with students. I agree that to learn effectively we need to discover things ourselves but is all of this possible in the typical learning environment? I know that it sounds like I’m claiming defeat. A lot of the things we read and are taught suggest things we should and can do to enhance meaningful learning but where in the curriculum do we fit this all in? I don’t want a manual stating exactly what needs to be done, but I would like examples, REAL examples, on how meaningful learning was incorporated in a regular classroom. They usually tend to mention case studies from schools who have an abundant of resources, that employ specialized teachers and have allocated hours and unlimited resources for the students. Or examples that are the total opposite, schools who are struggling and employ a magical teacher who drops the curriculum to focus solely on creating meaningful learning through computers and such.  I want examples of regular teachers, who have regular classrooms, with regular students. I would like to know how they managed to introduce online-based activities and if so what was sacrificed?

As a student teacher I wouldn’t know where to begin, I’m still struggling to figure out how to make the curriculum motivating and engaging. We have been given great ideas to enhance meaningful learning, but how do we implement them? Once we get a job we are going to be too focused on trying to manage everything, that we’ll forget to incorporate what we’ve learnt or what we’ve promised ourselves to be like. I understand the advantages of meaningful learning. I understand the different ways to enhance learning. But I can honestly say I wouldn’t know where to begin.

Anna-Maria

Image : ‘Train to Switzerland 08‘

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After reading a post by Penny and David Sobel’s article, I found myself re-thinking the importance of computers so early in a childs life. I have been brought up to believe [by the education system] that computers were an educational resource that enhance our way of learning. I never thought of computers as easy money for large corporations! I find it disgraceful that computer companies [in Soble's opinion] are practically targeting toddlers to set them up as reliable consumers for the next 60 years!

Although I still agree with the advantages of computers, it does bring up the question whether computers should to be apart of every single aspect of a childs life [school, home, social, recreational]? I remember that on rainy days at school we couldn’t wait for lunch because we stayed indoors [which rarely ever happened] to play boardgames, clapping games and draw on the blackboard. But on my last practicum visit, students were all to eager and aggressive to go on the computer. Students were fighting and complaining, pushing and shoving, gathering around the computer as if it were the heater.

Like everything in life, there is always give and take. We are giving students computers but what are we taking away from them? We give students new ways to express themselves, but are we taking away the ability to verbally and personally express themselves. For instances; during a class presentation we learn to display our knowledge with clever and interesting gadgets but are we hiding? Diminishing our confidence and stage presence. The content is there. The presentation is there. If we show everything we need to be marked on [our knowledge], why do we need  to stand out the front and present?

In one of my uni courses we are learning about how to incorporate learning technologies in every subject–This is our future and the students future. Therefore, do children, toddlers even, need to learn everything about computers? Do they even need computers to be able to function in life? Are children honestly left behind if we don’t given them this opportunity??

Anna-Maria

Image Source:spicing up the walls in our kindergarten+ecosystem

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After reading Anita’s blog about her experience with teaching with a Smartborad for a Maths lesson was interesting because I for one have never seen let alone played with one before. I don’t know much about smart boards or how they can be useful in a class lesson, but Anita concisely described its purpose and how it benefited her learning environment. Smart boards have the ability to control and monitor every computer in the classroom and enhances student-centered learning. I now hope to teach a lesson with a Smartboard to experience Anita’s joy and fulfillment.

VS

Blackboard                                          Smartboard

I guess once a class and the teacher learn and are familiar with a Smartboard it has more advantages than a regular Blackboard, which are highlighted in an e-journal scribd Smart Board. The points which I liked the most were;

• Ability to save lessons on web to present to absent students
• End each day by having students write down one thing they learnt
• Diagramming activities

Anna-Maria

Image source:Differential Equations
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Image source: Using the SMART Board
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