Same Suburb Different Park

This is my podcast in reference to Fiona’s post on ‘Investigating Constructionism‘:

click here for podcast

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I’ve just read Alice’s post titled “Telling the New Story”, about how a year 1 class has been introduced to blogging, podcasts and wikis. The video which this posting is refering to has kept me thinking about using blogs in the classroom after seeing it many weeks ago.

It got me thinking about how young is too young to introduce these technologies into the primary classroom. I suppose these technologies are like introducing any new material to the students. If it is done is a pedagogically appropriate and motivating way, you can introduce anything to students. And I truely believe this. Last year on practicum I had to introduce information reports to a group of Kindergarten students. After much reflection and revision, they understood what they were, how they were used and why they would be used.

I believe that if continual guidance, motivation and assistance is offered by the teacher, then students in Kindergarten can be taught to use blogs, podcasts, vodcasts and wikis. It gives children the confidence to learn, make mistakes and improve on their learning as there is a greater audience, beyond the classroom who is watching, listening and reading about the happenings of this, and many other classrooms who have entered into the “blogosphere”.

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Rieber et al (2001). Children as multimedia critics: Middle school students’ motivation for and critical analysis of educational computer games designed by other children. AERA, Seattle.

This articles title seems a bit of a mouthful, but what it discusses is the relevance of gaming to student intrinsic motivation and engagement with their learning. Based upon ‘Project KID DESIGNER’ where students design their own computer games, the authors look at students “learning by design” based upon the constructionism theory. However the articles major focus addresses the question: Do children, other than those who designed the educational computer games, find these games motivating?

Using students as critics and based upon surveys, rating scales, interviews and observations, researchers highlighted the following characteristics of motivating computer games:

Challenge

Curiosity

Control

Fantasy

Cooperation

Competition

Achievement

According to research the students that took part understood that the games were not for entertainment but were creative approaches to school work and their individual and group learning; most students were enthusiastic about the games, the most popular ones having the above characteristics. The article further highlights the social connectivity of gaming.

Using educational gaming is about integrating student interests outside the school to inside the school, and I cant see anything wrong with it. I wrote a post a while ago about gaming and I was still pretty sceptical about their educational benefits, but after class discussions about the games that can be played on smartboards and their ability to grab student attention I started to think more about gaming benefits, this article definitely highlights the positive characteristics of gaming.

Does gaming have a place in student education or is simply entertainment?

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Discussion of Murray, F. (2009). Virtual Learning. U:(May), 10-11.
Have a listen!
The article can also be found at: http://www.newsroom.uts.edu.au/research/detail.cfm?ItemId=15047

Podcast: elearning-podcast
Transcript: transcript-of-podcast

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France’s article called ‘The million’ is very intriguing and is a clear example of technology making its way into the classroom. I never thought mobile phones would be able to be used as educational tools. It is always exciting to see the developments in technology and the possible benefits they can have to student education, particularly in motivating their engagement in learning experiences. However it is with all new technology that the consequences of its use come into question. I personally agree with Frances in that the phone itself could become a distraction and therefore loose any sought of educational impact. The phone seems very focused towards extrinsic motivation via its form of positive reinforcement and I question whether its impact will simply loose effect once it is no longer a shiny new toy.

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After setting out to find out a little more about blogging, I found FionAlisa’s Bloggle which talked about David Huffaker’s article “Let them blog; using weblogs to advance literacy in the k-12 classroom”. This article, like Fiona wrote, breaks down the intricacies of blogging for the “newbies” in the blogosphere. I too was sceptical about having to blog this semester but have found it a liberating experience.

Like the article describes, blogging is a very useful tool for developing language skills, fostering collaboration and creating better home-school relationships. This is evident in various school blogs which I have found, including this year 5 Blog. Through this blog, it is possible for the teachers, students, parents and the wider community to share the learning that takes place in the classroom while bridging the gap between these major stakeholders in education.

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After reading Libby’s LAMS - BAHHHHH post regarding our recent use of the Learning Activity Management System, it got me thinking about my experiences with the LAMS environment and way of teaching and learning. I recently created a music lesson for a student, as I thought she would really enjoy using the LAMS system while discovering more about music; something which she is very passionate about. This lesson, like Libby’s, only lasted for only about 15 minutes. It took me over 2 hours to make. I am unsure of whether the products to come from using the LAMS interface justify the process the teacher has to go through to create it. Maybe if templates of sequences could be created, it would cut down on the time and effort needed to create engaging and very interesting lessons.

However, eventhough it is very time consuming for the teacher, it does engage and motivate students to be productive in their learning. I do think, that if used in an effective and thought provoking way, it would create a very interesting lesson. Alex, in her report about her use of LAMS with another student, found that her student though the interface to be very interesting, as results from a survey involved in his task were portrayed in graphs immediately; from which the student could visually see the results immediately. It is in someways “restricing” as discussed by Libby, but I do agree with Anita in her blog, when she says that there is no restrictions with what a teacher can create, by incorporating other computer technologies into the interface.

I can see the positives and negatives associated with using LAMS within the classroom. LAMS isn’t for everyone: for every lesson, every teacher, all students and schools. I believe it should be used sparingly, in thought provoking ways, where students are excited and engaged with the information being portrayed to them. This would cut down on the amount of time that teachers can spend on creating these lesson sequences. Say, for instance, if one excellent LAMS sequence is created, spanning over numerous lessons, wouldn’t this be more effective than having numerous lessons where little effort is put into developing the lessons for students?

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Twitter, the latest social networking trend, has already impacted upon discussions concerning school curriculum, particularly in Britain.

Curtis, P. (2009, March 25) Pupils to study twitter and blogs in primary schools shake-up. The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May, 2009, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/25/primary-schools-twitter-curriculum

This Guardian newspaper article from Britain discusses the effects recent ICT developments are having on teaching, student development and the overall school curriculum. As we are finding in most discussions concerning education and technology, there is a constant battle between technological advances and what is deemed traditional education.

This article discusses possible changes to curriculums so that children “…leave primary school familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter as sources of information and forms of communication.”

Some say that such inclusions take away from the more important subjects such as history and literacy and others question whether it is all simply part of a trend or passing fad.

I personally think that tools such as blogs and podcasts have the ability to capture student imagination and enhance their learning rather than take away from it – there needs to a partnership between past and present and defined boundaries need to be blurred, you cant ignore today’s information age.

What about Twitter?

I don’t want to discount it yet. At the moment in its early stages I don’t think it is ready for the classroom with particular security and safety issues, but in the future, it could be wonderful for learning and communicating.

Is twitter simply a trend? Is it a viable educational tool?

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While studying for my Italian class by listening to a podcast I downloaded from iTunes, I got to thinking about podcasts, and their use in schools.

While creating podcasts may be daunting for us, for students who have grown up using computers, gaming devices and mp3 players, podcasting can be a liberating experience, allowing students to express their ideas in a non written form. Grant states “podcasting…allows for multifaceted learning experiences, which can address a variety of curriculum outcomes. It also provides teachers with an effective medium to motivate and engage students” (p. 5).

Podcasting allows all students, regardless of their writing ability or their outgoingness, to develop their own ideas in a medium which we all use every day. The spoken word is an integral part of our day to day lives. We may not write a report or a recount, but every day we recount and report information in the multitude of social situations we are faced with every day.

While this technology should be used in conjunction with a range of traditional teaching and learning methods, I believe it to be a tool for students to become connected with their learning in a different way. It forces students to think about the way they are talking, depending on the audience and topic being discussed, where idiosyncrasies come to the fore in this spoken medium. Unlike a structured report, it can be a more fluid way of developing ideas, where all English based skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) can be incorporated to create a meaningful unit of work.

While sometimes I struggle to see why some technologies are used in the classroom arena, I can see and hope to use podcasting in future teaching episodes to afford all students an opportunity to explore their own ideas in a motivating and sometimes very challenging environment, where it is not only the teacher who is expert.

Grant, L. (2007). Podcasting in Learning. Quick (105) 4-6

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You would think that the ABC’s television show the Gruen Transer would have nothing to do with teaching and ICT in school classrooms. But indeed you are wrong. The Gruen Transfer episode aired on the 22nd of April 2009 showed an ad for the ‘million’.

The ‘million‘ is a mobile phone which, during school hours, cannot be used for calling or texting. However, loaded with educational programs like dictionaries and calculators, it can be used as a platform for tests and a research device. Out of school hours, it turns back into a regular phone.

The initial idea was developed by advertising agency Droga5, which was one of six ad agencies employed to improve attendance and achievements amongst New York’s 1.1 million high school students. As an incentive for students to work harder at school, andactually attend, positive reinforcement strategies are used by which students are rewarded for their school work by being given free calls, text messages, and even discounts to their favourite stores and free movie tickets!

This really is technology at work in the classroom, but is this going too far?
The New York Education Department banned mobile phones in 2006 for obvious reasons. Is this not just bringing the distracters back into the classroom? Or as the results of a trial with 2800 students indicate, are incentives which have relevance and material value the rewards of the future?
Does it commercialise the results that we want our students to achieve, as these phones are ads for the groups that continue to fund the program?

 Ad and analysis from the Gruen Transfer

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