Interactive Powerpoint

Drum roll please...here is my interactive Powerpoint. It did take me a considerably long time to create it however, it was my first time to use Powerpoint in this way.

Whizzy’s water journey

View more presentations from s0134954.

I was beginning to think that powerpoint had seen its day and was beginning to become a little tierd in all honesty it had been done to death. However, the interactive powerpoint has really restored my faith in good old PowerPoint presentations.


Discuss some uses for it in the classroom other than a fancy way of displaying information

Threats and Weeknesses of powepoint.

Technology really has a way of testing the habits of mind in particular the habit of persisting. After celebrating my PowerPoint victory I couldn't wait to upload it and show it off, but unfortunately it required further investigation and through it I inadvertently discovered the wonders of Slideshare a website that you can upload and share all your PowerPoint presentations and there were some incredible educational resources that can be viewed and used.

E-Learning Frameworks

This week I'm looking at two different e-learing frameworks that should be considered when reflecting on digital tools for the classroom. The two frameworks I have chosen are The Big 6 and Engagement Theory. Below is a venn diagram comparing the similarities and differences between the two.

Both frameworks promote problem solving skills with an authentic and real world focus and are suitable for students with diverse learning needs and all learning areas. The Big 6 framework can be used by individuals or in collaborative learning groups whereas, Engagement Theory uses a social constructivist approach (Vygotski, 1978) which reflects real life situations where people with different backgrounds and expertise work together in teams to solve problems and create innovative solutions. Either of these frameworks will be useful when planning future learning experiences and for analysing the usefulness of digital tools throughout the course.

I connected more with the Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) framework, Engagement Theory as it sits well with many principles of the Productive Pedagogies (2002) in particular the areas of intellectual quality and connectedness. In addition, many of Bloom's (sited in Frangenheim, 1998) higher order thinking skills were identified such as creating, problem-solving, reasoning, decision-making, and evaluation. Furthermore, the framework promotes authentic learning tasks which capture the constructive nature of learning (Mueller, 2010) and requires that students engage in realworld tasks that hold meaning outside the classroom. Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) summarise these concepts as Relate-Create-Donate. Relate applies to working in collaborative teams which requires students to build social skills as they communicate, plan and manage, Create represents the project based nature of the task making learning purposeful and creative and Donate emphasises that students make useful contributions as a result of their learning.

Like any well regarded learning theory or framework they are based on good pedagogy that includes an authentic context for learning, that requires higher order thinking, collaboration with peers, deep understanding, is problem based and relates to realworld. I think that either of these frameworks would be useful for designing technology-based learning. However, just as educators do not use only one learning theory, they tend to draw strategically on all of them depending on the intended learning outcome. I believe that it is necessary to draw on both frameworks, selecting one of them based on the digital tool being used and the outcomes that are required.

To return to my synopsis click here

References

Frangenheim, E. (1998). Reflections on Classroom Thinking Strategies. Loganholme: Rodin Educational Consultancy.

Kearsley, G. and Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. [electronic resource]. Retrieved from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm.

Mueller, J. (2010). Authentic assessment toolbox. [electronic resource] Retrieved from http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/index.htm .

Queensland Education. (2002b). A guide to productive pedagogies: A classroom reflection manual. Retrieved from http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports/curriculum-framework/productive-pedagogies/pdfs/prodped.pdf.

Wikis

I was a little confused as to what a wiki was and what it is used for until I viewed this great clip called 'Wikis in Plain English' I encourage you to take a look.

After considering how wikis work I began to think of a multitude of learning possibilities that would be engaging for students while upholding the integrity of the content. An interesting idea proposed in 21st Century Learners was using a wiki to create a collaborative online history textbook. Using this tool students become responsible for their own learning by taking ownership of the textbook while being accountable to the rest of the cohort, ensuring that the content produced is accurate and of the highest academic standard. The idea of a collaborative text can be used for all ages and would lend itself to all learning areas. However, problems could arise from students overwriting others' work, posting inaccurate information, posts that aren't academic in nature, venting or other inappropriate online behaviour. Consequently, these potential weaknesses can be turned around to provide opportunties for developing pro-social behaviours in the classroom while establishing a positive learning environment by reinforcing the attitudes and perceptions of the students towards each other, the learning and the tasks undertaken. Although wikis are a valuable learning tool in the classroom, it is essential that the wiki is set up in a secure online environment such as the Learning Place where the students are protected from the public domain, allowing access only to the students and their teacher. There are many ideas for using wikis that are explored in '50 Ways to use Wikis' I can't wait to try some of these out in my own classroom soon. Here is the url for my wiki http://sheenas-e-learning-journey.wikispaces.com/ I welcome all feedback and any contributions you might like to add. Below is a screen capture of my wiki page.

Wikis Vs Blogs
The main difference between blogs and wikis is that a blog is usually authored by one person and followers can contribute through comments. Whereas wikis are more of a collaborative document that allows users to view, add to and delete information making it a totally interactive and fluid document. The most well known wiki is Wikipedia and after gaining a deeper understanding of how wikis work it makes sense now why this site is not considered a credible source.

Blogs

A blog is a term used for a web log and is generally used by one author. I set up my blog through Google Blogger and it was very simple. So far I have discovered how to upload my photo and customise my background, headings and text. Blogs are an excellent tool for learning and they would be beneficial for many key learning areas the most obvious being English and the genre of recounts. Alternatively, the use of blogs could really enhance learning in other areas such as science in the form of a journal with links to websites and learning objects or technology could use a blog to document the whole process. For students who are reluctant writers blogs can be a good tool to engage students in writing as they can follow their peers and read other blogs as well as gain valuable feedback from others in particular their learning manager. On the other hand, using blogs in the classroom needs a few considerations, such as closely monitoring the content to protect students from cyber-bullying, some students do not have access to the technology, it cannot be assumed that all Gen Y students are computer literate and will know how to use the software and just because it is digital technology doesn't mean the students will be engaged. It is interesting to note that new technology in the classroom doesn't necessarily mean less work for the learning manager. On the contrary, teachers would need to scaffold the learners, establish clear rules and expectations for blogging and then monitor them closely. In addition, blogging in the classroom will provide many teachable opportunities to explore concepts such as cyber-bullying and netiquette, information literacy and what makes a source credible.

Concept Mapping

Concept mapping is a great tool that can be used when introducing a new topic and it can be referred to throughout the unit to keep learners on track. Concept maps are great for students who are visual learners or those who have a global learning preference as they can see the topic as a whole rather than being fed information sequentially. Another great way to use mindmaps is when brainstorming ideas or when guaging learners' prior knowledge for a topic. Bubble.us and text2mindmap are both free sites that provide online concept mapping software that doesn't requrie users to join the site.

After reading many of the blog posts in regard to the concept mapping software, it was evident that the 'Bubbl.us' software was time consuming and not very user friendly so I decided to try the 'text2mindmap' software instead. Initially, this software was very user friendly as all I had to do was replace the text in the sample text outline and then click the 'convert to mindmap' and it was ready to be formatted. Arranging the mindmap was the tricky part and wasn't quite as straight forward as indicated in the instructions, I somehow managed to get all the mindmap centred and easy to read. However, I imagine that twenty-five young students trying to do this all at the same time could become quite challenging.

After further consideration and online conversations with peers, it appears that I have been hasty in dismissing this valuable digital tool. Concept mapping is underpinned by cognitivist learning theory which relates to mental processing and the three stages in which the brain transmits information from sensory memory, to working memory and eventually stores it in long term memory. Subsequently, online conept mapping is a great tool for organising or chunking information and linking it for transfer to long-term memory. According to Sweller (1988, cited in Kearsley, 2010) understanding how elements fit together allows learners to view the information as a single item and is refered to as "Schemas". The brain recalls prior knowledge and then builds the new knowledge to the schema which results in deeper, faster and more effective learning which can be attributed to the reduced "Cognitive Load" of the learner. In addition, Mazarno and Pickering (2006) assert the importance of helping students organise information through the use of graphic organisers as a way of identifying patterns and relationships.

This tool could be used effectively in the classroom to consolidate and refine information. For example if students were investigating a topic that was complex or had different perspectives then using an expert jigsaw strategy would help students work in expert groups to engage in their assigned area of the topic, gaining a deeper knowledge of it through substantive conversation with peers and then report back their new knowledge to their home group who then work collaboratively to build a concept map on the whole topic. In addition, students may benefit from using online concept mapping as a way of consolidating information and reviewing what has been learned througout a unit or topic.

To return to my synopsis click here

References

Kearsley, G. (2010). The Theory Into Practice Database. Retrieved from http://tip.psychology.org/.

Marzano, R. and Pickering, J. (2006). Dimensions of learning teacher’s manual. Heatherton, VIC: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Managing E-Learing Course

So Much To Do...So Little Time!

My head is spinning with possibilities for learning opportunities. I am looking forward to learning about new learning tools that will help to make the classroom an interactive learning community where children power-up when coming to school rather than powering down! This course will be a very hands on learning experience that will allow me to explore and play with many tools that will enhance the learning experiences shared in the classroom. I am looking forward to getting started.

I have had previous experience using computers while working in marketing many moons ago. Back in the day when we considered ourselves cutting edge to have a colour printer for the whole marketing department and the file sizes of desktop publishing documents were so massive they constantly crashed, took three disks to save the file onto and that was after help desk came and zipped it for you. Ahh the good old days...