Week 8 - The Finale

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Yes, here we are, at the final frontier – not quite space as Captain Kirk says, but rather the finale of these blog posts, the crescendo, the final bang.

Consequently, this reflection will consist of responses to the uses of technology explored over the last seven weeks, the legal, safety and ethical behaviour that is imperative when using any form of technology in the classroom of the 21^st century. This considerations are important in the base learning theories and foundations of the use of digital pedagogies in the classroom – as e-learning is the way of the future for the classroom and transformative learning.

The Technology:

The types of pedagogical technology that is available to teachers is intense, with each piece of technology having their own pro’s and con’s as to how it can assist in teaching in the classroom as well as engaging students. These weekly blogs (check here for all the previous ones) have forced me to consider a plethora of digital pedagogical tools that I had not seen before. And thus, I was able to learn how to implement them into a classroom setting to support and transform my teaching and learning style as well as learning how to use it to engage learners effectively.

The most effective tools that I found within this course helped to effectively support learning for the students as well as engage, I mean it has to be engaging for students to even consider paying attention in the 21^st century classroom.

The most effective digital pedagogical integrations for each category are as follows:

·         Digital Tools – WikiSpaces

·         Digital Platforms – Video

·         Digital Presentations – PowerPoint

·         Digital Learning Objects/Support Tools – Text2MindMap

Throughout the reflective tasks, we were forced to consider and reflect upon how to apply these digital pedagogies to extraordinarily different but equally important learning frameworks such as the SAMR Model, de Bono’s Thinking Hats and Bloom’s Taxonomy.
From the beginning of the course I struggled to grasp the concept and ideas of the SAMR Model and Bloom’s thinking hats as they were concepts I had never come across in my first year of study within education. However, through collaboration with my peers on both the blogs and throughout internal classes – I was eventually (after about the third week) able to fully understand how to analyse my student-centred digital pedagogies to ensure that my lessons were fully engaging with students – as well as ensuring they could evolve and transform.

I have to admit, from the very beginning of this course, I considered technology to be an extension upon the learning, a presentation tool a support even. Now however, I realise now that technology plays an incredible role in the classroom as a transformative learning tool – thus allowing education in this century to expand into amazing realms and opportunities.

Sourced http://www.xclusivetouch.co.uk/how-to-fake-it-when-youve-forgotten-someones-name/sam-winchester-jared-padalecki-laptop-gif/

 

 

The Business End:

As it has become blatantly clear throughout this course, integrating technology into the classroom comes with a cost. And the cost in this particular circumstance is that teachers and students have to demonstrate a safe, legal and ethical approach when utilising and engaging with digital tools. In Queensland there are multiple documents, videos and plans which outline the legal obligation that schools, teachers and students have to adhere to concerning the safety of students. (See here for the link to the Government website.) There are also obligations, which have their own documents and videos, concerning copyright, plagiarism and referencing.

To ensure that my future students are cyber safe and cyber smart in my areas of English and History, I endeavour to:

·         Guide students through referencing guides as per the school guidelines to ensure students were aware of how to reference and what needs to be referenced

·         Aid students in gathering understanding that what occurs online is permanent – whether this be on Facebook, Twitter or Snapchat is permanent and it can earn you a reputation that you don’t want (See example from a teacher who shared an image through Snapchat)

·         Model the correct and legally obliged safe and ethical use of ICT

·         Inform students of applications such as Turnitin which analyse for plagiarism and similarities, and advise them to use it when they submit assessments

·         Ensure that students are fully aware that if they do not create the idea, they must reference it – and if they don’t there will be consequences

·         Aid students in understanding privacy on the internet and how to ensure they can be safe online

·         Use the website CyberSmart, or ones similar for resources when required (Fasso, 2015)

By ensuring students that are aware of the legal, safe and ethical notions that are required to interact and utilise technology and its resources, a teacher, ie: myself and my peers, is able to safely prepare them for the digital world which is becoming the future.

 

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Final Thoughts:

After having been immersed fully in technological pedagogies for the past 8 weeks, I now, thankfully, feel relatively confident in my ability to utilise the pedagogies to enhance student learning.

Throughout the 7 weeks’ worth of blog posts, we were forced to expand our knowledge and experience with something new each week. De Bono’s Hats (De Bono’s Thinking Hats), presented a rehashed, systematic methodology to consider information in a brand new light (de Bono Thinking Systems, 2013). Wikispaces allowed us, to gently toe into the world of presentation of educational sources. The SAMR model, one which we have used for the last 4 weeks, opened my eyes in particular about how technological pedagogies can be placed on certain levels of the model and how we can improve it – which in turn improved my ability to think critically. (TED Ed, 2014) Each week was a new pedagogy and as such, we had to analyse it to the best of our abilities.

Bloom’s Taxonomy on the other hand was utilised as a way to classify the forms and levels or learning, which in turn provided an opportunity to apply and develop digital curation. (Athertib, 2015) I firmly believe that the learning outcomes produced by the cognitive domain the Taxonomy are important as it structures how students and sometimes teachers can progress through each category and grow their knowledge and skill.

The weekly readings also reflected many of the beliefs I already had about technology but also opening my eyes to new ways to implement technology into the classroom as well as the various opinions upon its use.

Thus, the opportunities for learning in the classroom utilising ICT in the classroom ridiculously outweighs the risks and possible downfalls – no longer are digital pedagogies just a support tool, they are becoming the future of learning. They are transforming the way we are approaching education and should be treated like the magnificent pedagogy that they can be.

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References:

 

Athertib, J. (2015, May 8). Bloom's Taxonomy. Retrieved from Learning and Teaching: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm

 

de Bono Thinking Systems. (2013). Six Thinking Hats. Retrieved from de Bono Thinking Systems: http://www.debonothinkingsystems.com/

Fasso, W. (2015, April 2). Media - The Focus this Week. Retrieved from Moodle:                                    https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=16631

 

TED Ed. (2014). SAMR Model. Retrieved from Technology is Learning: https://sites.google.com/a/msad60.org/technology-is-learning/samr-model

Week 7 - Online Collaboration Relfection

All through this course, I have been exposed to both Collaborative and Cooperative learning – but it wasn’t until our latest lecture that I fully understood the difference between the two and how they could both impact my eventual classroom and future students. Learning has changed so much, even since the years when I was on the other side of the desk we call education. We no longer can rely upon just physical learning that occurs on a whiteboard or paper, the digital world has been integrated into the classroom and I feel that it is not over yet.

Collaborative learning is an extremely beneficial, as identified by Maryellen Weimer (2013), allows students to develop 5 particular skills.

•           They can learn content, as in master the material.
• -       They can learn content at those deeper levels we equate with understanding.
• -       They can learn how groups function productively.
• -       They can learn why groups make better decisions than individuals.
• -       They can learn how to work with others.

These skills are incredibly important in today’s modern world for students to know and have under their belt. As a student myself, only a few years ago, I always dreaded the awful group work tasks, but now however, looking back, I realise that these skills that I had to learn whilst working through collaborative learning is helping me through my life, even now.

Now, having said that, the way that these skills can be developed is through one of two learning styles, either cooperative or collaborative learning. Debbie Morrison (2012), defined the two terms as follows:

“Cooperate: the process of working together to the same end.”

“Collaborate: to work jointly on an activity to produce or create something.” (Morrison, 2012)

In the context of this class and my interactions with my peers through blogs and group work, both cooperative and collaborative, demonstrated to me, like what Weimer (2013) states, that if students, or in this case myself and my peers, worked together, we were able to expand our knowledge and gather a greater understanding of the topic at hand. In the context of the classroom, it allows students to improve, blogs and sites like it, allowing the improvement of understanding simply because of the fact that students are able to read and learn about the areas that they may be lacking in understanding in other posts by their peers. The comment system, which is on most sites, can also allow for discussion or general suggestions to take place, something that in the busy workplace or the classroom, can allow for a greater interaction and collaborative learning to occur with the students.

For example, the comment and viewing system, in regards to this class, allowed me to both view my peers take on the certain topic for the week, as well as allowing me to comment and make suggestions and raise discussions on these topics. In week 6, we were required to make a reflection on interactive tools that we had discussed in class. I chose Text2MindMap, the link to that post here, whereas Clare explored the concept of using Tiki-Toki, an interactive timeline. Simply because of the fact that I was able to view Clare’s blog, I was able to expand my knowledge and possibly use it as part of my teaching arsenal. The comment section also allowed me to raise some points on a post upon PowerPoint, in which I was able to provide a small amount of information as well as starting a discussion which continued to enlighten myself.

The majority of interactive, online collaborations I have been experienced to have been positive. Well apart from the google docs activity that is, *cough* it was a mess *cough*. But much like every activity or experience, there are positives, some of which I have listed some of above, and negatives or drawback/failures if you prefer.

Negatives: Drawbacks/Failures

• -       The ever present potential of technology failing or crashing, (I.e. Loss of power, crashing of memory, corruption of data, etc.)
• -       The loss of tone, leaving the ever frustrating potential for misinterpretation of information.
• -       The possibility of plagiarism.
• -       Edits occurring that are harmful or not useful to the collaboration.
• -       The possibility of the website on which the collaboration to occur requiring a paid account (thank-fully I have yet to discover one that didn’t have some form of a free account.)

One final drawback, that I feel is possibly the most influential, is the time consuming nature of the interaction and collaborative learning. The setup of the collaborative learning is incredibly time consuming as each interactor has to have an account, have the correct software and be connected onto the correct server or link. Reading and leaving a reasonable response on at least a few examples can be incredibly time consuming and overwhelming. And often times a response to a comment that you had left, will not get passed back to you, which in the case I have experienced, ceased or limited the interaction or debate that could have occurred.

Positives: Experiences/Outcomes

Much like as mentioned above, whilst there are negatives, there are also positives to each activity or interaction. In the case of collaborative learning, in the realm of digital learning, I feel that the positives outweigh the negatives, majorly. In these interaction and through the experience of the online collaboration has given me this list of positives:

• -       I have been exposed to more and more often than not different perspectives.
• -       My creativity and presentation of information has increased in skill.
• -       There has been a significant increase in higher-order thinking whilst interacting with the collaborations.
• -       My online social skills have improved.
• -       My pedagogies range has increased, allowing my skills in the classroom to begin improving.

These positives, which lay hand in hand with the experiences I have had, are allowing me to begin to design my arsenal or digital pedagogies. 

Because of the activities I have so far been exposed to, my current arsenal, to increase and enhance students learning, include:

• -       Email
• -       Blogger – for both posting and a discussion forum
• -       Wikis – for easy sharing of files and design of class lessons (Thanks Cam for the idea!)
• -       Google docs – if controlled extraordinarily well

These particular pedagogies were selected due to the fact that the collaboration or cooperation in some cases, was incredibly helpful and enhancing in learning. All of the mentioned pedagogies support real-time communication and later viewing which allows students to collaborate and interact in the moment as well as allowing later viewing, to further increase understanding.

Online learning – whilst I was originally not all in favour of, has demonstrated that even whilst there are negatives associated with it, the positives and the benefits significantly outweigh them. They have shown great possibility in enhancing and engaging student’s learning as well as allowing students to collaborate and cooperate in ways I hadn’t seen before. Digital pedagogies is certainly a tool to be reckoned with and thanks to the positive experiences I have experienced and seen, it is definitely one I will be using in the future.

References:

Morrison, D. (2012, April 27). Online Groups - Cooperative or Collaborative? Retrieved from Online Learning Insights:https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/online-groups-cooperative-or-collaborative/

Weimer, M. (2013, March 20). Five Things Students Can Learn through Group Work. Retrieved from Faculty Focus:http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/five-things-students-can-learn-through-group-work/

Week 6 - Interactive Learning

In this day and age, especially in the classroom, the ever evolving and changing technology is something that definitely needs to be considered. In the NMC Horizon Report, there is definitive reports on key trends, current emerging technologies and significant challenges which are likely to occur and have a major impact throughout the next five years throughout the world. (NMC Horizon Report, 2014) This exhaustive document holds some wonderful information and points, particularly to with teaching and engaging the students using the technology becoming available. To go even further, the authors of this report likened learning environments to being something like a 'live ecosystem.'(NMC Horizon Report, 1, 2014) Which I believe to be incredibly true simply because of the fact that the teacher, who should be interacting with the students constantly, is nurturing and helping students to grow and thrive.

This report, alongside the important and eerily true metaphors for the future, makes an incredibly information point which, fantastically, relates exactly to the topic being explored this week. This being interactive classrooms. 

It was stated that, 'learning by creating and doing will engage students in their education, prepare them for college and develop problem solving skills.' (NMC Horizon Report, 8, 2014) This statement, among others, was one that I found to ring true to me, as I know that the students I worked with whilst on my first Prac, interacted and learnt better if there was a genuine interaction used, even more so if it was something pertained to technology. The interaction lays hand in hand with engagement - so why wouldn't educators strive to create, interact and engage their students?

Within the course materials, and of course the NMC Horizon Report, was, and I'll admit this, a very confusing looking circle. See below for image. This circle, I discovered after some consideration and direction from my lecturers, divulged information about the values that educators all over the planet, considered to be important and would make a large impact in education in the next few years.

(NMC Horizon Report, 2, 2014)

For consideration as part of interactive learning, I gathered this list of sites and programs that can be used for learning that is both interactive and engaging.

- Scootle

- Text2MindMap

- Learner.org

- Dipity

- Google Maps

- Quizlet

My favourite out of this list is Text2MindMap, concurrently, the one I will be examining on this post!

This program/website, once it loads, is fantastically easy to use and has many wonderful uses in the classroom! The one I created, specifically about analysing short stories, is below.

This website and interactive tool is incredible useful as a mind-map in any form of classroom situation, it is easy to use and if the URL is shared, once it is saved, there is the possibility of having multiple authors, which within itself raises some problems, people could edit the mind-map anonymously, however, fixing it requires only a few backspaces and a republish from the editor. 

The website/program itself doesn't require much to run/use consistently, all that is really needed is an up to date web browser and a computer that will allow you to save images, if you so desire to save it as an image.

Whilst there is the option to multi-author the mind-map, there is an element of security and privacy as you can only access the specific mind-map if you have the corresponding URL or email code that can be sent through email, shared on Facebook or on Twitter. 

I believe that this program could have serious, practical use in the 21st century classroom as an engaging learning tool as well as one that is also incredibly interactive. For example, students could use it at the start of each term to brain storm and start to get an understanding of the topic they are going to undertake. It could also be used as part of assessment, the first few pieces of writing, the ideas sorted out logically and neatly, without having to worry about students 'misplacing' their hard copy. It could also be useful for students who work extremely fast, for example in an English classroom, students could use it to start a brain storming activity on the next theme in the play or what a certain character's beliefs, family life and status is. In a History classroom, it could be used to think about and keep track of student's ideas on what could have caused a war or a significant action in the past.

Like every piece of technology examined through these blog posts, Text2MindMap has to be pitted against the extraordinarily useful, if not at times confusing, SAMR model. Unlike some of the other pieces of technology examined in this course, I seem to be able to fit Text2MindMap into each level of the SAMR model.

In Substitution, it can be used in place of word, which can be confusing to use for mind-maps or on a piece of paper,- used by both teachers and students.

In Augmentation, students, classes or teachers use the website Text2MindMap to create, redraw their mind-map in a more organised and easy to read setting - this ensures it is interactive.

In Modification, after creating the mind-map, students or teachers can save or print out the mind-map and use it as a study, revision or jumping tool into other parts of the lesson.

In Redefinition, students, after creating and editing the mind-map could save and download it, and then continue to share it either through a blog, wiki or email. To which other students could comment on and possibly add their own ideas to. This can be extraordinarily useful if multiple tasks have been assigned by the teacher, because rather than having to get each group to come up and write out their mind-map, they could be shared quickly and easily so everyone could have a look and understand the information.

I believe and hopefully it is evident as well, that mind-maps are a fantastic tool to use in the classroom to engage and interact with students, particularly if using Text2MindMap.

By creating these mind-maps students are honing and working with their problem solving skills, simply by having to figure out how to get the website to co-operate in the first place, even with the discussion and thought process that goes into a mind-map.

And unlike many other pieces of technology, Text2MindMap achieves and works through each level of the SAMR model, a big tick in my books.

References:

NMC Horizon Report (2014) 2014 K-12 Edition Retrieved from http://redarchive.nmc.org/publications/2014-horizon-report-k12

Week 5 - Reflection on Powerpoint

Teachers, or educators, in the 21^st century classroom, as mention in the reading Audience and Purpose need to ensure that, when technology is used in the classroom, and thus the presentation tools, the purpose and audience is kept very close at hand. The afore mention reading pushes the necessity, when using/creating a digital tool, that there is a focus on what you expect the audience to do/complete. (Nature Education, 2014)

When considering what you want the audience to complete, prior knowledge is a must know. For example in a classroom, you could not simply launch into a PowerPoint on Marxism in society if the students had no prior knowledge, no matter how well made the presentation was. Before launching into an analytical lesson, teachers must provide a "simpler vocabulary (or definitions), as they have not mastered the technical terms" (Nature Education, 2014). So as to ensure all of the audience has an understanding and no-one is excluded. Therefore, teachers must also ensure the presentation tool they use in both the base lesson and the analytical lesson does not exclude any students, those of both primary and secondary reading skills. (Nature Education, 2014) In the long run, the use of PowerPoint as a learning tool, both initial and revision, is extremely helpful and ensures that no-one is left behind and everyone in the audience can gain an understanding.

This week were introduced to the concept of presenting learning utilising ICT, through means such as PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster. Whilst each of the programs presented their own strengths, limitations and effectiveness, above all I found plain old Microsoft PowerPoint to be the most effective at presenting learning.

The presentation of learning in this day and age is incredibly important – if the student does not engage with the presentation, then they will not learn anything as they will disconnect from the lesson. And all hope is lost! But if used correctly, PowerPoint will save the day!

Glogster, although an intriguing and fun program to use, requires a large purchase price for a program so small. Price is also an issue with Prezi, with the full version costing upwards of 40 American dollars. A few years ago, back when I was on the other side of the desk, the free version of Prezi was a force to be reckoned with, however when we examined it this week, I was astonished to see that most of the fantastic features that had once allowed it to reign supreme had been removed and the features that had been left – leaving Prezi now to seconded to PowerPoint.

PowerPoint may seem like one of the least likely programs to be the most invigorating way to present learning using ICT, but after some investigation and mucking around with the software, even I was pleasantly surprised at the recent additions to PowerPoint as part of Microsoft Office 2013.

I have uploaded an example PowerPoint to my Wiki – the link here.

PowerPoint has been used in the classroom for generations of students, even I remember my teachers using trusty PowerPoint to attempt to engage us in learning, albeit not always successfully. However, with the recent updates, presenting learning through PowerPoint has become more impressive than ever, even if it is more time consuming.

Since the new update, PowerPoint now includes many fantastic features that prove to further present learning with ICT which is as engaging as it can be. PowerPoint in an engaging and entertaining way to present learning with features or animations that allow the changing or flashing of colour in a bunch of words on a click to illuminate important parts of a paragraph or parts of a reading. The ability to reveal or hide an image or text, once again with a click, switching between slides with a click or the use of the arrow keys. These features are used primarily during the actual presentation of the PowerPoint, there are many features or strengths or PowerPoint that are utilised outside of the presentation but used within it.
Much like a blog, PowerPoint can have photos and videos (both ones on the computer themselves or off YouTube) embedded on it for easy viewing and unlike blogs, audio can also be embedded on a PowerPoint to play at a specific time or once a specific slide has been used. This is something that cannot occur on a usual blog such as Blogger – but it can occur on a blog site such as Tumblr (although this site is probably not suitable for school use).
All of these features help to present learning in a fun and engaging way as well as meeting the expectations of the Australian ICT Curriculum. In which students that are currently in Grade 10, this is, a level 6 standard, should be able to “Locate, generate and access data and information use advanced search tools and techniques or simulations and digital models to locate or generate precise data and information that supports the development of new understandings. Select and evaluate data and information develop and use criteria systematically to evaluate the quality, suitability and credibility of located data or information and sources.” (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2015) And, "generate solutions to challenges and learning area tasks: Design, modify and manage complex digital solutions or multimodal creative outputs or data transformations for a range of audiences and purposes." (Australiancurriculum.edu.au, 2015) If the PowerPoint is correctly created, then students will have no trouble being able identify and access the data and information that they require to both complete assessment and develop new understandings. The second part of the ICT curriculum mentioned is accessed properly when students actually create PowerPoints, which I will mention shortly.

The only real downfall I can gather with PowerPoint is that it is extremely time consuming if you wish to add features that will benefit the presentation of learning as mentioned above. However, once saved and completed, that presentation can be used for years to come. Another limitation is that PowerPoint can only be used if the laptop or computer being used has Microsoft Office or at least PowerPoint installed, also different versions of PowerPoint don’t like to interact together, another issue.

The sharing of PowerPoint presentations is quite simple, with the simplest method being through a USB or similar device. PowerPoints can also be shared on a common drive or home drive with students or staff members. Because they are so easily sharable, PowerPoints are ideal for use in a school setting as everyone within the school network can have access to it.

However, because of the nature of PowerPoints, anyone can edit the slides/transitions and save it back to the drive or USB as if nothing has occurred and the only hint you receive would be during the actual presentation. Thus, if someone has a copy of it, they can make edits to it and save it back, with nobody none the wiser. This along with the time consuming nature of PowerPoint is the only real downfall of it, however, like most ICT if the power went out or the network died, then nothing would be able to occur, unless – like you always should, the slides had been printed out and thus the lesson could be taught using mechanical pedagogies.

The use of PowerPoint does not just stop at teachers and presenting learning, in most classes. For example: in History it would be able to be used as exam revision with the possible programing of slides to slowly reveal parts of the answer on a click or timer. Or in an English class with parts of the play or novel appearing on the screen and once again on a click, important sections or paragraphs could be highlighted for students to acknowledge and reflect upon. The possibilities are endless! PowerPoint can also be utilised by all students in the secondary setting as either part of an assessment or a way to present learning that has occurred and demonstrate it to the class.
And whilst this sort of interaction with PowerPoint is occurring, students would be making a clear attack on the SAMR model. Much like with videos, students would be required to create and utilise sounds, images, text and videos in such a way to aid their learning and the learning of the peers. This type of learning and interaction is considered very high on the SAMR model.
PowerPoints used by teachers to demonstrate learning itself is still active on the SAMR model – just a lower level – that of Substitution and Augmentation. However with a bit of tweaking, the SAMR of the PowerPoint used in the classroom could be increased.

There are many positive benefits and opportunities to use PowerPoints in the classroom to present learning to students in an engaging and interesting light. Because of the easy access, students can engage with the PowerPoints during class as well as at a later date. All in all, PowerPoints are an incredible tool that is constantly increasing with versatility and use within the classroom, as well as allowing teachers to reach the Australian ICT curriculum.

References:

Australiancurriculum.edu.au, (2015). The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability continuum. Retrieved 9 April 2015, from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Mobile/Curriculum/Continuum/115c6749-9f4a-425f-8860-9fdd00cccf66

Nature.com, (2014). Audience and Purpose | Learn Science at Scitable. Retrieved 10 April 2015, from http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/audience-and-purpose-13952663

Week 4 Reflection - Reflection on Audio, Images and Video

Students in the 21st century classroom, as demonstrated by the reading assigned for this week, Multimodal Composing In The Classroom: Learning and Teaching for the Digital World, need their lesson and learning to have a purpose. This alongside the message of the need to integrate multimodal lessons into the classrooms, where the ones to have the largest effect on me.

Much like Zachary in the reading, most students struggle to see the point of completing worksheets for questions that they have done hundreds of times in class. The answer to this lack of drive and resistance to complete such worksheets lies within the ability of the teacher to provide any learner "literacies that go beyond linguistic texts to draw across multiple modes." (Miller, S & McVee, M., 20012, p. 2) This means that whilst normal worksheets may have worked in the past, teachers of this century have to expand their horizons and begin to fully utalise the resources that the 21st century has to offer, so that students no longer can ask, "What's the point?" when they have lessons and work which engages them to the fullest.

Digital resources such as video, audio and images can help aid engagement in the classroom and an example of each is placed below.




Image: Taken 2/04/2015














 A copy of my audio example and video can be found on my wiki page - link here - due to a lack of space on this blog page.

Whilst I consider all three of these media incredibly useful for engagement and for use as pedagogies, I will be focusing on video for this reflection.

Videos are everywhere in the 21st century with websites such as YouTube, Vine, Facebook, Tumblr and even iTunes allowing the quick and sometimes viral sharing of videos - albeit some of the content can be questionable.
After some investigation, I was able to begin questioning myself on the application of videos in the classroom. Could it be done easily or was it something that required a large amount of preparation and hard work? Was this a pedagogy and engagement tool that would be useful to students or would it crash and burn like so many pedagogy ideas had before?
I came to the conclusion that yes videos are a lot of hard work and require preparation but on a whole they could and can be extraordinarily useful in the classroom.

Many programs are primarily designed for the creation of videos - one such being Windows Live Movie Maker (A pre-installed program on all Windows PC's or laptops), or Sony Vegas Pro 8 (Not a free one I'm afraid, but one none the less I had already invested in.) Both of these programs, much like many others allow easy editing and creation of videos for any use - if you couldn't understand from mucking around a little, Google is a plethora of knowledge!
Now onto sharing - these nifty little videos can be shared in a wide range of ways although once published, no editing can be made to them. The websites mentioned before - especially YouTube, allow for the quick upload and sharing of videos although I still found that I used both YouTube and good old fashioned USB's to share a video. Videos can be posted to blogs (much like I have done above), wiki's or websites - all of which can restrict viewer access, something that is important in some situations.
The only major concern with sharing a video or creating/editing for that matter, is the issue of copyright. Depending on what film or sound is used in the video, the content could be influenced by many copy-right laws, some of which denies the sharing of videos in any way that involves the spreading of copies, this is copying and pasting the file onto different USB's or computers.

A technical consideration required is the viewing of the videos, riddle me this!
If a teacher takes a group of students on a field trip, and they needed to show a video pertaining to the trip on the way there - how could they go about it? Not very many buses come equipped with Wireless internet - needed to connect to YouTube should the video be there. However, most buses come equipped with a television set - which will, more often than not allow for the connection of a USB. Ta Da! Instant viewing pleasure for the teacher and students.
If the teacher has created the video, then they will have a USB or 'hard copy' as well as any they have uploaded online - therefore access should never really be an issue! However, if they are using a video provided to them, sometimes getting a hold of it can be slightly difficult - but where there's a will, there's a way.

A field trip is only one of the possible requirements or uses of a video for engagement or for use as a pedagogy. Videos in the classroom allow for incredible engagement as videos can demonstrate many different ideas and lessons as well as keeping students engaged.  In History for example, the video would allow provision of information in an engaging way. Concurrently, in English, a video could show an interpretation of a text in a play or movie form which would allow for a better understanding for students. Clearly, videos do not have many limitations as they can used for a majority of students and because of the technological world we live in, engages them entirely.

Whilst videos are predominantly used by teachers to display and aid education for students, videos can also be created by the students themselves! For example, as a classroom activity, students could create a short video on a certain topic to which they then have to show to the class. The use and creation of videos is considered very high on the SAMR, particularly when students are able to use, create and utilise sounds, images, text and video clips  in their own way to aid both their learning and the learning of their peers.
Videos used by teachers however are still active in the SAMR model - however more so in the Substitution and Augmentation stages, as most of these videos are used to demonstrate information and a way to solve a problem in the classroom. When these videos become exciting, or students have to create their own is when higher-order thinking really comes into play!
The creation of videos in the classroom by students has the entire potential to completely change the way we teach - the creation of these videos would force students to use higher-order thinking in order to convey their message in short amount of time in the correct format.

There are many positive benefits to the use of videos in the classroom and with so many easy to access editing programs creating them is a breeze! They allow students to engage with higher-order thinking as well as allowing the information to be accessed at a later date.
All in all, videos are definitely something that is becoming more and more important in the classroom and is something that should be utilised fully.


References:
Miller, S. &. (2012). Multimodal Composing in Classrooms: Learning and Teaching for the Digital World. Oxon, UK: Routledge.

Week 3 - Assessment Relfection 2 (Weebly Websites)

A website, when created and utilised correctly, can become an important, engaging and strategic tool and pedagogy to assist with scaffolding and teaching of lessons. My focus areas are English and History and even though I have only briefly begun to explore its full potential, I believe that websites such as those developed on Weebly would be of great advantage to my future students during all lessons.

Weebly websites are very well created and open a multitude of opportunities to integrate digital pedagogies into the modern classroom – without too much of a worry about students not participating or possible ‘re-edits’ not suitable for the classroom. Weebly websites have one author and one author alone, the person who created the page and has a log in. This ensures that there is security for the website as no-one else is able to access it and it all cuts off any edits that students may wish to make for their own enjoyment. There is an option however for a forum to be placed on the website, this would allow for students to comment on questions or discussions but not open the door to cause mischief. Whilst I was exploring the site, I was extremely pleased to find the site easy to use for creating a website of your choice. The interface is extremely user friendly and with a few pointers, I was able to create new pages, embed videos and photos and create text boxes and polls – which shows that there is little to no experience necessary, all you need is basic computing skills.

These websites would be able to cater to a multitude of learning outcomes as the possibilities for its use are endless. Students would be able to consistently engage with online activities and texts which would allow learning outcomes to be reached frequently as it would take away the ‘boring book and worksheet’ element and allow students to complete activities with their own technological flair. However saying this, if a student/s wished to complete the activity or readings on paper – I would have no quarrel because sometimes a paper copy is better than an electronic one.

Technology, more specifically this website would be incredibly useful in integrating the SAMR model into the classroom and allowing it to prosper as a more permanent tool. Substitution would occur through the use of the website to make notes and comments, in an active forum, about the current text/s being studied in the classroom – perhaps even just placing in their ideas from that day’s lesson. Augmentation would occur in the way of embedding either a video clip or a downloadable file of the text/s being studied – allowing for easier access and use. Modification would occur in the way of the use of polls or questionnaires, these allow for a class debate or quiz to occur at any moment in time, it would also allow the responses to anonymous, making it easier for some students. And finally redefinition, the full use of the site to its entire capacity. This site would allow students to connect with the lesson at all points of the day and with tools mentioned before (polls, forums, embedded videos, etcetera) which allows for a more modern approach to my particular subject areas – even in particular Shakespeare.

This link here, will take you to my practice website for this exercise, which focuses upon Shakespeare and demonstrates some of the basic tools that are and can be installed onto a website page to enhance student’s learning and to further integrate digital pedagogies in the classroom.