Reflective Synopses

To begin, I would like to refer to my Blog on Tuesday the 30th of March, where I quoted Prensky [2001] saying "Today's students are no longer the people our education system was designed to teach." This Blog then went on to say that the use of ICTs was essential in reaching out to students learning needs. I also discovered from the writings of Prensky [2001] that I am a 'digital immigrant'. However, six years after high school, as an act of pure survival, I was ready to turn a computer on for the first time and learn the language of my new country, digital Australia.
Many years after that, here I am, typing a reflective synopsis, to an on line journal, about all of the information communication technologies [ICTs] I have investigated, and on line conversations I have had, during an e-learning subject, delivered completely on line. The purpose of this entire exercise being, to educate myself on how to educate students in early childhood.
Now that's saying something! If I can use what I have learnt through this subject, in my teaching as a future learning manager, then there may be an upcoming niche in the market for a show titled, 'Are you smarter than a prep student?'
Of course there's more to it than simply learning and keeping up with these new technologies. There are many learning dimensions and strategies including the basic principles engaged learning, Relate-Create-Donate, Kearsly and Shneiderman [1999], that can be used in conjunction with the ICTs, to reach across multiple intelligences and help students learn more effectively.
I will now refer to and summarise further postings in my Blog as I reflect on what I've learnt.

April 1, What I think I've learnt. A Blog is an on line journal, an aggregator is a way of receiving updates from people or web sites of interest. A Wiki is a way to communicate with an interest group, giving the opportunity to edit information and achieve a common goal.

April 14, Voki. The use of a Voki allows you to use animation and create a fun character that can speak. This can then be embedded into other ICTs including Wikis and Blogs. Voki can also be used in conjunction with other ICTs as part of a project.
They are especially helpful in spicing things up if the subject is getting a bit lackluster.
Flikr is a sight where you can add your own photos and videos or use photos from. It can be used to create a private group project and teachers could moderate the content. Photos stored on flikr can also be used elsewhere. Similar to Flikr is Piknic. While picnic wont allow you to store photos, it does allow you to edit them and create slideshows. You can upload photos from other places and then store them back onto your computer or even other web-sites such as Flikr. U tube an ICT where you can get digital clips on just about anything you search for. It wouldn't be a safe place to let students to roam unsupervised, however it does contain many useful clips for example, the teaching tip I downloaded onto my Blog, Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? U tube clips of interest could be inserted into safe learning areas, Wiki, Blogs or Mahara, to aid learning about a specific topic. Students could also post a clip involving an assignment to u tube for authentic assessment from a world wide audience.

April 20, Keynote for blog. Similar to Powerpoint, Keynote is the Mac version. Like powerpoint, it can be used to make slideshows which can include photos, graphs, tables, text etc. You can add transitions and music to Keynote also. This can then be uploaded into SlideShare. SlideShare is a presentation publishing site. It can be used publicly or privately, you can join groups of interest, add presentations to Blogs other web-sites. When uploading Keynote slideshows, the mp3 files need to be up loaded separately. These can be speaking narrative files or royalty free music. I uploaded some royalty free music from another web-site called Incompetech. This music gives my slide show an emotional edge with it's somber tone. This is demonstrated in my SlideShare production 'Our fragile reef.' Incompetech allows anyone access to royalty free music. Some is free and some is for sale. Depending what you are after. The items of music show the genre and the instruments used. It gives ideas on where and when the music could be used most appropriately in creative projects. This music can then be used legally in projects. These projects can be made by students and teachers as part of the learning process.
Google Earth was another technology we investigated. There are a lot of things you can do with Google Earth including creating a fly by story. It could be used to learn about geography and the world around them and what's in it. They could Create-Relate-Donate by creating a fly by story about an area of interest, such as the reef, and embedding that as part of their presentation. You can also send clips you have made to u tube. As a Learning Manager, I could use Google Earth to demonstrate things in the world to the students by creating my own fly by story.
Wikipedia is another ICT we investigated. A lot of times if you Google something on the internet, you will get information from Wikipedia at the top of the list. Anyone can edit information on it. However it is public so the authenticity of that information is not guaranteed.

The last ICT I would like to reflect on is digital story telling. Please refer to Emily's Story posted May 6. Digital story telling is a way to combine all of the ICTs I have reflected on, to cover multiple intelligences and promote engaged learning. Emily's story is an example of how I have used digital story telling as a series of lessons. With permission from my students parents, I was able to use her work and photos of her working, in the presentation. The only thing left to do now is for my student to practice reading her extended sentences and narrate her very first digital story, using the photos of her making the pictures as the slideshow. Possibly with a musical background of her choice. We could even create a Voki together to introduce her story. The possibilities are endless.

Digital stories can be created by students and teachers on any subject. They can be made with Google Earth clips, Vokis, information from Wikipedia, music from Incompetech, Keynote or Powerpoint slideshows, u tube clips, photos from Picnik or Flikr, your own digital photos or clips, digital images of your own artwork, your own narration or your own music. Then they can be shared publicly or privately through Wikis, Blogs, u tube and various other web-sites. Digital story telling gives 21st Century life to an age old, natural form of learning, story telling. With the help of Learning Managers, digital story telling can tie in the needs of our 21st Century learners with what they need to learn in the 21st Century.

Blog comment list;

Who stole the cookie?
[Lisa Ryan]
[Me in response]

Wikipedia
[Lisa Ryan]

Keynote for Blog
[Zelina]
[Meryl]
[Aussie Teacher]
[Laura McM]
[Sara]
[Me in response]

Voki
[Laura McM]

What I think I've learnt
[Aussie Teacher]
[Zelina]
[Lanas Blog]
[Me in response]

Referances;
Prensky [2001]
Kearsly & Sneiderman [1999]
David & Grose [2008]

Emily's story

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Emily's story take 2

View more webinars from coreenabean.

Here is an example of how I have used digital story telling as a series of lessons. Of course written permission was gained from my students parents to include her work and the photos of her in this presentation.
It is a simple lesson about extending sentences with verbs and adjectives. My student is still practising reading her extended sentences to have her own, first digital story, which we will make using her paintings and her narrative.
Digital storytelling can be used in a multiple ways, inside and outside the classroom. It can embrace multiple learning styles, eg. a student might be able to tell the story and add photos or pictures rather than writing structured sentences. Learning to write those sentences could be what that student learns next, or when they are older and more prepared for that level of learning. It could also help students with disabilities or special needs.
It is also an effective communication tool in the classroom allowing for interesting presentations of subject, that the whole room can view. Students could collaborate and present an assignment using this method also.

Incompetech

Incompetech would be useful for students and teachers in that it allows anyone access to royalty free music so is legal to use in projects. The items of music also show the genre and the instruments used. It makes suggestions as to where and when they could be used most appropriately in creative projects. The most obvious use I can see for Incompetech is in digital story telling or creating presentation with musical emotion. I managed to download a few free songs and added one to my 'Our fragile reef' slidecast presentation. It gives it a somber mood now.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia could be used for research, however it is not guaranteed to be accurate. It also invites interactive use as you can add to it or edit the information within it. It is usually the first thing to come up when you google something and often it a wealth of free information. There lie it's benefits in teaching and learning.

Google Earth

Google Earth could be used to help students learn about geography and the world around them and what's in it. They could get involved themselves by creating a fly by story. As a teacher, we could create Google clips about an area that the students are discovering. It makes learning about our Earth more interesting than looking at a 2D map or even a globe. It's interactive and I think that encourages learning across the board.

Key note for blog

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Key note for blog

View more presentations from coreenabean.

I used Keynote instead of powerpoint as I have a mac. The transitions and music I added with Keynote didn't come through with slideshare. I will investigate this further and chase up some tech help to add a talking audio mp3 file.
Slideshare can be used privately allowing a teacher to make something for their students only and vice versa. It can also be made public, allowing students to present their work to the world. You can join groups with slideshare on topics of interest, add your presentations to blogs and web-sites.

Flikr

P2120062, originally uploaded by Beanie76.

Art by Beans [That's me.]

Who Took the Cookie? - Teaching Tips

You tube is great for researching an area of interest and seeing what's out there. The clips could be shown to children to learn a game for example. Or to learn from yourself. They could also be inserted into a safe learning area such as onto your own blog, wiki, Mahara sight etc to aid learning about a specific topic.

Picture from picnik via Flikr

horsing around 140, originally uploaded by Beanie76.

Picnik is an online photo editing tool. You can get photos from other places like your computer or Facebook etc. then work on them. It wont store your photos though so you have to send them to Flikr or Facebook, Twitter, Myspace etc. or back onto your computer.
It would be usefull in a pedagogic sense as it allows students to be more creative with their photos or slideshows then send them onto other areas for storage and input into discussions or group work.

I can see how flikr could help with teaching and learning in that you can create private groups and moderate the content. Students could add their own photos and videos to this group to create a project. Teachers could have input and make sure it was all appropriate input. You can also add a photo from flikr into a discussion elsewhere.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Voki

Well that was interesting! I didn't realise I could be so extremely GOOD looking! Ha ha. I'd have to say, this is probably a better way of reaching a more receptive audience. I would apply this technology in early childhood teaching in most areas and especially when the subject was particularly boring to the students. Or if the children were like me and started falling asleep reading text after text. That is of course, if I can get it to speak for longer..

What I think I've learnt.

What I think I've learnt about blogs, aggregators and wikis so far is;

-A blog is a way to keep a diary of what's been going on.

-An aggregator is a way of keeping on top of updates from people or web sites of interest.

-A Wiki is a way to communicate with an interest group, be it small or large. also giving the opportunity to edit information to achieve a common goal.

I would love to use these newly learnt [by me ] ICTs to help my future students by having them set up their own blogs for reflective learning and sharing what they have learnt with followers, me as their teacher and their caregivers. I would also get them to set up an aggregator to keep in touch with updates from others in their class so they have a collaborative approach to their learning. Their aggregators would also allow only specific web sites in, providing internet security. I would encourage the use of wikis to share and add to information within specific groups, allowing collaborative learning once again. There will be more on this subject as I myself learn more about it all.

Bye for now,

Coreena

I loved what Prensky [2001] said in relation to the decline of education in the US. "Todays students are no longer the people our education system was designed to teach." That pretty much sums it up for me.

Obviously we need to use ICTs when teaching our students. It is essential in reaching out to their learning needs and preparing them for their digital future.

My professional background is working with children 5 yrs and younger in a childcare setting. It blows me away watching their little hands manipulate the mouse on their shared computer, and work through games with more skill than they have in holding a pencil.

I have learnt from Prensky [2001] that I am a 'digital immigrant' and I can still remember my first horrifying introduction to a computer. It was in year 6 in primary school and the big chunky box with buttons was manned by the principles wife with the aid of coke bottle glasses. We were taken one by one to meet this alien thing and were shown that it could type without the use of a typewriter. Amazing! Oh, and you didn't have to slam the buttons down to make the letters appear clearly on the screen. Of course it wasn't long before we were banned from going anywhere near it..

That was it though. I think that was all she thought it was useful for at that stage. So our school had a brand new fancy typewriter! It probably cost ten thousand dollars and the only interest we had in it was getting inside the 5 meter invisible barrier it was protected by.

Therefore I first learnt how to turn a computer on 6 years after high school. And that was an act of pure survival. I had to learn the language of my new country. Digital Australia. I struggled, had a sledge hammer ready incase it needed turning off in a hurry, phoned a friend and finally after a few months I was beginning to get the knack of it. All of this time I was wishing that we were shown how to play a game on that big chunky box so that I could have developed an interest in something that was going to be so essential in my future.

That brings me to what I've learnt from reading about engagement theory. 'Relate-Create-Donate." Kearsly & Shneiderman [1999]. When I become a brilliant teacher who the children love learning from, I think I'll be using those basic principles of engaged learning. I will be encouraging them to collaborate and hash out a challenge of interest sharing each others individual strengths. I would then be encouraging them to pull it all together, [just say it's a play or a short skit] and present their talent to the world! [Their parents would be cool and give them permission to put it on u tube.] Talk about authentic assessment! I wonder how many hits they would get.

I have also learnt that the use of ICTs in learning can help tremendously in reaching our educationally isolated children, in particular our indigenous children. What I gathered from the David and Grose [2008] article, it is best practice to infuse indigenous perspectives so that they are part of the process with teaching and learning, making it a two way process and hence allowing meaningful engagement. With the use of ICTs more information is available for us to understand and learn about and from the oldest, still existing culture on the planet. This culture being more spoken word orientated than written word orientated could benefit in their learning by listening and watching through ICTs. It is a great way to reach the physically isolated as well.

We can't change the past but we can prepare our Indigenous children for the future. Their survival skill that got them this far are amazing and something we can learn a lot from, but now they are going to need more.

I've learnt a lot more about a lot of other stuff, but that will do for today as I fear the onset of cognitive overload.

Bye for now, Coreena.

First blog

Hi everyone! This is my first Blog EVER!

I'm looking forward to learning more about it as well as learning more and more efficiently with my BLM.

Bye for now Coreena.