Week Six

Week Six

Since the beginning of this course Jason has been emphasising that fact that effective use of technology in the classroom is not just about incorporating ICT into lessons.  It took me a few weeks to fully grasp the understanding that technology should not just be an ‘add on tool’ that teachers use to jazz up their lessons. (This is definitely how I would have used ICT in the past).  Throughout this course I have learnt that if technology is to be used effectively it should be embedded within a lesson to not only engage students but to enhance teaching and learning.  Hence teachers should ask themselves when thinking about incorporating ICT into their planning “how is this technology going to enhance student learning?”  I know this question is something that I will be asking myself from now on.  This new thinking (of mine) aligns with the TPCK model that has been heavily referred throughout the duration of this course.  This model is “a way of thinking about the knowledge teachers need to understand to integrate technology effectively into their classrooms (Koehler & Mishra, 2008).”  In essence the TPCK model is a useful guiding tool to refer to when curriculum planning as it incorpates technology, pedagogy and content into the one proforma to ensure you (as a teacher) are effectively integrating technology into your teaching and learning practices to cater for the diverse learning needs of all students.

This week in the lecture we looked at digital pedagogies and digital learners.  Digital pedagogy moves the focus from ICT tools and skills, to a way of working in the digital world. (The State of Queensland, 2011).  Digital learners are the students of the 21^st century that have access to technology 24/7.  These are the ‘digital natives’ within our classrooms that live in a world composed of “cell phones, MP3 players, computers and video games” (Jackson & Crawford, 2008).  It is important to realise as educators that this generation of young learners are very different from past generations and as such we need to embrace technology and look at ways of incorporating it into the classroom to enhance their learning experiences.

Digital Presentation

Our PD video is coming along in leaps and bounds.  I am now really excited about the video that we are in the early to mid stages of creating.  Since last weeks Blog we have decided to change our content focus from a Mathematics base to an English focus whereby students create their own Haiku poems and then using Windows Movie Maker create a short video clip portraying their self created theme.  We are all meeting again on Sunday to collaboratively capture footage and discuss the finalities of this project.

On a final note I believe my personal growth during this course (thus far) has been enormous, not only have I learnt about some fantastic new technologies but I have also learnt (and am still learning) of the importance of using ICT effectively within the classroom.

References:

Jackson, S., & Crawford, D. (2008). Digital Learners: How Are They Expanding the Horizon of Learning? Retrieved on 5 April, 2011 from the Connexions Web site: http://cnx.org/content/m17218/1.2/

Koehler, M. & Mishra, P. (2008). Introducing technological pedagogical content knowledge. Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the American Education Research Association, New York City, NY.

The State of Queensland, (2011).  Education Queensland.  ELearning Portal - Smart Classrooms. What is Digital Pedagogy? Retrieved on 4 April, 2011 from http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=45965