Reflective Synopsis

My journey over the past five weeks of exploring the ICT (Information Communication Technology) tools identified in this course has been not only a rollercoaster ride but a huge learning experience. It has exhausted me no end. I have had to face and overcome many challenges throughout my learning experience and although sometimes it ended in frusteration and tears I have learnt alot.  I didnt realize how technologically challenged I was. Also that of my quite old computer.  Along with the tears and frusteration there has at times been feelings of excitement and achievement when a particular tool has been at least partially understood.

I have come to realize, through my exploration, the importance of integrating the use of ICTs within a students learning environment in order to prepare them for our ever-changing global society which is driven by technology and communication developments.  The use of a range of technologies will not only engage students of the 21st century but also encourage positive interaction amongst students both locally and on a global level and will foster productive learning. The youth of today have been described as digital natives, and are growing up with computers, mobile phones, the internet and video games.  As a result, the technological tools available to students are familiar and appealing to them as they connect life to their world outside of the learning environment.

In order to use the tools effectively the educator needs to have the ability to choose the right tool for a specific learning experience in order to provide the best possible learning outcomes for each and every student.

Due to the flexibility of ICT tools it is easy to apply appropriate pedagogical practices and scaffolding to support a diverse range of learning experiences. Through exploring these tools I have been given the opportunity to reflect and analyse my own learning experiences and how different tools could be implemented in the classroom. In this synopsis I will draw together the threads to help visualize the completed picture of the importance and integration and exploration of ICT’s within the learning environment.   

                                                                                                                

Group 1 Tools 

The first group of technologies we were introduced to was wikis, blogs and websites. I have always been familiar with websites and blogs, although I had not created either one, however wikis were not something I had ever heard of or used for that matter. Through examining these tools, creating my own website and wiki, taking part in Week 1 and Week 2 wiki activities, reflecting in my blog and creating a website I found these tools would be a great way to get students to explore, collaborate and reflect on topics. I also took part in some Wiki Activities in this course. One of the Activities was using deBono's Thinking Hats which was an exciting engaging way to encourage critical thinking..

Wiki’s in particular I believe could be used as a base for learning due to the flexibility and interactivity they provide. Wiki’s are able to be created to provide information for students to not only read, but to provide a collective group of interactive activities, ideas and, thought provoking material for students. Wiki’s can be a space where students are able to reflect, ask questions or add extra information to collaborate with one another and come to a conclusion which can then lead to further questions and investigations thereby creating a learning continuim. Use of the Wiki can help to support higher order thinking, substantive conversation, academic engagement, student direction, social support and connectedness to the word which are some of the essential pedagogical practices teachers need to ensure are incorporated into their teaching strategies. These strategies also foster constructivist learning.Wiki’s provide a great base for students to work from and if combined with face to face learning in the classroom the overall learning experiences would be much more effective and guarantee more effective learning outcomes.

Group 2 Tools

Group 2 tools focused on digital multimedia tools such as videos, audio, podcast, images and image enhancing tools. According to A Global Imperative (2005) 21^st century literacy is the set of abilities and skills where aural, visual and digital literacy overlap. These include the ability to understand the power of images and sounds, to recognise and use that power, to manipulate and transform digital media, to distribute them pervasively, and to easily adapt them to new forms.

Whether it is watching television, playing video games, listening to the radio or walking down the street society witnesses these types of technologies everyday making their presence in the classroom vital. Incorporating these tools into the learning environment helps to enhance students visual and auditory learning styles and helps them to explore and reflect on different learning experiences visually making it more engaging and exciting for students

Images is my focus within these group of tools.

We are in a multimedia age, it is critical that everyone is visually literate. Consequently, students need to be able to work with images in a number of different ways and purposes for their educational benefits. As today’s students view and analyse a range of different types of images everyday including, in newspapers, magazines, on television, on the web, paintings, story books and on billboards, which make students individual ability to read images a vital skill. For that reason I think it is imperative that educators today are teaching students visual literacy skills including ‘reading’ images in different contexts to develop a sense of understanding of the meaning and purposes of images and to also communicate the meaning behind images.

There are two ways that images are likely to be used in the classroom including student created photographs or online with students work and also other work available online (Fasso, 2012).  The connectivism learning theory supports the use of images as students will be working with computers and the internet to identify and upload images for educational purposes. Students may take digital photo graphs of their art work and upload their photo graphs online to blogs, wikis and websites to demonstrate to peers, parents or educators their work. Also images could be used within the context of science investigations with students and rather than drawing or sketching diagrams of investigations (which takes a considerable amount of time) students could take digital photographs of their investigations.

Group 3 Tools

Group 3 tools included presentation tools Prezi, Glogster and PowerPoint. These tools provide teachers the opportunity to present information in an interactive way which is entertaining, meaningful and engaging for students. The tool I am going to focus on this time is Glogster. Again this was a new tool for me but I thoroughly enjoyed learning and exploring all its features. It really is a tool that takes presentation tools to a whole new level. Glogster EDU provides a collaborative online learning platform for teachers and students to express their creativity, knowledge, ideas and skills in the classroom. The opportunities that exist with using Glogster makes it a prime example of the 21^st century learning tools and how technology is becoming more and more advanced. Glogsters are able to be creatively constructed and provide visually appealing information where images, videos, podcasts, animations, web links and text can be added to complement the topic being covered. It provides the chance for teachers and students to work together and construct knowledge as a team. I believe Glogsters would be a great tool for students to use to explore, construct and document their learning as it transforms student learning and provides the opportunity for students to reflect and incorporate their own learning style into it.

 Group 4 Tools

Group 4 tools include a variety of different ICT tools and are best referred to as miscellaneous tools. Some of tools that were available to explore but weren’t limited to included animations and simulations, interactive learning objects, Adobe Flash, concept mapping, online timelines and Zooburst. The tool I chose to explore was Google Maps.

Google Maps provides the ability to look at and study different locations around the world. Due to the highly specialised nature of this tool it can provide great enhancement to students learning experiences. The MyMaps option gives students the chance to create their own personalised maps where they are able to embed images, videos and descriptive text to make the content exciting and engaging. It also gives them the option to share their work online making it also a useful collaboration tool. 

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Legal, Safe and Ethical Practices for using ICT's in the Learning Environment

From what I have learnt about safe, ethical and legal guidelines in online classroom environments is that Educators need to model appropriate behavior. When teaching in the online environment it is important to clearly communicate your expectations for appropriate behaviors and model these behaviors at all times. As students today are involved with many online social networking environments including face book, twitter, MySpace, and e-mail, they may not be aware of the behaviors that are unacceptable in an online educational environment. Therefore, it is up to Educators to model the correct behavior when following the guidelines, including ensuring that students appropriately reference all materials unless belonging to the student. 

The first principal to be aware of is that the normal copyright guidelines for education apply in an online environment. Therefore, the use of materials such as text, images, videos and audio clips online can be restricted according to the owner’s wishes.

Furthermore, child safety needs to be taken into consideration by Educators to ensure that while students are working in online learning environments that they are involved with safe intentions. Children face the risk of exposure to a range of different material that can be pornographic, sexually explicit, offensive, hateful, violent and that encourages activities that are dangerous or illegal. Therefore it is important that both Educators and students are aware of the types of information that are forbidden in the educational setting to ensure everyone’s safety in an online learning environment.

Providing guidelines for students to follow not only in the classroom but at home as well will help to lower the risk of students coming in contact with inappropriate content and foster confidence in dealing with any issues of exposure. Learning does not only happen in the classroom so I think it is important that everyone is made aware of these practices. Before any elearning takes place these issues need to play a vital role in lesson planning strategies.

Conclusion

After reflecting on the use of ICT tools in the classroom it is easy to see that the implementation of these tools into the classroom is essential in ensuring our students are prepared for the contemporary world in which we live. Students live in a technological world where information and communication technologies (ICTs) are integral to everyday situations.  ICTs allow for flexibility which enables Educators to provide a variety of learning experiences and learning outcomes and enables them to incorporate appropriate pedagogy and scaffolding to support these experiences.  Educators must however always ensure the correct legal, safe and ethical practices are followed to ensure the protection of students.

Being from the "the old school generation" I still feel it is important to incorporate "traditional type" learning resources as well for example decorating the classroom with maps and hanging mobiles.  

Although I found this subject so far very exhaustive I feel it is just the beginning.  I look forward to continuing this journey as a Teacher and having more time to discover all of the technological treasures available now and in the future.

Appendix

How Education has changed

Graphic Organisers and wiki activities

Explanation of TPaCK

Group 1 Tools

deBono's Thinking Hats

Group 2 Tools

Group 3 Tools

Group 4 Tools

Legal, Safe and Ethical Practices using ICT's

References

A Global Imperative. (2005). The Report of the 21^st Century Literacy Summit

Retrieved from

http://www.educause.edu/Resources/AGlobalImperativeTheReportofth/153960

Felder and Soloman (n.d.). Learning styles and strategies. Retrieved from 

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm 

Glogster poster yourself  EDU. (2012). Retrieved from

http://edu.glogster.com/

Google Maps (2012). Retrieved from

http://maps.google.com.au/

Prensky, M. (2005). "Engage me or enrage me". What today's learners demand. Retrieved from

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf

Various Readings. (2012). EDED20491: ICTs For Learning Design. Retrieved from CQUniversity

http://moodle.cqu.edu.au

Legal, Safe and Ethical Practices for using ICTs in the Classroom

This is a great site to look at regarding safe and ethical practices for using ICT's. As I said in my previous blog post I am twisting myself in knots trying to consume so much information and reflect on it in so little time.  I think once I have finished my course I will have alot more time to examine and use and play with all the tools. Also as time goes by incorporating them into my lesson plans will give me a very hands on and practical approach

Group 4 Tools - Animations, Simulations, Google Maps

I must say I'm totally exhausted.  I am frusterated at every turn at the moment trying to get my head around all the tools. I have also had a sick child with an ear infection which hasn't helped. There are numerous simulations which I can see have important and relevant connections for use in the learning environment but the one I am going to choose is Google Maps. Google maps gives learners the ability to know about the world without actually physically leaving the classroom.   Rather than me list off the many and varied things you can do with google maps in lesson plans please go and explore this website where educators can share lesson plans and get ideas for lesson plans. Here is a little history about Google Maps Google Maps provides high-resolution aerial or satellite images for most urban areas all over the world. In April 2007, My Maps was a new feature added to Google's local search maps. My Maps lets users and businesses create their own map by positioning markers, polylines and polygons onto a map. The interface is a straightforward overlay on the map. A set of eighty-four pre-designed markers is available, ranging from bars and restaurants to webcam and earthquake symbols. Polyline and Polygon color, width and opacity are selectable. Maps modified using My Maps can be saved for later viewing and made public or marked as unlisted, On April 19, 2011, Map Maker was added. On May 25, 2007, Google released Street View, a new feature of Google Maps which provides 360° panoramic street-level views of various U.S. cities. On this date, the feature only included five cities, but has since expanded to thousands of locations around the world.

Strengths
Engages students to do their work by being able to use something they can relate to
Is interesting to use
Students are able to connect with this ICT tool and use it with ease
No downloading is required as everything is online

Weakness
Cannot always access it from anywhere

Not all maps are up to date
Opportunities
Documents a users journey
Use it for all subject matter

Threats

Could show a child's location if personal data is entered.

Group 3 Tools - Powerpoint, Prezi and Glogster

Due to how long it takes me to explore all of the tools in this course I had a quick explore of prezi. and powerpoint.  

The tool I have decided to look at in depth is the Glogster. On a personal level I found discovering Glogster one of the most exhausting as my computer is old the pages didnt want to load at times. I also originally signed up for the wrong type of Glogster account so it wouldn't allow me to publish my Glogster after I'd spent hours creating it. I asked at a collaborate session about it and the lecturers told me about signing up for the free teacher one. After all my many hours of frusteration I started creating a Glogster. I tried to somehow embed it in here but had no luck. I also decided to research the applications of a Glogster a little bit further and this is what I came up with.

The internet no longer simply allows learners to explore and discover their own learning pathways, but it allows learners to construct their own content and add to the online database of resources in the form of multimedia-based UGC (user generated content) built on the premise of sharing and socializing. One such application built on this premise is the free–for-use web-based interactive digital poster publishing tool Glogster. 

Glogster EDU is a private, safe platform for students and teachers to create online electronic posters(Glogs) to display their thoughts, interests, ideas and understandings. It uses a number of tools to incorporate text, audio, video, links, animations and images. Glogster Edu, as a teaching tool, can be integrated into core subject areas of the curriculum, differentiated instruction, and used as alternative assessments. Glogs can be populated with a variety of text boxes, graphics, animations and frames available in the Glogster gallery. Images, video and audio files can be uploaded directly from student or school computers. Students can use webcams and microphones to record audio, take snapshots and video to be saved directly into their Glog. Users can build their own library of images, video and sound clips to be accessed easily for use in future Glogs. Students can also use Glogster to create a dynamic digital portfolio of the content that they've published to sites like School Tube .

Working cooperatively and communicatively with such tools can also lead to the implementation of constructivist learning approaches in the classroom that are built upon the real life experience of students. When this occurs stronger connections can be made between learning content and the students world, and as such, the collaborative creation of knowledge, and the sharing and dissemination of that knowledge becomes the core of the learning process.

A free-for use web-based poster publishing platform audio, images, and video can all be imported into a Glogster, or linked to or grabbed from a webcam feed, while text titles, stickers, and speech bubbles can be created on the glogster  page directly. Various effects such as frames, shadows, font size changes and color schemes can be implemented as well. Space on the Glogster webpage (glog) can be used freely, meaning items can be placed or replaced, rotated, overlaid, and resized. In addition, all content can be linked to other glogs or other web pages or content around the internet. Content applied and learner material developed in such a way allows students to construct learning in an active and meaningful manner, and associate the lesson to the real world and their own lives.


This  publishing tool promotes cooperation with other individuals when working in teams on a digital poster project, and can lead to effective classroom networking for communication and collaborative work. Such small-group interaction establishes co-operative learning opportunities.

SWOT ANALYSIS FOR GLOGSTER

Once digital posters have been developed with the publishing tool Glogster they can then be embedded into class wikis, or blogs, or shared among classmates added to the system as friends. Glogster allows for the organization of media and widgets to form a collage that can be embedded into any web page or viewed stand-alone from the Glogster website 

Essentially, through one piece of work, students can present both their oral and written skills whilst at the same time showing off their creative talent.

Group 2 tools - Multimedia Images and video

W hen looking at multimedia images I came across a great site pics4learning.com.  It has loads of images for educational purposes.  They say a picture says a thousand words but I think it says much more than that. Today we are surrounded by images constantly in our everyday life.  Television not only in our homes but on our smartphones, ipods, ipads and even in our cars, planes and trains.  Information brochures even on the backs of some toilet cubical doors.  The youth of today would not know a world without constant images.  As learners try to equate thier learning to everyday life it is important that images are encorporated into thier educational world. Throughout my blog I have inserted images to add not just colour and interest but to also stimulate thinking and  to be thought provoking.
At the top of my blog I have inserted a slideshow from photobucket.  Below I've added in a photo. What descriptive words come to mind when looking at the image below. I'm sure there would be many and varied.

A Thinking Hat For Every Occassion

I enjoyed participating in the Mobile phone wiki activity . 

I have to be honest and say that before this course I had never heard of a wiki. I’m very surprised at this as I have 4 children.  My two older ones are in their mid to late 20’s so wiki’s probably weren’t part of their learning experience. I have an 11 year old daughter and when I asked her she hadn’t heard of them either. I must admit that the majority of my pre- thinking about mobile phones in the classroom was from the BLACK HAT perspective. This can be attributed to my schema

Schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information. Schemas can be useful, because they allow us to take shortcuts in interpreting a vast amount of information. However, these mental frameworks also cause us to exclude some important information in favour of information that confirms our pre-existing beliefs and ideas. Schemas can contribute to stereotypes and make it difficult to retain new information which does not conform to our established schemas.

Once I participated in the wiki with the de Bono hats being used as a scaffolding tool I saw other perspectives. I’ve also begun using an iphone myself and my eyes have been opened up to what an incredibly diverse and interactive piece of communication technology the iphone is.

As an introduction to help understand why de Bono’s thinking hats are such a useful scaffold tool to encourage constructivist learning I will start with an overview of de Bono’s Six Thinking Hat Technique.

The Six Thinking Hats technique of Edward de Bono is a model that can be used for exploring different perspectives towards a complex situation or challenge.  Seeing things in various ways is often a good idea in strategy formation or complex decision-making processes.

The hats are a tool to scaffold the learners into thinking about a situation or problem from a range of different perspectives it also provides a means for groups to think together more effectively, and a means to plan thinking processes in a detailed but yet diverse way.
Scaffolding learning is extremely important for maximum learning experience.

Vygotsky believed that when a student is at the Zone of Proximal Development for a particular task, providing the appropriate assistance (scaffolding) will give the student enough of a "boost" to achieve the task. Once the student, with the benefit of scaffolding, masters the task, the scaffolding can then be removed and the student will then be able to complete the task again on his own.

The Hats are different colors representing different perspectives. This  short clip explains the perspectives.

BLUE HAT – A managing hat, control mechanism that ensures guidelines are observed.

GREEN HAT – Focuses on creativity, the possibilities, the alternatives and new ideas. New concepts and new perceptions.

YELLOW HAT= Brightness and optimism. Positives, values and benefits.   

BLACK HAT – Judgement, devils advocate or why something might not work. It will spot the dangers.

WHITE HAT = Just the facts. Information known or needed.

RED HAT – Feelings, hunches, intuition, dislikes, loves and hates

Group 1 tools - Blogs, Wiki's and Websites

I’m well into week 3 now with this course and even though I am finding the work load quite heavy and sometimes spend hours on the computer trying to work out how to use the technology. I am finding some things are becoming clearer to me. 

I am now starting to understand what a blog and wiki and a website is, and can see how they are a great tool to use in any learning environment.  
Why I came to this conclusion is I did a PMI and SWOT concept analysis and below is what I came up with:

PMI FOR USING BLOGS IN THE CLASSROOM 
PLUS –             
•          -  It is free, easy to create and use
•         - They are a great reflective tool where you are able to bring together your thoughts on different topics or ideas
•        - It can be used as a collaborative tool to gather research notes and share ideas with other class members or teacher 
•         - You are able to provide links to different websites etc. that other students can also use
•         - It gives parents access so they are able to keep up to date with what their child may be learning at school
•         - Students are able to access them in and out of school
•         - Teachers are able to monitor students’ progress and offer ideas (using comment option) to students about other avenues they might be able to explore and provide positive encouragement making it a good motivating tool
•         - Only the students who created the blog is able to edit the blog
•         - It is great for students who are too shy to contribute in class to add ideas 
•        -  Great tool for teachers to post educational links to that can enhance their own learning with digital tools. For example: (http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/) I also found a great blog written by a teacher that provides useful information and tools for other teachers to use http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/  as an example of how they can be used
•        -  It can enhance students reading, writing and computer skills




MINUS – 
•        -  Can be difficult for some students to use
•        -  Internet access is always needed to be able to access it which is not always possible
•         - Blogs are not confidential and everyone is able to access them worldwide which could result in anyone posting comments that may not be appropriate
•         - Cyber bullying and  Harassment could become a problem and needs to be monitored with strict guidelines
•         - One author only which is a plus, as stated previously, but can also be a hindrance when trying to collaborate effectively with other students
•        -  Images, videos and information can be inserted without the knowledge of the owner which can result in plagiarism. Legal, safe and ethical guidelines should be discussed with students to ensure they are using material correctly this may however be problematic for younger children to comprehend and understand. 
•         - Limited options in how the blog can be set out


INTERESTING – 
 Blogs can be used for a variety of things and can provide lots of possibilities in a learning environment
- Can provide the opportunity to link with other schools around the world
- Teachers are able to witness the different learning journeys of each student
- Can be used to help to promote effective pedagogical practices such as higher order thinking, student direction, substantive conversation and social support






The PMI analysis will provide valuable information on the pros and cons of using a wiki to develop an eLearning resource.

Table 1: PMI ANALYSIS
Plus	Minus	Interesting
Anyone can edit, and edition is instantaneous,easy to use and learn and people located all over the world can edit. Possible to revert back to a previous version and access to web publishing to non-technical people. Can be used for a wide range of applications. No licensing cost to installing an institutional wiki. Very versatile tool, that can be adjusted and accommodated to any kind of teaching and learning. Many possibilities to include designs, images, videos, etc. Allows for HTML language what provides huge possibilities (Hart, 2006)	Being an open resource does not assure the quality of content, therefore entries are not necessarily reliable. Spontaneous thoughts, content have to be filtered to avoid prohibited material. Anonymous entries, very difficult to verify the source (more issues with quality) Collaborative /Cooperative Paradigm as the resource is strongly based on high levels of coordination. Technology issues, user must be computer literate. Organization, updating, compiling, etc. A lot of work needs to be done. Challenges regarding structure, contents, ideas, etc. and how they should be included in the wiki. Wikis do not show as easily when information was documented or in what order. (Woolf, 2006).	Resource with great potential to be used in eLearning Great flexibility and adaptability Minimum requirements, everyone can learn how to use it very quickly Great tool to facilitate: Creativity, Development of New Ideas, Collaboration Controls can be implemented to prevent vandalism Content remains alive: as technology improves, knowledge changes, new techniques appear, etc. it is possible to update the resource accordingly. Imagination is the limit. Ideal resource to use to connect with groups based in different countries, different cultures, etc

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that is exceedingly valuable. It involves identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. After the PMI analysis is done, it is very important to condense all the information into a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), thus we are able to connect all the valuable information that help us to decide if the wiki is the optimal resource for a particular lerning outcome. For more information on SWOT Analysis please see this article on What is SWOT Analysis

Table 2: SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths Openness and accessibility. Facilitate to work with others Creates knowledge and communities Usability. Anonymity of authorship. Public ownership. Cloning acceptable. It is a free tool. Organized by the context, by links and, sometimes, in chronological order.	Opportunities Motivate Collaboration Versatile Tool Longlife Learning Growing and flexible resource Comprehensive Share knowledge, resources, experiences. Everyone is smarter than anyone alone Encourages learning and critical thinking Large audience Virtual Community
Weaknesses Difficulties to trust content Used to repeat work Content is constantly changing Not professionally edited Need close control to prevent vandalism	Threats Users can erase content Vandalism Copyright, intellectual property issues Taken as the only source of information Content can be spammed Constraints to the tool Openness (no login required)

I am starting to see the effectiveness of collaborative learning  and how by using e-tools within a learning environment students can explore, collaborate and reflect. I have constructed my own understanding of TPaCK in my blog. Today there are more opportunities for learners to participate actively in their own learning. Educators can now move significant learning opportunities out of “event mode” and support construction of knowledge and skill beyond the classroom and beyond traditional asynchronous e-Learning.
Online learning is leaning towards a constructivist pedagogy  in which collaborative learning takes an important role, I have a visions of how these tools certainly open up the classroom or learning environment to many different worlds and sources of information and interactive experiences beyond its four walls.  With the invention of web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 interactive learning has reached new levels.

I’ve been to many in-services and education days in the past where the big piece of butcher’s paper or the whiteboard has come out and we’ve all put ideas forward, but now with ideas being able to be sought, exchanged, compared and contrasted from all around the world.  WOW! How incredible is that?

Last night at the collaborate session for my current ICT course which I attend every Wednesday night I found myself and my mind wandering off  at times and imagining all sorts of wonderful possibilities in a classroom and imagined to myself that I may have done better academically if this stuff was around when I was at school.

At the moment the thing I haven’t been able to totally get my head around is the Learning Theories, they are still a mish mash in my brain and I’m hoping by reading and listening to podcasts about them and using the internet to gain lots of perspectives about them and see if that helps me with my understanding of them.

Well I’ve got to do a little housework  too now and again so I’m off to do that now. There’s even interactive websites to help with that.

See you next time!!!