TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG THAT IS THE QUESTION

One of the questions I set myself this week after reading peoples blogs and analysing the readings was, Is blogging a practical way to educate the youth of today in a classroom setting.  Truth be told, I love the idea of blogs, I am sadly and too an extent proudly a weekly blogger on a variety of different websites.  This technology allows people to vent their opinions in a constructive manner where people can feel comfortable to agree or even disagree with what they have said.  One thing which I appreciate about blogs is that if gives the people a written voice.  The sad reality is, we all have the potential to be cruel to people based on what they look like.  Some people live in a world where it rains skittles and a taught by unicorns.  This world although imaginatively brilliant is a unhealthy reality.  I have seen so many people from all walks of life who have been ridiculed and bullied for how they look and so they stay silent.  One video which I promote which gives incredible examples of the power of words  is below.  This demonstrates that words can be used as a sword...but also a shield.  Blogs give people a voice.  A voice that can be read by millions of people.

One of the other elements of blogs which I find appealing is that it promotes social contructivism and connectivism.  The fact that other people can comment and give their opinions is one of the key elements of education.  As an ex lawyer, the more opinions or knowledge you have of a particular area, the more understanding you will have.  In this class we have over 100 people, that is 100 different brains sharing their knowledge on a topic.  That my friends is an incredible concept, the fact that people can share their thoughts and beliefs amongst their peers.  It is amazing how far we have come.

Another benefit to blogs is that students are blogging everyday, they may not realise it.  But blogging is becoming embedded in the youth today due to Facebook and twitter.  However, I believe a new form of blogging is among us.  Blogging through the use of pictures.  There are already numerous websites such as tumblur, imgur and the memes sites which offer people are new form of expression.  There is the Chinese proverb that a picture is worth 1000 words.  Well you guys tell me, look at the picture below, does it not stir something within you? 

There are no rules to tell us that blogs have to be just writing, pictures have a place in education.  In legal studies, one picture is viewed differently from 2 different people, much like the words on a page.  This merely summarises the beauty of blogs and the complexities of the human mind.

However, blogs are not as easy sailing as people may think.  One of the factors that we as teacher's need to realize is that, we must do as much preparation (Ruth Reynard 2008) as we can to understand the technology but also set parameters.  Blogs have the potential to fail if the students do not learn anything from the blogs.  The learning outcomes need to be established otherwise the content of the curriculum will be lost.  For me personally, I would try and allow content being discussed verbally before asking the students to blog so that I am aware that the student's understand the material.

Another issue is the correct time allocation (Ruth Reynard 2008), this is an issue which I sadly with all my research cannot answer.  I think it is one of those things which as teachers we need to get a feel for it.  Some people like myself love to talk and express their opinion, but others may not or may not understand the content.  A balance is in order to judge this issue as it comes because sometimes things do not go to plan.

I think one of the biggest concerns that schools have with blogs is misuse of the environment.  How do we know if the student's are working and not playing games? this questions seems to be the general issue and explains why a lot of schools do not allow students to use blogs during class.  I believe that this issue is simply blown out of proportion and embeds the idea that some IT staff and teachers are simply being lazy.  I am what you would call a nerdyish rebel, at school I used to play games during computer classes and muck around on the computers.  But from my experiences from working with three different schools, the technology is there to restrict such shenanigans but it appears people do not want to invest in the time to do it.  Some schools have a program which enables the teacher to view exactly what the student is viewing during class on the school network.  WHY DOESN'T EVERY SCHOOL HAVE THIS? I have used this technology and you can even write messages to students telling them to get back to the task.  I understand that some students use what is called proxy's which basically gives you a fake internet site so it hides them from playing games.  These sites can be found from googling them, so why doesn't the IT staff band them? also, there is no denying the fact that students will always find a way to play games during class, but if they do get caught, the website should be reported to the IT staff so that is restricted.  YET THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN.  This is why I strongly feel that this is not a real issue, this is a problem which can be constrained though reactive and proactive responses.   

So with all this information, how would I personally use blogs for one of my teaching areas, the best way to explain this is through the SAMR model.     

SAMR MODEL	LEGAL STUDIES
SUBSTITUTION	The blog is used to replace word or the MAC equivalent
AUGMENTATION	Students can now view the blogs and the bogs remain online
MODIFICATION	Students can now write on each other’s blogs and can be viewed by the teacher and the peers
Redefinition	Students can now embed videos or pictures to answer questions by the teacher

However, before the student's blog I would set parameters and make sure the content has been discussed before people blog.  I believe that blogs are a great way for people to answer questions for homework. Students use computer and there phones on a regular basis, this would actually make them want to learn.  People will argue that student's may not have access to a computer or a phone to access blogs.  I tell these people that this reasoning is just laziness on both the student and teacher's behalf.  There are library's, school computer's, the lesson could be done in a computer room.  If you want students to excel from the implementation of blogs, then we need to put the work in.    

To be continued..

  

  

ASSESSMENT 1 REFLECTION

http://www.fun2video.com/tag/funny-mobile/

 

If I had to choose one line or statement which emphasizes this week's readings, it would be that teaching is not a linear process.  To expand upon this, educating is not as simple as just introducing the content and working in a linear way to achieve the result.  With a world that is ever changing our teaching methods and the technology we use, ultimately defy who we are as teachers.  This is the beauty of teaching, we may the learn the same content in this degree but it is how we apply this content to a real world setting which makes us all individuals.  It not only technology which changes but also our perspectives on that technology.  I think one stigma which I got from discussing with various people is that many you are a bad teacher if you do not use “up to date” forms of technology.  My response to that was to open your eyes a bit more and stop thinking so narrow minded.  Just because a school does not have an interactive white board does not mean the curriculum taught there is any worse than a school that does have one.  Many prominent universities in the US and England still uses a black board, does this mean that they have a poor pedagogy.  NO it does not, it just proves that there idea of pedagogy is simply different to yours.  As a teacher I will try and engage my students as much as possible but I also am realistic and realize that not every lesson is going to be a technological bonanza because at what point is too much technology are disadvantage? This question is something I asked myself when completing the mobile phone wiki and the application of the insightful DE BONO HATS.

 
Before I discuss the actual content whilst completing the wiki, I think it is important to briefly discuss the learning method used and how it was applied.  At first when I looked at Bloom's Taxonomy, I was confused but after more research I believe this taxonomy is an important questioning method which allows for students to engage in higher order thinking processes (http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html#cognitive).  It does not matter what your content is, this taxonomy will enable your students to think at a level which may allow their brains to think at a higher level.  By looking at De bono's Hats, this is a form of scaffolding but you can see the questions that each hat asks can be found in the Taxonomy (knowledge section).  The importance and effect of scaffolding is highlighted by this activity, the wiki enabled us to answer questions with the use of technology but also to read, comment and discuss other questions posed by other people which we may not have ever heard of.  If this activity was done in a different way, such as answer these questions yourself in a word document.  It would not have got the same learning outcome; I learnt more reading other people's thoughts than actually answering the questions myself.  I think that is a grand achievement.    
 

With further analysis, this wiki implies some of the learning methods we learnt in week 1, in particular social construcivism.   The wiki allowed people to read opinions, answer people's opinions but more so learn from reading other opinions.  However, this activity could have failed if it was not for specific questions embedded within the DEBONO hats, as it would have been too broad and people would have got off track.  I was a fan of this wiki as I learn from other people's opinions.  But, ironically, isn't that how we all learn?
 

 

The point of the wiki was to apply the DEBONO hats to how thoughts on Mobile phone use on class.  The DEBONO hats asked us to use our higher thinking skills to give different perspectives on a question which is very relevant in today's society.  I believe that there is no use for mobile phones in classrooms.  In a perfect world without Ipads, tablets, laptops, interactive whiteboards etc, then there would be a need for it.  But at the moment there are too many choices already for teachers to use and the technology for these instruments are changing monthly.  The best example is the interactive whiteboard, it is a relatively new concept and a lot of schools have them.  But, there is a new form of technology which was shown at a school I work for.  It is basically a tablet which is wirelessly connected to a projector, but you can pass this tablet around and whatever the student or teacher draws which show instantly on the screen.  You can carry it whilst you’re teaching in the room and students can use it, no need for students to come and use the whiteboard.  This technology could make the interactive whiteboard obsolete.  However, I know a school that is using mobile phones in the classrooms in NSW, the students all sign contracts, and they connect to the school internet, the teacher can see who is online and who is not.  They have an app which teachers need to update the teaching materials each week etc.  But one of the problems the principal (friend of mine) said was that students are now becoming anti-social and a major issue is how the female and male students interact.  There is no human feel to it etc.  They only talk via Ipads and phones.  

If I was going to introduce mobile phones in the classroom I would use the SAMR MODEL to help implement these ideas as it promotes a good framework of how the technology can be used in different stages.  

LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY	DEFINITION:	EXAMPLE:
Substitution	Technology acts as a direct tool substitute, with no functional change (Learning Materials)	Students will use a school approve app to take notes, it’s a substitute for a notepad or even a tablet
Augmentation	Technology acts as a direct tool substitute, with functional improvement (Learning Materials)	Students now can now use other basic functions in the app, e.g. font size, spell check, word count, images can now be embedded.
Modification	Technology allows for significant task redesign (Learning Materials)	Students can now connect via a wiki or even a blog and start commenting on other students work, you can post your document so other people can read it and pass comments on.
Redefinition	Technology allows for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable (Learning Materials)	Students through the apps can connect with other schools that has the app, this could also mean internationally.  They can share their work and comment and connect with people on a larger scale.  They can have lecture or teaching sessions through their phones connected to a teacher from another school.

For those who still do not understand the SAMR model great video is shown below,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us0w823KY0g

Another Idea which can implement the above model would be taking videos with the phone.  Students can first record a speech for assessment (Substitution), The students can that start adding some effects to the video to help get there point across (Augmentation) (music, titles etc), Students can now with their phones post the video on a blog or a place in which other students can provide feedback ( Modification), The students can all work together to create different scenes for a movie where they all work together and they post there video to a blog where other students from around the world can see and pass comment.  

My final thought of this week’s task and reading will be this, there are so many resources out there, and it’s up to us to use them.  But also use them appropriately; I mentioned earlier that too much technology could be a bad thing.  Potentially, with mobile phones, it gives students temptation to get distracted.  But with all new technology, there is always going to be a battle into restricting access for students to not abuse or mistreat the technology.  The new technology may provide more resources for learning, but it also provides more resources for students to learn to misuse the technology.  I know what thing, this week’s readings have shown me that, the simplest of exercises can get great results, and you will not know if you do not try.  Keep an open mind and remember that technology is not just an Ipad or mobile phone, it’s also a perspective.
  

To Be Continued... 

         



   

       

What is a sleeping brain's favorite musical group (rock band)? REM

Good afternoon everyone, I forgot to comment on the other learning theories.  I find them all quite similar, behaviourism seems to be one which is more commonly used where you use positive reinforcement to help students remember through emotions etc.  However there is repetition to it, much like cognitivism it seems like the cake theory where, when doing an assignment a teacher would rather a small delicious specific slice of cake rather then a big googled information broad fatty bit of cake.  It got me thinking whether the same can be applied when we are teaching.  Do we as teachers teach smaller more specific chunks in the hope that our students can learn from it or do we teach broader areas with the possibility of more content being taught, but run the risk of less being taken in.  It is interesting.  One method which I am firm believer of due to the law side of me is social constructivism.   Beaming ideas off people, group work using ICT to  use this theory will be one of my goals this year.  One of my teaching areas being legal studies, revolves around opinions.  The more opinions you have the better understanding you will have of the topic.  Much like the blogs here, different people, different brains answering the same questions, yet we get different answers.  That is what I call education.  With the last one Connectivism, I believe this is just a modified version of social Constructivism and cognitivism.  You are using the internet to access other peoples information to help you learn.  This is some form of social group work, if these people did not express there opinions on the web, then you would not be able to research them.  I think the issue with these teaching areas is that people from different times will support different teaching methods, e.g. the days where we did everything by hand and yet now we do it by tablet and laptop.  One thing which I repeated in the last blog is that everyone learns differently, just because we live in a world where the new phone you buy today is an old phone by tomorrow, does not mean that everyone will learn through the use of new technology.  It is our job as teachers to know our students but also know what technology is out there for us to use.  No one has ever said, we have too many resources to choose from to help us learn.  Knowledge is the key to teaching and learning.

To be continued 

MONTY PYTHON PRESENTS; THE LIFE OF BRAIN

MONTY PYTHON PRESENTS: THE LIFE OF BRAIN

What an interesting  introduction to the topic.  Dr Willis presented a basic overview of how the information gets into our brains and how we process it.  From reading other people's blogs I noticed that people discussed all the scientific terminology and how important it is in the classroom environment.  Some bloggers also discussed the need for ICT and the importance of it in the classroom.  I wish to take a different approach and start with the opening statement, isn't the human brain just amazing.

I am someone who has always been fascinated by the human brain as Dr Willis said, every single brain is different.  This is the main message I think teachers and future teachers need to understand.  Just because you may have written exercises for students to learn from, does not mean each student will learn from this.  Students could be visual or auditory learners.  Students may have a disability, students may process information differently than other people.  This is what makes our jobs as teachers difficult, because I understand how hard it must be to try and support each student equally using a creative display of teaching methods.  This video only shows some "theories" on how to motivate and support students by showing us the basic process of how the brain works.  Having discussions with a few class members and it would appear the general consensus that this video is amazing.  I have to disagree with this and play the devils' advocate by suggesting that the content was stimulating as it was for most people new content which our insightful brains gobbled up.  Hence people being excited by it, but if you strip all this away, this video shows how hard our jobs are as teachers.  An example of this can be shown by a class of 24 people, you have a class of 24 different brains which means potentially you can have 24 different styles of learning.  On the other hand I am not an entirely sinical, seeing results as a teacher as an amazing experience, seeing students progress shows that your teaching methods are working.  But what about the students who fall behind or do not progress at a level which makes you happy.  I have this conversations with many people across many different professions and some have said you cannot help everyone? But as teachers this statement must be hurtful.  It is interesting in a way because it makes you wonder have we failed them, or has there brains failed us.

Furthermore, to provide perspective on  the above paragraph so people do not think I am simply a pessimistic soul.  I work in disabilities, I work in boarding and I also have Asperggers.  As a support worker I work mainly with kids.  I am extremely creative when helping students with their homework.  I have one client who I incorporate a range of literacy and numeracy activities for when we have playtime.  As his imagination is utterly jaw dropping.  When we play games his brain takes him into a different world, sometimes he gets lost in his thoughts as his imaginations is sooo creative.  I have another client who I teach through a game called sim city.  He is grade 12 graphics student and loves to draw, using this game helps him see different aspects to graphics and potentially an end result.  These are two completely different people using two different methods to help them learn.  In the video it suggests that generally students generally struggle with the work if stressed etc.  however, I am  the opposite I work a lot better in stressful environment.  My point being is I think one of the key messages in that video was to know your students and how they learn.

Also, when Dr Willlis was implying that some behaviors perhaps stem from the flight or fight ability.  I think this is a bit far fetched as the situation she mentions do not really make sense with your brain being in survival mode.  For people who do not know the flight, fight and I think frozen theory, it is worth looking up.  But basically in a time of emergency or survival your body will either run away, fight, or be frozen still.  And we as people have no control over this.  It is quite incredible.  But in a school environment, these instincts are not needed as no student really is in survival mode as the decisions they made each day a conscious decisions. But that does bring us to the other issue of stress in students.  We all know schooling can be difficult and there is only so much control teachers have, but one analogy I have used is the one below to help students with their study.  

http://www.quora.com/Adel-Ansari/Posts/A-psychologist-walked-around-a-room-while-teaching-stress-management-to-an-audience-As-she-raised-a-glass-of-water        

But I enjoy both videos as they both suggest ways to help students learn, and that is why we are all here.  To learn as much knowledge as we can.   But I assume that we will learn a lot of teaching theories, but that is what they are, theories.  Suggestions to help us educate and support children.  The more knowledge we have, the more theories we will get and the better equipped we shall be as teachers.

to be continued.....