Mobile devices in the classroom seem to be the rule, as opposed to the exception that they once were 10, even 5 years. It seems that new apps for iPads are continuously being created to facilitate learning, improve pedagogical delivery and outcomes in the classroom. It's not just tablets and apps that are being used as learning tools but also robotics, smartphones, portable media players and digital camera's which all have their place in the 21st Century classroom.Using mobile devices in the classroom has many benefits.
This week, I have revisited Prezi and used it to structure my blog for this week. Enjoy!
This blogging task has given me the opportunity to investigate the positives and possibilities of using ICT’s. Yes, they can be used as effective engagement tools but there’s so much more to it. They are an instrumental pedagogical tool to transform teaching and learning so as to impact on positive assessment outcomes.
Some plus components relating directly to Mobile Devices and education include:
Tablets can hold hundreds of text books on one device, plus homework and other files.
E-textbooks on tablets cost approximately 50 - 60% less than print textbooks.
E-textbook can be updated instantly to new editions or include new information.
It's not all roses though. Some studies have attributed health issues relating to ICT use including childhood obesity, sleep disturbances, skeletal system disturbances (especially from hand held devices), eye strain, even early onset of obsessive behaviours.
Some minus' in education include:
People who read print text comprehend more, remember more and learn more than those who read digital text.
Print textbooks cannot crash, freeze or get hacked.
Tablets are more susceptible to theft than print textbooks (www.stateimpact.npr.org)
A few interesting facts regarding Mobile Devices in the Classroom include:
The phone functionality of a smartphone is secondary in terms of usage.
In some schools, cyber-bullying and disruptive behaviours have actually decreased due to the implementation of policy (www.theguardian.com)
One particular mobile device are drones. Drones are unmanned aerial devices that can be used inside (or outside) classroom situations. Where available (and permitting policies in place!) drones can be used in lesson planning in HPE classes to examine player tactics and movements in sports. They would also prove useful in lessons in Multimedia and Geography. As a pre-service Business teacher, I have decided to examine the potential of using a drone in a Real Estate simulation. In groups, students are given scenario's of potential buyers. Using tablets, they are to determine the benefits and costs of buying a property and justify their answers.
The SAMR model above includes a drone activity. Lessons are scaffolded starting a simple tasks and moving through to more complex activities. In due time, a lesson will be included on how to operate the drone. Students are to select a property and use the image (either still images or continuous) in their assessment. I have included a photo of our property below to demonstrate images produced by drones.
This current the use of Mobile Devices in the Classroom is just the tip of a large iceberg of new teaching and learning possibilities afforded to us by mobile devices and other technology. The potential use of mobile phones and other devices becomes apparent when you consider them more as powerful handheld computers, complete with camera, speakers and educational apps and less of their primary functional use.
The Guardian (2012). Mobile phones in the classroom: Teacher's share their tips. Sourced on 26th April, 2015 at http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2012/sep/10/mobile-phones-classroom-teaching
MacArthur, Catherine T. (2012). Mobile devices for Learning: What you need to know. Accessed on 28th April, 2015 at http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/guides/edutopia-mobile-learning-guide.pdf
State Impact (2012). The downside of a high-tech classroom. Sourced on 26th April, 2015 at
http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2012/11/20/the-downside-of-a-high-tech-classroom/ YouTube (2011). Mobile Devices in Teaching & Learning. Sourced on 23rd April, 2015 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEFXZomXs-o YouTube (2011). Are mobile devices fundamentally affecting higher education?. Sourced on 23rd April, 2015 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwYxp0pWLEI
To date, this course has provided avenues of exploration of some
excellent eLearning (using
electronic educational technology in teaching and learning) tools. Lessons have been scaffolded accordingly and incorporated foundational
research on learning theories, digital
pedagogy (using digital technology to teach) and eLearning tools. It has been
structured so that the pre-service teacher is exposed to a wealth of relevant
websites and information, so that a solid resource base is compiled upon completion.
The use of ICT’s is becoming increasingly prominent in
the 21st Century classroom. The current generation
seamlessly transition between their ‘real’ and digital lives (BECTA 2008,
p.12). Loosely coined the “Net Generation”, it seems only natural to move
away from traditional, industrial focused behaviourist modes of teaching and create
pedagogical applications that allow for authentic experiences and interactions
to be used in the ‘real’ world. Acknowledging
the critical role that ICT’s are deemed to play in the future of economic
growth, development and success within a globally competitive market, allows
for the development of content creators, technology innovators and digitally
fluent users of technology (Howell 2012 p.147).
It is recognised that student’s today require education that will
empower them in modern society and schools should aim to transform teaching and
learning about ICT to teaching and learning with and through ICT. In undertaking this Constructionism approach,
eLearning aids to secure economic growth and the stability of the future (DETA:
eLearning for smart classrooms 2008, p.3).
Using ICT’s in the classroom should aim to engage this
digital generation, improve individualised learning opportunities and spark
innovation in learning through meaningful, engaging and connecting
units of work (DETA: eLearning from smart classrooms 2008, p. 1).
Learning theories are fundamental to the success of the implementation
of ICT's in the classroom, as they scaffold learning and anchor the lesson
around creative, experimental and purposeful activities. If used in alliance to
an appropriate learning theory, eLearning can develop skills that are
affective, metacognitive, higher ordered and collaborative. The ways in which eLearning can occur are
endless and standard software programs can be used in numerous ways. For example using PowerPoint in conjunction
with the SAMR model, teachers can scaffold lessons beginning with simple tasks
and move through to more complex activities.
Through PowerPoint, teachers can ask students to demonstrate
critical literacy in a presentation by enhancing texts with visuals or
animations to support their ideas and understandings. Students are initially able to organise and represent their idea’s
using the Smart Art function, move onto producing
interactive quizzes with hyperlinks in PowerPoint and finally can present their unit of work as a
self-running multi-modal text and set-up a ‘kiosk’ for peer interaction to collaborate information, ideas, techniques (Connectivism).
Although some tasks may involve some degree of rote learning, this approach
allows teacher’s to take on a facilitator’s role in learning and tasks are
essentially learner-based.
Along with resources available, I believe that the greatest impact on
eLearning effectiveness comes down to the individual teacher’s attitude,
motivation and confidence in implementing eLearning. This facilitating role requires teachers to
receive ongoing support and the professional development of teachers is
imperative so that teachers are kept abreast with emerging technology.
Training provided to pre-service teachers should be
relevant, encourage heightened collaboration, expand professional networks and
be informative on the policies in place for the safe, legal and ethical use of
ICT’s in the classroom.
In the
period of 2008 – 2011, as part of The National Secondary Schools Computer Fund,
the government pumped a cool $900 million to purchase new or upgraded ICT’s in Australian
secondary schools (Education Queensland: 21 steps to 21st Century
1-to-1 success, 2011 p. 16). That is
some serious dollars and it sends a very clear message to pre-service teachers
such as myself - either skill-up and embrace the technology or quite frankly,
get left behind.
Although governed and guided by authoritative bodies e.g. Education
Queensland, as it stands today, educational facilities have individualised
policies on how they safely, legally and ethically use ICT’s including Internet
usage, mobile devices and other related technology in their schools. However,
as the Government pour more funding into research projects, programs and
databases relating to eLearning, my concern is the that the future of
technology in Schools may encompass a streamlined and standardised (state-wide
or national) approach to delivering education.
With the introduction of databases such as OneSchool and OnePortal, I
hope that the outcome of this transitional period results in a more
personalised system, where individualised learning opportunities are not only
improved upon but become the focal point to meet the educational needs of individual
students.
The use of ICT’s in the classroom not only enhances learning by
appealing to a variety of learning techniques and abilities but is also aids
for digital fluency. Learning designs
that incorporate technology and a relevant learning theory, provide engagement
and technology ‘know how’ for real life experiences. The outcome of use of ICT’s
and eLearning supports the development of creators, innovators and fluency in a
digital age.
REFERENCE
LIST
BECTA (2010). The impact of Technology: Value-added Classroom Practice. Sourced on 24th April, 2015 at http://webarchive.nationalarchivves.gov.uk/20110130111510/http:/becta.org.uk
Education Queensland (2011). 21 steps to 21st
Century 1-to-1 success. Sourced on 26th
April, 2015 at: http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/documents/strategy/pdf/scbyte-21steps.pdf
Howell, J. (2012). Teaching with ICT: Digital Pedagogies for Collaboration and Creativity (1st edition), South Melbourne Vic: Oxford University Press.
This week we explore Presentation Tools via Powerpoint, Prezi, Glogster and Google Earth. Effective learning with technology in the classroom, is anchored on creative, experimental and purposeful activities. However, with particular presentation tools, the focus of the outcomes of these activities allows for the development of digital content creators, technology innovators and digitally fluent users of technologies (Howell 2012, p. 147).
Presentation tools such as Powerpoint, allow for scaffolding technology in assessment pieces. Student's can start by exploring basic visual slides and then move through to more complex multimedia slides. The Powerpoint presentation that I have prepared in on Public Speaking. It explores facets of the topic, giving examples and finally, the assessment task set for students. It is aimed at Grade 9 students. It uses a full range of functions including embedding of video's and images to clearly define elements of public speaking, illustrations and graphs to outline structure and standard animations to enhance visual learning. I have recorded the lesson using the slide recorder and notes functionality. Can only have one time of media recording at the same time (per slide)
At the end of my presentation, I clearly outline tasks associated with the assessment. The diagram below links the associated tasks to the SAMR Model.
Prezi is an online Presentation program that offers templates for creators. Presentations are 3D page, animated and free. Prezi is very user friendly and the output is very professional. You can embed music, images and videos into your presentations.
Glogster is also an online Presentation program that allows users to create single page 'information sheets'. It is cloud based and used for digital storytelling and interactive learning. Glogster encourages interactive, collaborative education and digital literacy. (www.wikipedia.org). Unlike Prezi, Glogster is not animated but the end product is also very professional. You can embed links, images and video's into the posters. They would be very useful as handouts to summarise information learnt in a lesson of as referral. A certain degree of creativity is needed would prove an interesting activity for student's to take on. There are many features to a glog and some functionality include creating a glog and sourcing a reusable glogster from the resource library. You can also download and app to use on your ipad.
Working with Glogster was I a lot more challenging than I first anticipated. I found it very difficult to format my ideas onto paper. Once you had locked a graphic in, you had no choice but to delete everything, including inserted text if you changed your mind on the graphic. It was also slow to respond to command and I ended up having to delete a number of extra graphics that I had doubled up on.
The diagram below Compares and Contrasts the two presentation applications, Prezi and Gogster. It considers similarities and the individual differences of each.
Google Earth is a 3D virtual globe, map and geographical information program. It has many features including street view, historical imagery, flight simulator, sky mode, planet and moon view and water and ocean bathymetry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Earth).
Google Earth can be a very useful tool to be utilised in the classroom. Google offers a range of suggestions including:
Students can explore Hubble telescope images, check out current astronomical events, study the proportions of different planets, measure their size, and observe the relative brightness of stars.
With the timeslider, view historical imagery to study the construction process of large buildings such as sports stadiums. You can also see how communities have developed by comparing the city layout of past and present.
With 3D buildings Google Earth students have entire city landscapes at their finger tips. They can explore specific skyscrapers, public landmarks, famous ancient architecture, and even study city planning techniques and trends. With Google SketchUp students can recreate entire ancient cities within Earth.
Discover the world's tallest building or the world’s highest mountain peak by using the ruler tool to measure skyscrapers and mountains. You can mark off specific regions you have studied, or want to come back to using the polygon tool.
Students can create customized tours to share with their classmates. For example, they can build context around a novel by creating a tour of all the places mentioned in the book. Or, they can make a tour to highlight all the major rain-forests effected by deforestation.
The image below is based on the last suggestion. I have mapped out a tour around Australia that my family and I completed in 2013. I particularly enjoyed uploading photo's from our holiday at particular destinations. Scribble Maps is also useful for this exercise.
The potential use of Glogster and Google Earth in the classroom is limitless and and could be used in a variety of ways. Below I have given one example, incorporating the SAMR Model.
The use of presentation tools, animated or otherwise, can not only enhance learning by appealing to a variety of learning techniques and abilities but it also aids for digital fluency. Learning designs that incorporate technology provide engagement and technology know how for real life experiences. The outcome of use of presentation tools in the curriculum, supports the development of creators, innovators and fluency in a digital age.
REFERENCES
Howell, J. (2012). Teaching with ICT: Digital Pedagogies for Collaboration and Creativity (1st edition), South Melbourne Vic: Oxford University Press. Wikipedia (2015) Glogster. Retrieved on 8th March, 2015 from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glogster). Wikipedia (2015) Google Earth. Retrieved on 7th March, 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Earth
This week's blog is on Multimedia in the Classroom.
Outside school, students are exposed to digital technologies on a grand scale. Most have mobile phones, are connected to social media, use a digital camera or most recently, upload movies and TV series from Netflix.
Students feel comfortable learning from these platforms as it is a part of their everyday lives. It seems only natural to further develop upon their prior knowledge in these areas to create pedagogical applications of new modes of communication within classroom contexts (Walsh 2009, p. 5).
A report conducted by the
Metiri Group, claims that when the average student is engaged
in higher-order thinking using multimedia in interactive situations, on
average, that student’s percentage ranking on higher-order or transfer skills
increases by 32 percentile points over what the student would have accomplished
with traditional learning (www.eschoolnews.com).
I have designed this week's blog around the theme of Rock Art at Kakadu National Park. It can be related to a unit of work on Austalian Studies in my key learning area of English, investigating the past, present and future of Australia.
It incorporates the use of images and techniques involved to resize them ensuring that that optimal online usuage through MobaPhoto. We also visit Flickr and some of it's functionality. Podcasting is also a useful tool in the classroom for using audio files and MovieMaker has been used to draw in elements of both images and sound to create a digital image. Images, audio and the digital video produced for this blog, can also be viewed at :
To make my images of Rock Art at Kakadu easy to download on the internet, I first uploaded my photo's to Mobaphoto. Mobaphoto is free tool that allows you to organise your digital photo collection. MobaPhoto allows you to batch, resize and rename your photo's. It also has some basic editing tools such as red eye reduction and crop. It can also be run from a USB flash drive (www.wiki.appvisor.org). Perhaps the most useful tool of MobaPhoto is it's ability to resize images in different formats for web publication.
I uploaded my 14 pictures after resizing them in Mobaphoto for optimal online usage. My images sizes were typically reduced in size by about a third e.g. the original size of one image filed started out at 150kb and and after Mobaphoto was down to 55kb in size.
After resizing my images in MobaPhoto, I could then store and organise them in Flickr. Flickr is a free image hosting and video hosting website that allows users to share and embed personal photographs. It is widely used to host images that researchers and bloggers embed in blogs and other social media (www.wikipedia.org).
I have outlined some PMI's in the diagram below relating to Flickr.
PLUS
MINUS
INTERESTING
Storage
limit of 200MB for Photo's and 1GB for video.
Access
to edit photo's in Aviary.
Interactive
'photopage' that contains photo data, comments and facilities for embedding
images on external websites.
Excellent
range of images available to share.
Creating batches allows you to collectively add
tags to the photo's in the album, instead of individually.
Geotagging functionality.
Can
be slow to load when searching for generalised topics eg Kakadu National
Park.
Accessibilty
outside of school may not available to all students.
Issues
with definition when embedding, as opposed to attaching a photo.
For a
fee, you can also access extra's like creating wall art, photobooks and
extra storage.
Users
can give images titles, descriptions and tags. If licensing permits
other users can also tag photo's, making images interactive
Integrating
technology to allow facilitating a real experience.
Creative
Commons allows free access to licensing your images.
Ability
to easily share photo's via mail and social media, with code embedding
functions.
In Flickr, I created an album called Kakadu Indigenous Art. To assist in Flickr functionality, I then created a batch to collectively add tags to the photo's in the album, instead of individually. Tags were added as single words but I was able to use "quotation marks" when I wanted to keep words together eg "Kakadu National Park" instead of 3 separate tags of Kakadu, National, Park. I then Geotagged the photo's at the two different locations in Kadadu that the photo's were taken - Ubirr and Nourlangie. I also added an 'All rights reserved' to my photostream. The link below will take you to the images that I have uploaded onto Flickr.
Another feature of Flickr is the Creative Commons. This is a free tool that allows users to select a level of copyright that they wish to adopt for their images. Researchers or bloggers can open an image and view the level of restrictions relating to how they can use the files. You can click on the licensing icon and you are navigated to another page that clearly outlines the use and intent of the image. Users can also perform an 'Advanced Search' pertaining to the level of licensing you require. The information below has been taken from the Creative Commons website and it outlines the licensing terms of use.
This image below was sourced in Flickr and was also taken at Kakadu National Park. The licensing of this image stated that users are free to share and adapt this image as long as there was an attribution and that you must distribute your contributions under the same license if you remixed, transformed or built upon the original.
As I did not make any amendments to the image and it was not used commerically, I must only ensure my attribution is intact. The use of this image includes:
credit the creator
a title of their work;
the URL where the work is hosted;
Indicated the type of licence it is available under and provided a link to the licence (so that other's can find out the licence terms) and;
Kept intact any copyright notice associated with the work
(www.creativecommons.org.au)
A podcast is audio file that is placed in a publically accessible website and that can be downloaded (Howell 2012, p. 153). Podcasts are a great tool for information, primarily because you can access them on the move. I like to listen to podcasts whilst out walking the dog or in the car. A friend of mine listens to podcasts whilst working on the tractor. If I ever made it to the gym, I believe they'd be trending there too. The beauty of podcasts is that you can listen to them anywhere, at any time. Podcasting in the classroom is a valuable tool that a multiple of tasks can be assigned to e.g. Interviews, reviews, presentations and as an alternative to reading print-based texts. Podcasting improves digital fluency and the end product can be engaging and motivating for students.
In the theme of Rock Art, I have embedded an ABC Interview with Professor Brad Pillans from the ANU, on the topic of protecting the Rock Art at the Barrup Peninsula in the Pilbara, WA. Pillan and his team claim that the Rock Art is not only the largest and diverse but perhaps the oldest. He discusses the rates of erosion and the progression of styles of the art over time. He hopes findings will allow the area to be listed as World Heritage. Pilbara rock art the grandaddy of them all - ABC North West WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation Continuing in the theme of Rock Art at Kakadu, I have created a brief podcast. It was created by using the Sound Recorder function on my computer and audioBoom, which is a free download. You can listen here Kakadu Rock Art.
Assigning tasks that incorporate video production in the classroom can provide many desirable outcomes. Some of these include the development of skills in the areas of affective, metacognitive, higher ordered thinking, communication and presentation, literacy, organisational, teamwork and movie making (www.moodle.cqu.edu.au) To create my own digital video, I synchronised my Flickr images with my sound file on audioBoom on Rock Art in Kakadu. This was processed via MovieMaker and it was relatively issue free.
There are many avenues from this unit that scaffolding learning could place and lead to an evaluation piece. Below is a learner-based example of how this theme, Rock Art in Kakadu can be used in the classroom using
Multimedia. The example below links the SAMR model with a unit of work to include different platforms of multimedia. It clearly demonstrates the inquiry cycle and is learner-centred.
Multimedia in the classroom not only enhances how students learn in the classroom but can also transform education and desired outcomes. Simple traditional classroom tasks of reading and writing still occur but with the intergration of multimedia, can take on the form of listening, viewing, responding, talking, designing and producing in an online environment. The use of images, audio and digital video optimises the learning design as it appeals to student's schema's. There are many benefits for using multimedia in the classroom including engagement, accessibility and flexibility. Student's are exposed to and use technology outside of the school and are comfortable do so. It only makes sense to integrate and improve technology in the classroom to allow for authentic experiences and interactions to be used in the real world. Improving technology in the classroom allows for real life teaching and learning experiences. I have embedded a small vodcast to include in my blog by Sir Ken Robinson on Talks on Teaching. He recognises the importance of technology in the classroom and the opportunities technologies present to engage students. Robinson (2010) also mentions that technology offers "highly customised forms of teaching and learning".
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2013). Pilbara Rock Art the Grandaddy of them all. Retrieved on 31st March, 2015 from http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2013/04/18/3739790.htm Creative Commons (2015). Attribution-ShareAlike. Retrieved on 30th March, 2015 from https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons (2015). How can I share CC content? Retrieved on 31st March, 2015 from http://creativecommons.org.au/content/attributingccmaterials.pdf Digital Video in Education from CQUniversity e-courses EDED20491 - ICT's for Learning Design. Retrieved on 31st March, 2015 from https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=15642 E-School News - Daily Tech News and Innovation (2008). How Multimedia can improve learning. Retrieved on 29th March, 2015 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/2008/03/26/analysis-how-multimedia-can-improve-learning/
Facebook (2015) Rock Concert Image. Retrieved on 31st March, 2015 from https://www.facebook.com/ConsciousConsumerism?fref=photo
Howell, J. (2012). Teaching with ICT: Digital Pedagogies for Collaboration and Creativity (1st edition), South Melbourne Vic: Oxford University Press.
Walsh, M (2009). Pedagogical Potentials of Multimodal Literacy. Retrieved on 29th March, 2015 at http://www.acu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/195676/Chapter_3_Multimodal_Literacy_M_Walsh.pdf
Whitehead, M. (2010). Ubirr, Kakadu NP - Image. Retrieved via Flickr.com on 31st March, 2015 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/mwhitehead/4380732013/in/photolist-7F7p1i-a3tNdF-8hz5xo-8hvP88-8hvNyr-8hyXXL-8hvGp2-8hvERe-8vXsn1-8hz5qd-8hvMQg-8hz3KW-8hz3q9-8hvM3x-8hz36Q-8hyYyw-8vUu5R-8vUeiH-2cBUzA-8vXA2C-8hvMXB-8vXsyq-8vXppo-8vUjzr-2cBVbG-8vXdu7-8vXhvG-8vUmHF-2cxhWi-2cBMYd-2cBQch-2cxjyT-2cxhLM-2cBMNy-2cxhfz-2cxgYR-2cxgQe-2cBLYf-2cxgsc-iqY2nF-8vXkQh-8vXeG1-5GsBgW-oHUQ5t-6VYady-8vUsWR-6VUaPt-8vXqRf-ayVF35-8vXFGu
Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia (2015). Flickr. Retrieved on 30th March, 2015 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr Wiki AppVisor (2015). Mobaphoto. Retrieved on 1st April, 2015 from Mobaphoto http://wiki.appvisor.org/MobaPhoto\
