Synopsis

Blog synopsis – Brooke Saunders (s0173572)

We are now in the 21st Century – the digital age – and there are still many educators out there who are doing things the old way. Times have changed and so have our students, the tools and the requisite skills and knowledge required to be successful learners (Prensky, 2001). Our students are natives to the digital world. Spender and Stewart (2003) consider learning in the 21st Century to have changed from knowledge receiving to knowledge making. They deem digital learning to be about connecting and creating new resources, assembling information and engaging in problem solving. As the 21st Century School Learning Environments of the Future states (n.d, p. 24) “The challenge for education is not only to provide access to information, but to help people learn to think, and to enable them to operate effectively within this rapidly changing and increasingly complex world”. This synopsis will reflect on the information communication technologies investigated and discussed throughout my blog and explain how they can be used to transform, support, facilitate and/or enhance student learning in a lower primary classroom.


E-learning is not just learning with computers, but learning through and with a rage of digital devices. Prensky (2005) states that our young learners are already familiar with and proficient communicators of digital knowledge by adopting new systems for

Communicating (instant messaging), sharing (blogs), buying and selling (eBay), exchanging (peer-to-peer technology), creating (flash), meeting (3D worlds), collecting (downloads), coordinating (wikis), evaluating (reputation systems), searching (Google), analysing (SETI), reporting (Camera Phones), programming (Modding), socialising (chat rooms), and even learning (Web Surfing).

 (Prensky, 2005, p. 2)


These are the minds of children growing up in non-linear, light and sound-based culture who are accustomed to the “twitch-speed, multitasking, random-access, graphics-first, active, connected, fun, fantasy, quick-payoff world of their video games, MTV, and Internet and are bored by most of today’s education” (Jukes & Dosaj, 2006, p. 17).

In today’s futures orientated society, teachers must transform to keep pace with their learners, whose future relies on innovation, risk taking and creativity in this high speed knowledge economy. Teachers have become co-learners in the classroom. Effective learning managers are seeking the skills and knowledge of ICT’s to improve communication and relationships with their learners. This highlights the considerable need for professional development in the ICT area. With professional development comes confidence, thus reducing the digital divide (refer blog comments to Brooke L).


Responsibility for the lack of ICT skills lies with the education system itself, which struggles with funding issues, lack of resources and the time constraints that are placed on teachers (refer blog comments to Juliet G). Another barrier to the uptake of ICT’s is the learning manager’s attitude and perceptions towards them. Learning managers must have a positive and embracing attitude, so as to promote an environment where creativity and change are encouraged. "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change" (Darwin, n.d, as cited in Moursund, 2007, p. 63).


We can monitor and attend to our own attitudes and perceptions and make a choice to embrace ICT's, just as effective teaching is embedded in our knowledge and implementations of such lenses as Gardner's, Bloom's and Marzano. Cognitive learning theories allow us to see, as Krause, Bochner & Duchesne (2009) highlight, that through ICT, text, voice, music, graphics, photos, animation and video are combined to promote thinking and encourage learners to accomplish creative, higher-level tasks. Cognitive learning theories and our own attitudes and perceptions may all point to quality effective teaching but it is a critical skill for teachers to have the know, how, when and why to use ICT's to optimise learning rather than use ICT merely as information gathering devices. So how do lower primary learning managers successfully integrate the use of ICT throughout their units of work to optimise learning and maintain engagement?


By using digital tools such as Google Earth and YouTube that allow learners to gain access to real life information, the learning manager is breaking down the four walls of the classroom and embracing life outside the school. Google Earth can be used in a variety of contexts throughout the classroom (refer blog posting week 6). Learning managers can set the scene for geography, history, literature, astronomy and other lessons, create tours of the school community and locate points of interest in their town such as the local fire and police stations, the city library, local parks, and museums.


As a learning manager I have used YouTube (refer blog posting week 5) in my classroom to explain a new concept that I just could not find the words to describe. I have also used it to show footage of how the earth rotates around the sun and watched a turtle’s life cycle and learnt about what humans are doing to help them survive. All of which I could not embrace without having access to YouTube. In traditional settings it is impossible for your learners to watch the earth rotating around the sun and witness a complete turtle life cycle from birth to adulthood. The digital tools that I have used to gain access to information has transformed my teaching by allowing my learners to experience a deeper more thorough understanding about the topic than I could have given them with a whiteboard and a worksheet. By accessing and gaining information through Google Earth and YouTube my learners have been exposed to the Productive Pedagogy (2002, p. 23) Connectedness to the world “Connectedness describes the extent to which the lesson has value and meaning beyond the instructional context, making a connection to the wider social context within which students live”.


Marzano, et al, (2004, p. 189) advise that “the purpose of acquiring knowledge is to use it meaningfully” furthermore they advocate that learners should be exposed to a variety of experiences to engage them within a context that is meaningful to them. To consolidate and refine the information that learners have accessed from Google Earth and YouTube the concept mapping tool Bubble.us can be used so students grasp the ‘big picture’ of the topic (refer blog posting week 1). By using advanced organisers such as the Bubble.us concept map, learners extend and refine their prior knowledge as they use the new learnt information to engage and extract relevant information (Ausubel, n.d, as cited in McInerney & McInerney, 2006). Another tool to refine knowledge of note is Wordle (refer blog comment on Brooke L's Blog). Wordle displays key terms in a creative way that also allows for students to sort and classify new vocabulary through varying colours and fonts. My classroom experiences with both Wordle and Bubble.us have been positive as they have reengaged the learners and provided an expressive outlook for my students to display and connect with knowledge.


Developing these new understandings requires a transformation of information through carefully scaffolded learning. It is during this transformation of knowledge that higher order thinking will occur therefore selecting the appropriate digital tool for the lesson will need to be given careful consideration. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a lens that caters for diversity and promotes higher order thinking skills (Fragenheim, 2006) and diversity amongst your learners is no more prevalent than during digital lessons (Refer blog comment on Brooke L's Blog). “One of the greatest benefits computers provide are flexibility in meeting the needs of individual students” (Norton & Wiberg, 2003, as cited in Brady, 2006, p. 109). During this synthesis stage students can benefit from digital tools such as Titan Pad (refer blog posting week 6). Titan Pad allows your students to collaborate and discuss certain topics at the same time confirming Vygotsky’s (1962) social constructivist theory that students learn through social interaction with others. Through Titan Pad your students can list pros and cons, consider alternative perspectives all while remaining anonymous if they choose. I have found that this tool supports and enhances learning regardless of context as it has such a multitude of uses. Titan Pad is a world that fosters a culture of collaborative learning. In every corner you can see chat interactions that start with the wonderful learning question ‘How do I...?’ It is here when your students transform their information and collaborate in higher order thinking that is developed through critical thinking, analysis, evaluation and synthesis.


Presenting knowledge to an audience aligns with the synthesis stage when following the Big6 framework (refer blog posting week 2). During this stage learners organise their new understandings and present the information. Blogs (refer blog posting week 1), Movie Maker (refer blog posting week 5), PowerPoint, Prezi, Ahead (refer blog posting week 3) and Picnik (refer blog posting week 4) are all tools that your learners can use to present their new knowledge. Upon experimentation and reflection of these tools I found them all to be pedagogically sound for use in the lower primary classroom. When students are required to present a learning journey I couldn’t go past blogging. The use of blogs allows you to see a timeline of learning and a change or development of deeper thinking and analysis of ideas and questions. Blogging is all about sharing (refer blog comment on Olive B's Blog) and one of the six benefits to blogging in the classroom as described by Richardson (2009) is that blogs teach students the new literacies they will need to function in an ever expanding information society, therefore blogs provide the necessary platform to scaffold a love of lifelong learning in each and every student.


Using digital tools to access, gain, consolidate, refine, transform and present information can ensure the success of creativity and collaboration and promote higher order thinking from your students. Using a digital approach across the curriculum embraces flow, repetition, experimentation, experience, doing, observing and motivation all of which would be required of a lifelong learner. (Cross, O’Driscoll & Trondsen, 2007). It is also important for educators to focus on “changes needed in their pedagogy to equip students for the future” (Anstey and Bull, 2004, p. 78) Skilling students to critically analyse information is essential for teachers but they also need to provide other necessary processes, attitudes and knowledge so students can “take control of their lives in current and future societies” (Anstey and Bull, 2004, p. 78).


Our students have always lived in a digital world and are comfortable in online environments. At the same time, their use of Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Flickr does not translate into critical digital literacy. In fact, they still need teachers to show them how to navigate the digital age, how to mind the information overload for meaning, and how to make wise connections through social networks (Carlacio & Heidig, 1999) (refer blog comments to Juliet G).




References


Anstey, M,. & Bull, G. (2004). The Literacy Labyrinth. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.


Brady, L. (2006). Collaborative Learning in Action. Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.


Carlacio, J., & Heidig, L. (1999). Teaching Digital Literacy Digitally: A Collaborative Approach. Retrieved from http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/mit6/papers/Carlacio.pdf


Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. (n.d). 21st Century School Learning Environments of the Future. Retrieved from http://www.cabe.org.uk/files/21st-century-schools.pdf


Cross, J,. O’Driscoll, J,. & Trondsen, E. (2007). Another Life: Virtual Wolds as Tools for Learning. Retrieved from http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?article=44-1§ion=articles


Education Queensland. (2002). A guide to Productive Pedagogies classroom reflection manual. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Queensland Government.


Frangenheim, E. (2006). Reflections on classroom thinking strategies. Loganholme, QLD, Australia: Rodin Education Publishing.


Jukes, I., & Dosaj, A. (2006). Understanding Digital Children. Retrieved from http://www.ibo.org/ibap/conference/documents/IanJukes-UnderstandingDigitalKids.pdf


Krause, K., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. (2009). Educational psychology for learning and teaching (3rd ed). Melbourne: Cengage.

 Marzano, R.J., & Pickering, D.J. with Arrendondo, D.E., Blackburn, G.J., Brandt, R.S., Moffett, C.A., Paynter, D.E., Pollock, J.E., Whisler, J.S. (2006). Dimensions of Learning. Heatherton, VIC, Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.


McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (2006). Educational Psychology. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.


Moursund, D. (2007). Computational Thinking and Math Maturity: Improving Math Education in K-8 Schools. Retrieved from http://www.uoregon.edu/~moursund/Books/ElMath/K8-Math.pdf

 Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved July 13, 2010, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf


Prenky, M. (2005). Listen to the Natives. Retrieved August 20, 2010, from http://centre4.core-ed.net/viewfile.php/users/38/1965011121/ICT_PD_Online/ListentotheNatives.pdf


Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California, United States of America: Corwin Press.


Spender, D., & Stewart, F. (2002). Embracing e-Learning in Australian Schools. Retrieved from http://www.bssc.edu.au/public/learning_teaching/research/embracing%20e-Learning%20000-731.pdf

Comments to my peers blogs

Comments posted on Brooke L's Blog:
 Brooke Saunders said...


In our media driven society, communication occurs just as much through images as it does through text. Images may be an illustration in a picture book, a photograph or painting. Anstey and Bull (2004, p. 280) state that “regardless of how we view or respond to still images in texts, we require a vocabulary and set of understandings about still images in order to share our response with others”. These tools include the codes (colour, line, texture, shape, form) and conventions (balance and layout) of visual literacies. It is also important to discuss with our students about the purpose and context for each image “students need to understand that they should be as strategic about reading still images as they are about reading written text” (Anstey & Bull, 2004, p. 293).

Anstey, M., & Bull, G., (2004). The literacy labyrinth (2nd Ed). Frenchs Forest, New South Wales, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

 August 23, 2010 1:51 PM


Brooke Linsket said...


Hi Brooke,


I recently read an article on Strategies for Visual learners (Pearson Education, 2010), that states the 65% of the population are visual learners and that less than half the class are actually engaged if a teacher just talks at them with information. I myself am a visual learner, and need to see to do. The point you make about the importance to discuss with our students about the purpose and context of images and how to properly analyse them is of utmost importance. I would be interested in reading more about how to aid the learners in doing this. Thank you for your comments I shall be certainly looking for a copy of the text you referenced


Here is the link to the article if you are interested http://www.phschool.com/eteach/social_studies/2003_05/essay.html#Strategies


Brooke

August 24, 2010 9:20 PM

Brooke Saunders said...



By the students in your year 7 class having the opportunity to present their new found knowledge through the use of PowerPoint they can all develop positive attitudes and perceptions towards learning. By allowing for a variety of ways to engage students in classroom tasks your learning manager is catering to the diversity of learners in the classroom (Marzano et al, 2006). Each student has been given the opportunity to create their own learning journey allowing them to select the knowledge they consider important. “Few would dispute that when students are highly engaged in tasks, they learn more” (Marzano et al, 2006, p. 31). By engaging the students with presentation software such as PowerPoint, Prezi or Ahead the learning manager caters for each individual students learning style as the kinaesthetic learners could present through actions and movement, the auditory students can present with music, audio or speech and the visual students can present through pictures and movies. By using presentations such as PowerPoint, Prezi or Ahead as the culminating activity each learner in your class will be presented as an individual as no two presentations will be alike.

 Marzano, R.J., & Pickering, D.J. with Arrendondo, D.E., Blackburn, G.J., Brandt, R.S., Moffett, C.A., Paynter, D.E., Pollock, J.E., Whisler, J.S., (2006). Dimensions of Learning. Heatherton, VIC, Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.

 August 23, 2010 10:17 AM



Brooke Saunders said...

Hey Brooke

I used wordle in my class today, it was such a success! We firstly started by playing around with all the names of our peers in our class. Next we thought of all the things that came to mind when we saw the word space (our unit of work this term. We now have a fantastic word wall!) and finished by displaying our spelling words for the week. This worked so well and now some of the students can already correctly spell some of their words. It is great to see the usually unengaged students enjoying learning their spelling words again. What a great way this was to refresh my learner's minds towards spelling!

Thank you
August 24, 2010 11:52 PM

Brooke said...

Hey Brooke,

I'm so glad that you found my blog useful and created a lesson that reignited your learners interest in spelling! We all know how tedious and frustrating it can be sometimes when you can't remember how to spell something.

Isn't it funny how by participating in an activity that you don't really perceive as being educational can be beneficial in actually scaffolding learning.

Brooke
August 25, 2010 9:18 PM


Comments posted on Olive B's Blog

Red Zebra said...


I'm posting a comment to my own blog just to see if it is possible.
July 18, 2010 2:32 AM

Tessa said...

I agree that Blogs are a wonderful way for students to learn collaboratively. They have access to 'chat' to other students outside the classroom and learn from a range of different online resourses where they can share ideas and information.
July 18, 2010 9:44 PM

Brooke Saunders said...

Blogging is about sharing. Through the use of blogs in the classroom your students can share opinions, thoughts, ideas, concepts, resources, links, activities and lessons. Blogging also provides an area for your learners to reflect. In education, discussion alone can breed some of the best outcomes for you as a teacher (Zimmer, 2010). Blogging brings education together and can be a powerful tool in becoming a better educator. Richardson (2009, p. 7) explains six reasons why blogs are an attractive edition to the classroom:

Blogs

1. Are a constructivist tool for learning.

2. Expand the walls of the classroom.

3. Archive the learning that teachers and students do.

4. Are a dramatic tool that supports different learning styles.

5. Enhance the development of expertise in a particular subject.

6. Teach students the new literacies they will need to function in an ever expanding information society.
References

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. California, United States of America: Corwin Press.

Zimmer, M. (2010). Tools for the 21st Century Teacher. Retrieved from: http://issuu.com/mzimmer557/docs/tools_for_the_21st_century_teacher
August 17, 2010 11:35 PM

Comments posted on my blog:




Red Zebra said...

Hi Brooke

I agree that it is easy to get carried away with the bubblus graphic organiser and can see that in an educational setting the teacher would need to closely monitor students to ensure that they were on task. This might mean that extra time is needed to experiment with the programme before students are required to effeciently and effectively use this tool in the classroom. Multimodal learning is proven to be more effective then the traditional style of teaching and can result in higher order thinking (www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/TechnologyinSchoolsReport.pdf) as students engage in analysis and evalutation of information.
July 18, 2010 4:23 AM

Brooke Saunders said...

Hi Olive

I completely agree that multimodal learning results in higher order thinking and by using a lens such as Bloom's Taxonomy you can also cater for the diversity of your learners, which will be no more present when using digital tools. I was very suprised with my own class at the variety of ability levels when using a computer. Through the use of Bloom's Taxonomy during digital lessons I am encouraging my learners to engage with higher order thinking to analyse and evaluate the information they may find online.
August 24, 2010 5:36 AM

Juliet said...


Hi Brooke
Great pics...what a difference cropping an image can make. The shot of Hunta has become a great action shot.
I agree picnik was an easy and non time consuming tool to use. In this case it is the creativity that takes time not the tool itself.
I'm not sure your podcast is working Brooke. The podcasts seen to have proven problematic and time consuming for many of use e-learners.
I guess the "time consuming factor" is the reason so many teachers shy away from learning and using new technologies.
What do you think?
August 22, 2010 9:16 PM

Brooke L said...

Hi Brooke,

Juliet is right your Podcast doesn't work. I also found this tool to be frustrating and time consuming. I persisted with it by subscribing to odcasts of different natures nd trying to upload them to my blog however nothing seems to work. I do think Podcasts themselves are beneficial as they allow the students to refer back to the content and pose questions for discussion involving them in higher order thinking activities I will definitely be putting up my hand for PD in this area.

Brooke L
August 24, 2010 5:21 AM

Brooke Saunders said...

Hi Juliet

Yes, the time consuming factor definitely makes most teachers shy away from technology. I am a lover of all things digital however my experiences creating this blog and interacting with the digital tools that I have posted have made me sceptical as to whether or not I would actually use these regularly in my class. This conundrum is purely based on the frustration I have felt towards the time it has taken to search for the tools, successfully navigate the item, interoperate it for an educational setting, then upload and post my thoughts to this blog. For instance my Voki took me three days of trial and error to achieve the final result that now appears in my blog. THREE DAYS!!!!!
August 24, 2010 6:12 AM

Brooke Saunders said...

Hi Brooke

You made a great point about teachers undertaking professional development. I firmly believe that any PD offered to teachers to enhance their technological skills can only be beneficial for our learners. If you are a teacher that repels technology, why not get your students to teach you how to use it? Hold a session once a week where each student in your class has the chance to share with you and their peers a digital tool and how they like to use it. This may ignite your creativity as you discover what your learners enjoy doing with technology, allowing you to scaffold their learning to incorporate these tools to effectively engage your students in new learning experiences.
August 24, 2010 6:20 AM

Juliet said...


Hello Brooke
What a marvelous movie maker maker you are...

The creativity that a tool like movie maker allows is boundless and such a fantastic way to have our students express themselves. Of course it is not just for the students, as a teacher it could be a great way to introduce a unit of work.
I agree with your comments on the "use and abuse" of youtube and feel there there is a tendency to overuse. At the same time I also like your comment about it helping to explain a new concept in a deeper way than other methods such as whiteboards. It seems to me that as a teacher I will need to think deeper when choosing clips, deciding just what I really want it to achieve.
Love the flashmob...did you get a video of your own class doing it?

August 22, 2010 11:11 PM

Brooke Saunders said...

Hi Juliet

Yes I do have a video of my class performing 'Gotta Keep Reading' however I will not be posting it to this blog as I am complying with the safe, legal and ethical practices that support our students when using ICT's. Cyber safety education is a vital component to any digital lesson. Students need to be aware of what can and could happen if they are not respectful of other people's content. I try to enlighten my learners on the 'netiquette' of being online. We often visit the following website to update and share our cyber safety skills.
http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Kids/
August 24, 2010 6:36 AM