Week 3 Reflection

Engagement Activity 1:

Plus	Minus	Interesting
There are many advantages of using Blogs as a learning tool in the classroom: ·         Being able to give children their own space to post their own interests e.g. articles, videos, photos and games. ·         Other children can give opinions to peers as well as broaden their knowledge through exposure to their friends understanding ·         Teachers can monitor each site to ensure a moderate level of safety. ·         Easy way for teachers to post information to the students so they all get it at the same time. Also reducing printing costs, reducing the class’s footprint on the environment. ·         For distance education students it is a good way for them to communicate with peers that might be a long way away, exposing them to more group work opportunities. ·         Children are interested in using technology as part of their learning therefore enticing them to be engaged in the subject matter.	Some minus’s of using blogs as learning tools in the classroom are: ·      Some children may not be confident enough to use the technologies when comparing their skills with their peers. ·      May not like to post personal information or preferences in a public place. ·      If a teacher is not vigilant in checking sites and monitoring children’s posts and inserts then there is a chance for things like cyber bullying or inappropriate material being found on the pages. ·      It may be overused and irrelevant to subject matter resulting in over stimulation or exhaustion of the novelty making it useless for further tasks. ·      It will take to time to make sure each child knows how to use it effectively and safely, reducing learning time on the subject matter.	Some of the interesting issues or implications of using blogs as a learning tool would be: ·           Are there enough computers or resources for each child to work equally? ·           How will they be set up in a classroom or will they have to allocate special times to go to the computer labs? ·           What limits or restrictions are placed on the children as to what they can post on their or how they use it? ·           What type of subjects can they use it for? ·           What age group would benefit from this learning tool?

Engagement Activity 3:
The use of a wiki to support, facilitate and transform is an inevitable change education is facing. There are many strengths, weaknesses, opportunites and threats to introducing this in a classroom as demonstrated in a SWOT analysis on my wiki space. Click on the link to view this table. 
http://racheldahl.wikispaces.com/SWOT+analysis+on+using+a+Wiki+in+the+classroom

Engagement Activity 5:
Incorporating the use of the World Wide Web or even static websites into our classrooms as learning tools has been used since the introduction of these types of technologies into main stream society however for educational purposes, they have not been exploited enoughnto reveal a deep understanding of their true potenital as a fantastic resource. The best way for me to give insight into each side of the argument, fairly was to brainstorm using a PMI analysis which can be found on my website. Click on the link to view this site:
racheldahlmanaginge-learning.weebly.com

This cartoon I found while searching for other information for my blog, wiki and website, is a realistic representation of how some children would percieve current teaching methods when compared to their current social, economic and technologic learning experiences:

Photo courtesy of Tech - in - Print.

Week 2 Relfection

Engagement Activity 1:

Engagement Activity 2:

TPACK is a guide for teachers and other educators about how to successfully implement and develop classrooms using Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The main parts that make up the reasonings for the theory is Content Knowledge, Pegagogical Knowledge and Technology Knowledge. Each of these can be broken down and simplified into a seperate catergory that is already respected and considered essential, as part of the Education experience. Content Knowledge can be more simply described as having a good understanding of the background knowledge of the subject matter that it to be taught and knowing where the lessons and projects are going to advance teach the children, because once a teacher knows where they are going their subjects can be taught more effectively with a goal in sight. Pedagogical knowledge is more or less having the deep understanding of the topic and being able to interpret how it fits into the curriculum and plan you have set for the classroom. The value of this knowledge and and being able to successfully demonstrate this to students as well as other educators is essential in being able to providing a rich and fulfilling overall education experience. The last part of TPACK is Technology Knowledge which is having a understanding and ability to use advanced technologies such as Internet, videos and phones but also taking advantage of standard technolgies such as books and blackboards that are just as useful when used properly. So in conclusion TPACK is a blend of all these important areas, that are vital for teachers to develop and use when working with students to ensure that they are getting the most out of all educational experiences as well as forming a lifelong love and respect for their own learning journey.

Engagement Activity 3:

My opinion on mobile phones and the use of them in classrooms, using the De Bono Hat Six thinking hats. My opinion is written in maroon.

http://fahe11001-1-12.wikispaces.com/Group+1+Mobile+Phones

Engagement Activity 4:

The use of wiki to analyse and develop our opinion and knowledge of using mobile phones in the classroom was, in my opinion, a really good brainstorming activity that allowed us to look at the issue from a number of different perspectives. I also believe that the forum was a mix of behavourism, constructivisim, cognitivisim and connectivism. The behavourism that was evident through the activities ability to alter our opinions and beliefs by exposing us to different sides of the issue. The constructivisim was shown through the activity helping transform our basic ideas of what we already thought we knew about the topic and giving us a broader view of the issue and a deeper understanding of its key points. The thinking hats table gave us the chance to use our perceptions on the mobile phone issue and try and come up with new opinions and solutions to fix the developing problems we discover. Finally the connectivisim shown in this activity was its ability to relate each different hat colour or topic group and show how they are related to the previous hat, demonstrating that although there were different concepts to be gained from each colour that they each represent a small part of the whole issue. The idea of using the wiki was a creative way to let everyone few the same information but creating the variable of having everyones opinion on the same page allowing reflection and comparrsion with peers work. One drawback would be if some students had a issue with putting their opinion in such a public place for fear of being incorrect. I believe this wiki activity gave students the opportunity to socialise, compare their ideas and review their opinions against similiar minded people, which is beneificial in the overall development of successful teachers that will have to demonstrate these qualitities once out in the field.

Week 1 reflection

Working through the engagement activities and quizzes I discovered that I am a hands on learner with an interest in the outdoors and real life facts. I learn best independtly however enjoy group work and interacting with others in social friendly environments.


I enjoyed the reading activities and found the online videos from theorists really interesting, especially Ken Robinsons speech on 'are we killing creativity'. The readings we also very insightful and already I find myself reconsidering my opinion on education, how we educate, who we educate and the future we are unsure of yet the path we need to take everyone seems so sure of.


So obviously have been super unorganised writing this blog a week later but finally getting a grasp on this subject, feeling a little overwhelmed with the course in general but hopefully it will get better soon. Now to write my week 2 review so i can actually write week 3 in week 3!