Week 2 has just flown past me! the amount of information and background knowledge that goes with teaching is amazing. From De Bono's concept of the 6 thinking hats to the five dimensions of learning and everything in between! this is definitely going to be a career where the learning never stops. With all the new technology that has been creeping into teaching since computers were introduced it amazes me that people are trying to fight the inevitable outcome that technology and teaching are intertwined.
From computers and laptops in schools to the use of mobiles in the classrooms technology is constantly around us, its in our lives to a point where it doesn't feel like its a novelty or privilege but in most cases, a necessity. Could you imaging going a week without your phone or even the internet? not calling, texting, tweeting, posting, searching, e-mailing, taking instant photos, listening to music everywhere, playing games, checking your calendar, using navman or using youtube. Prensley (2001) stated that today's students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors. Does this mean that the way that older generations have been taught was wrong? or just that we need to incorporate more of what the learners are comfortable and familiar with (although not all teachers are comfortable with technology in teaching). There needs to be a compromise between the teacher and the learner, where both sides are willing to make a genuine effort to create the most effective learning environment where everyone is comfortable.
Using computers and laptops in schools has become a norm, with some schools requiring all students to have a laptop. Most children have a phone (especially in high school) that they bring to school, so should we try and include the use of mobile phones in schools or will this just create more problems with a lack of attention in class, bullying, etc. This following video is for using mobile phones in the classroom, it is not subject to the students having a smart phone and uses free tools.
There are multiple ways to use technology in a classroom or from home in a classroom setting. I am talking about a wiki. A wiki is an online space where people can access a discussion and everyone can edit the content. I participated in a wiki this week about the use of mobile phones in classrooms. I found it to be interesting (reading everyone's opinions and ideas using De Bono's 6 thinking hats in relation to questions that had been posted), however ultimately impractical. Some might argue that it is a good tool for learning as everyone has access to the discussion and can add their opinions and thoughts whenever they like as it is not a live discussion. This is true, although that in itself was a problem for me, when I came into the discussion I felt that I had little to add as there was already so much content (I arrived a little late to the party some mite say). I would also be offended if I had put allot of time and effort into typing out my thoughts on the subject and then someone came to the wiki and deleted my comments because they didn't like or agree with them. After I posted to the wiki I didn't really think about the comments or the discussion that had taken place, I had put in my thoughts and for all I know they could be gone by now. If it was a live discussion however or we met 2-3 times and talked/typed about the subject I think that I would be more likely to remember and want to engage in the discussion.
In relation to the four learning theories (behaviourism, cognitivism, social constructivism and connectivism) I do not think that a wiki is a great learning tool. It didn't relate to behaviourism or cognitivism at all, the wiki lightly reflected social constructivism because it was a social interaction however there was no support and no one in the discussion was an expert on mobile phones in classrooms so we were all throwing ideas and thoughts around (with justification). It related to connectivism the most but only because it was online and we were able to read about mobiles in classrooms before commenting in the wiki. It will probably not be stored in my long term memory.
If a wiki was scaffolded properly (like the one that I used was) it can be used to encourage higher order thinking, but needs to be monitored by the teacher or person with a solid knowledge in the subject. Using De Bono's thinking hats to structure the discussion was a great design and lead to different ways of thinking about the main question. Information that has been deleted can be retrieved by using the history function however I probably wouldn't use it in a high school setting with my student because there is just too much room for error. In a university setting the wiki was able to stay on track however in high school i don't think that the students would respect other peoples opinions as much and i would not trust the whole class to edit the work from the whole class.
That's all from me for now! have a good day :)
References
Prensley, M. (2001). Digital Naitives, Digital Immigrants. On the horizon. Mc university press. 9(5). 1-6
Nice work Melissa.
ReplyDeleteI will come back to look at your week 3 post soon.
Catch ya