My ICT_elective trail

fitting for the fit?

2011-02-16T14:53:00.001Z

24 hours in and I can still see the game as being useful in an early years class. Granted the graphics are not likely to set any graphics designers running for a security blanket but the concept of the game could easily be used to develop core strength and gross motor skills. Like many Wii games you create your own character and this is a straightforward process. The game is set in an island resort and the premise of community fitness could be extended to the classroom. Gamers use the balance board and/ or controllers and there are two difficulty levels and 10 activities to choose from, my favourite being the tribal dance.

Having come across the game 'Junior Fitness Trainer' for the Wii and thinking it could be interesting for an early years classroom, I had a quick look for reviews. I found just one (via the redlaser app on my iphone) and it was hardly complimentary with comments regarding basic graphics and difficult to use controls. Not being one who takes what I am told as gospel I decided to buy the game and hand it over to my guinea pigs (daughters) to test it out.

Like any resource, you need to know this game before you would use it in a classroom. I wouldn't specifically bring a wii into a classroom just for Junior Fitness Trainer, rather add it to an existing school/ class game collection as while it seems fun and there are possible curriculum links. I believe there are other resources more fitting to the purpose. As an additional activity it's perfect, as a context for learning I'm not sold.

video: why bird

2011-02-12T23:18:00.000Z

The TEDtalk video that I had posted onto my blog (see previous post) prompted my light-bulb moment about the Curriculum for Excellence Principle of Depth.

It's fascinating to listen to Sugata Mitra discuss his research and to read more about how it was conducted and the conclusions drawn from this. My first reaction to Mitra's work was acceptance: I've always believed that children can be the best guides in their learning and I initially thought that this proved it. The children were clearly finding their way around the computer systems and through trial and error they were able to progress through their learning identifying where they could go next.

Learning in this manner is the form of learning that occurs every single day of our lives. This, of course relates to the work of John Holt (1982) who describes the process of early childhood development as an intuitive process. We know from the work of psychologists such as Spalding, Lorenz, Schmidt and others that there are some key factors that must be in place for this intuitive learning to develop. Montagu would further state that there is no human process that can take place without learning " and, of course, Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs' which was developed from the viewpoint that in order to reach full potential one must have a range of needs met.

So how does this relate to the Sugata Mitra video and the principle of depth? As a novice teacher it is all too easy to observe the classroom practice of an experienced class teacher and underestimate the role. When time comes for development practice it becomes clear that there are a multitude of factors which you were simple unaware of. As a novice teacher looking at Mitra's work it may be easy to believe that, given the right resources, children will teach themselves but put into practice and the multidimensional process of this becomes apparent. Children may engage with new and exciting equipment and they will, undoubtedly, learn from the experience but our role as the teacher is to develop this into a growing understanding; to build skills that can be applied in many areas. What research has shown us is that children can be extrinsically motived to learn but it is our duty to take that motivation and nurture it. Children may provide the learning but we must provide the depth to make it worthwhile.

Sugata Mitra shows how kids teach themselves | Video on TED.com

2010-09-23T21:43:00.000+01:00

QR Treasure hunt ppt TMSLF2010

2010-09-22T20:03:00.001+01:00

This is an overview of the workshop I led at TM SLF

linoit wall

2010-09-21T23:35:00.001+01:00

FYI

2010-09-14T19:01:00.000+01:00

A great new feature had been added to BrainPOP UK: The FYI.

This will provide additional information for each subject and will act as an extension to Tim And Moby's movies. To help launch this new feature BrainPOP asked for help with creating a movie showing FYI being said in as many different and creative ways as possible.

At the same time, I had been working with a group of p6/7 pupils on a digital movie making project. When the children heard about the BrainPOP request they decided that that would be a great focus for part of the project. They worked extremely well together to plan the movies and completed all three in just two afternoons. When they discovered their contributions would be included they were very excited. They have also won a six month BrainPOP UK subscription for the school.

Below is the final BrainPOP movie, we hope you enjoy watching!

sweetshop awe

2010-08-13T14:04:00.001+01:00

Seven years old and standing in the sweetshop surrounded by jars of temptation. The decision is the hardest choice you have had to make all week and a week is a long time when you are seven. You have your favourites but how do you choose?

There are bright colourful sweets that promise to be taste like a Willy Wonka taster trial with bells and whistles and there are the hidden gems that don't look promising but have more depth than you realise.

After being asked which blog platform would be best to use with students I am standing in the virtual equivalent of a blog shop surrounded by promises of ease of use, fuss free set up, support, moderation and so on. How do I choose my favourite? Surely it's blogger, you may ask as that is where I am posting this? Yet that would ignore the other platforms that offer variations for users. I asked on Twitter what others use and have come up with a list of popular choices.

As the blog is for educationalist use I am including Edublogs, Creativeblogs and Glow Blogs (Scotland only). Wordpress, Blogger and Posterous are the favourites from my twitter network.

Edublogs - Edublogs is described as "safe, secure and reliable" and has many features beneficial for educational use including a guarantee of no adult content. This feature not only provides safety for young users but it also means it is less likely to be on the blocked list in schools which is an eternal hazard when using anything web based. The downside is that the free version is limited in features: you do not get mobile blogging, video embedding or plugins which all enhance the blogging experience greatly. The main benefit is the secure environment and this will be more appealing to those who are wary of blogs.

I have two examples of edublogs and how they can be used: the first is from @drewburrett and can be found at http://drewburrett.edublogs.org/

The second is from @MrBTec and can be found at http://teachmetekkie.com/

Creativeblogs - Creativeblogs are another educational blog provider. They provide full set up and training in your school with follow up support and further training. The set up and training that they provide sets them apart from other providers. As the blogs are only available for education you need to contact the CreativeBlogs team to set up a blog. You can do so by emailing john@creativeict.co.uk or you can find him on twitter @HGJohn

Creativeblogs are hosts of wordpress and as such have all the word press features. (also see wordpress)

An example of how Creativeblogs can be used can be found on Joanne's page http://joannec23.creativeblogs.net/

Glow Blogs - Glow blogs are also wordpress based blogs. They can sit inside glow and only be accessed by people within the same establishment, all glow users or anybody depending on the privacy setting chosen. Many schools in Scotland are now using Glow and the incorporation of blogs will encourage their use. Like other educational targeted blogs, using glow blogs can provide reassurance for those who are wary of using blogs in education. (Also see wordpress)

An example of a glow based blog will be added here shortly.

Wordpress - wordpress can be set up as an online blog through wordpress.com, through a webhost or under your own domain. Wordpress has many advantages and additional features which make the blogging experience as unique as you wish. Tagging and categories are also very easy to use on wordpress. It is very reliable and simple. In the words of Bill Lord wordpress seems "idiot-proof". There is a great mobile format and posting both blog entries and comments is straightforward. Wordpress is more than just a blogging tool and can be your own webspace with multiple pages. You can also back up your wordpress blog.

Example wordpress blogs:

Tim - http://classroomtales.com/

2Simple - http://2simpleblog.wordpress.com/

Bill Lord - http://lordlit.wordpress.com/

Posterous - Posterous is so easy to set up it's unbelieveable, all you do is send an email to post@posterous.com and they send you your blog link. That is it. The format is simple and there are also additional features including tagging and a mobile version.

Examples of posterous blogs -

Mark Allen - http://edintheclouds.posterous.com/

Joanne - http://joannec23.posterous.com/

Blogger - Blogger has many features that I like and draft blogger has improved my blogger experience with new features such as the stats area which is something that was quite lacking from the site. The main benefit of blogger is the google intergration for all things google related. Tagging is a feature that I under use on blogger and I find it just plain annoys me at times. Speaking from experience if you add third party widgets to your blog you can end up with hours of unravelling to recover your work.

examples of blogger blogs (apart from this one obviously)

Tecnoteach - http://tecnoteacher.blogspot.com/

Juliet - http://creativestarlearning.blogspot.com/

Maybe the solution is Ip Dip...

Where do you blog? Do you use one of the platforms mentioned or another?

The Endless Adventure

2010-06-14T19:56:00.000+01:00

This post is based on a Games based Learning (gbl) project, using Endless Ocean 2, that I was able to implement during my recent placement.

Background of placement

This placement was a three week block based in the nursery. There was a two week block in the same school in February. As the school that I was placed in had a morning only nursery I was also placed in a primary 3 class in the afternoons.

The school is situated in a deprived area with high levels of unemployment, drug and alcohol misuse and crime. Many of the pupils have a difficult home life. The area is undergoing regeneration with support from The Coalfields Trust. The school encourages parental involvement and is currently developing more ways to extend this. Parents are very supportive of the school and the local community holds a very high opinion of it.

Consolarium Visit

As part of our ICT elective we looked at the advantages and disadvantages of using games based learning to support and enhance learning in the primary school setting. The potential for developing motivation that mirrors intrinsic motivation in pupils through the use of games based learning is something that I believe strongly in. While this is not something that I have always been aware of; I was never adverse to the use of alternative methods to provide children with a stimulating learning experience. Yet as part of my own learning experience I have discovered a love for the use of technology.

Game format

Endless Ocean 2 follows a storyline with characters searching for the solution to 'The Mystery of the Song of the Dragons'. The use of a story as opposed to the exploration element of Endless Ocean 1 had both positives and negatives.

Distraction - At times the story got in the way of the exploration. This caused me more frustration than it bothered the pupils and once passed the initial tutorials this became less of a problem.

Focus - Despite the story distracting from the main focus of my intentions it also sparked motivation in some of the pupils. Again, for me this highlights the individual learning styles of each child. Some were simply engaged through the explorations while others thrived on having a structure to follow in a storyline.

Planning

When planning I had the use of the teacher's previous planning and assessment schedules. This led me to identify a series of appropriate curriculum for excellence outcomes which I then broke down into smaller targets. Many of these were generic targets in relation to literacy and health and wellbeing. With the list of outcomes that related to the needs of the children in terms of progression I created a curricular overview for the three week block. Using the overview in association with the work the children completed I then made both weekly and daily plans.

The reality

With the structure of the placement not being focused on the primary 3 class it was difficult to achieve as much as I had planned. There are several reasons for this; the class had 3 non contact slots per week during my afternoon sessions; I overplanned in relation to the time available and I had to ensure that the focus of my workload was on the nursery area of my placement.

The pupils did benefit from the project in a variety of areas. My focus was on literacy, however, the class gained a great deal of experience in group decision making and found that they respected a democratic process when presented with choices. To begin with they would vote on a decision and argue against the result, after discussing the need to respect the choices of others they began to accept the decisions reached.

The game play was planned for a maximum of two twenty minute sessions per week. During the game play sessions pupils would take turns reading the instructions and the story, they would take turns using the controller and they would record certain things in their log books. The use of log books mirrored the use of a log in the game. If there was a word that they were unsure of they would record this in their log book and research it following the game play session. They would also record how they were feeling periodically and this was an individual choice task. The final instruction for recording during the game play was to record details of creatures that they encountered during the game.

The majority of the game play sessions were minimally led and I only intervened to highlight important facts or pose questions for recapping on experiences. The class were fantastic at developing their own aims and leading their own learning. This links well to my personal educational philosophy in my belief that teaching is so much more than passing on facts from one generation to another. A learner who is in control of their own learning is more likely to engage fully and I believe that a teacher has a powerful influence in encouraging this from an early age.

I had concerns that the game play would need to be limited to whole class sessions due to the distraction factor of a group using the wii when others would be doing other tasks that may be seen as less exciting, yet as time went on I realised that this was not the case (at least for this class). Although I did not have the opportunity to introduce this idea I believe it would have been able to have been implemented after the first fortnight.

In the classroom we set up a display area for art work, log books and other project related material. The class took the lead again in developing this and created the display themselves.

We had two paradise fish arrive during the final week for a visit. They now live at home with me. The children relished the responsibility of caring for them, with many of the children not having had a pet previously. When the fish arrived they came with a note for the children:

Hello Marine Adventurers

We heard that you are exploring the ocean for your project with Mrs H and we wanted to come and visit you for a week.

We need to be given a tiny pinch of food every day and Mrs H will need to clean our tank out on Friday when we leave.

We have never been to a classroom before and we are looking forward to watching you do all of your class work.

We don’t have names but we thought that maybe you would be able to name us. Mrs H has a blue box for you to put suggestions into for our names. If you write one name on each piece of paper then put it into the box Mrs H will have a draw to choose our new names on Tuesday.

Thank you for letting us stay in your classroom.

Fish

The fish were a big success and reinforced my opinions on the benefits of having a class pet.

The surprise

The reading ability of the pupils was highlighted in a different way than had been during group reading sessions with reading books. Pupils showed a different ability in decoding with some demonstrating an ability above that which they would normally display. There were also pupils who struggled with the language when it was least expected. The class teacher commented on the value of the reading activities within the game. The environmental language also encouraged exploration of language through the recording of words within pupil 'log books'.

What next?

Hopefully my next placement will allow time to integrate gbl into my planning. The further I progress with the course the more responsibility I will have to implement my own strategies. I understand there are some concerns relating to the use of gbl on behalf of some schools yet I do believe in the great potential when managed carefully; but this is true of any teaching strategy and resource.

Now if only the Consolarium had summer interns for students ;0)

module completion (but not the end of the blog)

2010-06-12T00:09:00.001+01:00

My second year is now complete and, as this blog was set up for the ICT elective, I think it is only right to post my elective essay as this was as much a part of the assessment as my blog was. So you can read the essay below:

Personal Digital Literacy Development

“Creative Pedagogy taps into your students creative wellsprings to make them more aware of their innate intelligences…Merged with technology, creative pedagogy provides stimuli through multiple media” (Carlson, 2004).

Children grow in such a way that without measuring them sometimes it takes you to stand back just to notice the change. The same may be said about my personal progress in the ICT module, my development has taken a steady progressive route that has enabled reinforcement of existing pedagogical aspects and the development of more innovative principles that can be applied to my professional practice. There has been a strong sense throughout the module of highlighting the difference between the ability to use a subject or tool and the understanding required to embed that subject or tool into practice. This point is highlighted within a report from Futurelab on the integration of commercially produced games in education. The report discusses the variation between teachers who were game literate and the teachers who were curriculum literate.

“Where teachers were experienced in the subject/ curriculum area they were addressing, they were able either to appropriate only those game elements that would support their teaching… or to scaffold students’ use of the game appropriately…there were a minority of teachers who were perhaps more fluent with the game than in the relevant curriculum… [their] lessons didn’t go as far in addressing their stated learning aims” (Sandford, Ulicsak, Facer, and Rudd, 2006).

As the report describes curriculum literacy can be more influential than the format of teaching. In a world where children expect instantaneous responses the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning can have a profound difference. The balance between pace, challenge and meeting the needs of the learner can be coupled with differentiation and cooperative working groups to link together both learning and psychosocial development through the use of technology.

During the module a further element that has been evolving is the concept that technology learning and skills development can often occur implicitly within other curricular areas. The animation and digital movie making tasks provide perfect examples of the cross curricular practice that is achievable; within the larger module group there were a number of smaller working groups consisting of 4/5 students. Each group chose a different theme for their personal projects relating to multiple areas of the curriculum. Any teacher created resource can be easily manipulated to suit a desired purpose but the real benefit of using a resource such as a wiki is to foster student ownership (Tonner, 2010). Within the primary school this may be achieved in a number of ways. A teacher may choose to create a resource that pupils will access in order to enhance their learning through interactive media, the teacher may create a foundation area where pupils will add information under certain headings and under instruction or the teacher may choose to allow pupils to create their own area focusing on a particular topic, perhaps following a class project. The later description, although being the most lengthy is perhaps the best format for allowing pupil ownership of a project. When working collaboratively there is room for individualized contributions within a wiki.

Children are exposed to technology on a daily basis and, whether they have the equipment in the home or not, children are drawn towards technology. “For a large number of young people exposure to computers begins at home, at an early age” (Vekiri, 2010) In a classroom of 28 pupils it would not be uncommon that if a problem occurred with the interactive whiteboard you would suddenly find yourself surrounded by approximately 26 ‘experts’ all willing to provide a solution. When any student displays this enthusiasm and confidence in their ability then the obvious choice would be to capitalize upon this as a motivational factor.

When planning for implementation of any lesson careful consideration must always be applied to resources and their suitability must always be critically assessed. If you are planning a literacy lesson with a poetry focus you would not plan to use a calculator. When planning to use technology within a lesson it must be appropriate for the purpose, the progression of the students and beneficial to the completion of the task; the needs of the learner should always override the desire of a teacher to use any resource. ‘‘Nobody wants to use technology to recreate education as it is” (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994, p. 256, cited in Girvan, C & Savage, T. (2010)).

Variety in activities will ensure that skills developed in any learning experience are transferable and integration of technology should allow for this.

The module layout encompassed a range of tasks that were designed to develop us personally and that could be implemented into our teaching practice. We were to keep a reflective log of our experiences in each input and in relation to any other relevant material. This was to be published via Blogger™. Whilst reflecting on our own experiences we were also encouraged to read the entries posted by our peers and comment on these in a formative manner. For me personally the benefit of maintaining our personal blog has been structured upon reflective practice. During placement reflection is a critical element of our learning journey and practice in this area has provided me with a clearer focus on which to reflect. Reading the work of others and having the opportunity of insight into their personal experience of the same event enables a greater clarity when planning for differentiation and learning styles with a class. This form of empathy for other learners highlights the fact that your experiences can be very different from those of others and this is dependent on many contributing factors; previous experience, prior knowledge, historical viewpoints, cultural differences, variety in learning approaches and willingness to embrace new things are just some examples of influences on personal experience. It is important that teachers recognize and incorporate many of the theories surrounding learning styles and learning theory (Gardener (2006), Klob (1975), Butler (1988), Sarasin (1999)). The nature of learning needs to focus on the learner as the core. Without the learner the process would be pointless, Christensen, Horn and Johnson (2008, P.39) state that

“Student-centric learning opens the door for students to learn in ways that match their intelligence types and at the paces they prefer by combining content in customized sequences.”

Technology allows there to be a regime where students can have individual and personalized learning plans, devised by themselves in conjunction with the teacher as the “guide on the side not a sage on the stage”

In discussing the use of virtual worlds Girvan and Savage (2010) reiterate the fact that the use of technology should bring an extra element to the teaching and learning:

“ there is a need to consider which pedagogical approaches can provide an opportunity to do more than recreate the traditional classroom by leveraging the unique characteristics and potential that the technology can offer.”

There are many tools available for collaboration but many of these could be termed asynchronous (Tonner, 2010). For true collaboration real time editing is essential for users to benefit from instantaneous reactions and participation. Without the real time function there is a danger of users switching off and becoming disengaged. An example of a real time collaborative tool would be PrimaryPad™, this is a tool that has a writing area and a separate chat area. It is now widely accepted that conversation is beneficial in the classroom therefore it is only logical that conversation be possible in a virtual classroom. The Vygotskian perspective of the Zone of Proximal Development (Kyriacou, 2009) and the extension of this with Bruner’s scaffolding metaphor are relevant in the area of Collaborative working as the onus falls on the student to progress with the aid of both the teacher and their peers within and beyond the collaborative working group.

As children are drawn towards technology, in particular new technology, and the fact that the world is becoming more technologically driven on a daily basis educators have a duty to capitalize on these in order to spark motivation in their students. The motivational and engaging element of technology is not entirely focused on technology itself. The delivery method and the presentation of a particular tool is the selling point for students if they are to continue to be engaged beyond the initial ‘wow’ reaction. It is not necessarily the tools that promote engagement but a myriad of effective, comprehensive planning, clear curricular links, an enthusiastic approach and a relevant context.

The possibility of extending learning beyond the classroom confines is a reality. It always has been, to a certain extent, but developments in mobile technology enable more opportunities for comprehensive and active learning, with the support of technology such as handheld learning devices. There are less barriers in learning for those who may not meet the traditional persona of the pupil. The thread of inclusivity for all is very strong when using a multi-pronged approach to teaching and for pupils who may struggle in a traditional learning environment this is more important. Developing contexts for them to construct meaning can often take untraditional formats. A prime example of this would be the increase in games based learning projects in schools throughout Scotland and beyond.

Games based learning incorporates a mixture of both contextualized learning and the tools that pupils choose for their leisure time. Popular examples would be Guitar Hero™, Nintendogs™ and Myst™. When introducing a console game into a classroom it is very probable that the majority, if not all, of the pupils will have had experience of the game play. An outsider may view the pupils as the game experts while the teacher could be considered the curriculum expert. It is when these two concepts marry that collaborative exchange and synchronous learning between the educator and learner takes place. For pupils the process of discussing the game with the teacher and other pupils will increase their metacognition and awareness of their own learning journey, from experience in the classroom this can stimulate pupils into leading their learning rather than being led in their learning. Gee (2007) describes the “Psychosocial Moratorium Principle” in relation to games based learning and a real life context for learning.

“Learners can take risks in a space where real world consequences are lowered.”

Risk is a vital element of life and experience of calculated risk taking will provide skills necessary to make judgments regarding risk taking in the future. The immersive nature of gaming therefore becomes a safe place to experiment with risk.

Linking back to the earlier analogy of development going by unnoticed, I would say that while I was enthusiastic about the use of technology and willing to try tools in practice, I was naive in the supporting evidence to substantiate this. I still am greatly unversed in the theory and current research as the field is so broad and moving at such a pace yet I have a much better understanding of the need for theoretical influence and the extent that research informs practice both explicitly and implicitly. Critical evaluation and the rules of engagement are the areas in which I have developed greatest during the course of this module. Critical evaluation of resources, activities and tasks and personal critical evaluation and reflection have been an underlying theme of the module which is something that I would say is highlighted within my blog. Rules of engagement, how students engage with their learning, how they are motivated (intrinsically and extrinsically) and the resulting effect that this can have on enjoyment during the learning process and on retention rates are all areas that I aim to research further as a result of my experiences within the module.

“Unless students (and teachers, for that matter) are motivated, they will reject the rigor of any learning task and abandon it before achieving success” (Christensen et al, 2008, P.7).

References and Bibliography

Butler, K. A. (1988) Learning and Teaching Style: In Theory and Practice. Columbia: Learners Dimension

Carlson, G. (2004) Digital Media in the Classroom. San Francisco: CMP Books

Christensen, C.M., Horn, M.B. & Johnson, C.W. (2008) Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. New York: McGraw Hill

Gardener, H. (2006) Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books

Gee, J. P. (2007) What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Girvan, C & Savage, T. (2010) Identifying an appropriate pedagogy for virtual worlds: A Communal Constructivism case study in The Journal of Computers and Education: 55: 342-349 Available via www.elsevier.com/ locate/compedu

Accessed (19/04/2010)

Kolb, D. (1975) David Kolb on Experiential Learning. Available via http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-explrn.htm accessed (19/04/2010)

Kyriacou, C. (2009) Effective Teaching in Schools Theory and Practice (3^rd Ed) Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd

Sandford, R. Ulicsak, M. Facer, K. & Rudd, T. (2006) Teaching with Games Using Commercial off-the-shelf computer games in formal education Bristol: Futurelab

Sarasin, L. C. (1999) Learning Style Perspective: Impact in the Classroom. Madison: Atwood Publishing

Tonner, S. (2010) Social Media Tools. ICT elective module, School of Education, Social Work and Community Education, University of Dundee.

Vekiri, I. (2010) Boys’ and Girls’ ICT Beliefs: Do Teachers Matter? In The Journal of Computers and Education: 55: 16-23 Available via www.elsevier.com/ locate/compedu

Accessed (19/04/2010)

Zooburst

2010-06-02T18:45:00.003+01:00

Today I found a new toy.

It is a digital storybook creator, named Zooburst, that allows the user to create and read 3D pop up books.

It also uses Augmented Reality to bring your book to life. To use zooburst you will need a web browser (I use google chrome but Safari, IE and firefox are also compatible), a webcam and a marker.

I created a sample book which you can view above. To use the Augmented Reality aspect you need a marker which you will find here. (Rather than printing the marker it is possible to use it on the screen of your iphone/ itouch etc)Then click webcam mode.

The potential for use in the classroom to develop many areas of the curriculum beyond literacy is what really excites me. Pupils love trying out new things and the quirkiness of this tool is a sure way to engage learners who may not be stimulated by the thought of traditional class work. Variety drives pupil motivation and if a tool such as this will enable motivation and progression while being relevant then why not use it? Zooburst recognise the potential for classroom use and this is an extract from their FAQs page:

"In the very near future we will be releasing a "class management" feature inside ZooBurst that will allow teachers to set up classes, create assignments and set up usernames & passwords for your students. In the interim you can always log into ZooBurst on behalf of your students. ZooBurst will allow you to access your account from multiple computers at the same time, so if you are in a computer lab simply log into the site for each student and have them create their own books" (Zooburst)

My sample book is not very exciting and I have only added basic graphics but I wanted to see how easy it was to create a book. See what you think for yourself.

{Edited} zooburst example is now on the right hand side of my blog (main page)

VoiceThread Tutorial

2010-05-09T19:40:00.000+01:00

This is an introduction to creating a VoiceThread that I have made for the Voices of the World project. It will be used for the May task which is based on the United Nations International Year of Biodiversity.

The completed VoiceThreads from each participating school will be similar to the example below and will be posted to the May map which will be made available on the project wikispace.

Highland Fun and Games [based learning]

2010-04-29T20:45:00.000+01:00

Today I had my hair curled but not at the hairdresser, I was also told that I definitely had green eyes, my nose was not a triangle and even though I was big I could be small today just like everyone else but everyone else didn't need to be small because they could choose to be big but today I was going to be small.

To put this all into context for you I had set off this morning to visit a nursery class in an Aberdeenshire primary school that has been using Wii Music as a learning context. After a rather typical journey I arrived just in time to help create a mii for me. Telling the children that I had not made a mii before led them to give me a wonderful tutorial on how to create your own character on the Wii. Did you know that your mii can look like anything you want it to?

"It doesn't need to look like you as long as you can find it in the mii plaza." (C, age 4)

Behind the scenes the planning and organisation that has gone into this project has undoubtedly aided it's success yet there has been the flexibility for the children to lead their own adventure. The game may have been Wii Music but the learning that has evolved has focused on collaborative working, turn taking, numeracy development and environmental language exposure. The areas of the game that an older child may often choose to skip through proved to be some of the more popular areas for the nursery children with their favourite activities including watching the video replay of their jam session and creating album covers for their dvd within the game. (It should be noted that the curricular links given are not limited and there are many further links that are relevant) The jam sessions themselves provided the perfect opportunity for immersive role play during which the children enjoyed being rock stars choosing their preferred instruments, most popular were the electric guitar and the drum kit. The children became experienced at identifying the various instruments used within the game and learned musical terminology and vocabulary. The teacher noted that the development of rhythm and tempo were areas that did not progress well despite this being the obvious expectation that one may associate with such an activity.

Something that the nursery I visited demonstrated very well was the home school partnership. Parents were informed throughout the project and provided feedback (via forms) sharing their experience of their child's progress. The staff created visually stimulating displays consisting of photographs and key words relating to the learning experience and information was added to the children's 'learning stories' books which provide a snapshot of some of the experiences each child has encountered while in the nursery setting. The children also completed feedback sheets using the traffic light system (which is used throughout the school) and comments scribed by staff. All but two of the children chose green to represent their enjoyment of the project where green symbolised "really enjoyed it", the two other children chose orange, representing "it was ok". In terms of class feedback this in itself is pretty impressive and demonstrates the enjoyment provided by the use of the game.

The use of the Wii was limited within the nursery but not during a session. The area containing the wii became another context area for the children and in this way it was not limited but rather the days when the wii was used became the control method. I believe that this kept the interest in the game as the children were excited when the wii was out rather than it becoming just another area.

There was also time for whole nursery activities when everyone would gather together as a group to watch aspects of the game and discuss progress. All children created their own mii and were able to identify their character from the mii parade. This was extended by the children drawing a black line representation of their mii. The level of detail in each drawing from children who were both 3 and 4 demonstrated a clear stimulation and motivation for the task. The awareness of self involved in creating the mii characters is an area that I had not considered when introducing the Nintendo Wii into a class or nursery setting yet it is also an area that holds a great deal of potential for first time use.

Prior to my visit I had the opportunity of accessing the glow group for the school which included the planning materials and evaluations. I am particularly grateful to everyone that helped me in arranging this visit and to the school and staff for letting me visit. The idea of learning being multi-dimensional (Muschamp, 2010)was the motivating factor for why I arranged the visit. The information available through glow could only provide me with so much information but the experience of witnessing the children engaging with the technology provided an insight than cannot be described on paper. I have learned a lot personally about the practicalities of GBL in a real context in an early years setting and along the way I have also learned a lot about the potential of glow. Next steps for me include my own wii based project which begins next week...

Sighs

2010-04-22T23:44:00.002+01:00

Ahhhhhhhhh time to slow down for a day or two.

What a busy week it has been. On Monday night the presentations of the INSITE project were scheduled to run from 6:30pm EST and Rebecca and Myself participated via the 99chats tools that we had been investigating during the project. I still have doubts over the possibility of using the tool anywhere near children but can see the possibilities for higher education and business. I think the element that was most exposed during the course of the project is the idea that using a tool because it is there is pointless. Sharon always tells us to only use something if it is beneficial to learning and appropriate for the intentions. I struggle to justify any form of appropriateness in the 99chats tool due to a severe lack of moderation which leaves children exposed to highly inappropriate content in the form of abusive, derogatory and unsuitable language use.

This is a link to the wiki area where the project work has been posted. The lessons that I planned were the secondary lessons for the Great Debate and Our Future Teachers. The lessons can be found on the wiki page. I am not experienced in secondary education and I have never planned with American Standards so if you get a chance to look at the lessons please let me know what you think.

On Tuesday night I attended my first ever Teachmeet. For those of you who do not know what a teachmeet is I think this clip explains it far better than I ever could:

As I mentioned in an earlier post I did not just attend the TM I presented at it. What I didn't share previously was what I was presenting on. I had decided to talk about PrimaryPad and googledocs and their potential for classroom use. Being slightly insane when I signed up I also decided to do a second presentation on global Classrooms although I limited this to the Voices of the World project.

The Teachmeet was streamed live and a copy of the live streaming section containing my presentations can be found here. The other two sections of the evening can be found here and here.

On Wednesday I attended a conference at the university that focused on professional practice and research. Not only was this extremely informative, I also helped with two presentations during the day.

Now with all this happening you would never know that I had two assignments that were feeling rather lonely and neglected sitting in my dropbox [clicking this link and creating an account will give us both extra storage space] needing nurture and lots of development (in terms of word count they fell around 85% short!) By 12 midday, much to my shock, I had finished them both and before I could change my mind and edit some more I headed off to Dundee and submitted them both.

What I have learned this week is that I do not know the meaning of pacing myself but I do know that every now and again a little madness won't harm me as everything is good in moderation.

(Maybe some day I will share the story of my giggling with you all on the ponderings blog)

For now I NEED SLEEP

buenas noches

our FINISHED animation

2010-04-20T14:50:00.000+01:00

This is a sample animation that we made using DigiBlue cameras and a lot of patience.

For more on our animation task see this earlier post.

Voices of the World

2010-04-20T00:10:00.000+01:00

After much persuasion I have managed to get Sharon to agree to let me lead the Voices of the World project for the foreseeable future.

| View Sample Photo Books | Create your own Photo Book

Voices of the World is a project that was set up to connect children in classrooms worldwide. The use of voice to do this posed two benefits

children will be able to relate better to other children when hearing the spoken word rather than the written word; this makes the other schools seem more real
children will be able to develop an appreciation for the different languages, dialects and accents around the world (Tonner, 2007)

The community has been established for almost three years at present and many of the first members are still active participants. It is the responsibility of the leader to create monthly tasks which are posted for completion by members with their classes. At the end of the month tasks are all submitted to the leader for posting on the wikispace.

I have been in the role of leader for almost a month now and I am enjoying it greatly. Everyone that I have spoken with involved in the project is very enthusiastic and I hope to try out some new additional elements within the community. To achieve this I have created an additional area with an introductory task related to the monthly task. We have 6 classes creating 2 acrostic poems collaboratively. All 6 classes are contributing to both poems and the poems are going to be tri-lingual.

Following the recent announcement that ning will no longer operate a free service we are investigating alternative hosting for the teachers' area of the project.

I will be posting more on my experiences with Voices of the World so keep a watch for further updates.

Teach Meet Student Edition

2010-04-19T14:45:00.000+01:00

There is nothing like a sneaky blog entry when I should be writing an assignment so here goes...

Tomorrow (20/04/2010) I am attending a TeachMeet in Aberdeen. This will be my first time attending a TeachMeet and just for the fun of it I have signed up to present while I am there. As the old adage goes "in for a penny, in for a pound".

A TeachMeet is an informal gathering of educationalists and the purpose is to share experiences, ideas and discover new things or in the words of the descriptor:

"This is an informal gathering of those who want to share cool ideas they have tried in their classrooms."

The Presentations last either 2 minutes or 7 minutes and you have an allocation of 1 minute to set up. This being the case (and the fact that once I start talking I often forget to pause for breath or indeed stop at all) I signed up to do one of each; a 7 minute presentation and a 2 minute nano presentation. I am pretty well decided on what I am going to talk about but as I am not 100% sure I'm not going to tell you right now. (Although it wouldn't take a great deal of detective work to find out)

and we get back to the issue of assignment procrastination... Why is nearly anything else just so interesting when distractions should be most unwelcome?

World of Wikis - WoW

2010-04-07T01:16:00.000+01:00

Prequel: If you are reading this without knowledge of our project this is a brief introduction to what we were aiming for. For our ICT elective we had to create a digital movie and a resource to accomany this. As a group we chose the theme of Dundee as a city study then narrowed this to focus on school trip venues in and around Dundee. We created three short digital movies and these were incorporated into a wikispace designed around our theme. Our wikispace was designed for teacher use and there are elements that may be used with pupils.

The presentations are over and what a relief. There was a time when I didn't think we would get there but at the last gasp it all came together and the remaining members of our group all completed our sections. I say remaining as we seem to have lost a member along the way but that is not my story to tell. We started as a group of four and ended as a group of three and that is all the detail you are going to get.

We are definitely a group now and even though there have been issues a plenty we did achieve a great deal and I think this was evident during the presentations. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and most commonly linked to reflecting on improvements that could have been made over the course of a project. With hindsight it is probably even clearer that we took on a big project, bigger than was necessary, and with a bigger project put more pressure on ourselves in terms of workload. We also had a few minor trust issues with completion times for allocated jobs and when working with student teachers neurotic can sometimes be a good adjective to use, although controlling is a milder description. It was often difficult to hold back and not take over the entire project, see earlier entry on this. Some people just work better when deadlines are forming imposing shadows over them and some people hyperventilate when those same shadows begin to highlight the work that is still to be completed. While these reactions can cause friction it is important to take a step back and learn from each other. To understand is sometimes more important than the actual task (in this case task completion was essential), if we can develop both our understanding of how we work and learn and how others work and learn and relate the similarities and differences then the learning itself is more meaningful.

To transfer this to a classroom you may link to the concept that skill development can be more productive than knowledge development. In my opinion they go hand in hand: with the development of skills you will build upon knowledge, as you build upon knowledge you practice skills. The idea of "acting as a sensitive guide" is highlighted by Myhill and Warren (2005); through having the experience of reaching a solution as a learner when working in groups you are provided with an ideal opportunity, as a student teacher, to experience when intervention is needed and when the teacher needs to encourage pupils to reach a solution with limited intervention. Being able to hold back rather than step in as a teacher is an essential skill for us to foster.

What we did manage well was developing links with other agencies through the visitors attractions that we filmed at. These were Sensation, RRS Discovery and the Botanic Garden, all Dundee. The people that we met and worked with were incredible in helping us with anything we needed and Sensation, in particular, set up exhibits for us to film at. We cannot thank everyone enough for their assistance. To be able to begin to build links that will be beneficial in both our teaching practice and our future classroom practice is invaluable. There are many resources available but having a guide in choosing the most appropriate, from a specialist in a particular field, cannot be measured.

The rollercoaster of production has also provided a real sense of ownership of the project for us as group members and with this in mind we have a pride in our finished work. That is not to say it is perfect, I still develop a twitch when thinking of the audio, but it is ours.

If you would like to have a look at our finished work, including the videos I am attaching a link

HERE

We hope you enjoying viewing our work.

INSITE and 99chats

2010-03-26T12:28:00.001Z

We are involved with a research project run by Purdue University in Indiana. The project aims to create a resource bank of web based applications and the application that we have been assigned to work on is 99chats.

At first look I am not sure about the use of this application as the main page is unmoderated which using my teacher point of view would not be suitable for using in a classroom, however I have created an account that will not be shown on their chat directory and I am posting a chat room here to try. Please try it out below, you do not need an account to use just type in a nickname for yourself.

Internet casino Flash Chats

EM(+R) = L

2010-03-25T22:02:00.000Z

"Blah Blah Learning"

The above is a quote from Brian McLaren. As part of our elective we were able to visit the LTS Consolarium today to extend our experience of games based learning. Out of context the above quote may mean very little, but for me it says so much. Brian was talking about games based learning and the point he was making was that it is not about the games that are being used it is about the learning that is taking place.

In many, many schools throughout Scotland the Consolarium team are working with teachers and their classes on a wide variety of learning activities. They are using various games consoles in order to do this including as the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 and handheld devices such as the PSP and the Nintendo DS.

These are the projects that excite me as a future teacher. I have mentioned in my other blog that I was extremely lucky to have been given a great opportunity on a previous placement to try something new. The project that I had developed followed the concept of games based learning with a class that had no previous experience in this area. Prior to this I had known GBL was an area that I found interesting but the actual experience put it into a much clearer perspective. Watching pupils take control of their own learning, showing motivation that I had not witnessed from some of them previously and extending their learning far beyond what was planned really put games based learning and motivation into context for me personally. The nature of Curriculum for Excellence is a fantastic spring board for what can be done across all curricular areas given the right medium.

None of this is to say that any game would be suitable for education and another fantastic thing to see today was the Consolarium team talking about planning topics using a game. The process of linking to areas of the curriculum while looking at a resource is something that occurs in my mind most of the time. The ideas come, the excitement bubbles and you know that this is what pupils will experience if given the opportunity.

As with any planning the learning that will take place must always be relevant to the pupils needs at a particular age and stage. We need to address progression, no matter how much potential a resource has if the pupils will not progress then we must leave that resource and find a different one.

The next phase of excitement today was hearing about the potential for Mario Kart Wii in the classroom. For one of our last assignments we had to create a context for learning addressing the principles of Curriculum for Excellence in a cross curricular nature. The context that I used was Mario Kart Wii! The planning that I submitted followed practically the same ideas that Brian discussed.

Sometimes I forget that not everyone is aware of the potential of games for learning and that not everyone is aware of the developments in this field. Yet in Scotland the momentum is gaining speed and (here comes the biased statement) Scotland is definitely among the leaders in the development of this wonderful source of motivation and engagement.

Recently I heard someone comment that engagement and motivation do not equal learning and while this is true I would argue that they do make the process of learning both more realistic and more appealing for all involved. As a teacher it is much easier to spark an interest in your pupils when you yourself have an enthusiasm and passion for what you are doing.

Currently, in our course, we are between two blocks of our nursery placement. The school where I am placed has a morning only nursery which means I spend the afternoon placed in a P3 class. I had been planning to use the Nintendo Wii in both areas and had thought that Wii Music would be great to use in the nursery and Endless Ocean would be a perfect introduction to GBL to use with the P3 class. I have Wii Music but not Endless Ocean so while at the Consolarium today I was very cheeky and asked to borrow a copy of Endless Ocean 2. Luckily for me Brian agreed to loan me a copy which means you will be hearing much more from me about it come May.

*I apologise for the distinct lack of theory to support this post. Theory should underpin everything we do yet sometimes I like to post directly from my thoughts and experiences and there is also the fact that I am extremely distracted by the planning for Endless Ocean 2. Just incase you haven't guessed EM(+R)= L - Engagement x Motivation (+Relevance) = Learning*

cooperative working

2010-03-15T21:05:00.000Z

The end of our cooperative project has arrived. The presentation of work takes place on Monday which means we are at the rounding up and finishing off stage.

Normally I am very guilty of leaving things until the last minute but when working on group projects something strange happens and I become obsessed with completing everything promptly, being super organised and everyone having a clearly defined role.

Previous posts on this subject haved looked at our group dynamics and an article by Johnson and Johnson based on the benefits of cooperative learning.

With the end always comes the contemplation aspect; the reflection on how you have worked both personally and within your group. This can go in a variety of ways; if the project went well then reflection will be very positive and can perhaps be minimal. If there were a few hiccups along the way this provides opportunity for identifing improvements in both practice and strengths and weaknesses in all areas. If there are multiple problems with group dynamics or processes it can be extremely difficult to step back and evaluate in a balanced point of view. In the latter case it can be most beneficial to privately reflect then critically evaluate these reflections. Without first doing this it would be easy to steamtrain and not be objective.

The above introduction was written prior to my reading the following quote:

"Studies report that peer learning promotes greater conceptual and procedural gains for students, accommodates a broad range of learning styles, results in greater enjoyment of the learning task, and encourages a stronger persistence in learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1999)." (cited in Cooper and Marie, 2002)

I freely admit that there were times that I struggled to work collaboratively during the course of this project. There are a number of reasons for this and frustration has been a regular visitor to my emotional repertoire over recent weeks. I have complained my way though many conversations, moaned to generally anyone who showed the slightest sign of listening (and even some who did not) and yet I failed to pin down what was bothering me the most. I thought it was based on impressions that some of the group were not participating as fully as they could have or that I was feeling the burden of taking on more than my share of the work.

Within groups there is often a person who takes a lead role, my intention had been to step back and avoid becoming this person. I often find that I take on this role and appreciate that this is due to my personality but I tried to make a conscious decision not to do so in this project. I thought it was important to let others experience this role. Yet, perhaps by trying to stand back I caused myself more frustration than if I hadn't. Linking to my earlier observation on the effect of group work to my personal working strategy and to the above quote from the Theory into Practice Journal I can see a link; my working strategy is transformed due to the demands of cooperative working. It is not just the end result that is motivating me but the concept that others are reliant on me pulling my weight and fulfilling my allocated work to the best I can. With this drive I begin to mentally put pressure on others that I work with, expecting the same process to be occurring within their minds. This is when I become the uber complainer.

I cannot expect people to hit early (and unmentioned) deadlines: in the same way we all learn differently we all work differently. If I have an assignment due I mull it over, think about it and eventually write it, often quite near to the deadline. This is my individual working style, I have accepted that this is how I work and no longer worry that I haven't completed assignments a fortnight early. Despite this a seemingly irrational part of my brain begins to rage when a group member hasn't done exactly that; complete a task two weeks early.

Having acknowledged my personal demons with cooperative working I have a greater understanding of why I have found myself struggle so much with this project. This is not to say that there have not been other shortfalls in work ethic but this is a self assessment not a peer assessment and sometimes a public blog is not the place to carry out this kind of activity.

Without going through this process I would not have realised any of this therefore my personal development has gained alongside my professional development. I have enhanced my communication and organisational skills, I have gained experience of filming and editing for an educational purpose, I have extended my presentation skills through our wikispace (link to follow) but most importantly I have learned more about myself and this is inarguably the steepest learning curve.

Let's get animated!

2010-03-15T20:40:00.001Z

This week we started looking at animation and it's potential use within the classroom. Possibilities for incorporating animation across the curriculum are endless and the examples that I have chosen to include in this blog entry are perhaps a little predictable. It is not very often I share real examples of lesson ideas within my blog, I think this is something that I should do more of.

I know that animation is widely used in schools and is very successful. The equipment that we used during our input was digiblue cameras and software. These are very easy to use and many schools have this equipment. For us the process sounded very lengthy to begin with; 15 clicks for one second! Yet we found that time passed very quickly and the process of recording was not tiresome at all.

Before we could begin the process of filming the animation we had to brainstorm in our group to plan the subject for our animation. This technique, if used in a classroom, would let the children have ownership of their subject and a creative license to go in any direction that they wish. This would fit well if the outcome was focusing on teamwork:

I value the opportunities I am given to make friends and be part of a group in a range of situations. (CfE, HWB all levels)

The use of cooperative learning packs would ensure team work was balanced and everyone had a set role to play in the process. Due to the time consuming nature of animation the inclusion of a role record within the pack would enable group members to experience various roles over the course of the project. This would ensure that pupils are developing skills and experiences. Like Lauren I would group pupils in mixed ability groups as this should diversify skills within each group therefore enhancing opportunities for each member to feel valued. Depending on the class this may not always be the case as strengths may be weighted in certain areas although teacher knowledge will allow for the best grouping possibilities.

The Technologies outcome link, that I have chosen as an example, applies to both first and second level of CfE:

I can create, capture and manipulate sounds, text and images to communicate experiences, ideas and information in creative and engaging ways. (CfE, technologies 1st and 2nd level)

This outcome reflects the process of creating the animation, editing it, publishing it and reflecting on the process of working. Depending on the previous experience of the pupils the reflection process may be more important than the creating process. This reflection could take many forms including a blog format, creating a presentation to share with others in the class, school or wider community, a video log of the working process or a photo story of the working process.

By investigating the range of foods available I can discuss how they contribute to a healthy diet.

HWB 1-30a (CfE)

This outcome reflects the broad topic that the animations must be based upon. This is not necessary as it is possible to let pupils choose freely a topic, however in this case I would like to link to work on nutrition. Many schools hold a 'Health Week' therefore this is an idea platform for this particular topic. Pupils could be split into opposing teams and the animations based on positives of healthy eating versus the positives of unhealthy eating. By creating scripts pupils would also be able to link to their language outcomes and the animations provide an alternative medium for a debate.

I can convey information, describe events or processes, share my opinions or persuade my reader in different ways.

*Responsibility of all
LIT 1-28a/LIT 1-29a

The final outcome relates to both the group working concept and the need to respect the opinions and beliefs of others.

I recognise that each individual has a unique blend of abilities and needs. I contribute to making my school community one which values individuals equally and is a welcoming place for all.

*Responsibility of all

HWB 2-10a(CfE)

I believe that cooperative working opportunities are an essential element of education. Working with a range of different peers can develop understanding of both others ideas and views as well as developing understanding of your own personal ideas and views. An animation project allows pupils to swap roles depending on their strengths and the stage of the project. It is also an ideal activity to explore issues that may be inaccessible in other activities. Pupils can use animation to express themselves more freely and in a more relaxed manner with less fear of repercussions. They are not directly exposed and for some this will provide increased confidence to participate.

Editation

2010-03-10T23:50:00.000Z

TecnoTeach: Do We Still Need Editors?

Reading this post got me thinking about my personal blogging journey, over the last few months I have developed immensely in this area. Previously I kept a personal blog which although published on the internet did not link back to me. I never shared the address of my personal blog with anybody and even now I have not shared the link. The development, and indeed progression, came when we were set a blogging task as part of our university ICT coursework. Not wanting to share my other blog I set up this blogger account.
Initially I experimented with a style similar to my other blog as this is the style of writing that I enjoy most. As time went on and I started my ICT elective we were again asked to keep a blog but this time it was to form part of our portfolio of work for assessment. The more I posted the more confidence I developed to the point that I will easily share links to my blog through Twitter. The reflective element has also been beneficial in developing my placement reflections which are a required element of the course.

In relation to the question of editors for children blogging I completely agree that this is a necessity. The notion of comparison between parents can get extremely competitive and this may dent confidence in children which in turn contradicts the purpose of keeping a blog for educational reasons.
The freedom of using your voice, with or without a great reader following, can only promote creative thinking in children. As for needing editors I would like to think that eventually, as children become more experienced with blogging and net etiquette, they will have the skills to maintain suitable content in these areas. Perhaps the editing and moderating responsibility could be handed over to the pupils on a peer level.

Smart Schools

2010-02-16T18:19:00.002Z

Technically this is not much of a blog post but I really wanted to share this video here. I love the closing quote that Professor Stephen Heppell uses - "Smart schools are embracing them and smart kids are too"

While I am linking videos I thought I would add this clip too. For anyone who knows our lecturer Sharon I'm sure you will agree that the words of this little girl sound very like her philosophy and what a great philosophy that is :0)

Contextual Orientated Games Based Learning

2010-02-16T18:06:00.002Z

Often as a student teacher you hear about initiatives in the classroom that sound like the next big thing. It can be difficult to be objective as you feel inexperienced.

At the Scottish Learning Festival (2009) I attended a presentation on the use of an internet based resource called ‘Moshimonsters’. The teacher was very enthusiastic about its application in the classroom and her team of pupils presented very well and with a great deal of confidence. This form of games based learning has a contextual element that makes it successful. When it comes to using GBL in an educational setting I think it is important to build in a mixture of contextual activities and game based activities. Further examples of contextual based activities would be Guitar Hero, Endless Ocean, African Safari and Mario Kart Wii. (I will blog about games orientated GBL in the near future.)

As I believe that technology is one of the best tools for enthusing learners on an engaging level I watched eagerly thinking ‘wow, this sounds great. How could I use this?’ After I came home I had a look at the site and called upon my trusted guinea pigs (daughters) to experiment. They have been using the site for a number of months now and have managed to persuade many of their friends to sign up thus building up their network.

The concept of the site is that you adopt a monster, look after it, complete challenges and network with other users. There are levels for progression and everything is themed for example; you can buy your monster slopcorn and wash it down with toad soda. To level up the most effective thing you can do is complete the daily challenge. All challenges vary in difficulty and I am not sure about the consistency of them in relation to the target audience. Think sight training, entry level multiplication and long multiplication in one challenge of 10 questions (although this varies as the questions are time dependant). There is also the issue of reading ability; the ‘monsters’ have their own language therefore everything needs to be read by the user.

I am not sure whether I would use it for every child individually. Perhaps as an internet safety introduction the class, as a whole, could adopt a monster to look after this could link well with RME outcomes and Health and Wellbeing outcomes providing these links would benefit the pupils in terms of progression. With staff support an older class could set up a ‘Moshi’ club that may run over lunch break or after school. They could support younger users with advice and develop many skills through the organisation and running of the club. There are plenty of ideas and every teacher, school and pupil can find their own way of making any learning purposeful.

The benefit of being a student teacher is that you can take your ideas and run with them. They develop spin off tangents and eventually you realise that you have become carried away or you have lost the initial concept, all this without even being near a class. These are the lessons that cannot be taught, we need to encounter them in order to develop professional objectiveness. The next time that I have a ‘wow’ moment I will probably still get over-enthusiastic but I will have some experience at stepping back for a moment and at least thinking about being objective. My ‘wow’ moments are frequent and I do indulge myself the imaginative side but the perspective should always be there and clear for when it is time for reality to make them full of purpose.

Children are already living in a technologically immersive culture; they do not need bolt-ons. Just because something can be linked into curricular guidelines does not mean it will be productive or immensely beneficial. When planning any topic it is immensely important that the needs of the learners are met and we do not use something because it would be fun or because we have heard of the successes of others.

I have researched many examples of games based learning and have witnessed the enthusiasm and motivation sparked in pupils both through this research and within a class setting. I know that I will incorporate games based learning into my teaching as I have done so already and I look forward to doing so with great anticipation.

Further links: Wii

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games

Guitar Hero

MoshiMonsters Review

Tim Rylands on TeachersTV

GBL, integrating technology, motivation... these are a few of my favourite things.

2010-02-14T23:51:00.008Z

"Pupils tend to compartmentalise their learning" (Kyriacou, 2009, p.32)

It has long been recognised that children often can solve problems in one situation but find it difficult to use the same strategy in another. A prime example of this is the cross between a simple equation in mathematics and a word heavy problem containing the same equation. Children find it hard to identify the key elements and extract them. They know how to deal with the equation when presented in a certain manner. Kyriacou, Effective Teaching in Schools (2009), identifies this in the above quote.

The challenge, as a teacher, is to find time to incorporate all the necessary elements of the learning and teaching of principles and strategies for each curricular area then finding engaging ways to link learning to real life situations to enable children to move beyond the 'situated learning' (Anderson, Reder and Simon, 1996).

If we can spark motivation in pupils that links learning and reinforcement in a meaningful way then why question that? It has always been recognised that play is an essential element in developing understanding in children, even adults learn through play. The enjoyment factor can only serve to aid retention of skills and knowledge gained and application of prior learning will be beneficial in transferring prior learning to knowledge and long term memory.

The recent surge in the incorporation of games based learning in education has encountered both enthusiasm and criticism. The reaction and strength of feeling from those on both sides of the argument can only be seen as a positive. The old adage that no publicity is bad publicity comes to mind. I do not believe that the games based learning approach is the best way forward for every teacher. For any new strategy or approach the enthusiasm must begin with the implementer, without this it would be very easy for learning and meaning to become disjointed. The pedagogical approach is at the core of effective implementation. There are many teachers that would like to increase their use of technology in their classrooms yet lack the confidence or training to be able to progress this further, there are the teachers that have the confidence and enthusiasm but resources may be an issue and there are teachers that have no desire to extend any of the above in their teaching.

To be able to incorporate games based learning into planning it is important to note the class history, by this I mean what they have experienced previously, potential for progression, relevance to curricular outcomes and stage of learning. These are elements that are necessary for any effective planning therefore it is only natural to think about them for games based learning (GBL). Often when something new is introduced it can be easy to get swept up in the tide of excitement and judgement on purpose can become clouded, with comprehensive planning this can be avoided. This does not mean there is no room for spontaneity in this approach, one of my favourite quotes comes from Tom Barrett's blog:

"Plan ahead, but also decide not to plan! Discovery in gaming is an important part of the experience – sharing the unexpected with your class is amazing."

For me, personally, this quote fills me with excitement thinking of the potential of this. The ability to have the opportunity to experience the same feelings of wonder, awe, amazement or even disappointment or shock alongside your pupils can only serve to enhance both your bond with the children and your understanding of their emotions, inexplicably, at a given moment. Working with a class could be likened to a journey and within this journey the more that can be experienced empathetically the better.

Another vital element in using GBL successfully is the difference between how children may already use games at home and they way you want them to use them to enhance learning. There is a strong difference yet that is not to say that they are not learning through leisure play. The difference is in the guidance towards the next step in learning. When children experience through leisure the experiences are random, possibly unrelated, not necessarily progressive and without a purpose in mind. This is true of all independent play whether games based, outdoor play or social play. This is also a very important part of child development and different from expectations within the school setting. In the school setting there is an inevitable agenda that needs to be followed in order to work with national curricular guidelines. Depending upon the stage of the children there are a number of documents to work with at present in Scotland as the process of transition towards Curriculum for Excellence continues.

The most obviously observable advantage to using games based learning is the possibility of developing thinking skills. These take the form of analytical, problem solving, reflection, evaluation and classification to name but few. When watching a child play a console game this may not be immediately evident but when you question them about the process of playing the game they will be able to explain a number of decisions and processes to you, often beyond their ability stage. When you experience the game for yourself and become truly immersed within it you will find yourself going through the same processes. The experience of playing a game before using it is vital, you would not introduce a novel into a class without reading it beforehand so why would you use a game in such a way?

PLN: I love Twitter

2010-02-10T00:31:00.002Z

A few months ago I read a tweet on Twitter that had been Re-tweeted by someone that I follow. I hope this is making sense so far. If you don't do twitter then you are probably lost right now so I should try and explain it first.

Twitter is a social networking site that allows you to connect with people anywhere in the world about any subject. The catch is that you are limited to 140 characters. This can be difficult at times, especially as I do tend to whittle on quite a bit, but can make you really focus on what you want to say. The statement below is how Twitter describes itself.

Twitter is a real-time information network powered by people all aorund the world and lets you share and discover what's happening now.

Twitter asks "what's happening" and makes the answer spread across the globe to millions, immediately.

Twitter has proven to have many uses and perhaps the most recently publicised benefit was in the wake of the Haiti Earthquake. The adaptability of Twitter has enormous potential and this potential is being realised by many people.

My personal experience is on a much less worthy scale than the amazing success of it's use in Haiti. I frequently ask questions from the people that follow me on twitter and the most amazing thing is that they give me so much in terms of advice, resources and support. This means that not only do I get all of this through university, but I also have an extended circle that can provide an extra help. All this at my fingertips!

At present we are looking at Early Years education and within this we have been looking at international perspectives on Early Years. In our inputs we explored the work in Reggio Emilia, Italy and the approach that works so well there. As a group we decided to research Te Whariki. This is the system that is used in New Zealand. Using textbooks and the internet we gathered information in this area. Now this brings me back to my original story about the re-tweet all those months previously.

Neil Winton was responsible for linking me into the message posted by a teacher from Melville Intermediate School in New Zealand. The teacher was asking for help with a class project based on milk. Following responding to their blog entry on the class blog I added the teacher to my twitter network and in return he started following me.
When we had decided to research Te Whariki one of the first things I did was contact this New Zealand based teacher and ask for a personal perspective. In turn he tweeted to his network of year 1 teachers and put me in contact with one of them for further help. Through Twitter I have been able to access and gather information that I would not otherwise have had access to.

The possibilities for using Twitter in education are vast and by using it for such purposes as the one described here I am building on ideas for how to use with a class, not to mention the ideas that I have been lucky enough to have gathered from my network.

As with any tool the way it is used is the key to it's success in being used. It is not necessarily the tool that is brilliant but the people that use it effectively for a purpose certainly are.

Using Computers

2010-02-07T17:40:00.000Z

"Computer use for most children under the age of three does not have much meaning for the child." (Meggitt, 2007, p77)

I came across this statement in the text Child Development An Illustrated Guide and was immediately opposed to such a sweeping statement. Then I began to doubt my own personal opinion, after all this statement has a foundation based on research whereas my opinion is based on limited personal experience. It is often the case that when I read the work of professionals I challenge my own opinions and rightly so, sometimes my views are altered sometimes they become stronger and sometimes they remain unchanged. This is what the process of learning is about.

In this case I have decided that I disagree. Computer use for anyone can hold no meaning if it is not utilised correctly. I believe that young children can benefit greatly from guided use of a computer or any technology. Children like response and used in the correct way a computer can provide a desired response. Infants are drawn to technology, the image of a toddler holding a telephone to their ear is nothing new so why would they not get meaning from a computer? For me the issue should be about exposure time and balance. I hate hearing about children sitting for hours playing games consoles or watching television. Both of these mediums can be used to beneficially develop children's minds but we need to remember to encourage children to participate in other activities. Outdoor play, boardgames, simple playing with toys, role play, art and craft are all essential childhood activities, most importantly we need to remember to talk with and listen to children from birth.

Fake Conversation

2010-02-07T16:42:00.002Z

@bethcagnol: Use Fake Conversation app for Iphone w students. They come to class w/ the other half of the conversation. So fun.

I came across this post on Twitter a few nights ago and of course it caught my eye. The app is the usual fake call set up where the phone rings you answer it and repeat everything that is said giving the impression you are having a real conversation. The difference is that I had never thought of using it in a classroom so the post got me thinking; how could it be used effectively?

One way could be with an upper stage class for a language lesson. Pupils listen to the conversation then extend it through talking or writing. They could record a version of the other half of the conversation or they could write the story behind the conversation. Both of these ideas fit into the second level Literacy outcome for listening: LIT 2-05a.

As with any use of technology it must be appropriate and not just there for the purpose of ticking a box.

maintaining focus

2010-02-07T16:21:00.000Z

The editing didn't flow as we had hoped today but we did make a start on our wiki. We also discussed our responsibilities as individuals within the group. This gave everyone a clear idea of what we each need to do to complete the task successfully. This was possibly the most productive thing we accomplished today and should not be taken lightly.

For some reason it seemed very difficult to focus today, perhaps it has something to do with pending assignment results? Whether or not this is the case it provides an interesting question for us as future teachers; how do we focus children when there are other factors affecting them? And if we do acknowledge outside influences how often should this happen?

I think there are are some factors that cannot be ignored, usually a rare occurrence but they can make it impossible for children to focus. Then there are the factors that affect children on a daily basis and we need to carry on with school life. In this case the normality of routine is what can help children to focus and function. This is a difficult debate and can be hard to understand for me personally as a student teacher.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

The cutting room

2010-02-04T10:15:00.001Z

I have a feeling this will take far longer than anticipated, and we anticipated it would take a long time!

Part of the problem is the amount of video that we recorded. What can I say? We had a lot to film. The other problem is the conversion process. I get the feeling we should have started this sooner than today. We are using a flash converter on a laptop and both keep crashing...

Updates will follow.

Monday 1st February - the long day

2010-02-01T22:18:00.003Z

project:icanRead

Engagement and pupil self assessment

This project is based on the concept of using the ipod as a voice recording tool, pupils record themselves reading and they can then listen to their recordings and self assess their reading. There has obviously been work done on how to self assess and the pupils have a matrix that shows the desired expectations. The instant feedback that the pupils are able to access has clear benefits. The only worry I would have is that sometimes pupils can be overly critical of themselves, however, with clear guidance and observation I am sure that this would be well monitored. For me this project shows just another way that ipods or the iphone can be used as a replacement for other gadgets that would be useful in a classroom. One piece of technology many uses.

We had a look at some apps that may be of use in nursery and discussed the disadvantages of the many good apps available that have American voices. The issue with this is the speech model for the children. Differences in pronunciation and dialect could easily confuse a child who is just beginning to grasp a better understanding of the language around them. There will be further posts on apps that would be useful for the preschool age group in the future so stay posted and if you have any suggestions please add them to the comments section.

Voice Band (not for nursery) Imagine an app that can teach children about the composition of music, not composition as in how to write the music but composition as in the layers that make up a piece of music. The video explains it better than I can, but even for my musically challenge self this is great fun, thanks Sharon for showing us it.

Frankenstory is a tool that has so much potential for enhancing literacy skills and collaboration. Pupils would work in partners to create a four part story consisting of 40 words (maximum) per section. In a similar way to the game consequences pupils only see the last 10 words of what has been written before. Lauren and I created a Frankenstory between us in class today and we both enjoyed the activity. Taking inspiration from Mr Handley (@tomhenzley), and his work on PrimaryPad collaborating between his school in England and a Canadian school, I think Frankenstory could be used with a similar link. The set up with the sections being sent to email would work very well with time differences. Now for the downside. Sadly there is one. On the site are examples of Frankenstories created by other users and the content is, to put it mildly, unsuitable for children to access. This is a real pity but hopefully I will find either an alternative or the creators will set up an alternative for using with children. If you know of any similar sites please let me know.

Wallwisher, embedding and thank you

2010-02-01T13:43:00.003Z

Our task today was to use a collaborative tool creatively. As a pre-activity I set up the above wall and asked others in the elective group to contribute. I then asked the world of twitter to add a post. My aim was to gather a sample of what is already happening in classrooms in order to expand on ideas that I have. This is where the collaborative aspect really kicks in.

I often see something new and have lots of ideas for implementation then I get to a school to find it is not so easy. Sometimes this can be due to connection issues and other times my ideas are just not feasible in the way I imagined. Yet the connections that I have made with teachers, around the world, on the internet and especially twitter, provide me with more and more inspiration every day. If I follow you on Twitter this is my opportunity to say thank you for sharing and thank you for inspiring.

ICT: Blog on Blogging

2010-01-30T16:51:00.001Z

Why have a blog?

Tina Bettison in 'Social Networking for Rookies' states

"The purpose is to engage, inform and entertain, especially if you want to build a community of followers."

But what is a blog? The Oxford dictionary has this definition -

"blog: noun, An Internet website containing an eclectic and frequently updated assortment of items of interest to its author. 1999-. [Shortening of weblog.] So blogger, noun."

Often a blog is likened to a diary. A diary is a place to record your thoughts, opinions and experiences therefore a blog is indeed like a diary. The difference comes in the form of interactivity. A diary is rarly shared with others and it is definitely not a collaborative piece of work.

A blog, on the other hand, offers users and readers the opportunity to share opinions, to comment on the opinions of others and it can also provide a platform for the justification of opinions. The author can offer information relating to experiences and opinions and provide explanation on their conclusions.

Bettison also refers to the concept that a blog should be subjective. Without some element of bias a blog will lose the sense of personality that engages the reader.

It is this personality that makes a blog an ideal medium for reflection. Entries that are formed quickly demonstrate initial reactions to experiences and this can remind the author of their opinion at a particular point in time.

This is the form of entry that I find most difficult to publish. From writing these draft entries I am learning a great deal about myself. I am able to recognise the reactive side of my personality. I often write an entry that shortly afterwards I no longer completely agree with. I have learned to hit the save button rather than publish. Bettison would say this technique detracts from the blogging experience and perhaps I could contribute my reaction to a lack of confidence in sharing my opinions.

Either way I know that I am on a learning journey and the posts that I publish will hopefully demonstrate this to readers and perhaps more importantly to myself. I have a record of my progress which in turn can provide a basis for future reflection. Like watching a child grow: if you see them every day the gradual change can be barely noticeable until you compare their current height to the measurement taken six months previously. In six months time I will have a comparison point that will highlight the contrast between my current knowledge and the knowledge that I have gained.

Over the last year I feel I have learned a great deal, yet the more knowledge I gain the more I see how much I still have to learn. This can be linked to the words of Socrates "scio me nescire", the most common translation for this being "I know that I know nothing". The partner sensation to this statement is what gives me the desire and motivation to find out more. The more I feel my amateur status the greater my hunger for the next experience, the next chance to grow in knowledge.

This is the best description that I can currently offer for my love of learning. I learn from everything but most importantly I learn from everyone.

Week 2: Part Deux

2010-01-30T00:47:00.004Z

The first thing we looked at today was gadgets: the Nintendo DS; ipod touch; a handheld projector and [drum roll...] IPHONES!!!

We had a quick run through of an app called Lifecasting that can be used to create slideshows with audio attachment. This is a great app to use with a class for a range of different activities across different curricular areas. It is easy to work, although there can be some confusion with the steps and instruction needs to be clear in this area. The audio attachment is time limited and therefore gives pupils an achievable time-frame to plan a script. By setting group based tasks you are incorporating collaboration between the pupils and this can branch out to inter-group collaboration. The benefits of this being that pupils may be able to undertake a task but not fully understand the process. If they demonstrate this process to others they develop their own understanding. This is based on constructivist theory and can be developed to establish metacognition in the learner.

Our Lecturer invited us to use text messaging to send her any questions during the input. The reasoning behind this is that often students do not contribute as they do not want to speak out for various reasons (embarrassment, fear of being wrong, uncertainty). This is an excellent way of encouraging more active participation and questions can be asked anonymously. More information about this can be found on our lecturers blog.

Another tool that we explored was Storybird. Storybird allows you to create your own ebook using a range of graphics provided. The graphics can stimulate imagination and creative writing. The other element of using storybird is that users can work together to create storybirds that are personal to them both individually and as a group. I like the collaborative feature as often you need help with inspiration in storytelling. You can also never tell where the story will lead to. Users chose the graphics and these can either compliment their existing idea or stimulate a new idea. Then text is added and this process can be shared with contributors adding to the story. Once a storybird has been constructed it can be shared either publicly or privately, through invitation.

group workings

2010-01-29T23:55:00.002Z

I was recently directed towards an article titled Coopperative Learning Two Heads Learn Better Than One (Johnson and Johnson, 1988). After reading this article here is my thinking:

The article describes the different approaches to group work and student interactions.

"There are three basic ways students can interact with each other as they learn. They can compete to see who is "best"; they can work individualistically on their own toward a goal without paying attention to other students; or they can work cooperatively with a vested interest in each other's learning as well as their own." (Johnson & Johnson, 1988)

Cooperation is at the heart of society. We must have skills that enable us as individuals to be able to work with others to achieve a common aim. This penetrates our daily lives at home, in the workplace and in social settings. The acquisition of skills that can be developed though cooperative learning may be likened to the description of the hidden curriculum whereby there are certain skills, attitudes and expectations that need to be taught alongside the formal curriculum.

With the move to Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland the hidden curriculum is becoming more explicit through the four capacities; successful learners; confident individuals; responsible citizens and effective contributors the holistic view of the learner is taken into account. The learning experience entails much more than subject knowledge. Although these elements have formed the basis of our education system for many years it is only now that they are being openly described as such.

The article "Two heads learn better than one" describes the need for effective management of the cooperative learning environment; "communication, leadership, trust building, and conflict resolution" are the necessary skills for cooperative learning to be successful. The planning phase, the actual lesson and grouping all need to be considered prior to implementing a cooperative learning scheme. Careful monitoring of the groups to ensure that the process is to be effective is essential. There are also links to research that indicates pupils learn more effectively in the cooperative environment.

When I first read the article I was not so clear on the intention as my mind was unfocused on the process. Since reading and reflecting on the article I am eager to learn more about cooperative learning and the implementation of cooperative learning in certain areas. I feel the most important aspect of structuring a learning environment is balance. If we group work competitively or individualistically as the article describes then we are not providing a broad balance to pupils.

"Let's Get Creative"

2010-01-29T22:50:00.002Z

The world waited with bated breath (well at least the technology world did), "the internet just died", twitter was processing slower than a sleepy snail. Apple, namely Steve Jobs, were on the verge of releasing their latest must have.

The unveiling of the ipad.

Oooos and aaaahs were aplenty yet the dis-grumbles were already beginning. The name, it seems, has patent issues as the iphone did in a similar way . There is also the discontented whisper that the ipad is essentially a supersized iphone.

Apple describe the ipad as

Lets think about that... Super fast, easy to navigate, user friendly, amazing image quality, split screen capability in mail platform, books, videos, HD, newspapers, anyway orientation, amazing battery life...

Flip side: no camera (comes as an addition), no flash player, no multitasking.

This would not stop me from wanting to use it in a classroom. The 9.7inch display is perfect for group work and the ease of use that this tactile machine provides is unrivalled.

Personally, until I can hold one in my hand and use it, I will gladly accept the hype even if it is lacking Flash. (Which secretly still remains a bone of contention for me, without flash this cannot be the ultimate device, but then again Apple do not claim that it is the ultimate device and nothing can be perfect.) No matter what criticism people through at the ipad you cannot dispute that it is pretty slick and no matter how much I try to be objective I WANT ONE!

The Forgotten Prequel

2010-01-26T23:12:00.002Z

Often when I write, or even speak, about something that interests me I forget to fill in the gaps that have led me to that point. It seems to slip past my conscious brain that people do not automatically know my background, my thoughts, my ideals and my ambitions. Therefore I am guilty of assumption but technically speaking it is a subconscious omission and I am attempting to rectify that. You are reading the proof.

At a point near the end of B.Ed.1 we had to choose an elective. The choices where subject based and I dithered between science and ict for my first choice. It was difficult, I enjoy both and wanted to make sure that I would chose the one that would provide the most development for me. I spoke to the lecturers from each department and still I was not convinced which way to go. Science is something that I have always enjoyed, in high school I was involved with as much science as possible it was one of my subjects (well 3 of them actually). Ict, on the other hand, was not one of my subjects. Don't misunderstand me, I did enjoy it but it didn't spark an enthusiasm the way science, or even maths, did. Why was this?

You know the cliché about programming the video? "How do you programme a video? Get a child to do it" Well I was that child, literally. I never had to think about using technology I just did it, still do. In my mind this is how I view children. They just do it, they don't worry about pressing the wrong button. Perhaps this is a mistake? If it is all my theories are unfounded and have no structure to support them at all. Yet, I still believe in this. If you want to solve a problem you should not shy away from it, you should tackle it head on. This is how children, especially young children, approach technology. Openly.

When it came to selecting the choices for the elective I still hadn't decided for sure. I chose ict as a first choice and justified it by saying that I chose the option that I thought would be more difficult to teach. This is both true and false. Teaching ict is not something that I plan to do a great deal of. Before you question this question yourself about it. Do we need to teach children how to use ict? Do they need to have lessons devoted to desktop layout, how to save a file or send an email? Or should you teach with ict as a tool?

At the end of first year I knew that ict was something much more than people realised, I was aware of some of the things happening in the field of education yet my knowledge was basic and undeveloped. It still is. When we returned to university and started our 2nd year I was still naive about so much. The last 6 months have been a very steep, but enjoyable, learning curve for me. I have discovered the benefits of having a PLN (personal learning network), I have been involved in using ict the way I would like to in a classroom, I have even spoken with teachers that were unsure of using ict in other ways and convinced them to try some things.

My children have always used technology. They both played on a computer from around 6 months old. I have never had to show them how to send an email yet they do, I never showed them how to use msn yet they can, I have definitely never shown them how to use my itunes account yet I get invoices for their apps frequently (mostly free ones). They have of course watched me doing all these things and got hold of my itunes password whilst I was distracted one day. This is not a problem for me. They know to be sensible, they know which kind of app is suitable for them, they also know not to buy anything priced over £1 without permission. They try things and delete if they don't enjoy. (I must add in here that they both have an ipod touch, see forgetting about detail again!) They have daily challenges that I email to them and they complete before sending their answers on a Friday afternoon. They keep in contact with family who live far away through ebuddy. They plan things to do together in games. They are collaborating and communicating every time they use them. They use other devices also and have monsters. My children are not permanently attached to a gadget or a computer, they do all sorts of activities. The technology is just a piece of the puzzle that is their learning journey. This is the same for me; technology is only one piece of the puzzle but quite an essential piece.

I have always seen potential in games based learning, it is only now that it is becoming accepted that I can admit that without sounding crazy. Haven't we always used games to help learning? Think snap, snakes and ladders, monopoly. Why couldn't we use computer games for the same purpose? Even the earliest computer games involved some form of problem solving and reasoning skills. They have certainly always had the capability of holding children's attention for long periods.

If we want to making learning an enjoyable experience for children then we need to present it in enjoyable forms. I have said this many a time and no doubt will repeat it often, children just get technology. If you think you need a book to be able to learn you would be wrong and if you think I'm saying that you need a computer to learn you would also be wrong. What you need to learn is motivation. In my eyes no matter where that motivation comes from it can only be a good thing. I believe that teachers want to see children develop and build on their sense of awe at the world. I get that sense of awe when I see a child learn and in return I learn so much more.

As to why I went with ict over science? I'll let you decide that.

Automatic living: who becomes the machine?

2010-01-24T18:25:00.031Z

Our lecturer is so enthusiastic about what we can and will achieve that it is hard not to get swept up in the whirlwind alongside this amazing lady. To be an inspiring teacher you need to be inspired and she is clearly inspired, driven and motivated by learning. Not just learning but maximising learning. Opening up a whole new world to today's learners of whatever age. This new world is developing all the time and the most exciting aspect? We don't know what it will look like tomorrow. The speed of change is uncontrollable as is the learning potential of anyone who is inspired.

As future teachers we need to be flexible, progressive, open-minded, willing to remember the old and embrace the new. We need to fine tune the balance of working with and alongside pupils but most of all we need to step out of constraints. We need to not only step out of the box we need to make a leap into the unknown and utilise what it has to offer.

We want everyone to be a learner and recognise that that is what they are. We never stop learning, we just stop recognising or admitting it. If someone asked you would you rather live life automatically or would you rather live life what would you choose? I'm guessing if you have read this far you would avoid the auto pilot like the plague. If this is the case why would we wish to encourage our future to live any differently?

With this in mind shouldn't we use technology to our advantage? It is a natural progression for learners to follow society in how they wish to learn and the means of engagement most appropriate. Future technology is not about operating on auto pilot but enhancing and extending what is achievable today and into tomorrow.

Week 2: Monday Digital Movie Making Edited

2010-01-19T12:07:00.004Z

Digital Movie Making

The challenge: Work in groups to produce a storyboard - this will from the basis of our movie (to be filmed next week)

The background: Three of the four members of our group had previously worked together.

The group dynamics: the benefit of having worked together previously is that as a group we tend to have reached the 'performing stage'.

The plan: Integrate technology to help with planning process. The reasoning behind this is that all members will have the opportunity to contribute, ideas can often be communicated more easily when written, it will be evident if any member becomes lost or confused as it is easy to track contributions, there will be a record of the brainstorming process. A group member who was ill was able to join in from home and this also provided an introduction to Etherpad for other group members. It was explained that Etherpad has been bought over by Google and alternatives suggested: PiratePad and PrimaryPad. We are also all able to work from home to develop the project.

The plan worked very well, the novelty of Etherpad mirrored the reaction you see in pupils when they are given something new and exciting to try. Very quickly we began working on brainstorming, proving the theory that using is the best form of tutorial. This was an excellent insight into the things that you would need to monitor, as a teacher, if using this with a class. The first thing to make clear is that chat should be in the chat section. Our pad was created for brainstorming purposes and is quite messy to look at, but, the main content is exactly that: brainstorming as a group. The evidence of tangents is there, the refocusing by different group members at different stages shows that everyone was aware of the end goal: to create a storyboard. Most importantly the evidence of task engagement is there. This brings into question the use of language when brainstorming, when do you pick pupils up on their language use and when do you not. This is a difficult decision and we need to remember not to stifle creativity when addressing this.

The use of Etherpad was not necessarily ideal for the task itself but it was effective for the structure on this occasion. Another tool could have been a mindmapping tool but this may have taken longer to use than Etherpad and can be less flexible than the style we used in the pad. It is important to remember that a tool can be useful for one group on one occasion but that does not mean it will be useful for another group or indeed the same group on a different occasion.

As an addition I shared Tom Barrett's @tombarrett Interesting Ways to use a Pocket Camera presentation with the elective group. This was added to our delicious tag ICT_elective.

Next Steps: Complete storyboard (task for today) and prepare for filming next Monday.

Some excellent examples of how digital movie making could be used both within a classroom and on a lager scale can be found on Sharon Tonner's Voices of the World page. Further background to this project can also be viewed in The Story of the Voices of the World. This project shows that uses forr digital movie making, among many other tools, extend beyond the confines of a classroom, school, town, region or even country.

Week One - An Introduction

2010-01-07T14:57:00.001Z

Today we looked at Wallwisher and Delicious and their use within the elective. I am already a user of delicious and have had some experience with wallwisher previously. There is potential to use both of these tools within a classroom setting.

With delicious it may be useful to set up a class account which could follow them through the school. This could contain links to websites for research, homework and previous projects. Collaborative blogs could be bookmarked here for ease of finding. Pupils could recommend other sites that could be beneficial through the tag system. Pupils would need to be aware that they cannot post inappropriate links on the class page and this would provide a basis of internet safety awareness. It also gives pupils some control over their learning experience as if they are thinking about a site to link to and the tag they will assign to that site then they will be starting the evaluation process. To begin with it is likely that they will not think about purpose in much depth but with integration into class inputs this will become clearer.

For wallwisher, I would immediately think of a KWL grid format for planning. Although there are other uses. Pupils would find the concept of the wall appealing due to the visual aspect of it. It could also be useful in areas such as health and wellbeing. I am looking forward to using other forms of collaborative technologies and seeing how well they work in practice. I would like to explore Google Wave in this way especially as it is such a new concept.

At the end of the module we are planning a trip to LTS to visit the Consolarium, including Derek Robertson, this will be a great opportunity to see the work that is being done using the field of games based learning. If you know me well enough you will know that this is an area of particular interest of mine and one which I hope to make full use of in my professional practice both on placement and in the future.

While in Glasgow we will have a look at the Glasgow Science Centre as obviously the links between technologies and science are fundamental.

My interest in the module has not changed following todays input, it still holds a lot of attraction in terms of learning and I am looking forward to the challenges ahead.