Let's say in my EPL School the students will be doing a unit on space during Term 2. All children could have their own blogs, their own Space E-Journal to which they add on a regular basis what they have learned; and they could include links of interesting websites, embed pictures, videos and vokis. Students could give one another feedback and more ideas.
At the same time students could work in small teams, each working on a different project about space, and set up a group wiki to which each group member is permitted to add. The wiki can contain images, videos and more. Students could also collaborate on a class wiki to which each team adds information about their topic thus creating a more comprehensive wiki.
Gifted and talented students with similar interest could collaborate in a wiki on a particular topic of common interest, and they can work on this in and out of class time.
I imagine children would have a lot of fun creating their own vokis and use them in their blogs to introduce sections or at the end to summarise, making those characters or animals talk. I invite you to press 'play' and hear my talking dog. I guess vokis could also be used for sound effects.
The reading 'Teacher Education and the New Knowledge Environment' by Heath (2001), in which he talks about two modes of knowledge, comes to mind. Heath sees Mode 1 knowledge as being attained through a more conventional, theoretical, authoritative way, and Mode 2 knowledge as a more practical, procedural approach. With these technologies students would have opportunities to engage in Mode 2 learning and encompass, as Heath puts it on page 4, "...multiple sites of knowledge production, multiple modes of knowledge and multiple means of its distribution."
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Blogs, Wikis and Vokis
Creating this blog was interesting, but it took me a very long time, again and again clicking on all the tabs and figuring out how to use the different features.
I didn't find setting up an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) aggregator as difficult as understanding the concept of one. Anyway, I think I do understand it now: we can use an aggregator such as google reader to notify us of new postings in other blogs that are of interest to us rather than going into each blog separately, thus saving a lot of time. It sounds simple now that I 'got it'.
I didn't consciously know what the word wiki meant even though I have consulted wikipedia on many occasions. Creating my own wiki was fun, but again, it was a process that took me a few hours. I found the videos in http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour with their clear instructions very helpful.
Please feel free to have a look at my wiki at http://spaceexploring.wikispaces.com/.
What is the difference between a blog and a wiki? This is how I understand it:
A blog is a personal online journal which is accessible by others who are able to give feedback.
A wiki is a collaboration tool that is accessible by many and can be added to by the ones who have permission.
I am just about to attempt to add my freshly created voki to my blog. I wonder if it works.
So Glad I Can Talk
I didn't find setting up an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) aggregator as difficult as understanding the concept of one. Anyway, I think I do understand it now: we can use an aggregator such as google reader to notify us of new postings in other blogs that are of interest to us rather than going into each blog separately, thus saving a lot of time. It sounds simple now that I 'got it'.
I didn't consciously know what the word wiki meant even though I have consulted wikipedia on many occasions. Creating my own wiki was fun, but again, it was a process that took me a few hours. I found the videos in http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour with their clear instructions very helpful.
Please feel free to have a look at my wiki at http://spaceexploring.wikispaces.com/.
What is the difference between a blog and a wiki? This is how I understand it:
A blog is a personal online journal which is accessible by others who are able to give feedback.
A wiki is a collaboration tool that is accessible by many and can be added to by the ones who have permission.
I am just about to attempt to add my freshly created voki to my blog. I wonder if it works.
So Glad I Can Talk
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Coping with this ICT Course
Finally I arrived at the now, well, nearly. I thought that it would be pretty 'cool' to learn more about ICTs, and I haven't changed my mind. However, when I looked at the huge amount of the first week's reading materials and since everything to do with computers takes me ages to grasp, I realised that 10 hours per week is nowhere near enough! Therefore this little slow learner has spent about thirty hours per week on this subject; and sometimes not getting anywhere. There were times when I thought I had to drop out, however, I am over that now and I'm extremely glad about this!
Reflection on Music Degree
During this degree I had two violin teachers. The first insisted on choosing the pieces that I would work on and later play in my exams, while the second let me choose the music. This is a very clear example of teacher centred and then learner centred. While with one teacher there was a good atmosphere for most of the time but occasionally terrible tension, the lessons with the other teacher always went smoothly and there was much enthusiasm on her part and on mine (DOL 1 and DOL 5, habits of mind).
Many of the subjects had a real purpose. I was able to pass on some of what I learned in my own lessons to my students, sometimes as immediate as the next day or week. When performing in public I had the opportunity to give to the community, and I have been using 'Sibelius' in my work extensively to write and arrange music for my students.
Finally I am extremely glad that I learned about computers. Without this knowledge, which is still quite limited, I don't think I would have been able to do this course.
Many of the subjects had a real purpose. I was able to pass on some of what I learned in my own lessons to my students, sometimes as immediate as the next day or week. When performing in public I had the opportunity to give to the community, and I have been using 'Sibelius' in my work extensively to write and arrange music for my students.
Finally I am extremely glad that I learned about computers. Without this knowledge, which is still quite limited, I don't think I would have been able to do this course.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Music Degree
My next 'bit' of formal study was my music degree, which I completed in 2009. I majored in the violin. The lessons and daily practice sessions (more than two hours a day, which mostly seemed to pass in no time!) were very much hands-on. So was Aural and Practical Musicianship, which included 36 hours of playing in one or more groups each term. I played in different ensembles, local orchestras and was part of a bush band over the course of the degree, often performing in public.
When I first started, I had close to zero computer experience. I was shocked when I found out that all the course material was online and that lecturers preferred e-mail over phone conversations. I had no choice but to figure out, often with the help of my youngest son, how everything works.
I did conduction and learned how to use 'Sibelius', an excellent notation program. I learned to record music with 'Protools'. In my favourite assignment I arranged a piano piece for full orchestra and became so engaged that I forgot about meals and everything else in the world. The whole rather complex arrangement was completed in only a few days. For another assignment I wrote and recorded a song.
Then there was music theory and history.
When I first started, I had close to zero computer experience. I was shocked when I found out that all the course material was online and that lecturers preferred e-mail over phone conversations. I had no choice but to figure out, often with the help of my youngest son, how everything works.
I did conduction and learned how to use 'Sibelius', an excellent notation program. I learned to record music with 'Protools'. In my favourite assignment I arranged a piano piece for full orchestra and became so engaged that I forgot about meals and everything else in the world. The whole rather complex arrangement was completed in only a few days. For another assignment I wrote and recorded a song.
Then there was music theory and history.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Reflection on High School
In high school most of the lessons were largely chalk and talk except for sport (there were no theory lessons), visual arts, music and chemistry, and they were very much teacher centred. I cannot remember any excursions. There were no computers or TVs at school. A few times old silent films were shown in history and geography lessons. The quality of these films was shocking!
Most of the time teachers stood in front and wrote onto the blackboard that which we had to copy, or they told us what to work on in our textbooks. New concepts were explained and there were class discussions. That was about it. There were several students who were not engaged in the lessons, especially when they were not interested in the particular subject. This is where the first of Marzano's Dimensions of Learning, (DOL 1), attitudes and perceptions, comes to mind. Who is responsible for students' negative attitudes towards subjects, the student or the teacher? According to Marzano the answer is both.
We, as teachers, should
1. help students foster positive attitudes. This includes helping them to develop strategies for improving their attitudes and perceptions and
2. design lessons which keep students engaged.
Kearsley and Shneiderman's Engagement Theory implies that learning activities should
1. happen in collaborative teams
2. be project-based and
3. have a real-life focus
There are three components to the Engagement Theory, Relate-Create-Donate.
Relate: students work on a problem task they can relate to
Create: students create a solution to the problem
Donate: students give the solution to the world
When I watched and listened to George Lucas, the founder of Edutopia, talk about 21st Century education, I realised that this is the Engagement Theory in action. Teachers are there to help students nurture their interest and confidence. Students work together on projects that have a real meaning, work on something they can give to the community.
Most of the time teachers stood in front and wrote onto the blackboard that which we had to copy, or they told us what to work on in our textbooks. New concepts were explained and there were class discussions. That was about it. There were several students who were not engaged in the lessons, especially when they were not interested in the particular subject. This is where the first of Marzano's Dimensions of Learning, (DOL 1), attitudes and perceptions, comes to mind. Who is responsible for students' negative attitudes towards subjects, the student or the teacher? According to Marzano the answer is both.
We, as teachers, should
1. help students foster positive attitudes. This includes helping them to develop strategies for improving their attitudes and perceptions and
2. design lessons which keep students engaged.
Kearsley and Shneiderman's Engagement Theory implies that learning activities should
1. happen in collaborative teams
2. be project-based and
3. have a real-life focus
There are three components to the Engagement Theory, Relate-Create-Donate.
Relate: students work on a problem task they can relate to
Create: students create a solution to the problem
Donate: students give the solution to the world
When I watched and listened to George Lucas, the founder of Edutopia, talk about 21st Century education, I realised that this is the Engagement Theory in action. Teachers are there to help students nurture their interest and confidence. Students work together on projects that have a real meaning, work on something they can give to the community.
High School
In Germany high school started in grade 5, and I went to the local gymnasium. All of a sudden we had a different teacher for each subject, and there were many. The different sciences were taught as separate subjects: physics, chemistry and biology. There was history, geography, social studies, religion, sport, visual arts and music as well as mathematics and German and, can you believe it, the boys did woodwork while we, the girls, were knitting and sowing!
Chemistry was my favourite subject. I have fond memories of my passionate chemistry teacher guiding us through one experiment after another.
When I was in year 8 my parents separated. It was decided that my sister and one brother would go with my mother, and my youngest brother and I with my father. I was not coping well with this new change. This became apparent at school when my marks dropped by one in each subject. I found it difficult to focus on lessons, became disengaged and spent much of my time in class staring outside through the window. I began to hate school and I was never able to get my marks up again. Maslow's Hierarchy had crumbled. While I still had food and shelter, there was no more the stability I had enjoyed before. The family unit had split, I didn't know where I belonged, and this went all the way up the hierarchy. My self-esteem wasn't what it used to be and I was not achieving to my potential.
Chemistry was my favourite subject. I have fond memories of my passionate chemistry teacher guiding us through one experiment after another.
When I was in year 8 my parents separated. It was decided that my sister and one brother would go with my mother, and my youngest brother and I with my father. I was not coping well with this new change. This became apparent at school when my marks dropped by one in each subject. I found it difficult to focus on lessons, became disengaged and spent much of my time in class staring outside through the window. I began to hate school and I was never able to get my marks up again. Maslow's Hierarchy had crumbled. While I still had food and shelter, there was no more the stability I had enjoyed before. The family unit had split, I didn't know where I belonged, and this went all the way up the hierarchy. My self-esteem wasn't what it used to be and I was not achieving to my potential.
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