The Learning Sequence and Rationale...Poetry - Safe Online

Three Phases of Learning – Three Technologies

Listed below are broad phases of learning however, they underpin most learning design in the primary years curriculum. Extra phases could be added, for example produce, but my belief is that produce is just part of the create and refine loop. Other models of learning I regularly use in my pedagogical approach such as the IMPACT model (Project 600) or Information Process (Information studies) also align with the three broad phases. In my initial planning I decided when and how certain technological tools at certain times would be the most appropriate way or place for students to work in that phase of learning. In my blog entry that contains background information you will find further discussion around the curriculum content of the unit of work.

It is important to note:

• ·         the learning in the three lessons below is in sequence but it is NOT a set of back to back lessons, they sit within a unit of work surrounded by other learning activities.
• ·         in the Wikispaces classroom is where the majority of the work will take place but students will go in and out of this virtual space throughout most of the unit to either other digital resources or perhaps print resources.
• ·         scaffolding and exemplars are provided in the main wiki room and  teacher/s will differentiate instruction amongst individuals and groups (both face-to-face and in the Wiki Classroom) via comments, notes added to wiki project content and referral to further resources.
• ·         technical skills and site navigation will be demonstrated by the teachers at their respective schools (in class) via whiteboard demonstration.
• ·         knowledge acquisition occurs within all three phases of learning in association with the three main technological tools used. Students come to each phase with prior knowledge of content and technology.

This unit of work was designed to provide students with an opportunity to use 21st Century skills and media fluency, I identified in a previous blog, to achieve the learning outcomes. It was also designed to allow me to strengthen an area of my practice mentioned in the same blog, "I think in practice though I do not provide enough opportunities for creative and critical thinking". Effective online communication and collaboration will be key to the successful completion of the poetic presentation.

Investigate and Plan – Web Conference using Collaborate platform

WHAT - Students will be introduced to the topic, the project, each other (team members) and they will have a live online session with a children’s writer of poetry (for example Ken Nesbitt who offers online author meetings).  Students will engage in the poetry writing process and be invited to ask questions about content and the assigned project.

WHO - Year 6 students of two classes from two different schools, class teachers and the invited author.

WHY – Collaborate is a secure online meeting tool available to students and teachers when at school; outside guests can be invited in by a moderator. Presenters in collaborate can upload presentations and present in audio and video. Break Out rooms can be utilised for small group interaction. Applications can be shared in real time. Files can be shared in real time. The session can be recorded so absent students receive the same introductory information.

Students in the state’s regional areas often lack access to guest speakers. Using a web conference to meet and chat to a genuine author makes for good inspiration. It is also a cheaper option in this time of tight education budgets. The meeting of students from another school provides variety to the learning event and requires students to demonstrate online social etiquette and communication skills.

HOW – I would create a Collaborate session in iConnect. Organise an author and send the link to all participants with a start time. I would give the author moderator privileges on session entry so they could upload their presentation. Break out rooms could be set up so teams could meet, chat and perhaps complete an activity together. Students will have had to have an introductory session prior to the author chat so they have some familiarity with the basic tools. Currently, the majority of Year 5 students in our schools have not experienced being webconference participants. The likelihood of students working in Collaborate in future years is high so this was an appropriate unit of work in which to introduce this digital environment. A second session in a webconference mid project will reinforce skill acquisition as students work with their team in breakout rooms.

Create and Refine – using Wikispaces Classroom titled wwwrite at http://wwwrite.wikispaces.com/

If you would like an invite to this wwwrite Wiki Classroom please provide your email address in the comments below or go to the wiki and “request membership”  J

WHAT – Students will communicate, create and edit in their project area.  Students will access, and add to, resources in this virtual classroom. They will upload artefacts and post responses to each other. They will write a poem together and present it to all class members. They will make decisions and provide feedback in the Wiki Classroom. Built into the learning environment and task (but not as a focus outcome) will be the ethical use of materials by students. Explore wwwrite to see just what students will experience!

WHO – All registered students and their class teachers. The guest author from the webconference above could be invited into the wiki to comment on the poem each group has decided to publish in audio. This final feedback from a “mentor” in the field would add to the authenticity of the task.

WHY – A wiki is somewhere students can edit each other’s work and post comments both asynchronously and synchronously in the same virtual place so it was a better option than a blog. It is password protected and can be set as a closed community. Teachers can view each student’s contribution and participation level by accessing the assessment area. Using Wikispaces afforded the embedding of podcasts and the setting up of project areas for each team. Adding pages is simple and provides a logical format not dissimilar to a book format (allowing children to transfer knowledge). There are other affordances to wiki use as per the table in my blog post Affordances of Wikis - Wikispaces.

HOW – Students will have access to the wwwrite classroom 24/7 but they will have a one hour lesson each week in school time to work on their project. Teachers will access project team areas out of class and work with individuals in class. Students will be able to access from home in their own time.

Present – using Podomatic and Glogster

WHAT – Into Podomatic students upload an audio file of their poem presentation designed to encourage younger children to be cyber aware and safe online. This file is translated into a pod cast that can be embedded in the wwwrite wiki classroom.  A teacher will collate all podcasts and embed them into a Glog that can be uploaded to the Learning Place as a learning object. At this stage adding two new

WHO – Students (Podcast) and teacher (Glogster) with demonstration to students. All EQ students and teachers will have access to the final Glog in the Learning Place - Student Spaces. The Glog is similar to that on the Final Product page of the wiki classroom.

WHY – The students have prior knowledge of recording with Audacity and Windows Media Record function. Using Podomatic will take them further into audio production building on current knowledge. Podomatic podcasts can have an image included and they embed seamlessly into Wikispaces. Glogster was selected as a quick and easy way to create a single image with the podcasts embedded.   This allowed for simplified access by the intended audience.

HOW – Teachers will demonstrate in class how to create a podcast in Podomatic. After a final copy of the poem is published (in text in their project rooms), teams will decide who will provide the voice to be recorded and who will create the podcast. Creation of an image to sit with the podcast would add a further challenge students may choose to take up. Images are another powerful way to communicate an idea.

The unit Poetry - Safe Online has been designed through the intertwining of my pedagogical, content and technological knowledge. It is a unit that is framed by my core belief that every student is capable of successful learning, each person's personal best looks different and it is my job to bring out the personal best in my students.

Poetry - Safe Online (A Year 6 Unit of Work) - Background Information and Introduction

This creative writing unit of work would run for 5-6 weeks.

It would be implemented as a blend of face-to-face teaching/learning and synchronous and asynchronous learning in a digital environment.

It would involve Year 6 students from two schools in project teams of four.

Learning design is framed by Australian F-10 Curriculum -  General Capabilities Continuua and English Content Descriptors.

The students would have completed a Cyber Safety and Security unit of work the previous term providing them with prior knowledge of content.
Students at this year level also participate in a unit of work, in library lessons, titled "Ïs It Yours To Share?". Creative Commons, copyright and attribution are examined and practised earlier in the year and ethical use of other's work will be expected to be adhered to, as necessary, in the Wikispaces Classroom.

Students will have previously experienced recording with Audacity, blogging in a virtual classroom Education Queensland Learning place and uploading content to an EdStudio (also EQ) as part of previous Year 5 and 6 study. The majority of students should therefore bring sufficient prior knowledge of technology to the task. Transference of skills to similar tasks in a different online space will require higher order thinking.

A Wikispaces classroom titled wwwrite will be where students place digital artefacts and work collaboratively. Each team will have their own project area and pages only accessible to them within the space. All students will have access to the main classroom and pages. In the main classroom there is scaffolding and an exemplar as well as other resources of interest. Students can add to these resources.

The Problem

Most young children have access to digital devices that allow them to go online.
Many young children share too much personal information online. 

This could place them in a dangerous situation!

The Task

In your writing team write a persuasive rhyming poem which contains
cyber safety advice for middle primary students. Record the poem so the younger students have easy access.

My next post will elaborate on the learning sequence with particular reference to three distinct phases within the unit.

Planning a learning sequence - Popplet

I am a Teacher Librarian and therefore have some flexibility in learning design. The content areas I decided to focus on are from English and the General Capabilities of the Australian Curriculum. I have selected strands from the Year 6 level as I wanted students with sufficient basic literacy and technology skills to work fairly independently in the Wikispace classroom. In my role as TL supporting classroom teachers (English) and  providing instruction in a digital environment (all students) I decided to set a task that requires students to employ the 21st Century skills. The skills involved in content creation, collaboration, critical and reflective thinking and problem solving will all be practised within the unit. Socially constructed knowledge will result in a finished product to be used in an authentic project relevant to Year 6 students' life outside of the classroom.

This is a Popplet (concept web) at the early planning stage of the unit of work.

Networking and Collaboration in Blogs

A tool is only as good as the user...
As I become more comfortable with blogging and learn more about it's technological capabilities, the more blogging appeals to me for networking and collaboration. I am at the stage now where I can confidently instruct learners about blogging. I can see where a blog would be the most appropriate tool for various learning tasks and how this can be placed within learning design.

Being able to read the posts of others is where I learn most I think. I prefer social learning to other forms. Suggested tools, websites and other learning objects placed in blogs sends me on learning adventures - at my own pace. It is thought provoking to reflect on someone's opinion/situation/actions in their blog entry and compare their ideas to my own . This tends to result in changes to my knowledge base - the whole point of socially constructed learning! An example of this is advice from Kylie, " I was relieved that Authorstream maintains the multimedia and interactivity features of PowerPoint so that it is possible to embed these presentations without losing these features". This means I don't have to worry about features being lost with embedding as I have learnt by reading another's blog it won't be a problem.

Although my blog is only viewed by a few it meets my need as a place to think reflectively and clarify my thinking. My RSS feed alerts me to some great blog posts by others. For example today Silvia Tolisano has a postAnd you thought it could not be done - blogging in maths. I have sent this link to a peer I observed teach an online numeracy class last week, thought she might be interested.

When I read blog entries by people not in my field of work I sometimes struggle to understand their thinking because I have little background knowledge of their work environment and content. This does however ever broaden my thinking which is a good way to avoid becoming too insular in my chosen field. An example of this was reading a young doctor's blog. The work language was foreign to me but the social/people issues not so unfamiliar therefore reading his blog was a valid learning experience for me.

I agree with Suzy's mention of the amount of time required to investigate and play with the various technologies being significant. I found this a bit of an obstacle because of work and family commitments. My understanding of some tools was quite superficial although the tasks raised my awareness of the affordances of many spaces and digital media. Greater use of digital spaces and artefacts to better cater for authentic, problem based, collaborative learning (as opposed outdated pen and paper methods) is warranted. The use of Blogger in this course has met the requirements of 21st learning for me.

How Fun is Glogster?

The look of many of the templates in Glogster would appeal to children. Lots of colour!
My play example is not complete however, I would use it with the intention of students adding their own content to construct content knowledge. It took me a little while to master adding content as it is a two step process. All types of media can be added. It would be useful in the digital classroom as a collection place for resources on a topic/theme.
I particularly like how an image can be hyperlinked. You can add audio via uploading a file but I have nothing suitable at this stage.

Prezi

A Prezi designed to revisit the terms from the Project 600 reading strategies (Yr5).

Prezi tool is a very versatile presentation media. I have based mine on a template but they can be created from a blank. Pretty much any theme is possible. I chose a "construction" theme because we talk about the strategies being used to support/scaffold when reading for meaning. The zoom facility focusses the viewer's attention. The zoom out can be used to "hide" less important aspects so they are not constantly distracting from the main ideas. Video clips can be inserted as in Sandy Shannon's Prezi .
In terms of pedagogy it can be used to introduce or revise a concept, explain or even give instructions.
Viewers can replay sections with the drag of a mouse to suit learning speed. A presenter can stop a Prezi to add to the presentation in person. To extend learning hyperlinks can be added. Visuals can be inserted too. Prezi's can be played offline via USB. In relation to Powerpoint this tool's strength lies in it being less linear a viewer could examine back and forward in an out easily.

EDEL20002 Assignment 1: Reflective Synopsis

My Experience

Over the last several weeks I have explored blogs and wikis (constructing my own online spaces), and digital media such as images, audio and video. My blog reflections show evidence of development in my technological knowledge through the inclusion of artefacts that I have produced or located. My content knowledge has played a minor role in my reflections with mention of specific key learning areas and tasks to illustrate my application ideas. Each blog reflection discusses how ICT can be used in my pedagogy in alignment with my pedagogical framework (what I believe is important in my classroom). The reflections incorporate all three domains of the TPACK Framework which I now try to be conscious of when designing learning for my students. I based my reflective thinking around the affordances of technology on the Bloom's Revised Taxonomy, the Productive Pedagogies and the DiAL-e Framework. I felt the  DiAL-e Framework warranted investigation because it was referred to by Sandy Shannon and Kylie Joyce in their recent blog posts, as well as by Wes Heberlein a fellow eLearning student. I found it a user friendly framework to guide my thinking.

I have revisited my pedagogical framework on completion of these explorations and altered a little based on recent experiences and knowledge developed.  I would consider my teaching practice to have been largely transmissive in the 80's, mostly generative for the next 20 years and slowly growing to include more transformative pedagogical episodes - in line with my continued professional development. This observation of my practise is based on the terms used by Joan Wink, 2004.  Wink has also termed a transformative model of education as "critical pedagogy". This aligns closely to my pedagogical belief that higher order thinking skills (including critical thinking) are an essential 21st Century requirement, as supported by the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities statement.

More specific consideration to the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2009) for future Web 2.0 tool explorations would prompt me to stretch my technological and pedagogical skills, outside my comfort zone, when planning for student learning. Recently (this week in fact) Puentedura placed a slide presentation in his blog further exploring TPACK and SAMR and expanding on his earlier work. This reinforced the significance of understanding both concepts to ensure the focus of what the learner does (how and why) with digital artefacts is more important than the artefact in isolation. As per the visual below the ICT must be embedded in the curriculum not as a stand alone or add on to curriculum design.

Affordances of Technologies

"The nature and scope of ICT capability is not fixed, but is responsive to ongoing technological developments. This is evident in the emergence of advanced internet technology over the past few years and the resulting changes in the ways that students construct knowledge and interact with others."
ACARA 2014

This quote emphasises the need to constantly explore, assess and utilise the technology we have available to us to provide students with authentic learning experiences with current and emerging ICTs embedded. With regards technology assessment I considered the Wikis but have selected the affordances of Blogs as my focus analysis because I used this web space constantly during the last few weeks. I also explored audio and video media technology however, my more detailed affordances analysis is that of images.

Blogs

A blog is an online web space where users can create, share, provide feedback, embed other's artefacts and network with a like minded community. It is a flexible, user-centered space that can contain content in an audio, visual or text format. Content can be added directly or linked to outside sources.

As stated by Dron, 2011, "Soft technologies (of which a blog is) are flexible, supporting creativity and change because the gaps inside them have to be filled with processes constructed by people". Uitilising blogs for collaborative learning is a strategy grounded in social constructivist theory. The content is crowd generated.

Images

An image is a visual representation of someone's thinking (e.g. a concept, emotion, belief or experience).

If considering the IMPACT model of instruction (grounded in neuroscience) the first step "I for Inspiration" can be bought about through the use of images in innovate ways. The brains conscious sorting of input according to the DIPI criteria as per the video below means interesting images, positive and negative, can ignite emotion in the viewer.

Limitations of the brain from SentisDigital on Vimeo.

Once attention has been gained through interest the viewer will then try to make sense of the image by identifying the structure and organisation (visual syntax) and  by making connections to prior knowledge (visual semantics). Dr Ann Bamford's work, "The Visual Literacy White Paper" elaborates on the syntax and semantics of images . This learning can take place individually or socially if the image is situated in a group context (in a physical or online environment). The importance of visual literacy cannot be downplayed in today's image filled society. It is every teacher's responsibility to include image utilisation and image creation at all levels and in all content areas of education.

21st Century Teaching and Learning

Teaching is by design a complex and dynamic process. No two lessons, students or in school experiences is ever the same. The nature of current and emerging online technology presents similarly - complex and dynamic. Examining ones own pedagogical framework is difficult at best when trying to incorporate vast amounts of systemic push. Add to this mix the (unquestionable) need to embed technology into pedagogy and it all becomes quite a complicated process.

Developing a way of managing my thinking around technology and pedagogy - through exploring the affordances of a sample of tools and through further reading of academic discourse - has allowed me to expand my knowledge in both domains. This in turn equips me to better cater for the needs of the learners I am responsible for educating for their future. If I am to successfully facilitate learning by today's children a student-centered and interactive approach to teaching and learning must include digital technologies built into learning design to ensure active and highly participative learning.

Affordances of Images in Pedagogy

Images are a vital component of social communication. Visual literacy is necessary for us to comprehend images. The use of images in pedagogy offers many affordances. I have suggested but a few in the table below. The DiAL-e Framework helped guide my thinking so I have included a short YouTube video (of a Prezi presentation)from the website as an overview of what I kept in mind.

Video in Learning

A recent and interesting paper by Henderson, M. et al. (2010) Students Creating Digital Video in the Primary Classroom states "Student-created digital video is not a new idea but it is taking a remarkably long time to be integrated into the classroom as a common tool across the curriculum". This paper, accessed through the Australian Council for Computers in Education site, goes on to suggest this slow uptake may be due to hardware cost and teacher training but these issues are fortunately being eroded. I am in agreeance with the authors and over the last few years particularly have seen a significant increase in video production (by students) at my primary school. Personally as a Teacher Librarian, I have been an avid consumer of online video but a reticent producer. This week's analysis and exploration of media technologies has boosted my confidence in this aspect of my pedagogy to the point I believe I could now instruct students to create digital video artifacts.

This is my first attempt at placing personal video on YouTube. It is a snippet of my recent dolphin encounter. I used Screencast-O-Matic and played the DVD on my desktop to copy. I added music in YouTube.
It took me HOURS, but boy didn't I learn a lot after many failed attempts during all stages of the process.
Video recording of experiences by students allows later reflection and analysis of the event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj2a3XT0tys&list=HL1397367980&feature=mh_lolz

A plethora of instructional video can be located on the net with YouTube being the most popular in my home. My husband has replaced 4 iPhone screens using YouTube How-To! The advantage being he could pause and replay as many times as needed to be successful. In the classroom context this affordance is of high value in catering to the various learning pace of different students.

The University of Queensland discusses the Flipped Classroom as a way of shifting learning from the passive to the active so class time focus can be on around the higher order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. I feel as long as the learning from the video is used to scaffold and support more complex tasks it is a valid tool.

A quick example of how video can be utilised prior to in school learning.
Year 4 Food Chain studies from the Science curriculum.
The majority of students have the misconception that the food chain begins with plants. Assigning the viewing of the edTed video Dead Stuff as a homework task prior to a field excursion to locate brown matter in the school grounds would allow students to come to the task with some background knowledge they may not have otherwise had. The problem of ensuring the school gardens contain brown matter is a real life issue at my school.Students could produce educational video around the production of brown matter at the school (worm farming)to encourage other students to sort lunch litter correctly into bins to be recycled by the worms.

An easy way for students to create video is to convert a PowerPoint slide presentation to movie as I have below. I have taken one persons experience as a real life example to stimulate a problem based project.
This application of a Web 2.0 tool for storytelling allows the learner to make decisions in relation to their audience at all stages of the process. A reflective cycle of thinking would be repeated throughout the process of production.

The affordances of video are a combination of those associated with images and audio however, the combination of moving images with sound makes it a strong pedagogical tool. Through video recording students can relive moments and events to later reflect more critically. People around the globe are learning through video at home, in the workplace and in educational institutions. Digital video makes learning for all possible.

Sandy Shannon in her blog post Media 6.3 Video has demonstrated how video (around Top Level Reading Structures) can reinforce prior learning through revision. These videos would be great as part of a warm up routine in a reading session.

Audio in Learning

Audio in learning is certainly nothing new. I remember listening to audio tapes and stories on LP record when I was in primary school. My key memory is we listened we didn't produce.
Now the capacity for audio production and dissemination on the world wide web is truly limitless. People can share their thoughts and music to a global audience with the click of a button.

Websites such as PodOmatic provides millions of podcasts from all over the world. A few I found interesting were  The Learning Pod and Kids Biz.

The Learning Pod reviews online applications for education. Great professional development for time poor teachers. Just download and listen while you are driving. Discover new apps and follow up the ones of interest.

 Using Audacity software to record, I created a podcast as an example of a class news media task. I then embedded this in the Wiki I have set up. A page for podcasts was added to organise this type of content. The news podcasts could be made into a series students create to share with family and the school community. As I was unable to place the audio in this blog you can access it from the JustyC Wiki (User JCwiki01, Password JCwiki1).

Audio is a unique media if used without image. It requires the listener to visualise in their mind from what they have processed through auditory reception. For individuals with poor text decoding skills it is a means of obtaining information to help them construct knowledge. The production of music is a creative outlet for people with interest and strength in this area. Digital audio tools provide access to music making previously not possible due to cost and space constraints. Audio production tools have allowed masses worldwide to get their message (be it podcast or music) out to a global audience and in turn receive feedback.

Images in Learning

Sharing, explaining, illustrating, demonstrating, highlighting, discovering, exploring.... Use of "the image" within a learning context is limited only by the pedagogical designers imagination. Providing learning tasks that require students to view and create images by them using their higher order thinking skills will equip students for this 21st Century in which they live. Students will need to master images to succeed in s digital environment.

 As identified on the Fluency 21 website images are a vital element in effective communication.

 

I would use Flickr - Photo Share as a repository for images for sharing with students, it is easy to use and allows for logical organisation of artifacts. Other members can be followed, groups set up or joined and topics and themes searched (made possible by tags). Exploring and uploading to Flickr (whilst thinking out loud) is a great way to illustrate to students how crowd generation of content enhances the learning experience.

I have placed a photo here via my Android phone that I saved in my Flickr web space. It is in relation to immigration and multiculturalism (part of the Year 7 curriculum in Queensland).
The children are my nephews  - Samoan/Australians who support the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.
It could be a See-Think-Wonder stimulus leading to search and production of images by students to express their thoughts on the topic. The image would also lend itself to discussion around cybersafety and images of children on the internet.




Within Flickr I am also able to locate and collect images created by others.
In a study of the novel "Boy Overboard" by Morris Gleitzman the topics of poverty and recreation emerge early in the text. What do children with almost no material possessions do for fun? This image provided much discussion around what my students could create a game around without making a purchase and by using basic materials in the home or community.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/unhcr/4931082597/in/faves-123060977@N06/

Visual literacy has come into its own with the introduction of the web 2.0 tools.
Students need to understand images and be critical consumers of them. They need to be producers of images that get their message across, to their identified audience, to meet a specified purpose.

To share their community and environment with other students (in school and globally) the app 360 Panorama is great for placing the consumer in the producer's shoes. From these interactive images compare and contrast discussion can be had so knowledge of the place in the panorama can be built in a socially constructive way.

This is my street.


Virtual tours such as Louvre Museum (in France) allows students to experience unique educational places in other countries. 360 panoramic images in exhibitions provides visual access more effectively than flat photographs. In this example double clicking on museum objects allows the viewer to gain further information depending on interest.

Wix Website

I heard an ad on TV (yes heard because I never have time to watch TV) last week for a website building website.
As I become more adventurous in my online spaces exploration I decided to try it out. Well I signed up to
Wix and after checking out heaps of templates was struck with the though. Oh My Gosh what would I call it, what would my overall theme/content organising idea be, what would I put in it????

I will ponder this conundrum over the next few days while I am swimming with dolphins and bush walking.

Perhaps I will have an epiphany. 

Any ideas? Any experience with Wix? Please share.

Affordances of Wikis - Wiki Spaces Classroom

I set up a Wiki Spaces Classroom (Education - Free)to analyse the affordances of this online space as a pedagogical tool. I am now converted to this approach to student driven content and have been planning how to implement this tool as part of my Teacher Librarian role (student research tasks) which I will return to in July. It is much easier to manage than I anticipated. The table is by no means a final product: below but it is my first response after using the tool. I already know it would be better with more specificity around activities so feel free to make suggestions! The table is in my wiki as well video, images and soon I will add a link when I find something awesome. One thing I would have liked to do was be invited to another student's wiki to compare and contrast', from a member's perspective..... Hint Hint. I found setting up my wiki I was more aware of writing for the future members, "them", whereas setting up and writing in this blog is more about the "me". If you would like to be a member of my wiki and have not yet received an invite please let me know and I will make sure it happens.

The Affordances of Blogs - Blogger

Consider my blogging expertise doubled! An examination of the Blogger blog site has taken quite some time because each time I discovered something new you could do I would be off on a tangent trying it out. The table below analyses the affordances of blogs (based on this blog tool)and how it links with my pedagogical framework. I have used a table because I prefer to analyse on a structured format. I considered a mindmap but found it too "messy". T

The embedding of blog use in learning design is all about social communication around student AND teacher generated content. It enhances learning by providing students with a web space that can contain various types of digital artefacts. Learning is transformed when students must be critical when reflecting on their own work and the blog posts of others. Reflective thinking is how students grow their mental capacity. Blogs allow for the students to present ideas creatively through the embedding of original images, sound and audio. Blogs are an essential component of eLearning.

Blogger - Did You Know?

SlideShare ... got it!

Mini Me

In my current teaching context I ask my students to create an avatar of themselves to include in their personal profile to be uploaded to the blog in our virtual classroom. It is an option to a photograph.
Below is "mini me" made using the Buddypoke app.
I include this avatar in both the VCR and in the web conferences. Sometimes she even appears in the lesson presentation! It can be animated etc.

Students love individualising their efforts online. It is motivating because of the novelty and they feel a sense of ownership because it is representing their personality and interests.

Blog Use

I made this Voki after watching the YouTube video below.
It is a novel way to instruct students. They can also create their own to communicate in a web space.

Me and TPACK (No, it's not a rapper!)

If I apply the three main components of the TPACK Framework   I can assess and reflect upon my personal professional strengths and challenges in relation to: Content Knowledge, Pedagogy and Technology.

As I Teacher Librarian I have wide subject knowledge of the Key Learning Areas taught in Queensland primary schools. These KLAs are from the Australian Curriculum F-10 and Queensland Curriculum P-10 (for areas not yet part of the Australian Curriculum).  Nineteen years as a classroom teacher required me to teach and assess all subjects from Year 1 to Year 7. I have more expertise in the areas of Health and Physical Education because I trained as a specialist in this area and have pursued further studies outside of education.  I have expertise in the management and organisation of a library because again I completed a higher Diploma in this field.  I am skilled at cataloguing based on the Dewey Decimal system and MARC files.  I would consider myself a generalist (I know something about a lot of subject areas).  In my teaching context set subject curriculum strongly influences the content taught particularly with the recent emphasis on whole state consistency using the Curriculum to the Classroom units. There are some subject areas I no longer teach so when new knowledge has been created in these areas I have not experienced it, for example maths and science.  Of the three main components of the TPACK framework I would consider I have greater overall strength in the area of content knowledge.

Pedagogy strengths are probably the most difficult for me to reflect on. Through experience and study I have good knowledge around assessment (collection and analysis).  I have a strong understanding of how students learn and what motivates them.  Due to the recent focus on High Yield instruction (Marzano, 2009) through Explicit Instruction and IMPACT model training for Project 600 I am confident with this approach to teaching.  I develop in line with systemic requirements of the department I work for. Differentiation is the “buzz” word at present at my workplace and this is an aspect of pedagogy I need to work on. Some new programs based on CAFE Daily Reading, Words Their Way (spelling) and an Honours Program (for student extension)  that my school is implementing is presenting me with many ideas around individualisation in literacy.

Technology…what can I say. I love it-I hate it! I find it the most exciting but frustrating aspect of teaching. Besides the fact it is forever changing I enjoy the challenge of adapting and learning. My positive attitude to increasing my knowledge in this area I consider a strength, but the width and depth of my knowledge is lacking. Having said this I probably shouldn’t be too harsh on myself because when I look around me I don’t consider my abilities lagging behind the majority of my colleagues. I am quite capable with search and catalogue software.  I would like to construct more knowledge with mobile idevices and learn how to build a website.

I have included the summary of my strengths and areas most requiring growth as per my thread added to the Cacoo concept map.

Teaching - My Values and Beliefs

Every student is capable of successful learning and each student’s personal best looks different.

With this in mind, teaching to me is

• Providing a safe and nurturing leaning environment in which difference is valued and catered for through a wide variety of learning experiences.
•  Forming strong and positive relationships with students, colleagues and parents through good communication.
• Providing a curriculum that is intellectually rigorous, relevant to a student’s life and one which promotes higher order thinking.
• Encouraging interaction and collaboration between students so they can construct knowledge and problem solve in a social situation.
• Ensuring students are clear around expectations and criteria for success and this should clearly link to formative and summative assessment.
• Designing curriculum that embeds technology in a way that emphasises what is done by the learner rather than what the technology can do.
• Providing opportunity for multiliteracies to be developed in response to societies demands.
• Continuing my own learning and professional development to be able to offer students a curriculum based on sound learning theory and current best practice.

This list remains quite stable in my thoughts however, my elaborations around each of the points is where my thinking is more changeable. As I forever grow in my teaching skills and knowledge so too do my perceptions alter slightly around my values and beliefs.

When considering the question... "how good do I  think the alignment is between my pedagogical beliefs and the terms I have identified as being critical elements of 21st Century pedagogy?" .  I think the alignment is quiet strong. My beliefs do not conflict with the any critical elements and I can position each within my beliefs. I think in practice though I do not provide enough opportunities for creative and critical thinking. My practice is mildly in contrast to my belief that I should be providing such opportunities.

I identify the following as important elements of 21st century pedagogy. Curriculum and practice that has:  

student-centered, real life, problem-based learning opportunities that require collaboration, literate and media fluency, creativity and critical thinking to be utilised regularly so students can develop, reflect on and strengthen their abilities. Curriculum that allows students to access and consume global knowledge and resources and authentic tasks that requires them to produce content for an audience outside of the four walls of the classroom.

Luckily, my last belief (listed above) means I will continually improve by constructing new knowledge in my chosen field. Studying elearning for me is one way I am working towards better alignment between my beliefs, my practice and the needs of my students. 

My Pedagogical Framework - How it formed

I have mapped what I believe has lead to my current beliefs and practices in my role as an online teacher and teacher librarian. The yellow star emphasises my core belief. I think a teacher decides how and whether to use technology for instruction in the school in the hope that students will choose to use technology by choice to learn in the future.

Copyright Scenario - Images

Scenario: A Teacher Librarian wants to create an online book club, in a virtual classroom, to promote recreational reading to upper primary students at her school. The virtual classroom is only open to students from the school. The TL has copied images of the covers of three books and uploaded the digital images, to post threads created for student blogging. Is this acceptable copyright practice?

Recommendation: Is is acceptable for digital images of book covers to be used for educational purposes on a closed school network. It is not being used for profit, and is not of an unreasonable amount.

This recommendation is based on the Copyright Act, Flexible Dealing exception - s 200AB
See the Smart Copying website at http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/information-sheets/schools/flexible-dealing