Learning Engagement Theory combined with TPCK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) provides the backbone for integrating Information Communication Technology (ICT) into the classroom learning experience. We must engage the students in meaningful, authentic activities with both collaborative teams and individualised learning experiences. As teachers, we must also fully understand our content (the curriculum), the technology (ICTs) and the best way to teach both (pedagogy).
"Engagement theory is based upon the idea of creating successful collaborative teams that work on ambitious projects that are meaningful to someone outside the classroom." (Kearsley and Shneiderman, 1999, para. 4)
Education Queensland (2009) guides us with the content and has set out the Student ICT Expectations to help teachers plan meaningful and engaging learning experiences with ICTs. Most of these ICT learning experiences should be integrated with other Key Learning Areas (KLAs) to facilitate Essential Learnings across the curriculum. The Student ICT Expectations are set out in junctures and detail the learning expected by the end of Years 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10.
Student ICT Expectations, Education Queensland (2009)
The Group 1 technologies - Blogs, Wikis and Webpages.
Blogs, Wikis and webpages are all established technologies with many different strengths. Blogs are very stable and accessible and are suitable for all year levels. They have some great benefits for the learner, including the ability to embed other technologies, stimulating writing for pleasure and for purpose, communicating with an authentic audience and the ability to easily look back over work and thinking processes. It is for this enhancement of writing skills that I am choosing to further discuss the benefits of blogging.
Blogs are a perfect tool for reflection and communication which are key components of learning process across all KLAs and present across all Student Expectations for ICTs, Education Queensland (2009). Going back to Bloom's Taxonomy (1956), by reflecting, the student is employing the higher order thinking skills of analysing and evaluating. By engaging the learner with a wide variety of authentic writing opportunities, the student will come to enjoy the reflective process of writing through a Blog.
Blogs can be individual, partnerships, small groups or whole class, and can be scaffolded to be collaborative across all these styles. Further scaffolding is needed to direct learning to planned outcomes including the use of tools such as PMIs and de Bono's Hats. Timely feedback on blogs from the teacher is essential to make sure learning is on track and individual blogging can be made collaborative with scaffolding to include feedback amongst peers as part of the task.
I have elaborated in depth in My Reflection on Blogging (See Appendix A) which is my own learning journey. Further collaborative analysis on all three technologies is in My Wiki (see Appendix B) and an example of the start of a website is available at My Website (see AppendixC).
Blogs are a perfect tool for reflection and communication which are key components of learning process across all KLAs and present across all Student Expectations for ICTs, Education Queensland (2009). Going back to Bloom's Taxonomy (1956), by reflecting, the student is employing the higher order thinking skills of analysing and evaluating. By engaging the learner with a wide variety of authentic writing opportunities, the student will come to enjoy the reflective process of writing through a Blog.
Blogs can be individual, partnerships, small groups or whole class, and can be scaffolded to be collaborative across all these styles. Further scaffolding is needed to direct learning to planned outcomes including the use of tools such as PMIs and de Bono's Hats. Timely feedback on blogs from the teacher is essential to make sure learning is on track and individual blogging can be made collaborative with scaffolding to include feedback amongst peers as part of the task.
I have elaborated in depth in My Reflection on Blogging (See Appendix A) which is my own learning journey. Further collaborative analysis on all three technologies is in My Wiki (see Appendix B) and an example of the start of a website is available at My Website (see AppendixC).
Some brief examples of how I would use blogs (complexity of ideas and styles can be modified for all year levels):
Prep to Year 3. Weekly whole class blogs reflecting on current work eg their use of specific ICTs as creative tools (Photostory 3). This would include teacher embedding ICT creations into the Blog along with reflective statements. Some basic thinking routines such as a collaborative PMI analysis could be included.
Year 4 - 5. Individual reflections on their readings or classroom discussions. Feedback required for a nominal amount of peers. Newsblog on what is happening around the school, guest writers could be engaged on a weekly basis with included embedding of other media.
Year 6 - 7. Group work - Investigate, analyse and report on research topic. Embed relevant ICTs such as
Powerpoint presentations, glogs, prezis etc into blog. Comment/reflect incitefully on other groups blogs. Individual, group and whole class work could be incorporated for all year levels.
Motivating students to write and reflect in a variety of contexts and across the KLAs will foster a appreciation of writing for pleasure and for purpose and in this way transform the learning experience through blogging.
Powerpoint presentations, glogs, prezis etc into blog. Comment/reflect incitefully on other groups blogs. Individual, group and whole class work could be incorporated for all year levels.
Motivating students to write and reflect in a variety of contexts and across the KLAs will foster a appreciation of writing for pleasure and for purpose and in this way transform the learning experience through blogging.
Group 2 Technologies - Digital Images, Podcasts and Digital Video
Digital Images, Podcasts and Digital Video are all technologies that facilitate learning in the classroom. As Digital Video can combine both voice recordings and digital images, I have chosen to elaborate further on this technology.
Digital video can be used in a wide variety of contexts for diverse audiences. They can be very emotive as well as very informative. Digital videos are highly engaging to produce and to watch and require a lot of planning, creativity and evaluation, as well as knowledge and understanding of both the ICT and subject matter. Social skills such as negotiation and reasoning as well as problem solving are enhanced through group work in this activity. Students who may have some difficulty interacting may be drawn together when working together on an exciting common project. With a challenging task, collaborative teams and meaningful subject matter, producing a digital video is fulfilling the requirements of Learning Engagement Theory. With this highly engaging and constructivist task, learning will be enhanced by strengthening higher order thinking skills as well as making meaning with subject matter by drawing images and text/information together. Enhancement of social skills will produce an even more positive learning environment in the classroom where all members feel valued, validated and respected.
Digital video is ideal to meet the Student ICT Expectation of Creating with ICT 'Students experiment with, select and use ICT to creatively express ideas, represent information and generate products appropriate to particular audiences and purposes.' Education Queensland (2009)
Further analysis and models of the technology are presented in my reflection in Digital Video (see Appendix D).
Digital Images and Podcasts are also very potent tools that I will be using in the classroom. Strengthening visual literacy as well as listening skills is extremely important. Further discussion and models of the technologies can be found at Podcasts (see Appendix E ) and Digital Images (see Appendix F).
Some ideas of how I would use digital video in the classroom:
Prep to Year 3. Use digital images of in-class activities/unit and create a reflective photo story with oral reflections recorded by individual students with support from the teacher.
Digital video can be used in a wide variety of contexts for diverse audiences. They can be very emotive as well as very informative. Digital videos are highly engaging to produce and to watch and require a lot of planning, creativity and evaluation, as well as knowledge and understanding of both the ICT and subject matter. Social skills such as negotiation and reasoning as well as problem solving are enhanced through group work in this activity. Students who may have some difficulty interacting may be drawn together when working together on an exciting common project. With a challenging task, collaborative teams and meaningful subject matter, producing a digital video is fulfilling the requirements of Learning Engagement Theory. With this highly engaging and constructivist task, learning will be enhanced by strengthening higher order thinking skills as well as making meaning with subject matter by drawing images and text/information together. Enhancement of social skills will produce an even more positive learning environment in the classroom where all members feel valued, validated and respected.
Digital video is ideal to meet the Student ICT Expectation of Creating with ICT 'Students experiment with, select and use ICT to creatively express ideas, represent information and generate products appropriate to particular audiences and purposes.' Education Queensland (2009)
Further analysis and models of the technology are presented in my reflection in Digital Video (see Appendix D).
Digital Images and Podcasts are also very potent tools that I will be using in the classroom. Strengthening visual literacy as well as listening skills is extremely important. Further discussion and models of the technologies can be found at Podcasts (see Appendix E ) and Digital Images (see Appendix F).
Some ideas of how I would use digital video in the classroom:
Prep to Year 3. Use digital images of in-class activities/unit and create a reflective photo story with oral reflections recorded by individual students with support from the teacher.
Year 4 - 5. As a whole class, plan and produce a digital video on ANZAC day using images, digital videos, and music.
Year 6 - 7. In small groups or partnerships produce a book trailer. This would foster a love of reading in both producers and audience. This activity requires a knowledge of the book, techniques for producing an emotive video, creativity, and social skills for working together as a team.
Learning would be transformed using digital videos by stimulating a higher level of engagement in subject matter along with creative thinking and planning including working collaboratively with peers.
Year 6 - 7. In small groups or partnerships produce a book trailer. This would foster a love of reading in both producers and audience. This activity requires a knowledge of the book, techniques for producing an emotive video, creativity, and social skills for working together as a team.
Learning would be transformed using digital videos by stimulating a higher level of engagement in subject matter along with creative thinking and planning including working collaboratively with peers.
Group 3 Technologies - Powerpoint, Prezi, Glogster
Powerpoint, Prezi and Glogster are all easy to use communication and presentation tools. Powerpoint is a widely used slide/presentation tool and to leave it out of your classroom toolkit would not be appropriate. Prezi and Glogster are both newer and perhaps unseen technologies. Prezi is a slide presentation tool with unusual spatial features including zooming and panning to slides. This tool is very intuitive to use but may be a little difficult for some primary school children to use. Glogster provides us with a modern take on the poster and is suited to all primary age levels and abilities. For this reason, and because it offers something completely different to Powerpoint and Prezi, I have chosen to expand on the opportunities Glogster affords.
Glogster incorporates digital images, audio and video, animations and information into a digital poster. Glogs help us to create and communicate using ICTs and will appeal to both boys and girls as the results are highly individual. I would use Glogs in the classroom to help facilitate learning in other KLAs, higher order thinking skills would be engaged after analysing information and unleashing creativity in the Glog. Greater teacher support would be required from grades Prep to 3, perhaps undertaken as whole class or guided small group lessons. However from grades 4 to 7, both group and individual work, would be appropriate. Glogs could be displayed as an exhibition at the end of a term with students talking about and explaining their showpieces thus drawing in oral communication. My blog reflection on Powerpoint, Prezi and Glogster (see Appendix G) has further details and analysis of all three technologies including models of each.
Some examples of using Glogster in the classroom with varying levels of teacher support:
Prep to Year 3. Create a whole class Glog on the life-cycles of frogs. Brainstorm ideas about content. Negotiate style, colour and layout.
Year 4-5. In partnerships or small groups, work on Glogs as book investigations. Present in the library to foster love of literacy within the school.
Year 6-7. As individuals work on Glogs about the Great Barrier Reef. Hold exhibition at end of term with students manning work stations to talk about their work. Peer support used to enhance collaboration throughout.
Glogster provides a safe and private, online environment and supports an online classroom with up to 50 students. This allows students to continue to work at home and their current work is always available for perusal by teacher. It produces professional looking results and a high level polished product is achievable in a limited time. Glogster incorporates images, video, information, text, animation and audio, and caters for all learners in a constructivist, connectivist and collaborative way. Glogs will transform the classroom by achieving a high level of engagement by students in subject matter and result in a product in which students can be proud thus raising self confidence and self esteem.
Glogster incorporates digital images, audio and video, animations and information into a digital poster. Glogs help us to create and communicate using ICTs and will appeal to both boys and girls as the results are highly individual. I would use Glogs in the classroom to help facilitate learning in other KLAs, higher order thinking skills would be engaged after analysing information and unleashing creativity in the Glog. Greater teacher support would be required from grades Prep to 3, perhaps undertaken as whole class or guided small group lessons. However from grades 4 to 7, both group and individual work, would be appropriate. Glogs could be displayed as an exhibition at the end of a term with students talking about and explaining their showpieces thus drawing in oral communication. My blog reflection on Powerpoint, Prezi and Glogster (see Appendix G) has further details and analysis of all three technologies including models of each.
Some examples of using Glogster in the classroom with varying levels of teacher support:
Prep to Year 3. Create a whole class Glog on the life-cycles of frogs. Brainstorm ideas about content. Negotiate style, colour and layout.
Year 4-5. In partnerships or small groups, work on Glogs as book investigations. Present in the library to foster love of literacy within the school.
Year 6-7. As individuals work on Glogs about the Great Barrier Reef. Hold exhibition at end of term with students manning work stations to talk about their work. Peer support used to enhance collaboration throughout.
Glogster provides a safe and private, online environment and supports an online classroom with up to 50 students. This allows students to continue to work at home and their current work is always available for perusal by teacher. It produces professional looking results and a high level polished product is achievable in a limited time. Glogster incorporates images, video, information, text, animation and audio, and caters for all learners in a constructivist, connectivist and collaborative way. Glogs will transform the classroom by achieving a high level of engagement by students in subject matter and result in a product in which students can be proud thus raising self confidence and self esteem.
Group 4 Technologies -Google Documents, Concept Mapping, Animations and Simulations, Google Earth, Google Maps, ZooBurst, Timelines
All the technologies in this group are wonderful technologies that would be used in the classroom but concept mapping is the technology and skill that will be built upon from primary school through to university and through life.
'Concept mapping is an easy way to achieve very high levels of cognitive performance, when the process is done well. This is one reason concept mapping can be a very powerful evaluation tool.' Novak (n.d.)
Concept mapping is a powerful tool for not only constructing meaning but also for evaluating understanding. As such, it focuses on the heart of learning, constructing meaning out of knowledge then assessing or self assessing for understanding. A detailed explanation on how to construct concept maps is available at 'The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them' by Novak & Cañas (2008). Students can make meaning out of facts by constructing concept maps as they are learning and then adjusting them as greater understanding is achieved. Online tools are excellent for this as maps can be easily adjusted to accommodate for further knowledge and deeper understanding.
Concept and mind mapping tools can help students to 'identify an inquiry focus; plan, conduct and manage searches; and evaluate data and information gathered for relevance, credibility and accuracy.' Education Queensland (2009)
The specific online tools that I have investigated not only lend themselves to concept mapping but also to mind mapping, another method in which to make meaning from knowledge and to gain deeper understanding. These tools can be used for brainstorming and broadening knowledge in a collaborative way to gain a richer and deeper picture of the subject matter. Further analysis of the online concept and mind mapping tools is available in my blog at Online Concept Mapping Tools (see Appendix H).
Some examples of how I would use online concept or mind mapping tools:
Prep to Year 3. As a whole class, use concept mapping software to represent the life cycle of a plant. Plant seeds and add digital images as the plant grows to add to the concept map. Add students audio commentary and further details on plant structure as the plant grows.
Year 4-5. As individuals, use mind mapping tools to design a character for a creative story. Experiment with rich descriptive language and incorporate how, when, where and why as you are planning your storyline.
Year 6-7. In small groups, use concept mapping tools to gain a deeper understanding of problems affecting one particular aspect of the environment. Starting with what is already known, research and add to the topic with ideas and images building a deep understanding of the issues.
Learning can be enhanced by the use of online concept mapping tools by buildings schemas, constructing knowledge and making connections.
Ethical, Safe and Responsible PracticesWhen working with ICTs, students and teachers must use ethical, safe and responsible practices. Education Queensland (2009) specifies what students are expected to know at the set junctures. These include being respectful to others and having self-respect whilst sharing resources and online spaces. As in all communications, online communication have an ettiquette and students must be mindful to follow expected conventions and to be positive in any social interactions. Students and teachers must make sure that intellectual property and copyright laws and codes of practice are followed. This includes making sure that creators of digital media are identified and acknowledged, citing references where applicable with students understanding the concept of plagiarism. Students and teachers should have their own passwords and understand what is appropriate amount of personal disclosure in any given online environment. They must be aware of stranger danger and what websites are inappropriate.
In conclusion, I would hope to fully engage all students by incorporating robust, safe ICTs across the KLAs in a collaborative and ethical manner. I would provide timely feedback to individuals whilst ensuring that my learners know where they are going and what is the desired learning outcome. Scaffolding would be used to direct learning to planned outcomes including the use of appropriate online tools, such as Glogs, concept mapping tools, digital videos and Blogs and thinking routines such as PMIs and de Bono's hats. I would
All the technologies in this group are wonderful technologies that would be used in the classroom but concept mapping is the technology and skill that will be built upon from primary school through to university and through life.
'Concept mapping is an easy way to achieve very high levels of cognitive performance, when the process is done well. This is one reason concept mapping can be a very powerful evaluation tool.' Novak (n.d.)
Concept mapping is a powerful tool for not only constructing meaning but also for evaluating understanding. As such, it focuses on the heart of learning, constructing meaning out of knowledge then assessing or self assessing for understanding. A detailed explanation on how to construct concept maps is available at 'The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them' by Novak & Cañas (2008). Students can make meaning out of facts by constructing concept maps as they are learning and then adjusting them as greater understanding is achieved. Online tools are excellent for this as maps can be easily adjusted to accommodate for further knowledge and deeper understanding.
Concept and mind mapping tools can help students to 'identify an inquiry focus; plan, conduct and manage searches; and evaluate data and information gathered for relevance, credibility and accuracy.' Education Queensland (2009)
The specific online tools that I have investigated not only lend themselves to concept mapping but also to mind mapping, another method in which to make meaning from knowledge and to gain deeper understanding. These tools can be used for brainstorming and broadening knowledge in a collaborative way to gain a richer and deeper picture of the subject matter. Further analysis of the online concept and mind mapping tools is available in my blog at Online Concept Mapping Tools (see Appendix H).
Some examples of how I would use online concept or mind mapping tools:
Prep to Year 3. As a whole class, use concept mapping software to represent the life cycle of a plant. Plant seeds and add digital images as the plant grows to add to the concept map. Add students audio commentary and further details on plant structure as the plant grows.
Year 4-5. As individuals, use mind mapping tools to design a character for a creative story. Experiment with rich descriptive language and incorporate how, when, where and why as you are planning your storyline.
Year 6-7. In small groups, use concept mapping tools to gain a deeper understanding of problems affecting one particular aspect of the environment. Starting with what is already known, research and add to the topic with ideas and images building a deep understanding of the issues.
Learning can be enhanced by the use of online concept mapping tools by buildings schemas, constructing knowledge and making connections.
Ethical, Safe and Responsible Practices
In conclusion, I would hope to fully engage all students by incorporating robust, safe ICTs across the KLAs in a collaborative and ethical manner. I would provide timely feedback to individuals whilst ensuring that my learners know where they are going and what is the desired learning outcome. Scaffolding would be used to direct learning to planned outcomes including the use of appropriate online tools, such as Glogs, concept mapping tools, digital videos and Blogs and thinking routines such as PMIs and de Bono's hats. I would
make sure the workload and the level of teacher support was appropriate and use varied styles of learning including individual, group and whole class work. Tasks would be designed to work through the full range of Bloom's Taxonomy including higher order thinking and importantly use authentic tasks to make meaning. In this manner, using highly engaging technologies I would transform, support and enhance learning in the classroom.
References
Bascones, J. & Novak, J. D. (1985). Alternative instructional systems and the development of problem-solving skills in physics. European Journal of Science Education, 7(3), 253-261.
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives, handbook I: The cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.
References
Bascones, J. & Novak, J. D. (1985). Alternative instructional systems and the development of problem-solving skills in physics. European Journal of Science Education, 7(3), 253-261.
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives, handbook I: The cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.
Education Queensland. (2009). Student ICT expectations. Retrieved from
http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/strategy/dp/studentict.html
Kearsley, G., and Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement theory: A framework for technology based teaching and learning. Retrieved from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.html
Novak., J.D. (n.d.). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct them. Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/dept/SUSE/projects/ireport/articles/concept_maps/The%20Theory%20Underlying%20Concept%20Maps.pdf
Novak, J.D. & Cañas, A.J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them. Retrieved from http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/researchpapers/theorycmaps/theoryunderlyingconceptmaps.htm
Novak., J.D. (n.d.). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct them. Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/dept/SUSE/projects/ireport/articles/concept_maps/The%20Theory%20Underlying%20Concept%20Maps.pdf
Novak, J.D. & Cañas, A.J. (2008). The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct and use them. Retrieved from http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/researchpapers/theorycmaps/theoryunderlyingconceptmaps.htm
Appendices
Appendix A
My Reflection on Blogging
http://juliennemorrisonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/reflection-on-blogging.html
http://juliennemorrisonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/reflection-on-blogging.html
Appendix B
Appendix C
My Website
http://juliennemorrison.weebly.com/
http://juliennemorrison.weebly.com/
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
Appendix G
Powerpoint, Prezi and Glogster
http://juliennemorrisonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/week-5-group-3-technologies-powerpoint.html
http://juliennemorrisonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/week-5-group-3-technologies-powerpoint.html
Appendix H
Online Concept Mapping Tools
http://juliennemorrisonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/group-4-technologies-digital-tools.html
Online Concept Mapping Tools
http://juliennemorrisonsblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/group-4-technologies-digital-tools.html
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