David is a middle years teacher in Toowoomba working in a private school. David blog aims at the students, the parents of the students and other teachers ofcourse. A quick read of the blog shows David focusing on the students and their development, with blogs around behaviour management and reference to Maslow's theory on student environments. Other blog posts see David referring to TED talks and posting regular info-graphics to inspire his students for the week.
For me personally I have seen many of these technologies being used in learning and teaching. Eg - The use of Ipads and computer labs, using the smart board to do internet searches as a whole class by encouraging the students to think about key words relating to what they are researching, and using a software application called Tux Paint to re-create a story scene as an extension from an English project.
ICT tends to mean computers and their peripheral devices
I thought that was the old definition of ICT and that its new definition embraced anything that was available for communication purposes, storing data, gathering it, sharing it, etc. as seen in the Hello Kitty video. I fully support the idea that ICT is not regarded as a piece of equipment but it should be a way of life where it is a/any tool used for whatever is required so rather than thinking how we can incorporate ICT into the school curriculum, it should simply be one of the avenues used by students to achieve what they want to achieve.
what, in fact, is critical is “how” the technologies are used (Reimann & Goodyear, 2004).
While the computer is itself not a catalyst, its valency as a conduit for communication, collaboration and knowledge building has the potential to transform learning.
Yes, the classroom that I work in has a little down syndrome girl who uses an iPad for communication. I know of another class who has a student diagnosed with dyslexia and he uses a computer for typing up all his work.
What a great example of differentiation and inclusion.
a similarly disparate and motley collection of machines of different capacities and configurations may be being used by students and be constituting the learning environment
It is 8+ years since Lloyd wrote this piece. In very recent times we've seen the Digital Education Revolution - where many students were given laptops - but that is now slowly moving onto the BYOD (bring your own device) era. An era where students are allowed (of if they are not, they still do anyway) their own devices (phones, tablets, computers). It's likely that BYOD is likely to end up with "a similarly disparate and motley collection of machines of different capacities and configurations", what are the implications for teaching?
Surely this would encourage discrimination between the students with everyone knowing who had expensive/cheap computers with out of date/the latest versions of software packages. That being the case then it will increase the difficulty of the teacher to both teach ICT and allow the students to use their own forms of ICT. Firstly, because more recent software packages allow greater flexibility (usually) so some students will be physically capable of more complex software usage and also it would be a lot harder to guage what all students are doing on their ICT equipment as a quick glance will not necessarily let the teacher know where each student is at with their work.
The configuration of computers in schools may range from individual machines, to distributed models, and to sophisticated networks
I work in a school that has recently rolled out Samsung slates to all students in grades 4-6. Next year they are going to roll them out from grade 7-12, and then, the year after in grades P-3. They have also commenced using a program called D2L (Desire to learn), to deliver the content to students. It has been very interesting to see how different teachers have coped with the changes. Some embrace it and have done an amazing job of incorporating it into their teaching, while others have resisted the changes and really struggled with incorporating it into their classrooms. No matter what ICTs the school has available it seems, to me anyway, that the teacher will be the crucial factor as to whether these ICTs are used successfully and appropriately.
I agree with you, Kate. When people resist what has to be done, then there is no creativity or extensions or allowing the students to be risk takers themselves. This is borne out by Toomey (2001) when part of his definition of ICT actually includes "manipulating" and "communicating".
There is no standard school configuration of machines
How true is this... I have been to a few schools for prac and each school has a different focus on ICT. One school I attended had a computer lab, put the screens were the good old huge dinosaur ones. Then another school I attend had two computer labs full of up-to-date computers with flat screens etc. It's a same that schools aren't all the same.
I agree Donna, unfortunatley that's where funding and grants come into it as well as the hard work of the fundraising activities, sometimes the budget focus is on other areas as well. Access and equity in relation to current technology is a major issue in educational equality and very topical too.
Hi there I know its supposed to be in 80 days but my unit plan is going to be 10 lessons. I have decided that I am planning on the Year 9 Australian Curriculum Geography - Geographies of interconne...
Jarrod (PE Geek) is a creator of numerous apps (and counting) to integrate ICT's into his PE classes. He also blogs and tweets about his practice and responds to queries from other teachers about their teaching or ICT's.
UK based site with a range of activities for history - mostly secondary. Recently mentioned by the UK Education Secretary (i.e. minister) in a way that shows his limited understanding.
Hi Guys, a good website for ICT resources, These are for 2010 but are still interesting. I think ICT one of those parts of education that needs to be done in moderation with a good pedagogical balance.
Average length = total length of all your blog posts for the 3 weeks / by the number of blog posts
e.g. if you made 9 blog posts with a total word length of 1800 words. Then your average word length is
Avge = 1800 / 9
Avge = 200
200 is greater than 100, so this criteria is met.
There is no maximum word limit for your posts. The length stated here is the minimum expected.
Feel free to reflect and share as much as you like via your blog.
60% or more of the blog posts contain links to online resources
If you've made 12 posts for weeks 1, 2 and 3. Then 60% of 12 is
12 * .6 = 7.2
This means at least 7 of the 12 posts you made would be expected to include links to online resources.
NOTE: we'll always round down (i.e. if 60% == 7.2, we'll round that down to 7, not up to 8 posts)
More than two posts contain links to posts from other EDC3100 students.
Let's assume you've posted 10 posts for weeks 1, 2 and 3.
At least 2 of those posts should contain a link to a post of another EDC3100 student blog. The assumption is that you will also use that link as a basis for commenting on the other student's ideas.
So I did post on my blog last week and linked to some resources but didn't link to any other students. That is fine as long as I make it up in week 2 and 3, right?
Maximum size is defined above. The minimum might be as short as 2 minutes, but you still have to provide sufficient information to meet the requirements of the Argument criterion below.
If you are using someone else's videos, audio etc. you must make sure that you are legally allowed to use the resource and you must attribute it appropriately.
All three components are present and effectively integrated and aligned
Your artefact should include - context, reasons and examples (see above for more detail) - there is no constraint on structure or location, but these should be readily recognisable.
There is significant misalignment between the three components.
The links also have to be within the blog posts and not in your blog roll. The automated system only sees your blog posts, not your blog roll.
As a rule of them, the reader of your post has to be able to access/use the resource from your post.
i.e. a reference isn't enough. It has to be a link that they can click on. The standard expectation is that the content of your blog post will contain links to other resources.
This following blog post
http://davidtjones.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/how-are-they-going/
An exceptional artefact will be an online resource that has been implemented without any errors, makes effective - even innovative - use of the online environment to capture the attention of the viewer/reader and show them a logically structured, well supported and illustrated set of reasons for using ICTs in **your** teaching. Emphasis on **your** teaching, not mine, not some textbooks, but yours.
If you got off to a slow start (i.e. didn't post much to your blog in week 1 of semester), don't worry. As long as you start posting regularly by the end of week 2 (or so) and reach an appropriate total (e.g. 3 weeks by 3 posts = 9 posts). Then you will get the appropriate mark.
As semester progresses, however, there will be an expectation that posts will come more regularly.
Also, if you write 9 posts 5 minutes before the end of week 3, some questions may be asked.
Use contextually appropriate example(s) to illustrate those reasons.
You should not be creating these examples. The examples should be existing examples you have found during this course or in previous courses. The examples should be as close to the context you are talking about and they should illustrate how the reasons you've provided can be fulfilled.
If you don't know what your context is going to be. Make it up. Try to make it as realistic as possible, as close as possible to your likely Professional Experience placement for this course as possible.
You may want to use a prior Professional Experience context, that's fine.
Thnaks for clarifying David. Is it expected that we end up with some comments on our own blogs? I have posted the link to my blog in the forum but havent had any comments yet :(
Hi everyone,
please feel free to comment on my blog about "How Technology Evolves" and share your thoughts. I have attached a link to the page.
Davina :)
P.S. My apologies if you can't find my last blog post, I accidentally deleted it and had to redo the whole thing again.
A research study, conducted in Auburn, Maine showed that Kindergartner
students using iPads scored much higher on literacy tests than students that
didn’t use the device
A Maths Dictionary for Kids is an animated, interactive online math dictionary for students which explains over 600 common mathematical terms and math words in simple language.
Hi Jennifer,
This is a fantastic resource! I will certainly use it when planning a maths lesson. Thanks heaps!
Marnie
Feel free to follow my blog http://missm1992.edublogs.org/
Hi everyone!
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what your thoughts are on my blog. Look forward to hearing from you all!
Thanks,
Davina
Hi Everyone!
What a wonderful platform to use for interacting with each other, sharing our experiences and learning from each other. My name is Davina and I am looking forward to learning with you and from you throughout the duration of this EDC 3100 course. I have attached a link to my blog, so please feel free to browse my page and learn a little bit more about me.
Good luck everyone and happy learning!
Hi Steph, WOW! That does seem impossible. I can imagine phones will go holographic in the future, but I have no idea how it will be possible to touch through a phone and touch carpet or different materials. It is defiantly a good resource that provides food for thought.