My feeds…

Belinda in her ecreative domain,  blogged about Constructivism and Constructionism. In this she defines the two terms; Constructivism theory holds that learners actively construct knowledge in response to experiences. Learning cannot be transferred from one person to another, but the learner individually draws upon knowledge based on their experiences.

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Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0

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Constructionism suggests that new ideas are most likely to be created when learners are actively engaged in building some type of external artifact that they can reflect upon and share with others.’ (Han & Bhattacharya 2007).

Heathre has also blogged about these two definitions and has embedded two podcast links which clearly explains the difference of these two theories.

It was great for them two to post up these definitions as they definitely helped me to understand these theories in greater detail. Thanks for that!

Sabrina

Sabrina podcast blog

References:

smh (May 23, 2007). Blogs replace blackboards as Singapore schools go high-tech. Retrieved November 7th 2009, from: http://news.smh.com.au/technology/blogs-replace-blackboards-as-singapore-schools-go-hightech-20070523-egi.html

University of Southern Queensland (2009). Technology enhanced learning and teaching. Retrieved November 7th 2009, from: http://www.usq.edu.au/learnteach/topics/tel

1jazz blogged about a particular website called Teachers TV, a new digital channel.  I watched the video “Interactive values” that was recommended in the blog and found it to be very interesting. The video was about a teacher who used an interactive whiteboard to teach a values program to the students. I thought that the video portrayed an engaging way to educate students on a theoretical topic in a practical way. It is definitely a website I am going to look into in the future for ideas on integrating ICT into the everyday classroom!

After the discussion in class about TPACK I decided to research this framework a little further. I came across a blog by Punya Mishra who discussed the TPACK framework in one of his posts.

Available at: http://www.tpack.org/tpck/index.php?title=Main_Page

The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (what a mouth full of words!) aka TPACK,  is the acquisition of essential qualities of knowledge required by teachers for technology integration in their teaching (Mishra, 2008). At the heart of the TPACK framework is the complex interplay of three forms of knowedge: Content (CK), Pedagogy (PK), and Technology (TK). The Framework emphasises the new kinds of knowledge that lie at the intersections between the three knowledge bases, rather than seeing them in isolation.

Wikipedia (2009) claims that when “Considering P and C together we get Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), which is the idea of knowledge of pedagogy that is applicable to the teaching of specific content…considering T and C taken together, we get Technological Content Knowledge (TCK), the knowledge of the relationship between technology and content…the intersection of T and P, is Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), which emphasises the existence, components and capabilities of various technologies as they are used in the settings of teaching and learning”.

Finally, at the intersection of all three elements is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). True technology integration is understanding and negotiating the relationships between these three components of knowledge.

This understanding these three components of knowledge and thus integrating them into the classroom is not an easy task. It is definitely something that I would need to work on achieving in the future, even if it may be challenging at times. But in the end I believe it is important for teachers to give students the best learning experiences they can give, and thus this can be done through integrating technology in light of the TPACK Framework.

References:

Mishra, P (2008). TPACK. Retrieved on November 2nd 2009, from:

http://punya.educ.msu.edu/research/tpck/

Wikipedia (2009). TPCK – Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Retrieved November 2nd 2009, from:

http://www.tpack.org/tpck/index.php?title=Main_Page

Picture from: www.flickr.com/photos/64693558@N00/2657743770

Belinda has included a video on her page that outlines the benefits children receive from blogging. Blogging encourages literacy as students find a motiva

tion to write. They are motivated to write as they are able to share their ideas with their family and the world. Blogging provides a means for discussion, sharing their ideas with others. Through blogging students can express their creativity and through the feedback that they receive, they can reflect on their learning. I thought that this was an interesting video which creates an introduction to opening up to ICT integration in the classroom. It is important for teachers to venture out if their comfort zones and not shield students from their digital future, but rather integrate technology as much as possible to foster for engagement and provide more skills to students.

Image host: flickr

This article in The Age talks about  how Griffith University has made Twitter compulsory for journalist students. Students were using “twitter as an exercise in self reflection” (Age, 2009). But the reaction from students have been mixed, which they state that it raises the “questions over the utility of using sites like Twitter and Facebook in a formal education (Age, 2009).

I’m not sure if I believe that this is a great step to take in the role of education, especially by making it compulsory to tweet. Some students may not quiet understand how to use the functions of the site and therefore do not see the relevance of using social sites for learning. But I guess if it was between writing essay or ‘tweeting’ a few sentences then my decision would be clear

What do you think about this issue??

Until next time, Sabrina

The Age (October 16, 2009). Uni adds Twitter to the curriculum. Retrieved October 25th 2009, from The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/uni-adds-twitter-to-the-curriculum-20091016-gzut.html

After reading the article by Jonassen (2008), I came to a better understanding of how important learning in technology is. There were a few points in the article that I thought were very relevant and thought provoking. Jonassen (2008) states that tasks at schools that require intentional, active, constructive, cooperative, and authentic learning processes will result in more meaningful learning. There are five main attributes of meaningul learning; Active, Constructive, Intentional, Authentic, and Cooperative. Jonassen (2008) also makes an important point that technology should become the tool of meaningful learning; “technologies afford students the opportunties to engage in meaningful learning when they learn with the technology, not from it”.

I definitely agree with Jonassen and his beliefs that technol0gy plays an important part of meaningful in the classroom. While I was on practical I saw how engaged students were while they were involved with using technology. The Interactive whiteboard is one part of technology that fosters meaningful learning for students, as I have also discussed in my other blogs which can be viewed by clicking on: Blogs.

I believe that it is important to think about how to effectively use technology in the classroom. Jonassen (2008) implies that students do not learn from technology but that technologies can suppport productive thinking and meaning making by students. There are many questions and thought provoking issues raised after reading this article, but the main question that stood out for me was “how do students effectively learn with technology? How can technology become intellectual partners with students?” Something to think about

Until next time,

Sabrina

Article: Jonassen, D., et al. 2008, Pearson Education. Meaningful Learning with Technology (3rd edn) .Upper Saddle River: New Jersey, pp. 1-12 https://postoffice.uts.edu.au/attach/Jonassen%20Article%202008.pdf

Learning Lama blogged about the new wave that is sweeping the classrooms. This new technology is called the Interactive Whiteboard IWB’s. These Interactive Whiteboards are easy to set up, just with a few equipment; USB device, Wiimote, and downloading a particular software for this to work on.

As Learning Lama noted, Interactive Whiteboards are very expensive and thus not many schools have the privilege to own one of these in their classrooms, or even in the school. So this is just a simple way to create your own Interactive Whiteboard, and will cost very little compared to the Interactive Whiteboards endorsed in some schools today.

Interactive Whiteboards – Wiimote – here is the video explaining this new technology further.

Sabrina

TOP TEN TIPS FOR USING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

I researched a few videos on youtube about technology in the classroom and came across an interesting video. The video is called “Top ten tips for using technology in the classroom” and it gives teachers ten ways to use technology in the classroom and thus engage students in everyday lessons.

Some of the tips that I found helpful are:  – streaming videos for lesson ideas, use your interactive whiteboard more effectively, create your own podcasts, start a blog/wiki, and many more. I found this an interesting video for teachers to look at just to get a few ideas if they want to venture out and try new things in the classroom

Until next time!

Sabrina

Learning Lama discussed in his blog, that on his practical he used a piece of technology called Bee Bots. This device works through the use of a usb device – the usb is firstly attached to the computer and through the Bee Bot program, various commands of directional pathways are programmed. The usb is then attached to the Bee Bot device – the device reacts to the commands that were programmed onto the usb. In my last practical I have also been faced with such a interesting device.

The students were so excited an eager to show me how the Bee Bot operates which shows their active engagement through the use of Technology. I thought that this was another great invention that generates meaningful learning!