Reflective Synopsis of the Technologies I have encountered in this course...

Recently I was sitting with a group of friends that all had children ranging in age from new-born to late-teens. The conversation drifted from subject to subject, until it came to our children - their education or lack of, how to get them outside more often and away from the computer or play station, how to get them to read more, and a variety of other concerns all involving technology of some sort. Seven weeks ago I would have joined this conversation, today I would not! The course Managing E-Learning has given me a fundamental understanding of how digital natives (Prensky, 2001) think, learn and behave. Consequently it has changed my view on this generation of kids persuasively. I personally feel Mark Prensky (2001) should add another type of digital persona to his list, that of a `digital alien`.

The majority of ICT`s (Information and Communication Technologies) introduced through this course I have not ever used and initially struggled with the concepts and reasons why these would or could engage students with their learning, my thoughts were similar to that of a teachers remark, “I don’t see what is so much more engaging about this other life, other than the pretty graphics”, which can be found in the article Engage me or Enrage me (Prensky, 2005). Surprisingly I found the answer to those initial struggles in `the pretty graphics`. Though not by reading alone, instead I became engaged with my learning. Kearsley and Schneidermans (1999) suggest in their Engagement Theory that meaningful learning occurs where students actively participate; in activities, interaction with others and perceiving the task as worth while. The three elements that aid in the Engagement Theory are relate, create and donate. It is this framework I utilised for my own learning experience and it is through this framework that I began to understand how to engage students with the use of ICT`s.

The technologies introduced in this course that have given me insight into how best to engage digital native are Vokis/Avatars, Online Quizzes, Podcasting, Google Earth, Mahara, Wikipedia and Digital Storytelling. Though Power Point is the one I see as the most effective at this point in my learning journey, for these reasons; it does not require Internet access unless one wants to donate their work, it is easy to use, has multiple functions - that this course has helped me discover- and that it can be embedded into other programs or ICT`s such as Blogs, Wiki`s and Mahara. Even though at this stage I feel Power Point the most effective for me to use, I do see myself using different ICT`s in the future.

Throughout the first half of this course I have actively involved myself in the majority of all processes, from reading, doing the activities, creating and donating my own work, replying to comments made on my Blog, adding my own comments to Blogs I have been following and ones I have not, joining forum chats and listening to what my cohorts were saying or asking. Even though I classify myself as an autonomous learner, the whole experience has shown just how connected to the rest of the world I could be and am. One principle of the learning theory of Connectivism (Siemens, 2004) is, the `Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known`, meaning personally, there was room to learn and an offer - through engaging in this course - to learn differently.

Being a student Learning Manager still in their first year I also struggle with the concept of teaching strategies that could assist students in acquiring and integrating knowledge and truthfully some of the technologies introduced in this course I still have no idea of how to utilise into classroom teaching strategies. Siemens (2004) concludes his article on Connectivism by saying,` Connectivism provides insight into learning skills and tasks needed for learners to flourish in a digital era.` The technologies introduced in this course that have given me insight into the digital era . My journey to digital enlightenment will not end here, it will be an ongoing journey that might not end until the lights actually go out, but until then my endeavors to reach the ranks of `digital immigrant`(Prensky, 2001) will continue.

List of Blogs I commented on:

http://myblogckeegan.blogspot.com/
http://jimslearningjourney.blogspot.com/
http://tonytalk68.blogspot.com/
http://shihosroomblog.blogspot.com/

Mahara e.Portfolio Access URL: Valid from 21/08/2009 to 21/09/2009

http://cqu-mahara.netspot.com.au/view/view.php?t=94w2jKKuolgv3q65kFN1

Dominique

References:
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (2008). Engagement theory: a framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved August 19, 2009, from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: a learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved August 19, 2009, from
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
Prensky, M. (2005). Engage me or enrage me: what todays learner`s demand. Retrieved August 19, 2009, from:
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved August 19,2009, from:
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Student Fickr synopsis...

There are many ways in which Flickr can be used by students. Though the content area the students are required to focus on determines which type/style of image is required. For example,
Cooking Class: content area - group work on `Foods from differing Cultures.`

1. Each group is given a culture and required to research the cultural specific food items.
2. Include both written and `visual (they could use Flickr)` information.

It is only a simple design, asking the students for specific information - written and `visual` information on the types of foods from the culture they were give.

Dominique

References:
Flickr. (2009). Retrieved August 19,2009, from,
http://www.flickr.com/

Student Quizz Synopsis...

According to Marzano and Pickering (2006, p. 43), many cognitive psychologists see knowledge falling into two categories : Declarative knowledge - what the learner knows, and Procedural knowledge - what the learner is able to do. Acquiring and internalising knowledge requires both a declarative and procedural component in most instances. To put it simply, knowledge is not meaningful unless you understand what you are doing and doing what you understand.
Even though the educational setting I am placed with at this moment does not allow for the student use of technology, the design of Learning Experience Plans that focuses on students working in groups and developing their own quizzes online would follow a procedural knowledge path of acquiring and integrating knowledge, that is:

• Constructing models: have the students decide what questions they want on the quiz and also knowing the answers as well as false answers for different variety of quiz questions in these programs. Enter these questions onto the online quiz.
  
• Shaping: have the students review the model quiz online, to see if any changes need to be made concerning the content and if the questions are really applicable to the content area.
  
• Internalising: share the online quiz with the other groups in the class and practice their quizzes, suggest any changes that could be beneficial to other groups and accept the comments from other group to see if it enhances your quiz.

Integrating technology into classroom tasks, enhances the meaningful acquisition of procedural knowledge for students. Although the design would follow a procedural knowledge path, the students declarative knowledge is utilised through the whole design process. Students win both ways.

Dominique

References;
Marzano, R., & Pickering, D. (2006). Dimensions of learning: teacher`s manual (2nd ed.). Heartherton, VIC, Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Digital Storytelling...

After reviewing some of the different sites attached to this activity especially: http://www.storycenter.org/index1.html
and then watching a listening to some of the clips I was amazed at how deeply touched I was by the obvious effort, thought and feeling put into their production. Most of the clips I previewed were of personal stories, I would never have considered or even thought that storytelling through the technology/digital media would move me.
Educationally, Digital Storytelling by students is another way in which they could collaborate their efforts to digitally create a story and then post it onto one of the storytellers networks, blogs, wiki`s and the list can go on. The Learning Engagement Theory by Kearsley & Shneiderman (1999), discusses project orientated learning, this combined with the process behind successful Digital story's, give students a whole range of learning techniques based around one task. As mentioned in Digital Storytelling for Education (2009), students require writing skill, speaking and visual skills, technical skills and personal development skills. A whole range of Learning Styles/Multiple Intelligences can work together to produce a Digital Story.

Dominique

References:
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (2008). Engagement theory: a framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved September 1, 2009, from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Digital Storytelling for Education, (2009). Retrieved August 16, 2009, from, http://www.lubbockisd.org/sfirenza/storytelling/
Gardner, H. (2008). M.I. after 20 years. Retrieved September 1, 2009, from
http://www.howardgardner.com/Papers/papers.html

Student Blog Synopsis...

The educational setting I am placed with at this moment does not allow the setting up of Blogs with students, nor would there be time set aside for such.
Though if I was to set up Blogs with my students the design would follow a series of Learning Experience Plans that dealt not only with Blogging, but also the process and procedures for Blogging, for example:

• Subject matter and criteria of the Blog
• Development of the Blog with scaffolding
• Safety issues when dealing with a public domain
• understanding of copyright laws and rules
• Netiquette
• And the outcomes of the process

Initially I thought it would be good as a collaborative exercise - which it would - but then thought that individual attempts might show which students are doing well and which students might need more support. I think this might be a good tool to see: Learning Management Question (LMQ) 1 - What my learner already knows? (Smith & Lynch, 2006, p. 63) and LMQ 2 - Where does my Learner need/want to be?(Smith & Lynch, 2006, p. 63). These two questions form part of the profiling phase of students, therefore individual blogs would be a great start in determining what it is my student require from me educationally.

Dominique


References:
Smith, R., & Lynch, D. (2006). The rise of the learning manager: changing teacher education. Frenches Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.

Incompetech...

I downloaded from Incompetech, several songs from different categories and must have received mostly the shopping centre loud speaker variety by mistake.
Though in saying that and with copy right laws forbidding any use of music legally owned by others being used without consent or payment, it did become appealing.
Educationally for students to `jazz up` their work and make it more engaging Royalty Free music is a great legal option. Even for Learning Managers using ICT`s in instruction, music adds another dimension to learning experiences.

Dominique

References:
Incompetech, (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2009, from,
http://incompetech.com/

Power Point to Mediafire...

Thoroughly enjoyed making the Quiz on Power Point, I could see students enjoying the process to a certain degree. I feel they would lose interest simply because it would become a bit monotonous. And when there are programs like Online Quizzes that do all the work, it is easy to guess which one the students would ultimately prefer.
This activity reflects the notion of relate, create and donate - Engagement Theory by Kearsley & Shneiderman (1999). I related to the exercise, then created it and through MediaFire donated it.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=64eb88e48955aa72312dbd5f2bdc5062e04e75f6e8ebb871

Dominique

References:
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (2008). Engagement theory: a framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved September 1, 2009, from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm