Assignment 2: Conclusion

Reflective Synopsis on Four Digital Technologies

"Advances in computer technology dramatically transform modern society into an arena where digital devices are indispensable" (Chung, 2007, p.17).  In today's world, technology is everywhere, it is easily accessible and in most cases simple to use.  So why not incorporate this into the learning environment?  Not only are students constantly using technologies, but for the majority of them, they seem to enjoy using technology.  "Research suggests that students learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process" (Dupain & Maguire, 2005, p. 1).  Why not take advantage of technology and incorporate it into the learning journey?

So much has happened over the past five or so weeks, as a wide range of learning technologies have been introduced into our ICTs learning journey.  By introducing these new learning technologies, we have been given the opportunity to explore these technologies to get an idea of just what is out there and available for possible use in our own classrooms.  Through a range of readings and experiments with the suggested technologies, we have gained valuable experience in how to use the technologies and been forced to think and reflect on the possibilities of using them in the classroom.  The following image shows the retention rates of students based on research.

(Sourced from Dupain & Maguire, 2005, p. 3)

Since the 1980s when technology was introduced into the classroom, a range of "studies have been done on how technology is used in the classroom, what advantages technology in the classroom may hold for teachers and students, and how technology is implemented in the classroom" (Eskil et al, 2010, p. 165).  This is important to consider in relation to all teaching environments and experiences.  There are so many advantages that can be seen to using and implementing technology in the classroom, all of which have become apparent over the last few weeks.

It is also noted that it is important that as we introduce technology into the learning environment, we need to shift our focus from 'teacher-centred' environments to a more 'student-centred' focus (Wright & Wilson, 2009).  The four technologies that have been chosen to reflect on are Blogs, Windows Movie Maker, Prezi and Dipity.  Through a series of blog postings on each of these four technologies, higher order thinking has been shown in a range of PMIs, SWOT analysis' and concept maps.

During Assignment One for ICTs for Learning Design learning theories were introduced, and in this case, Wright and Wilson (2009) identify that blogs allow for a constructivist approach to learning.  If we recall, constructivism focuses on how we learn knowledge with a push towards collaborative learning (Gupta, 2008, p. 381-382).  Blogs can encourage students to become actively involved in their own learning, by improving their performance both in and out of the classroom (Wright & Wilson, 2009).  Blogs have also been found to be effective in improving the relationships between teachers and students, as well as improving student's higher order thinking capabilities (Williams & Jacobo, 2004).  The following image proves that blogs are just that easy to set up, use and connect to fellow users.

(Sourced from Wittner, 2005, 'Basics')

In relation to the classroom setting, there are many different ways that blogs can be incorporated into learning experiences.  Whether it is simply to get students writing to hopefully improve their literacy skills in a more creative way, to get students to track their own learning journey, or as an assessment requirement (See Appendix 1).  Blogs really do have the ability to get students and teachers to think outside the box in terms of what and how to use blogs.

The second digital tool that I have chosen to explore is that of Windows Movie Maker.  When we, or in many cases our students join together "images, music, narrative and voice" (Chung, 2007, p. 17) we/ they are providing a creative and much deeper understanding to subjects and situations.  By digitizing stories, thoughts and general topics and information, students show their abilities to blend together multiliteracies, as well as including and showing off their creative skills and critical thinking skills (Chung, 2007).  Windows Movie Maker adds yet another dimension to creating and showing understanding.  Images force us to think about the hidden meaning and make us question things in relation to our own thoughts and feelings (See Appendix 2).  By combining the power of images with music and narrative (etc.) more emotion is created and we really do begin to see the power of an image.

It is important that as teachers we are continually searching for ways to engage and excite our learners.  Digital storytelling is definitely a creative way to do this (Dupain & Maguire, 2005).  Windows Movie Maker allows students to express their personality and creativity by providing a way that knowledge and understanding can be shown in a fun and entertaining way.  By using Windows Movie Maker, the "learning becomes student-centered as students conduct research, analyse and synthesize information, and creatively communicate their findings in a digital story" (Dupain & Maguire, 2005, p. 1).  Windows Movie Maker allows students to develop and improve their comprehension and retention rates, which is perhaps why more teachers from across all study and subject areas are incorporating and making use of this technology (Dupain & Maguire, 2005).  From personal experience, video is a powerful tool by any means, having students create their own, only adds to the power.

The third digital tool that has been investigated is that of Prezi.  Even though personally I have experienced a wide range of technologies, Prezi is new and previously unheard of.  "Prezi allows you a global perspective on your material whilst allowing you the ability to add minute detail not possible in PowerPoint" (CQU, 2011, para. 12).  PowerPoint has been around for many years and has plenty of exposure and use, but now Prezi has entered the field and is promising and exciting to use.  According to Diamond (2010) Prezi has the ability to change the way we think about how we create and deliver presentations.  Instead of just piling information onto slides, Prezi uses the subject content to create a story.  By doing this the story presented begins to dictate the processes involved in the presentation topic (Diamond, 2010).  Using Prezi allows you to see the 'whole' picture, or allows you to zoom in on certain parts to emphasize points.  This technology also allows you to map out the direction of the story.  In other words you may start out with the entire picture, and then zoom to the first major point, and continue to move to important facts or topic points throughout the presentation.  The following image shows the mapping out of a Prezi story/presentation.

(Sourced from Diamond, 2010, p. 21)

Prezi is available online as both a tool to 'create' presentations, but also to view those that others have created (See Appendix 3).  It should also be noted that if saving the presentations to the online version of Prezi, they will be available for all to see.  There are different 'packages' that you can purchase to access Prezi, unfortunately if you wish to 'download' the full program to your computer it will cost money, but as an upside, will mean that you have the ability to save directly to your computer (Diamond, 2010).

The fourth and final digital tool that has been explored further is that of Dipity.  Dipity is an online tool that allows that users to create 'timelines' about any topic.  The great thing about Dipity is "you can link video, audio, images and text. You can convert the timeline to a list, to a set of flip charts. You can zoom into a minute by minute timeline, to a centuries long timeline" (CQU, 2011, para. 12).  See Appendix 4 for an example of a timeline created using Dipity and a breakdown of how useful Dipity would be from an educational perspective.

From these four digital technologies, it becomes quite clear how each of them would be useful in the classroom and in students' learning journey's.  As mentioned earlier, it is so important to engage and interest students in their learning, and technology aids this.  As Malin (2010) notes that for students to have the ability to "reflect, decode, comprehend and construct meaning" (p. 121), students need to be engaged.  Yong and Ping (2008) support Malin by also noting that engagement is important for student success.  Malin (2010) provides an amazing example of how to implement technology into reading, to assist those who struggle with this task.  This is just one case of using technology to engage and excite students.  The majority of today's youth are socially using the freely available 'web' technologies, which in many cases makes most of these technologies appropriate and useful to teach with in a modern classroom (Robbie & Zeeng, 2008).  By using online technologies another aspect to teaching and learning is drawn on, as both students and teachers can communicate collaboratively locally and globally (Robbie & Zeeng, 2008).  Not only is it great to use technology to engage students in the classroom, but it offers the opportunity and the ability to work outside the classroom (Robbie & Zeeng, 2008).  In Appendix 1, it was noted that blogs could be used as a tool to improve students literacy skills.  By simply setting tasks for students to 'write' about, the students are engaging in their 'thinking' and getting their own thoughts, views and ideas out there for fellow classmates and the teacher to read about, if they so choose.

As the subjects that I will most likely be teaching are secondary English and Geography, there are so many opportunities where technology can be used to assist and support student learning.  Technology would not just be a means to create an exciting and engaging learning environment, but to help students to develop their skills and begin to get involved with and enjoy their own learning.

But as exciting and interesting as it can be to use technology within the classroom context, there are also guidelines that need to be followed to ensure the safety of all those involved.  Bennett (2005) suggests (and generally it should be implied) that teachers are expected to show respect, "fairness, responsibility, honesty and compassion" (p. 38).  Teachers need to ensure that all students have access to and are using technology in the appropriate manner.  Perhaps it is a good idea to set out some classroom rules for using technology, the following image is a good example of just that.

(Sourced from Bennett, 2005, p. 39)

These rules are a great example of setting out rules for all students to follow, and to ensure that no one 'abuses' their rights to technology.  Bennett (2005) outlines that the National Education Technology Standards provide a guide to the legal issues that are related to technology.

1. "Model and teach legal and ethical practices related to technology use.
2. Apply teaching resources to enable and empower learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.
3. Identify and use technology resources that affirm diversity.
4. Promote safe and healthy use of technology resources.
5. Facilitate equitable access to technology resources for all students."

 (Bennett, 2005, p. 38)

These guidelines are just a starting point for teachers.  As teachers we should also analyse the benefits or the drawbacks, determine whether learning will be enhanced by the use of technology, and to use the most appropriate technology for the activities; this should be based on the needs and requirements of all the students, what the curriculum demands and just what the classroom environment offers (Bennett, 2005).  Bennett also offers some good advice in that teachers should make sure that students are not only treating one another with respect in the actual classroom, but are doing so online as well.

From experience, technology most of the time, is interesting and exciting.  The four technologies that have been explored here, are just that, entertaining, but mostly through experimentation, are engaging.  Which as a teacher, is just the sort of technology needed in the classroom.  There are both advantages and disadvantages to using technology in education, but for the most part, it is a positive experience for all who are involved in the experience.  After experiencing and experimenting with the range of technologies presented in the ICTs for Learning Design course, no doubt some of them will be 'popping' up in my own classroom teaching!

Appendix 1
http://staceydraperelearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/week-3-activities-reflections.html 

Appendix 2
http://staceydraperelearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/group-2-technologies.html

Appendix 3
http://staceydraperelearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/group-3-technologies.html

Appendix 4
http://staceydraperelearning.blogspot.com/2011/04/group-4-technologies.html

References

Bennett, L. (2005). Guidelines for using technology in the social studies classroom.  Social Studies. 96 (1), 38-40.  Retrieved from http://www.tandf.co.uk.journals/titles/00377996.asp

Chung, S.K. (2007). Art education technology: digital storytelling. Art Education. 60 (2), 17-22. Retrieved from http://www.archersmediacomputing.com

CQUniversity. (2011). Week 1 readings: active learning, learning diversity and the theory. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=17135

Diamond, S. (2010). Prezi for dummies. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Publishing.

Dupain, M., & Maguire, L. (2005). Digital storybook projects 101: how to create and implement digital storytelling into your curriculum. 21st Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/

Eskil, M., Ozgan, H., & Ballear, B. (2010). Students opinions on using classroom technology in science and technology lessons: a case study for Turkey (Kilis City). Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology. 9 (1), 165-175. Retrieved from http://www.tojet.net/

Gupta, A. (2008). Constructivism and peer collaboration in elementary mathematics education: the connection to epistemology. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education. 4 (4), 381-386. Retrieved from http://www.ejmste.com/index2.html

Malin, G. (2010). Is it still considered reading? Using digital video storytelling to engage adolescent readers. Clearing House. 83 (4), 121-125. doi: 10.1080/00098651003774802. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t914957666~db=all

Robbie, D., & Zeeng, L. (2008). Engaging student social networks to motivate learning: capturing, analysing and critiquing the visual image. International Journal of Learning. 15 (3), 153-160. Retrieved from http://ijl.cgpublisher.com/

Williams, J.B., & Jacobo, J.S. (2004). Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 20 (2), 232-247. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet.html

Wittner, R. (2005). Weblogs: a powerful tool for educators. Retrieved from http://www.sbg.ac.at/zfl/eTeaching_Skills/eTeaching_weblogs/basics.html. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=17135

Wright, V.H., & Wilson, E.K. (2009). Using technology in the social studies classroom: the journey of two teachers. The Journal of Social Studies Research. 33 (2), 133-154. Retrieved from http://www.thejssr.com/

Yong, T.L., & Ping, L.C. (2008). Engaging academically at risk primary school students in an ICT mediated after school program. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 24 (5), 521-539. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet.html