My Reflective Synopsis

                                   My Reflective Synopsis


Well, “What is a Synopsis?”

After researching this, I find out that it is a written summary or an outline of a longer piece of writing.

So here I go. Wish me luck.


I began this course not even knowing what e-learning was. My initial thoughts were “How is this course going to be relevant for me as a teacher?” I did not hold high hopes. I really thought it would be a waste of time. But BAM such a huge turnaround. I am totally blown away with how much I am enjoying this course.

It has been challenging, frustrating, riveting and on occasions downright annoying.  But it has me intrigued? I want to learn more, I want to see more and experience the whole concept of being a teacher in the 21st century. But let me tell you, overall this course has been a huge benefit for my future as a Learning Manager.

Over the past several weeks this course has touched on many Tools and Applications that are available to help assist in developing and implementing effective learning outcomes for our learner’s. We have experienced using many ICT tools and I have listed the following as examples:-


. Digital Storytelling

. Flickr/Picnik

. Google Earth

. YouTube/TeacherTube

. Interactive Whiteboards

. Incompetech

. Avatars

. Powerpoints


I personally would not use Incompetech as I found this too hard to understand, I found the website extremely difficult. I would use YouTube but not regularly. I feel I would only use it for demonstrating a task, activity or for instructions. I however found the other tools very helpful. I can see myself using them on a regular basis. All the tools are designed to make the learning more enhanced and much more student orientated. The teacher and student’s work together, collaborating, brainstorming, and being innovative. Not like the generations before when the teacher dictated and the student followed.

The most useful I feel for myself would be Picasa,Voki’s, Interactive Whiteboards and PowerPoint’s. The reason for this is:-

I use Picasa on a daily basis, I upload all the photos I take of the children at my service.  All the activities we did that day or week gets created into a large collage to display on our front door for parent’s to keep track of and to see what their children are doing at After School Care. For more information in regards to these tools please refer to my post on May 5, 2010 – Picasa, Flickr and Picnik.

Interactive Whiteboards/IWB have the capability to do so many things. They would be a great asset for any classroom. They are computers to surf the web, to present PowerPoint presentations on, to watch DVD’s and also to show digital stories. The class can research projects together, to interact and collaborate with each other.

Look the possibilities with the IWB really are endless.

I find that the Voki site is wonderful. It is FREE, very user friendly and has different characters and voices to relay your messages to the recipients. I would use Voki’s in the classroom to deliver instructions. I would use them to direct the learner to what was expected for their homework. This would also help prevent the learners telling Mum or Dad they have no homework as they can check for themselves. Voki’s would also be a great tool for learners who are hospitalised for months at a time or for learner’s who reside in remote areas. Teacher’s can create Voki’s to assist in delivering the lessons to the learners where ever they are in the world. Refer to my post April 17, 2010 – My First Voki for my example.

PowerPoint’s are such an easy and fun program to use. How I would utilise this tool is:- 
1. Have the learner’s take digital photos. 
2. Have them write a story.
3. They could narrate the story. 
4. Put all the information into PowerPoint slides and publish this.

 Once the learner’s see the finished product they really get excited when they see their hard work. Please refer to Digital Storybooks on my blog posted May 8, 2010 for my example and also PowerPoint Presentations posted on May 5, 2010. I have created My first E-Book for my PowerPoint Presentations posted on May 5, 2010.
(Although with any photos, video and sound you will need written permission from parent’s to allow this activity to proceed.)

As you can see, we have touched on quite a lot of new applications and tools over the past couple of months. I have gained so much more confidence and knowledge since beginning this course. I feel confident to deliver appropriate and effective learning activities that will be successful for my learner. Most of the tools and knowledge gained will be an asset in my future classroom. There are so many tools and applications available for teachers and learners these day, all just with a few clicks of a mouse. This will be detrimental to all our learner's as we approach the 21st century.

Just remember (Prensky, 2001) “In my view, it's not relevance thats lacking for this generation, it's engagement."

I really don't understand why its' taken so long to come to this realisation. “I was aware of this when I was a student at school”. If you recently just read an article called "Engage Me or Enrage Me" by Marc Prensky, you would understand. Marc made one statement that really hits home, and that is "Student's certainly don't have short attention spans for their games, movies, music, or Internet surfing." (Prensky, 2005)

Exactly right! Why aren't we incorporating these tools into their curriculum? We know this is where our learner's interests lie. This is our key to engagement.

The curriculum that we are using today and have used for many years was not designed for the current learner. Hence it being ineffective for some learner’s in the classroom. “Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach”. (Prensky, 2001)

I feel the success to becoming an effective Learning Manager is to incorporate ICT into your learner’s journey and to also use Greg Kearsley & Ben Shneiderman’s theory. “The fundamental idea underlying engagement theory is that students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks”. (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) When preparing for a lesson collaborate with the student’s, when student’s collaborate, it increases the student’s motivation to learn.
(Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999)
If the learner’s have a connection or relationship with the topic at hand, your learner’s are going to be more engaged and motivated as they find this worthwhile.

I also feel you need to possess the skills and attributes to be able to deliver an effective learning outcome.

To develop the lessons and activities around Relate-Create-Donate. (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) To be able to engage the learner’s, to be ready to become a life-long learner, to be creative, to be able to possess the ability to form good relationships with your learner’s. Know what their learning styles are, know their interests, and know their strengths and weaknesses. Make sure you treat each learner equal. Remembering that all learners are different. Some learner’s may be more disadvantaged then others, some may have special needs, some may have different religious and cultural backgrounds. All learner's deserve the same education as everyone else. All learners’ have a story to tell. Listen to their problems; provide a warm and caring environment. This is what makes a great teacher!

When I finally have my own class, I want each child to create a Voki and a Blog. I want them to create a Voki to introduce themselves on their blog and to use their Blog once a week to reflect on their learning journey for the week that was. I want them to explain what they enjoyed, what they disliked and what they found difficult. This will also be a great way to help find out their interests.  Their parent's are welcome to access their blogs at anytime. I could also set up a section in my blog where parent’s can leave questions, concerns or feedback.

Wiki’s would also be a fantastic tool to communicate with the teacher’s, learners and parents. The children could have their own Wiki’s. But when they do group work they would then create a page that will be just assigned just for that specific project. Teacher’s and Parent’s can RSS their Blogs and Wiki’s to check how they are progressing at any stage. Refer to my Post on Wiki’s.

I have contacted my lecturer a couple of times to ask for help on a quiz I accidently opened, and also some questions in regards to Assessment 2. I have found Scot to be very reliable and helpful when I have needed his help. With my other peers I have spoken to them about numerous things such as Skype, Voki’s and Assessments 2 and 3. I have interacted with Peter Spencer through Skype. I had just installed Skype onto my laptop and all of a sudden Peter popped onto chat, only to realise I couldn’t hear him, I could only type a message to him.  We spent about 30 mins to get it going, using sign language, written signs, we finally set it up to work. What a champion? I have replied to posts left on my blog and commented on others.

I feel that as long as we are all willing to be future oriented, life-long learners and possess good attributes, then we shall all should become effective teachers in the workplace. As they say, we will be workplace ready.

I am excited to be part of this journey and wish everyone all the very best of luck with our future studies. Thank you Scot and to my fellow peers. It has been a pleasure working with you all.










Appendix



Blog Comment List:

Sara Posted on blog - May 6, 2010 3:28 AM
http://www.blogger.com/profile/04941706748948357985

Sara liked the YouTube Clip regarding an alphabet song that played a song and also displayed sign language to assist with children with additional needs.

Replied - May 6, 2010 4:35 AM

Thanking Sara for her feedback.


Zelina Posted on Blog - May 6, 2010 3:28 AM
http://www.blogger.com/profile/09853135553583037671

Zelina enjoyed the way my Voki's mouth moves with my voice and asked do you set it up or does the Voki do it, itself.


Replied - April 30, 2010 7:33 PM

Advised that Zelina that the application does it, itself.


Bec Posted - April 21, 2010 11:53 PM
http://www.blogger.com/profile/17749410319861665102

Bec found using my own voice she could understand it better than the generated ones in the program. Children of all ages will benifit from using Voki's as they are entertaining and stimulating therefore making either a lesson or assesment more interesting to learn about. Also they are very easy to esablish and you can become very creative while doing so.


Replied - May 4, 2010 6:21 PM

Told Bec that I am more confident using them now and I can see how children will be engaged with Avatars.


Meryl Posted - April 22, 2010 8:44 PM
http://www.blogger.com/profile/14036434983190195286

Spoke about talking to a Year 12 student and they were going through the same predicament with their school filter, the student needed to look up alcohol for Chemistry and all alcohol is blocked.

Replied to Post - May 6, 2010 4:23 AM

Explained I can understand the reasoning behind it but it makes it very difficult.



Peter Posted - April 27, 2010 7:06 PM
http://www.blogger.com/profile/13426170004319932965

Gave ideas how I could incorporate ICT within the cooking task.

Replied to post - May 6, 2010 3:36 AM

Thanked Peter and agreed with his suggestions.



Zelina Posted - April 22, 2010 8:44 PM
http://www.blogger.com/profile/09853135553583037671


Zelina feels I have learn't alot about myself by using the different learning styles available to us.



Replied to post - April 15, 2010 4:25 AM

Agreed with Zelina and explained how we can work out our weaknesses and improve on them to become a better teacher.







References



Kearsley, G. & Schneiderman, B (1999). Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved March 6, 2010, from http://home.sprynet.com~gkearsley/engage.htm

Kunc, N (n.d). The need to belong: Rediscovering Maslow's Hierachy of needs. Retrieved March 6, 2010, from http://www.normemma.com/armaslow.htm

Prensky, M (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved March 14, 2010, from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Prensky, M (2001). Engage me or enrage me: What today's learners demand. Retrieved March 17, 2010 from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf

Soloman, B. & Felder, R. (n.d) Index of learning Styles Questionnaire Retrieved by March, 5, 2010 from
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

KeirseyExplain my tempermant
http://www.keirsey.com/sorter/error.aspx?error=6000

According to Pay Attention, (2007, Apr 4 ). Retrieved March 17, 2010 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEFKfXiCbLw&feature=player_embedded

Gardiner, H (2006, Dec) Multiple Intelligence. Retrieved March 6, 2010 from
http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149

Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test Retrieved March 23, 2010 from
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jungtype.htm

Active Learning Online. (n.d) Dale's Cone. Retrieved March 23, 2010 from
http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/whyuseal2.htm

Emerging Technologies Shaping K-12 Education. (2009, March 27). Retrieved March 17, 2010 from
http://e-learning-engagement.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html