Amy's Blog

How my thinking has changed

My learning and thinking changed a few times throughout my participation in the topic. My thinking began to change in week 3 when we were introduced to inquiry learning and Web 2.0 tools. This is when I really started to engage in the topic and the importance of using ICT effectively in the classroom. In week 6, my thinking changed about assessment and developing an assessment task that fit with the QT framework. This was something I had not done before. All of the thinking I had done during this topic really came together during Week 9 when I was completing my Integrated Learning Plan. I think that really brought together all that I had learnt throughout this topic.

What did you find most valuable about the topic and why?
Overall I have found this topic very enjoyable and I have learnt many new things about ICT and in particular Web 2.0 tools. The thing I found most valuable about this topic was learning about the different Web 2.0 tools that are available for us to use as teachers and how they can enhance teaching and learning. Throughout the Web 2.0 presentations I learnt about a number of different tools that I didn’t even know existed such as Pixton, Scratch and Moodle.  Our group inquiry on Edublogs was useful as I was able to closely evaluate the tool, how it can be used and its benefits in education. I now feel confident in being able to use some of these Web 2.0 tools in my teaching. I also found it valuable to plan a unit of work that integrates ICT using the inquiry approach. As I will soon be out teaching, I now have a valuable resource that I will be able to use.

How could the topic be improved?
I really enjoyed this topic and can’t really think of many significant ways it should be improved. One suggestion is to maybe shorten the class presentations  or have less of them each week as while I enjoyed learning about the different Web 2.0 tools, after the fourth workshop of class presentations it began to become a little repetitive.  However, I understand that we are trying to cram 13 weeks of work into 10 weeks so I can’t really complain!

I would like to thank Trudy for sharing her expertise, helping us with assignments and providing us with valuable ICT resources to use in our future teaching careers.

My inquiry unit is called “How can we protect Coastal Environements?” It is an inquiry into coastal environments and the human impacts on them. I chose this topic as the ocean is one of our most precious natural resources and it is important that students understand the need to protect them. Inquiry learning is a great way to plan a unit of work as it really makes you think about what the outcomes you want to achieve are and the learning experiences you will give students in order to achieve them. I found that the six stages of inquiry learning really helped me to sort out how I wanted to organise my unit of work. I think the planner was a valuable tool as the initial stages required me to work out what I wanted students to achieve and how I would assess it. Once I had that worked out it was easy to write the learning plan in Stage 3 as I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve. I spent a lot of time thinking about the final assessment task for the students as I wanted it to be something that used ICT in a new and meaningful way and allowed students to share what they have learnt and created with others. To access my integrated unit plan on Google Docs visit my wiki page.

I rated my assessment task as an average 3 out of 5 . To view how I rated each element click here. I found rating my assessment task for each element an interesting task and I found that I had to change my assessment task a bit to be able to rate the task higher for some elements. It really made me think about what I wanted students to achieve and whether the assessment was making them think deeply and make real connections with the topic or was it just superficial. I found it difficult to incorporate some elements int the assessment task I wanted to do for the topic. For example I had to rate Cultural Knowledge as 1 as this was not relevant to the topic or the task.

I think developing a unit of work was a useful task for me to do especially as it is my last ever assignment I will have to do at uni! It has given me a useful resource that I will be able to use when I am out teaching. I have learnt that it is important to work out what the outcomes you want to achieve are first before you begin to plan activities. If you know what the outcomes are, it is much easier to plan how students will achieve them. I have also learnt that there is no point integrating ICT into a lesson just for the sake of it. If it is something that can be done on paper, then is it not going to be a meaningful use for ICT. I think one of the major benefits of integrating ICT into units of work is the opportunity to collaborate and share ideas with others.

1. Which ICT tool did you select for review from the CEGSA web site?
   Photostory 3
2. Why did you select that tool and what were you most interested in finding out or expecting to learn
   I chose this tool as I think digital storytelling could be a powerful tool to use with students and I was interested in finding out some examples of how it could be used in the classroom.
3. Could you easily find the answers to your questions? why or why not?
   Yes, there was a section titled “How can it be used” and in there it gave lots of examples of how Photostory can be used in different subject areas. I also went to the section Student examples where I was able to view some examples made my students and to the teacher interviews section where I could read an interview from a teacher about they have used Photostory in the classroom.
4. What do you think were the strengths of the page? (e.g. ease of navigation, attractive page layout, quality of succinct information, range of examples, inclusion of relevant links, use of appropriate multimedia etc.)
   I think the page is well set out and and easy to navigate. It has short and succinct information that gives you an idea of what Photostory is, the advantages and disavantages and how it can be used. I also like the range of links provided.
5. How could the authors have improved their work?
   To improve the page they could have discussed why teachers should use Photostory over other Movie Making programs such as Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.
6. What comment did you write on the home page of the tool on the CEGSA wiki that added value? (e.g. identify a relevant link, suggest a further area needed to investigate or identify a question that you would like to see answered).
   I suggested a link to the Digital Storytelling cookbook which has examples and lots of good tips and tricks. http://www.storycenter.org/memvoice/pages/cookbook.html
7. Which CEGSA page do you think should be highlighted as most valuable to CEGSA members and pre-service students and why?
   I think the Interactive Whiteboard pages should be highlighted for teachers are these are becoming more available in schools. I think it is important that teachers know how to use them to their full potential and the pages on the CEGSA website give them some insight into this.

8. What further information about this assignment or example page do you think would be valuable to include in the topic in 2010? Why?
   I think it would be useful to point up to students which pages are good examples and are of high quality – similar to what you have done with the Inquiry Units. I found it very useful to be able to look at some examples of high quality work so I knew what you were expecting.