Synopsis

As my final blog posting on this blog this synopsis aims to make links from my own experiences with these technologies, and my growing awareness of how I would use these tools within a classroom environment . 

In reflecting on my learning in this course it is necessary for me to expand on my growing views related to learning theories and the application of digital tools from the perspective of myself as a future learning manager.  The role of teachers in regards to digital technologies is one that cannot be ignored as today’s learners are faced with a future in which technology plays an increasing role (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). Moreover Florida (2002) suggests that society is changing to embrace a creativity that requires different skill sets from the past.  Theorists have proposed that this must prompt us to consider how learners learn in a new framework, one that builds on the ideas of constructivist learning and expands this into a brave new world where learning takes place not just within people but around them in systems and through networks ( Hargreaves, 1998) The TPCK- Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework has been suggested as a way of integrating the related areas of teacher practice within the classroom with subject specific knowledge, the use of digital tools and environments and the learning that we seek as teachers to encourage.  Going further than simply suggesting teacher’s use technology in teaching, this framework supports knowing how to use technology in a way to enhance higher order thinking rather than for its own sake (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). The framework recognises the problems inherent in technology use such as the rapidly evolving nature of technology;  and offers solutions including the suggestion of teachers learning in a “technology-by- design” approach (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). 

The approach outlined felt ultimately familiar to me as a student teacher as I immersed myself in the course activities, as I felt that this was a hands on way to learn and integrate my understandings of the uses of technology.  In this way the TPCK framework has encouraged me to think more about the how of technology use rather than the what of simply selecting digital tools. 

As I began this course  I considered the ideas on how I learnt best and how others learners may also have learning preferences.  While there is questions surrounding multiple intelligences it is clear that different people may find benefit in different areas of the digital spaces ( Paik, 1998 ). My reflections on these different learning styles can be found HERE.  The mobile phone wiki that we contributed to really opened my eyes to my own cynical attitudes, a view expanded upon by Leadbeater (2002) who says that pessimism permeates the view of science and technology for our future in many ways, through the view that machines may out evolve humans as we know them, or the havoc that technological advances could make (Leadbeater, 2002). However like Leadbeater I also found through considering the use of technologies in a positive way that I found a new dawning appreciation for what this new technological future could hold (Leadbeater, 2002). This initial pessimism was obvious in my use of the mobile phone wiki. Looking back I can see how limited my participation was in this activity as I felt uncomfortable sharing knowledge in an online space. I then reflected on this in my blog posting. As a teacher my experience will help me to scaffold online learning environments by preparing children through the use of habits of mind and classroom climate to be confident to have a go with learning experiences. After my reticence to participate I reflected more about the importance of being allowed to make and learn through mistakes and shared an interesting talk about this within my blog postings.  I appreciated the use of de Bono’s hats as a scaffolding tool and this helped me to contribute to the wiki and elucidated the importance of scaffolding students’ response to provide an easy entry into posting in online spaces.  In this way I also experienced the ‘expert teaching’ approach described as a knowledge based profession and therefore reliant on developing thinking skills more than transferring information (Turner- Bisset,  2001).

Therefore I approached the practice of using the first group of tools, with the idea of ‘having a go at using them’  despite my fears and considering their use within a learning situation.   I found that I was able to create content and reflect on using Wikispaces  and  through investigating this kind of online space I also found myself being drawn to the use of social media as an online learning space similar to wikis, and I expand on this in my blog.  Similarly I created a website which is linked here in my Wikispace. I reflected on websites in this posting. Amongst these tools I really enjoyed blogging. I learnt that I loved writing regularly and would use this online space within a classroom setting to provide that opportunity to my students. Alternately I also found that blogs can include all sorts of multimodal content, which could encourage all students to use them as an online space for presenting other work, or a record of their learning.  From this I’ve expanded on my ideas about using blogs, as online spaces within the classroom through the use of a PMI strategy in my blog post.

The second group of tools covered the use of images, audio and video. I really enjoyed discovering these tools. I loved the easy manipulation of digital images, and considered the use of digital audio in a school context, this lead me to again reflect upon my own learning in a blog posting. My focus tool is digital video as this week prompted me to think about my limited use of video. I have uploaded a video that my daughter and I produced using movie maker and reflected on the learning involved in this blog posting here.  Using movie maker allowed us to plan, make and learn about the topic that we were making the movie for. In this way my experience of using this technology will inform my teaching practice as I see how movie maker allows for an engaging way to learn content while also learning technological skills and work through from a plan to a finished product. 

Presentation tools were the group 3 digital tools. As I had experimented with glogster previously using images, I considered PowerPoint and Prezi in this  posting.  My initial attitude of reticence to newer technologies is evident in how I began to interact with Prezi. I found the intuitiveness ‘difficult’ and the zoom feature confusing. However the effectiveness of a finished Prezi is inspiring. As a learning manager I would consider using Prezi above and beyond PowerPoint for my own presentations for this reason. I also think that younger learners would benefit from the ease of the editing in Prezi. With practice things do make sense and the pictures instead of text menus enable even non readers to navigate the editor easily. For this reason my experience with Prezi was an important one in terms of my learning as it was a tool I was not comfortable using that now I would consider using more often. As a way of presenting content Prezi’s wow factor is something that I would love my students to see and associate with their hard work.  

The last group of tools included varied online digital tools including animations and simulations. Learning objects were also included.  I loved Google Earth and as a resource it seems to have limitless applications. I have included the introductory Youtube clip in my blog for this week’s tools.  I admit I found it challenging to use and slightly frustrating to control and find what and how to do things as this was the first time I had seen the layers. My previous experience of using this tool has been for the novelty value of being able to look up local areas therefore as a learning manager I can see how my expertise in using this resources has plenty of room to grow. My focus tool for this group is ZooBurst pop up story books. This seems to be a simple tool where stories can be written with graphics that pop up when you turn the page. As an early childhood teacher this resources really appealed to me because of the simplicity. It was colourful and I immediately started to think about the application in classrooms. I think this would be a great resource in an early years environment and I’ve shared some of my ideas about using it within this blogposting.

In conclusion, I started this course with a pessimistic mindset toward the use of technology. I’ve found that using the technology has excited me and encouraged me to think about applying it within classroom situations. Using the scaffolding of ‘thinking hats’ has allowed me to understand further how digital tools for their own sakes are not enough in a classroom, and specific thought needs to be given on the learning managers behalf on how the tools will extend learning. Further to this a real integration between the content area being taught, the tools themselves and then the skills needed to use the tools and demonstrate the learning is the ideal. I’ve found through my own practice that digital tools lend themselves to a learning through doing approach, however this still needs to be carefully scaffolded to support reticent students like myself and to gently encourage students to use the tools in a way that investigates the content area, and expands thinking. I am just at the beginning of my learning journey into managing E- learning, and I am looking forward to continuing to learn.

Florida, R. (2002). The rise of the creative class: And how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Hargreaves, D. ( 1998). Creative professionalism: The role of teachers in the knowledge society. London, UK: Demos.

Leadbeater. C. (2002). Up the down escalator: Why the global pessimists are wrong. London, UK: Viking.

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. ( 2006, June). Technological Pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054

Paik, H. S. (1998). One intelligence or many. Retrieved from  http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/paik.html

Turner- Bisset, R.(2001). Expert teaching. London,UK: David Fulton Publishers.

concept mapping and other digi tools

 The group 4 technologies include many technologies
The first group are simulations and animations. As a learning manager I would consider these a useful addition to my knowledge of online tools as animations seem engaging to most people regardless of age. Simulations also seem to produce credible learning results with simulators used in many adult learning situations including highly skilled fields such as aviation.

Interactive learning objects are also included in this group of tools. Learning objects are generally resources that can be used to support learning. In this context they refer to digital technological resources. The ability of learning objects to be reused and used in different circumstances is one of the capabilities that make learning objects useful for teachers. In some situations learning objects have been shown to increase learning above and beyond the use of paper and pencil tasks.
Mathletics and associated games on rainforest maths provide learning objects that can be used by children in schools either by teachers using these resources on a smartboard in an instructional way or by children individually using them at their own computers.

Google earth

Google earth is a great digital resource that has many applications in the classroom. google earth has layers that allow exploration of more than simply the earth's surface. It may be useful in investigating human growth on our planet, the animal kingdom, geogrpahy subjects including volcanoes and earthquakes, not to mention using it to investigate places, map local areas and even create virtual tours. Google Earth also provides resources and tips for using this digital tool.
Similarly Google maps is another useful resource. Google maps can be easily manipulated using some other software, and photos and placemarks added to and then embedded into class Wikispaces. (Barrett, n.d.)
Google Documents
Google documents is an online digital tool that really supports collaboration.

As a teacher I can see Google documents being a useful tool as you are able to set who can access the document to make changes. Google docs can also be used to by teachers to publish documents that can easily be shared.
 Concept Mapping
Bubbl.us is a concept mapping tool.

ZooBurst Interactive digital story books.


 I loved using this web tool. As an early childhood teacher I really started to see how I could use these tools when I began to play with this. The way content could be tailored to stories designed by the learning manager to use in whole group situations to further reading practice, and then learners could also make their own stories through planning them, and producing them. These stories could also be used in simple sequencing lessons in an early childhood context as they can be made to a desired length by the author.  It is an easy interface to use, and the graphics are colourful and engaging. Upgrading to the full features so that audio could also be used would make this resources even more engaging.

Strap on the tool belt there could be more tools to come...

Presentation tools
Power point is a presentation tool. University introduced me to power point and it is used with varying degrees of success in our lectures. I love the PowerPoints that draw me in acting as a teaser, almost an add on to the lecturer's presentation. The PowerPoint seems to work as a prompt for the lecturer to ensure that the valuable information is presented, but does not need to be read word for word. Similarly it is used to entce the learner in, containing quotes, images, embedded videos and sound effects that liven up the spoken presentation.
I had to ask my teenager to show me how to use PowerPoint when it was first introduced to me as an adult learner.
The first power point I have ever made is a demonstration of where my technical skill began and I know I can continue to improve upon it in the future.

First power point I ever made

View more presentations from mummameme

As a learning manager I feel confident about using PowerPoint for presentations. In my prep class this year powerpoint was an easy to use program that enable the teachers to produce slide shows with sound effects using the photos of the children in the class, and animated clip art pictures. After our class excursion the photos from the day were collated into a PowerPoint presentation that was then able to be used to prompt the students thinking before structuring a recount and writing a recount of their excursion the next day. The presentation was also able to be used to share with the parents who had been unable to come on the excursion.


Prezi is also a presentation tool. To be very honest, I've investigated Prezi before and despite it being touted as intuitive I will admit it scared me off. Being a slightly older learner, I wonder if I have gotten so used to the 'linear' structure of things that I actually find 'intuitiveness' goes against the grain in many ways. Bring back the old school style where I ask someone how to do something and I get an instruction book thank you very much! Despite my somewhat lukewarm appreciation last time though I am going to give Prezi another chance. I have discovered through interacting with technologies that once you start to play with them soon you no longer hanker for the instructions, I am even finding that I may get impatient when instructions are proffered - " No thank you," I may say "If I need instructions, I know how to search for them, ask Google or find the help button - For now I just want to play with this and see how it works for myself " .  Here's hoping with that frame of mind I manage to come up with my first Prezi. Watch this space!

First Prezi on Prezi

Using images online.

Using images online is something I've always been slightly cautious with. I own this photo, and that negates those tricky copyright questions that seem to arise when sharing and using images from the world wide web. In the past I've tended to use creative commons images sourced from searching for content that has been shared under a license that allows for sharing the content. Usually this works well with the image needing to be attributed to the owner.
I've also been quite cautious with sharing photographs of my children out here in the big www.

I am also aware of different parents opinions on the safety of sharing images of children online. It is a touchy subject for some people. On one end of the scale some parents post a large selection of their children in all sorts of situations, and at the other end parents have known to be upset with photographs of their children being uploaded and shared on social networking sites without express permission from them, the parents. As  a teacher this idea of permission for sharing images is something that most schools seem to provide paperwork for with permission forms used to regulate the use of images and how they can be distributed. Using password protected sites and being aware of privacy issues is an important part of using images in schools.

This image was enhanced using Picnik.  This is a free photo editing website. I can see this kind of photo editing becoming very addictive. It offers a great digital platform for creative play with images. Being able to add in text and other additions could make this a useful tool when designing image content for class tasks. I can imagine children would very quickly work out what all the tools do and become quite adept at using this site.

Images don't have to be photographic. Voki is a popular site used to create avatars to use online.



I've also wasted spent a whole lot of time exploring glogster. I've attempted to "poster myself" ( well an image that I own, anyway). Here's hoping I can embed it here...


  It seems I can although size wise it needs some tampering but I am not about to try to change the values in the HTML code right now. That would really be pushing my advancing technological know how.

Multi media tools...the noise, the imagery, the learning.

Group 2 tools - Images, audio and video

Video;Using movie maker in educational contexts.

Here is a short movie that my daughter took for her show and tell in year 2 when they were doing a unit on camping. While I helped her produce this movie in y capacity as a mother rather than an educator, I have reflected on it anew during this weeks consideration of digital tools. The brief for the show and tell was to bring in photos of your camping experiences to share with the class. Having seen what movie maker was capable of I asked Delphi is she would like to use it to produce a movie instead of printing photos out. Being quite new to how it worked I found the easiest way to produce the movie was to collaborate on the design. In this way my daughter selected the colours, font, transitions and even chose the soundtrack. I then helped her to manipulate the images into the sequence and publish the movie to a disc. We do not own the rights to the music - It is credited at the end of the movie. It is "Countryside" by Empire of the Sun.
Had we had more time I would have liked my daughter to be able to play with this program more herself, she was engaged with the use of it and after the show and tell her teacher and class followed up with more 'movie' show and tell productions. This worked well due to the smartboard technology that was available.

This is just one way movie maker can be used, and probably a fairly old fashioned way! I'd love to investigate making other types of movies and using digital video as well. The technology is so wonderfully able to be manipulated and then used in many configurations, enhancing creativity by being able to be combined with other programs such as using PowerPoint slides to create images that can then be used to make stop motion animation.
The other consideration is time. I've spent hours fiddling with embed codes and asking Google lots of questions regarding how to put a video into my blog. Who knew that it was as simple as clicking on the insert video link in the editor box! A few false starts but here's hoping it is working now.



Mobile Learning
Also in this weeks resources was a reference to mobile learning. Mobile learning refers to the use of tools such as ipods, ipads and smartphones which are capable of being 'mobile' computers. These devices offer up ways for learning to be 'on the go'. Statistics and trends show the ownership of devices such as these is steadily on the rise. This therefore is an area where the tech savvy learning manager can also look at developing their pedagogy. One way of using mobile learning is through simple polls such as the one I developed asking for opinions on mobile phones in classrooms. In this way student responses could be collected by learning managers as an initial assessment or formatively throughout a learning experience. Similarly it could be used to develop classroom climate by providing students with a platform to 'have a say' on things including choices for classroom management.



In the meantime, see if you can vote on my new poll.

Create your own sms poll at Poll Everywhere

This week..... Group 2 - Images Audio and video begins

Group 2 tools - Audio
Podcasts are one way to embrace digital audio tools. Podcasts are similar to recorded radio shows, and are used to present information in an aural way. Usually they are simply listened to but vodcasts also fall under the podcast banner and are audio linked with aural presentation of information.
As a more verbal linguistic learner I find that the written word is easier for me to grasp than the aural information contained in podcasts however learning styles are so varied and multifaceted that being able to provide information in different ways is important to me as a future learning manager.
I can see podcasts being useful in upper primary classrooms as learners utilise technology such as ipods to access podcasts. As a learning manager I could see myself investigating producing my own podcasts or alternatively podcasts provide a way for learners to publish their  information.
Podcasts already exist on a numerous amount of topics and are often accessible freely on line. For this reason they may also be an interesting source of new information on topics. However due to the large volume of information they provide another avenue to teach information literacy, as learners may have to decide on such things as the bias of the source providing the information, and how useful the information may be towards their study goals.

Digital audio can also be used in conjunction with visual tools such as Vokis. These visual tools will be explored in my next blog.

From wikis and onto websites and integrating them into the classroom.

Group 1 tools online spaces - Websites

Using websites in an educational context.
As I've discovered Wikispaces area  great way to encourage collaborative learning

However next I I investigated creating a website to familiarise myself with this type of online space. I found that this was a lot easier than I imagined it would be.
I used Weebly to create my website, and this sort of interface provides templates and tutorials to make it much easier to design a website.
My initial view of websites are to see them as a less interactive online space, one that suggests a use as some sort of online cork board such as a notice board to display classroom information. Similarly to this websites seem to suggest themselves as a way for teachers to stay organised and manage classroom information. To this end they can be used for things such as

• Announcements
• Class Calendar
• Homework Assignments
• Supply Lists
• Pictures
• Post Student Work
• Parent Involvement/Volunteer Opportunities
• Classroom Rules and Policies
• Links
• Your Bio and Contact Info

(Klingensmith, n.d.)


 As a learning manager the value of websites for me would be the ease of being able to connect to the learning community and the parents and other stakeholders involved in my classroom. With the proper due care given to using photographs of students, a website becomes a colourful place to display an up to date record of classroom activities.

Webquests may be a way to use websites in a more interactive fashion. Through using a webquest students have access to a website where a series of tasks are set, with provided resources. These provided resources may be other websites, or digital tools or spaces.
The use of websites in the way of webquests provides scaffolding to students through their design.
To use technology effectively scaffolding needs to be thought of by the learning manager. The technology itself is not enough to provide to the students, in some ways learning about the topics covered in a webquest could be done without the online environment through searching in books and with search engines, however the use of a specifically designed webpage that includes appropriate links allows the learning focus to be on opportunities to practise skills and search for information in a structured way to enhance learning.
Here is an example of a webquest developed for younger learners.

Similarly to the webquest, webpages can be designed to be classroom spaces for publication through the use of multiple pages. One way I would use a website like this in a classroom space could be through the use of the site as a publishing tool for class work. A writing task such as producing a school online news paper could easily utilise a website in this way, as in this example "Yesterday's News". This use of a website produces a tangible link to real life experiences.

Although I think websites are a less interactive than other online spaces, as a learning manager I am convinced of the usefulness of websites within the classroom

Using blogs in schools

 Group 1 tools - Online spaces- Wikispaces, blogs for learning and websites

PMI Investigating using blogs for learning – My experiences
Plus	Minus	Interesting
·         Digital learning environment for ‘digital natives’ ·         Multimodal technology, not much can’t be embedded or uploaded to a blog. What can’t be shared here can be linked to on other webhosting sites of spaces. ·         Allows for learners to interact with each other’s ideas through the use of reading and commenting on each other’s blogs. ·         Could be used to prompt users to reflect on their learning in a journaling style. ·         Allows for ‘publishing’ of student work in a real world context. ·         Allows for linking globally to other learners, through following.	·         Work on a blog is automatically ‘published’ to the world wide web. This has implications in terms of privacy settings, ethical behaviour and copyright law in terms of what can be shared and published from a school context. ·         Publishing to a blog allows for work to be seen with little control over privacy setting. In a learning environment this could be a challenge for some students who are not comfortable at displaying their work in such exposed environments. ·         Blogging can take a lot of time, to learn and use all the features. It also requires students to have access to digital environments and the resources to support this. ·         Learning managers may have little control over the content of the students’ blogs unless using a platform that allows them some sort of administrative control. Ideally this should not pose any problems however I can see that there could be situations in a school setting where blog posts may require moderation.	·         Blogs are hugely popular with blogs covering every topic imaginable ( I believe!) ·         Blogs are created everyday on many different sites. ·         Blogs can become careers for some people.  ·         Or springboards to other things, like writing print books or movies ( Julie and Julia with Meryl streep impressed me with its connection to a humble blog ). ·         Blogs seem to have been around for more than a decade now http://www.zdnet.com/news/blogs-turn-10-whos-the-father/151564 With no one in particular recognisable as the ‘first blogger”.

 Another perspective on blogging can be found here...
http://beyond-school.org/2008/05/01/for-the-roses-my-latest-position-on-classroom-blogging/

It is a very interesting position that seeks to value writing, and argues that using blogs as a tool to magically encourage teenagers to write is flawed. Instead the author seems to suggest that writers write, and when given a blog writers blog, because it is another platform in  which to write. That makes complete sense really. the author goes further to criticize homework blogs as a useless way to encourage writing. He classes himself as an 'elitist' English teacher because of his stance that it's the flowering writers that we ought to be interested in really. As a learning manager, although not in a high school situation,  I am not sure I agree wholeheartedly....my first thought is that we as teachers need to carry along all students with us upstream rather than just leave behind those not 'capable/passionate' .

I also wonder if the use of blogging will magically open doors for those who wouldn't otherwise write as it can invite so many other senses and the use of a keyboard/other tools rather than a pen - I heard a story recently about someone who was illiterate until he discovered he could use a keyboard successfully and is now learning to communicate with written language via the internet in ways he never was able to using pen and paper....

Another reason why I think I could embrace blogs in my classroom is because of the simple fact that not all blogs need to contain a large amount of writing, or indeed 'writer's writing' for that matter. A blog in any case can be what you make it.  The variety of opportunities could see blogs being useful tools in many classroom situations and for many different learners, natural writers or not.

I believe a certain amount of scaffolding would be needed to use blogs in classroom situations. The ethics regarding what can be used on a blog and the netiquette required in an online space is one area of prior knowledge that I think it would be the learning manager's responsibility to explicitly teach before using blogs within a classroom.  Copyright law has provisions for using certain material in educational context however password protection and privacy settings are an important part of doing this safely and within the law.
Similarly to this the form of blog would need to be established.

The case against pessimism

http://beyond-school.org/2009/12/25/on-using-technology-without-understanding-it/
I found this blog following a link from the week 3 resources and I was disappointed to find the latest entry seemed to be an adieu of sorts, I then aimlessly procrastinated by looking at the Youtubes embedded in the latest posts before I found this gem about a high school  news paper's editorial comment regarding the use of technology in schools. 
As I have been striving to get my head around the course materials and embrace the ideals of integrated technology that actually ensures learning the way no other tools can I have been developing a quietly pessimistic view. Surely a student could use a face to face meeting with another for collaborative learning as successfully as a wiki my mind tells me... And I fully blame being a mother of a teenager and therefore a relic of the digital immigrant society for this negative view point. Technology is stealing my past and the right to be a Luddite out from under me.
I guess that is why I enjoyed this blog post so much. The authors position, that by sharing in online environments arguments, opinions and information can be added to and built upon not just with those that are physically close to you but around the world and in ways that establish new knowledge really summed up the idea of connectivism. Similarly I applauded that someone had said and supported the idea that technology is not the be all and end all, that teacher's passion and their expertise is just as necessary and as individually important as web tools may be. I realise now that is the premise that we will be uncovering at the heart of this course but up until now I have felt that instead of recognising teacher strengths it has instead been the idea that teacher's who are not au fait with the technology must just " work harder " . Instead this author has managed to uncover for me the difference between the 'technology' and the learning, that technology can provide. Particularly his remarks about facebook as a common graffitied desk - Marc Prensky in his 2009 article regarding digital wisdom alluded to similar ideas by his admission that using technology was not an end in itself but how you use the technology - your digital literacy and its intentions in regards to knowledge creation are key.

So I can still be a mother who occasionally bemoans my children's screen time while also cautiously embracing technology in the classroom, recognising that it does offer us learning that no other tools provide.  The globalisation of our world and the information overload and its associated challenges of evaluating information are part of society and I am not immune to it. My reticence to embrace the technology may be because of the lack of role models in my life who know the power of what these tools give us. This blog, this author, he just gave me a glimpse.

Wikispaces, and the use of them

 Group 1 tools - Online spaces, Wikispaces.
This week I joined in on adding to the mobile phone wiki for this course using the framework of  De Bono's thinking hats. I found this a challenging activity, to join in collaboration with others and put my opinions into an online environment where they could be judged.
It occurs to me that students may also feel confronted by using online learning spaces to collaborate. From this I have been reflecting on the scaffolding that might be important in using wikis to support learning. A large part of my teaching philosophy includes embracing mistakes as opportunities for learning .

Following on from this thought, I liked the idea of using the thinking hats to allow for students to enter the discussion somewhere they felt comfortable. It also seemed to allow for a growth of knowledge, a real construction of knowledge, socially constructed but stored in an outward environment rather than just constructed in our minds. In this way I began to understand the ideas presented in the summary of learning theories and other course materials. Specifically the reading I have begun to do on connectivism.

This theory really challenged my thinking by presenting the idea that knowledge can be constructed outside of humans, within machines and organisations. While I was comfortable with the ideas that connectivism builds upon social constructivist theory and addresses modern issues in learning such as the judgement or valueing of information, a necessary part of learning within such an information saturated society, I pondered for a while on this notion that learning can happen in machines. It seemed to present a futuristic view of the world which hinted at intelligent machines, like something from a science fiction novel. I guess the truth is stranger than fiction though, and intelligent machines do exist and are part of our everyday world. Facebook's security system for example manages to learn through experience of spam and evolve its systems.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21095-inside-facebooks-massive-cybersecurity-system.html
Similarly machines form part of our learning, recording and assisting recall in many ways. I often no quickly look up word definitions while reading online, and follow links to further my understanding of articles. I sift through links,  disseminating the information, in short connectivism rings true for me.

As a student myself the use of this wiki inspired me to engage more in online spaces for other course work. The wiki environment felt comfortable for me however I found myself wanting more control and privacy so the answer for me was to set up and use a Facebook group in another course 
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/223497821050625/ . This group allowed for interaction in an online space and the facebook doc feature worked similarly to a wiki. The advantages of using the Facebook doc was that it was a familiar environment for me and my fellow learners and in some ways that made it less intimidating. It also allowed us to have a closed group space, not accessible by other students in our cohort, although our lecturer was added to the group so that we could still share in a way that could be monitored.  A downside however was the limits of the doc function, compared to a wiki editor it was difficult to really make changes and Facebook's interface was temperamental at times. Facebook is cautiously being embraced as a learning environment however there are things to consider...More here. For this reason as a teacher using a simulated facebook style form may be a safer way to use this concept one such resources already exists.

I have also seen examples of online teaching spaces that are styled on Facebook's system Edmondo  is one such site and other similar sites are being trialled to varying degress of success. Notesharing forms of social media are also other ways that social media is producing online study spaces. Halsey, an educator in a school that harnessed using the internet for engaging students through the use of a platform known as 'frog' had this to say about digital environments and their usefullnes,
"[Young people] spend all their time at home on the internet," he says. "They are using technology, they've got their phones, they've got Facebook, they've got all this stuff, they are very used to processing information that way. Then come to school and we present them with a textbook and a pen. That's such a sharp contrast". 


As a teacher, I think the idea of social networking is a great way to extend collaborative groups outside the classroom. As an early childhood teacher I can see that wiki spaces provide another platform for collaboratively networking, not so much the individual students in my classes but the student community by giving a classroom space for parents and other community stakeholders to also be involved. That the students themselves can also contribute to this by embedding and uploading content either from a school computer or from their homes makes this a very accessible and valuable tool .

Learning Styles

So,
I've done the learning styles questionnaire and my results are below. I am not sure how I feel about these types of quizzes. I find myself always debating over which answer to pick that truly represents me, and I always wonder because in a way I feel uncomfortable with having to choose one little box to define myself. I also think that after doing a lot of these tests, I've come to *see* myself one way and I therefore pick questions that I think  fit with that...whether they are realistic representations of my learning style I am not sure.

The other thing that occurs to me is that when reading the explanations is that in most cases people whatever their preferred style respond to information presented in various and multiple ways. To me this indicates that differentiation across the board is important with offering information in different ways and forms the most important thing.

Alternatively I do appreciate that an understanding of different preferences for learning allows teachers to 'reach' children who may otherwise switch off from learning. One example that comes to mind was working with some children to learn spelling words and doing this while bouncing balls outside. The use of movement, and physical activity presented the spelling activity in a completely different style than traditional sitting pen and paper spelling tasks and this was a huge advantage because it offered an alternative method that could appeal to some learners who do prefer movement based tasks.

Thinking about my own learning style has caused me to reflect on the activities 

that I am comfortable using to learn and consequently how much proffered activities

 can enhance student engagement. For instance I do not learn well aurally, and find

 myself when I am listening to a podcast or radio show thinking abselntly " oh I've

 missed a whole bit, what are they talking about now". As a learner if this was the

 only option offered to me for gathering information I would find engaging and 

consequently learning particularly difficult. Similarly while I am comfortable 

with the printed word and happy to read information I am aware that for some 

learners this method would be unsuitable as the main or only delivery method. 

This reflection brings me to consider that a variety of offerings is important 

when providing information, and also for practicing the skills and knowledges 

that students are expected to learn. Allowing for different  ways to present material 

also prevents one learning style being favoured above another. 

If you want to have a go at the learning style quiz...Click

Results for: Miatta Wighton


      ACT                              X                    REF
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- -->

      SEN                              X                    INT
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- -->

      VIS                                  X                VRB
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- -->

      SEQ                                  X                GLO
           11  9   7   5   3   1   1   3   5   7   9   11
                              <-- -->

Learning Theories

It strikes me as I read about learning theories that I am inclined to go off on tangents. As I read about behaviourism and Pavlov's dog I think of my own small poodle and her dog training, using food rewards, which leads me to consider how I am constructing this knowledge through adding to my schema of what I already know about learning in one environment and how this relates to this new knowledge regarding theorists and the thinking behind these things that I have seen at work in my own world. In essence I am gaining metaknowledge regarding my thinking about learning and knowledge about these theorists and theories is giving me a framework to develop my own philosophy as a teacher. I see that cognitive theory makes sense to me as I consider the workings of my thoughts, and I also feel that I am constructing my knowledge, through building on previous ideas and conceptions.

One thing that this train of thought has lead to is the specific consideration of the use of these theories within teaching and learning and how I will use this knowledge when planning learning experiences.

As it is a Sunday morning here, my posting will need to be brief, so I will say that for me, the idea of learning manager's having a role of coach, or mentor, is one that I like.  I believe that learning happens continuously, and so being able to scaffold the experiences  for learners aiming towards learning outcomes makes sense to me.

I feel I have only began to touch on this subject, and unfortunately my other life as a mum is intruding on my studying right now. So for the first week this blog post is it.

I have also managed to set up my Wiki page for this course... More about that later.

Happy Studying everyone :)

Behind the 8 ball already?

University term 3 and I have jumped enthusiastically into my managing E- learning course only to feel completely overwhelmed by the idea of studying ICTs and learning through a flex course. I can see that my fellow students from the small campus I attend have managed to get stuck in straight away, while I have been luxuriating in an island holiday far from technology ( ok untrue - with mobile phones being a computer in your pocket, really escaping from technology is rare! ) .

So now, I am back. I am online and I am ready to get stuck in and up to speed with Managing E - Learning. I have sporadically attempted to blog before, with limited success, so here's hoping that not only will the widget gods smile on me but that also my time management strategies kick in and I will be part of the blogosphere in a proper way!



Looking forward to sharing blogs and techno knowledge with you all.

M