January 2018 – Page 7

Digital Technologies – Week 1 09/01/18

Within my first class of Digital Technologies we focused on what digital technology is, along with identifying our strengths and things we wish to expand our knowledge on throughout this module. Within class we read “Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology” which was published by the Scottish Government in 2016. We […]

Before this class, my idea of digital technology was vague and I mostly associated it with all being online, however I now have the understanding that there are many more different aspects to it. For example, Bee-bots are educational and a useful form of digital technology. I also found out different facts about digital technology that I did not previously know, such as how it helps to increase levels of attainment and
close the attainment gap. Due to this, I feel as though this module has been beneficial for my learning already as my understanding of what digital technology is has increased. To be able to identify our progress at the end of the module we highlighted aspects we felt we were and were not most confident in, or had never worked with before. This gave me a good opportunity to think about what I need to work on most and what different forms of digital technology I will be working on in upcoming weeks.

The Scottish Government (2016) highlighted four main objectives that they wish to carry out to ensure digital technology helps children in all aspects of the curriculum.

Develop the skills of educators
Improve access
Empower leaders
Enhance curriculum and assessment delivery

I feel as though these points are very important as if teachers are not comfortable working with digital technology themselves, then they will lack confidence and find it hard to engage children in their lessons. Therefore, teachers being given the appropriate training means they will be able to highlight the positive effect digital technology has on children and from this they may themselves take great enjoyment in creating lessons for all areas throughout the curriculum. Ninety-two children between ages eight to eleven consulted with the children’s parliament, during this they talked about how learning with technology is fun. Therefore, through teachers incorporating technology into the curriculum where appropriate, children will be more interested and focused as they are learning through something they take an interest in. From this, I have been able to identify the importance of teacher knowledge on digital technology, therefore I am satisfied that I choose this module as I feel as though it will increase my confidence in relation to teaching with technology in future years.

We also spent time navigating glow and adding tiles onto our launch pads, this allowed me to identify useful tiles for just now whilst studying and also for future years of being a teacher. I found this time very important as reflecting through Glow Blogs is essential within this module, therefore exploring the site made me more confident with using it.

Overall, the first class of the module Digital Technologies enabled my understanding of what digital technology is to be expanded, as well as giving me the time to explore different books and Glow. I am pleased that I choose this module as already I have been made aware of how important it is for educators to be confident in teaching with technology. Therefore, through this module I am hopeful that my confidence and skills with using digital technology will increase.

References:

The Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology [Moodle Resource] Available: Digital Technologies module on Moodle. [Accessed: 09/01/18]

Digital Literacies Induction Reflection

Prior to beginning the “Digital Technologies” module, I believed that digital technologies were about solely enhancing learning through the use of applications such as powerpoint and educational apps. However, after reading up on the module and through directed reading, I now understand that digital technologies can be any application on a wide range of devices; […]

To gain this deeper understanding of digital technologies, and what they include, I made use of directed reading. “A DIGITAL LEARNING AND TEACHING STRATEGY FOR SCOTLAND 2016”, written by the Scottish Government, helped me understand that digital technologies are all about finding, analysing, creating and communicating information in a digital context.

There are four key objectives with digital technologies:

Develop the skills of our educators
Improve access
Enhance the curriculum and assessment delivery
Empower our leaders of change

Digital technologies are not only for the benefit of our pupils but can be and should be used to benefit teachers, parents and many others; including the future economy. We benefit from digital technologies in many ways: they are engaging for children and foster creativity, digital technologies help close the attainment gap and can benefit children with additional support needs, as well as providing children with skills for life, learning and future work.

I analysed my own knowledge of digital technologies and I am hopeful that this module will benefit me in teaching children on both placement and in my future career. I am confident in using iPads, game based learning devices and Glow however, easi-speak microphones, coding and some aspects of programmable toys are a development need of mine. I am hopeful that these development needs of mine will be address in this module.

REFERENCE: Scottish Government (2016), A DIGITAL LEARNING AND TEACHING STRATEGY FOR SCOTLAND, [Online] Pages 3-18. Available: http://moodle.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/391375/mod_resource/content/2/Digital%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20Strategy%20.pdf [Accessed: 9 January 2018]

Digital Technologies Week 1.

Today’s class was an introduction to our digital technologies module. Within today’s session we reflected upon what digital technology is, our own digital skills, the importance of digital technologies in schools and navigating Glow. The definition of digital technologies that my shoulder partner and I produced is “the use of electronic devices to find, analyse, …

Continue reading “Digital Technologies Week 1.”

The definition of digital technologies that my shoulder partner and I produced is “the use of electronic devices to find, analyse, create and communicate”.

To reflect upon our own competences within digital technology, we self analysed through the use of a chart where in which we graded ourselves from 1-3 on each category. By putting down the number 1, it would signify that you have that category as a development need however, by placing the number 3 beside the category it would mean that it was one of your areas of strength. The categories included things such as; word, excel, powerpoint and iPads etcetera.

Whilst discussing the importance of digital technologies in the classroom, we were directed to the “Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology” strategy, created by the Scottish Government in July 2016. This strategy is aimed to shape the educational approach to using digital technologies within the classroom. This strategy will only be used for between 3 to 5 years, this is due to the fact that it is believed technology will advance so quickly that the strategy will become outdated within this time frame. There are a number advantages for the pupil when using digital technologies in school, it is believed that digital technology raises attainment. Another advantage to the pupil is that they develop skills and competencies which are vital in the ever-growing digitised modern world. Alongside having advantages for the pupil, the teacher can benefit from digital technologies. An example of a teacher benefitting from technology is through the use of digital assessment, this type of assessment eliminates marking time and therefore allows the educator to devote more time to devote to quality learning and teaching. Parents can also be increasingly involved with their child’s education through digital technologies by keeping up-to-date with the schools online website or their Twitter page. Finally, the Scottish Government (2016), stated that digital technologies are also aimed to “encourage educators to share innovative and effective practice through digital platforms”. Teachers can do so through the use of websites including Glow and Twitter.

Finally, we were re-introduced from Glow which we had explored in our previous module ‘situated communication’. We discussed the benefits of Glow and tiles to add to our launch pad which will come in useful during our time as student teachers and further once we have fully qualified.

Overall, I believe today’s input was very informative and interesting. I particularly enjoyed reading and discussing the advantages of which digital technologies can have within a classroom setting. However, I feel I need more practise with Glow, which I will achieve overtime through creating blogs. I am very confident that I will thoroughly enjoy this module and I am looking forward to the coming weeks.

References

Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology. [Online]. Available from: http://moodle.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/391375/mod_resource/content/2/Digital%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20Strategy%20.pdf

[Accessed: 9 January 2018].

Digital Technology – Week 1 – 09/01/18

Today was the first day of the Digital Technology class. The main reason why I chose this module was my own lack of knowledge and confidence when it comes to technology in general. I want to be able to more than adequately teach my future students about using digital technology, and so I want to improve my own understanding so that I can be confident about what I tell them. The Scottish Government (2016) commissioned the Children’s Parliament and Young Scot to gather children and young people’s views on the use of digital technology in classrooms. The Children’s Parliament consulted 92 children raging from 8-11 and found that while the children believed that using digital technology made learning more fun, they felt their access to it was limited by a lack of equipment and also a lack of knowledge by their class teacher. Young Scot consulted over 250 young people aged 11-25 and they had the same response. I therefore think that it is even more important that teachers feel confident with technology as it is clearly having a negative impact when they do not.

In today’s lecture we were focusing on what exactly Digital Technology is and what it means and also why it is so important. My current perception of what Digital Technology is that it is about interactive technologies, using programmes and apps and being literate using computers and other electronics, and I think that it is important that all young people are given the opportunity to be able to access and use these pieces of technology. The Scottish Government (2016) defines digital technology as the term used to describe those digital applications, services and resources which are used to find, analyse, create, communicate, and use information in a digital context. The Government’s strategy aims to improve access to technology for both teachers and learners. In this way there can be some attempt at closing the poverty-related attainment gap that exists in so many schools.

We also looked at the use of the Glow dashboard and how useful it can be in a classroom setting. Glow is a digital environment for learning that is available across Scotland and is funded by the Scottish Government and presents schools with a purpose built digital learning solution which supports the delivery of Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Government, 2016). I have used Glow in a previous module and I can see how it could be helpful in a classroom setting. It gives teachers easy and quick access to a multitude of different resources and I think it would also be very helpful in planning a lesson. I have not yet had the chance to have a proper look at all that Glow has to offer, but I will definitely make use of it in the future.

Today’s lecture was very informative on what Digital Technology means, and how important it can be in the classroom setting. It can be used across the curriculum to enhance learning and engage pupils (Scottish Government, 2016). It is increasingly useful as a teacher and indeed a person, to have knowledge and competence when using technology as it is an increasingly important part of everyday life. I feel that today’s session has improved my confidence when using Glow and also given me better insight into why it is so useful for teachers to have a good knowledge of using technology.

References

Scottish Government (2016) A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. Edinburgh: Scottish Government [Online] Available at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505855.pdf

Personal Reflection of Digital Technology – Day 1 – 9/1/18

Today I attended my first session of Digital Technology. Walking into the classroom I was not sure what to expect because throughout school I took administration as a subject and had a range of activities to create that would be marked and within this project I created; posters, word documents, power points, excel all related to one area. For example; the opening of a cake shop or to advertise a local sports event. While doing this I used a range of programmes on a computer so I have a background with a handful of computer programmes that I had used many times before so I felt fairly confident. I have a range of skills of being able to type without looking at the keyboard and able to use a range of effects, fonts, spell check, grammar check and animations throughout Microsoft apps.

In the class I learned about what digital technology is within the National Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy (Scottish Government, 2016, Annex A) Digital technology is a term used to describe those digital applications services and resources which are used to find, create, communicate and to use information in a digital context. I think that the use of digital technology within schools helps children develop understandings of what technology is and how they use it in a range of ways.

I also read the National Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy (Scottish Government, 2016, pg 3) and found it interesting that not only learners are gaining skills and learning throughout their time at school it is also educators for example; childcare practitioners and teachers as they are attending training courses to assist them in their digital technology skills. I think this helps as the teachers and childcare practitioners taking on the opportunity of digital technology training courses are positive because it means that children are getting up to date lessons on digital technology through a range of subjects and it allows the teacher to learn new skills that they may not already have known.

The digital Learning and Teaching Strategy (Scottish Government, 2016, Pg 11) contributes towards 5 main educational priorities; raising attainment, tackling inequalities and promoting inclusion, improving transitions into employment, enhancing parental engagement and improving the efficiency of the education system. I think that this is important because some children may not like using a pencil and paper to create a story as they may feel anxious that they can not draw and they may like to create pictures on computers using different apps and this could help their engagement within a classroom environment. I think that raising attainment and tackling inequality is important because some children who don’t perform as well as they should having a laptop. iPad or another use of technology beside them they may perform better than expected.

Within the class I also had an opportunity to search around Glow. Previously in trimester one I had some experience of the use of Glow but not as much as I would have liked to. Being able to look at Glow in a bit more depth today felt better as I was able to look around the apps that I had added to my launch pad in more depth and see what was on them. I think this is useful because more schools are becoming more and more digital every day and most schools use Glow as a means to communicate with other teachers in the country and also able to keep communication between teachers and parents so that they are able to see what their children are doing within school.

By attending this session I feel that I have become a bit more confident with the use of Glow and also some knowledge of the use of technology within the education system. It is also useful to know that digital technology contributes towards 5 main educational priorities and that children are benefiting from the use of technology in the world as technology is improving every day.

References

Scottish Government (2016) A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. Edinburgh: Scottish Government

[Online] Available at: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505855.pdf

Digital Technologies Week 1

I chose Digital Technologies as my optional module because it seemed clear to me that it would be a useful topic for me as I train to be a primary teacher. I already consider myself quite competent and fairly confident using technology. A large part of the first lesson of this module involved studying the … Continue reading “Digital Technologies Week 1”

I chose Digital Technologies as my optional module because it seemed clear to me that it would be a useful topic for me as I train to be a primary teacher. I already consider myself quite competent and fairly confident using technology. A large part of the first lesson of this module involved studying the Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. From this I learned that my comfort in using technology will benefit me in my teaching career.

In 2017, it is impossible to avoid technology and it is imperative that future generations are given the skills to use it responsibly, safely and to their advantage. In the Curriculum for Excellence, digital technology outcomes are addressed from the offset; even in the Early Years, such as the outcome TCH 0-01a which requires children to be able to “explore digital technologies and use what [they] learn to solve problems and share ideas and thoughts.” (Scottish Executive, 2004). The onus therefore is on teachers to equip children as young as three with this knowledge.

There is heavy emphasis in the Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland on not just using digital technologies in the classroom, but to use them in particular in a way that enhances learning. A survey carried out by the Children’s Parliament of 92 children aged between eight and eleven found that digital technology helped students to engage more with learning, with the caveat that it is not over-used (Scottish Government, 2016, p. 8). This was interesting to me as it stresses the importance of using digital technology in the classroom only where it will assist the learning, and to avoid using it for its own sake. It also interested me that the children were wary of technology being over-used in the classroom, as my own instinct would be to assume that the generation this survey concerned would be most comfortable, and even happier, using technology almost constantly in their learning. I think an awareness of this in my teaching career will serve me well.

Reading this document also made me particularly aware that I will need to participate in a career-long development of my existing skills in using digital technology. One of the four main objectives of the strategy is to “develop the skills and confidence of educators in the appropriate
and effective use of digital technology to support learning and teaching.” (Scottish Government, 2016). Another survey that was referred to in the document highlighted that a number of students aged between eleven and twenty five felt that many teachers lacked the skills to use digital technology properly. In my opinion this could not only hinder learning but also foster a lack of confidence in teachers in other areas. It is therefore essential that teachers are actively seeking to improve their skills to ensure that digital technology is used appropriately in the classroom.

To a certain extent, I consider myself a digital immigrant. I am confident utilising technology in my every day life but I do carry with me what some may refer to as a “digital immigrant accent” (Prensky, 2001, p. 2). For instance, I am far more comfortable printing something out and reading it on paper than I am reading off of a screen, which I tend to find uncomfortable and distracting.

To be an effective teacher and to integrate technology into the classroom in a way that enhances learning – in line with the Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland – it is my responsibility to be aware of these behaviours in order to ensure that they have a minimal impact on the learning that takes place under my guidance. I look forward to learning how to do this in the Digital Technologies module.

References

Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. [Online] Vol. 9(5), pp.1-6. Available: https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816 [Accessed 12/01/2018].

Scottish Executive (2004) Curriculum for Excellence. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive.

Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing Teaching and Learning through the use of Digital Technology: A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. [Online] Available: https://beta.gov.scot/publications/enhancing-learning-teaching-through-use-digital-technology/ [Accessed: 8 January 2017].