3.1 Teaching and Learning – Page 7

Digital Technology – Week 2 – Bee-Bot – 16/01/18

Today’s input was about programmable toys, specifically Bee-Bot, and how they can be used to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom. I had only had the chance to use Bee-Bot on one other occasion, but I was excited to use it again as I think that it is an excellent tool. Bee-Bot is very easy to use- directed by the arrow buttons on the top- and can be used on any kind of mat made for it. Therefore it has the potential to be used in any lesson.

Our task for today – in groups- was to create our own mat to aid in teaching a numeracy lesson with reference to the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes. We had quite a few ideas initially- money, times tables, shape, time- but we eventually chose to go with time and paired this with daily routine.

These are the Experiences and Outcomes we chose to base our project on:

I can tell the time using 12 hour clocks, realising there is a link with 24 hour notation, explain how it impacts on my daily routine and ensure that I am organised and ready for events throughout my day.

MNU 1-10a

I am developing problem-solving strategies, navigation and co-ordination skills, as I play and learn with electronic games, remote control or programmable toys.

TCH 0-09a / TCH 1-09a

(Education Scotland, 2004)

We then created a mat with a range of analog clocks drawn in each box with a digital time written underneath. This would allow the children to see the link between the 24 hour clock and how it looked with the 12 hour clock and how it looked. The activity was aimed towards children at level 1 who would have some previous knowledge of time and routine. We tried to include routine times that would not be too difficult for the children to understand e.g. when school starts/ends, lunch/play time etc. We also had what time they brushed their teeth and when they went to bed- for this we had the hands of the clock left separately so that the children could put this time in themselves, as these times may vary from child to child.

The use of programmable toys in education dates back to the 1960’s when Seymour Papert created Logo. It was a fairly simple programming tool, aimed at helping children become familiar with how computer programming worked (Transom).

Some of the benefits of using the programmable toys in the classroom are: they help with the development of key skills such as logical sequencing, measuring and expressing concepts in words. Children usually enjoy using them as they have bright and obvious buttons. Also they help make children interact in groups and bring about discussion (NCTE, 2012).

Janka (2008) states that “there is a widespread belief among educators and parents that children will require technological competencies to succeed in the workplace.” I would agree with this as almost all jobs in today’s society involve the use of some kind of technology. It is also important that children have a good level of digital literacy and actually understand how these types of programmes work so that they properly understand the applications they are using.

Overall, the session today was very informative. I feel that it has given me many practical applications for within the classroom, as well as informing me on why these types of programmable toys can be so important. I think that when I go on to teach my own class this will come in very handy and I will enjoy using it to teach.

References

Education Scotland (2004) – Curriculum for Excellence; Experiences and Outcomes [Online] https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/Experiences%20and%20outcomes [Accessed: 16th January 2018]

Janka, P. (2008) Using a Programmable Toy at Preschool Age: Why and How? [Online] Available: http://www.terecop.eu/downloads/simbar2008/pekarova.pdf [Accessed: 16th January 2018]

Transom – Logo [Online] Available: http://www.transum.org/software/Logo/ [Accessed: 16th January 2018]

NCTE (National centre for Technology in Education) (2012) NCTE Floor Robots – Focus on Literacy & Numeracy. [Online] Available: http://www.ncte.ie/media/NCTE_Floor_robots_focus_on_literacy_numeracy_primary_12-06.pdf [Accessed 16th January 2018].

Digital Technologies Week 5 – eBooks

The Oxford English Dictionary defines an eBook as “an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device.” Today in Digital Technologies we designed our own eBooks and examined how they could be useful in the classroom. First of all, we were given a task … Continue reading “Digital Technologies Week 5 – eBooks”

First of all, we were given a task in groups to create a brochure for UWS with prospective students in mind. We used the Book Creator app on an iPad. To make the University seem appealing to new applicants, we fully utilised the features of the app. It was very easy to customise the book by selecting appropriate colours and fonts for our purpose. It was also simple to insert videos and images taken or saved on the iPad. In less than half an hour we had managed to familiarise ourselves with the app and create an effective multimodal text which made use of a number of semiotic systems through the inclusion of text, sound and video. Another group took a look at our UWS brochure and said that it was engaging and attractive. This made clear to me how useful it could be in the classroom to be able to create a small eBook in such a short space of time.

With this experience of the book creator app, we were then tasked with creating either a summary of a well-known book or a small eBook to help someone engage with the book. I chose “Matilda” by Roald Dahl. As it is such a long book, I chose to create a short close reading exercise for Key Stage 2 which would encourage reflection on personal relationships. The eBook asks questions about where Matilda likes to spend time and how that relates to the way the people around her treat her. It then goes on to ask for a comparison of how Miss Honey treats her and how her parents treat her, which is an activity which links to LIT 2-14a: “I can make notes, organise them under suitable headings and use them to understand information, develop my thinking, explore problems and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate.” (Scottish Executive, 2004). The last page of the eBook asks for reflection on how different people in their life make them feel through their actions, and how they can affect the feelings of others with their own actions. This links a literacy lesson to Health and Wellbeing outcome HWB 2-05a (“I know that friendship, caring, sharing, fairness, equality and love are important in building positive relationships. As I develop and value relationships, I care and show respect for myself and others.” (Scottish Executive, 2004).). These exercises were not simply written down on paper. I believe that being able to use an iPad to flick through the exercise makes it more effective for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was multimodal as I used a number of Quentin Blake’s illustrations from relevant parts of the book to help prompt the answers to close reading questions that I both wrote in text on the page and inserted as voice clips. As we know, multimodal texts encourage accessibility in the classroom and are a useful way to close a gap in higher order thinking for individuals who may find it more difficult to follow along with reading text. Beauchamp (2012, p.88) further suggests that children who are reading from tablets in the house will be more inclined to use the same mobile devices in their learning than they may be, perhaps, to use physical books.

For myself as a prospective teacher, this was an interesting tool to learn to use. I did not realise how quickly an eBook could be created or that they could include video or voice clips – it was my own misconception that eBooks were simply novels in digital form. It is particularly relevant to me as a budding teacher in Scotland as our Digital Teaching and Learning Strategy specifically aims to develop the skills of our educators (Scottish Government, 2016). While I consider myself relatively competent and experienced with using computers the creation of eBooks for a purpose like this had never occurred to me as a way to embed technology in the classroom. An eBook like this can be created quickly, edited easily for different levels and distributed to students efficiently using Apple AirDrop – as long as iPads are available in the classroom. While this may seem like an unrealistic expectation in the classroom, tablets are getting cheaper all the time and there is motivation in particular by Education Scotland to ensure there are handheld devices available in school to enhance learning (BBC, 2012).

By the time I am a fully qualified teacher, if handheld devices are as widely available as this, I think that the ability to quickly create an eBook will be a useful skill to have.

References

BBC (2012). Education Scotland looks to expand use of tablets in schools. BBC News. [Online] 16 May. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18081005 [Accessed: 9 February 2018].

Beauchamp, G. (2012). ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Harlow: Pearson. p.88.

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].

E-Books

Oxford Dictionary defines an eBook as “an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device.” E-books have many advantages in the classroom for both learners and educators. Using e-books in the classroom allows children to become fully aware of the advantages of technology use […]

Oxford Dictionary defines an eBook as “an electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device.”

E-books have many advantages in the classroom for both learners and educators. Using e-books in the classroom allows children to become fully aware of the advantages of technology use in the 21st century. They also allow children to become confident in using technology and therefore prepare them for a successful future. E-books can be easily charged and are portable, they can therefore be taken outdoors for learning which makes the learning fun and exciting. E-books also allow choice in the children’s learning; they can choose whether they prefer a paper copy of a book or devices such as a kindle or iPad; children can use their own creativity and make use of the 5 semiotic systems.

Educators can use e-books to access a larger, wider range of texts. This makes literacy more engaging. Educators can also use e-books for tailor made lessons for pupils who are struggling with certain texts to give them a deeper understanding of the text.

Today during Digital Technologies, we created an e-book using the app Book Creator on the iPads after creating a mind map on e-books.

We created an e-book on Life at UWS. We walked round the campus and took photos and videos to put in our e-book. We made it colourful and engaging with the aim of attracting someone to the university. We made use of many of the 5 semiotic systems which made our e-book a multimodal text.

I created a teaching aid to support pupils with the book “Baby Brains – The smartest baby in the whole world.” The CfE experience and outcome I believe worked well with my e-book was “I enjoy exploring events and characters in stories and other texts, sharing my thoughts in different ways. LIT 0-19a” as well as “To show my understanding across different areas of learning, I can identify and consider the purpose and main ideas of a text. LIT 1-16a.”

I made use of 4 of the 5 semiotic systems and therefore the e-book I created was a multimodal text.

Linguistic – My e-book contained sections of the original book and also questions for the pupils to consider to gain a deeper understanding of the text.
Visual – My e-book had illustrations and videos of the book to make it engaging.
Audio – My e-book contained sound recordings of some sections of the book.
Spatial – My e-book had images and text strategically placed on each page to make it clear and easy to read.

As a teacher I would use e-books in the classroom. Today, I found them enjoyable and fun to use and therefore hopefully pupils would share these thoughts and enjoy literacy and technology.

REFERENCES

BBC Webwise article [Online] http ://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-e-books [Accessed: 06.02.18]

Personal Reflection Coding – Scratch Jr 30/1/18

In today’s class we took part in creating a Scratch Jr Project. Where I was to create a Scratch Jr story to help with a literacy lesson within a primary class. This is part of my Assessment throughout my Digital … Continue reading →

Scratch Jr is an introductory programming language that enables young children (ages 5 and up) to create their own interactive stories and games. Children snap together graphical programming blocks to make characters move, jump and sing. Scratch was developed for young people to help them develop creative learning skills for the 21st century. Skills developed include: Creative thinking skills, logical reasoning skills, problem solving skills and collaboration skills (The Lead Project 2014). “As young people create Scratch Projects, they are not just learning how to write computer programs. They are learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively – essential skills for successs and happiness in today’s world” (The Lead Project 2014). Schools can use Scratch to aid teachers subjects like mathematics, English, music, art, design and information technology (The Lead Project 2014).

A newspaper article states “Rogers said that one group of children found the idea of learning and using HTML quite daunting as it took a couple of sessions to get their hands around the basic layout and formatting. However, over the course of teaching they became much more receptive and began to develop a firmer understanding of how useful HTML could be” (Curtis, S 2013, Pg 4). This shows that if children and adults persevere they will get used to the idea of coding and being able to create scratch projects. Although the more it is linked into the children’s learning they will be able to adapt to using the programme and it may be more beneficial for them to understand stories and lessons by creating their own.

The learning outcomes from the Curriculum for Excellence I chose that linked with my project were; “I can create, capture and manipulate sounds, text and images to communicate experience, ideas and information in creative and engaging ways” (TCH 1-04b/TCH 2-04b) and “I enjoy exploring events and characters in stories and other texts, sharing my thoughts in different ways” (LIT 0-19a).

My story was about a boy and girl named Ben and Holly. They decided to go a walk through the country side to find a lake so that they could play and swim around. They came across a field that had pigs and a horse. They discovered that the horse could talk and it took them by surprise. The horse was called Penny. Penny took Ben and Holly to a woodland area and gave them directions towards the lake. Ben and Holly followed the directions and came across the lake. When they got their Ben and Holly thought that is was peaceful and they swam and played around for hours and hours. The story had an ending where the reader could decide where Ben and Holly would go next on their travels.

This story was created for children to use describing words (Adjectives) to describe the scenes within the story and also to describe the characters and then it enables them to use their own thoughts and ideas on what adventures the characters go on. Throughout progress I would teach the children how to move objects using Scratch Jr when using technologies within the classroom and they could then create their own ending to the story. This would allow the children to progress through their technology skills and it would link in with literacy.

I found Scratch simple and easy to use after watching YouTube tutorials and having a scratch guide to assist me on how to move objects/characters around the screen and how to have the characters speaking. I had never used Scratch until today and to be able to get used to it it would take a period of time. This would be the same for children it would take a couple of lessons to discover the basics of computer coding. I think that the use of scratch Jr within the classroom is a good thing because it allows children to give a character instructions to move around the screen. It helps children bring stories that they may have created to life. It encourages them to use their problem solving skills asking themselves how many moves does it take to move the character off of their screen and how to use instructions to make each character move. Scratch is beneficial for teachers and pupils because it can be made to link in with a range of subjects including technology.

References

Curtis, S (2013) The Telegraph: Teaching our children to code: a quiet revolution [Online] www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/104110036/Teaching-our-children-to-code-a-quiet-revolution.html

The Lead Project (2014) Super Scratch Prgramming Adventure: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games! No Starch Press.

Coding

Coding can be used in the classroom to enhance learning of wide range of curricular areas. There are many benefits to use coding in the classroom; coding is an important skill in todays society, coding is believed by some to be the new literacy and children learn important strategies for solving problems, designing projects, and communicating ideas in everyday life. I believe coding could also be used to boost children’s confidence in curricular areas in which they struggle.

Scratch Jr. is an introductory programming language that gives young children, from early level, the opportunity to create their own interactive stories and games. In the classroom, Scratch Jr can be used to create a story using a variety of different, simple codes and offer children freedom in their writing while developing skills involved in technologies. “As young people create Scratch projects, they are not just learning how to write computer programs. They are learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively – essential skills for success and happiness in today’s world.” (The Lead Project, 2014) Scratch allows children to learn how to code, in a fun and interesting way, while developing skills in other curricular areas too.

Today in Digital Technologies, I used Scratch Jr to create a lesson in which the pupils will develop their technology skills as well as their literacy skills. I created a set of Scratch Jr slides that portray the story of brother and sister, Sam and Jane, out on a walk. Sam and Jane find a forest and decide to go exploring. The forest is spookier than they expected and they have to run away from a snake. The brother and sister manage to escape the forest safely and they return home to the city. The lesson is focused around the two following CfE Experiences and Outcomes; one is a literacy outcome and one is a technology outcome:

I enjoy creating texts of my choice and I regularly select subject, purpose, format and resources to suit the needs of my audience. LIT 1-20a / LIT 2-20a

I can create, capture and manipulate sounds, text and images to communicate experiences, ideas and information in creative and engaging ways. TCH 1-04b / TCH 2-04b

As a future teacher, having previously built upon Scratch Jr skills, I would play the first half of the story to the class (until the children enter the forest). I would then explain the task to the class. The class would be asked to finish the story, using Scratch Jr, explaining what they think will happen next. After having explained the task, I would show the class the rest of the story about Sam and Jane to help stimulate ideas about what could happen.

I would use Scratch Jr in the classroom as I believe it is an engaging and fun way of boosting the children’s skills. I also found Scratch Jr slides enjoyable to make and gave me freedom when creating my lesson. Being limited to four slides meant I had to condense my story further than anticipated, however, knowing about this limitation, next time I would try to put longer codes on each slide.

REFERENCES:

The Lead Project (2014) Super Scratch Programming Adventure: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games! No Starch Press.

Digital Technologies Week 3 – Multimodal Texts

We have looked at how multimodal texts can enhance literacy lessons before but in this week of Digital Technologies we took a closer look and created our own multimodal texts using the Promethean ActivInspire app. Multimodal is a term that refers to any text that combines two or more semiotic systems. These are visual, gestural, … Continue reading “Digital Technologies Week 3 – Multimodal Texts”

Multimodal is a term that refers to any text that combines two or more semiotic systems. These are visual, gestural, spatial, linguistic and aural. The children of today are bombarded with multimodal texts more than any generation before them due to the rise of technology. “The increased use of multimodal texts, digital communication, social networking and the other forms of electronic communication encountered by children and young people in their daily lives,” is reflected in the Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Government, n.d., p.4) with the active inclusion of these multimodal texts.

Multimodal texts have been shown to be effective in classrooms because they allow a text to be understood and engaged with by more individuals. A child who struggles with reading as quickly as their peers may benefit from audio to support the text and vice versa. Multimodal texts in the classroom are a way to present ideas in “a variety of different ways to help pupils understand [them].” (Beauchamp, 2012, p.8).

With a group of other students, I used ActivInspire to create a multimodal text that would be suitable in an Early Years setting. It took the form of a ‘fill in the gap’ exercise. The background of each slide in the presentation was a place such as the jungle, the sea or a house. It asked who lives here, accompanied with an animal name in the form “c_ab,” for “crab” for instance, with a selection of letters underneath to be dragged and dropped into the space to complete the word. In the classroom, children could be asked what animal it is likely to be and what letter is missing from the word. Once the children have worked out the word, or if they are really stuck, there is a picture of the animal beside the word which can be revealed; this reminded me of ‘lift the flap’ books and struck me as very likely to keep children engaged. And of course, with an Interactive White Board, children would likely enjoy being invited up to drag and drop the letters or reveal the animal themselves, creating a “hands-on experience,” (Prandstatter, 2014). If I were to do this task again and able to invest more time in creating, I would include animal noises to increase the multimodality of the text.

Before this session, if asked to create a presentation to support a lesson, I would have instinctively used Microsoft PowerPoint, however a lot of the functions that make ActivInspire particularly engaging for children are not as easy to achieve with PowerPoint. ActivInspire is an accessible app. It is free and quick to download on both Microsoft and Apple computers. My group and I created our presentation on an Apple Mac and I expected to run into formatting issues when opening the file on my Microsoft laptop, but I did not experience any. There was a learning curve with the app when working out how to do more advanced operations but there is an abundance of tutorials available on YouTube to assist with this. My group was able to create our presentation within around an hour of being introduced to the app.

In my opinion, for these reasons, ActivInspire is a very useful tool in the classroom. It is easy to use, accessible and, if you know your way around the app, it can be to create an engaging, multimodal text to support a lesson in a matter of minutes. Following this week of Digital Technologies, I will definitely consider using ActivInspire before Microsoft PowerPoint in the primary classroom setting.

References

Beauchamp, G. (2012). ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Harlow: Pearson. p.8.

Prandstatter, J. (2014). Interactive Displays in Early Years Classes. [Blog: Online]. Available: http://connectlearningtoday.com/interactive-displays-early-years-classes/ [Accessed: 26 January 2018].

Scottish Government (n.d.). Curriculum for Excellence: Literacy and English Principles and Practice. Edinburgh: Scottish Government. p.4.

ActivInspire Presentations 23/01/2018

Today in Digital Technologies we explored the ActivInspire software as a class and individually by viewing tutorial clips online and working in pairs to create a lesson directed for either an early, first or second level outcome. The online tutorials gave us a virtual experience allowing us to be guided through the software, by giving hints and tips on how to use the software effectively and to maximise the usage of this valuable tool in classrooms as a student teacher and as a qualified practicing teacher in the near future.

ActivInspire software allows for information that requires to be communicated to learners, become multimodal. Multimodality is the term which describes a set or forms of texts to adopt two or more semiotic systems; linguistic, visual, gestural, spatial and audio. Using digital technologies within the classroom allows for information to be communicated to learners in a variety of different, attention grabbing ways and by making texts multimodal, enhances the learners experiences in education whilst keeping in line with technology in society today.

The Scottish Government set out a strategy to implement the use of digital technologies in Scottish education for both learners and educators. The four objectives it is focusing on are:

1. Develop the skills and confidence of educators in the appropriate and effective use of digital technology to support learning and teaching.

2. Improve access to digital technology for all learners.

3. Ensure that digital technology is a central consideration in all areas of curriculum and assessment delivery.

4. Empower leaders of change to drive innovation and investment in digital technology for teaching and learning.

By using technologies in the classroom, it allows for children to be introduced and immersed in digital technologies that they may otherwise not be encompassed in at home or in other areas of their educational journeys. It is stated by Beauchamp (2012, p.8) that ‘The multimodality of technology is another reason to use it, as it allows teachers to present ideas in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it.’ By delivering young learners lessons involving multimodal texts it has the capability to further enhance their understanding of lessons across curricular areas such as literacy, numeracy and science amongst others. It also allows for children and young learners to understand that ‘texts’ do not just come in printed form, but instead they come in many shapes and forms and can in fact be multimodal. Further supporting this suggestion, ‘pupils need to be equipped to view language as ‘metamode’ that enables them to access the meanings of a wide variety of texts, images, sounds and information.’ Beauchamp (2012, p.81). The use of ActivInspire today gave us the opportunity to create a lesson for a first level outcome in a Modern Foreign Language lesson.

My partner and I decided we would combine both our ideas and once we completed the online tutorial videos of how to effectively use the ActivInspire software, we proceeded on to the task and got to work on creating our multimodal lesson plan. We made various flip charts which included sound clips, images and interactivity through use of the smart board pens and various tools such as the spotlight and revealer. We created a Spanish lesson which allowed children to work in individually and with peers and allowed for the children to come up to the smart board to write down their answers and ideas.

Using the ActivInspire software excited me as it gave me an insight into a resource that is used widely across Scottish schools and gave me a quick glance into the different tools and aspects that the software has to offer. At first we found the software a great resource as it allowed us to create an extensively interactive lesson that would grab pupils attention and included all of the semiotic systems across the many Flipchart pages we made. When it came on to using different ‘wow’ factors of ActivInspire I personally really enjoyed the fact there were different attention grabbing tools that children would find exciting and would further encourage their investment and interest in the input being given. However, upon near completion of the lesson plan, when using the revealer tool we encountered an issue whereby the revealer would not stay on the Flipchart page we required and instead went onto the other pages and we could not in turn remove it off of the areas we did not need it on. This really frustrated us and put us slightly off course as we invested more time in trying to fix this issue than completing the task in the time given.

Overall, the use of ActivInspire in the two hour time slot we were given really impressed and excited me. I find it really encouraging to see that there are these resources in place for teachers to use whereby enhancing their lessons and I am very eager to use it in my own class as a student and professional educator. I will most definitely be revisiting the online tutorials and spending more time exploring the software in free time to get more familiar with it and also experiment by creating more lessons and sharing resources with peers in order to gain more knowledge and in depth experiences of the ActivInspire software.

References

Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/Digital%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20Strategy%20for%20Scotland (First accessed on 23/01/2018)

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice Pearson.

Multimodal Presentations

Multimodal Presentations majorly enhance teaching in the classroom. A text can be described as multimodal if it contains two or more of the semiotic systems. In total, there are five semiotic systems: 1. Linguistic 2. Visual 3. Audio 4. Gestural 5. Spatial In the classroom, making use of multimodal texts increases the pupils understanding of […]

1. Linguistic

2. Visual

3. Audio

4. Gestural

5. Spatial

In the classroom, making use of multimodal texts increases the pupils understanding of what has been taught. We discussed that using a pale yellow background and blue text in the font comic sans is beneficial to children with dyslexia and there is therefore less deterrence to their learning. “The multimodality of technology is another reason to use it, as it allows teachers to present an idea in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it.” (Beauchamp, 2012, p.8)

Multimodal texts include: PowerPoint, ActivInspire. Today in Digital Technologies, we created an ActivInspire flip chart to demonstrate the Experience and Outcome MNU 1-10a; I can tell the time using 12 hour clocks, realising there is a link with 24 hour notation, explain how it impacts on my daily routine and ensure that I am organised and ready for events throughout my day. We created a flipchart based on the pupils in the class learning the differences in digital and analogue time, and writing the time in words. Initially the pupils would be asked what time is on the clock and write the words, then these questions progressed to analogue clocks, then digital, ending in digital clocks using 24 hour time. The second half of the flipchart was based on the pupils writing the time of day they carry out daily activities, for example what time do you wake up in the morning. The children would then get the opportunity to use the active board and write in one of the three versions of telling the time.

I believe that these multimodal texts create interactive, motivating presentations that captivate the pupils in the classroom. Therefore the pupils learn more and gain a deeper understanding of what is being taught; this is due to participating in the lesson.

REFERENCES:

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. London: Routledge

Personal Reflection Multimodality – Day 3 of Digital Technologies 23/01/18

Today I took part in making a multi-modal presentation. A text can be described as multi-modal when it combines two or more semiotic systems. There are five semiotic systems that can be involved in a multi-modal text these are; Linguistic, Visual, Audio, Gestural and Spatial. A linguistic text has aspects of vocabulary and grammar of oral and written language, A visual text has aspects such as colour, moving images and still images. An audio text features such as volume, pitch, music and sound effects, A gestural text comprises aspects of movement – speed, still and slow – with facial expression and body language. Spatial is seen in texts with the direction and position of images/writing on the screen and the organisation of objects within a text (Anstey and Bull, 2010). Anstey and Bull ( 2010) give examples of multi-modal texts being a picture book, webpage and live ballet performance. They can also be things like power points, flip charts (ACTIV-Inspire), word documents but also use through a range of different resources. Multi-modal texts can encourage hands-on learning it can encourage children to become interactive with Smart boards that are in some classrooms within school.

Beauchamp (2012, p8) states that “the multi-modality of technology is an other reason to use it, as it allows teachers to present an idea in a variety of ways to help pupils understand it” I felt that this quote that was in the lecturers power point was accurate because teachers need to test ways in which the children in their class learn. Teachers need to make sure that the apps and programmes that they use are not distracting to some children in the class . Teachers can use power points and other programmes as back-up to what they are teaching. “We must challenge the implicit assumption that speech and writing are always central and sufficient for learning” (Beauchamp 2012, p8) Teachers are at the centre of children’s learning and have to have ideas in which they can put across the main message of a lesson or book that children are reading not necessarily with plain words on a page but include images, movement and sound.

In today’s workshop our aim was to create a flip chart lesson with the use of the app ACTIV-Inspire on the mac computer. ACTIV-Inspire can be used to empower teachers to bring their lessons to life and as a student teacher I had an opportunity to bring a lesson to life. In my pair we both decided to make a flip-chart with aquatic animals. With our flip-chart that we created children were able to describe the colour of each aquatic animal and have the opportunity to answer what the animal is named in English and then learn the animals name in Spanish. We aimed the activity at level 2 children who had prior learning of describing words in Spanish. The modern languages outcome from the Curriculum for Excellence (Education Scotland 2004) that my partner and I chose was “I experiment with new language, working out the meaning of words and phrases using vocabulary I have learned so far” [MLAN 2-11c]. With our multi-modal text we had a range of visuals to help the children guess the topic that we were learning about, It also had a sound effect of Under the Sea from the little mermaid to get the children’s mind’s thinking about what we could be learning about. It had written word in both English and Spanish of the animals names and also the colours. At the end of the lesson we had two interactive games where the children were to match the animals to their Spanish name and also to their Spanish colours.

In my opinion I think that ACTIV-Inspire is a a good resource for teachers and student teachers to use to create a lesson for children to learn. Although I found it difficult to get my head around I think if I had more experience using the programme and watch step by step tutorials more than once that I would get the hang of it. It allows children to become interactive in their learning environment and encourages communication of lessons in a different way. It adds variety and choice to lesson plans. Multi-modal texts can be used alongside the Curriculum for Excellence in a range of ways.

Multi-modal texts in my opinion can help student teachers and teachers in a variety of ways because it can allow them to see what children are benefiting from seeing the text in a different perspective. It changes learning from being teacher led to child led as the children can get involved in the activities that the teachers have set throughout programmes on a computer/IPad. Multi-modal texts can add a variety of different techniques into learning for example; if the children are reading a book in the classroom teachers can make the book into their own and add in parts of the book so that children can use adjectives to describe specific scenes in the book.

References

Anstey, M. and Bull, G. (June 2010) Curriculum & Leadership Journal – An electronic journal for leaders in education – Helping Teachers to explore multi-modal texts. [Online] http://www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/helping_teachers_to_explore_multimodal_texts,31522.html?issueID=12141 [Accessed 23 January 2018 ]

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.

Digital Technologies Week 2 – Programmable Toys

In this weeks Digital Technologies input we were introduced to programmable toys, and how to use these in the classroom to enhance learning in many subjects – not just Technology. We were set the task of designing and planning a Bee-Bot activity with the potential to fulfil one Technology outcome and at least one Numeracy … Continue reading “Digital Technologies Week 2 – Programmable Toys”

Before the input I was already somewhat familiar with the concept of programmable toys as my son received a Fisher-Price Code-a-Pillar as a gift on his third birthday. Observing him playing with the toy, I could see the value of programmable toys as a way to teach young children about logical sequencing and how to put a concept into words (NCTE, 2012). These transferable skills are particularly valuable in the workplace as the technology sector is booming and the ability to code is an asset to any individual wishing to pursue a career in the STEM field.

With these things in mind, it is no wonder that programmable toys are becoming more popular and their uses in the classroom are being exploited across the curriculum, even from the Early Years.

There is a heavy importance placed on Active Learning in the Early Years in the Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Executive, 2007). It is essential not to teach programming in isolation. For instance, my son found the Code-a-Pillar fun for a few turns but after a while he grew bored of it. The toy moving in different ways depending on how he orders the segments is interesting for him but there are a limited number of different ways these can be sequenced without investing in costly expansion packs.

This is what makes Bee-Bot such a useful tool in the classroom. Its possibilities are not limited only to learning outcomes in Technology and there is an abundance of resources out there to assist with lessons involving Bee-Bot. My group and I were immediately inspired by one of these resources – a suggestion for an activity where bee-bot is given a list to go shopping (Lydon, 2007, p.40). We got to work creating a supermarket on a grid suitable for Bee-Bot to navigate and we designed an activity to meet these Experiences and Outcomes from the Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Executive, 2004):

“I understand that sequences of instructions are used to control computing technology.” (TCH 0-14a).
“I can develop a sequence of instructions and run them using programmable devices or equivalent.” (TCH 0-15a).
“I am developing my awareness of how money is used and can recognise and use a range of coins.” (MNU 0-09a).
“In movement, games and using technology I can use simple directions and describe positions.” (MTH 0-17a).

We drew arrows to direct children through the ‘aisles’ of the supermarket (TCH 0-14a) and brightly coloured every day products with price tags on the ‘shelves’ of the supermarkets.

Armed with a shopping list and a ‘purse’ of coins, their job was to guide Bee-Bot to the items on their list (TCH 0-15a, MTH 0-17a) and use coins to help them keep track of the cost of individual items along the way (MNU 0-09a), and at the end of their ‘shopping trip’ to calculate the total cost of their shopping.

There were a number of benefits to this activity as a teacher. It did not take very long to implement the design and the mat could be used again and again with different shopping lists to give the activity varying levels of challenge when it comes to counting the money out. It is also very flexible enough to meet other outcomes, even at first level. For instance, by giving the children a bank note instead of their coins to pay for their shopping, they could try their hand at “[using] money to pay for items and [working] out how much change [they] should receive,” which is outcome MNU 1-09a. There is even scope for meeting Modern Language outcomes in this activity. If the child is supplied with a list in a language such as French or Spanish, this could meet part of the criteria for MLAN 1-08b; “I can work on my own or with others to demonstrate my understanding of words and phrases containing familiar language.”

With Bee-Bot in the classroom, the only thing holding you back is your imagination. There is an abundance of resources available to teachers to help them plan lessons that can utilise Bee-Bot to teach skills not only in Technologies but also across the curriculum. Children in First Level could even design their own mats and stories to go along with them as a Literacy lesson in creative writing.

In my opinion, Bee-Bot is superior in functionality to the only other programmable toy I am familiar with – the Fisher-Price Code-a-Pillar – for a number of reasons. Bee-Bot can store 40 instructions in each sequence whereas the Code-a-Pillar comes with only 8 segments. Bee-Bot moves 15cm with each instruction, meaning it does not take up as much room as the Code-a-Pillar which can move as far as three feet when programmed to move straight ahead. Pekárová (2008) argues that one of the best things about Bee-Bot is that activities can be designed for children that simulate real-life problem-solving scenarios. This is concurrent with the Active Learning environment that is endorsed within the Scottish curriculum in the Early Years. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which the Code-a-Pillar could be linked to real life. It is certainly more colourful than the Bee-Bot, however yet again the latter is unmatched in the amount of resources available online, such as printable ‘outfits’ for Bee-Bot that children can decorate themselves.

As a student teacher with an interest in technology it has been an interesting and fun experience to learn about how programmable toys can be used across the curriculum. I think that Bee-Bot in particular has the potential to provide children with a solid grounding in a number of logical thinking skills, while allowing them to have fun and take part in learning in all areas of the curriculum. I also think it has the potential to support teachers as a useful, incredibly versatile resource. I find myself fully convinced of the benefits of Bee-Bot compared to another programmable toy I have encountered, and I look forward to seeing how else it can be used in the classroom.

References

Lydon, A. (2007). Let’s Go with Bee-Bot. Nottingham: TTS Group.

NCTE (2012). NCTE Floor Robots – Focus on Literacy & Numeracy. [Online] http ://www.ncte.ie/media/NCTE_Floor_robots_focus_on_literacy_numeracy_primary_12-06.pdf [Accessed: 16th January 2018].

Pekárová, J. (ed.) (2008). Intl. Conf. on Simulation, Modeling and Programming for Autonomous Robots. Venice, Italy, 3-4 November 2008. pp. 112-121.

Scottish Executive (2007). Building the Curriculum 2: Active learning in the early years. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive.

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