Tag: Digital Technology

Digital Technology Week 4 – Coding

This week in Digital Technology we were learning about coding. We learnt about the Benefits of using coding in the classroom, we did this by doing coding through the scratch jr. app on the iPad and using the instruction cards to learn how to do the simple coding instructions. We were instructed to create a short animation that could be used to start off a literacy lesson or to give ideas to children to create their own animation.

We were taught about the benefits of using coding in the classroom. Today coding is considered a huge part of literature and giving children, these skills helps them be able to understand how a computer works and can help because it can lead into other areas of learning. Areas such as problem solving and communication it also helps with their concentration levels as it takes a lot of thought process to be able to understand how coding works to then be able to do it themselves. (Beauchamp 2012). The only experience of coding before this tutorial was a couple of lessons we did in 3rd year at school in computing on scratch on the computer where we made a maze game. I didn’t realise that coding such as scratch has now been taken down schools to as young as 5 years old as I didn’t realise children were as advanced in computing as what they are.

Scratch Jr. is a straightforward way to introduce coding to young children in primary school. It is described as able to be used by children of 5 years and above. It is used to create interactive animations and games for them to share and use to enhance their learning. Scratch jr. works by joining together blocks that when made into a sequence in the correct order allows the “sprite,” which is the characters used in the animations and games, to be able to move and do other things that the children instruct them to. “Scratch is designed for exploration and experimentation, so it supports any different learning style.” The Lead Project (2014). Scratch was designed to be able to teach children what coding is and how it works but making it fun and interesting for them and easy enough for them to understand and for the teachers to be able to teach. It was also created to help children in other areas such as problem solving and creative imagination as it lets the children bring their ideas to life on the screen then be able to share what they have create with their peers in the class room and their teacher. “Scratch was developed for young people to help them develop creative learning skills for the 21st century.” The Lead project (2014). Skills developed through the use of Scratch Jr. in young people can be:
• Creative thinking skills
• Logical reasoning skills
• Problem solving skills
• Collaboration skills

The short animation I created was about a crab and a frog who went into the sea to look for colourful shells. I created my animation to be shown to the children at the start of a lesson in which they would go on to create a similar animation but with their own stories. This would give the children the idea of the standard of work the teacher would be looking for and would also give them ideas to allow the children to go further and create their own stories or they could carry on my animation with similar characters and story line.

I found that this lesson would link to 3 experiences and outcomes on the curriculum for excellence, two from the ICT section and one from literacy. The first ICT outcome talks about the children creating the animations on the computer and being able to understand how to work the app. “I explore and experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts.” TCH 1-04a / TCH 2-04a. the second ICT outcome refers to the creation of their ideas onto the computer bringing their ideas to life. “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. the literacy outcome I decided to refer to is “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. As this refers to the children making ideas and putting them into words to create an animated story on the computer.

Overall, I think the use of coding in the classroom is a big benefit to the children as it introduces them to how a computer works behind the games etc that they play on an everyday basis. I think scratch is a good and uncomplicated way to incorporate coding and ICT into lessons in the classroom also it engages the children as they enjoy doing things involving technology and that allow them to create things including their own ideas. I would love to be able to use scratch Jr. on the iPad when I am teaching in classrooms.

References

• Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.
• 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 on 5th February 2018]
• The Lead Project (2014) Super Scratch Programming Adventure: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games! No Starch Press.

Today in class we were learning about multimodal text.  This wasn’t the first time that we had discussed this topic, as we studied multimodal text last year during a literacy lecture.  I was very interested to learn more as I already knew what some of the benefits that multimodal text bring to children in the classroom and their learning experiences.  Benefits such as interaction, collaboration, memorable and engaging, some of which will be discussed during this blog.

So what is a multimodal text? A multimodal text is is a piece of text that includes two or more semiotic systems.  Here are the five semiotic systems; linguistic, visual, audio, gestural or spatial, so by using two or more of these features you instantly have a multimodal text. Enabling you to create text for lessons that will have positive impact on young learners.  As studied by the Scottish Government (2015), digital technologies is an appropriate way to improve most literacy and numeracy skills, this has been seen particularly in primary school settings.

The application we were using today was called ‘Activinspire’, this is an interactive application that is both user friendly for children and teacher.  Like ‘Power Point’, it allows you to create and design your own slides, thus meaning you have complete control when it comes to adapting text for each level throughout education.  “The multimodality of technology…allows teachers to present an idea in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it” Beauchamp (2012, p.8).

Together in pairs we looked at which area and level of the curriculum we would like to focus on and we brainstormed our thoughts and ideas.  We decided we would create a lesson for first level, the lesson would cover numeracy and mathematics experiences and outcomes and the subject would be ‘time’.  We chose time as we agreed that young learners could relate with time, therefor they would be engaged during the lesson and they could discuss outside activities which would contribute to the lesson. Below is the curriculum experiences and outcomes that we though would best fit our multimodal text.

MNU 1 – 10a:  I can tell 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.

Activinspire is as I mentioned before, is both teacher and pupil friendly, as it can be changed to a studio format which is more formal and less likely to be used by children and more by the teacher. The application that the children use is also interactive by touch, for example on a smart board the children can write an answer or use a dragging motion to move images on the screen, depending on the text and task set. “Touch displays can become a social learning tool encouraging hands-on experiences, thereby helping children to learn by doing.” (Prandstatter, 2014).  This is a great oppertunity for communication in class as not all children actively speak out but are more than happy to participate with interactive technology which you may not have seen from the child if the task included a text book, reading book or worksheet.

I have witnessed this type of activity in a classroom environment and it does create great interaction within the children, as they all are so keen to participate and use the technology.  It is hard to explain the sheer excitement in the classroom when this type of activity is happening, children you thought were timid or shy are now desperate to participate and the children also laugh as they collaborate with their peers .  As stated by Beauchamp “There has been much research in recent years in the United Kingdom (UK) that explores how ICT contributes towards talk in the classroom.  This is particularly true when using the interactive white board, especially in the context of whole class teaching.” (2012, p.81).

I think it is of great importantance to have such a high mood in the class room, as it has huge positive impact on a child’s day and on what was learned that day.  I know that it works as I have witnessed it for myself while out on school placement and as I gain confidence with digital technology through my digital technology module, I will almost certainly be looking into using applications like this for interactive lessons in my future career.

 

References

• Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School. [Online] Available: dawsonera.com/readonline/9781408251379 [Accessed: 25th January 2018].
• Education Scotland (2004) Curriculum for Excellence; Experiences and Outcomes [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers [Accessed: 25th January 2018].

 

 

 

 

Coding is can benefit classrooms by giving the ability to code to computer programmes and is an important part of literacy in today’s society. It has also been stated hat some people believe that coding is the new literacy, and finally when people learn to code they learn important strategies for solving problems, designing projects and communicating ideas.

Coding can then develop key skills for learners such as: creative thinking, logical reasoning, problem solving and collaboration. This will then be used through their lives and will aid and encourage them to use technology for many different curricular areas such as mathematics, English, music, art, design and information technology and I believe it will enrich their understanding of other topics within the classroom that require the use of technology and this will be enhance their learning.

“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 society.” (The Lead Project,2014)

Encountering, the process of making a story come to life using Scratch I went through a plan to understand what experiences and outcomes the children will be learning from and what they will gain throughout the lesson. This lesson that I prepared using the application was aimed at first and second level but can be used and adapted to early level as well.

From the subject of technology, the most relevant outcome towards my lesson was “I explore and experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts” TCH 1-04a/TCH 2-04a.

From the subject of literacy, I begin to search deeper into story telling and creativity, this led me to be guided by “I can convey information, describe events or processes, share my opinions or persuade my reader in different ways” LIT 1-28a/LIT 2-28a.

Briefly describing my story using Scratch I wanted the children to create their own ending to the story that I began to create and increase their imagination and their developed skills of writing.

• Slide 1 – I introduced the fact that the bat was following them around and the Melissa began to get frightened.
• Slide 2 – I indicated to the viewers that the girl felt safe in her house but the bat was still outside hovering for her attention.
• Slide 3 – Finally, the bat approaches her and actually is friendly and is wanting her to help him.
• Finally, the fourth slide tells the children to go and explore their imagination by making up the ending of the story that was created for them to use.

References –

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

 

 

Multimodality is key when presenting a lesson to the class due to the different ways in which children learn. These features in learning are listed as the five semiotic systems, which include, learning from; linguistics, visuals, audios, gestural and spatial. This is stated by Beauchamp when he declares ‘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).

Communication, presenting and hands-on learning are key factors in teaching as it allows the children to access these systems, which will then help and encourage them to learn. Communication is key as “We must challenge the implicit assumption that speech and writing are always central and sufficient for learning” (Beauchamp, 2012). Personally, I agree with statement as I do believe that throughout life we communicate constantly, through verbal communication and non-verbal communication, so therefore developing this skill of communication should be enhanced in a school environment. Hands-on learning is another element of the learning community as “Touch displays can become a social learning tool encouraging hands-on experiences thereby helping children to learn by doing” (Prandstatter, 2014). As a visual learner, I firmly follow this statement as doing the task and watching what I was doing was helping me personally, process the activity I was participating in.

We should be using multimodal presentation as they cover a lot of things that are appealing to children at the primary age. For example, it captivates, motivates, it is interactive, personalised, dynamic, memorable and engaging, this will then help the children then learn and process the context of the lesson.

The key factor i have learned personally today, would be that yellow and pink backgrounds help children with dyslexia to engage more as the bright colours help focus their mind.

References:

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

Interactive Displays in Early Years Classes

Digital Technology Week 2 – Programmable toys

In this weeks input we learnt about programmable toys and their benefits in the classroom. We did this with the commonly used in classrooms Bee-Bot. Before this input I knew next to nothing about Bee-bot and how to use it, so I was learning from scratch, I had seen the device in schools but had never seen it used. Bee-Bot is controlled using the arrows on the top of its body to direct it where to go so children can do many activities using the device along with several different mats that can be made to suit the teacher and the lesson. That is what we did, we made mats with instructions to be able to be used in a classroom setting.

My group was a pair and we decided to go with the mathematical topic making a mat to be used in a maths lesson. Our board was created to be able for a group of children to ask each other times table questions by moving Bee-Bot to the numbers to make the sum. we also decided to put the word form of the numbers to help the children to make connections between the number and the word form. This engages the children and they get excited about their learning. They are also leaning about directions such as right and left making them aware of the different language used to describe these directions.

We were also to identify the experiences and outcomes that can be achieved by children using out mat along with bee-bot. We did this by using the Curriculum for Excellence (Education Scotland, 2004) outcomes. We decided that the outcomes: “I explore and experiment with the features and functions of computer technology and I can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts” [TCH 1-04a/TCH 2-04a] in regards to using the Bee-bot and “having explored the need for rule for the order of operations in number calculations, I can apply them correctly when solving simple problems.” [MTH 2-03c] in reference to the maths side of the mat.

We learned that robots being used in the classroom dated back to the 1960’s where it started with logo which was created by Seymor Papert. Logo was created and allowed children to learn complex coding to control the movement of an arrow on the computer screens to draw lines and make shapes. “the curriculum introduces programmable toy as a good example for developing knowledge and understanding of the contemporary world.” Janka (2008, p2). She also goes on to talk about in the subject of maths children should be able to describe the “simple journey” to direct the programmable toy to hep develop their positional vocabulary and their judgment of distance. We also learned about the many benefits of children using programmable toys such as developing problem solving skills and creativity.

Bee-bot is a very simple and fun toy for the children to use while they are learning. Lydon (2008. P2) said that “[The children] gained independence faster than I anticipated. Twelve out of the 28 were able to use the Bee-Bot without any adult help after the initial instructions.” There is also evidence that programmable toys help children mentally in a lot of diverse ways the NCTE (2012. P1) states “[Floor robots in the classroom] help with the development of skills such as a logical sequencing, measuring, comparing lengths, space orientation, and expressing concepts in words.” This showing that the Bee-bot can cover a lot more than just one Experience and Outcome when doing the one activity and that the children enjoy it so are more likely to take part and become involved in their learning.

Overall, I found learning how to use the Bee-bot and learning about its uses very interesting and I am sure I will take all I have leaned into the classroom. I feel that programmable toys are a great way for children to learn and experience coding and the use of robots in their learning.

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 on 16th January 2018]
• Janka, P. (2008) Using a Programmable Toy at Preschool Age: Why and How? [Online] http://www.terecop.eu/downloads/simbar2008/pekarova.pdf [Accessed: 16th January 2018]
• Transum (2018) – Logo [Online] http://www.transum.org/software/Logo/ [Accessed: 16th January 2018]
• Lydon, A. ( 2007) Let’s Go With Bee-Bot: Using your Bee-Bot across the curriculum. TTS Group Ltd.
• NCTE (National centre for Technology in Education) (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]

In the Digital Technology class today we were looking at the use of programmable toys in a classroom. We discussed their function in education, focusing mainly on early years and how they can be used in relation to the various areas of the curriculum including literacy and numeracy.

The toy chosen for us to work with was the Bee-Bot, ‘The programmable toy Bee-Bot4 was awarded as the most impressive hardware for kindergarten and lower primary school children on the world educational technology market BETT 2006’ (Janka, 2008. p.3).

I have been lucky enough to work with Bee-Bot in the past both in university and while out on school placement.  I would say that I am fairly confident using the Bee-Bot however when I was asked to try the Bee-Bot downloadable app on the iPad I found it quite difficult.  I am assuming it was teething problems and I will be ok with it next time.

In our small groups we brought together our ideas and we designed a lesson plan that would include a Bee-Bot and a Bee-Bot mat. The lesson would make clear links to the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes across all levels to ensure we could use the lesson through out the school.

The group decided that a number grid would be good as numbers are used across all levels and also that greater numbers could be added allowing the children to challenge themselves. We made a mixture of flash cards which included addition and subtraction questions, we also used a mixture of symbols and words within the questions.  The children would work on a points based system and record their answers and scores, first to reach five points was the winner. Most questions were worth one point however in-order to encourage the children to challenge their own abilities we awarded slightly more challenging questions with two points.  There was also a discussion in the group about the lesson moving to higher levels and in that case, the children can be in control of the activity and make flash cards for their peers that they thought to be more challenging.

All of this supports development in the ‘four capacities’ which are:

• Confident individuals
• Effective contributors
• Responsible citizens
• Successful learns

I say this because, as a class we discussed what the benefits are of programmable toys.  Some of the benefits included were; concentration, estimation, communication, problem solving, interactive learning and instant feedback. All of which are crutial for development (Janka, 2008).  When taking into consideration the benefits, the small group decided which learning experiences and outcomes would link to our lesson plan. The E’s and O’s best related were Mathematics and Technologies:

• Education Scotland (2004) Curriculum for Excellence; Experiences and Outcomes [Online] https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers [Accessed: 16th January 2018]
• Janka, P. (2008) Using a Programmable Toy at Preschool Age: Why and How? [Online] http://www.terecop.eu/downloads/simbar2008/pekarova.pdf [Access: 16th January 2018].
• Lydon, A. ( 2007) Let’s Go With Bee-Bot: Using your Bee-Bot across the curriculum. TTS Group Ltd.
• NCTE (National centre for Technology in Education) (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]

Programmable toys are becoming more visible in the education sector especially within primary schools, this is due to the benefits that occur around them and help teachers and educational influences in different types of learning to benefit, all different types of children.

These programmable toys have been around since the 1960s, where the role of the robot provided children with an opportunity to learn complex programming by controlling to the movement of the robot with the arrow to draw lines on the screen.

These are stil in our educational environments today as the CFE declares: ‘[The curriculum] introduces programmable toys as a good example for developing knowledge and understanding of the contemporary world’ Janoka (2008). This suggests that children will benefits from this exercise in the future when they are experiencing the different parts of the world whether through work or any other extra curricular activities they do.

Personally, I believe that programmable toys will help children enhance their learning through other curricular activities as well and that the different toys will equip them for their future with the different skills they will learn through this exercise.

References:

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

Today was the first day of the Digital Technology module.  When I saw that this module was available to me, I jumped at the opportunity.  This is because, when I myself was at primary school as a child there was very little digital technology and I am interested to know where digital technology can be used in a school environment.

At this stage in my BA Honours degree I currently feel that children probably know more than me regarding digital technology and this was reflected upon when I was out on my first school placement.  I was completely taken a back to see how much of the school day the children use digital technology and also that it was second nature to them.

I think this a wonderful idea as the children of today will continue to use technology throughout their education, moving with the times.  This then means that they will be more than prepared for the outside world when it comes to gaining employment in the future (Beauchamp, 2012).

In the lecture today we were told that the Scottish Government have invested a vast amount of time and money into IT, this can be seen in ‘The National Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy (2016)’.  The strategy will be funded over the next 3-5 years and will focus on children aged 3-18 years old (Scottish Government, 2016).  Which again I feel is going to be very beneficial to Scotland in the future as the country will have well educated young adults with adaptable skills in IT.

In the document the government have broken down how the departments involved can contribute and enhance the quality of digital technologies not only for children but for educators, parents and carers. Included in the document is information about the role of the Government, the role of local authorities, the role of the establishment and what they can all to ensure pupils have the relevant level of IT skills.

Examples of this could be that schools are encouraged to involve children, parents and carers in areas of development in order to encourage anytime/anywhere learning. They are advised to take onboard new ideas and utilise staff/parents alike, which hand in hand works with the role of the Government who will now take onboard tried and test ideas which encourages partnerships (Scottish Government, 2016).

At the end of the lecture, I did wonder if I will ever know all there is to know about digital technology and the answer is possibly not. However, I had a conversation with my lecturer about was it acceptable to use a child’s knowledge during a lesson and this was fedback to me as defiantly yes.  To involve a child in a lesson not only means that the information is coming from a reliable source (as the child will have embeded knowledge). This also means that the child will have a great sense of achievement, communication and leadership, which will encourage them to help others.  In result of this, confidence and self esteem are present in the child which is of great value to children today.

If I can achieve this then I will know that I am doing my job correctly “the role of the teacher as scaffolder, mentor and facilitator will always remain vital,” Beauchamp (2012, p.142).

In conclusion, the first lecture went very well. I now know about Government strategies that are in place to support and enhance digital technology within education. I know there will be support for me as a student and as an educator.  Therefor, there should be no need to worry about my knowledge and skills as there are procedures in place to improve and support. I carried out further reading and look forward to continuing with this, as it will help me to understand why digital technology is so important in education today.

 

References

• Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School. [Online] Available: dawsonera.com/readonline/9781408251379 [Accessed: 13 January 2018].

 

• Scottish Government. (2016) A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. Edinburgh: Scottish Government [Online] Available: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0050/00505855.pdf [Accessed: 11 January 2018].

Week one of the Digital Technology course commenced on the 9th of January 2018. This module was not one of the core ones, it was one we were to pick, and I chose this specific module as I thought I have a reasonable understanding of technology and can use it to a certain extent, but I knew that my competence could always be improved. I have learned over through my experiences how much of an importance digital technology has in primary schools and that it is ever growing, and teachers must be able to keep up and be able to use it to the best of its abilities. This is the main reason I thought it would benefit me to choose this module over the other choices.

This weeks input was mainly an introduction to the course. This included going through the module page on moodle making sure we all know our way around it and learning where to find things that we will need to use in the future. We then got asked the question, what is Digital technology? I found this question hard to find an answer. Eventually my answer was very vague saying that it is using electronic devices. I now know after reading the Scottish governments document that it is much more than that and my understanding of this has improved massively even after just one week. I now know that digital technology is a term that is used to describe the digital application, services and resources that can be used to find, analyse, create, communicate and use information.
We got the chance to read the Enhancing Learning and Teaching through the use of Digital Technology – a Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland (Education Scotland, 2016). This document talks about technology used in teaching and what their aims are and how they plan on reaching them. I learnt that the aims of this strategy are:
• Develop the skills and confidence of educators in the appropriate and effective use of digital technology to support learning and teaching.
• Improve access to digital technology for all learners.
• Ensure that digital technology is a central consideration in all areas of curriculum and assessment delivery.
• Empower leaders of change to drive innovation and investment in digital technology for learning and teaching.
I was surprise at the fact that they are trying to introduce technology into the assessment side of learning which will benefit children who excel in this area of school and learning compared to others. I think that with the way that technology is ever growing and spreading making it easier to access no matter where you are or who you are then these aims will be achieved.
We got the chance to explore glow to evaluate what we have already learned/know about hoe glow works and what it can be used for. We also got to explore new tiles and add relevant and useful ones to our launch pad. I added tiles such as Primary Resources and BBC languages to my launch pad as I thought they would be useful in the future when it comes to going into the classroom.

Overall my first week in the digital technology module introduced the course also it expanded my understanding of what digital technology is and what we are going to be learning about. It also allowed us to explore the moodle page and the glow website. Through this module I hope to build my confidence in using technology and learn how to incorporate it into teaching.

Reference
Digital Technologies (2016) A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland [module resource] Available: http://www.moodle.uws.ac.uk Digital Technologies Module on Moodle [Accessed on 09/01/18]