Today in Digital Technologies we discovered how to use the application iMovies on the iPad to its full potential within the classroom. Our use of iMovies within the session was linked closely with online safety for children and the dangers that can be found on social media for example. We were given the task of creating our own short movie or trailer that conveyed a very strong message for children about what it’s like about the dangers of going online. Promoting both digital skills and also enhancing online knowledge for the children is a very good idea and works well within the classroom environment.
Our idea was to create a princess with an evil step sister. throughout our short movie, the princess received a friend request from an unknown person however when she asked her sister she encouraged her to accept it. This unknown prince messaged the princess to ask her to the ball which she proceeded to attend. However when she arrived at the address there was nobody but an old man there is take her away. The message we tried to send to the children was that you never know who it is behind these profiles, and everyone is not who they always claim to be online.
The term digital literacy was described by Weiss (2017) as “the set of competencies required for full participation in society”. This is a very bold statement to be made, however it does highlight clearly the importance of a high level of digital knowledge within the 21st century as everything around us becomes more reliable with the use of technology.
Digital technology helps enhance various skills such as critical thinking skills, awareness of e-safety, collaboration skills, ability to research and select information, and also creativity. In 2015 the Scottish Government argued that “Digital technologies appear to be appropriate means to improve basic literacy and numeracy skills, especially in primary settings”. This shows the importance of digital knowledge within the development of a child’s learning over a period of time and how it can enhance understanding of different areas within the curriculum.
Digital technology can be used for a variety of settings within the classroom and across various curricular areas. The knowledge and skills based upon digital technology and e-safety can be applied to areas such as health and wellbeing, numeracy and literacy. This is the case as children can improve problem solving skills within the numeracy aspect of the CfE and they are also developing active learning with help from their peers around them. Health and wellbeing can also be covered through the use of technology as it uses a variety of different approaches including active, cooperative and peer learning, and also the effective use of technology within the classroom environment. Finally, literacy can be improved as children have opportunities to communicate and collaborate with peers and also explore a wide variety of different medias such as websites, blogs, games etc.
Overall, I believe the use of iMovie within the classroom is a very useful resource that teachers should make full potential use of as it allows children to improve on a variety of different skills including group work and working together. In this case we adapted the use of iMovies to an e-safety aspect, however this task can be manipulated to fit around any activity that the children are exploring within the class.
References
Weiss, D. (2017) Time to Know blog [Online]
https://www.timetoknow.com/blog/essential-digital-literacy-skills-for-the-21st-century-worker/ [Accessed: 14.2.18]
The Scottish Government (2015) Literature Review on the Impact of Digital Technology on Learning and Teaching. [Online] http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/24843/1/00489224.pdf [Accessed: 14.2.18]
