Overall, the Digital Technologies (DT) module has been excellent. I feel I have gone from being a digital immigrant to being on the path to becoming digitally native. I have learnt many important, fun, interesting and engaging ways to use digital technologies, by using various different tools and activities. I know how to link in these activities to the curriculum for excellence outcomes and experiences and I can link in various areas of the curriculum into one activity. Throughout this module I have experienced many different activities, some I have enjoyed more than others, but nevertheless I have enjoyed the journey through this module. I couldn’t recommend this course highly enough to future students.

 

Scottish Government, (2016) states “Digital Technologies can enhance learning and teaching, equip children and young people with vital digital and crucially, it can lead to improved educational outcomes”. Having come to the end of the module and working through all the activities within it I can now reflect on this statement by then Scottish Government and I can completely understand the accuracy of it. This module has most certainly enhanced my learning and equipped me with better skills to become a better student and teacher one day. I truly believe that Digital Technologies has a positive impact on children in education.

 

Throughout this module we have been interacting with various activities using Digital technologies and linking these into the curriculum for excellence outcomes and experiences. The majority of apps and tools we have been using, I had never used or even heard of, so this module has allowed me to acknowledge and appreciate the benefits of using DT. It doesn’t discriminate and it allows the experience to be personalised for an individual’s needs and I believe that is very important in our diverse society. “The use of digital technologies appreciates diversity of the learners needs and the potential for personalising their experience using technology” Jarvis, M (2015, p129).

 

In particular I enjoyed the outdoor activity as I believe being outside gives children a lot more freedom with their ideas and allows them to experience the environment opening them up for lots of creativity and excitement. I am also very passionate about health and well-being and the outdoors can link into a lot of health and wellbeing in the curriculum for excellence outcomes and experiences as well as all the curricular areas. “It’s clear that the outdoor environment offers motivating, exciting, different, relevant and easily accessible activities from pre-school years through to college” Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010).

 

In conclusion, I have learnt the importance of using Digital Technologies within education and the positive impact it has on our children in various contexts. Having had the opportunity to use various different apps and tools, I can see how I can incorporate these into the classroom one day and how to link these into the curriculum for excellence outcomes and experiences. I still have a lot to learn about DT and I will continue to personally develop with this in my own time. I have thoroughly enjoyed this module and have learnt so much. Our lecturer has been amazing and very patient. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

References

 

Jarvis, M (2015) Brilliant ideas for using ICT in the classroom. Routledge.

 

Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010) Curriculum for Excellence through outdoor learning.

Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing Teaching and Learning through the use of Digital Technologies: A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. [Online] Available: https://beta.-gov.scot/publications/enhancing-learning-teaching-through-use-digital-technologies/[Acessed:19 March 2019].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week was focused on outdoor learning and in particular using an app called QR Reader. Unfortunately, I missed most of this class and my group had already designed and planned the task at hand. I did however get to experience another groups activity and I had a great experience with that, which I will talk about further in this blog. Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010, P5) states “Learning outdoors can lead to lifelong recreation. Activities such as walking and cycling which are ideal for physical and emotional wellbeing contribute to a healthier Scotland”. I am passionate about health and wellbeing and I believe exercise to be one key factor to promoting this. By getting children outdoors and experiencing different outdoor activities such as walking and cycling as stated above, then I truly believe we would have a happy and healthier Scotland.

 

The activity I experienced today was based on a shopping list, we were given a sheet of paper with clear instructions and clues to each item. Once at that item there was a code (please see picture attached below) next to or near-by, and we had to scan that code to be given the price of that item and then we were given a clue for the next item. Once we had worked out all clues and prices of each item on the list, we had to return back to the start point and add up the price of everything. Finally, we had to work out how much change we would get if we had £10 to spend.

 

Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010, p9) states “Outdoor learning offers many opportunities for learners to deepen and contextualise their understanding within the curriculum areas”. Having experienced this outdoor activity today with the QR Reader I believe children would have had a deeper understanding of numeracy, literacy and health and well-being. On refection of this task I think it was great, it was very engaging, and it allowed you to work collaboratively. You had to really work together as a team to figure out where the clues were directing you too. The prices of items weren’t just a simple price, some were asking the price of 5 of these and again this made you really have to think about your numeracy skills and figure out the best way to calculate.

 

(basing this on level one) I believe the task I experienced today would cover the outcomes:

 

• I value the opportunities I am given to make friends and be part of a group in a range of situations. HWB 1-14a
• I can use money to pay for items and can work out how much change I should receive. MNU 1-09a
• When I engage with others, I know when and how to listen, when to talk, how much to say, when to ask questions and how to respond with respect. LIT 1-04a

 

On refection of participating in this activity I can see the benefits outdoor learning has on our children and the importance of linking the outdoors to the curriculum for excellence experiences and outcomes. “Outdoor learning experiences are often remembered for

A lifetime. Integrating learning and outdoor experiences, whether through play in the immediate grounds or adventures further afield, provides relevance and depth to the curriculum in ways that are difficult to achieve indoors” Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010).

 

In conclusion, from experiencing an outdoor activity and reading up on relevant and recommended reading on outdoor learning, I think it is something that needs to be done more in schools at it has many positives, both physically and mentally for children. The outdoors holds an array of possibilities and tools to link in fun and exciting activities to the curriculum for excellence and I look forward to further gaining experience in this area.

 

 

References

 

Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010) Curriculum for Excellence through outdoor learning.

 

This week was focused mainly on Games-based learning using a programme called Minecraft. The lesson began with the group discussing about our Blogs and discussing about how we incorporate refection into our Blogs to make it flow nicely. After the discussion I felt a lot more confident about how to reflect better in my Blogs and I hope that this shows throughout my few final Blogs for the module. Beauchamp (2012, P9) stated, “Technology can offer a specific type of play through computer or video games, which can be individual or whole class activities and may be particularly useful in the early years teaching”, this has been particularly true throughout the task today.

 

Before attending the class, I couldn’t really understand how computer games could possibly enhance a child’s learning. However, after working with Minecraft and realising the huge educational benefits cross curricular that could be achieved was outstanding, I still have a lot to learn about Games-based learning, but I now understand the benefits of using such tools within the classroom. “Game-based Learning approaches build on many children’s existing interests, skills and knowledge and can narrow the gap between children’s home and school cultures” Learning-Teaching Scotland (2010 P5).

 

Our group decided to design a task on Minecraft that was relevant to today, we thought that it made the topic for the children more relevant. On reflection of our choice I feel it was a good one, but I also realise that this task could be tied into History and to be open minded about all areas of the curriculum for excellence (Please find attached below pics of today’s tasks). I quickly came to realise that there are endless possibilities when using this tool, I found that quite exciting and I look forward to working more in the future with Game-based learning and in particular when I have a class of my own.

 

We chose our outcomes to be:

 

• I can discuss the environmental impact of human activity and suggest ways in which we can live in a more environmentally way SOC 2-08a.
• I can make suggestions as to how individuals and organisations may use technologies to support sustainability and reduce the impact on our environment TCH 2-07a.
• I value the opportunities I am given to make friends and be part of a group in a range of situations HWB 0-14a – 4-14a.
• Having investigated where, why and how scale is used and expressed, I can apply my understanding to interpret simple models maps and plans MTH 2-17a.

 

We decided to focus todays task on second level children as we felt we had already focused a lot of previous tasks on early and first level children. The area of our focus today was Renewable energy and in particular building homes that make use of renewable energy on different Minecraft regions. This task covered four curricular areas, which are; Health and well-being, technologies, social studies and Numeracy. This task however could have covered more than just these curricular areas stated above and that’s what makes Minecraft a very good tool to use within the classroom.

 

As a group we did not have much previous experience with Minecraft, and we didn’t find the tool that easy to start with. As a group of mainly mature age students we slightly struggled in all honesty to even get started with using and building anything. On reflection of this I think moving forward we realise that whatever the tool or topic may be when teaching we need to make sure we have used and played about beforehand as we wasted a lot of time trying to get used to just the basics. As a teacher I believe it is important to know what your teaching and be prepared as children are not daft and the pick up on these things and you will be exploited.

 

Overall this task was a massive learning curve for me as I realise just how beneficial game-based learning is and the importance of making sure you are well prepared before taking a class especially when your using a tool such as Minecraft. This tool was fantastic at being able to cross curricular easily throughout a few or all curricular areas. Game-based learning is an important tool throughout education as children can achieve various outcomes and experiences for the curriculum for excellence, whilst feeling like they are playing a game that’s fun and engaging. I have particularly found this week’s task difficult as I did not fully understand how to use Minecraft. Therefore, I don’t think it was used to its full capability. I look forward to using Minecraft in my own free time to enhance my knowledge and experience to prepare me to become the best possible teacher I can be.

 

 

 

References

 

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

 

Learning-Teaching Scotland (2010) The Impact of Console Games in the classroom: Evidence from Schools in Scotland.

 

“Digital technology can enrich learning and teaching, help to raise levels of attainment and close the attainment gap” Scottish government (2016, P1). Having worked this week and last week on our Animation task, I can now reflect and say I truly believe that Digital Technology is a wonderful tool and that the statement above by the Scottish Government sums up Digital Technology in schools very well. Today we decided as a group to use an app called Stikbot Studio( please see pictures attached below). This was a slight change from last week, when we had planned to use iStopMotion. On reflection of the change I felt that it was the right decision to make as this app worked very well and was slightly different from what others where using in the class. It also gave our group the chance to try out something new as last week we felt we had used iStopMotion and that our plan may work better with Stikbot. The group and I on reflection of our choice to change felt we had made the right choice as we were extremely happy with our end product.

 

I was interested this week to see what skills would be developed through Animation and if it would enhance learning. I found that communication was one of the main skills to be developed, this task would not have been manageable without the group communicating ideas and delegating roles for the task. Sometimes things did not go the way we planned them to go and without communication it may have ended up in disaster. I can see how this could be difficult for certain groups of children, if the group is full of quiet kids in which no one stands up and starts to delegate roles or if the children are in groups full of people that want to do a certain role. I think on reflection of working in a team to do this task, I would as a teacher possibly give children in the group a role and then rotate the roles, so that they all had a chance to experience the different roles.

 

Listening is another skill which is developed through this task. Working as a group it is important to listen to one another and find out what ideas people have, this will encourage the best outcome for the task at hand. Without listening to each other the task would not be achieved successfully. It is important as a group to respect everyone and to give everyone their chance to speak and by listening it shows we respect that person. This is an important skill for children as it is important throughout life to listen to people. On reflection of the task today I found it hard to listen sometimes as I wanted to get on with the task but I also learnt a lot from my colleagues by listening so I can see how valuable this is for children.

 

Working as team is another skill developed through this task. The task was to work as a team to create an animation and without working together the task would not have been achieved. As a teacher I think it is very important for children to work as a team because when they eventually leave school and work one day, they may need to work as a team. It is important to learn that it is not about you as an individual completing a task but completing it as a group using the skills such as listening and communicating that have been enhanced throughout schools doing tasks such as creating an animation. On reflection of the task today our team worked very well as we all had different strengths and weaknesses and it was a nice mix but as a teacher, I can see how some groups of people may not work well as a team. I would consider mixing certain children, but I also think it is important for children to experience it not working sometimes so it can then highlight to them the importance of working as team.

 

This task was fun and engaging and I found the planning stage exciting, we all had so many ideas and it was great getting to create an animation. However, this task was very time consuming and everyone started to lose focus slightly nearer the end. The task needed tiny movements and loads of photos which after a while started to really drag. On refection of this, I think children would struggle to focus on making an animation using Stickbot Motion. This would be more suitable for children that are interested in creating animation in an after-school club.

 

Throughout this task I have learnt to listen a lot better and that its ok for ideas not to work. It is important for things not to go right sometimes because life does not always go the way we plan, and it is important for kids to know that. As a teacher I think it is ever more important to acknowledge.

 

This Animation task targeted first and second level children for the Curriculum for Excellence. It covered SOC 1-12a “By exploring climate zones around the world, I can compare and describe how climate affects living things. SOC 2-07b “I can describe the physical processes of a natural disaster and discuss its impact on people and the landscape”.

 

Overall, I enjoyed this task and it has developed my expertise using animation programmes. I identified various benefits of using animation in the classroom and I also identified potential problems with using them. I have also learnt a lot about myself working in a group collaboratively and I believe all this knowledge can only make me a better teacher.

 

 

 

References

 

Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing Teaching and Learning through the use of Digital Technologies: A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland. [Online] Available: https://beta-gov-scot/publications/enhancing-learning-teaching-through-use-digital-technologies/[Accessed: 26 February 2019]

 

Today’s task was part one of developing our own expertise in using animation programmes and to identify the benefits of using animation in the classroom. “Animation breathes life into something that wouldn’t normally move, this could be a drawing, a puppet or an object (Movingimageeducation.org). Having had the opportunity today to play about with Puppet Pals app and iStopMotion app, I can see the massive benefits using Animation can have in our education system. Using ICT tools can bring more creativity and freedom to a lesson and I believe from my experiences with these tasks through the module that it would keep a child engaged with learning for a longer period of time. This is further back up by Beauchamp, 2012) whom states “ICT resources help to avoid boredom (and potentially increase motivation”. To finish off todays class we had to organise ourselves into groups and plan an animation using iStopMotion.

 

Having used Puppet Pals app today, I was able to create a short story about beauty and the beast. I managed to include voice recordings, movement and changed the size of the characters. I found this app easy to use as there wasn’t too much to it. Reflecting on previous weeks I have found this app probably one of the easier ones. I used another app called iStopMotion and this was to create a short animation which involves movement using a bendy figure. “Animation is created when you film one still image of your subject, change it a bit, film another still image, change it again and so on until you build up a sequence of still images. And when its payed back it appears to move” (movingimageedcuation.org). This statement sums up the iStopMotion app and I felt this allowed me to be fully creative on my own with no help unlike the Puppet Pals app. I would use the iStopMotion app for more second level children and possibly use the Puppet Pals app for first level.

 

Jarvis (2007, P. 28) stated “We should always bear in mind that all technology is simply a set of tools, and that what we do with it should conform to principles of effective learning just like any other mode of teaching”.  I think this is a really important statement by Jarvis and as a group we have planned our animation out to use the set of tools we have to its maximum use for effective learning by conforming to the principles of teaching.

 

Overall, I have enjoyed developing my own expertise using a couple of animation apps and I have thoroughly enjoyed working in a group planning our animation on iStopMotion for next weeks class. I am interested to see what skills will be developed through this and would it enhance learning.

 

 

References

 

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

 

Jarvis, M (2015) Brilliant ideas for using ICT in the classroom.Routledge

 

Movingimageseducation.org