My digital technologies module is now complete after 12 weeks. During this time, I have learned so much about digital technologies as an umbrella to numerous topics. I have thoroughly enjoyed this module and found it interesting yet challenging at the same time. We studied programming, coding, working with interactive boards (ActivInspire), e-books, iMovie, animation, games-based learning and QR codes. I preferred coding and QR codes.

Throughout the module, each week we were to write our blogs as a form of reflection on the tasks week-on-week, I felt that this was rather hard to keep up with but ensured that I had each blog completed before the next week to help me stay on top of my blogs. However, I felt that I always had plenty to write about and that there was a lot to reflect on. Writing these blogs have been very helpful to me and I feel that they have been very beneficial in my process of reflection.

There have been many pros about this module, such as:

• Each task has been interesting and insightful
• Allowed me to use my imagination and be creative week-on-week
• Help develop my skills or gain new ones, for example: teamworking, motivation, patience, etc.
• Allowed us to use different types of technology such as: beebot robots, tablets, mobile devices etc.
• Gain an understanding of when and how to use Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes, which will be extremely helpful in the future
• Help us to realise the importance of ICT in the classroom nowadays

On the other hand, there has been a few negatives, such as:

• It was frustrating at times as we were working with technology which can have many problems, i.e. crashing
• As each week related back to ICT importance in the classroom and how digital technologies are used, I felt that it was a bit repetitive at times

However, the pros definitely outweigh the negatives for me as I highly enjoyed this module and would recommend it to anyone as it is extremely useful and relevant nowadays. It also helps you gain a good understanding of the importance of ICT in the classroom being used independently or in correlation with other curricular areas and how beneficial it is for children nowadays, especially with them being digital natives, as explained by Prensky (2001, p. 1) “Our students today are all ‘native speakers’ of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet.” This can benefit children in the classroom as it can improve their learning in other curricular areas as well as help them develop their understanding of technology, which is important in this forever-changing technological world. I also gained a good understanding of how these tasks and digital technologies overall helps to enhance the teaching and learning in the classroom.

Mainly I learned, ICT is a useful tool in the classroom. As explained by Beauchamp (2012, p. 54) ICT allows pupils to “achieve something that would be very difficult or even impossible to achieve in any other way.” With ICT being an important tool, which is incorporated into all curricular areas not just being a stand-alone subject. As further explained by Beauchamp (2012, p. 66) “ICT equipment is part of pupils’ everyday life, so should be part of their everyday play.” Overall, with the aim that ICT will help enhance a child’s learning and understanding of different curricular areas.

As my understanding of digital technologies has developed, I feel more confident, as a student teacher, when using digital technologies to enhance lessons. I now look forward to using what I have learned in the future, in the classroom.

Thank you for reading my blog over the last 12 weeks, I hope you enjoyed it!

References

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

• Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives Digital Immigrant

Today, we were given the task to create our own QR codes which tie in with a lesson. QR codes are a fairly new technology which stands for ‘Quick Response’. A QR Code is an ‘image-based hypertext link’ and can hold much more information (7089 numbers) than a standard barcode (30 numbers).  A QR code can link to a short bit of text, an audio recording, a website, a phone number, an email address and much more. To access them, all you need to do is download a QR code scanner application on your device. Additionally, you are able to create your own as there are many websites nowadays which allows you to do so. We used one of these websites when creating our QR codes and it was very simple and fast to create them. I was surprised at how easy it was yet so effective at the same time. It gave you many options and adaption such as what type of QR code it was such as a website URL, PDF file, image file etc., we picked ‘plain text’ and then typed out what we wanted our QR code to say once scanned. We were also able to change the colour of each QR code which helped us distinguish each one.

Overall, creating our full lesson took about one hour and thirty minutes. This meant that, we were creating the lesson longer than the lesson lasted. This is something that would need to be considered by teachers to determine whether or not it is worth the time or not. Personally, I feel that it is worth it as it is a very effective way of learning and very interesting. Additionally, I feel that it would be a good set up for future lessons and can even have a lesson where the children create their own QR codes (and treasure hunts) and I feel that it seriously enhances teaching and learning. For a future lesson, the teacher could have the children use physical plastic coins to act out the treasure hunt or could ask the children to create their own shopping list and prices for others.

I found today’s session very interesting and fun and can see myself using QR codes to enhance the teaching and learning in the classroom as I feel they are very effective and interesting. Additionally, I was shocked at how easy they were to make so I feel that they are worth the time.

We decided that we were going to do a treasure hunt layout where the children would start off with a shopping list and an imaginary £10. The shopping list consisted of 1 bottle of water, 2 apples, 1 sandwich, 3 yoghurts, 1 banana and 1 bag of popcorn. We decided that the items on this list would also be healthy as to promote healthy eating in the children. Above said shopping list, they were given the instructions “Here is your shopping list. Tick off each item once you have bought it. Once you have ticked off all your items on the list, return to the classroom to find your final QR code. Show your working, writing down how much each item costs.” Therefore, the children would be given a starting location which would be located around the school building (or university, where we set up our QR code treasure hunt) and would have to scan each QR code to be given the next instruction. Below, is one order in which the treasure hunt could be completed.

“A bottle of water cost £1.10 – How much change do you have now? Now go to garden arch to find your next item.”

“You need two apples. One apple costs 40p, what is the total? How much money have you got left now? Now go to the Union Shop for your next item.”

“Buy 1 sandwich, which costs £2.85. How much money would you have left?Now go the gym hall to buy your next item.”

“Your next purchase is three yoghurts. They each cost 72 pence each. How much money do you have left? Go to the bike stands for your next item.”

“Buy one banana which costs 59p. How much money do you have left? You will have to go to the door of lecture hall 2 for your next item.”

“Buy one bag of popcorn which costs £1.05 – How much money do you have left? Go to the fridge for your next item.”

As you can see the bag of popcorn QR code then tells you to go to the fridge, however, in this example shown above, that was our starting point. We designed our QR codes to be a continuous circle and therefore, the children in the class could be separated into groups and can each start at a different item.

Once their list was complete, the children would return to the classroom and find the final QR code which read, “Do you have any money left after buying your shopping? Can you afford to buy 1 more banana and 1 more bag of popcorn?  If not, how much more money would you need to buy them.” The children would then figure this out to get their final answer which the teacher would check , along with checking their working.

We decided that our QR code treasure hunt was aimed at first level and ties in with mathematics and technologies;

• I can use money to pay for items and can work out how much change I should receive.

MNU 1-09a

• I have investigated how different combinations of coins and notes can be used to pay for goods or be given in change.

MNU 1-09b

• Using digital technologies responsibly I can access, retrieve and use information to support, enrich or extend learning in different contexts

TCH 1-02a

Additionally, we felt that there were also links with other curricular areas, such as health and wellbeing, science and social studies as the children are using the outdoor environment and getting to know their local, natural and built environments and surroundings.

Some of our QR codes were set outside and some were inside, this was to promote outdoor learning, however, this would be dependent on each day and its weather conditions whether or not this lesson could go ahead. “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 relevanceand depthto the curriculum in ways that are difficult to achieve indoors.” (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010, p. 5). Along with the advantages that outdoor learning brings as further explained by Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010, p. 5) “learning outdoors can be enjoyable, creative, challenging and adventurous and helps children and young people learn by experience and grow as confident and responsible citizens…”. Some of the main advantages for outdoor learning are: develops critical thinking skills, personal development (communication), promotes a healthy lifestyle, personal safety (manage risks), and inclusion for all as it provides opportunities and allows children to use and develop their skills and abilities.

Additionally, when making our QR codes we looked at incorporating the SHANARRI wellbeing wheel as there was outdoor learning included in our QR code task. SHANARRI stands for;

Safe

Healthy

Active

Nurture

Achieving

Responsible

Respect

Included

To improve our QR code lesson, I feel that we could have been more efficient with the length of the end lesson and could have the children complete lengthier tasks at each QR code station. Another improvement; we created all of our QR codes and printed them out (which took a while) but one of our QR codes would not work. We are not sure why it did not work, we believe that it either did not download properly or due to it being the colour yellow (each QR code was a different colour), therefore we had to re-do said QR code.

ICT is a useful tool in the classroom. As explained by Beauchamp (2012, p. 54) ICT allows pupils to “achieve something that would be very difficult or even impossible to achieve in any other way.” With ICT being an important tool, which is incorporated into all curricular areas not just being a stand-alone subject. As further explained by Beauchamp (2012, p. 66) “ICT equipment is part of pupils’ everyday life, so should be part of their everyday play.” Overall, with the aim that ICT will help enhance a child’s learning and understanding of different curricular areas.

At the end of today’s session, we were given the opportunity to try other groups QR code creations; this was helpful to gain ideas for the future. Overall, everyone had very good ideas and were successful in creating an interesting lesson. The group’s creation we tried was about getting to know the people in your class, such as their favourite colour, food or animal, if they had siblings or not etc. I feel that this would be a very good lesson at the start of the school year so that the children would be able to get to know their fellow classmates. Additionally, once we completed the group’s QR code treasure hunt, they gave us a reward at the end. I feel that this is a good idea to round off the lesson and leave the children happy with the work they had done.

In conclusion, I feel that QR codes are very effective and useful in the classroom and will help enhance the teaching and learning as it can be an interesting way to teach a lesson. Additionally, it can also be used to promote outdoor learning which has numerous advantages whilst overall incorporating ICT into the classroom.

Example of our colourful QR codes

Shopping list

References

 

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

 

• Education Scotland () Experiences and outcomes. [Online] Available: 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 13^th March 2019]

 

• Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010) Curriculum for Excellence Through Outdoor Learning.

Today, we were given the task to explore the application ‘Minecraft’ as a learner and think about how games-based learning can be used in the classroom. Therefore, we were to work in groups to create a lesson or lessons that incorporate games-based learning. We were to use ‘Minecraft education’ to create our lesson(s) idea.

Initially, we began messing around with Minecraft education to get an idea of how it works and how difficult it really is. We were able to gain an understanding of how to move characters, build using blocks and how to construct an end product; similar to what we would expect the children to make.

I had a small amount of previous knowledge on working with Minecraft, however, I had not used Minecraft education before, although, I did not notice a huge difference between the two applications. Additionally, my previous knowledge on Minecraft was gained using an iPad, however, today we used the Minecraft education application on a laptop. Therefore, I had to get used to the controls and read through the ‘how to play’ instructions, before creating anything. This meant that, using this application was initially frustrating and rather time consuming but was quite interesting and almost therapeutic once I understood what I was doing.

Minecraft is a well-known game that was very popular years ago, much like today’s ‘Fortnite’ craze. As explained by Magbook (2014, p. 3) “Minecraft is a worldwide phenomenon. Since it was first released back in 2011, it’s been taken to the hearts of thousands and thousands of gamers.”  Therefore, for many children they would find this lesson more enjoyable and interesting due to the addition of games and would like the overall idea of ‘games-based learning’. As stated by Bray (2012, p. 9) “Games-based Learning has the most transformational impact when it is combined with good learning and teaching.” This would overall lead to a successful lesson.

We decided that we were going to tie numerous curricular areas in our lesson. We looked at inter-disciplinary learning (IDL) which incorporates many curricular areas into the one lesson. The curricular areas included in our idea were social studies, literacy, technologies, numeracy/mathematics and expressive arts (with the creative design side of creating their castles on Minecraft). Our overall idea was able to be split into many lessons; first lessons would look at the history of castles all around the world and the part they played in history with their importance. This would then lead onto the children using Minecraft with clear instructions on what their task was which is important as explained by Beauchamp (2012, p. 9) “Not only do [teachers] have to become familiar with the games, they also have to ensure that they make clear the way in which they want for the game to used.”

The children would be given the task to create their own castles with many important features which they have learned about, such as, the moat. They should also have the ability to talk about what types of materials they are using and why. The children would also use this games-based learning to use the different controls and widgets of technology whilst focusing on Minecraft. Once the children have created their castles, they would write an imaginative story using their characters and features they created. This would be used to show the children’s understanding of medieval times with games-based learning being a way to secure their understanding in a fun way. Another lesson; the children would create a 2D replica of their Minecraft castles using 2D shapes and should be able to explain their replica and the shapes used, as well as different features of the shapes, such as; how many sides a shape has, which would incorporate mathematics. All these lessons would overall relate to social studies with learning about the history of medieval castles with the foundational learning being games-based learning and ICT.

The children will also be working in groups for certain tasks and which would help them develop many skills. As explained by Beauchamp (2012) states that the skills that could be developed during the use of ICT games were: strategic thinking, planning, communication, application of numbers, negotiating skills, group decision making and data handling skills. Additionally, I would add that the skill of patience would be developed during these lessons as at times it was rather frustrating at times.

Some of the more in-depth skills developed would be:

• Observing, describing and recording (planning)
• Comparing and contrasting to draw valid conclusions
• Development of curiosity and problem-solving skills and capacity to take initiatives
• Planning and reviewing investigation strategies
• Developing the capacity for critical thinking through accessing, analysing and using information from a wide variety of sources
• Developing an awareness of sequence and chronology (imaginative story writing)
• Presentation skills- oral, written, multi-media

As a group, we decided that we were going to aim our idea and lessons towards first level. Therefore, there are many Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes that would tie in well with our idea and lessons as seen below;

• I have explored simple 3D objects and 2D shapes and can identify, name and describe their features using appropriate vocabulary. MTH 1-16a

 

• I can explore and discuss how and why different shapes fit together and create a tiling pattern with them. MTH 1-16b

 

• I can use evidence to recreate the story of a place or individual of local historical interest.  SOC 1-03a

 

• I can use exploration and imagination to solve design problems related to real-life situations. EXA 1-06a

 

• I can write independently, use appropriate punctuation and order and link my sentences in a way that makes sense.  LIT 1-22a

 

• I am learning to use my notes and other types of writing to help me understand information and ideas, explore problems, generate and develop ideas or create new text.     LIT 1-25a

• Using digital technologies responsibly I can access, retrieve and use information to support, enrich or extend learning in different contexts. TCH 1-02a

Additionally, as student teachers, we identified how these lessons would help children become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors, as listed below;

Successful learners:

• Use literacy, communication and numeracy skills
• Use technology for learning
• Think creatively and independently
• Learn independently and as part of a group
• Link and apply different kinds of learning in new situations

Confident individuals

• Achieve success in different areas of activity

Responsible citizens

• Develop knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland’s place in it (Scottish castles)

Effective contributors

• Create and develop
• Solve problems

Additionally, some of the underlying principles which would tie into the lessons, such as: challenge/enjoy, relevance, progression, personalisation and choice.

At the end of today’s session, we were given the opportunity to present our idea to the rest of the class. I felt that this was rather useful as it not only allowed us to hear other ideas but also receive feedback. Most of which, for our group, was positive.

‘Digital Natives’ as explained; “Our students today are all ‘native speakers’ of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet.” (Prensky, 2001, p. 1). Ultimately, I think that children being ‘digital natives’ will benefit significantly them as they have to ability to grasp topics and gain a good understanding of them with minimal issues.

As, this week, there is no physical end product (as we just had some practice creations on Minecraft and our ideas written down) that there is not a lot that we can improve one. Therefore, I feel that one way we could prepare better for our idea/lessons would be to fully create our own story, 2D Shape model, etc. and probably a better castle not just the small practice one we made, as shown below.

In conclusion, I would say that today’s session was very useful as it allowed us to explore the application ‘Minecraft education’ as see how it, along with other games-based learning applications could be used in the classroom and can help enhance learning as well as teaching. It can also make the lesson more enjoyable and useful.

 

Playing around with Minecraft

Finished product

References

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

 

• Bray, O. (2012) Playful Learning: Computer Games in Education. [Online] Available: https://www.slideshare.net/Microsofteduk/playful-learning-computer-games-in-education[Accessed: 5^thMarch 2019]

 

• Education Scotland () Experiences and outcomes. [Online] Available: 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 5^thMarch 2019]

 

• MagBook (2014) How to Do Everything in Minecraft

 

• Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives Digital Immigrants