Category: Uncategorized

 

After completing this module, I have found a new respect for technology in teaching. Before coming to this module, I thought the only Digital Technology that could be used was the one hour of ICT pupils get. However, I now realise that there are many ways that Digital Technology can be implemented into primary school classroom.

This is why Education Scotland believe that Digital technology can make a significant contribution (Education Scotland,2016). This clearly shows that the government are going to be investing into technology and why it is so important that no pupil is raised as a digital immigrant (Pensky, 2001).

Before coming into this, module I believed that I was a “Digital Native”. However, after seeing the wide variety of technology I am not so sure. There were many pieces of technology that I was not comfortable with and they took me a while to get used to. This has showed me that not all people will get it first attempt and to be patient when working with technology and young people.

This module has also taught me that I should always expect the unexpected, such as the whiteboard not to work or the iPad to be out of charge. Things happen that are out of our control and we need to keep our heads and carry on. This was one thing I struggled to grasp before coming on this module, but now I know that I could handle it as I have now experienced such things.

I know that in my future career I will be able to help and push forward many pupils through the use of Digital Technology. I can do this as I now have a basis that I can continue to build upon and nourish. I plan to do so by looking further into the many way’s technology is used in the classroom. On my future placement experiences, I plan on asking the teacher how I can improve the way I work with Digital Technology and how I present it to the pupils.

After reading this Blog, I hope it has been clear that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in this module. I plan to take everything that I have learned and use it in my everyday life and in my teaching career. I know that I made the right choice choosing this module as it can only benefit me in my future career endeavours.

References:

Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. MCB University Press.

Education Scotland, 2016, Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology , Available:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/enhancing-learning-teaching-through-use-digital-technology/

 

Coming into this session I wasn’t looking forward to it. Mainly because I was confused as to what QR codes could be used to do in teaching. However, once I realised that it was an outdoor learning task it made me realise that this could open up many avenues as “This is evident from the increasing number of activities that can be achieved using a QR code.” ( Ramsden, 2008).

Outdoor learning is very important for children as it provides motivating, exciting, different, relevant and easily accessible activities from pre-school years through to college (Education Scotland, 2010).

We were then set a task as a group. The task was to create a lesson plan that centred around QR codes. Before we done anything to do with QR codes, we had to decide what Es&Os we wanted to use. For this task we used:

MNU 1-03a- I can use addition, subtraction, multiplication and division when solving problems, making best use of the mental strategies and written skills I have developed.

After deciding this we then moved onto creating questions and answers and assigning them a QR code. This was very easy to do as we used a QR code creating app. This app only needed the question to be typed into it and it would produce a QR code. This made the process very Quick and easy.

After creating the QR codes we then had to place them around the university, so we could involve an outdoor learning aspect. We then paired up with another group and proceeded to carry out their lesson, while they carried out ours. After this we exchanged feedback. The feedback was that the questions may have been too easy and that the lesson took too long. After reflecting on the questions and the number of them, I can see where the other group were coming from. The questions were of a basic standard and for the task to be useful it should push the learners to a certain level. Also, we were finished their task much faster than they were finished ours which highlighted the length straight away.

Overall, I can see why QR codes have been introduced to enhance learning. However, I feel that I will have to study ways in which I can utilise QR codes in lessons, so that I can get the best possible use out of them.

References:

Education Scotland (2010) Curriculum for Excellence Through Outdoor Learning.

Ramsden, A 2008 ‘The use of QR codes in Education: a getting started guide for academics’ University of Bath, Bath, U. K.

 

In the week leading up to this session I was excited to take part in it. When I read that we were using Minecraft, I was even more excited as I had previously played this game. This meant that I knew how to use and play the game. However, I know that not everyone believes games are the best way to teach children as gaming is hugely popular in the UK with almost 86% of 5-7-year-old children and 90% of 8-11 year old children using gaming devices regularly (Ofcom, 2011). An argument against gaming could be that it could miss interpreted by pupils as just gaming and not teaching. This is backed up by Beauchamp as “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.” (Beauchamp, 2012, p.9)

In this session we were tasked with using Minecraft to create some lesson plans. After learning what the task was, we could play around with the game. As I had used the game before I was quick to refamiliarize myself with it. However, other members had never used the game before and struggled to get the hang of it. This could be a limitation in a classroom and could raise questions about the effectiveness of gaming in teaching.

After playing around for a while my group and I then set out to choose what experiences and outcome we wanted to use. These are the Es&Os we decided fitted our plans the best:

LIT 0-09b / LIT 0-31a – I enjoy exploring events and characters in stories and other texts and I use what I learn to invent my own, sharing these with others in imaginative ways.

HWB 2-19a – Opportunities to carry out different activities and roles in a variety of settings have enabled me to identify my achievements, skills and areas for development. This will help me to prepare for the next stage in my life and learning.

After creating plans and linking them to Es&Os we were then to present them too the class. The majority of the feedback was very good, with our ideas being praised for being original. The only critique was that our plans may take a while for the pupil to carry out and would take more than one lesson to complete.

After planning a lesson around game-based learning, I have seen how effective it could be. I believe there are an infinite number of ways you could use gaming in teaching. I know that if games-based learning was around when I was in school, I would have been even more interested and would have engaged more in other lessons too.

References:

Ofcom (2011) Children and parents: media use and attitudes report. [Online] Available:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/55479/children_and_parents.pdf [Accessed: 10 March 2019].

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

 

After last week’s session we know that ICT allows pupils to achieve something that would be very difficult or even impossible to achieve in any other way (Beauchamp, 2012, p.54). we know that there are many ways that animation can enhance learning:

1. To enhance learners’ visual representations.
2. To illustrate processes.
3. To provide an interactive element. (Jarvis, 2015, p92)

This is why, as a future teacher I need to be proficient at animation. To work on this, my group and I spent the week leading up to this session researching how we could create something original in this session.

In this week’s session we were to create an animation in groups that does one of the following:

• recreates a historical event
• represents a geographical process e.g. glaciation, volcanic eruption
• recreates a real-life scenario e.g. going to the dentist, shopping
• explains a mathematical principle.

After researching how we could use animation to create one of the above, we decided to create an animation of a volcanic eruption. A geographical process was something we had not worked on yet in any module so far, so we thought it would be interesting to do something different. Also, two members had passed higher geography and knew quite a lot about the process. When talking about the topic everyone seemed to engage in the discussions as it was interesting, this meant that everyone wanted to help out and learn more about the process.

Before coming to the session, we decided to make everything we needed so we could get started as soon as possible. We All had tasks to complete bring to the class. I was given the task of going to the shops and buying glue, newspaper and paint. We then met up at a convenient place for everyone and set about constructing our volcano.

Once in the class we began to decide where every piece should go and what way it would enter and leave. We wanted the animation to be rich with information but also to be fun to watch. This meant we had to make the volcano erupt in our animation. This brought on new problems as we would only have one chance to get the animation right. we decided to do some practice runs without erupting to make sure we got it just right. After we decided it would work, we then began the final product and erupted the volcano. After everything went to plan, we then began to edit the photos into istopmotion.

Istopmotion was very easy to use. It had a lot of tools that made it simple to use and made it very effective. I enjoyed using this app and I believe it helped to create a very good animation.

Overall, my group and I worked very well together and managed to create a very informative and creative animation. This helped me realise the power of animation and how it can enhance the learning of pupils. However, it also made clear just how long it takes to create such an animation. If I was to create more, I would make sure to give myself plenty of time so I am not rushed and can produce my best work.

References:

Jarvis, M. (2015) Brilliant Ideas for Using ICT in the Classroom: A Very practical Guide for Teachers and Lecturers. Routledge.

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

 

Week7 -Animation part 1

In this week’s session we were looking at animation. Bertrancourt (2005) suggests three ways in which animation can be used to enhance learning:

1. To enhance learners’ visual representations.
2. To illustrate processes.
3. To provide an interactive element. (Jarvis, 2015, p92)

This shows that in education today there are many ways that we can develop the learning of our young pupils. Animation opens up many avenues to teaching, as you can show them an animation or give the pupils a task to create an animation (Beauchamp, 2012).

In this week’s session we were to investigate the “iStop motion” app. Once we were familiar with the tools available in the app, we were to have a trial run and get used to using the app so we could get the best out of it.

For this trial run I used my computer with an image of a street setting and used a man figure to create an animation of him walking down the street. To do this I had to take multiple pictures of him in different positions moving him down the screen every picture. This was harder to do than I expected. However, after a few attempts I finally got it to work. This was good experience and gave me a good basis on how to work the app.

If I was to change anything, I would change the figures I used, as they were hard to keep still and did not bend well the way I wanted them to. Another thing I’d change is the background. I would not us my laptop as it was very basic and did not look as good as I had hoped.

We were then told to get into groups, as next week we have to create an animation. I chose the same group that I worked with in the movie making exercise as we worked well together. The animation we were to create had to be about:

• recreates a historical event
• represents a geographical process eg glaciation, volcanic eruption
• recreates a real-life scenario eg going to the dentist, shopping
• explains a mathematical principle.

After this session, I am looking forward to next week. I believe my group and I can make a very good animation if we put our minds to it.

References:

Jarvis, M. (2015) Brilliant Ideas for Using ICT in the Classroom: A Very practical Guide for Teachers and Lecturers. Routledge.

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

 

In this week’s session we are focusing on movie-making. When I first looked at this, I was dreading it as I cannot keep a straight face when on camera. I am quite a confident person but as soon a s a camera turns to me it’s like I turn into a shy child hiding behind mummy. However, we were put into groups which put my mind at ease – a little bit.

For this session we were to create a short film about keeping safe online.

In this fast-paced world, almost everyone keeps in touch through social media. This ranges from very young to very old. With more and more social media platforms becoming popular it is hard to keep everything secure. This is when people can take advantage of vulnerable people. This is why as a teacher it is important to stop our pupils from making themselves vulnerable online (Beauchamp, 2012). A new form of social media called “snapchat” has become very popular with young people. My group and I decided to focus on this as there are some security concerns about this app.

After spending some time talking about and researching, we decide to focus on the upper primary school years as “From 11-12 children start to explore and take risks online but they haven’t yet developed the skills to recognise danger or the resilience against things that might upset them.” ((Munro, 2011).

We decided that we would film two of the group members talking about getting “snapchat”, with one wanting to get it and one being the voice of reason and pointing out the dangers of the app. The one who wants it gets it and begins talking to someone who she thinks is one-year older than her. However, it is actually a man who is much older. The man then asks to meet her and after a while of hesitation, decides to meet him. They meet in a graveyard and she eventually got in his car and that’s when it ends.

This may be hard hitting, however as a group we felt that to deter young people from doing the same it had to be.

During filming, we tried to make sure that we all got equal screen time, filmed some of it and made up some lines. This ensured that the group worked well together. We all found this task fun to do and very rewarding to be a part of.

After filming everything we had to then edit it into a movie using “iMovie”. This was an easy process that was quite self-explanatory. We all took turns to edit the short clips together to make our short movie. In iMovie we could create texts and add sounds to reflect the mood at different points in the movie. This helped to add to the suspense of the movie.

Overall, everyone in the group found it very rewarding to see our movie after putting in quite a bit of work. The whole process was enjoyable and would definitely be a task I would implement in a classroom. I know that the pupil would love using “iMovie” and would be able to create their own short films which would be rewarding for them.

References:

Munro, E.R. (2011) The protection of children online: a brief scoping review to identify vulnerable groups (PDF). [London]: Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre.

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

 

 

With more and more technology becoming prominent in the raising of children it is no shock that present and future generations will be digital natives (Prensky,2001). On a day to day basis you will hear someone talking about young people always being on their phone doing useless things. Now, imagine young people using such technology to learn. Phones and tablets now have apps that turn their phone into an eBook. It has already been proven that iPad’s have positive learning outcomes when used to their full effect (Burden et. al., 2012). This proves that if applied correctly young learners can be influenced in a very positive way.

In this week’s session we were set a task to create a summary of a famous children’s book. To do this we were to use the “Book Creator” app. I hadn’t used this app very much so I was quite hesitant about how effective it would be. However, once I had played about with it for a while, I realised that there was a lot of tools available that made it very easy to use and simple to create a summary of the book.

I chose to create a summary of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” by Robert Southey, as it was a firm favourite of the pupils at my placement school and I was familiar with the story. For my eBook I decided to create the summary and create my pictures to show what was going on. This means that my eBook was multimodal as it used two semiotic systems; visual and linguistic. I believe this would engage the reader more than if it was just words. To engage the reader even more I put a series of questions at the end about Goldilocks behaviour. This meant the child had to pay attention throughout the story and would learn right from wrong. This was important to me as I believe you should always learn something from a book, and this ensured that the young learner was able to give feedback on what she could have done differently.

Overall, I believe that “book Creator” helped me to achieve a good summary of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” and would definitely use it again to create a story for young learners. If I was to change anything, I would have included sound. I saw the use of sound in other people’s story’s and it added another element which I believe would enhance the learning of young people.

 

References

Prensky, M. (2001) Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. MCB University Press.

Burden, K., Hopkins, P., Male, T., Martin, S. and Trala, C. (2012) iPad Scotland Evaluation. [Online] Available: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/39914/mod_resource/content/2/Scotland-iPad-Evaluation.pdf [accessed 10th February]

In today’s session we were looking at coding. At first, I wasn’t very confident as I thought the only coding, I know is the 0s and 1s running down the screen in the matrix. However, when I read the PowerPoint, I realised we were using Scratch JR which is a programme that I am very familiar with. I am familiar with this because in secondary school I used it in computing. We used it in a very similar way, but in secondary school I was told to create a game. This meant that I was aware of all of the features Scratch JR offers.

The name coding seemed daunting at first, but simple programmes make it easier to teach. This is why the English government believe programming and coding must be taught in some way or another (Naughton, 2012). This proves that coding Is of increasing importance.

For this session our task was to create an interactive story or game which improved the literacy aspect. However, I missed this week and had to catch up on a catch-up day. Trying to get caught up quickly I charged on without looking at the brief and created an interactive story about health and wellbeing. Even though this wasn’t in the brief I was able to create a successful story, which proves that scratch is able to be used for a wide variety of lessons.

For my interactive story, I decided to make a health and wellbeing lesson as “young people to be able to learn about health and wellbeing to ensure they acquire skills to live healthy, happy lives” (Scottish Government,2019). I used scratch to depict a man walking down the street as cars pass by. The man then asks if he can cross the street and the children have to decide if it is safe to cross the road at that time. If correct the man will cross the road and carry on his way.

Even though the story didn’t fit the brief, it worked very well and taught a very valuable point.

Overall the programme was perfect for introducing coding to young people. It was very easy to use and manipulate. I believe that with the right support any pupil could become proficient at Scratch JR. Next week I will try and stick to the brief so I can fulfil the task that has been set out for me.

 

References

 

Naughton, J. (2012) Why all our kids should be taught how to code. The Guardian. [Online] 3 February, non-paginated. Available: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/39847/mod_resource/content/2/Why%20all%20our%20kids%20should%20be%20taught%20how%20to%20code%20%20Education%20%20The%20Observer.pdf [Accessed 7^th February 2019].

Health and wellbeing in schools. Scottish Government. Available:

https://www.gov.scot/policies/schools/wellbeing-in-schools/ [Accessed 7^th February 2019]

 

 

 

In week 3 of this module we looked at multimodal texts. Walking into this lesson I was confident in my abilities to use any type of technology that I was asked to us. When I read that we were using “ActiveInspire” I was very pleased. Throughout my time in Primary and Secondary school I have used ActiveInspire and I believe I am very proficient at using it.

Multimodality means that, as the teacher you can use many different programmes to put a teaching point across. “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). This means that as a teacher you can keep every lesson original, which would engage the learners more. For a text to be multimodal it has to have two or more Semiotic systems. There are five semiotic systems in total:

1. Linguistic
2. Visual
3. Audio
4. Gestural
5. Spatial

As I said before I have used ActiveInspire a lot in my school career and I knew that to create a multimodal text it would be the perfect tool for the job. The task we were set was to create a multimodal slide using ActiveInspire. To ensure that I had a main aim for my slide I looked on the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) website to choose the learning experience and outcome I wanted my pupils to achieve.

MNU 1-09a – I can use money to pay for items and can work out how much change I should receive (Education Scotland).

The task I created using ActiveInspire was set in a store. The slide asked the pupil a question about money and the pupil had to decide how many items they could buy with the money they had. The pupil would then move however many items they believed to be right. The pupil would then move the money to the cashier and take the change they think they should receive from the cashier. This exercise gives instant feedback as the teacher can clearly see whether the child got the right answer. This is also multimodal as it uses the semiotic systems; Linguistic, visual and spatial.

Overall, I feel that ActiveInspire enabled me to make an effective lesson exercise. The exercise only took me around 20 minutes to create, however this may just be because I am confident in using ActiveInspire. As a result, I was able to create more than one slide, this would reinforce the learning to the pupil, making the exercise even more effective. I also feel that the programme was enjoyable to use, and I find that is half the battle when trying to engage pupils. As a result I would definitely use this programme to effectively create multimodal texts when I am a teacher.

References:

Beauchamp, 2012, p.8

https://education.gov.scot/Documents/All-experiencesoutcomes18.pdf

Education Scotland p-47

Week 2

In today’s session, we looked at programmable toys. We looked at the different types of Programmable toys and their different benefits within the classroom. Programmable toys have been used in the classroom since the 1960s. The first programme was “Logo” which was created by Seymour Papert. Papert said “I see Logo as a means that can, in principle, be used by educators to support the development of new ways of thinking and learning” (Papert, 1993). This shows that even back then, digital technology was being used to develop the quality of learning. This also reiterates how important it is that the Curriculum for Excellence includes the use of digital technology. It is clear that they are including it, as they have included individual experiences and outcomes for programmable toys.

Programmable toys are still being used to this day. This shows that there has to be benefits to their use. Some benefits include:

• Interactive learning
• Instant feedback for the learner and teacher
• Challenge and enjoyment
• Cross-curricular links

These all clearly show that programmable toys can be very useful in the classroom setting.

For this session, the class were told to work with Bee-Bots. Bee-Bot is an educational tool that is very simple to work. It has four buttons which dictate where the bee should go, Left, Right, Forward and Back. The bee is then placed on a mat that can be homemade or manufactured. Once the correct directions have been input the bot will travel to the desired square on the mat. As it is very easy to work, I feel that it would be a very effective tool to use in the classroom.

After becoming capable to manoeuvre the bot we were set a task. The task was to create a mat that would develop one Experience and Outcome (Es & Os) that matched the activity we created. After my group and I had spent some time thinking about what activity to do, we decided to create a task that included a literacy aspect. In particular the Phonics sounds used in the early years stage. The Es and Os that we used were:

LIT 0-01a

“I enjoy exploring and playing with the patterns and sounds of language and can use what I learn.”

LIT 0-13a

“I explore sounds, letters and words discovering how they work together, and I can use what I learn to help me as I read or write.”

After identifying the outcomes we wanted to use, we set out creating the mat.

For the mat, we felt that it would be original to draw every image and put it onto the mat. This made the mat very appealing as we used bright colours. However, this was very time consuming. In the future if I was preparing for a class, I would print off the images to save time.

The next step was to create a spinner to make sure that the pupil would be challenged and not pick the easiest phonic. Again, this was homemade which made it more original. However, it was very easy to break. So, if it was used in a classroom setting it would almost definitely be broken. So, an alternative is to use a manufactured spinner and print the phonics onto it.

After having a few colleagues test the activity out it was seen to work well. The aesthetics of the homemade mat and spinner were the aspect that stood out the most. This showed that putting in a little extra work engaged the user more which is another benefit of using the Bee-Bot.

Overall, using Bee-Bot was thoroughly enjoyable and it is clear that it would be very useful in the classroom. On a personal level I feel like I could step into a class and deliver a lesson using Bee-Bot. Reflecting on our mat, I know that if It was a full class activity more mats would be needed, thus making everything homemade might be too time consuming. I enjoyed this session a lot, as it managed to engage me and get me thinking about different experiences and outcomes.

 

Matthew

 

References used:

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9a46/b85cd26a8d3b9b1c551e3cbd39a5c269ccb2.pdf

https://education.gov.scot/Documents/All-experiencesoutcomes18.pdf

https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1084886