Todays Digital Technologies lesson focused on the benefits and impact of iMovies in the classroom. The lesson focused on the ways iMovie could be used to promote internet safety. We begun by taking part in a class quiz on internet safety before learning some information on internet safety. Finally, for our assessment task we created our own short films using iMovie that promotes internet safety.

Our assessment task today was centred on the theme of promoting internet safety. My group discussed the many ways we could promote internet safety while highlighting the danger of the internet. Eventually we settled on the idea that our movie, entitled “BEar Safe”, would focus on the issue of people hiding their identity online and that you never know who you might be chatting to online. After this we wrote a quick plan for our movie (see featured image) then divided our group into those who would edit the movie and those who would set up Instagram accounts and set the scenes. In the short iMovie the main character Bear can be seen displaying his personal details on his public Instagram page for example his age, where he lives and his school location. As a result, anyone online can access this information and easily find Bear. As the film progresses we see Bear receive a friend request from Unicorn, a stranger who Bear has never met, and they begin to chat online. The chat soon results in Unicorn asking Bear to meet with Bea becoming sceptical and telling his mother who advises Bear to delete Unicorn and make his account private. The movie ends with the reveal that the Unicorn is in fact a terrifying werewolf who has been posting fake pictures to chat to Bear. I feel our movie gave the important message of internet safety while warning viewers to be mindful of who they are speaking to online and that if they have any worries they should speak to a parent or teacher. I also feel our movie, which won “Best Original Script” at our class Oscars Awards, is relevant to today as it uses popular social media website Instagram to highlight how easily a stranger can access your personal details online.

As a learner, I found the iMovie app fairly difficult to use, the editing process was time consuming however shooting the movie was relatively easy. Despite the process being time consuming myself and my group enjoyed the movie making process. We enjoyed working together as a team to shoot the scenes of the film and edit to create the finalised project.

As a student teacher I feel the iMovie app would be an educational and engaging tool to use in the classroom, specifically as an aid to promoting internet safety amongst young learners. The children could work in groups to create their own short films that showcase the dangers of internet safety as not only would this allow them to have fun and experiment with technology, but it would also inform them of the dangers they are filming. Beauchamp (2012, p.58) discussed internet safety “the key idea [is] that e-safety is not about restricting children, but about educating them.”. In other words, rather than discourage children from using social media and technology we should educate them on the potential dangers they could face. The NSPCC supported this view by stating in their ‘your children’s online world’ guide for parents, “try to strike the right balance between keeping an eye on your child and giving them the independence and freedom to explore” (NSPCC 2015, p.6). They advised parents and careers in their leaflets to take an interest in what their child does online and establish regular conversations with your child about what they do online. In turn your child will be more educated on the dangers of the internet while feeling comfortable to share any concerns they may have.

Additionally, A lesson like the one we took part in today could potentially combine multiple curriculum outcomes such as Technology, Literacy and Health and Wellbeing:

“I understand positive things about friendships and relationships but when something worries or upsets me I know who I should talk to.” HWB 0-44b / HWB 1-44b

“As I listen or watch, I can identify and discuss the purpose, key words and main ideas of the text, and use this information for a specific purpose.” LIT 1-04a

“I can extend my knowledge of how to use digital technology to communicate with others and I am aware of ways to keep safe and secure.” TCH 1-03a

Overall, todays lesson highlighted to me the many ways I might teach a lesson on internet safety besides giving a talk to the class. By using technology resources such as iMovies the children can interact with the lesson and display their ideas on how to stay safe online while absorbing the crucial information they need to stay safe online. As a student teacher I am now confident that I can teach a lesson on internet safety while combining multiple curriculum outcomes and most importantly making it informative an engaging for the children.

 

 

References:

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

NSPCC (2015) Your child’s online world: A guide for parents. England.

 

Upon reflection of Digital Technologies week 5 lesson on the use of E-books in the classroom it is clear as to why the use of e-books is becoming increasingly popular in todays society. Firstly, the Oxford dictionary defines e-books as “An electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device.” (Oxford dictionary). However, despite being aware of the definition of an e-book prior to this lesson, I was not aware of the multiple benefits of e-books. At the beginning of the lesson we gathered into groups to create a mind-map discuss the benefits of e-books before experimenting with E-books and creating our own for the lesson task.

 

 

 

Today’s task begun with us working in groups to create a multimodal brochure advertising student life at UWS.  To do this we had to take photos and videos of the university’s main attractions such as the library and lecture theatres.  We then combined the photos and videos to the text descriptions in the brochure, making it a multimodal text. Despite my group falling short of time to complete the task the activity gave us the experience and confidence of using the Book Creator App that we needed for the assessment task.

The assessment task involved editing a children’s book we had read into a multimodal e-book we could potentially use in a lesson. The book I chose to edit was “Froggy goes to bed!” by Jonathan London.  The book is about Froggy being feeling exhausted from a day of play however when it’s time for bed Froggy finds any excuse not to go to sleep.  After reading this book it is easy to see why children love the book, the book follows a child’s stereotypical bedtime routine of bathing and brushing teeth while adding an abundance of onomatopoeia and adding the comedic element of Froggy always losing his possessions. While editing the book I included questions for the readers to show their understanding of the book such as “use an adjective to describe Froggys mother” (see featured images).  To make my e-book multimodal I included the semiotic systems; linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial.

 

 

As a learner I had pervious experience of reading E-books however no experience of creating my own. After watching some YouTube tutorial videos, I found the app and its features easy to use. I enjoyed adding text, drawings, audio and images to my book.

As a student teacher I feel E-books would be an educational and engaging resource to introduce to the classroom.  After using E-books, myself I feel children would have no trouble creating their own e-books and that they would find it fun and engaging. The Scottish Children’s Parliament released a document entitled “A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy” that detailed children’s responses to questions on technology. When asked whether they would like to use digital technology more often for learning and how, many children answered that “this was seen as having the potential to make learning more fun or engaging” and “that accessing iPads or other classroom technology should be seen as the usual/normal thing to do, and not just something offered as a reward or part of Golden Time” (Scottish Children’s Parliament 2016). Additionally, the use of e-books provides children with an unlimited range of stories to choose from. Therefore, they are no longer restricted to the same books from their classroom library and in turn their literacy skills will continue to develop as they read new and exciting texts. Also, the use of e-books can result in the learner feeling more engaged with the text they are reading through its multi-modality. Lots of e-books now have engaging features such as sound and pictures to encourage the child to interact more with the story. For educators, e-books supply a helping hand to children who may struggle to read as there is a feature enables the learner to have the book read to them aloud, meaning they no longer must wait for the help of the teacher if they are struggling to read the text themselves.

In addition, e-books provide a classroom the opportunity to incorporate 21st century technology into lessons. Children in today’s society are heavily familiar with the use of technology such as I-pads and smartphones hence why they are considered ‘digital natives’ (Beauchamp 2012) as they are surrounded by it every day thus they are more likely to be excited to use technology that they use in their home life than they are to read a book. Beauchamp (2012) spoke on the implications this may have on a classroom as with more and more children becoming ‘digital natives’ it is likely that children have greater experience in the use of technology than their teacher does. Therefore, it is vital that we as student teachers expand our experience and knowledge of using technology to keep up with the digital age.

Furthermore, E-books can be used in line with multiple Curriculum for Excellence outcomes. For example, I feel my e-book would be a good asset to a lesson that is in line with the Technology and English areas of the curriculum:

“I can explore and experiment with digital technologies and can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts.”   TCH 1-01a

“To show my understanding, I can respond to different kinds of questions and other close reading tasks and I am learning to create some questions of my own.”     ENG 1-17

To conclude, todays lessons on e-books developed my understanding on the importance and impact of using e-books in the classroom. I now feel I have the skills and confidence to progress with using e-books to develop my ideas on the ways I could incorporate the use of e-books into future lessons. I look forward to introducing e-books into future lessons as I feel they will be a fun and interactive asset to many lessons within the curriculum.

 

References:

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

Children’s Parliament Consultation (2016) A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland: The Views of Children. [Online] Available: http://www.childrensparliament.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/REPORT_digital-learning-consultation_Childrens-Parliament-1.pdf . [Accessed on 6 February 2018]