Today’s class was an introduction to our digital technologies module. Within today’s session we reflected upon what digital technology is, our own digital skills, the importance of digital technologies in schools and navigating Glow.
The definition of digital technologies that my shoulder partner and I produced is “the use of electronic devices to find, analyse, create and communicate”.
To reflect upon our own competences within digital technology, we self analysed through the use of a chart where in which we graded ourselves from 1-3 on each category. By putting down the number 1, it would signify that you have that category as a development need however, by placing the number 3 beside the category it would mean that it was one of your areas of strength. The categories included things such as; word, excel, powerpoint and iPads etcetera.
Whilst discussing the importance of digital technologies in the classroom, we were directed to the “Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology” strategy, created by the Scottish Government in July 2016. This strategy is aimed to shape the educational approach to using digital technologies within the classroom. This strategy will only be used for between 3 to 5 years, this is due to the fact that it is believed technology will advance so quickly that the strategy will become outdated within this time frame. There are a number advantages for the pupil when using digital technologies in school, it is believed that digital technology raises attainment. Another advantage to the pupil is that they develop skills and competencies which are vital in the ever-growing digitised modern world. Alongside having advantages for the pupil, the teacher can benefit from digital technologies. An example of a teacher benefitting from technology is through the use of digital assessment, this type of assessment eliminates marking time and therefore allows the educator to devote more time to quality learning and teaching. Parents can also be increasingly involved with their child’s education through digital technologies by keeping up-to-date with the schools online website or their Twitter page. Finally, the Scottish Government (2016), stated that digital technologies are also aimed to “encourage educators to share innovative and effective practice through digital platforms”. Teachers can do so through the use of websites including Glow and Twitter.
Finally, we were re-introduced from Glow which we had explored in our previous module ‘situated communication’. We discussed the benefits of Glow and tiles to add to our launch pad which will come in useful during our time as student teachers and further once we have fully qualified.
Overall, I believe today’s input was very informative and interesting. I particularly enjoyed reading and discussing the advantages of which digital technologies can have within a classroom setting. However, I feel I need more practice with Glow, which I will achieve overtime through creating blogs. I am very confident that I will thoroughly enjoy this module and I am looking forward to the coming weeks.
References
Scottish Government (2016) Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology. [Online]. Available from: http://moodle.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/391375/mod_resource/content/2/Digital%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20Strategy%20.pdf [Accessed: 9 January 2018].
