Nicola Hobbs UWS ITE ePDP – Page 4 – Just another blogs.glowscotland.org.uk

January 9, 2018February 6, 2018

Digital Technologies Week 1.

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5 years, this is due to the fact that it is believed technology will advance so quickly that the strategy will become outdated within this time frame.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].

November 10, 2017

A Reflection of Placement

Placement allowed for me to go further down my path towards becoming a teacher. Whilst out on placement, I learned so much as to what teachers do on a daily basis and what their routines consist of.

Prior to starting placement, I was slightly nervous however, my excitement took over me. I had my placement file prepared before starting. I then met the school’s deputy head teacher, where myself and the other student I was on placement with got a tour around the school. I was informed that there are over 400 pupils within the school, this thought scared me as I wondered how I would possibly learn names. Despite the size of the school, I still managed to find my way about.

A strength which I easily identified within myself came from my communication with the children. I found that I was really strong at varying my volume, pitch and tone of voice. Whilst being with the primary one pupils, I found my HNC in Early Education and Childcare came in very handy when reading, as character voices were very important during my time out on placement last year. I also feel changing my language to suit different age ranges was a strength of mine, especially when being with the primary 1’s and primary 2’s due to me doing the HNC and knowing what level of language the children are coming up from.

An area for improvement I have identified is to prevent myself from using the word “like” when explaining activities and tasks to children. I hadn’t realised how often I had said this until I completed my two self-evaluations. I will aim to stop myself from saying this as it sounds very colloquial during conversation.

Overall, placement is so crucial on the journey to becoming a teacher. I enjoyed every moment of my placement as the school were so welcoming. However, I wish the placement in first year was for a longer period of time. I have wanted to be a teacher since I have been in primary 4 myself, my placement has fully enforced that this is the career which is perfectly suited to me.

October 22, 2017October 22, 2017

Situated Communication Study Task – Feedback

Whilst working alongside my partner Lisa, from the video we found that our notes were very similar. Whilst comparing notes with each other, we found that the pace and volume that the teacher was speaking was age appropriate for his class. However, from the video, we observed that he was sitting down and due to this body language, there was a lack of attention from the class. From this, we discussed that he should stand up and this will provide him with a more authorative persona. Despite his body language, we agreed that he displayed very good eye-contact with the children. From this video, we realised the importance of reflecting and receiving feedback on your practice.

My notes were very closely aligned to my partners. In the video, I was shocked at how relaxed the classroom environment was, from this, I think this is a contributing factor to why the children were not giving the teacher a lot of attention. Whilst conducting these tasks, I did not struggle. I enjoyed watching the videos as it will help me with my own practice. I am clear upon the differences of feedback and judgement.

From the task, I will take feedback constructively and use this to work upon my own practice. I am very excited to start placement, I am looking forward to help children in their learning journey. I have always had positive experiences whilst being on placement and I am looking forward to being one step closer to being a teacher.

Reference List:

TED Talks Education (2013) BILL GATES: Teachers need real feedback[Online] Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_teachers_need_real_feedback#t-70065

Behaviour2Learn (2011) Behaving With Cowley – Classroom Routines[Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v5UVdyu8Y4&feature=youtu.be

EDCHAT (2013) Relationships for Learning – Effective Feedback [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWBW_cbP86Q&feature=youtu.be

September 30, 2017October 22, 2017

Review of Chapter 5 “Finding out about others: the skill of questioning” (Hargie, O. 2011)

The focus of chapter 5 is to portray the characteristics of questions, the differing forms of questioning that exist and the effect that the use of questioning can have upon different scenarios and situations.

Within the chapter, Hargie stresses the importance of the use of questioning with regards to a child’s cognitive development. Hargie refers to Cook to further emphasise this point by saying, “It is important for the child’s development that parents take time to answer these questions (Cook, 2009).” He further goes on to discuss questioning within the classroom setting. Hargie states that children are less likely to ask questions within the classroom as they believe they may get judged by their peers. Hargie backs this claim up by citing several sources, for example he refers to Dillon who states, “Interestingly, one major reason given by students for their reluctance to ask questions in class is fear of a negative reaction from classmates” (Dillon, 1998). From personal experience, I can relate to this study as in high school I often felt reluctant to asking questions, as I would not like my peers to know that I am struggling or not understanding the given task.

Hargie then goes on to discuss patients and doctors. He discovers that similarly to pupils and teachers, the doctor (like the teacher) is the person who asks majority of questions during their time together. Hargie sited West’s study which states “physicians ask most of the questions and patients provide most of the information” (West, 1983). I both agree and disagree with this statement. I agree with the statement that patients provide most of the information and this is done so for the GP to diagnose what is wrong with the individual. However, I disagree that they ask most questions, from my own experience I have found there is a fair split between myself and the GP for question asking.

Hargie proceeds to discuss different types of questions and their functions. The discussion was focused closely upon open and closed questions. He describes open questions as requiring a longer and more detailed response. On the other hand, Hargie states that closed questions do not require a detailed response and are often short. From this, he believes that closed questions are the easiest questions for an individual to respond to as they may not require a lot of thought. I agree with the above statement from Hargie as I have seen this in action in every-day life, when being asked a closed question it is almost like an instinct to answer without using significant thought process.

Reference List:

“Finding out about others: the Skill of questioning” – Chapter 5 – Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice 5th ed. London: Routledge