Tuesday 10th January 2017
Module Introduction/Glow/Activinspire
This week we set up our glow accounts for our new module Digital Technologies and familiarised ourselves after our Christmas holidays with glow and getting back into the swing of working with computers and listening to lectures and working through tutorials.
After having logged on, we began by talking about the point of this module and the point of having digital technologies in the classroom. I found some of the points raised by my other fellow students and by the theorists on the importance of technology very interesting. A good definition to what digital technology is about is: “Digital technology is a term used to describe those digital applications, services and resources which are used to: find, analyse, create communicate and use information in a digital context.” (Education Scotland, 2015)
An area from my further reading and what my fellow students said to be of similarity is the new importance of digital technologies in the classroom and now how frequently they are used and how much influence they now have. In today’s 21st century we are now: “…placing digital technologies at the heart of learning to 3-18 and beyond.”(Armstrong, 2015)
Avril Loveless also thought along the same lines as Armstrong did in the sense that technologies awareness is on the up-rise and it is beginning to have a stronger power in society as we progress in society: “ICT is itself an integratory factor and, within the primary perspective, we are seeing more innovation using ICT in the teaching and learning process than is often evident elsewhere.” (Loveless. A and Dore B. P.x, 2002)
We then progressed back to glow and added titles to our own homage and looked at the resources already available to us from the universities webpage. We found such things as: TigTag; Glow Live and Twig on glow. I found the resources available on these titles particularly useful and helped me to think how I would go about using the technology materials within these programs in a classroom perspective. These include all the STEM subjects which are particular important for teaching. They are: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Both of these resources go in-depth within the above subject areas.
Glow is a government set-up page that has different apps for teachers and pupils to use. As it is a government page it shows that the government are behind the use of technology in the classrooms. As Loveless said: “governments have prioritised the allocation of resources to making ICT accessible to students and staff in schools, providing opportunities for training teachers and outlining the forms of ICT in the curriculum as a resource to support learning.” (Loveless. A and Dore B. p1, 2002)
As we began to finish up for this section, we as a class and as an individual began to think of the point of why Glow would be a good learning tool through the use of digital technology to enhance effective learning. The feedback from everyone was that although some teaching staff have a bad perception of Glow, that actually it was a very successful platform with different apps on-hand for effective, interactive learning. These were the points that we thought best summarised Glow:
- It is a safe environment for pupils, staff and parents
- Teachers can create personalised learning and teaching materials
- A place to interactive and share ideas amongst pupils and staff
- A range of tools to implement learning
- The teacher can share information easily and quickly
- A good way to effectively link the classroom to home life
- Children have the whole range of Glow to look at, while still being a safe and learning environment.
We then moved on to working with Activinspire which is a much more interactive way of presenting information. It is a lot like PowerPoint but allows you to be more interactive with: add-ons; being able to write on the screen; move objects and add objects to the screen. This program helps all the children who are kinaesthetic learning; visual learning and auditory learning. This meaning the program will be very beneficial to all learners within a classroom.
We all then got a chance to have a go and make an interactive numeracy game which was both informative for learning while still fun and interactive for all types of learners. Me and my friend made sure to stick to the Curriculum for Excellence guidelines. The outcome we chose was for Early Level and based on Numeracy.
It was as follows: I am developing my awareness of how money is used and can recognise and use a range of coins. MNU 0-09a. The learning based game through learning is attached below.
As Activinspire is mainly used within interactive whiteboards there can be many advantages for such a program to be used. The main advantage that I came across in my further reading was, “the increased pace of lessons that IWBs allow. This benefit has been widely reported by teachers. If the lesson is well prepared, the teacher will be able to use resources quickly and smoothly to move from one point to another.” (Allen, J et. Al, 2011, P.186) This showing both why interactive whiteboards and their programs can have such a positive aspect not only to the learner but to the teacher too.
Overall, I am fairly confident with the use of glow but with further practice throughout the coming weeks I will be able to navigate and find things quickly. An area I need to develop is within Activinspire. This a big program with lots of gadgets hidden within tabs within the program. I need to spend time going through each tab and seeing what is available and relevant to use within lessons. To do this, I will download the Primary Activinspire at home and thoroughly look through the program and familiarize myself with what is available. Doing this I will become more confident when navigating and finding things within this program.
It was a successful week and I learned a lot!
I look forward to next week!
References:
Education Scotland, 2015
Scottish Government (2009) Curriculum for Excellence: Experience and Outcomes. [Online] Available:https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/All-experiences-outcomes_.pdf [Accessed: 10 January 2017]
Armstrong, 2015 – Education Scotland
Loveless A. and Dore B. (2002) ICT in the Primary School. Graphicraft, Hong Kong: Biddles Limited, Guildford and Kings Lynn
Allen J. Potter J. Sharp J. and Turvey K. (2011) Primary ICT. 4th Edition, Glasgow: Learning Matter ltd.
