Today we explored the benefits of how we can use the outdoors in order to explore our environment and how we can plan other lessons relating to the surroundings that we have. According to curriculum for excellence “all children and young people are participating in a range of progressive and creative outdoor learning experiences which are clearly part of the curriculum”. It also states that working outside can allow children to transfer skills that they have already acquired in the classroom, in different contexts that they are not used to. It can also help with class topic lessons such as science, as they could explore their local environments and write down what they find, and as a smaller group, present what you find with others and compare your results. It also encourages more practical lessons as according to a parent council member “They understand what they’re doing a lot more – it’s all very well looking at books and speaking about things but if they’re outside doing it”. It also allows you to explore the environment and use objects such as leaves to reinforce basic counting, for example: counting the number of petals on a flower, the number of trees on a river bank. We used apps such as photo booth and pic collage in order to take photos of what our surroundings were and effects such as mirror, in order to show symmetry. Also, pic collage allowed us to create a mini group of pictures and allowed for us to explain what it was that we had seen and taken photos of. These apps can be used effectively in lessons as you can get the children to take photos and then get them to label the different objects and animals that the discover, or even use it in maths by getting them to write how many of a type of animal or object they encountered.
Month: March 2017
digital technologies week beginning 14/03/17
Today we began to explore how we can use video games in the classroom in order to help aid learning in the classroom. After playing Mario Kart we used the characters as inspiration in how we could get a child to create their own character through a literacy lesson. We also began to plan other lessons with included, maths, geography, problem solving and health and well being. It must be commented that children of this generation are seen as digital natives as they grow up being taught how to use basic technology, and games such as Minecraft are hugely influential in aiding this process. These games allow for children to use their imaginations and can be used to create anything that they can put their minds to, as it is an infinite world for them to explore and build on. It can also be used alongside another lesson as you can get the children to write and create a story in a literacy lesson, then create the characters, settings and backgrounds in the game and show off their ideas. It would be best to keep them to a smaller group of individuals as this would allow for you to be able to control the activity and prevent their minds from wandering off and doing their own thing. It is also easily accessible and multiple worlds can be created, should more than one class actually need to use it. It also allows them to be able to explore the software they are using effectively and be able to manipulate classroom situations to their benefit. Also unlike most games consoles, the wii can be used as a way of getting children to be more active when playing video games, as games like wii fit and wii sports get children to move around as they play. It also can be used for other educational games such as African safari (teaches science and geography) and brain training (to teach areas such as maths and English).
Digital technologies week 7/3/17
Today we continued to use mobile devices in the classroom and how it can be implemented into a literacy or a maths lesson. We began to explore the many different features of the Nintendo DSi and how the apps on the console can be used to effectively contribute towards an overall lesson. For example Pictochat can be used to discuss questions with other members in a classroom and can even be used to answer questions as part of a game. It can also be sued as a way of making sure that children have understood what they are being taught and it also allows them to be able to explore software and use what they learn to present solutions to problems they come across, as well as being able to organise and manage informaiton that they gather to apply them to different scenarios they are presented with (TCH-0-03a/1-03a). It also can provide a more effective and fun way to allow for them to develop their communication skills as well as other areas of their knowledge, as they can work together in group chats to discuss the answers. They can also be reused from class to class as they can be applied to many different subjects and many different age groups. For example, apps such as pictochat can be used to get a group of pupils to answer questions in a chatroom and discuss their answers and why they think there one is correct, and then reveal the answer. The only problem with this is that the teacher may have to potentially monitor the activity to make sure that they don’t go off from the set task and become distracted by something else.
