Reflective

conclusion

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Hi guys!  I hate to say it but I have come to the end of my Digital Technology journey.  The module has now finished and it’s time to move on, even if we don’t want to.  This module has been the ultimate highlight of my first year at uni (perhaps it will be the highlight of my whole four year course) and i’m so glad that I chose to take it.  We’ve had so much fun and the hours spent on a Tuesday morning playing with toys was made even better by our fantastic lecturer!  As much as the module itself has finished, I certainly won’t forget what we did throughout it and I can’t wait to share and pass on my knowledge and love for digital technologies to my future classes.  Thank you so much for reading my blog over the past few months, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

All the best

Chloe x

Reflective

where the wind blows 🌪

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Hi guys! This week we were looking at the benefits of outdoor learning and the different technology applications we could use to enhance that learning. Unfortunately, we didn’t pick the best week to head outside as there was snow and a very cold wind, but other than that we had a really fun and interesting class. We used three different apps for our outdoor learning; QR reader, PicCollage and Photobooth.

QR Reader is an app that allows you to create treasure hunt kind of activities. You can create questions, links to websites, video links, map locations, phone numbers and a few other things too.  All of these different types of questions, links etc. are then given a unique code, the code acts as a barcode and when it is scanned through the app the question that is specific to that code appears.  Our treasure hunt task was based on Red Nose Day and we had 7 questions based on all things to do with the charitable day such as ‘on what day was the very first Red Nose Day event held?’ PicCollage is an app where you can use pictures from the internet or that you have saved to your device to create all different styles of picture collages. Our task was to create a few collages, one was to have five pictures of ‘minibeasts’, another was to have five pictures that summed up that day, the third was to have a collage that was a visual representation of the two times table using objects we found in nature and the last one was to have five pictures of different types of leaves we had found.  Photobooth is a camera app that gives you lots of different options for what style of camera you want to use.  Some options include; thermal, mirror and there’s also an option for props such as funny glasses or moustaches.  Our task for Photobooth was to use the mirror option to take pictures of different animals/insects we found as well as anything else we thought was interesting.  Then we were to use the thermal option and take pictures of any ‘minibeasts’ we found.  We didn’t find much but I thought that this kind of activity would still be quite fun and interesting for the children.

I think that outdoor learning is a great thing to do because it can increase the children’s interest in the subject, it gets them out of the stuffy classroom, even if it’s only for a few minutes, and into the outside world which they can relate to.  Outdoor learning can be used for lots of different aspects of the curriculum, it can be used for art, if you were doing a project with leaves or twigs etc. for autumn of Halloween.  Topic work can also be done outside, for example, say your topic was ‘from farm to plate’, you could go to a local farm for a school trip and learn all about what happens there on a day to day basis.  Outdoor learning doesn’t just mean going out into the school playground and walking around for half an hour talking about nature, it can be used in many areas of the curriculum within or outside of the school environment.

The Curriculum for Excellence say that “Different outdoor learning experiences offer opportunities for personal and learning skills development in areas such as communication, problem solving, information technology, working with others and thinking skills.”  They also go on to say that “learning outdoors can make significant contributions to literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing”.  They say that “in literacy there are opportunities to use different texts, the spoken word, charts, maps, timetables and instructions.  In numeracy there are opportunities to measure angles, calculate journey times and bearings.  In health and wellbeing there are opportunities to become physically active in alternative ways and to improve emotional wellbeing and mental health.  Therefore, outdoor learning offers many opportunities for learners to deepen and contextualise their understanding within curriculum areas, and for linking learning across the curriculum in different contexts and at all levels.”  There is also a rather interesting article on outdoor learning that is linked below, if you want to have a look at it, it’s quite interesting and makes a good point.  https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/learning-outside-classroom-builds-character-and-helps-children

 

Until next time

Chloe x

Reflective

wii can do this! 🎮

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Hi guys!  This week we were looking at the idea of games based learning and how it can be used in the education of school children, we also looked very briefly at the SHANARRI Wheel.  So today we had a go of using a Nintendo Wii, hence the title, on which we played Mario Kart, one of my all-time favourite games.  We had a play about on it for about an hour so that everyone got a chance to race and get a feel for the game. After we had all had a turn playing the game we were set the task of creating a lesson plan around Mario Kart. We were to create different activities for maths, literacy, technology and any other subject we cold think of.  Here are a few of the ideas my group came up with:

  1. The children are to create their own racing character, they are to draw them, give them a name, describe them and give them a racing uniform. Then they are to design their characters car, colour it in and give it a name if they would like. This comes under literacy and art as they have to use their literacy skills to describe their character and then their art skills are being used to physically create the character on paper with pen.
  2. The children are given some maths questions for example; Yoshi comes 1st, 4th and 7th. What is his average place in the race? You could also move it up a step by creating a table of points that are awarded for the different positions e.g. 1st place = 12 points, 2nd place = 11 points, 3rd place = 10 points etc. and asking similar questions and getting the children to work out the total number of points the character collected.
  3. Another activity is that the children use their character and create a story using them and any other characters from the game. This is using their literacy skills as they have to use their imagination to create an interesting story.
  4. This activity would probably take quite a while to do but in the end I’m sure the children will love you for it. In small groups the children either pick the best character that each child has created or they create a new one in their groups and design a car and uniform for their character. When they’ve done that they then begin to build their designs, so they can build a cardboard car and paint it the colours of their design. The teacher then creates a racecourse outside in the playground.  When all the groups have finished building their cars they go outside and race around the track. This doesn’t just utilise the children’s imagination and art skills but also their physical education is being used too.

As well as looking at various different activities you could do with these kinds of games, we looked at the SHANARRI wheel. The SHANARRI wheel focuses on children’s health and well-being in the learning environment. SHANARRI stands for;

Safe

Healthy

Active

Nurtured

Achieving

Respected

Responsible

Included

The four capacities and the SHANARRI wheel go together hand in hand, they are another important thing for a teacher to know to be effective. The four capacities are:

  • Confident Individuals
  • Successful Learners
  • Effective Contributors
  • Responsible Citizens

 

I think games based learning is quite a good thing to use, it can increase motivation, grab attention, reinforce knowledge and is fun for the kids too. However, I do think that its uses are limited. For as many games that there are, a small number of them are 1. Age appropriate and 2. Usable in a learning environment.  A lot of the games don’t have the content to be able to build up any educational activities for example, Fifa, Call of Duty, Resident Evil and other games along those lines.  Not only are they not age appropriate but they have no educational properties within them.  So you do have to be careful with what games you choose and always ask for parental permission if the game is set at an age that is older than the children in your class.

The Teach Though Staff say that there are six benefits of game-based learning, these benefits are:

  1. Increases a child’s memory capacity, this is because games often revolve around the utilisation of memorisation so as to solve the puzzle or win the game.
  2. Computer and simulation fluency is benefited as it helps the children to understand how a computer works, making it second nature to them.
  3. Helps with fast strategic thinking and problem solving as most games require children to think quickly and to utilise their logic so as to know what will happen three steps later.  It also helps the children to think outside the box and to think on their feet.
  4. Develops hand-eye coordination as they have to be watching the screen and using their hands to manoeuvre a character or vehicle etc. at the same time.
  5. Beneficial for children with attention disorders as it can keep them focused on something fun while they learn.
  6. Helps improve skill building e.g map reading as a lot of games have certain aspects which help children with specific skills.  For example, lot of mystery and adventure games contain maps which the children have to navigate so as to move on to the next stage, also some games have money aspects ans this can help the children understand the value for money and the importance of being careful with what you spend it on.

Until next time

Chloe x

Reflective

whizz-pop, whizz-bang 🎉

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Hi guys!  This week’s class was all about eBooks and their uses in the classroom, we also read a few articles about the benefits of using digital technologies in the education of children.  I have attached the links to these articles if you feel intrigued enough to give them a wee read.

We were given the task of writing a short book review in pairs/small groups using Book Creator, an interactive app that allows you to create eBooks.  Book Creator allows you to add in videos, audio, pictures, text and change the page and text colour.  You can choose what size of book you want and how long you want it to be too.  Each pair was to choose a Roald Dahl book and create a short summary using as many of the apps features as they liked.  My partner and I chose ‘The BFG’ and together we created a short book, we included various pictures of the illustrations featured in the book and also a short summary of the plot of the book.  I have attached a link to our eBook on ‘The BFG’ down below.

The Oxford dictionary defines an eBook as “An electronic version of a printed book which can be read on a computer or a specifically designed handheld device.”  Personally, I prefer to read a hard copy of a book rather than an electronic version, I just love the feel of the paper between my fingers and the smell and texture of the paper as I turn the pages, especially if they are older books.  However, I do think that eBooks could be quite useful in a classroom, they could be quite useful for some children who struggle to sit and read a book.  The majority of children don’t have the same love of hard copy books as me and by forcing them to read a hard copy can drastically reduces their interest, but by just giving them an iPad or a tablet you can see their faces change and they seem so much more engaged and in most cases, they will complete any task you set them with ease.  All of this comes with handing them something interesting and ‘techy’, something they have grown up with and are fascinated by!

As much as I think that digital technologies would enhance and benefit the children’s learning, there are some obvious negatives to technology too.  The major negative is cost.  Some schools in more deprived areas may not have the funds to buy one iPad never mind a few dozen iPads.  Although there are grants and things that schools can apply for, the grant money can’t go to every school so some children end up without these opportunities to use digital technology in their education.  The next negative is one that occurs because of the teachers.  63% of teachers said that they would like to use technology in their teaching, this number of ‘would likes’ is so high because of the lack of training for the teachers in how to use these ever-evolving digital technologies.  This means that there are children out there who have the equipment to use digital technologies in their education but don’t get the chance because their teacher has no idea how to use it.

Secure Edge Networks say that there are six benefits of eBooks that make them valuable in the classroom, these benefits are;

  1. eBooks are never out of stock and there is no waiting on shipping or delivery.  Because eBooks are instantly available it can save time and means there is no need to wait in line.
  2. They can have web or multi-media tie ins.  this is great for a generation that speaks the language of Netflix and YouTube.
  3. Some eBooks have text to speech readers.  This feature would be great for those pupils who have dyslexia, reading challenges or visual impairments.  It can also reduce eye strain, improve foreign language learning and promote listening skills.
  4. They are environmentally friendly.  Schools won’t have to constantly buy new and updated versions of textbooks every time the curriculum changes.
  5. eBooks are more cost effective as they cost on average 50-60% less than print textbooks.
  6. Storage space is reduced.  Tablets can hold hundreds of textbooks on one device, plus homework, quizzes and other files, thus eliminating the need for physical storage of books.

There are also some features of tablets that allow you to make the text bigger, thus reducing eye strain, bookmark pages, so you never loose your place.  Select words that are unfamiliar to you and be given a definition there and then without having to look in a dictionary, and also you can highlight text too, this means that the children can highlight certain parts that are of interest to them or that are needed for a topic task or test.

Here are the links to those articles I was talking about:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/about-e-books

http://www.childrensparliament.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/REPORT_digital-learning-consultation_Childrens-Parliament-1.pdf

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-18081005

https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2012/aug/13/schools-secondary-schools

http://moodle.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/879725/mod_resource/content/1/Digital%20Technology%20Strategy.pdf

Here is the link to the summary of ‘The BFG’, just copy and paste it into your URL and enjoy!

file:///C:/Users/Chloe/Downloads/A%20new%20book%20(1).pdf

 

Until next time

Chloe x

Reflective

Flipping out 🐸🐸🐸

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Hi guys!  This week we were exploring the idea of using mobile devices for learning, and we were focused on using Nintendo DSi consoles.  These consoles have quite a few fun and interesting features on them even before you insert a game card.  They have an app called Pictochat, which is where the children can speak to each other in chat rooms using the DSi devices, there are four chat rooms that are open to DSi owners.  As long as the children are in the same chat room they can communicate with each other, a plus side to this is that 1. The teacher can monitor what is being said with their own device and 2. Only DSi devices in the classroom/school can connect as the devices have a range to which other devices must be in so they can connect to the chat rooms.  Another great app is called Flipnote, this is an animation based app which allows the children to create their own Flipnote animations.  What they do is, they create slides and on the first slide they begin to draw their idea, for example, a stickman walking down the street.  There is a feature that allows the drawing to be traced or copied onto the next slide, the trace feature is very useful as it helps the children create a more fluid animation as they can see exactly where they drew on the previous slide and they can match or move slightly to give the illusion of the stick-man walking.  There is also a camera app on the DSi device which has lots of fun features.  The children can take a picture of themselves (selfie) or another pupil and they can then edit the picture.  They can distort it which allows them to drag the picture around leaving the person with elongates ears or big eyes or even a swirled and twisted face.  They can also draw on the picture and add in stickers, such as a moustache or a floral headband, big red lips, pig noses and stars are just some of the stickers.  They can also use a pen to draw anything they want to, there is also a rainbow pen which allows them to draw in a bright rainbow.  The pictures they take and create are saved onto the device and can be accessed whenever, the device can hold just over 400 pictures and they are easily deleted if need be.

There are quite a few curricular activities than you can do with these devices, and the following are some of the ones we did in class to show the benefits and the different uses of using these devices.

  1. Pictochat can be used in a group activity called ‘The Chase’. This is where one child in the group is made the host and they have to write in the chat a topic related question, for example 9 x 6, that is either set by you on a question sheet or made up by the children themselves.  The contestants then have to quickly answer the questions and the first name to appear on the hosts screen wins a point.  The core is kept on a sheet and after a round of maybe 5 or 10 questions the person with the most points becomes the new host and they go on to round 2.  This kind of activity is great because it allows the children to learn in a fun and slightly competitive environment and this can sometimes give the children the illusion that they are not really learning at all when in fact they are!
  2. Flipnote can be great for literacy lessons based around a class book for example. Firstly, the children are given a warm-up task, they are given 3 adjectives and they have to draw what that word looks like, for example excited they could draw a happy face.  Then they are given 3 pictures and are to write down for each 3 adjectives that describe that picture, this is just to solidify in their minds what an adjective is.  Second the children have to pick an interesting scene or they are given an interesting scene and they have to create an animation of what the scene looks like in their head, for example what the edible room looks like in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Then they describe what objects are in their room e.g. giant lollipop trees and then right down 10 adjectives to describe their animation e.g. big, yummy, exciting etc.  Finally, the children are split into small groups and given a major scene in the book e.g. for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory it could be; when Veruca Salt gets attacked by the squirrels, when Violet Beauregarde turns purple, when Mike TV gets vaporised, when Augustus Gloop falls into the chocolate river and is sucked up the tube or when Charlie Bucket goes up in the glass elevator.  They have to use Flipnote to create their own version of the scene and then use as many adjectives as they can to describe what is happening.  As an additional part the groups could then present their animations to the class and get feedback from them too.
  3. The camera app can also be useful for literacy activities as they can use the different features of the app to create their own characters. They can then use those characters and incorporate them into a story that they create either in a group or on their own.

These kinds of devices can be great to use in the classroom as to the children it is incorporating something that they like and something that they’ve all probably used too.

Using mobile devices such as DSi’s or iPad’s can have a drastic impact on a child’s education.  Secure Edge Networks says that there are four main benefits to using mobile devices in the classroom, they say that they are preparing students for the future, because they are being educated on how to use these devices to benefit their education.  They allow the children to access up-to-date learning and information, by using mobile devices the children have access to a library of ever updating information online.  Mobile devices are an alternative to textbooks, because what child would choose to carry a pile of heavy textbooks around all day when they can have all the information at their fingertips on a mobile device.  Lastly, they can allow learning to go beyond the classroom and take place at home, this happens because the children become more interested and engaged in what they are learning and this in turn makes them more eager to do more learning outside of the classroom.  As much as using mobile devices in the classroom can benefit a child’s education, their are also a few drawbacks as well.  For example, if the use of mobile devices in the classroom is dependant on a BYOD (bring your own device) system, then there is the chance that not every child in the classroom will have access to a mobile device at home to bring in.  This could cause issues for that child in other areas of their social life because they have been seen as the ‘poor’ kid for not having an iPad to play on.  Another drawback is the cost of supplying mobile devices for every child in a classroom, it can cost thousands of pounds for schools to pay for mobile devices for use in the classroom and if you have an under-privileged or deprived school there’s a high chance that they wouldn’t be able to afford to buy mobile devices for their school.  Seeing as mobile devices can drastically improve a child’s education, the children in those schools who can’t afford to buy mobile devices will be missing out on making their education even better than it already is.

Here is a short video clip of my groups activity on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which was done on Flipnote.

Until next time

Chloe x

Reflective

Watch me movie 🎬

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Hi guys!  This week’s class was all about animation and there were a couple of different apps we could use for this, iMovie or istop animation.  We were tasked with creating a short film or trailer on internet safety since internet safety day was a few weeks ago.  Together with my group, we created both a trailer and a film that followed the story of a young girl who wasn’t careful online which in turn had terrible consequences.  I’ve attached both the link to the trailer and to the full film below, so go and have a look if you’ve got a spare few minutes.

iMovie and other apps like it are an excellent resource to use in the classroom, it allows the children to have free reign over what their film looks like, sounds like and the story it tells others.  These kinds of applications can be used in various different aspects across the curriculum, especially if you were to get the children to do all the planning for themselves, such as the script writing, character creation/casting, creation of backgrounds and props and lots more.  This will improve their Literacy skills because they have to write the script, their art skills are being used too as they have to create backgrounds and props and even characters if the film is going to be animated, they are also developing their personal skills if they are working in groups to create their films.  You can use iMovie and its sibling apps for various different things, for example, creating a story, voicing their opinions on important points, re-enacting historical events, topic work, presentations or covering important topics such as internet safety or road safety.  Here are some of the Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes that are relevant to such applications as iMovie:

I can work with others to generate, discuss and develop imaginative ideas to create a product of the future. TCH 1-01b

I can create, capture and manipulate sounds, text and images to communicate experiences, ideas and information in creative and engaging ways. TCH 1-04b / TCH 2-04b

I enjoy exploring and using technologies to communicate with others within and beyond my place of learning. TCH 0-04a

I enjoy taking photographs or recording sound and images to represent my experiences and the world around me. TCH 0-04b

Using appropriate software, I can work individually or collaboratively to design and implement a game, animation or other application. TCH 3-09a

According to cgpundit.com there are many ways in which animation can benefit children’s education and be used as an effective learning tool.

  • Emphasises development of students’ skills and understanding of creating and responding.
  • Enables students to apply Imagination & Rational Thinking.
  • Enables students to invent and explore multiple solutions to a problem.
  • Enables students to understand the value of reflection and critical judgment in creative work.
  • Facilitates positive peer interaction, including receiving and using feedback.
  • Encourages self-motivation to create and problem solve.
  • Uses artistic literacy as a natural enhancement to learning in other content areas.
  • Fosters positive attitudes toward Art & Animation.
  • Introduces career possibilities.

 

Here are the links to my groups short film and trailer called ‘If Only’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbBj8roROYU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ4iY0YfYWA

 

Until next time

Chloe x

Reflective

ScratchJr Step-by-step tutorial 🐱

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As promised here is my step-by-step tutorial on how to create an African Savannah activity on scratch.  When you click on the link below (ScratchJr Step-By-Step Tutorial) it will download to your computer and you can watch it from there.  I have also put in a link for the video of the completed activity on ScratchJr.  I hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

Until the next time

Chloe x

ScratchJr Step-By-Step Tutorial

Full video of African Savannah ScratchJr activity

 

Reflective

Start from Scratch 🐱

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Hi guys!  This week’s post is going to give you an insight into what we were doing in today’s Digital Technologies class.  This week we were working with ScratchJr and the task was to individually create a step by step guide for teachers who had never used ScratchJr before so that they could create short but educational games or tasks for their pupils.  My task was based around topic work, in this case the class had been doing African Savannah as their topic.  The task saw four different animals that are found in the African Savannah saying hello to the children and asking them to identify what kind on animal they are.  There was a Giraffe called Maverick, an African Bush Elephant called Eleanor, a Spotted Sandveld Lizard called Scully and a Zebra called Penny.  Each animal said hello and asked the children to identify what kind of animal they were, the animals then congratulated the children and then walked out of the screen.

Personally, I think that these kinds of activities are great for in a classroom as it gives the children another platform on which to learn.  In this case the task was already created for them but if they were giving free reign on the programme their imaginations would run wild and also their coding skills would be developed too. Also their imagination skills will be developed as they get to decide what happens in their game/activity.  Problem solving skills are also greatly developed as the children have to work through the issues in their code through trial and error processes.

Golpin (2014) say, “being able to follow programming logic trains the mind to think in more analytical ways. I believe that debugging a program leads to better problem solving skills. I also believe these skills can be taught using programs like Scratch, Gamemaker, Kodu, and others, without emphasizing the need to learn “hard core ” programming languages like C++ or PHP.”  Seymour Papert (Schwarz, 1999), one of the best known advocates for teaching computer science and programming in schools, sums this up well, “anyone who has witnessed a toddler using a computer has probably experienced a sense of awe at that child’s facility with what for adults can be an infinitely frustrating gadget. It’s one thing for a child to play a computer game; it’s another thing altogether for a child to build his or her own game.”  And this, according to Papert, is where the computer’s true power as an educational medium lies — in the ability to facilitate and extend children’s awesome natural ability and drive to construct, hypothesize, explore, experiment, evaluate, draw conclusions — in short to learn — all by themselves. It is this very drive, Papert contends, that is squelched by our current educational system.

Here are a few pictures of the first slide of my ScratchJr task, I will upload the full step by step tutorial soon as a separate post.

Until the next time

Chloe x

Reflective

What’s The Buzz About 🐝

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Hi guys!  This week’s post is going to give you an insight into what we were doing in today’s Digital Technologies class.  This week was really good fun and was one of those opportunities, rarely seen in other subjects, where our imaginations were able to run wild and we could spend the whole 4 hours constructing our creations.  This week we were working with Bee-Bot and our task was to create an educational game that could be used in a classroom.  My group chose to base our game around a book called ‘Small Bear Lost’ which was the story of a small bear who was left on a train and struggled to find his way home.  The first thing he did was finish his journey on the train and get off at the next train station which we called ‘Paddington Station’.  He then walked to a bus stop and got on a bus which took him to the entrance of a park where he found some balloons and floated away.  He eventually got stuck on a gate which burst the balloons, luckily, he was right across the street from where is house was.  Our game had a train track/tunnel that the renamed Bear-Bot had to navigate through from ‘Bearverly Station’ to ‘Paddington station’, then he had to navigate his way to the bus stop and onto the bus.  Then he travelled to the park where he floated off and was eventually stopped by a gate that was right across the street from his house.  The aim of the game was for the children to decide which area of the map the bear had to go to next by going over the facts they remembered from reading the story in class.  For example, when the bear got off the train where did he go next?  Did he go to the park or to the bus stop?  The children had to decide which area the bear went to and navigate the Bear-Bot around the map and to the correct area.  To make the navigation part a little more complicated than going in straight lines we used 3D objects to create barriers that the children had to go around.

I think that these kinds of activities are really useful in the classroom as it is not just getting the children to advance their technological skills but the cross curricular aspect of it means that they are learning two things in one activity.  This, in theory, should make your life and their lives a little more fun and interesting, not to mention easier for you too!

The Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) says that programmable toys allow pupils to learn about control and directional language through play while learning about a variety of different subjects.  In their paper ‘Floor Robots – focus on literacy and numeracy (Primary)’ they have four benefits of using floor robots in the classroom.

  1. They provide a vehicle for the introduction of key concepts in an easy and friendly way.
  2. They help with the development of skills such as logical sequencing, measuring, comparing lengths, space orientation and expressing concepts in words.
  3. They encourage group interaction, conversation and collaboration.
  4. They are visually very appealing to young pupils, with clear, bright buttons and a robust design.

The paper also gives you a couple of examples for a literacy and a numeracy activity, you can have a look for yourself at the link below.

http://www.pdsttechnologyineducation.ie/en/Training/ICT-in-Classroom-PDFs/ICT-in-the-Classroom-PDFs/Floor-Robots-focus-on-literacy-and-numeracy-Primary-13-06.pdf

Until the next time

Chloe x

Reflective

“I need a one drive” 🎶🎶🎶

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Hi guys!  This week’s blog was written around the same time as last weeks because I’m a week behind, but that doesn’t matter because I’m all caught up now so here goes.  This week we started off by finishing off the personalisation of our new blogs (I hope you like mine J) and began writing some posts (that’s why all of my posts so far have been published on the same day).  After the break, we moved on to OneDrive and got to know it a little bit better than we did before, we had a go at creating multi-author files and sharing documents between each other.  Then we moved on to yammer, where we set up a group for the people in our Digital Technologies class and a private friend group called ‘blog squad’ which we are going to use to discuss ideas for new blog posts and get help with any issues we have with Glow.  Finally, we moved on to Wiki and created our own private pages, we can use these as practise for when we are qualified teachers.  Wiki is a great thing to use as teachers as the pages can be made private so only the people who are added can access or view the information posted.  It also has a feature that allows you to track when your pupils have logged on and viewed the information, also you can set calendar events, praise people and create polls.  This could be particularly useful for homework as it would be something different to giving out a paper copy of homework all the time.  You could also use it as a discussion board for topic work as you can put the members into separate groups.  The only thing you would have to make sure you do is have an internet safety and internet etiquette talk with your class to make sure that they don’t misuse the page or mistreat each other.  Yammer is also quite good as it is similar to Facebook but you as teachers can view everything that is posted, you can also create private groups with your pupils so they are ‘protected’ from any other people on the site (even though only pupils and teachers can access the site).  Personally, I think that using these online resources will add to the children’s learning and may even make them more eager to learn because they get the chance to show it by using such resources as yammer and wiki.  Also, I bet that it will make you even more popular with your students, you’ll be the coolest teacher around, which is a title that any teacher would be pleased to go by!

According to the National Math and Science Initiative Blog, using digital technologies in the classroom  makes the students more excited to learn. When technology is integrated into school lessons, learners are more likely to be interested in, focused on, and excited about the subjects they are studying. Subjects that might be boring for some – like math and science – can be much more engaging with virtual lessons, tutoring, and the streaming of educational videos.

Before I go, I have attached a link for my friend Sean’s blog and if you visit his site you’ll see the link between our posts about Yammer and OneDrive.  Hint, look at the titles 😂

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/reflectivejournalsm/

Until the next time

Chloe x

Reflective

Three Little Pigs 🐷🐷🐷

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Hi guys!  This weeks post focuses on my very first Digital Technologies class.

So, this week we created a new Glow Blog page, which you are on right now, and then we had a look at some of the resources that can be found on the Glow Launchpad.  We looked at Twig, TigTag and Glow TV, which are all quite useful; I personally really like Twig and TigTag because they have really good resources for STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).

Then, after the break we moved on and began working with ActivInspire.  For this exercise, we watched a short video about the different features of ActivInspire with the use of an early level maths game based on shape.  We then followed in the videos steps and created our own maths games for whichever level we wanted.  My group and I created a maths ‘story’ game in which we followed the tale of the ‘Three Little Pigs’.  The pigs were admiring their new house when the Big Bad Wolf appeared and blew it down, the game factor was that the children were asked by the pigs to rebuild their house and were congratulated when this task was completed.  I have attached pictures of the game created for you to enjoy and take inspiration from if you choose to.  Our group chose to focus on early level maths just like in the video, this meant that the house was made up of very big and simple shapes making it perfect for the younger end of the school to enjoy.  These kinds of activities are great for children as there is an aspect that they already have knowledge of, in this example they already know the story of the three little pigs, and this can make the maths element less daunting and boring for children, also by adding in sound effects (which we had) it can make maths even more fun and comical.  This particular game can be used for more than just maths though, it is also useful for cross-curriculum activities such as a literacy exercise.  The children could be given a choice of three sentence structures and they have to choose the correct format (this would probably be for second level), or they use the beginning of the story of the three little pigs and write their own alternative ending to the tale.

There are multiple different ways in which you can use these types of activities across the curriculum and with a little time and effort on your part you can make an occasionally boring day a little bit brighter.

These multi-modal programs are very useful to use in a classroom, in his book ‘ICT in the Primary School From Pedagogy to Practice’ Gary Beauchamp says that “… it allows teachers to present an idea in a variety of different ways to help pupils understand it.  It can also  make work more interesting or motivating.”  .I think that this is very accurate and I believe that the statement is true, technology can allow you to present an idea in different ways and by doing this it can make the learning more interesting for the children, thus increasing their engagement and knowledge.

 

Until the next time

Chloe x

Reflective

Introduction

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Hi guys! My name is Chloe McNeill and I am an undergraduate student at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) currently studying Primary Teaching. When I was still at high school, becoming a primary teacher wasn’t my first career choice. I originally wanted to be a paediatrician (children’s doctor) but when I was in fourth year and work experience was round the corner a problem arose with my first choice. There were two of us going for the same placement at the local hospital and the only other option available was at the local primary school. I always knew that I wanted to work with children and because of this I dropped out of the hospital placement and went to the primary school instead as I knew I would do better in that setting than the other person. At first I was a little disappointed, as I really wanted to experience the hospital in a professional capacity rather than as a patient, but after my first day of work experience at the primary school I knew that that was what I wanted to do and paediatrics was a distant memory.

So, now you know a little about my background and why I got into teaching in the first place.

I am currently taking a module called ‘Digital Technologies’ and this blog will mainly focus on what I do throughout this module. I’m hoping to write a weekly blog about what this module consists of and how it will help me in my future career as a teacher.

 

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