The End of the Beginning

March 27, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Now that the time for submission of my blog has arrived and I have reached the end of my beginning of the digital technologies world, I felt it would only be appropriate to take a minute to reflect on my time spent in the BA1 Digital Technologies module. I have loved every minute of this class and it has taught me so much about the use of digital technologies in education. I will admit that in the past I saw digital technologies as nothing more than I.C.T. time and as a reward in the classroom. However, I can now see that it is so much more than databases, word documents and spreadsheets, and as base for games and for me to post photos of my weekend! Digital technologies can enhance learning in the classroom by engaging learners – making them feel as though they are not even learning! It allows them to develop essential technology skills which they will require in their future lives and it also helps them to build up life skills such as collaboration and communication. By delving into the digital technologies world, learners can gain knowledge and develop understanding of every possible area of the curriculum and can do so in a way which helps them to see that their learning is related to real-life. They are also provided with numerous opportunities through technology to get a feel for a topic and to show off their work to the world! Overall, digital technologies make learning real. They allow learners to speak first hand to different people, from those in their community to those who live on the other side of the world and to use their skills as digital natives to comfortably and excitedly leap into learning with the enthusiasm that we need them to have.

This module has shown me that for our learners of today to reach their full potential, in school and in life, we must not allow ourselves to be stuck in the past because after all…

Outdoor Learning and Digital Technologies

March 23, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

In the past, I have always considered technology and the outdoors as being completely separate from each other. I may even sometimes have considered technology as something which prevents people from exploring the outdoors! However, after my experiences this week my thinking has been transformed and I have learned that technology and the outdoors can go hand in hand. The children of today, most of whom are digital natives, can use their knowledge of and comfort with technology to go outdoors and to learn about what they don’t yet know with confidence and enjoyment. As part of Tuesday’s tutorial, my colleagues and I undertook three tasks. One of these was a treasure hunt around the university campus, which could have been done outdoors but the weather was typical of Scotland in March (it was snowing). This treasure hunt required us to answer questions in the form of multiple choice and if we got all of the answers correct, the letters would make up a word related to the questions. To find out what the questions were we used a QR reader app, this allowed for the questions not to be accessible by anyone who may be walking by the clue. Another task consisted of us using the Photo Booth app to take pictures of mini-beasts with the thermal setting to explore their inner body heat and of taking pictures of the landscape using the mirror image setting to explore symmetry in real life situations. Finally, we used Pic Collage to create various collages of the different types of pictures we had taken of certain aspects of the outdoors, such as representations of the two times table using outdoor objects, and pictures of different types of leaves. I particularly like the idea of using this app to help visual learners to make a sort of fact files of pictures, for example in the early years, when looking at the concepts of conservation and abstraction of number, this app could be used as a collection of photographs and pictures of things which represent that number.

These experiences of outdoor learning made me see how exciting it would be for young learners to be allowed to explore their surroundings and how well it shows off learning as something with purpose and which is applied in real-life. As discussed by teachers in a YouTube video about outdoor learning in a school on an American island, children have been shown to become more interested and to see learning not as a chore, but as a duty to their society and to the world. Incorporating outdoor learning with technology allows learners to share what they have discovered with the world! By giving them this sense of achievement and contribution to the knowledge of the world, they are more likely to take pride in their work and will see its importance. Outdoor learning with technology has, for this reason, been shown to increase the standard of learners’ work.

Furthermore, in the Cfe document on outdoor learning, many more benefits of outdoor learning are identified. It is stated that outdoor learning can raise attainment, improve behaviour in the classroom and reduce cases of ADHD. This is most likely due to the fact that the children are being given time to use their energy by being active while learning outdoors, meaning that when they return to the classroom they can settle down more easily and are ready to sit down and maybe have some quiet time. I can see how this would be the case after my experience this week as after the excitement of going out in the fresh air, I felt less mentally drained when I returned indoors and felt revitalised and ready to settle down for a while. In addition, this document discusses the use of residential trips. This is something which I remember fondly about my last year of primary school and which allowed me to bond with my peers and teachers in a way which I had never previously experienced. It also allowed me to gain more independence as I had to ensure that I did some things for myself. These are precisely some of the reasons that the document discusses as for how residential trips are a fantastic way to get young people ready for the transition from primary to secondary school. They are also said to provide individuals with a sense of responsibility. From a teachers point of view, I feel these kinds of trips would be beneficial for me as it would allow me to really get to know my pupils and by learning more about them as individuals I would be able to tailor lessons to suit their needs. It would also allow me to become a better support for them should they need my advice or help with problems other than those concerned with the academic aspects of school.

Outdoor learning can be used for any curriculum topic, as well as for helping children to develop life skills and for encouraging enthusiasm for learning, discovery and adventure. In a blog post by Jackie Gerstein, some different ways of using digital technology outdoors are suggested. She suggests the use of GPS, which can be done using the QR reader app, the use of video and audio recordings, as well as taking photographs, the use of mobile networking, scanning, and accessibility features. The list is arguably endless as any of the apps explored inside the classroom could be used outdoors if it was thought that they would enhance learning if used in this way.

I loved the topic of outdoor learning and I anticipate that it is something which I will make good use of when I have my own class! It can happen anywhere, from the playground to a local park to the middle of a city! It has been suggested that repeat visits to certain places throughout a learners time spent in school can be very beneficial as it each time the learner visits, they have gained new understandings and so will take away something new. I love the idea of outdoor learning integrating so many different types of learning together it really does provide a strong argument against the myth that the use of technology means a lack of time spent outdoors.

I think that it is extremely important that, as educators, sometimes we take a step back and remember that we are not teaching these children to pass exams. We are preparing them to take on the world, and more often than not, digital technologies and outdoor learning are perfect ways to do this!

Digital Games Based Learning

March 14, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Today in Digital Technologies we have been exploring the use of digital games based learning in the classroom. There is a vast number of lessons which games could be used in and after today’s activities I have gotten myself into the mindset that games are a fantastic way to get children using their imagination and to connect games to real life situations. There may be opposition from teachers who struggle to see the benefits of this in the classroom and are uncomfortable with the use of appliances that they possibly do not know everything about themselves. As Digital Immigrants, older teachers and possibly parents and carers of pupils in the class may have negative attitudes towards the use of games due to bad press which labels digital games as unsociable and a waste of time. However, as written in The Impact of Console Games in the Classroom: Evidence from schools in Scotland by Jen Groff, Cathrin Howells and Sue Cranmer (2010), studies have shown the use of games based learning in the classroom has in fact lead to increased opportunities for collaboration and social interaction as well as improving relationships between teachers and students because the students are sometimes required to teach the teacher! I personally believe that this is a good thing which should be embraced because as Digital Natives, young people in the classroom will more than likely be completely comfortable with technology and will be able to use it with ease. This comfort with technology will allow pupils to focus on the task rather than how to play the game and it will also help them to feel more comfortable with the activity – many young people show off a negative attitude towards the idea of writing on paper, possibly because it has boring connotations and scares them. Use of these materials could therefore help to build up confidence and self esteem of pupils, making them see that they are capable and possibly encouraging them to strive. The idea that digital games based learning could achieve the same outcomes, or arguably even more, as writing on paper, but could be doing so with pupils being engaged and interested as well as having fun, is an exciting one for the world of education. Although, there are some, such as David Buckingham, who believe that young people are not excited or engaged by the thought of digital technologies because they have been born into a digital age, and he would argue that we are all being overly optimistic to think so.

We focussed on the use of ‘Mariokart’ on the Nintendo Wii in the classroom and spilt into groups to come up with various ideas about how to use this game as a cross curricular activity. My group and I came up with the idea of using Mariokart as an introduction in which the class could identify various hazards, before exploring the school and school grounds to find further hazards. We also thought that it could be used as a literacy lesson in which pupils could focus on characters and setting before creating their own version of the game to which they could write a set of instructions. Their game could contain their own plan of a track and this could lead to them making models of their tracks and characters with play dough or plasticine. They could then make their track in the playground or gym hall and have their own races around it. From this race they could record the time taken for individuals to complete it and the distance of the track. Using this data they could work out the speed they were running at. Measuring the track could also be used as an exercise for practicing measurement using standard or non-standard units. This data could then be used for problem solving activities and to create graphs.

Coming back together and sharing our ideas with the class was very beneficial as I loved some of the ideas my colleagues had. One group suggested that the class could create their own Mariokart racing event and by planning this event they could work out costs and profits as well as creating advertisement and then following the event by writing a newspaper article about it and a biography about one of the racers. Another group suggested that this game and the scores obtained from this could be used to work out the mean, median, mode and range. I would use all of these ideas in a classroom setting and I am sure that there are many more which could be used. These are just a few examples of how one game on one appliance can be used in the classroom, clearly there are many other ways which different games and different appliances could be used.

We then moved on to using the Garage Band app on an iPad. This is an app which allows users to choose different musical instruments and to make music with them. There is also a voice recording feature which allows users to record their voice and a feature which allows you to record the music which you create. After exploring it and creating our own songs, we considered how this could be used in the classroom. I would love to use this type of app in the classroom as it is engaging and exciting. Although there are numerous ways that it could be used in the classroom, my first thought was using it to create atmospheric music which pupils could record over with their voice telling a story which they have written. This would allow them to practise their speaking and reading aloud skills, which are key in literacy, as well as giving them the opportunity to express the atmosphere which they want this part of their story to create. This could be done as part of a group, class, or individual activity which could allow pupils to create their very own audiobook as a follow up activity from creating an Ebook.

Most of the activities (if not all) which I have suggested, include creation. Creation is the top higher order thinking skill named in Bloom’s Taxonomy so is clearly an extremely valuable skill which young people must learn. The activities I have suggested would be likely to go in an order from the bottom to the top of the Blooms Taxonomy triangle, encouraging the development of higher order thinking skills of analysis, evaluation and creation particularly. As discussed in Paul Ladley’s Games Based Learning Analysis and Planning Tool, computer games force learners to think carefully about decisions which they have to make and allows them to exercise various problem solving techniques, such as trial and error, to overcome problems. Identification of their weaknesses in a game and thinking about how to improve them requires analysis of their performance. Ladley argues that games must be used in the classroom if they are going to tackle areas of learning which traditional teaching cannot do so easily.

Therefore, it is fair to say that from today’s workshop I have become an enthusiast for the idea of using games in the classroom. I am a great believer that learning should be enjoyable and that young people should be taught life skills which may not be tested in primary school but which will be useful to them throughout their lives. In my opinion, if, as educators, we can use digital games based learning to engage pupils on a whole new level and to help them to embrace the digital age which we are living in, then we will be doing our jobs pretty well!

The Potential of Mobile Devices

March 7, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Sadly this week I was unable to attend the Digital Technologies workshop as I have been feeling unwell. But, as promised to my lecturer, since I have been feeling slightly better this afternoon, I have done my best to catch up.

Today the class was looking at the use of mobile devices, in particular the use of a Nintendo DSi. Since I don’t have one of these (I have a Nintendo DS lite which is a previous model), I was unable to complete some of the tasks which the class worked on today. These being the creation of an animation on Flipnote, and manipulation of my voice using the Nintendo Sound icon. However, from research of what these two icons are and the things they allow you to do, I can see that they would both be very useful in the classroom. Flipnote would allow pupils to create stories in the form of animation, to demonstrate the results of a science experiment through animation, or to explore 2D and 3D shapes as well as volume, area, capacity, symmetry and tessellation. The Nintendo Sound icon would allow pupils to explore the wonders of technology in that it can change the voice of a character to sound almost any way you want it to. This could be added for effect to their stories or for them to replicate the sounds they heard in their science experiment. Furthermore, my colleagues were using Pictochat to communicate with each other. My own Nintendo did have this feature so I was able to play around with it for a little while to remind myself of its simplistic yet exciting concept. Young people are now spoiled with technology which allows them to communicate with each other whenever and wherever they want. This kind of technology is different however, it would allow pupils to send messages and draw pictures to their friends and to their teacher in one of the safest internet environments. This would be a great way to introduce pupils to concepts such as internet safety and what is appropriate to say and share online and through messages. This could also be used for children in early level as a means of exploring the different letters of the alphabet. By allowing learners to write the letters of the alphabet using means other than a traditional pen and paper will allow them to develop their graphic knowledge in a memorable and engaging way. Therefore I found that these three features in fact provide learners with ways to engage three of their five senses. It allows them to use touch through the touch screen, sight through the use of animation, sound through the use of Nintendo Sound. This will help learners to be captivated by the activities and to capture their experience through different senses.

I personally find the idea of using mobile devices in the classroom very exciting for the reasons mentioned above as well as many more. However, there are teachers who are not taken on by the idea, possibly because they are concerned that pupils will go off task and will use these devices for other reasons than learning, where as they may be less likely to do this on a computer screen which the teacher can see. I would argue that it is important to remember that the young people we are currently teaching are in fact the adults of the future. Therefore, we must look to find methods of ensuring that learners are staying on task when using these mobile devices, rather than preventing their use all together. The reasons for this are endless, but the main reason being that we need to prepare our young people to be literate in modern forms of technology if we want them to thrive in the future. Also, as shown in a recent document released by the Children’s Parliament, young people make use of at least thirty different types of technology! The term ‘mobile technologies’ would cover eighteen of these different resources and it is arguable our most modern inventions which are portable. Learners therefore are used to these types of technology and many of them would view their use in the classroom as exciting and fresh.

There have been studies which claim to show that more digital resources does not lead to better educational results. I would agree with this as it is not the presence of technology which leads to better results, it is the use of technology to enhance learning in ways which 40 years ago could hardly be imagined. It is a terrible shame that technologies may not being used to their full potential in classrooms while we are living in a digital age and I believe that it is extremely important that our educators are educated on how to use them as effectively as possible. As Drew Buddie, senior vice chair at Naace, the association for the UK’s education technology community, said:

“It’s not just about shifting traditional lessons onto screens – it’s about allowing pupils to make use of their devices to truly enhance their learning while giving teachers better ways to track individual achievement and personalise lessons.”

Therefore, despite any arguments against the use of mobile technologies in the classroom, it is my belief that we must not act by any fears of what might happen if we take a step forward in our use of this type of technology, but we must thrive on the possibilities of what could happen!

Creating an E-Book

February 28, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

As part of our digital technologies module we are focussing on the potential of mobile devices in the classroom. Today we were looking at using apps to create our own E-Books, particularly Book Creator, and this allowed me to consider the many ways that these apps could be used across the curriculum. We focussed on summarising a book and using pictures and sound effects as well as videos to make the book engaging and interactive. This could be a good way to introduce learners to the app before they use it to create stories of their own or to make factual books or journals. It could also be a good way to test children’s knowledge of a book which the class have been reading together.

Technologies such as this do not only provide us with opportunities to create items of the future, but they also provide educators and learners with choice. By giving learners choice they are more likely to engage in the activity in hand and to take from it what they need. David Andrews discusses his love for mobile devices as a classroom resource in his article in The Guardian ‘An Apple for the Teacher: are iPads the future in class?’. He wanted to make sure that bringing iPads into his school would be beneficial and would be able to do more than laptops. He found that iPads cannot replace some aspects of laptops but they can offer different apps and interesting features which cannot be so easily accessed through laptops. He argues that one of the main pros of iPads is the opportunity they provide for creativity and he states that he will not use mobile technologies in his classroom if they are not enhancing the learning of his pupils. I believe that this point is extremely important as mobile technologies should not be used to allow learners in the classroom to have fun but not actually learn anything; it is important that we keep the purpose of the use of these technologies in mind. The education secretary of 2012, Mike Russel showed his agreement with this point as he discussed his wishes to ’embed’ these mobile technologies into lessons.

I personally feel that another benefit of these mobile technologies is that they can be taken with learners and moved around easily and freely, allowing them to capture moments outwith the classroom and really allowing their imaginations to run free. It also provides them with the option, should they have an iPad or tablet at home, to download apps such as this for themselves and to continue learning skills in this fun and engaging way at home. This supports the Scottish Government incentive to make parents and carers more aware of the opportunities of using digital technologies to enhance learning all of the time – not just in the classroom, as well as possibly reducing many parents’ views of technology as mind numbing and helping them to see its potential as mind blowing! I also believe very strongly that most learners would view use of mobile technologies such as creating an E-Book as a much more exciting homework task than writing things on a blank A4 sheet of paper.

Furthermore, through use of a digital E-Book, learners are exposed to the importance of editing their work and are allowed to do this very easily. They can move things around, change sentences without making a mess and it allows them to build on what they have rather than to start again every time they want to edit their work, making sure that they all have a better chance of producing work which represents the best of their ability.

Finally, as discussed in ‘A Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for Scotland: The Views of Children’, a report carried out by the Scottish Government in 2016, many children are currently interested in YouTube and are creating their own videos to post on there. This may well have stemmed from the recent love of ‘vloggers’. Most of these vloggers vlog about their everyday lives, often doing tutorials for things such as makeup and games and many children are following on by doing the same as their new found idols. If this interest was to be captured by myself as a teacher and if learners were presented with the possibility of creating vlogs, just like their favourite vloggers, which could be used to test their knowledge through the creation of a tutorial for their own mathematical strategies or through creation of a character who is from another country and is discussing what his or her life is like there, they may become a lot more interested than if I was to tell them to write these things down on paper. These vlogs could then be organised and used as part of E-Books as learners can create links for them, allowing their E-Books to be made completely of their own valuable materials and to be completely interactive for them and for the people who are reading them.

Overall, it is fair to say that by creating E-Books learners are made to feel like true authors and are presented with various different learning possibilities, as well as the possibility of choosing to take their learning beyond the classroom because they are truly enjoying it!

Animation

February 21, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Throughout the last two inputs for Digital Technologies we have been working on animations and videos using apps such as iMovie and iStopMotion. These short clips were focussed on internet safety and had a strong link to literacy lessons, focussing on aspects such as story telling and digital literacy. We worked in groups to create our masterpieces, making sure that they worked alongside the curriculum for excellence outcomes as well as teaching young children about the importance of staying safe online. My partner, Jill, and I worked with the popular social media site of Facebook to create a profile for a young girl of the age of 8 years old. We filled in all of the possible spaces with personal information and posted details such as her friends, her pet, her school, her birthday, what age she was going to be and where and when her party was. The main point of our video was that our social media accounts are a map to us! We captured this through use of a pirate setting on iMovie and by relating the details of personal information, as well as the name of our imaginary girl, pirate related. We felt that this was a way for us to grab the attention of young people, by making it seem like an exciting movie trailer about pirates, when it was in fact teaching them a very important lesson about the dangers of posting personal information online. We were inspired by the Safer Internet Day resources which gave us an idea of the level of detail we should be going into with children of different ages and stages.

After we had all created our films, we had a premier (with popcorn might I add) watching our creations on the big screen. As a class of 20 adults we were all completely engaged and felt that this was a reward rather than a lesson. This brought to my attention that in fact, all learning should feel like this! Rather than a drag and a bore, rewriting stories which have been more or less given to us, listening to the “10 main rules of internet safety” and copying them into our jotters so that the teacher can tick the box, we should be focussing on lessons which will captivate learners. Digital technologies is a fantastic way to do this!

This kind of activity could be used very successfully with children in the classroom as a literacy lesson, beginning with picture storyboards for their ideas and working towards telling a story through film. Looking at literacy from a different angle can really help to engage some young people who would usually be frightened by the idea of literacy and find it boring as they “can’t do it”. This is supported by the statement made by Younie, S., Leask, M. and Burden, K. (eds.) (2014) in ‘Teaching and Learning with ICT in the Primary School’ p.14 : “Story telling can engage reluctant learners and those who might find story telling using their own drawings or handwriting challenging.” This kind of lesson using film and animation not only brings relatable and real-life like work to the classroom, it also makes learning seem almost like play, meaning that the pupils in the class are so distracted by their excitement that they in fact are unaware that they are learning at all.

References

Younie, S., Leask, M. and Burden, K. (eds.) (2014) Teaching and Learning with ICT in the Primary School. [Online] London: Routledge Taylor and Francis. p.14.

Is Scotland Healthy?

February 14, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

4491961175_84d03c2a9f_b
It would be impossible for me to determine Scotland as a ‘healthy’ or ‘unhealthy’ country without making some generalisations. For that matter, I am not talking about every Scottish person when I answer the main question of ‘Is Scotland healthy?’ with no.

We are provided with statistics, such as those from the Scottish Health survey, which claim that from a sample of 4,894 adults, 74% of them describe their health as being ‘good’ or ‘very good’, with only 8% describing their health as bad or very bad. From the sample of 1,839 children, 95% of them described their health as ‘good’ or ‘very good’, while 1% described their health as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’. I personally believe that if this was the case, there is no way that Scotland’s mortality rate would be so high. There are many people in the samples taken who truly will live healthy lifestyles, but it could be argued that there will also be many who either do not understand the meaning of a healthy lifestyle, or who cannot admit to themselves or others that the way they are living their lives cannot be classed as healthy.

Looking firstly at diet, only 22% of adults in 2013 said that they ate the recommended 5 portions of fruit and veg a day, with children eating on average 2.7 portions per day. Also, around 34% of children admitted to eating cakes at least twice a week. An unhealthy diet can vastly impact a persons wellbeing as it can lead to heart disease, vitamin deficiencies, and obesity, which can itself lead to various further health problems. Over 25% of adults in Scotland were obese in 2013. Today we live in a time in which nobody has time! So ready meals, jars of sauce and fast food are always the easy option. However, many of these contain hidden ingredients such as sodium, which, when eaten excessively, can lead to kidney problems, high blood pressure, heart problem, and weak bones.

Another cause of obesity is lack of exercise. 64% of adults in the sample claimed to meet the recommended weekly exercise guidelines. We could say that with more than half of the country reaching these guidelines, Scotland is a generally active country. However, with this in mind, we also must consider the other 46% of adults who are not meeting these guidelines, maybe just by a little bit, or maybe by doing no exercise at all. From personal experience, I believe that with the evolution of social media through the years, people are beginning to promote more healthy and active lifestyles through this. As fitness gurus become role models for many and as people post photographs of the transformations they have undergone through healthy diet and exercise, the generations of internet users are being inspired. However, depending on the attitudes to exercise that we grow up around, we are often exposed to a lack of motivation to exercise, or to the attitude that it is not really necessary. Therefore, there is definitely room for improvement when it comes to Scotland’s physical activity.

As well as these causes of poor health, I feel it is vital to mention alcohol consumption and smoking. With new legislation people are less likely to be harmed by second hand smoke. Although, it is clear that despite the known dangers of lung cancer, smoking still exists in Scotland and until this is not the case, it will contribute to our high mortality rates and poor general health. In addition, our culture has widely accepted that the people of today drink to get drunk. Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol not only has the potential to damage the liver but can also effect people mentally.

Mental health plays a huge part in determining the general health of Scotland. With around one in ten adults having had two or more symptoms of depression, 5% saying that they had attempted to take their lives at least once, as well as 5% saying that they had harmed themselves on purpose without the intent of killing themselves, Scotland may not be the least, but it is not the most, mentally healthy country it could be. However, support for this is on the rise and I would claim that within my life-time I have noticed an increase in help available as well as a decrease in stigma against mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

The report also covers other areas of health such as dental health, childhood obesity, Asthma, Cardiovascular Disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and Hypertension. The results of these aspects were varied but all of which displayed Scottish people as being relatively susceptive to having these diseases and health problems.

Therefore, it is fair to conclude that despite the high claims of good health in Scotland, the mortality rate is far too high and the NHS is far too stretched for these claims to be valid. So many diets consist of too much sugar and salt and not enough vitamins and minerals. Although many people claim to meet the guidelines of weekly exercise, there are still a group which remains not doing enough exercise. Obesity, smoking and alcohol abuse remain as huge problems, putting increasing pressure on the NHS to provide adequate health care. While mental health problems may be being more widely supported, they are often triggered by the stress that our society places on people. Meaning that Scotland, clearly, has quite a long way to go to becoming ‘healthy’.

Is society the greatest cause of disability?

February 7, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Within the Societies and Lifestyles module, we have been studying the social affects of inclusion and equality. The most recent focus on this has been disability. We used this as an example to allow us to specifically think about certain types of inequality and exclusion in society. Disability is just one of the many named characteristics which are protected against discrimination by the Equality Act, 2010. However, this allowed us to think in depth about Allport’s Scale of Prejudice and Discrimination using clear examples. Upon reflection of my own experiences witnessing and learning about real-life examples of antilocution, avoidance, discrimination, physical abuse and extermination, I considered that as a person of privilege, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to truly understand how people of the characteristics stated in the Equality Act, 2010 feel and deal with day to day tasks which I often take for granted as being easy.

I was then lead to consider the question: Does disability come from the impairments themselves or from the physical and social environment? I would have to argue the latter. It is very often not the impairment which prevents people from going about every day activities, but it is the restrictions caused by the environment which has been physically and socially built up to suit the majority. If we take example from John Rawls’ belief that in order to achieve equality as fairness, we must look to the least advantaged people first and consider that which would suit them. It is only by doing this that we will begin to see a shift towards a world which accommodates for everyone equally and as integrated.

In a TED talk filmed in October 2009, Aimee Mullens discussed her beliefs about adversity. She believes that adversity itself is not the problem – it is a challenge but it is one which must be looked at from a positive and pro-active point of view. Diversity is everywhere! It always has been and we are developing new ways in which people who are disabled can function most freely. However, it is the attitudes of society and the old fashioned building methods which are behind in the times. It is these two factors which are preventing many people with disabilities from seeing whatever impairment they may have as a part of them which makes them different – not less valuable. It is these which are segregating the advantaged from the disadvantaged.

As I make that statement it brings me to wonder, how can we distinguish between someone who is advantaged and someone who is not? My personal definition of advantage would be something which makes a person a step ahead of someone else. In this day and age should we really be considering people who are different as people who are disadvantaged? The mind-set of society must change as we cannot continue to impose this kind of negativity towards people who may look, act or feel differently to the majority. Aimee Mullens also discusses the idea of normality. It is society which creates this vision of a normal person and it is society which puts pressure on people to be no different to normal. Whether that be a child who is particularly clever at school; someone who chooses to die their hair purple; someone who doesn’t have much money; someone who lives in a different place to you; someone who plays a certain sport; or someone who hates sport and loves to read! The list could go on forvever until the characteristics one must have to be normal create a completely unrealistic view of a person who could not exist! We all have our qualities and our flaws, our likes and our dislikes, our circumstances and our lifestyles. We are all different and there is no true “normal”. Since normal can never exist, we are all competing in an endless cycle against those who are particularly different from us.

In our world of today, we must prevent people who have disabilities from being disadvantaged in any way. It is this line between advantage and disadvantage which creates two groups of majority and minority and which prevents either group from truly understanding the intentions or feelings of the other. As Nancy Fraser believes, it is our advantages which blind us from appreciating the contribution of minority groups. Therefore, the idea of Universal Design, if put in to practice from now on when designing new buildings, we should be able to see a more equal society. Not only allowing for equality as fairness but by influencing attitudes about disabilities. We are all so heavily influenced by society that if it was physically built with disabled and able bodied people considered as one, the line between the two would hopefully fade. This would hopefully lead to less discrimination and a more modern outlook on the possibilities disabled people have.

It is therefore fair to conclude that as a teacher I shall always consider those who are least advantaged in the class room before making sure that the classroom environment suits every child. I also see the great importance in educating children, as emphasised by Nancy Fraser, about minority groups and ensuring that every child’s needs are catered for in an equal, fair and inclusive way.

From learning about this today I found myself faced with many questions which I previously had not considered. Some of which I have discussed above and some of which I shall take away with me and look into further before I conclude my answers. One thing which really stuck with me from watching the Aimee Mullens TED talk was her quote: “The exact meaning of the word ‘educate’ comes from the root word ‘educe’. It means to bring forth what is within, to bring out potential.” We must, as educators, students and members of the community, do our very best to bring out the very best in every person and provide them with the support to strive.

disability

World Internet Safety Day

February 7, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

Today, the 7th February 2017, was World Internet Safety Day. It is all about raising awareness of internet safety and making sure that young people are well educated about online behaviour and that parents and carers are well trained in the possible dangers of the internet and how best to deal with them. As an aspiring teacher I found it extremely useful to learn about and gain access to resources which I will be able to reference as support when I am faced with teaching pupils about internet safety. Today my tutor told us something which made a large impact on me. He told us that we must treat going on the internet like going outside. Although it is indoors and may appear as though it is constricted to one safe room, it is the complete opposite! I would even go as far as to argue that the internet can be an even more dangerous place than the outdoors as it can expose any person to any number of dangerous people and environments; often many more dangerous people than the number who physically live near them.

Stranger danger is discussed with young children before they are able to understand what it means. The internet, I feel, is a particularly scary place because for some reason, most of us are happy to accept someone as our ‘friend’ or to allow someone to ‘follow’ us, who in fact is not our friend at all! People need to understand the dangers of posting personal information online as this can often be viewed by anyone who wants to see it and can track them to know more about you than you would want a stranger to know! People online can hide behind the mask of a profile, which may or may not hold true information about them. They are free to make up any character they wish, making it easy for them to manipulate people into believing their lies. I felt that I was exposed to the dangers of this, especially the very real dangers of grooming throughout my time spent in late primary school and secondary school. However, it is clear that as technology is ever advancing, social media is becoming more and more popular with children who are way below the recommended age of use. Social media is not confined to the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Apps such as Snapchat and games which allow people to play live against each other while talking through headphones or online messages also fall in to this category. This means that just as children are introduced to stranger danger, they must be introduced to internet safety.

Stepping away from the idea of false profiles, I feel that there is a sense of competition between young people to have the most ‘friends’ or ‘followers’, meaning that hopefully they will get the most ‘likes’ on their posts and pictures, which is thought of my many as a measure of popularity and beauty. This can give people a sense of confidence but it also provides a whole new platform for bullying and insecurities. We are constantly faced with edited photos of unrealistic looking people and an obsession with the ‘selfie’. This is an unnecessary pressure that seems to be effecting more and more younger children. Social media is something which should be enjoyed, not abused. It is therefore imperative that we teach our future generations about how to behave online and how to deal with anything which seems even slightly strange or anything which has upset them.

We were provided today with a link to CEOP ThinkUKnow materials which had many videos helpful tips about how to teach internet safety to different age groups and how to deal with reports of anything suspicious or unsettling happening online. I found this to be very helpful as I know that this is a resource which I will need to become very familiar with over the years! We were also provided with links to lesson plans for different age groups of children to use on World Internet Safety Day. These gave us materials to use and instructions of how best to use them along with powerpoint presentations and ideas of questions and prompts to use to guide discussions within the classroom. I have saved these resources onto my computer as I feel that they will definitely come in handy one day. Although we are becoming more and more aware of online dangers and working to improve how we deal with them, I believe that due to the long period of time in which social media did not exist, there are still many people who do not see the true extent of the dangers of the internet and this is something that we, as educators, must do our very best to deal with.

By helping people to stay safe online, we are helping people to stay safe in the world. What could possibly be negative about that?

Religion, Society and Diversity

February 7, 2017 User deactivated Leave a comment

1024px-religious_symbols-4x4-svg As a result of a recent Society and Lifestyles lecture, independent task and tutorial, I have learned that religion can be sectioned in to three types – established religion, sects and cults. Each of these share certain characteristics, allowing them to fall into the same category, although they also display differing levels of extremity and different ways of organisation. I have also learned that there are many different definitions of religion, depending on which angle one looks at it from. However, there are commonalities between all religions and Bourdillion believes that they are composed of the way people see things and symbols. As I am viewing religion from a sociologists point of view, it would have been recommended by Ninian Smart that I should adopt the scholary approach.

Furthermore, I have learned that religion has many purposes and through discussion of the opportunities and challenges of religious diversity in the tutorial, I have found that this is a very powerful part of today’s society. Potentially creating a more accepting and peaceful culture as by allowing our children to grow up in a religiously diverse society, we are allowing them exposure to, and possibly experience of, different religious practices and lifestyles, therefore helping to eradicate the fear of the unkown. In addition, in many cases it may lead to people finding their own sense of identity within a different religion to that which they were originally brought up to be. As well as this, I learned that religion provides order within society. This provides a clear example of how lifestyle impacts on society as it is ultimately our beliefs which guide us towards the decisions we make. Meaning that those who follow a religion, should follow the teachings of that religion and this will impact their actions. It can also be said that through these teachings there are requirements, sometimes in the form of rituals. These rituals can have an impact on our society as those who go through with them, or do not go through with them, will either fit in to the society within their religion or not and this will affect them phsycologically.

I mostly understand the main concepts and issues of the topics and areas I have learnt today as I am now able to see the vast complexity of the definition of religion and its purposes within society. I can also see that religion and society have been connected since the creation of whichever one came first, and affect each other in both positive and negative ways. Many Marxists could be argued to believe that religion has always been used to control people and to deceive them into a false sense of contentment and safety as all will be solved by God, hiding them from political unfairness.

However, I am struggling to understand Bruce Lincoln’s belief about culture and religion providing a site for negotiations for power and privilege in society and the ‘hegemonic struggle’. To develop my understanding of this, I will find his book ‘Discourse and the Construction of Society’ and I will read more about this particular term and topic and will hopefully find further explaination. I also need to read more on the theorists that we looked at today, I have began to read about Bourdillion. I will continue to do this before next weeks class as well as reading about Bronislaw Malinowski and Emile Durkheim.

Just another blogs.glowscotland.org.uk – Glow Blogs site