Monthly Archives: March 2017

The End of the Beginning

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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

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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

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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

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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!