Incorporating Audio

Access to royalty free music is a handy resource to have at your disposal when creating media rich learning experiences. I have just downloaded a piece of music to my hard drive from the Incompetech website and found it a fuss-free experience.



Image : http://thelinuxcauldron.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/audio_icon.jpg

Slide-casting

Here's my powerpoint come slide-cast developed on this website.

Hpe lunchbox

View more presentations from nellis2010.

I found this process to be quite involved and time consuming, but aren't all things when you are just learning? I am sure the process is really quite straightforward once you have mastered it, particularly the audio software.
So the voice recording that I have added has problems, in that it needs to be edited to play only in the first slide rather then across the whole presentation. I aim to spend some more time with this program and learn how to solve this and any other useful applications.
I can see its pedagogical use in customizing presentations with its ability to enrich presentations with audio.

WIKIPedia

Add WIKIPedia to your bookmarks. Forget the cumbersome printed encyclopedia and click into a wealth of information. How handy is this to have at your fingertips when lesson planning? But more importantly encourage your students in self directed problem solving and guide them to the source of information. Rest assured that tight controls monitor accuracy of information.

Google Earth

Google earth as a digital story telling tool! I love it! I had never thought of it in this context before viewing Joe Woods presentation. Here is are some further great ideas I came across for using it in the classroom.
Image courtesy http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Technology/images/google-earth.jpg

Teacher Tube Resource

I have been considering working on a unit in HPE focusing on building self-esteem and optimism in students. Below is a link to a clip from Teacher Tube to use in one of the learning experiences. It contains some famous faces as role models and I would hope the students find it inspiring and motivating.

Manipilating files

Having problems loading the online file altering program Picnik today, I instead experimented with Adobe photoshop which I had installed on my computer already. I would recommend it as a tool for adapting image files for the web or print.
I think that it is essential to have a handle on some type of file altering technology due to the ever present concern of file size in the digital environment. Incorporating images into your pedagogy is useful in order to stimulate your students and add a richer level to content.
Here is an image I played around with, then reduced it to 75dpi resolution which is suitable for web and only takes up a small 68k in file space.

Visual Communication

As they say a picture speaks a thousand words. Having discovered the wealth of images in the online photo sharing system Flickr I am excited about the potential. Importantly, copyright issues are covered and images can be used freely for education purposes. There are literally millions of photos, many of very high quality. The system is well organised for easy management of your own images plus an effective search engine for searching within categories of other files.

Image courtesy Flickr

The power of powerpoint

This week we have been guided through some information on powerpoint. I can see how it is an essential tool for any teacher. However, in my professional life prior to this course I have not had the need to use this program and as such this was somewhat of an introduction.

I have created the following slides for a primary lesson in HPE. I have tried to include moving text, graphics and sound into my presentation to cater for student individual differences and align with engagement theory. I have also incorporated a real life task for the assessment in following the Relate, Create, Donate approach.

The end result is fine but I can see there is much room for improvement. I tended to rely on stock options within the program package would like to learn how to embed custom animation, external video and sound files. I aim to spend more time getting acquainted with this program and learn how to put together a really entertaining show that enhances my learning objectives.
image courtesy: mmadams90.wordpress.com

Using Avatars

Get a Voki now!


This is the avatar I created in Voki. What a great tool for introducing a lesson or theme to students.

The avatars are fun to create and provide an interesting hook for engaging students from the start.

Due to the simplicity of the process, students could be guided to create their own avatars also.

ICT a student-centric approach

Appropriate use of ICT's has the ability to reform traditional education practices into a student-centric model.

Technology based media compels the students to be involved and to make meanings between the classroom activities and the real world.

In this way pupils are engaging in 'Direct Purposeful Experience' which as Dale's Cone shows, is the most effective learning method.

How lucky we new teachers are to be coming into this profession at such an exciting time! The possibilities in the classroom are awesome.

Beyond School

I enjoyed reading through Clay Burrell's blog at http://beyond-school.org/ and think it works as a platform for giving students a richer sense of the content being taught in class and poses some further ideas for them to 'chew on'.

I dont know Clay's s in-school teaching style, however it seems this medium allows for a more open, discussional pedagogy and allows student a deeper understanding of their teacher. Important to note that it is probably not compulsory reading so students opting to view the blog approach the content more readily as they are doing so by choice.

I think blogs can be an excellent tool for building trust with students via the less stuctured, conversational approach it supports. It encourages students to unpack and furher ideas found in the classroom. It also provides a space for students to get a more three dimensional view of their teacher.

Marzano Vs Costa & Kallick

Both Marzano and Costa & Kallick's descriptions of the Habits of Mind (HoM) form the basis of learning design approaches to current pre-service teacher training. The question being asked is
'What behaviors are indicative of the efficient, effective problem solver? (www.mindfulbydesign.com)

Marzano and Costa & Kallick's answers differ in the following way's:
Costa and Kallick summarise their findings into a collection of 16 thinking dispositions (inc. persistence, precision & meta cognition), whilst Mazarno encapsulates his ideas into 3 categories; critical thinking, creative thinking & self-regulated thinking.

Both frameworks share a common vision of harnessing ones intellectual behaviors to become the most effective humans that one can be. Parallel to this idea is the development of the continuous learner, applications for the classroom are obvious but such strategies should also be extended to the students wider world outside the classroom.

DoL + 8LMQs

Marzano's Dimensions of Learning (DoL) provides the perfect companion to the 8LMQs. The DoL's, based on extensive research on how the mind works, gear the pre-service teacher with the appropriate tools for fleshing out learning plan design as seen in the 8LMQs.

Particular application can be found in reference to LMQ3 How does my learner best learn?
In this instance we can apply DoL 1 (Attitudes and Perceptions) & 5 (Habits of Mind) to implicate that a learner need be in a safe, positive and enjoyable space for effective learning to occur.

Further, DoLs 2(Acquire and Integrate), 3(Extend and Refine), & 4(Use Knowledge Meaningfully) give substance to the Learning Management Question 5; What will constitute the learning journey?

Using these two proven models in conjunction with one another ensures that teachers have the best tools to connect their learners and the attributes of a successful learner in a combined holistic approach.

8 LMQ Framework

Best learning outcomes for all students can be catered for by answering the 8 questions in Smith & Lynch's 8 Learning Management Questions. The design is set out in the following framework:
-Profiling Phase LMQ 1-3
-Strategizing Phase LMQ 4-6
-Ascertainment Phase LMQ 7-8
The advantages of this approach can be found in its clear and concise structure for creating learning experiences. The framework has a learner orientation and emphasises the individual in the learning process.

Teacher vs Learner centered instruction

From what I remember of my primary years in schooling a teacher centered approach was prevalent.
I don't ever recall the students being asked to contribute to the planning or direct the shape of the lessons in any way. In particular my years 5 & 6 teacher was very close to retirement age at the time he took my classes and I assume he relied on 'old school' practices.
It is reassuring to note the emphasis placed on student- centeredness in current teacher training courses.

Engagement Theory

The premise of Engagement Theory (Greg Kearsley & Ben Shneiderman) is that students must be engaged in their work in order for effective learning to occur. The use of technology in the classroom is one of the most obvious ways to facilitate this. Attractive technologies to consider include the use of podcasts, mobile phones, internet, skype, googlemaps, email and wordprocessing to support pedagogies.
Furthermore, according to Kearsley and Shneiderman (1998), applying these digital pedagogies to 'authentic" or real life problems will provide the platform for very best learning outcomes.

Social Capital and Family Values

It has been said that education starts at home. However we are currently witnessing the demise in social capital through the break down in family values or over worked double income families. The resulting limited time modern parents have to spend with their children or the total lack of parental interest/involvement altogether is an ever present challenge in the classroom. Evidently these current changes in society are placing demands on 21st century teachers as they are being increasingly relied on to fill this gap.

Preparing Students for the Knowledge Economy

A key responsibility of 21c teachers is to prepare students for the world outside the classroom. The shift toward the emphasis on a knowledge based economy will be central to this task.
John Houghton and Peter Sheehan expand on this idea in their paper A Primer on the Knowledge Economy, suggesting that we

'are living through a period of profound change and
transformation of the shape of society and its underlying economic
base ... The nature of production, trade, employment and work in
the coming decades will be very different from what it is today'.

Technology is now integral to the majority of jobs our students will be employed in after their schooling journey and this is applicable amongst all levels and industries of employment from manufacturing to commerce. It is imperative therefore, that we are able to assist students in gaining these new level skills, the ability to adapt quickly to change and provide an understanding of the new workplace. In this way we can best help prepare them for success in tomorrows workplace.

As a final point, it it reassuring to consider that part of this job will be easy in the context that today's students are already technology junkies. Teaching them technology is engaging them in what they love and research shows that best learning outcomes are achieved when students are engaged.

Welcome

Hello and Welcome,
I am a pre-service student enrolled in a full time postgraduate teacher training degree. I am hoping to enter the teaching profession in 2011. I decided on this career path for a number of reasons including a love of learning, a love of children and a better work/life balance.
I am currently based on the coast with my husband and 2 year old daughter. We have settled here after many years of traveling around Australia and have lived in many towns and cities from Melbourne to Alice Springs to Darwin.
I have a boisterous kelpie, a rainforest and a veggie garden in my backyard.
This blog forms part of my assessment for this course but on a wider scale I would like to include you on the journey of a pre-service teacher in the 21st century. Throughout this blog I will investigate modern learning approaches for students in the digital age. I will consider new communication technologies and their place in the 21 century classroom. Included will be insights from professional conversations with mentors and other pre-service teachers as we grapple with the concept of efficiency and enhancement in the modern learning environment.
I look forward to sharing the outcomes with you all.
Regards
Naomi