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Over the past 3 months my understanding and passion for incorporating ICT skills into my teaching practice has developed dramatically. I recently read Miriam’s blog titled ‘Australian Teachers “Tops” at integrating technology’. It was inspiring to see how Australian teacher’s have effectively utilised ways to incorporate ICT skills and expose students to relevant Web 2.0 tools. As a result, the article in her blog suggested teachers are adding value to student learning and positively affecting their performance. Music to my ears!! Furthermore the article states that the more exposure and use of such ICT skills is a large determinate of student performance. Numerous other articles and reports such as the ‘BECTA Report- Web 2′ align with such statements. So it’s simple, ‘students turn to your laptop for today’s activity’ and lets begin our brilliant lesson

‘THE PROBLEM’

I am yet to teach at a school where there is more then two computer rooms for the entire school. So how can we engage and improve educational outcomes for student’s through ICT when there are no computers. Kevin Rudd promised lap tops for every student back in 2007, illustrated in this link. With the shift in the economy I am skeptical that students will be exposed to such technology in their learning. Rorris reports that funding gaps between public and private schools will exacerbate this problem. I dream of equity in our school system where all students will have the opportunity to regulary incorporate ICT into their learning. So my call goes out, where are the computers Mr Rudd!!!! 

What if they got it wrong? Gardner has never been able to clearly validate his findings for multiple intelligences and has been criticised by numerous other educational theorists such as Sternberg. Additionally the application of Blooms Taxonomy to grade the results of yet another standardised test may not be benefiting students. Have we thrown all our educational eggs in the one basket? Again I ask what if they got it wrong???

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 I have recently published blogs in relation to the theory of a ‘Constructivist’ teaching approach. As a result I thought it would be beneficial to demonstrate the application of such teaching practices through a specific example in my KLA that I taught. Say hello to a mindtool known as ‘Concept Maps’. In the area of Business Studies, Commerce or Economics I have seen some success in the application of mind tools in particular concept maps. The ability to link concepts, demonstrate interdependence and relationships is possible through concept mapping. Student’s can utilise this visual interactive tool for independent learning and peer collaboration. 

 An example of an interactive mind tool can be found here.

Expiry Dates on Teachers

 After my second prac teaching experience my main fear was that I would become one of the numerous teachers in my staff room – ‘an old, out dated, lazy teacher who is more interested in finding ways to hand off their work load then inspire students’. It seems to me that professional development and applying a range of new teaching strategies could be one defence to re-invent yourself as a teacher and avoid my fears. An article titled ‘difference between constructivism and constructionism’ by Ackermann explains the philosophy behind Constructivism and the difference behind the more narrow learning approach of Constructionism. As teachers it is vital to stay interested and in-touch with the various learning theories and applying them in your classroom. The ability to stay informed may just prevent teachers from becoming stale and out of touch with their students and teaching practices, thus avoiding our expiry date as a teacher.

 Yes, that’s right I said it ‘Podacsting is a waste of valuable time that teachers can rarely afford’. So do I have your attention!!! After reading and listening to material from Kathy Shield’s ‘Smallvoices: K.kids’ podacts’ I started thinking about the outcomes vs entertainment of podcasting. Kathy reported that the K-2 school students had a real sense purpose in the podcast activities whilst others just participated for the fun of it and enjoyed the surprising end product.  She hoped to teach the students that the sky’s the limit when it comes to creative use of technology and teamwork. So the question remains, were the children merely entertained or educated on effective use of technology for an educational outcome??? Maybe you say? A great tool, some others may claim?? Furthermore could podcasts benefit senior students studying Economics or Business Studies? I am a believer of critical thinking and a constructivist approach to teaching but I am yet to believe that the application of podcasting serves a purpose far beyond entertaining students.

An online interview with Jacqueline Grennon Brooks believes we can look at the computer explosion as a mechanism by which students can express themselves, by which students can create new knowledge, and use computer tools as a way of expressing their new creations. Jacqueline believes when it comes to technology the question is how can students use technology to answer the questions that they are posing for themselves? Once the student has the question, the constructivist teacher can endorse any type of technology that will help that child answer his or her question. I believe technology can assist a constructivist approach in numerous ways, do you???

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The digital era is well and truley upon us. Many issues have arised due to the relationship between education and technology. Tania’s blog raises the issue of literacy as an impact of this relationship.  In the workplace our communication exists through emails, powerpoint presentations and shared drives to store and access all work material. The majority of university work requires our pens to remain firmly in our back pockets as assignment work is all processed via the ever accessible campus computers or personal laptops. So why do we ask our students to be assessed based on their use of the pen’s ink???? In reference to an associated article, i believe that the pen is our last hope for literacy in secondary school education. Computers and additional technology can provide a base for supplementary learning, but students need to know how to write and spell in an effective manner that can be read and make sense. The thought of computers taking over books in the classroom and computer based exams should be thrown straight back into the rubbish where it belongs.