Week 3 - Engagement Activity 1

Blog Reflection

What is a blog? A blog is a website that allows individuals to post regular content to be viewed by the public. It provides a range of new ways of engaging students.  This youtube clip explores ten interesting reasons for using blogs in the classroom.


Using the PMI matrix below, a range of other pluses, minuses and interests have been examined.

Pluses	Minus	Interests
·         Allows students to express their opinions ·         Allows to students to comment on other student’s blogs (collaborative learning) ·         Can be accessed outside the classrooms and for distance leaner’s – global learning ·         Makes education participant-centred ·         Encourages students to be active and engage throughout the semester in an interactive way ·         Assists learners improve their writing and literacy skills. Students would also get better at writing reflections. ·         Students can update their work. ·         Allows the teacher and student to see changes in a learner’s opinions and ability over time. ·         Creates an informal learning atmosphere that engage learners. ·         Saves paper and reduces costs ·         Assists multi-learner types	·         In researching for assignments, blog information is not always correct or reliable. It could also be biased. ·         It cannot be edited by other students, and thus it is not really utilising collaborative learning (contrast with a wikispace for instance.) ·         Some learners dislike the scope that is given to them in creating a blog. ·         Constant/regular engagement on a blog may be difficult for students with other commitments. ·         No privacy if teachers and students are giving feedback on a blog. ·         Potential for cyber bullying. ·         In individualist cultures some people are less inclined to share knowledge.	·         Gives people opportunities to engage in ICTs ·         Opportunities to create and share information with others around the world

 The use of a blog in the classroom creates an informal learning dialogue that can encourage students to be active and engage throughout the semester. As a future home economics teacher, I would utilize the use of this ICT into a weekly assessment regime in my junior classes. After the cooking class each week, students would be asked to create a blog about the dishes that they made. Students would be required to post the recipe (ingredients and method) as well as a photograph of the dish that they made. Students would then reflect in the blog on dish they created and suggest things they could improve on for next time. They would also be encouraged to positively engage and comment on other student’s blogs.

For a senior hospitality class, I would require the students to publish a ‘food critic’ blog. Students would be asked to go to a couple of restaurants over the course of the semester. Students would be required in their blog to review the service, cleanliness, taste and appearance of the food, the dress and friendliness of the staff and give an overall rating for the establishment. Students would be required to conduct such a blog in a positive manner with praise and/or constructive criticism.

Overall, the goal of the blogs would be to engage students in the learning process. Initially students would engage independently in posting their blog and then collaborate with other students by commenting on their peer’s blogs.

Week 2 Assessment Reflection

Engagement Activity 4: Blog reflection on wiki activity

In engagement activity 3, students were asked to participate in a wiki about mobile phones. Students were asked to use de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats as a scaffolding for the activity. Each coloured hat represented a different thinking perspective and this allowed students to formulate a balanced argument.

 

The forum is to a large extent reflective of the constructivist theory. Constructionist theory considers that meaningful learning occurs when students attempt to actively engage in making ‘sense of the world’ (Snowman et al., 2009, p.337). It focuses on how each student creates knowledge and distinctive interpretations of experiences, information and ideas from the sharing of multiple perspectives (Snowman et. al., 2009, p337). There are two major constructivist approaches: cognitive constructivism (hyperlink) and social constructivism.

 

Social constructivism in particular concentrates on how meaningful learning occurs through engagement with other student’s arguments and perspectives. Students are taught how to use psychological tools such as different ways of problem solving and then exposed to real life scenarios that allow students to create a shared understanding of an occurrence, event or trend (Snowman et al., 2009, p341). The wiki was reflective of this approach. The lecturers helped students through creating a scaffolding (de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats) in order to allow construction of ideas using the realistic scenario (should mobiles be allowed in schools). The wiki provided the opportunity for students to work collaboratively to construct new understandings, conceptions and shared meaning. Many students, such as myself, would examine what other students had written and then build upon this. In this way learning is initially influenced by the knowledge of other students. The discussions in the forum allowed students to then become more self-regulated and independent.  

 

However, Siemen’s argues that one drawback of this approach is that in spite of viewing learning as a social process, it still promotes the ‘principality of the individual’ (2005).  The theory does not examine learning that is collected and influenced by technology. He proposes connectivism as theory that brings these learning approaches ‘into the digital age’ (2005). With rapidly advancing technology, there is greater value in providing students with the means of accessing knowledge, as opposed to endeavouring to learn and experience ‘everything’.  Thus, the connections to knowledge are a more valuable skill. The wikispace provided students with a network to other student’s knowledge. The collaborative, network environment of the forum thus also highlights the connectivist theory.

 

One notable drawback of participation in a wikispace is that it did not provide an option for shyer students or students who are self conscious about their academic abilities, to participate anonymously. If students were extremely self conscious about what other students would have thought of their ideas, then they may be afraid to contribute meaningfully to the exercise.

Another limitation on the exercise is the fact that a misguided response could be given by a student, with little to no possibility of this being corrected. Although, it is a skill for students to examine the value and worth of information. This could have been addressed through the participation of a lecturer, tutor or mentor in the wikispaces.

 

References

Siemens, G (2004). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age Elearnspace. Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

 

Snowman, J., Dobozy, E., Scevak,J., Bryer,F., Bartlett, B,.  &  Biehler, (2009).Psychology Applied to Teaching (1st ed). Milton Queensland Australia:  John Wiley & Sons.

Annette's First Blog

Annette's First Blog
4 November 2012
Week 1 Engagement Activities

Engagement Activity 1

1. What is your learning style? What sorts of learning experiences would suit you best with your learning style?

According to Felder and Solomon’s online questionnaire my preferred learning styles are sensing, visual and sequential. When learning I like solving problems by ingrained methods and I dislike complications and surprises (sensing learner). I also prefer to learn visually with pictures, films and demonstrations (visual learner). I also have difficulty in learning when steps are skipped and when lecturers change topics in a non-linear fashion (sequential learner).

2. In a traditional classroom of 25 students, how would you support the range of learning styles each lesson?

I would provide a range of learning styles and learning options to suit my learners preferred style of learning. All students learn differently, but everyone absorbs information to a greater level of understanding if the topic is presented both verbally and visually. Thus, I would engage both of these learning styles through demonstrations and accompanying explanations.

3. With your current knowledge of ICT, how could your design and digital pedagogy support your learners better?

Whilst currently possessing a limited knowledge of ICT, and I am aware of youtube clips, wikis and blogging. Student’s today are ‘digital natives’ and thus, whilst I am a ‘digital immigrant’, I could incorporate these visual clips (visual learners), blogs (reflective learners) and wikis (active learners) to assist in supporting student’s preferred learning styles in the 21^st century.

4. What sorts of profiling questions would you be asking about your learners to ensure you cater for everyone's preferences?

When working with students I tend to observe them at work and when I notice students having trouble with the task I ask them what is it that they understand and then we work on what they are having trouble. In order to do this I ask a range of internal profiling questions that ultimately ask ‘how does this student learn best?’. For instance:

a) ‘would the student learn better in a group, actively engaging with other students, or would they prefer to work alone on the task?’

b) ‘Would the student learn better with specific examples of concepts and procedures based in a real world context, or would the student learn better if the task gave greater scope for innovation?’

c) ‘would the student learn better from placing the learning material in the context of the bigger picture?’

5. How does ICT support differences in learning styles?

The students of the 21st century learn in a completely different technological environment to that of most of the last century. ICT provides the opportunity for students to learn with different computer programs and alike that suit their preferred learning style. For instance, vokis, blogs and social networking. ICT presents opportunities for new interactive learning resources. Students can engage in collaborative formats, as well as in individualised options. There are also different formatting options in terms of colour, design, visual content and auditory content to suit preferred learning styles. Ultimately, ICT enhances all types of preferred learning styles.

Personal Reflection on the  first week

I agree with Prensky's views (2001) in the readings from this week. He examined how far we have come into the digital age. Those of us still in the immigrant stages of the digital world have to adapt to keep up with the natives.

My understanding of the nature of today's learners is that they expect to be entertained not by their teachers but by the activities that the teacher can facilitate for them onto their laptops. Gone are the days when we would stand out the front of a class with the chalkboard, chalk and talk. This is so boring for todays learners, although they still need this part of the lesson to help them on their way to investigate the topic that you have designed for them to keep them engaged in your lesson.
Furthermore if computers are not used in the class for that lesson students complain that they are bored or comment "why can't we use our laptops". I have observed this in classes on my prac and I find it quite strange that many teachers have not embraced ICTs.

Further reading see: Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizion, 9(5), 1-6.