Over the last 6 Weeks I have been amazed by how many different types of information communication tools (ICT's) there are out there. More specifically how many there are available for teachers to utilise in their classrooms. We are living in a digital world and thankfully schools have recognised this, embraced it and have incororporated ICT"s into students learning (Education Queensland. 2015). This is referred to as E-learning. ICT's can range from an interactive whiteboard, playing Mathematical games or researching topics online and watching YouTube clips, creating concept maps and students creating their own blogs or webpages.
Below is a short clip of how ICT's have been developed over the years and how they have increased the learning of our students in a classroom.
(Quin 2012)
Don't get me wrong it is excellent that Schools have embraced the use of ICT's however it does come with some implications. It is important that school's ensure their students are keeping safe, ethical and legal whilst using ICT's. ICT's provide students with new and engaging ways to learn and it is vital that they become safe responsible digital citizens (Department of Education and Children Services. 2009. p. 7). ICT's however should not be limited and cut back because of this fear students just need to educated properly and be able to make informed decisions. Cybersmart.gov is a great website that all teachers should encourage there students to discover and learn how to be cybersmart. It has great examples of positive and negative cyber behavior. All Schools will have policies regarding the use of ICT's and students need to be made aware of these and strict consequences need to be enforced if students adhere to these.
With technology now being such a major influence on the way that teachers teach the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPAK) framework has become essential for them to use. Koehler (2011) illustrates that the TPACK framework identifies the knowledge teachers need to teach effectively with technology. Teachers will be more effective in the ways that they teach if they can successfully make creative link between the content (what is being learned), pedagogy (how it is taught) and the technology (appropriate tools). TPACK is one of 2 Frameworks that is used by teachers so next I will be discussing the SAMR (substitute, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition) Framework.
Below is a clip which summarises what the SAMR Model is.
(EducatorsTechnology)
Learning theories used by teachers can be supported by ICT's. The learning theories that I have discussed in this blog are; Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism and Connectivism.
In a quick summary Behaviorism is learning through paractive, positive reinforcement, and re-shaping what they have learned in the process (CQUniversity 2015).
Cognitivism is the understanding of learning in terms of mental processing.
Cognitivism explained mental processes in terms of a three stage model. Information is picked up by the senses, and transferred to the sensory memory. If it is not used immediately, it is lost. If it is regarded as important, it is transferred for short-term storage to the short-term memory. With reinforcement and linking to other ideas, information is eventually stored in long-term memory. (CQUniversity. 2015)Constructivism and Connectivism are both student-focused learning approach. Where Cogniticivsim and Beahviourism are both Instructor focused.
Constructivism is where learners build on their own personal experiences. Learning is an active, contextualised process of constructing knowledge rather than just acquiring it. Learners test these hypotheses through social negotiation. The learner uses past experiences and cultural factors in situations. For example a teacher could get the students to do an assessment piece on creating a blog on a certain topic and instead of them printing it off for the teacher to mark fellow peers can review and comment on each others work.
So far in my journey of learning about ICT's I have discovered there is a range of different ICT's that can be used in the classroom. Digital pedagogy is engaging, interactive and readily available and for the most part easy to use. ICT's can make not so interesting content seem fun and exciting and engage students to learn simply by teaching it with the use of ICT's.
"If we Teach as we taught yesterday, then we rob our children of tomorrow" - John Dewey
References
CQUniversity (2015). A Brief Overview of Learning Theory. Retrieved from: https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=15608
CQUniverisity (2015). A Thinking Taxonomy (Bloom's Taxonomy) and the SAMR Model. Retrieved from: https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=15617
Cybersmart.gov.au
Department of Education and Children Services (2009). Cyber-Safety Keeping Children Safe in a Connected World. Retreived from: http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/docs/documents/1/CyberSafetyKeepingChildre.pdf
Educators Technology (2013). SAMR in 120 Seconds Retreived from: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/06/samr-model-explained-for-teachers.html
Education Queensland (2015). Information and Communication Technology. Retrieved from: http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/about/ict.html
Koehler, M (2015). What is TPACK? Retreived from: http://tpack.org/
Quin, G (2012). The Development of ICT's. Retreived from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbQ0rpy5DJQ
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