ESC407 Melintheclassroom

As a beginning teacher who is experienced and comfortable with technology, the concept of TPACK seems a bit of a no-brainer; meaning I can’t really imagine planning my lessons any other way.  I suspect that I have good TK, satisfactory CK (Excellent in some areas but will surely need a brushing up in others!) and developing PK, which would place me where the red star is below.  The goal is to increase my PK to get to the yellow star. In the workplace, after setting the goal or target, standard practice for any new project or plan always starts with an assessment of the available resources and, in my eyes, this framework provides a similar approach to teaching.   Identify the goals of your project (ie the lesson or project you want to deliver – and the curriculum outcomes), assess what resources you have first (your TPACK), then identify and address any gaps in order to give your project the greatest chance of success.   Wish it was as easy as it sounds! ...

A recent Sydney Morning Herald article described the 'dark web' as "the internet's evil twin" (Callaghan, 2018) and made a distinction between it and 'the clear web' which is what we access every day.  There is so much in this article that could be applied to this module - it's an interesting, and somewhat terrifying read.  Check it out:  https://www.smh.com.au/technology/the-dark-web-uncovering-monsters-and-myths-in-the-net-s-evil-twin-20180307-p4z39d.html Disturbingly, if you Google 'the dark web', there are pages and pages on how to access it.   ESC407 Module 7/8 lecture (Tinkler, 2017) discussed ensuring that students know WHY they need to take certain precautions online which I believe is valuable advice.   As the mother of 2 teenagers, I feel that I have a high level of awareness of issues like online safety, privacy, inappropriate material and behaviour.   Our school is very proactive in this area and regularly bring in experts...

This week's post focuses on Web based learning which is defined as 'learning or learning activities that take place via the internet' (Roblyer & Doering, p8).  Whilst fully developed courses and programs are great for saving teacher time, it is important to make sure that they are relevant to our curriculum and are pedagogically sound.  However, a wide range of activities and resources are web based and can be used to enhance and enrich traditional classroom learning and open up opportunities to integrate the 4Cs - collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. (Roblyer & Doering, p 260). Virtual Field Trips:  Because I live and will be teaching in regional NSW, to take a field trip anywhere often involves a very long bus trip so it had jolly well better be worth it.  Usually, the time and financial cost would simply be too great so I think rural students probably miss out on the field trip opportunities that city students could experience...

I'm loving this subject!!  Mum studying is supposed to be sacred in our house    and the boys get into trouble if they barge in on me (which they still do but one can only hope for uninterrupted peace 😊 ).  So, when my 13 year old came in last night and Dad yelled at him, he was full of glee as he said "it's OK, she's only watching YouTube".  And there goes the mystique of my teaching degree!! I had some trouble getting my head around 'Web 2.0' at first, it's not a term I've ever encountered before.   But I'm certainly familiar with what it can do outside of the classroom.   There are, of course, lots of ways in which the 'read/write-web' can be used in the classroom and after much 'watching You Tube', here are three that I think could be very useful, particularly in the science classroom. 1.  Easel.ly   https://www.easel.ly/    This is a fun and easy to use infographic creator.  Infographics or data visuali...

Buckle up people...this one is a bit too long.  In my defence, I consider that there are essentially 2 blog post topics in this week’s material – ideas about hardware/software choices in specific disciplines and also benefits and challenges associated with the TIP framework in our teaching area.  I have to say that I think the TIP framework is just sound lesson planning practice that includes a couple of extra considerations with regards to the use of technology.   Wiggins and McTighe  (as cited in Henderson and Exley, 2012, p. 26) use  the term 'backward design'  and emphasised the need for lesson planning decisions starting with outcomes and required standards, and working backwards to learning activities.  The steps identified by Wiggings & Mctighe are similar to those in the TIP framework.   I do however, particularly like the ‘determination of relative advantage’ step – sound practice to eliminate the use of technology simply...

At risk of sounding like a fence sitter who is unable to make up my mind, I find that after a lot of reading, note making and watching of videos, I still have one metaphorical foot very firmly rooted in each camp. I don’t think that there is one single theory which can be applied to all forms of learning, for all ages and at all stages, and I strongly believe that at different stages of cognitive development and maturity, there is a place for Behaviourism, Constructivism, Cognitivism and Connectivism. I see that effective teaching, particularly in this ‘digital age’ requires elements of all the major learning theories – with different focuses at different stages of education, and for children with different styles of learning. A simplified definition of a learning theory is provided by Duke, Harper & Johnston (2013) as a theory that provides a description for how learning essentially occurs. The theory of connectivism doesn’t, to me, describe how learning occurs. It descri...