Topic of Interest one

As mentioned by Nick in his blog, in this weeks learning path and tutorial we were asked to research and expand out knowledge in relation to using ICT on professional experience.

I came across Turtle Diary, a website comprising of many educational games for prep to year two in Maths, English, science and the arts. These games can be used at school or for further assistance at home. The games introduce and build concepts and skills from all learning areas in a fun, engaging and non threatening way. The educational games also cater for English as a Second language learners and is accessed by many countries around the world.

This website is American designed therefore, some of the spelling does not align with English Standards which could confuse students who are learning how to read and spell.

As Nick mentioned on his blog at the end of the tutorial we brainstormed where we can look for ICT resources to use while on professional experience. When we are on professional experience it will be our role to develop and choose what ICT resources will be used in our lesson plans. To help this process, as a class we stock piled a list of different areas learnt throughout the semester and found on the learning path that could assist us. We categorised our brainstorming into four categories.

Process Models: TPACK, Backward design

Frameworks: Blooms Taxonomy, Australian Curriculum

Literature: journal articles, Herrington’s paper

Theories: Tool belt theory, constructivism

Assignment three preperation

After submitting assignment two, in class this week we moved onto assignment three. Assignment three focuses on module three of the learning path. Assignment three is based on what is learnt and the ICT integrated lesson plans developed while on professional experience. There is three sections of assignment three, preparation, lesson plans and reflection. Section one preparation can be started before professional experience. The five lesson plans need to be implemented on professional experience but do not have to be written by you, they may be the C2C or lessons already planned by the teacher. The reflection needs to address what worked well in the lessons and what could be planned better for the future.

Authentic Activities

Herington and Kervin’s paper suggests that authentic learning environments should be designed focusing on nine key areas. The area authentic activities describes the need for learning experiences and activities in the classroom to reflect the students real world and reflect real life experiences. An example of this which was used to development my unit plan in assignment two is to use ICT as a tool to create a toy or game based on how technology has impacted toys and games. This tool could be paint or a gaming program. This is an authentic activity for students in the early childhood setting as toys and games are something they are interested in and interact with when they are not at school.

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy

When exploring the learning path for week five for more information for assignment two I discovered a PDF file containing information about Bloom’s digital Taxonomy. This document outlines the six key terms; remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating. In this document each has been linked to verbs which describe them as well as ICT specific examples of each. This will be very helpful when designing my unit plan especially when designing the sequence of learning experiences to ensure that students begin with lower order thinking skills and more up to using higher order thinking skills according to Bloom’s taxonomy. The Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy also outlines a communication spectrum which identifies digital processes that could be completed at each level. Each of these aspect found in this document will be useful when writing the unit plan.

ICT General Capabilities

When reading through the rubric criteria for assignment two, it highlights the importance of the incorporation of ICT General Capabilities. ICT general capabilities are broken up into three areas before being applied to learning areas. These three headings are , Creating with ICT, Communicating with ICT and Investigating with ICT. Each of these identify areas in which ICT’s can be used and learnt in each learning area. For assignment two the ICT capabilities with are attached to the historical skill: use a range of communication forms, are creating with ICT and communicating with ICT. When developing learning experiences for the unit plan these capabilities will need to be taken into consideration. As
Jess mentioned in her blog acquiring a HD is important and to achieve this in accordance with the rubric ICT general capabilities will need to be covered.

Changes in games.

While exploring more of scootle’s resources, I also found a black and white image of a group of boys in 1925 playing marbles . This photograph from the National Archives, could be used as a resource to show children the change in games played over the years. This also could show the change that technology has had over time from two perspectives. From the perspective that children use to play outside with marbles in large groups as well as the colour of the photograph and how photography has changed. Again this is a resource which could be used in the unit for assignment two as it shows continuity and change as well as, has the potential to depict different perspectives, these are both key concepts that could be achieved using this resource.

Toys Now and Then

While exploring the resources available from Scootle for The impact of changing technology on people’s lives (at home and in the ways they worked, travelled, communicated, and played in the past) content descriptor, I found many helpful ICT resources which could be used in my unit plan. On the Museum Victoria Website, is a section dedicated to student and teacher learning resources. One resource which links directly to my unit plan is toys now and then resource which allows students to electronically put into order six different toys which kids have played with over the years. This resource shows students the change in toys as well as introduces them to sorting chronologically.

Assignment two ICT component

Like Nick discussed on his blog I have been exploring ideas for assignment two. While brainstorming for the second assignment, ICT resources to be used in the classroom is a major focus. As I am focusing on year two History I am trying to ensure that ICT will be integrated into the unit plan and ensure the focus isn’t just learning ICT skills. As year two History focuses on local and family history, I thought of creating an electronic time capsule that can be used to place images and websites of things that illustrate the past and present and could be used at the end of the unit to reflect on what they have learnt during the unit. More research into ICT resources needs to be completed and a look at scootle resources is my next focus.