Embedded Task 5 - Reflection on Simulations, Interactives (or Technology of your choice)

European Creative Classroom Framework

How does this reflect your beliefs and values about education?

It reflects my belief that classrooms should be creative and innovative in order to gain student engagement and further their learning. It also reflects my belief that classrooms need to be modern and need to use the current technology available, as these ICT applications are extremely influential in the learning of the students.

 How would your beliefs and values have to change to accommodate and work with the ideas presented here?

However, while I do believe technology is the central to student learning I do also believe that the use of technology can sometimes distract students from their learning and that the old note-taking style is the best approach in some cases. Therefore, I would have to change this belief or monitor students’ use of technology to ensure it is being used appropriately and that it does have an educational benefit.

This week’s technology explained…

Interactive learning objects: I probably would not incorporate them too much into my pedagogy, in particular, the circuits and gapminder program, as these would be more suited for a maths or science teacher and thus, do not reflect my own disciplines.

Google Maps: This would be beneficial in history lessons, as it would help me in explaining the geographical location of countries and places.

Online concept mapping: Great tool to use in either English or History when introducing a new topic to discover what students know and don’t know about the new unit.

Online Timetables: This would definitely be of benefit to me in a history lesson to give students a clear indication of the time of events.

Chosen technology for discussion: Google Docs

Overview of the technical aspects

-       Smart editing and styling tools: gives students the opportunity to be creative in their approach to the task.

-       Easily formats text and paragraphs: easy for students to use and therefore, only a small time is spent introducing students to the application.

-       Thousands of fonts: gives students the opportunity to be creative and unique.

-       Can add links, images, drawings, and tables: increases students’ engagement through the use of additional interesting multi-media.

-       Can be used from phone, tablet, or computer: students can virtually access it at any time.

-       Collaborative – everyone can work together: gives students the opportunity to work as part of a team.

-       Changes are automatically saved: students do not run the risk of losing their work.

-       Works with Microsoft Word: students have the ability to convert their responses into a word document if necessary.

-       Offline editing available: students can edit their work at any time.

-       Create graphs – can advance maths lessons

-       Chat with other users who are online – students can instantly get feedback from their peers and other students.

-       Collects data with a spreadsheet or form – improves teachers ability to track student progress

What learning outcomes can they support in your classroom? What sorts of materials/activities will they support?

-       Increased student feedback: teacher can be given access to students’ google docs and offer them feedback throughout their task.

-       Teachers can use it to collaborate on lesson plans with their colleagues. Therefore, students are being taught with the most authentic content and best possible teaching strategy.

-       Teachers can share class notes and presentations with students – improving student revision.

-       Whole-class activities – gives students the opportunity to work together and increase their knowledge based on their peers’ responses.

-       Improves student collaboration – students can work as part of a team on the same document or comment on other students’ individual work.

-       Improves teacher communication to ESL parents and students with the option of translator available – teachers can send newsletters and permissions slips to parents in their traditional language.

-       Teachers and students can use it to gather research information and ask for opinions.

-       Improves visual literacy with Google Doc drawing.

-       Improves student creativity – students can add their own individuality to the document through choosing particular styles, fonts, images and videos. 

Implemented in my own pedagogy:

The use of Google Docs can be applied to my own teaching context in a number of ways. Being a history teacher, using Google Docs would give me access to sharing primary sources with the students through sharing images from the time of the event on the Google Doc. Also, as students are more likely to retain information with the use of an image or visual I would input this into my pedagogy and make sure I have plenty of visuals on these documents. Also, with my second discipline being English, Google Docs could be used for character development in novel study. For example, I could put the name of a particular character up on a whole classroom Doc and get students to brainstorm character traits around it, so every student’s understanding of the character is advancing. Also, it would be an extremely helpful tool in essay writing. This is for the reason that I would have the ability to direct students in their writing. In addition to this, Google Docs would also provide me with the ability to provide instant feedback to students and track student progress. This would ultimately improve educational outcomes as students are instantly getting the feedback they need in order to develop. Additionally, the use of Google Docs would give me the opportunity to collaborate on lesson plans my colleagues. Furthermore, students learning would increase, as they are being taught with a broader perspective and with a more developed teaching strategy. 

Google Docs using the SAMR model:

Substitution:

Teacher puts class content on Google Docs and students copy into their notebooks. Therefore, at first Google Docs is just a basic ‘substitution’ to teachers writing on whiteboards/chalkboards.

Augmentation:

Class completes essay using Google Docs instead of using pen and paper. The functional benefit here is that teachers can give students instant feedback and track their progress. The impact of immediate feedback is that students may begin to become more engaged in learning.

Modification:

Students can comment and view other students’ work. The benefit here is that students are learning from each other and assisting in both their own individual learning and that of their fellow students.

Redefinition:

The Google Doc application becomes a virtual classroom. All classroom activities are at the students’ fingertips as well as this they gain additional support from digital artefacts.  Teachers can track student progress and interests and adjust their pedagogy accordingly. Students can submit their drafts online to the teacher and receive instant feedback. Students can work through classroom activities anytime through teachers publishing them on the Doc. Students have the ability to ask the teacher questions at any time and their peers through comments or the chat application. Students can collaborate ideas together from their own homes. 

My example:

The following is a link to an example I constructed which would be acceptable to use in an English lesson on metaphors.

https://docs.google.com/a/cqumail.com/document/d/1MIpmUhBkuOPyG5nq7eFeDwLit1N-9wnF9Yski1h59sQ/edit?usp=sharing