Reflective Synopsis

Hello readers, this will be my final blog post for this course, however if all goes well it may not be my last blog post as a pre-service teacher or qualified teacher. This final blog post is a synthesis of all my previous blog posts, bar my introductory post, to prove to you that e-learning, and the use of ICT tools contributes to the learning environment that students face in the twenty-first century. We shall have a look at how e-learning supports the three dominant learning theories, behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism, and also we shall use the SAMR model to break down e-learning and how it can substitute, augment, modify and redefine the teaching of graphics and information technology, my two teaching areas.

Nagowah and Nagowah, in their 2009 paper, state that the basis of any learning includes the learner, an instructor and a particular problem. They then go on to state that the ability to acquire information required to solve said problem is the key to learning, which is where the three dominant learning theories come into play. The learning theory, behaviourism, is a theory of animal and human learning that only focuses on objectively observable behaviours and disregards mental activities (Nagowah & Nagowah, 2009).

Hickey in his 2014 paper, the importance of learning philosophies on technology selection in education, goes on to state that behaviourists favour the transmission of information, such as through lectures, video, and text. Social interactions are likely to predominately one way – teacher to student, except in seeking clarification or testing understanding.

So how would e-learning enhance the use of behaviouristic teaching? A behaviouristic method could be just to stand and deliver the lecture, however as seen in my blog post on PowerPoint, a lecture given to psychology students with PowerPoint being the primary source of information the test results were nineteen percent lower than the classes that PowerPoint was not used. Nagowah and Nagowah (2009) state that the strength of behaviourism learning is that the learner is focused on a clear goal and responds automatically to the signs of that goal. This means that technology can enhance a behaviourists teaching style by giving the goal of a class, and maybe introducing the class or topic, with a short video.

The second of the three theories is cognitivism.

Cognitive theory usually relates to the role of information processing. The aspects involved in processing such as memory, organisation and neurological connections are vied as central in the cognitive theories. Bruner et al. (1956) found that learners tend to formulate a hypothesis about the rule underlying a particular concept. Rules can be expressed in the if-then form, for example: “If an animal that has four legs, fur, whiskers, a tail, is relatively small and vocalises ‘meow’, then it is a cat” (Shchunk, 2004). Cognitivists’ concept is fundamentally different from the behaviourists’ view of learning. (Nagowah & Nagowah, 2009).

How can we then enhance a cognitivist learning approach with e-learning? Since that learners formulate hypothesis about the rule underlying a concept, then the use of an ICT tool such as wordle or worditout can help with the use of identifying the key words that could be important. Another use of ICT tools would be the mind mapping based tools that require input. This helps the student focus on the key hypothesis of the topic.

The final learning theory is constructivism. This learning theory is active in the use of social experiences, in an out of the classroom. This is the most easily ICT enhance learning theory because schools now are very connected. In my placement I am participating in an introductory information processing technology class. The teacher has got the class to build a video game using a program call RPGMaker 4. With the criteria being that the game must have a mission, or quest, and a minimum of three levels, the class has designed some fantastic games, using the coding and building that is part of the class. Another way of letting ICT tools enhance the constructivist learner is to allow the learner to investigate a problem through any means necessary on the internet. With the only restrictions being such as what the school or department of education places on the computers, then the constructivist learner will use the problem solving tools to determine a solution. This learning theory is probably the most powerful tool to get through to learners who struggle learning, as it the freedom of learning their way that will engage the student, sometimes all they need is the problem and a dead-line and they will do the rest.

Finally we’ll use the SAMR model to do a general overview of ICT tools in the classes of graphics and information technology.

The use of ICT tools in graphics
Substitution	Substitute a computer aided drawing program, such as AutoCAD, Autodesk Rivet or google sketch up, for pencil and paper. Substitute learning literature with online readings and drawings.
Augmentation	Augment the learning process by introducing drawing tablets to enhance the drawing process. Augment the learning process with the use of video tutorials that each student can view at their own pace.
Modification	Modify the learning process by getting the learners to collaborate on a wiki site the design of a building, where each student will take and design a portion of the building, thus building up a full representation of the full building. Introduce an element of recording their design process through Camtasia, explaining what they are doing.
Redefinition	Redefine the learning process by getting the students to design a model for three-dimensional printing or laser cutting. Using the online tools such as grabCAD to give a basis for the students to start. For a constructivist assessment, get the students to engage in the Australian Standards in building a design such as a miniature house with scaled dimensions, allowing the design to be printed as well.

Unfortunately the use of ICT tools is the only way of teaching an information technology class, there is not really a way of augmenting or modifying the way you teach an information technology class. However you can always seek to redefine a topic within information technology, such as how to build a game, or building a website.

The use of ICT tools in information technology
Substitution	Introduce a topic with an online video rather than just give a brief introduction yourself.
Augmentation
Modification
Redefinition	Redefine what information technology is, for a year nine class, use the interest in websites to develop lessons around how to build and design their own websites, using programs such as Notepad++ or Adobe Dreamweaver.

At the end of the day, the use of ICT tools to enhance the way we teach our students comes down to how familiar you are with your chosen tool and the topic we are teaching. One cannot really enhance a handwriting class with ICT tools, beyond a game and drawing tablet, as handwriting is still done with pen and paper. However if you seek to use the tools that are available, always seek to bring out a redefinition of the topic with the use of a tool, making sure that every student will get the best out of a class. ICT tools allow the learner to be engaged in a topic for the entire school day and even at home, however not every student will continue to be engaged at all times, it is important for the teacher to recognise that engagement may be a small window and the tools are there to make sure that window is not wasted.

Engage wisely, and sometimes, after you’ve shown them, let the learners go with their chosen ICT tool, they might surprise you.

References

Hickey, G. (2014). The importance of learning philosophies on technology selection in education. Journal of learning design, 7(3), 16-22. Retrieved from http://www.jld.edu.au/issue/view/29

Nagowah, L., & Nagowah, S. (2009). A reflection on the dominant learning theories: behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism. The international journal of learning, 16(2), 279-285. Retrieved from http://ijl.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.30/prod.2031

Reflection 5; Week 6

A Reflection on the use of Miscellaneous ICT Tools

This week the cohort has been tasked with reflecting on the use of some miscellaneous ICT tools. To begin this last reflective blog I’ll start with this video (4 mins),

Today the ICT Tools I have looked at and used were mind mapping tools, google tools, and Excel. The mind mapping websites I used were http://www.bubbl.us and http://www.text2mindmap.com. These are great tools for writing down the start of a project. I myself, after my first placement day, have been given the task of teaching an information technology class cascading style sheets in two days. So I used the mind mapping tools to write down all the relevant information that I thought I should use and then generated the mind map.

The two mind maps I used were,

from bubbl.us, and 

from text2mindmap.

Of the two I personally thought that text2mindmap was the easier of the two, it allows for text in a box which you can easily change without fiddling around with bubbles and the text delete by enter, which I did a few times on bubbl.us. However bubbl.us has a slightly better aesthetic with strong areas of focus. I can see myself using these tools in class in my teaching career.

The second lot of tools are tools that I use every day. With google there is a range of tools out there, from e-mail (gmail) to video streaming services (youtube). However for me the most important tool is the google.docs function. Google docs allows for multiple users to access the documents that you want to be accessed. This is great for group assessment activities, however I understand that many schools choose not to use this ICT tool because they are government schools with their own intranet system. However as a rule of thumb, if you are teaching a class that is going to have a group assessment that is primarily written you might consider using google docs as it is very secure since the owner of the google docs page must give you permission. This is a tool for those who seek to go to university, since many universities do not have an intranet for students, it is the best way of equipping students seeking to go into the tertiary system.

Probably the most powerful tool on any computer is Microsoft Excel. Excel is a program that can start at the most basic functionality and go into some of the craziest functions that I personally haven’t wrapped my head around. My own personal use of Excel for the majority of the time is timetabling and finance. As a university student I would distil my timetable into a readable one page document. However for a term that I do not have set classes such as this term, in the graduate diploma of learning and teaching, I have laid out the entire term. On days that are important, such as assessment due days or collaborative classes I have inserted a comment. A comment is a pop-up bubble that one could edit with more information that a single cell might contain, much like an extendable sticky note on a calendar. Here is a snipped image from my calendar for this term.

The other functionality would be to use it in a mathematics class teaching statistics or data gathering. This information a class could collate into a spreadsheet and then pull the most relevant information with such tools such as the filter tool, or the group tool. I would suggest for many teachers who are teaching a topic such as maths, science or even graphics do not discount excel as a tool for the classes. 

And I just want to finish these reflective blogs with this short video from FW: Thinking (3 mins),

References

FW: Thinking. (2013, Jun 19). Is technology a threat to our education? [Video file]. Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVYwGc8u_c0

IKT –senteret. (2012, Sep 12). The future starts now – 2012 edition. [Video file]. Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfN5SSiRoPs

Reflection 4; Week 5

A Reflection on the use of PowerPoint tools in the classroom

This week the cohort has been tasked with using and reflecting on PowerPoint and similar tools. Immediately the decision was made to avoid traditional PowerPoint as much as possible. This is because PowerPoint as a tool is quite old and can become very stale very quickly. However after looking into the replacement tool for PowerPoint, Prezi, the conclusion was made that PowerPoint is still a very powerful tool that a lot of teachers, innovators and presenters overlook because of the stigma of “old”. However in researching this topic, there is a conclusion that may surprise you as a teacher and educator.

PowerPoint can be used without having to give all the information. In fact, it detracts if you use the PowerPoint as an information dissemination tool. Pros et al. (2013) conducted a study whereby the purpose was to find if there was a comparable effect on the students’ learning outcomes. The results later, in the meantime how can PowerPoint be used effectively.

In the correct setting PowerPoint is a fantastic tool. In the use in churches at the moment ministers and pastors are using PowerPoint as a tool to help in worship, words of hymns and choruses, and in their ministry. Rev. Jim Brown (ret.) has used PowerPoint in his sermons for many years. His method of conveying information, however is still in the spoken word. Speaking is still probably the most important part of a ministers job, it conveys the emotional and context of a specific piece of scripture that the minister is preaching on. So what does PowerPoint do to enhance the sermon? The use of dot points and the breaking down of a scripture reading.

Most public speeches, sermons included, generally have no more than three points. So a PowerPoint of a sermon will have the introduction slide with the three key points in the sermon. Then with no more than six slides following, the points are given with sub points that the minister will preach on, and then as reference go back to the three key points of the sermon. With a conclusion slide with no more information than was presented beforehand. This allows the sermon to be remembered by the congregation better than a sermon just preached from the pulpit and focuses the congregation a little better than if the sermon was typed verbatim onto the PowerPoint.

Another example of good PowerPoint usage would be in musical lectures. The music lecturers use PowerPoint as a rolling program to their lecture or performance. Embedded with video and images with the text only being the composer and title of the composition, the lecturer can pass on most of the relevant information, very similar to a public speech or a sermon.

How would PowerPoint continue to be relevant in the classroom? By giving a class a short PowerPoint presentation an educator can introduce the class, subject, or topic. By putting in too much information the educator can turn off the class from learning, similar to getting the class to read the chapter of a text book in ten minutes, only those learners who are book worms will devour that information, most learners will skim through the chapter and not gain any relevant information.

In the teaching area of Graphics, or Industrial Design, an educator could use PowerPoint to embed a video on how to draw a wheel cog and then break it down in the PowerPoint as an on computer aided learning tool which every learner could go through in their own time. Most draftsmen, engineers and drawing professionals generally have more than one tab open at a time, with their preferred CAD program in front of a tutorial or picture that they are following and in many cases the Standards that they are drawing to, so this would give learners real experience in how it would be done in a professional environment.

Pros et al. (2013) in the study, Effects of the PowerPoint methodology on content learning, goes to study psychology students taking a class, with two groups learning the content provided on PowerPoint and two groups learning with a professor and a blackboard. Remembering that these learners are learners who want to be in this course, since most tertiary students are there of their own volition. The findings that Pros et al. found was that students who learnt without PowerPoint scored an average of nineteen percent higher than the students who learnt with PowerPoint as the main means of information dissemination.

Imagine this then being the primary way of delivering information to school students who are not always there because they want to be. If an educator was to use a PowerPoint, or even another PowerPoint-like tool, as the primary way of disseminating the information to the learners then you are going to see an even larger difference, maybe not by much but definitely are larger proportion of students and learners will be disengaged from the topic provided.

The author would like to point out that as a method of getting information across to the cadets under care of the author, that PowerPoint is used. It is very, unfortunately densely packed with information on Equity and Diversity. However most of the time the information is the same as the last weekend training event and so it is more a reminder that the cadets and staff have to follow the equity and diversity standards provided by the Navy Cadet Headquarters.

In the authors experience, when it comes to the no fraternisation rule that cadets has, it is impossible to keep cadets’ hands off each other when they have been living together for a week or two, and most of the time cadets’, being teenagers, will break that rule, that had been so clearly stated in the equity and diversity presentation.

Pros et al. (2013) introduce their study thusly:

PowerPoint is a software programme that has become a basic means of delivering presentations in both lecture halls and educational centres. Every day more than 30 million presentations are delivered with PowerPoint (Savoy, Proctor & Salvendy, 2009). More than 20 years have elapsed since PowerPoint first appeared, and since then its presence in classrooms has risen considerably. Specifically, 90% of Psychology professors at the university where the authors work use PowerPoint in their theoretical classes, and of them, almost 50% literally -185- Intangible Capital – http://dx.doi.org/10.3926/ic,370 transcribe the content that is projected onscreen. This massive presence of PowerPoint in today’s educational culture has prompted a debate on its use and effectiveness. This study aims to provide new information on the use or abuse of PowerPoint. Specifically, the main goal of this study is to compare the effectiveness of the learning among students in a class taught by a professor who faithfully follows the contents of a PowerPoint presentation compared to the same class taught with no kind of computer support, that is, only with the verbal transmission of the contents by the professor.

Pros et al. (2013) conclude:

Teachers’ actions are not aimed at mere contact with the material; rather the critical aspects of these actions lie in facilitating learning interactively. If all learning consisted of engaging with (and ultimately memorising) contents, face-to-face classes would bring no added value to the process and instead would be a costly method of engaging in contact with these contents. As Neville (2004) notes, in some cases, a presentation made using PowerPoint can serve as a guide for the listener/reader, but it is never an element capable of replacing a good teacher. What is possible is that it can be used to conceal poor-quality teaching by providing apparent validity, albeit without gains in the resulting learning.

This is important. A sensible use of PowerPoint and the tools that emulate it should be encouraged, however they are not there to replace the educator. In a perfect world all students and learners would learn everything given to them no matter the medium, however educators and teachers should be constantly trying to find new and innovative ways of integrating old tools, such as PowerPoint, and new tools, such as wikis and blogs, into the learning experiences for students.

And just because this week has mainly been writing here is Don McMillan and his hatred for PowerPoint (9 mins).

References

Don McMillan. (2009, Nov 9). Life after Death by PowerPoint 2010 by Don McMillan. [Video File].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbSPPFYxx3o

Pros, R., Tarrida, A., Martin, M., Amores, M. (2013). Effects of the PowerPoint methodology on

content learning. Intangible Capital, 9(1), 184-198. Retrieved

from http://www.intangiblecapital.org/