simon flood

On reading the very well written blog by Bianca, i find myself in agreeance with her main point of view. This point of view is very student centred and is supported by Killen (2003) who states Motivation (creating it in your students) as one of the key factors in quality teaching. He study found, students with a high motivation to succeed typically demonstrate greater persistence and effort than students with low achievement motivation, so therefore achieve more readily. Creating relevance in what we are teaching by the use of real world examples: the arteries in the body are similar to a river system all feeding into the ocean (the heart) or that nutrition, i.e food is similar to petrol for a car-fuel.

I prefer using the strategy of class discussion to ‘fuel motivation levels”.

Discussion is often the students first real foray into the ‘public arena’ as far as the airing of ideas and opinions are concerned (Parker, 2006), so therefore instrumental in the shaping of the young adult.

Discussion can have the following benefits

-         prepares students for writing about a topic by exploring their ideas and ordering their thinking

-         develops students communication skills and social interaction

-         makes students question their own attitudes and beliefs i.e. there are OTHER opinions/points of view

-         increases students’ metacognition (thinking about their learning and where their thoughts and opinions are coming from)

-         students learn while the teacher is able to immediately evaluate the level of learning that is occurring

Discussion was used sporadically during my practicum as it was not as favoured as direct instruction by my supervising teacher. I myself found Sawyers’ (2004) literature correct in “beginning teachers have great difficulty mastering the ability to lead collaborative discussion”. Keeping every student interested, involved and the discussion on task was a challenge! But as a student, I admit that since discussion is my most favourite strategy of teaching to be involved in, due to the unpredictable, creative, free flowing nature of it, it’s a strategy that I will definitely continue to work on.

References

Killen, R. 2007. Effective teaching strategies: lessons from research and practice. Fourth edition. Social Science Press, Melbourne, Australia

Parker, C. W. (2006). Public discourses in schools: purposes, problems, possibilities. Educational; Researcher, Nov, 35, 8 Pro Quest Education Journals

Sawyer, R. K (2004). Creative teaching: collaborative discussion as disciplined improvisation. Educational Researcher, Mar, 33, 2 ProQuest Education Journals

I refer to the article Speaking their language and a topic it touches on in reference to the literacy and ‘text talk’; the abbreviated style of writing that seems to be creeping into our daily lives more and more and the restructuring of lesson styles to make this generation of abbrev writers learn. The article touches on but fails to expand in too much detail, on the abbreviated and rushed nature of much of the language used by students nowadays and how it impacts on their learning. Some students  experienced n my practicum used txt talk to jot down notes which i thought was a good shorthand idea, however on submission of an assignment txt talk littered their essay like a plague!! wll  as a mid twenties teacher be able to communicate f the students are using txt talk? is english in its intended form lost for good?? a good example of one well travelled blogger i found depicts a good summary of txt talk and his struggles with it.

I suggest a crackdown on such language whenever it is presented, from a PDHPE point of view i cant see too much technical information (anatomy and physiological processes) being simplified however the joining words and accompanying sentences need to be grammatically correct for understanding to occur. This is where the english department really needs to be strict on spelling and grammar across the board.

An article by David Crystal is a good read, defending the txt talk revolution saying its “added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact on the already existing varieties of language is likely to be negligible. It is not a bad thing.”

I don’t have a problem as long as people realise the meaning of the saying “time and place”, an essay or resume is not the place for txt talk!!

If all else fails my fellow teachers, a translation book is available for initially gaining understanding. 

(End Semester Statement)

From my own school education and teaching experience I ask:

What have I learned (or taught the students), how to take a test?

What do I (they) take away at the end of the day?

Can technology have a positive effect on learning that I never experienced?

Meaningful learning refers to the concept that learned knowledge is fully understood by the student and that the student knows how that knowledge relates to other stored knowledge. Meaningful learning is/should be the goal of today’s teachers. Jonassen’s article (2008) discusses some interesting ideas. In order to learn the student must be “willfully engaged in a meaningful task”. Student’s attention will wane with repeatedly boring, lecturing, chalk and talk type lessons. I understood Jonassen as meaning a non-abstract activity that has obvious real world relevance. This seems ideal to use ICT in generating and maintaining student interest in the task at hand.

Student level of motivation has a vital impact on meaningful learning. Killen (2003) stresses; that to be successful, the learner must actively want to learn. Jonassen agrees in the process: “Meaningful learning requires learners to be actively engaged”, this is the hands on approach that echoes the constructivist approach- of actually living and experiencing the learning. While I have no apparent issues with this ‘hands-on’ concept; particularly for the multi facetted subject area of PDHPE, I can see fault in this for an algebra class for instance, where real world examples may be light on the ground. My inexperience in this field only led me to the possibility of taking the class off site or to a novel location for the lesson. This has the benefit of differentiating the topic from regular class activity and providing meaningfulness to the teaching. Utilizing ICT we could however complete math’s equations face to face via webcam with a foreign school.

Collaboration brings students together (Jonassen, 2008), and ICT facilitates conversation: conversation according to Jonassen is the “most natural way of meaning making”.

The article also depicts the paradigm shift that is necessary for education progression. ICT has traditionally been utilised to support the teacher’s goals but not those of the student. This needs a complete turnaround. The viewpoint of “helping them to learn” makes so much more sense than, “helping us to teach”.

Jonassen states that meaningful learning depends on “active, constructive, intentional, authentic and cooperative learning”; he sees an excellent opportunity for technology to satisfy these requirements. I tend to agree with him. Today’s students are digital natives in a land of digital immigrants (Rainie, 2006). They are at the forefront of new ICT products/formats.

Their affinity for technology means new and different expectations about how to gather, work with, translate, and share information, to this statement I think the word “teach” should be relevant also.

 One point of contention that I see from my KLA of PDHPE is the practical aspect of movement: “how do students learn about the motions of baseball: multi choice exams and lectures? No! They start swinging the bat and chasing fly balls, they negotiate the rules as they play.”(Jonassen, 2008).  This is the heart of physical learning, a verbal description, a visual demonstration (yes, ICT can assist both of these facets!) and performing the movement for ones self. I fail to see how ICT can dramatically impact or improve the ‘hands on approach’ to motor skill acquirement, one on one with an instructor and physical practice.

Jonassen (2008) also discusses the success of real world application to a topic such as physics. Learning the physics of a top spin shot in tennis looks at a principle called the Magnus effect , the force created from the movement of high and low pressure over a projectile. At university we used ICT, slow motion cameras, to depict this on screen but still needed the real life example on the court to deepen the understanding.

This leaves me agreeing that ICT most certainly has its place in education. I do wonder however if we are too haste to discard tried and tested real world scenarios, in light of using ICT, to achieve meaningfulness?

Rainie, L. (2005) Life online: Teens and technology and the world to come. Speech to annual conference of Public Library Association. 23/3/06. Washington, Pew Internet & American Life.

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_effect

http://www.pewinternet.org/ppt/Teens%20and%20technology.pdf

After reading Kristy’s blog, and viewing one of the videos I felt compelled to comment. I found the argument predictable and indicative of a whingeing society that is today’s youth. The video displays a variety of statistics in regards to how much technology students are using: for example: a comparison of how many books they read versus how many WebPages they read in a year etc, that they use a laptop in class etc. The video then shows the students actually admitting to doing Facebook while in class!! This links directly to my earlier blog (link) in regards to trusting the students. My feelings are that it’s all well and good to have this great technology but more often than not (and I saw this first hand in a “computer” class I taught), the technology is misused or the privilege is abused by students consistently wandering off task.

Parts of the video discuss the hardships today’s students face, how they “don’t get much sleep”, need to fit “26.5 hrs” of activity into a day and “have to multi task”, all the students portrayed in this video look miserable and the general feeling portrayed is one of self helplessness. I agree totally that the world we live in is a busy place, but I hate when people, usually my fellow “youth”, complain about how hard they have it and how difficult it is growing up in the 21^st century with all the distractions and pressure.

Please, give me a beak! Today’s youth, myself included, don’t know how good we have it. Unemployment is steady at 4%, there is no Great Depression, no threat of world war, be it on our doorstep, or the chance of being conscripted; minimal social constraints for careers based on gender, no major widespread disease outbreaks, information and education accessed more easily than ever, machines to make the most mundane tasks easier, life as we know it in Australia is not that bad, cheer up kids!! Maybe Australia’s youth lose sight of the big picture and too often only focus on the negative.

Thanks for reading…

Reference

Website: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/6202.0

In response to Ben’s Blog on the his teaching experience and the technology gap he witnessed. I too felt a certain lacking in technology savvyness (the buzzword or media articles these days!) when in the classroom. My students were equipped with internet capable, mp3 playing, 20 mega pixel camera phones that made my stock standard mobile look like something out of the stoneage! I am 26 years old, the students I’m referring to were aged 13 to 16 years of age: the average age of the PDHPE staff that i was working unders had an average age of 41. I felt a little bewidered by the information the students knew about ICT, and i am fairly adept with the internet and blogging, what hope does the older staff have when my supervising teacher did not know how to use Word and transfer files! The teachers had a very simplified teaching manner that was effective and utilised ICT where it was possible (only basic level however CD audio and DVD/TV footage). This was because the school did not provide any elevated level of ICT equipment (laptops, smartboards etc). A major issue for this school in question will be, especially if Kevin Rudd’s Education revolution occurs, “lap tops for every student” massive training reform will be needed, if my school is anything to go by, as far as teaching the teachers how to use and maximise ICT in the classroom.

Prensky writes a relevant article on todays generation and how different groups, in this case the armed forces (in the U.S anyway), are utilising ICT in their recruitment and training to cater to the tech generation .

I would like to respond to the Time article by Wallis and Steptoe (2006). The article discuss’s the changing nature of the world around us, and suggest inroads for technology to assist education. The authors give the analogy of someone from the late 1800′s waking up today and recognising nothing in the world except the classroom, it has not changed while the world around it has. I agree that everything in the world has changed/is changing or evolving, but i feel that does not necesarily mean that teaching has to dramatically change. Obviously it has been tweaked, streamlined , modernised and simplified, but the author suggests that education has been left in the past by the moving world and i dont feel this is completely true nor fair. Good teaching is good teaching; wherever and whenever you are. Killen(2003) suggests that high quality teaching, a concept as young teachers we should all be aiming for, is achieved by a range of strategies : “no single teaching strategy is effective all the time, for all learners”. This certainly provides the opportunity to integrate ICT but this also would be a relevent comment regardless of the century we live in.

The author also feels the need for ICT in reference to out of date text books being used by students and staff alike. This is a valid point, however the rate of change ‘online’ as far as what is outdated and who’s information is legitimate and a trusted source is not clear. The internet is not policed for authenticity nor credibility so a student reseacrhing information on popular sites such as wikipedia could be sourcing information that is not accurate, therefore misleading.

I do share one major point of view with the author, it is in regards to the idea of students being global citizens, their leaning should reflect world standards so as not to be left behind or disadvantaged. ICT, internet and videoconferencing allows students from different corners of the world to interact and learn off each other, together something that our 1800′s friend would not be able to comprehend.

Killen, R. 2007. Effective teaching strategies: lessons from research and practice. Fourth edition. Social Science Press, Melbourne, Australia.

The UTS Online literature provided by the Macarthur Foundation (2006) (a Youtube Video) on digital learning raises some interesting yet predictable thoughts. I must agree that todays student is a lot more technologically savvy than ever before and the same ‘offenders’ are thrown around in this video “myspace, MSN, messenger amnd blogging sites’. My issue with this is what are they actually doing when they are involved with these sites? Is it constructive, is it necessary? Or are they simply ‘wasting time’?

The idea of the students spending leisure time on these mediums of digi media, their time out, is fine, but wouldnt confusion ensue if suddenly the digital world became associated with schooling? Would the students think its perfectly acceptable to have their Facebook tab on the screen, minimised, but on the screen nevertheless as a distraction.

This issue deals with Biancas thoughts on the idea of ICT as a distraction and the trust you place in the students to actually do the set work and not be off task on other sites, but I go further in saying that a good teacher has enough ICT on hand, in the average classroom, coupled with sound teaching strategies, that they should be able to engage the students enough to achieve meaningful learning without using  ICT for the sake of it.

Just a thought. Dont know if anyone noticed but Kelly Slater recently capped off an incredible year (5 event wins out of 9) by capturing his 9th World Surfing Title. An amazing feat when you consider the difficult, variable nature of surfing. Was the youngest ever world champion, 18 years old 1992, and now the oldest 36 years old.

A great ICT tool if anyone ever does a lesson on sports psychology, motivation or the like is the 2005 DVD “Letting Go” which chronicles Kelly’s amazing comeback in 2005 to take his 7th world title.

During my final prac teaching block, I eventually felt I had a grasp on gaining the students attention.  I then found myself questioning how do I get them to learn? Or more focally, how do I facilitate their learning?? This naturally brought to light issues of teaching strategies, classroom management and the inevitable discipline procedures… Ackermann’s article (provided by UTS Online) states that Constructivism ideology is based on the idea of learning being achieved through the learners experience,  this notion is in agreeance with Cammo who associates the concept directly with discovery based learning or experiential learning. I see Constructivism as “hands on learning”, similar to an apprenticeship or on the job training.  I support the Wikipedia statement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivist_learning) that “constructivism holds that learning can happen most effectively when people are actively making things in the real world”.

This logic of real world practice appeals to me because it makes the learning relevant and real as opposed to abstract and in a text book. The relationship of constructivist theory and technology is getting increasingly related. The educational interface utilised at school (computers) is the same as that used in the home on a (more) regular basis. This makes the experience real and “relatable”. An example of “making things real” is the creation of a personal blog on a Facebook style site where you have resources to truly define yourself in order to socialise.

Reference

Ackermann, E. (2001), Piaget’s Constructivism, Papert’s Constructionism: What’s the
difference? Retrieved 29th March from:
http://learning.media.mit.edu/content/publications/EA.Piaget%20_%20Papert.pdf

This is my podcast. Its my take on an article titled The art of Assessment which looks at using electronic means of assessing our students.

simon