I hate goodbyes.....

Welcome to my vodcast on ePortfolios.

So, for now, I say farewell. But before signing out, take a look at my journey throughout the semester of Intergrating Learning Technologies in my digital story - Belinda's Sandcastle.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it!

Bye for now......

Speilberg eat your heart out!

Today in class Kate and I were required to review Mishra and Koehler's article "Too cool for school? No way!" Have a look at my last blog R u TPACKed and ready?

As we never seem to do things by halves, rather than the standard power point presentation we opted to make a video. So here it is, have a look, like, dislike or comment if you wish, or just have a laugh.....we did!

R u TPACKED and ready?

Mishra and Koeler’s article Too Cool for School? No Way! acquaints the reader with the term TPACK. Now I know what you’re thinking...and no it’s not the latest rapper on the music scene! It is in fact an acronym for Technology Pedagogy And Content Knowledge and I believe is quite self explanatory.

As educators, our job involves teaching (Pedagogy) students specific subject matter (Content), align this with aspects of Technological Knowledge and there you have your TPACK.

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The outline of TPACK demonstrates just how interrelated the strands of the framework are. The link between technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge intertwine to form the framework of technological pedagogical and content knowledge.

This article discusses how expert teachers find ways to orchestrate and coordinate these three aspects into every act of teaching and how they find solutions to complex, dynamic problems of practice by designing curricular solutions that fit their unique goals, situations and student learners.

Teachers must repurpose both traditional teaching methods and technological tools for educational purposes. This can be achieved by being digitally fluent and displaying experiential understanding developed through training and deliberate practice of all the aspects of the TPACK framework and how they interact with each other.

Most of all, we as prospective teachers need to develop a willingness to play with technologies and be open to building new experiences for students so that fun, cool tools can be educational. If we are to teach as we were taught, we will not only lag behind our colleagues in content and knowledge, we will affect the learning capabilities, engagement and motivation levels of our students.

Wanna come play?

Bullies go digital

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In class last week Glynis introduced us to icybersafe.com a website powered by Ivanhoe Grammar School. It deals with the cyber bullying trends of social media, managing online behaviour and gives a comprehensive guide to managing online time, activity and advice on how to stop cyber bullies. It endeavors to equip students with the capacity to survive and thrive in cyberspace which will be increasingly an important part of their lives, now and in the future.

Cyber bullying is defined as the use of social media, e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, mobile phones, or other forms of information technology to deliberately harass, threaten, or intimidate someone. The problem is compounded by the fact that a bully can hide behind an electronic veil, disguising his or her true identity. In this digital age it has surpassed traditional methods of schoolyard bullying and is deemed more detrimental to the victim due to its immediate and anonymous manner.

Phrases such as ‘digital reputation’ and ‘digital footprint’ refer to the online activity traceable through the collection of footprints left in the ‘digital environment’, in other words - an accumulation of personal information, content shared or other data which can be accessed by other internet users.

It is here that the responsibility falls to parents and educators to ensure that

children conduct themselves in accordance with the rights, duties, and privileges of being an offline inhabitant not just of a geographical location but of an online citizen of the globe.

I strongly suggest you sign up for regular updates from this website on the trends of such bullying.
Oh and btw, check your privacy settings on all of your social media accounts! And just for fun perform a Google search on your name and see what images you find.... Lucky for me my name is as common as bad hair cuts in the 80s!!

Copyright or Copywrong?

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In response to Miss Coulson’s blog discussing the legalities of copyrighting... apparently I have been labelled a future felon. Me, a felon? No way!....

Similarly to Miss Coulson I too would never willingly steal from a store, person or residence, in fact I am so against pirated movies that on a recent trip to Thailand I appeared to be the only passenger returning to Australia without a suitcase of the latest blockbusters. So that there is pure evidence of my high moral stature!

I am however, no stranger to the enormity of copyright. Professional Experience 3 requires us to source our images used in blogs and other forms of digital media via the website: Creative Commons. Now to be totally honest, I find the frustration of such sites as FlickrCC hard to navigate and source images I desire. The temptation of performing a much simpler Google search nags at me like a wife condemned to life with a lazy husband!

I understand the importance in portraying ourselves as model citizens within the code of online ethics, morals and values, but does this mean that anyone who has ever photocopied, cut and pasted or printed anything online that wasn’t their own work a felon also? Answer that one fellow moral citizens!

I also understand the importance of educating students in such moral and ethical values. As mentioned in a previous blog:  Budd:e deals with the issue of copyright in its interactive website. Educating children in copyright laws, not only within images displayed in online search engines, but in photographs, stories and ideas created by their peers is an integral part of habituating children with all aspects of online use.

Now in the instance of funding for copyrighted software, is it fair for students to miss out all together? Or is it better to select a few students to participate in such software? Perhaps budgets for schools should be better funded by the Government or somehow allocated in the school year’s fees? The overarching question is: how do we fix this to make an even playing field for all students in technology education, while remaining on the ‘good-side’ of the law? 

My new best Budd:e

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Conveniently, whilst on prac my co-operating school received an information package from the Department of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy. Now... you can imagine my excitement in stumbling across such information whilst slugging my weary self to the staffroom for a much needed coffee...

The Australian Government’s Stay Smart Online Initiative have established a cybersecurity education package known as Budd:e. This package comprises two modules for students in primary and secondary schools. The modules aim to help students adopt secure online practices and behaviors.

The Budd:e modules are interactive and self-learning adhering to the notions of Harel’s constructionist learning as mentioned in a previous blog. Cybersecurity topics covered in the modules include securing personal information online and social networking, the dangers of spam and pop-up scams, password strength, copyright and online ethics.

Students can create their own avatar by completing the module. Upon completion of each section a different body part is unlocked as a reward for the student; allowing them to create and name their own personal avatar. The successful completion of each level requires a disguised form of assessment to check the students’ level of understanding.

And to make it even better....This webpage is supported with teaching resources, lesson plans and curriculum links.

Check it out!!! Go on...

IT (Infant's Technology)

With exhaustion over, much needed sleep caught up on and once again in the comfort of jeans and thongs... I can now reflect on my learning experiences of Practicum 3.

Without a doubt, implementing learning experiences with technology was a near impossible task as a student teacher. My Co-operating school employed a progressive approach to learning via technology with Stage one programs collegially developed using notebook software; focusing all lessons on or around the Smartboard.

However, computer lessons took place for half an hour just once a week. Now, just imagine 23 Year one student’s unleashed in a room full of ‘playing’ equipment trying to boot up their computers and log on... just how long do you think that would take? Well, let me tell you the lesson was almost over by the time each student had complied with this requirement. This leads me to question the intent and specific outcomes of such a lesson.

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Is it feasible for 6 year olds to rely on such a limited time in this learning environment to become members of the digital native population? Or should technology be abundant within the learning environment in other non-invasive ways?

It’s not for lack of trying on the teacher’s behalf, with professional development lectures on compiling reports online to creating digital stories and participating in video conferencing, teachers not only of the modern era but ‘old school’ have been forced (most willingly, but some apprehensively) to conform to the demand of implementing technology within the learning environment. And good on them!