Reflection on Museum box

Museum Box:

“If you could put a number of items into a box that described your life, what would you include?”

Museum box makes this happen. Museum Box is a very interesting and stimulating web application which provides virtual boxes for you and on-line tools (sound, files, pictures…etc.) for building up and showcasing your ideas, or describing a person or an event or a problem by placing items in the virtual boxes.

Building a Museum box is a fun way to get students involved in a project. It can be used in many ways. Students can use it to build an argument, show a description of an event that happened, or students can take the role of a person during a historical time period and place items in the box that would have been of significance to them. The Museum Box can include text, images, videos, and links. The box can contain as many as one or several slots with a cube in each. Something can be added to each side of the cube as well. To add dimension, students can even have more than one layer to the museum box, which allows them to provide as much information as the need. 

For instance you will find a museum box about photography here:

One of the things I really liked about Museum Box is the ability to set up a school account.

Teachers can register their schools (keeping in mind that it can take up to 5 days) in order to review and approve pupil work. Once a school has been registered teachers can log in to a teacher administration area and add pupil accounts or ask pupils to sign up. Once students have their accounts in place they create and submit their boxes to their teacher for approval and publication. Students only need to register or be registered once and can use their student user accounts at home or at school to load and save work within the Museum Box application.
Do not share or give your password to students…it allows you to access, moderate, and approve student work. Also, please remember that any work you approve goes live onto the website so it is important to that you review to assure that it is suitable for publication. I strongly encourage the use of the teacher/school option for enhanced security purposes.

You can take a look at some examples provided on the site before experimenting.

From the link: http://farroutlinks.net/blog/museum-box/

Some examples using Museum Box in the classroom.

Let’s say that you focused on the environment in your course materials and/or asked students to do an on-line search. Then you can ask the students to present their findings about environmental problems and suggested solutions by placing these into their museum boxes. 

For beginners in educational technology: You could also build a museum box with your students; you could be in charge of bringing information and artifacts together but students can be in charge of finding what to display in the museum boxes.

Some ideas might include: My family History, All About me and what I like?

You can also view a great clip on You tube talking about Museum Box

Click here to view.

I attempted a Concept map of the SWOT analysis of Museum Box.

http://museumbox.e2bn.org/about/

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:
Museum Box provides an unique method for students to create projects.
It provides a new twist for research papers and thesis papers.
Museum Box allows students to use a variety of information to complete the project instead of a limited format like traditional papers, videos, images, audio.
Museum Box can be utilized as a collaborative assignment.
Teachers can create and moderate student accounts.
Cool alternative
It allows students to share their work globally.

Weaknesses:
Museum Box utilizes a very complex layering system that may be too difficult for some students to use.
This would be better suited for secondary students instead of elementary students. Some middle school students may struggle with this tool.
If students review previous boxes that have already been completed, there is a chance for erroneous information that is contained within them.
Sometimes a side of the box will come up as incomplete or undetected. This is a real problem.
If you do a lot in one day, the program will not save your work.
Many students may have trouble using the complex system of links and videos
You may not upload videos directly, you must have them saved
On preview, the program will not continue to links.
When adding color to the background, it may disappear and you will have to do it twice.

Opportunities:
Museum Box allows students the opportunity to complete creative projects.
Students can incorporate video, audio, text, PowerPoint presentations, and external links within a Museum Box project..
Allows for persuasive writing projects, and compare/contrast arguments.

Threats:
Inappropriate material could be easily added within the Museum Box project via images, text, and video.

Lesson Plan Ideas:
Students could complete "cubes" for different important people within a time period for History classes.
In Language Arts classes, students could complete a Museum Box for the different aspects of a character in a fictional story (strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, etc.).
For Art classes, students could complete projects based on art periods, artistic styles, groups of artists, and different elements of art.
Students could complete a Museum Box for a Science classification project.
In Math classes, students could complete a Museum Box for different geometry aspects (one cube for an oval, one for a triangle, etc.).
For literature assignments, students could create a project utilizing video clips, short passages, and other text for different authors.
Elementary School students can use this format for a book report or book review, guided by a Teacher Created Rubric
Could also house electronic portfolios documenting student work/progress.

Resources:

Museum Box About Page
iLearn Technology Article

Reflection of a Glogster

My Glogster

This is my attempt at a Glogster!

Click here to see my finished result

Glogster created by Danielle Trewin.  March 2013



Glogster Reflection Scaffolded by De Bono's (1985) Six Thinking Hats.

White Hat - Information

Sample Questions

·         What information do you have? 

·         What information would you like to have?

·         How do you get the information you need?

Data and Information:

• Glogster EDU was launched in 2009 to serve the educational community.
• Educational Glogster is a Web 2.0 tool that allows users to create virtual posters combining text, audio, video, images, and hyperlinks and to share them with others electronically. 
• Using Glogster’s educational site, GlogsterEDU, teachers can establish class lists and monitor student activity while protecting privacy and anonymit 

Red Hat - Feelings

Sample Questions

• What are my feelings now?
• What is my gut reaction?
• What does my intuition tell me?

I remember creating old school projects back in the 1980’s, displaying cut out photos, using
colouring pens and pencils. It was great to create back then but today, this "old fashioned"
but fun idea, has been given new life and imagination in the digital world.

• I like the fact that its a free application for basic users and can be done on most computers.
• The ability to create anything, with an unlimited resource online is fantastic.
• Just from my own expereince, I loved thinking about what to write, making sure it described my subject on the Glogster page.
• Teachers can establish Glogster EDU class lists and monitor student activity while protecting privacy and anonymity. A virtual classroom could have up to 200 students, all of which are protected by user names and passwords.
• Heaps of fun to use - very creative, great for any age group!
• A collaborative learning style - numerous students can work on a project "glog" together
• It uses constructivism and connectivism, to create a structured, thought out project.
• I reall ylike the idea that this supports ongoing learning - where to from here?  By clicking onto the glogster pages links, it can take you to further research, interest points.  Ideally it could connect with others doing the same project around the world!
• As a teacher I could present a "project theme", via a Glogster, covering the Essential Learnings or the Australian curriculum, of a particular key learning area.

Black Hat - Weaknesses

Sample Questions

• What are the difficulties with this?
• Do you think this is true?
• What is wrong with this?
• What do you think the risks are?
• What should you be cautious about?
• Do you think this will work?

Disadvantages

• Time consuming
• Too many choices to make (overwhelming for younger students), meaningless creations, they lose sight of the content.
• Can not see the whole page on your screen at one time - you have to scroll down.
• Is not for a first timer, you have to know the language to know what skills are needed to create a page.
• Need Internet Access
• Students who do not know what they are doing will delete their work by accident
• Students who do not know what they are doing will delete their work by accident, losing hours or weeks of work by forgetting to save the document.
• Teachers/Students not comfortable with Web 2.0
• Girls may prefer this task, more so than boys.

Overall, does it fit with Pedagogy?  At all times we must remember that ICT's should transform, facilitate and enhance learning.

• To address "meaningless creations", with too many choices too make, activities would need to be  scaffolded by the teacher to ensure learning outcomes are achieved.  Also to provide scaffolding for students who may have difficulty finding appropriate images or media files to incorporate into their glogs. 
• Student would need to be educated and informed about safe and ethical practice.  Students need to be educated about choosing appropriate passwords and not giving away personal information.  Students need to be educated about how personal photographs and personal information should be protected.
• Glogster is a social networking site; special permission may be needed to use it in the classroom. especially for a younger classroom (users should be over the age of 13?)
• I have found out from other GDLT students that if you use a Teacher account and log on as the mediator with student links, it can be overcome. 
• Need to make students aware of the dangers of copyright when using images etc on their own glog.
• Teachers will need to secure permission to upload student works to a glog.  Students view other glogs – how do you control content and make sure it is appropriate. According to several websites I visited there are ways of managing this in the teacher accounts as you are able to log on to students glogs, view their progress and monitor inappropriate content.

Yellow Hat - Strengths

Sample Questions

• Why is this worth doing?
• How will this help?
• Why can it be done?
• What are the good things about this?
• Why will it work?

Advantages

• Colourful
• Great way to spruce up your Wiki page
• Different way to display thoguhts and ideas.
• Provides opportunities for visual learners to learn about the topic of interest.
• Each page is different from the next.
• Allows students to feel empowered and independent by using their own photos and arrangements.
• Students can choose how they want their page to look.
• Animations, photos and videos are easily imported.
• Another way to incorporate technology.
• School-safe elements and galleries
• Select images from Glogster.com's resources
• Complete protection from content outside the virtual classroom environment
• Private glogs and student accounts
• Multi-sensory learning and supports children with diverse needs
• Able to be graded (Develop a scoring rubric to assess students’ glogs).  For inspiration, view a sample Glog Rubric. 
• Tips for use appear at the bottom of the glog editing screen and educational resources are available on the Glogster EDU homepage. 
• Create a step-by-step tutorial for students or use one such as Glog On! to teach students how to create a glog. Provide students with ample opportunities to practice using Glogster. 

Overall, I think it covers all the boxes for meaningful interaction with ICT’S – I also like the way you can engage with a range of ICT’s within Glogster. For example you can make and upload a video, podcast, Power Point Presentation, create and manipulate images and create links to other online tools such as Google Maps etc

The following is an excerpt from the Glogster (2011) website listing the benefits of their own product.

a) “A fun learning experience
b) A new way to express creativity
c) Private, secure, safe virtual classroom monitored by teachers
d) Drives new interest levels around subjects that may have been seen as “boring” before
e) Adds audiovisual aspects to traditionally text-oriented subjects
f) Fosters teamwork and collaboration with classmates
g) Increases drive to be independently creative
h) Unlimited shelf lie
i) Keeps teachers and students up-to-date with modern technology
j) Improves student-teacher relationships by allowing both to explore Web 2.0 & learning concepts together”.

· Click here for a link to the website. http://edu.glogster.com/classroom-benefits/

Green Hat - Creativity

Sample Questions

• What else could you do here?
• What are the possibilities?
• What are other ways to solve this?
• What will overcome the difficulties?

How you might use this in the classroom.

To begin with the end in mind, I refer to the goal of ICT use as outlined in this statement by Education Queensland (2011)

“Students explore, select and use ICT in the processes of inquiry and research across key learning areas. They identify an inquiry focus; plan, conduct and manage searches; and evaluate data and information gathered for relevance, credibility and accuracy. They reflect on and evaluate how ICT have assisted in meeting inquiry purposes and in developing new understandings".

Make sure that all the activities, scaffolded by the teacher are a model of safe and ehtical practicess for the students and that the related ICT activity educates the students to do the same.
After completion of the activity, allow the students to reflect, with feedback, expressing what things they liked or didnt like. perhaps some website they enjoyed or a link that helped the student solve a problem. Wss it hard or easy fro some and why?

Encourage an activity to explore other students Glogsters and write down two things they liked about it.   Set up a Wiki , using the six de bono's hats scaffolding to collaborate all the sudents thoughts, feeling, ideas  for further analysis and higher order thinking. Pick a hat and write about it!

 The following ideas could apply to creating a Glog and are taken fromSmart Classrooms (2011) a website produced by Education Queenslandwhich helps teachers to “plan meaningful and engaging learning experiences that incorporate the use of ICT".
· “Create a digital presentation outlining the role and importance of sport in different cultures”. Intercultural investigations. Yr 4/5

· “Use publishing software to design and create a brochure about a local event or place in another country. Email the brochure to students of a sister school in that country, Ask these students for feedback”. LOTE. English: Writing and Designing. Yr 4/5

· “Use publishing software to design and create a travel brochure advertising a significant Australian tourist attraction or significant place of interest, such as the Great Barrier Reef”. SOSE: Culture and Identity, Continuity and Change. English: Writing and Designing. Yr 4/
· “With support, locate information about a famous Queenslander. Present information as a digital poster including text and images”. SOSE: Culture and Identity. Yr P-3.
· To access more ideas follow this linkhttp://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/strategy/dp/studentict.html


· Zimmer (2009) suggests the following ways to use Glogster

Create a Virtual Collage from images, audio, and video from the web.
Create a step by step glog of a math problem or concept
Create a biography of someone in history going down the glog as they get older
Create a timeline of events
Showcase an experiment in class
Give directions on how to do something.
Create a review of a book, movie, restaurant, play, etc.
Create a glog for pages in a yearbook
Create a glog about an event for the school news or newspaper
Create a Compare and Contrast Glog
Create a Vocabulary Glog for your students
Create a Glog Syllabus
Create a Glog Chapter Review for chapters of a textbook (Would make a great end of the year activity)
Create a Family Tree Glog.
Retrieved fromhttp://www.edutechintegration.com/2009/12/glogster-in-classroom.html

Other ideas include, creating a poster about"who am I, or "all about me and my family," in the first few weeks of term, to create a sense of belonging.

Some other examples are:
· Science – Factual posters about dinosaurs, volcanoes, the Earth and beyond.
· English – a promotional Glogster about a book they are reading in class. A word Glog like an online dictionary of words they are learning at the time or a word map.
· History – Pick a famous character or event and present the information to the class through the glog. Insert timelines, photos, historical footage of an event.
· SOSE – Promotional travel poster to learn about different countries or a country the student has travelled to.

The list is endless.

Blue Hat - Managing the thinking process.

Sample questions

• What is the agenda?
• WHat is the next step?
• How can the discussion be summarised so far?
• WHat is the decision?
• What is the outcome?
• What thinking has been done?

The blue hat, is helpful to define the focus at the beginning, restate the thinking goals in the mifddlw and to summarise what has been achieved at the end.

An example of this: an acitivty using a Glogster within the classroom.

• At the beginning the students would have been given a clear goal and focus to obtain, to create a glogster about a topic.
• During the middle of this process, these thinking goals would be restated. Reminding students of copyright, privacy, ethical standards of content.
• Finally summarising the students content wiht feedback and reflection aboutt he journey taken.  A wiki might be a great collaborative tool to share thoughts, ideas, reflections about the creating process of the students glogster.  Further research and thinking may arise form this reflection, where to from here discussions??

References

De Bono, E, (1985) Six thinking hats: An essential approach to business management. Retrieved from http://www.parade.vic.edu.au/MD/teacher_research_guide/Defining/defining_debono.htmReferences.

Glogster EDU. (2011) Classroom benefit. Retrieved from http://edu.glogster.com/classroom-benefits/

Education Queensland. (2011) Student ICT expectations. Smart classrooms. Department of Education and Training. Retrieved from
http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/strategy/dp/studentict.html

Zimmer, M. ( 2009, December 1). Glogster in the classroom. The pursuit of technology integration happiness. Retrieved from http://www.edutechintegration.com/2009/12/glogster-in-classroom.html

Reflection on Digital Images

“I didn't think . . . until I saw.”

Digital images

Strengths
 Most kids can easily access the technology, a simple digital camera and free online websites to store and manipulate images.

Most kids already know how to use a camera and many will also know how to download them etc so time isn’t wasted getting to know the technology.

Internet is full of images of anything and everything that can be accessed providing the right attribution is shown.

Weaknesses

Can the use of pictures make kids lazy? They see it and stop there. So you need to scaffold them into thinking about the picture in a different way. That’s where the think, see wonder routine can help.

Opportunities

Kids can document projects, field trips, and trips overseas. They can research photos from the past, create their own. Unlimited possibilities for inclusion in a classroom.

 

Threats

 

Images can be manipulated, so kids need to understand that all might not be what it seems.

Copyright, you need to model ethical practice and teach kids about those issues.

 

Ideas for use in the Classroom.

 

 

Visual literacy is important in our teaching.  I know I have utilised photos, images, video in my previous educational expereinces where I'm using visual literacy but I probably didn’t always give it the attention and focus it deserved. Students need to be given opportunities to develop skills to make deeper meaning from visual literacy experiences.

 

A definition of visual literacy from the website, "Visual Literacy Using Digital Still Images",
https://sites.google.com/site/imageblender/ helps to clarify exactly what visual literacy is.

What is Visual Literacy?

"Visual literacy is defined as the ability to interpret images as well as to generate images for communicating ideas and concepts". (Stokes, 2002)

A visually literate person should be able to

• Interpret, understand and appreciate the meaning of visual messages;
• Communicate more effectively by applying the basic principles and concepts of visual design;
• Produce visual messages using computers and other technologies; and
• Use visual thinking to conceptualize solutions to problems

(from Jerry Christopherson, 1996 International Visual Literacy Association Conference, referenced from the book, Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn By Lynell Burmark, p.3, 2002)

 

I would choose an activity related to the image that would help tune students into the topic by:

• finding out the prior knowledge of the students (what do they already know, think and feel about the topic)
• engaging students in the topic
• allowing students to share their personal experiences about the topic
• allowing students to ask questions about the topic .

I See, I Think, I Wonder

 

This technique could scaffold any activity where images are used… What do you see, What do you think about it? What does it make you wonder?

"The routine works best when a student responds by using the three stems together at the same time, i.e., "I see..., I think..., I wonder...." However, you might find that some students begin by using one stem at a time, and that you need to scaffold each response with a follow up ques-tion for the next stem"
From the website: http://www.old-pz.gse.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03c_Core_routines/SeeThinkWonder/SeeThinkWonder_Routine.html

 

As students are observing the photo they will be asked 3 questions: What do you see? What do you think about that? and What does it make you wonder?
I would go through each question one at a time and generate ideas as a class on the whiteboard. It is my hope that this image will lead to higher order thinking and an interest in learning more about the topic.

According to the website, by Harvard Project Zero:

http://www.old-pz.gse.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03c_Core_routines/SeeThinkWonder/SeeThinkWonder_Routine.html

 

"This routine encourages students to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations. It helps stimulate curiosity and sets the stage for inquiry.

 

 

 

 

Reflection on Digital Audio & Podcasts

Reflection on Podcasting

My previous reflection of Podcasting is in the previous link on my Wiki.
http://danielletrewin.cquniversityschoolofeducation.wikispaces.net/Reflection+on+Podcasting

The following is a SWOT analysis of the use of Podcasting.

Here is my SWOT analysis:

Strengths

• · Really simple and easy to use technology.
• · Lots of kids have iPods or MP3 players so would be a useful tool for homework or to present readings. Kids could listen to them in the playground or on the bus on the way home.
• · Gives children another tool for presenting and receiving information.
• · Suits students with verbal/linguistic intelligence and learning preferences.
• • Allows education to be more portable then before.
• • Good for specific language training especially for hearing and rehearsing the pronunciation of words.
• • Learners choose where and when they wish to listen to content.
• • Socially acceptable for learner to study without the stigma being attached to studying around others that may not wish to engage with their studies.
• • Great for recording interviews with professionals and playing back to large and distributed audiences.

Opportunities

 

• · Easy technology to navigate, simple and cost effective.
• · Easy to upload and NOT time consuming.
• · Caters to a diverse range of students, those that prefer to listen than to read.
• · Languages seem appropriate considering you have to HEAR how the words sound.
• · Creates a unique opportunity for kids to verbalise what they see rather than relying on pictures. Describing a painting for example or describing what the characteristics of a rainforest or reef are.
• · Opens up the whole wide world to a student sitting in a classroom. They can relive important events, visit places they might never be able to go such as the African Savannah or the Arctic and it can also allow them to “see” things in a verbal way such as a tour around the National Art Gallery.
• • Flexible learning - Enables students to catch up on lectures that they may have missed.
• • Learner can choose how many times they wish to engage with the audio learning content making it good for consolidation purposes.
• • Audience could participate in walk through actions similar to the audio self guides used in museums or places of special interest.
• • Combining podcasting tracks with either pictures or videoing facilities.

Weaknesses

• · Technology may fail you at a crucial time.
• · Visual students might struggle with a purely aural method of content delivery.
• · Time – learning to use the technology and how to upload it can be a problem
• • Podcasts are not designed for two way conversation or interaction.
• • Limited usefulness for people with hearing impairments.
• • Quality of the speakers voice needs to be engaging.
• • Quality of recording equipment must produce audio content with minimal interferences or distractions ie feedback, buzzing or background noises.

Threats

• · Copyright
• · Inappropriate content that can be accessed online.
• • Lack of attention in the lecture hall, some students may opt to listen to podcasts of other lessons in the lecture theatre.
• • If recording group sessions, do we need to obtain everyone’s consent to publish audio content in the public domain?

Ideas for Use in the Classroom

• · Language classes, very helpful for subjects where you need to hear the words.
• · Podcasting to other schools around the world. Exchange of information.
• · Creating an opportunity for kids to explain something verbally then present it. Encourages students to think outside the square.
• · Students can access professional podcasts on a range of topics…the list is endless.
• · Students could podcast about a school excursion. It could become a collaborative project involving interviews with other students and experts on the day. Other students who were unable to attend could still feel like they participated through listening to the podcast. Creates a valuable resource for future students learning about the same topic, and of course, encourages creation, collaboration and engagement with ICT’s.

 

Reflection on a Wiki

Firstly here is the wiki link.

http://danielletrewin.cquniversityschoolofeducation.wikispaces.net/

I aslo found a great you tube clip on "Wiki's made easy"- its such a simple clip that suited me perfectly!

I thought I would reflect on the wiki I created as we are into Week 4 and I'm becoming more familiar with it. I thought I would start with a quick summary of the benefits and disadvantages of this style of ICT.

Benefits

Overall, some benefits of working in a wiki would be:

• Anyone can edit with minmum fuss.
• I would image students would want their postings to be of a high standard, especially when posted out to the world.
• Hence it would improve their reading and writing skills and encourage problem solving.
• Its easy to use and learn - easy to operate and navigate around
• Its instantaneous, a virtual textbook in the making.
• It is always current and can be added to by learners, so it remains relevant and up to date.
• Its a flexible tool, integrating learning with ICT use.
• You can access just about anything - bringing the world into the classroom and discovering bigger perspectives, from real life experts.
• By collaborating with others this would lead into more critical thinking.
• I got excited when I started to realise I was creating something live and real, especially when other people contribute.
• Some learning theories used would be Connectivisim (contact witht he world) and constructivist (how the groups would create meaning form the content and structure)

Disadvantages

Some issues or disadvantages may include:

• Anyone can edit or open for example confidential information
• Open to SPAM, vandalism and sabatoge.
• Copyright and plagiarism - who is liable and are the creator's contributions their own.
• Education about the above - how to reference other peoples, text, photos and data.
• Requires Internet connectivity to collaborate
• No face time connections, very isolating for students.  Sometimes a phonecall will solve so many problems...
• The information can begin to look disorganised and time must be spent on tidying it all up.
• Downloading of personal files - their awreness of leaving a digital footprint.

All in all I really enjoyed the wiki. I found it much more interactive and collaborative and really flexible with regards to adding content and links etc.

In the Classroom

I believe Wikis would contribute to the learning of the students by:

• Stimulating writing, it becomes fun!
• An online, relevant up to the date text book, via collaboration.
• Low cost but effective communication and collaboration tool (with emphasis on the text)
• Promotion of reading, revision and tracking of comments, opinions, similar in perspective
• Promotion of a way for information to be distributed to many (such as class timetables, reflection from the lesson of the day)
• Group assignemtnts.
• Pre class tutorials, workshops, readings that students can look at beofre the class, making any notes about issues , problems beofre the class begins. 
• Reflection about assignments, etc on the wiki.
• Writing to a bigger audience - cross cultutral expereince for stuidents around the world to share information.
• Encouraging a "higher thinking" outcome, using Blooms Taxonomy.
• To summarise their findings on the wiki, so others can edit collaboratively to improve accuracy and completeness of the information.

Wikis in general can allow students to:

• meet virtually at their convenience and work on projects together. This is so relevant for me as I'm studying part time via Distance Education.
• to gather, organise and share writing, photos, video presentations and other digital creations.
• enable rich, flexible collaborations that have positive, psychological consequences for the group.
• preparing your students to make innovative uses of collaborative software tools.
• for the group.

 

Ethical, safe and legal issues associated with wikis.

In terms of operating safe, legally and ethically it should be noted that trust is a key issue of the use of any wiki.
Students should be encouraged to develop a set of rules outlining proper behavior when creating or contributing to a wiki. Consequences should also be discussed; these include those that might occur within the school, and more serious breaches which may involve outside intervention.

• Being a read write tool makes wikis particularly susceptible to vandalism. Copyright and plagiarism may also become issues as anyone can contribute to the site. Uploading information to wikis involves copying and communicating material. Teachers must continue to monitor content and educate students about referencing any images or work that is not their own. Some wikis may be blocked within school systems. Before embarking on any project teachers should familiarise themselves with the schools policy on the use of wikis in eLearning. Lastly, work and valuable time may also be lost through poor editing. Students should be shown how to retrieve lost information on the wiki site.

Week 2 Engagement Activity 4: Blog reflection on wiki activity

After completing my post on the Mobile Phone Wiki, I felt like I was connecting to the outside world, which was reassuring, giving me some "confidence" to keep plodding away at the set tasks each week.  Studying by Distance Education is a new concept to me, so I was happy to know, I had been able to share my thoughts on the Wiki page successfully.

I believe the forum utilised numerous learning theories.  Some examples of this are as follows;
Constructivism, the ability to take my own previous knowledge and experiences and consider others experiences and perspectives.
Working in the Wiki was a great opportunity for me to "build upon" what I though I knew or believed in, my schema about "mobile phones in the classroom".

Engaging in social learning , networking with my peers and the teacher was a great way to obtain new information, tips for further research and keep me motivated to construct "new" knowledge.  I could create my own personal collaborative learning space, meeting others that were interested in the same topic.

The use of de Bonos six thinking hats, within this wiki forum, allowed more objective and comprehensive considerations of the issue at hand.  It broke down the thinking process into six components.  I chose to comment wearing the Red hat (feelings) and the Yellow hat (strengths). 
The use of visual colours and cues, worked well with my learning style (visual learner) and so it made the "information" stick.
Behaviourism as an approach to learning focuses largely on stimuli and responses, things that we can see or hear to cause a change.
Cognitivism, which is based on the thought process behind the behaviour became evident after reading other contributing comments on the Wiki.  I was able to view the organisation of the comments but then could reorganise that new information in a way that I could process and accommodate it.  The new information was adding to my schema, extending it and altering it.
I believed a majority would be pro mobile phone usage in the classroom but I was wrong!
A lot of people still believed they were a distraction in class, they couldn't be controlled by the teacher, were used for cyberbullying and were just a plain nuisance!  I did tend to gravitate towards the positive responses or open minded discussions more, as I guess they were similar in their schema to mine.
The teaching strategy of connectivism was also utilised as an adjunct to learning.  Connectivism for me has become more of a lifestyle than a learning theory but it serves its purpose, just the same.
The use of the Mobile Phone Wiki, was a great experience in allowing me to share my ideas with a group of "learners".  We were able to connect and collaborate all of our thoughts, feelings, opinions, facts and further questions for continuing learning.  The use of technology allowed this to occur and hence the importance or "way of life" this has become.  Connectivism made the learning more fun, enhancing each approach in a certain way. Devices such as ipods, ipads, laptops, notebooks have just made my personal learning more fun!
All these learning theories can actually complement each other or sometimes just work on their own, depending on what I'm learning.

I was very intimidated about creating a blog or participating in the wiki.  It's all very foreign to me and so with anything new, I tend to become doubtful, questioning my ability to be able to successfully complete the task.  After following the very clear instructions on the moodle page, I created my blog and began adding reflections to it.  I followed the prompts and added my comments to the Mobile Phone Wiki.  This was a huge achievement and I felt very excited and empowered that I managed to do these things, without the help of my IT husband!!
I felt comfortable leaving my message on the Mobile Phone wiki, as it was "common ground", for all to make comment and not be "rubbished or ridiculed".  Their was a sense of trust within the framework of this wiki.
I did notice however, once I was in the edit page, you could accidentally delete anything that was in there.  I accidentally put my blog at the very top of the page, where the original question was. Whoops !!!  I just went into edit and moved it down to an appropriate space.

Overall, some benefits of working in a wiki would be:

• Anyone can edit
• Its easy to use and learn
• Its instantaneous, a virtual textbook in the making.
• Its a flexible tool, used for a wide range of topics.

Some issues or disadvantages may include:

• Anyone can edit or open for example confidential information
• Open to SPAM
• Requires Internet connectivity to collaborate
• The information can begin to look disorganised

I believe Wikis would contribute to the learning of the students by:

• Stimulating writing, it becomes fun!
• Low cost but effective communication and collaboration tool (with emphasis on the text)
• Promotion of reading, revision and tracking of comments, opinions, similar in perspective
• Writing to a bigger audience
• Encouraging a "higher thinking" outcome, using Blooms Taxonomy.
• To summarise their findings on the wiki, so others can edit collaboratively to improve accuracy and completeness of the information.

Wikis in general can allow students to:

• meet virtually at their convenience and work on projects together.  This is so relevant for me as I'm studying part time via Distance Education.
• to gather, organise and share writing, photos, video presentations and other digital creations.
• enable rich, flexible collaborations that have positive, psychological consequences for the group.
• preparing your students to make innovative uses of collaborative software tools.
• for the group.

The scaffolding supported the range of perspectives within the wikis with the use of de Bonos six thinking hats.  The students could regroup and analyse the top or most popular responses (similar coloured hats/perspectives), making comment or researching further about their perspective.

The collaborative and public nature of the wiki, I believe helps students understand and collaborate in a continuous publishing process in which their strengths and talents add to the research and final product.

I've always believed that I would learn form my students and that I need to know them and what they need in order to teach well.  I also believe that learning is a social activity and that we learn by participation.  In addition I believe that all kids can learn and that they are "smart" in different ways.  Finally a student can learn if s/he can see a target has various supporting structures and resources and has the opportunity and time to practice and improve with continuous feedback.
A wiki provides the structure for all of these pedagogical implications.

Learning activities

• Engaging students in projects that inform others in real situations with option, promoting interests and strengths.

Learning resources

• Multimedia or live venues where students can learn both the information and the process of gathering (adding links to), analysing and putting together the learned concepts.

Learning support (via peer or teacher)

• Provide the feedback and structure for students to succeed according to their needs.

Everything is visible and transparent, within a wiki, supportive of all students and styles.  It builds the conversation and the community through a 21st Century communication connection .

Engagement 4: Reflection on Connectivism

Connectivism -  Do I agree with authors that contest this theory? Can I see Siemen's ideas? What is my position?

The "sorting out" of the various learning theories such as, Behaviourism, Cognitivism and Constructivism was somewhat confusing.

My basic overall understanding of the three learning theories are as follows:

Behaviourism - based on observable changes in behaviour that, due to repetition becomes automatic.
Cognitivism - based on the thought processes behind the behaviour, to indicate what is happening inside the learners mind.
Constructivism - based on the premise that we all build our own "idea" of the world, through individual expereinces.  These expereinces are used to interpret what is already known through the support of others, "bouncing" ideas off each other to construct learning.

Circumstances surrounding the learning situation, such as levels of learning, may also determine which approach to learning is more appropriate.  I guess I would need to be open to more than one single learning theory but remember that the instructional method and the content that I would cover, would depend on the level of th elearners.  The best design decisions are certainly based on our knowledge of learning theories.
Overall, these learning theories suggest that learning occurs, "inside a person" and does not address learnign that occurs outside of people (i.e learning that is stored and manipulated by technology).

Connectivism, seen my Siemien, suggests that learning is a process that occurs within a shifting environment, that is not under th econtrol of a learner.  Information resides outside of ourselves (database or organisation) and these connections to specialised information sites, enable us to learn more, rather than the actual knowledge itself.

I agree with Siemens that the learning involved with connectivism is the act of searching and connecting with the outside world for information.  The ability to create your own "virtual textbook", from connections on various websites, bookmarking articles from a valid and reliable source and learning to know the difference.  Creating a blog and posting the informed knowledge on a research subject or having others from all over the world post a blog / comment on my page.  Networking, social discussions, informed opinions all connecting with a similar goal - to learn about a particular subject.  You can share your organisation of your knowledge with the rest of the world.  It is definitely a characteristic of the new 21st Century learner an dits a whole lot more fun!
Technology enhances learning experiences with devices such as ipods, smartphones and educational software, making my own personal learning more fun!

In todays world the ability to plug into sources to meet set requirements, when knowledge is not known becomes a vital skill, personally and at an organisational level.  As we begin to grow and evolve we require access to further information, rather than our current knowledge base, enabling us to flourish in this digital era.  I would have to say I wouldn't see connectivism as a learning theory but more as a strategy to complement my learning.  More of a lifestyle than a  learning theory.

Give an example of ways in which you could use this theory in your classroom / learning context? Optional blog posting - add your reflection to your blog.

Some examples of connectivism in the classroom might include:

• Demonstrate how to build a network for a research topic given, i.e Blog website
• Offer guidance when they get stuck
• Show how to communicate properly and ask respectfully for help from experts online.
• Show how to differentiate between good information and propaganda.
• How to organise a mountain of information, so that it is maintained and used to navigate the learners future and creativity.
• Solve the learners own problems by researching and creating his own virtual textbook, with up to date information. i.e Online library
• Direct their own learning with a teacher who facilitates the process rather than instructs the learner.

Overall, the use of all learning theories across a learning experience would be required.  Identifying what will be best for the learner at the time will be my biggest challenge.

Learning about the different learning theories has certainly shed a light on how complex any learning is and how different approaches can actually assist in creating solutions and styles on how knowledge can be obtained.