(above: Digital Storytelling Training Course)

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I thought this was a fitting way to end since it is an example of constructionism as well as being a project I have had to do for one of my subjects. This article is quite a sweet story of how a classroom teacher used imovie to make his class realise they all had stories to tell. The task they undertook was to to create a story centred around a place where the student feels safe. Amazingly, at the end 99% of the students considered themselves writers as opposed to the 60% who did before doing the task. I felt this story which probably isn’t all that uncommon was really lovely. For students to be in an environment where they are learning constructively and they feel safe enough to share these personal reflections is very special and something I hope to achieve in my own class one day.

The steps are basic and the technology is user friendly although I prefer Photostory 3 and I am ABSOLUTELY CONFIDENT (I don’t think I’ve said that before) that I can use this technology.

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Cyberbullying is something that has concerned me from the beginning with this subject and so I thought it was about time I actually read up on it. I knew from talking to other teachers that it is a very real and damaging problem. This article reinforced my concern but also gave me hope that it is not too late to do something about it and that it can tackled. Like most issues in schools the first step is admitting that there is a problem and being willing to admit to this negative side to technology. Making students aware that bullying of an any kind is unacceptable and not to be tolerated, allowing for anonymous admission of bullying that may be going on, making sure that students cannot login anonymously to computers and ensuring there are severe penalties for those who do bully are just some of the ways to crackdown on cyberbullying outlined in this article.

The main problem is needing to present a unified front. This means teachers, students and parents all need to be reporting bullying, telling people that cyberbullying IS bullying and taking steps to try and prevent cyberbullying in the first place. The strong stance of this article is much appreciated on an issue that is so important in our schools.

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I came across this article in my cyber travels and couldn’t quite move past it because it was so relevant to me. Reid Goldsborough who wrote this article points out the perils of having a personal computer. Although this article isn’t talking about education I still think it’s useful and worth considering. Goldsborough is discussing the enormous amount of time wasted procrastinating on the computer. Procrastination can come in blatant forms like playing games or in subtler ways where you find yourself clicking on a link on a website and then another and another until what you’re looking at is in no way related to your original site.

Procrastination is something I can relate to well and I also understand the ill-effect it can have on your education. With this in mind it has prompted me to think. How can I make sure my students are making good use of their time on the computer?

These are a few things I’ve come up with:

-Give clear instruction so they always have a purpose and feel they can achieve it

-Make sure what they are doing is engaging so they won’t want to get off topic

-Block what sites you can that you know are unhelpful and uneducational

If anyone had any other suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Goldsborough, R. (2007). Personal Computers can save your time, and waste it. Community College Week, 7th May, p28

I know practically nothing about gaming-educational or otherwise so Sunny’s post really intrigued me. I thought this is one of my last chances to find out so I decided I would also read Meris Stanbury’s article on educational gaming. Before I comment on the article though I did have a thought for the dilemma Sunny proposes with children spending a lot of time on the computer and not outside. Her solution was that when they did play games it could at least be educational but what if educational requirements were the games themselves? That way instead of spending an hour doing homework and an hour on the computer and finding that the afternoon has gone kids could spend an hour doing homework and playing the computer through the one software and then have to time to play outside as well. I’m not sure if the technology is up to it but it’s just an idea.

This article really shows just how new educational gaming is as an actual reality. Right now it is productive but in an extremely specific area. In the future I think it will be adopted by more and more schools and have a wider variety of games. This high quality and intensely educational software is something I will eagerly keep an eye on.

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At first when I looked at this article after reading Mel’s Blog I was disappointed. I had been expecting lots of innovative ideas for the use of mind maps. I love using mind maps so this was an exciting prospect for me. I opened the article and started reading. It wasn’t a bad article or anything it was actually really good for reinforcing Papert’s theory of constructionism, but I’d already read successful stories on the implementation of constructionism and I wanted something else.

Then I came to the end and discovered a very plain but simultaneously beautiful graph. Like some digital epiphany as mentioned in the previous article, I discovered a list of resources (limited) with a description of where they are best implemented in the digital discovery and creation process. It was a exciting to find this because I feel like I have come to understand many of the different resources out there but I wasn’t really sure what the most productive use of them was and now I know that if I feel unsure I can always come back to this article as a reminder.

I rather enjoyed reading this article from McVee (Et al., 2008) not just because it was full of handy hints and encouraging stories but also because of how it was written. You could tell that it wasn’t written by a “computer geek” but that it was actually written by people who understand the pain and fear of dealing with technology and because of that, are able to coherently explain how to deal with it.

The Gumby maneuver made me laugh and brought back fond memories but I also thought it was startingly accurate. Flexibility is extremely important when using computers because there is so much that can go wrong and much of it is beyond your control. For example, last year on prac I was meant to do a computer lesson on prac but when we got to the computer room we realised that none of the students knew their user names or passwords. Luckily my teacher took over and did something else but I quickly learnt the joys of the unpredictability of computers. Maybe it’s not fair to blame the computers, it’s not like it was their fault.

I also was glad to hear that a sense of humour is a good thing to have for when things do get frustrating. Especially as a student teacherI think it’s very easy to beat yourself up when things go wrong and go into a panic so to hear from someone who’s been teaching for a while that it’s okay in those situations just to laugh is a relief. It also helps me to be less concerned with going in and failing. I feel like now even if things do go wrong at least I know how to deal with it.

Mary B.McVeeBailey, N.M., McVee, M.B. & Shanahan, L.E. (2008) Technology Lite: Advice and reflections for the technologically unsavvy. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(6), pp 444-448.

I had a pretty interesting reaction to watching this video. It was sort of mix of conviction and annoyance. I viewed this on Una’s Blog and although I agree with her that it is our challenge and our job to develop with the technology, I felt offended by message it sent about other things that are taught in the classroom. To watch this video you would think that any other forms of learning have no value what-so-ever. It is important for children to know how to write, it is one of the foundations of learning and it certainly isn’t enough just to know how to type. Like with a formula, you don’t really understand it unless you had to do it  the long way first. You can’t really appreciate the written language unless you have taken a pencil and formed those letters first.

Overall though I thought that this vodcast was very helpful as a reminder that as a teacher what I do is for my student’s benefit not to keep me in my comfort zone.

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I’m not sure if it’s some sort of penance for the difficulties I’ve found blogging but I keep seem to run into articles on the subject and they all tell me the same thing-blogging’s great!

This particular article Collaborative Literacy: Blogs and Internet Projects (Boling, et al., 2008) gives two examples of collaborative learning in a digital context. The first, although not quite constructionism, i still thought it was a clever and productive use of the blog. Students were asked to read short pieces of text and then blog about it stating one thing that stands out and one question they had. This is great because the students have a lot of freedom in what they choose to write but not so much freedom that they don’t know where to start. Older students then went on line and read the younger children’s blogs answering their questions or adding their own responses.

The second example was where students created a wiki that when finished would be a “collection of persuasive pieces designed to encourage a fifth-grade exchange student to visit one of the parks”. This was carried out between two classes in completely different states. This is a great example of collaboration on line in action. Whilst completing this assignment not only were students creating something in a highly engaging and motivating way. Another great thing about it was that it was also integrating syllabus requirements from different KLA’s.

I’d like to think that my use of internet resources in the classroom will be equally as innovative and integrative.

This interesting look at what is required of students today in terms of literacy was interesting for me. After reading Claire’s post on this article I was sure that I would feel the same way she did- that digital learning is being promoted over and replacing traditional learning ( the three “R’s”) but to my surprise I didn’t feel like that at all. I really felt that Armstrong and Warlick aren’t trying to devalue traditional learning but rather they are acknowledging that the reality for our students is that it isn’t enough to be called “literate” because you can read a book, you need to be able to analyse all sorts of media and “read” them.

I think it’s important that we make sure that our children are literate in every sense. Thanks to technology our workplaces and home environments are constantly evolving in terms of how we communicate and learn. With this in mind we need to make sure that the students in our care are equipped with the tools they will need to keep up.

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That was my reaction when I first came across this article entitled Radical Change and wikis: Teaching new literacies. So that you don’t have the same problem I thought I’d explain radical change in very basic terms right off. Radical Change is taking traditional text forms or subjects and you change the format, the perspective or the boundaries and what may have once been taboo no longer is. Luce-Kapler (the author) outlines how she went into a classroom and using wiki’s tried to teach the concept of radical change to a sixth-grade class. Papert would have been proud since this meant they constructed their own texts rather than merely studying them and then were able to comment and edit each other’s work.

Although it was clear that the students hadn’t really come to terms with the concept of Radical Change by the end of the study, the activity was still extremely productive. Luce-Kapler was rewarded for her efforts when it became apparent that the class had gained a fairly well-developed visual literacy. The graphics they used in their wikis were meaningful and thoughtful. They used animation as well as 2D images and were sharing their discoveries.

I think this article is an excellent example of why it is important to try out new things…because even if we don’t get the result we expected it doesn’t mean we haven’t got a result!

Luce-Kapler, R. (2007) Radical Change and Wikis: Teaching New Literacies. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(3), pp214-223.