Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
reflection: Week 5
In this week's workshop we were asked to create a brochure for a holiday destination. The program we were to use was Microsoft Office Publisher and the content was to be a combination of our creative input and items from the internet by means of photos and information.
I am familiar with this program, having made brochures before; the program has many options for personalizing the presentation of information and I could imagine would be a teriffic way of encouraging students to navigate software and websites in a creative way.
In previous studies, i had a task that required me to create a 'Wellness' brochure for families of young children, a task that required a lot of professional research. Greg's assignment for us was of course the holiday destination brochure, a task that is more reflective of past experiences or interest directed. In a primary classroom the brochure activity can be integrated into a vast array of learning topics to suport many valued skills in primary education, including liteeracy, ICT, research skills, creativity and intrapersonal learning etc.
This week Greg introduced us to e-portfolios, what will count as our major assessment and what will no doubt be a large part of our primary classroom for assessment and reflection on individual student progress and achievement. An e-portfolio features multiple examples of students work in a student-centered digitalised collection of information both teacher and student governed that can act as a guide for future planning and a reflection for past skills and knowldege.
As a teacher-in-training i am well aware of the professional development journey i have embarked upon. Embedded in this journey will be the acquisition of ICT skills as described in this week's class as the following stages; Entry, where instruction is explicitly compreheded; Adoption, the mentoring stage of learning; Adaptation, tranferring knowledge; Appropriation, which involves peer to peer collaboration and Innovation, the final stage where skills are efined and 'coached' in interpersonal learning.
Ready...deep breath.....let's go!
I am familiar with this program, having made brochures before; the program has many options for personalizing the presentation of information and I could imagine would be a teriffic way of encouraging students to navigate software and websites in a creative way.
In previous studies, i had a task that required me to create a 'Wellness' brochure for families of young children, a task that required a lot of professional research. Greg's assignment for us was of course the holiday destination brochure, a task that is more reflective of past experiences or interest directed. In a primary classroom the brochure activity can be integrated into a vast array of learning topics to suport many valued skills in primary education, including liteeracy, ICT, research skills, creativity and intrapersonal learning etc.
This week Greg introduced us to e-portfolios, what will count as our major assessment and what will no doubt be a large part of our primary classroom for assessment and reflection on individual student progress and achievement. An e-portfolio features multiple examples of students work in a student-centered digitalised collection of information both teacher and student governed that can act as a guide for future planning and a reflection for past skills and knowldege.
As a teacher-in-training i am well aware of the professional development journey i have embarked upon. Embedded in this journey will be the acquisition of ICT skills as described in this week's class as the following stages; Entry, where instruction is explicitly compreheded; Adoption, the mentoring stage of learning; Adaptation, tranferring knowledge; Appropriation, which involves peer to peer collaboration and Innovation, the final stage where skills are efined and 'coached' in interpersonal learning.
Ready...deep breath.....let's go!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Week 1 reflection
I've never been an overly tech-savvy person. I tend to just play around with programs and applications until I figure them out in a hands-on approach to learning. The first workshop was very hands-on, navigating our way around the Inspiration program and creating our own blog page. These processes encouraged us to express thoughts and ideas in a creative way, incorporating broader ICT applications and processes such as retrieving information and pictures etc from other ICT sources and combining them in our own virtual concept map.
Notions of ICT have positive aspirations for the primary classroom. We are living in a technological era where ICT skills are prominent across many everyday circumstances. Social networking sites, email, internet banking, research, even looking up maps opposed to using the good old melways, are all examples of the technology we rely on regularly. In our objective as primary school teachers, to prepare students with knowledge and skills useful and important for their futures in global society, it is important we support children’s comprehension of information and communication technologies as they have become practical life skills.
Programs such as blogs can support children in the accessibility of information within a stimulating discourse in regards to a particular subject or issue. Creating blogs gives students the opportunity to be abstract in their thinking and creativity and can incorporate sound and music extend this opportunity. Blogs can be accessible to teachers, students and families; a relative issue about the student personally and/or academically can be monitored by all parties supporting their individual developmental journey.
ICT is an engaging, exploratory and useful tool for the learning student. It can be fun and creative and open up almost unlimited possibilities and information. I want to support skills useful in ICT for my students by devising a pedagogy which incorporates ICT across the curriculum in an enjoyable and functional way.
Notions of ICT have positive aspirations for the primary classroom. We are living in a technological era where ICT skills are prominent across many everyday circumstances. Social networking sites, email, internet banking, research, even looking up maps opposed to using the good old melways, are all examples of the technology we rely on regularly. In our objective as primary school teachers, to prepare students with knowledge and skills useful and important for their futures in global society, it is important we support children’s comprehension of information and communication technologies as they have become practical life skills.
Programs such as blogs can support children in the accessibility of information within a stimulating discourse in regards to a particular subject or issue. Creating blogs gives students the opportunity to be abstract in their thinking and creativity and can incorporate sound and music extend this opportunity. Blogs can be accessible to teachers, students and families; a relative issue about the student personally and/or academically can be monitored by all parties supporting their individual developmental journey.
ICT is an engaging, exploratory and useful tool for the learning student. It can be fun and creative and open up almost unlimited possibilities and information. I want to support skills useful in ICT for my students by devising a pedagogy which incorporates ICT across the curriculum in an enjoyable and functional way.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
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