As a part of my coursework as a Pre-service learning manager, I have just undertaken something that I never thought I would ever do, little own have a need to do…I have dabbled in the world of blogs and wikis and there is no doubt that I will be spending much more time there!
So, having spent the last couple of days exposing and applying myself to these new learning experiences, (albeit fun, it is aIot for this old girl to take in!), I feel that a period of reflection will now help me to bring it all together and give me time to process everything.
One of the first things that came to my mind when I had gone through the steps of setting up my first Blog ever (and a wiki too no less), was that I felt ENJOYMENT. I started to recognize that the feelings of anxiety and apprehension I had been harboring leading up to this experience had actually turned to enjoyment, wonderment and awe.
Recalling Costa in Describing the 16 Habits of Mind, I called on a” ‘I CAN’ attitude” where my curiosity was peaked and I was engaged in activities that ignited me to “enjoy figuring things out by (myself)…” and I felt connected again to the path of “continu(ing) to learn throughout (my) lifetime” (p9).
This also made me reflect on how my learners would benefit from such learning engagement. Certainly there are many types of learning personalities that I need to take into account when planning.
We just have to look at such theories as Multiple Intelligence put forward by Gardner where he refers to there being 8 different intelligences that everybody experiences in different degrees due to personal and environmental influences (body-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical-mathematical, musical, naturalist, verbal-linguistic, visual-spacial).
And another by Richard Felder whose research let to his development of an index of learning styles, which gives us, as learning managers, much more individual information on our learners when planning learning activities.
Yet another, different theory of learning styles is offered by research done by Jung and Myer’s Briggs who suggest that our personality also affects our ability to learn. And this is not to leave out learners who may experience certain disabilities, being Gifted and Talented, Asperger's Syndrome or Autism, for example.
So, the very nature of ICTs would allow learning managers to plan effective pedagogy in the attempt to achieve positive outcomes for all learner type because the use of ICTs in Education offers student-centredness, creativity, collaboration and a hands on approach to learning.
Essentially these “web based writing platforms”, as described in the podcast “21st Century Learning” shown below (which I was directed to by my Lecturer Scot Aldred in the course ware) allow learners the opportunity to DO things themselves, such as writing and editing text and adding pictures etc.
The web base allows for not only comment by the teacher (as is the case in the current curriculum based classroom techniques) but also for comment on a world-wide scale. Suddenly, the audience and thus the input, is dramatically increased. Learners are able to received feedback and write reflectively of themselves, as well as offer feedback to and be part of the learning process of their peers.
I believe this all marries up nicely with Kiersley and Shneiderman’s (1999) Engagement Theory which offers that all learners will benefit though being engaged in the learning process. They describe engaged learning as “…all student activities involve active cognitive processes such as creating, problem-solving, reasoning, decision-making and evaluation. In addition, students are intrinsically motivated to learn due to the meaningful nature of the learning environment and activities”. Here, the authors go further to describe their method of attaining this as being summarized in three components - RELATE-CRATE-DONATE (P1).
Certainly working on the world wide web in such a way as using blogs and wikis forces one to engage in this theory – Creating by way of setting up and deciding what to write and how to decorate and what to incorporate into a design, relating through collaboration and meaningful dialogue with such a large and responsive audience, and Donate by way of sharing your outcomes and ideas and knowledge with everyone. Reflection is also part of what ICTs bring to the learning journey.
So, having spent the last couple of days exposing and applying myself to these new learning experiences, (albeit fun, it is aIot for this old girl to take in!), I feel that a period of reflection will now help me to bring it all together and give me time to process everything.
One of the first things that came to my mind when I had gone through the steps of setting up my first Blog ever (and a wiki too no less), was that I felt ENJOYMENT. I started to recognize that the feelings of anxiety and apprehension I had been harboring leading up to this experience had actually turned to enjoyment, wonderment and awe.
Recalling Costa in Describing the 16 Habits of Mind, I called on a” ‘I CAN’ attitude” where my curiosity was peaked and I was engaged in activities that ignited me to “enjoy figuring things out by (myself)…” and I felt connected again to the path of “continu(ing) to learn throughout (my) lifetime” (p9).
This also made me reflect on how my learners would benefit from such learning engagement. Certainly there are many types of learning personalities that I need to take into account when planning.
We just have to look at such theories as Multiple Intelligence put forward by Gardner where he refers to there being 8 different intelligences that everybody experiences in different degrees due to personal and environmental influences (body-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical-mathematical, musical, naturalist, verbal-linguistic, visual-spacial).
And another by Richard Felder whose research let to his development of an index of learning styles, which gives us, as learning managers, much more individual information on our learners when planning learning activities.
Yet another, different theory of learning styles is offered by research done by Jung and Myer’s Briggs who suggest that our personality also affects our ability to learn. And this is not to leave out learners who may experience certain disabilities, being Gifted and Talented, Asperger's Syndrome or Autism, for example.
So, the very nature of ICTs would allow learning managers to plan effective pedagogy in the attempt to achieve positive outcomes for all learner type because the use of ICTs in Education offers student-centredness, creativity, collaboration and a hands on approach to learning.
Essentially these “web based writing platforms”, as described in the podcast “21st Century Learning” shown below (which I was directed to by my Lecturer Scot Aldred in the course ware) allow learners the opportunity to DO things themselves, such as writing and editing text and adding pictures etc.
The web base allows for not only comment by the teacher (as is the case in the current curriculum based classroom techniques) but also for comment on a world-wide scale. Suddenly, the audience and thus the input, is dramatically increased. Learners are able to received feedback and write reflectively of themselves, as well as offer feedback to and be part of the learning process of their peers.
I believe this all marries up nicely with Kiersley and Shneiderman’s (1999) Engagement Theory which offers that all learners will benefit though being engaged in the learning process. They describe engaged learning as “…all student activities involve active cognitive processes such as creating, problem-solving, reasoning, decision-making and evaluation. In addition, students are intrinsically motivated to learn due to the meaningful nature of the learning environment and activities”. Here, the authors go further to describe their method of attaining this as being summarized in three components - RELATE-CRATE-DONATE (P1).
Certainly working on the world wide web in such a way as using blogs and wikis forces one to engage in this theory – Creating by way of setting up and deciding what to write and how to decorate and what to incorporate into a design, relating through collaboration and meaningful dialogue with such a large and responsive audience, and Donate by way of sharing your outcomes and ideas and knowledge with everyone. Reflection is also part of what ICTs bring to the learning journey.
Also, Lynch’s 8 Learning Management Questions suit the inclusion of ICT usage in the learning process. This process takes into account the different learning styles of learners and brings attention to resources and that the learning journey (lesson plan and units of work) “…must create an authentic and meaningful learning experience based on the learning required and the learner’s profile” (Lynch, p33).
Some examples of strategies that I may utilize in my pedagogical planning using ICTs have come from ideas listed in Marzano and Pickering’s The Dimensions of Learning Number 5 – Habits of Mind (pp275-297), used to locate reference materials (be accurate and seek accuracy), ask for people to check your work before delivering it to an audience (be clear and seek clarity), learning about different perspectives (maintain an open mind), find examples in current events (take a stand when the situation warrants it), ready access to information immediately at fingertips (push the limits of your knowledge and abilities), keep a journal that includes reflections on what you are thinking (monitor your own thinking), respond appropriately to feedback, collaboration (evaluate the effectiveness of your actions).
Living in this new Knowledge Economy, I can say that I am convinced that ICTs have a very valuable role to play in Education. This is not to say that it must be included at the expense of something else, but instead as a tool just as one may use a pen.
Some examples of strategies that I may utilize in my pedagogical planning using ICTs have come from ideas listed in Marzano and Pickering’s The Dimensions of Learning Number 5 – Habits of Mind (pp275-297), used to locate reference materials (be accurate and seek accuracy), ask for people to check your work before delivering it to an audience (be clear and seek clarity), learning about different perspectives (maintain an open mind), find examples in current events (take a stand when the situation warrants it), ready access to information immediately at fingertips (push the limits of your knowledge and abilities), keep a journal that includes reflections on what you are thinking (monitor your own thinking), respond appropriately to feedback, collaboration (evaluate the effectiveness of your actions).
Living in this new Knowledge Economy, I can say that I am convinced that ICTs have a very valuable role to play in Education. This is not to say that it must be included at the expense of something else, but instead as a tool just as one may use a pen.
References:
Costa, A.: http://www.mindfulbydesign.com/sites/default/files/16%20Habits%20Info.pdf
Gardner: Multiple Intelligences http://www.gp-training.net/training/educational_theory/multint/multint.htm
Marzano. R., Pickering. D. (2006). The Dimensions of Learning. Teacher's Manual. Victoria. Hawker Brownlow Education.
Smith, Lynch & Mienczakowski. (2003). The Bachelor of Learning Management (BLM) and Education Capability: Why we do not Prepare 'Teachers' Anymore in Change: Transformations in Education. Vol 6.2. CQ University.
“21st Century Learning” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmkqcp11pHM
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