How technology has changed the way we learn

There is no doubt that over the years, technology has changed learning and teaching processes and has transformed education as a whole. If you would have said to my Father that chalk boards will one day be replaced with interactive white boards that you can play videos from and make presentations with then he would have a) found it unbelievable, and b) he would be envious of what future generations have for learning. Students are fortunate nowadays that such amazing technologies and IT resources are now available to them. Teachers are also given the chance to use technology to enhance their lessons and to make preparing lessons less time-consuming. The door-way into the digital world has changed the way students and teachers learn. I would not have even believed that I would have used my mobile phone to participate in a class quiz, but through socrative I did. Gone are the days of spending endless hours writing notes down with the dull ache in your arm, now, typing-up documents is the quickest and securest way of getting essays and notes written- (hence the name of my bog: To pen to paper to blog)

I was reading an interesting article by Dr. Katherine McKnight, where she discusses how technology has changed the way we learn. She noted the top twelves way IT has changed learning, but I like to discuss in greater detail thwo of the points McKnight touched upon:

1. Communication Evolution- starting teaching English classes, I have definitely noticed the difference in communication. Students have told me how the way they text does have an influence on the way they write. This has had a negative effect on some students’ way of writing, as they are used to shortening words or writing sentences in ‘text talk.’  I have had students also say that they rely on auto spell-check on Microsoft word, however, there is the option of removing auto spell-check and Microsoft word does also offer a dictionary and thesaurus. This is a positive feature, but I still stand by the fact that a book-form dictionary and thesaurus is more effective resource to use as it offers more choice. Students communicate in many different modalities as a result of technology. It is up to educators to take the good with the bad ways in which technology has changed learning, and in some aspects there are resources that still outweigh technological ones. Technology has given the ‘old dog’ of education, ‘new tricks’ to use and display.
2. Rise of Web-Based Research- information can be assessed through the click of a button. In an instant, the internet can feed you information on a wide-range of topic wherever you are sat. You no longer need to go to a library and spend hours finding a book, in fact you do not even have to physically hold in your hands the information you are reading.  Computers in libraries are like having a library within a library. What one computer holds, or what one mobile phone holds can educate you in minutes. I agree with McKnight’s argument that because it takes less time to find information, we spend more time digesting, thinking, and learning about new information.

As teachers we are facilitating learning, therefore technology should not be ignored or feared. It is important we use it as part of our role as educators. As Geoff Petty states:

                At work, most of your students will swim in an environment dominated by word processors, spreadsheets, databases, and email and Internet searches. If you don’t prepare your learners by showing them how to make natural use of powerful tools, you are not preparing them for work. (Petty, p.391).

Therefore, technology is everywhere in our lives. Most jobs require employees to be computer literate and to be able to use Microsoft applications. Ensuring a successful future for students, teachers should make technology as seamless as possible within education. As Petty also states: ‘it is what students do that creates learning, not what technology does.’ Technology should not complicate learning, it should make it easier and more understandable.

References:

Geoff Petty, (2008), ‘Students learning with computers: e-learning, ICT and ILT,’ in Teaching Today: A practical guide, 4^th ed. (Cheltenham, Nelson Thorne: 2009), pp. 391-507, p.391.

Katherine McKnight, (2013) 'Top 12 ways technology changed learning', TeachHub.com. [Online] Available from: http://www.teachhub.com/how-technology-changed-learning [Accessed 15.01.15].

Blog spotting: A review of a Teaching Blog

A blog that has really caught my interest is one called 'Joyful Collapse' by Mindy Keller. Mindy's full blog can be accessed through the link: http://joyfulcollapse.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2014-11-04T09:48:00-05:00&max-results=7

Mindy Keller is a high school English teacher and being that English is my specialized subject, I instantly engaged with the content of this blog. 'Joyful Collapse' offers information on pedagogical approaches and helps teachers in determining best practices for reaching today's adolescents. Mindy has even written a book, 'Transparent Teaching for Adolescents,'which would be interesting to read, especially after reading the discussions on her blog so far. 

One blog post that I found particularly interesting to read was: 'Want to effectively integrate technology? Make it invisible.'This blog encourages the use of technology in the classroom,

however, Keller does not believe that it should be the main focus of the lesson. Here is a statement from the blog, which has had an effect on the way I think when trying to integrate technology in my lessons:

We don’t want the tool to be the focus, nor do we want the tool to drive the learning. Rather, the goal is to put the learning first and allow the use of the tool to be so seamless, so natural, so smooth as a means to reach the objective, that it is…invisible.

The word 'invisible' does not mean technology is not there, it means that it does not cloud

 the visibility of what the teaching is try to say. Keller argues that the objective 

of a lesson is what the focus should be around. Technology can frame the lesson and give 

these objectives strength, but the more natural and seamless it is weaved into the lesson

 the better. 

Helpfully, Keller has added a list of ways that can be used to make technology feel 'invisible:'

1. Ask big questions. What kinds of questions do you want kids to be

 thinking about as they move into the lesson/unit? Generally, the use of 

clearly relevant how, why, or what if questions tend to stimulate

 more thought.

2. Based on those questions and your state standards, create learning 

objectives. 

What should the student be able to do by the end of this lesson unit? 

3.  Determine what technology tools will aid the students

 in reaching those objectives. 

Even   better, offer students a choice of tools. In the examples above,

the most logical technology tools are:

-A curation tool to gather and house research (Pinterest, Symbaloo,or other)

-A word processing tool (Google docs, Word, or other) OR

-Another publishing tool (Podcast, blog, Glogster, or other)

Therefore, what this blog really instilled in me is the way that the lesson needs to remain focused 

on the objective. Integrating ICT into lessons can be incredibly enriching to the learning

experience, but the art of making it so would mean that it is 'invisible.' I do not mean that it is

not an obvious use to students, moreover that it is done in a way that fits the lesson 

strategies so seamlessly that it becomes natural. As Keller sums up in her blog post, hopefully

you will end with a response from a student that: 'We're talking about why there is still racism,'

over 'We're making a Glogster thing.'

References:
Keller, Mindy, 'Joyful Collapse,' at http://joyfulcollapse.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2014-11-04T09:48:00-05:00&max-results=7 [Accessed 4 January 2015]

The power of PowerPoint

PowerPoint presentations were one of the first software devices that I was taught to use when I was a secondary school student. When interactive whiteboard's were installed in classrooms, one of the first features I noticed was how the teacher no longer needed to cram information all onto one board, or keep rubbing-out words in order to have space to write more. Through PowerPoint, multiple slides can be created and presented to pupils. Furthermore, these slides of information can be saved to use again and again in other lessons infinitely and can also be printed on paper for handouts. It is an easy tool to use and whilst presenting, you are able to forward features or slides by just touching the board. I was confident in using PowerPoint prior to the PGCE programme; therefore, it came as no surprise to me that I created a PowerPoint presentation when faced with my first class teaching students. This worked well and it was effective having slides up on the board for students to write notes from and also it allowed me to teach at the pace I wanted. PowerPoint offers sound, animation and many more features that can be effective to use when teaching. However, a frustrating part of using PowerPoint is the inability to write on the board whilst doing the presentation. I could not use the whiteboard pens to add notes or ideas from pupils, which would have made the presentation even more interactive.

After addressing the use of Socrative, I thought of trying a quiz that used ICT whilst also using traditional methods. I wrote questions on each slide, with multiple choice if needed, and encouraged students to write down their answers on paper. This saved me printing paper for the whole class and it was also an easier way to teach as I could go read-out each question as it was presented and to talk a little about what I wanted them to think about and remember. The students then did a peer assessment on one another and marked work by viewing the final slide, which contained numbered answers on it. Therefore, I would use PowerPoint again to conduct quizzes in class.

Is Socrative positive?

Socrative is an app that allows both teacher and student to interact electronically with educational activities on tablets, laptops and smartphones. Predominantly, socrative can be used through the means of questionnaires, which can produce instant results for the teacher and the whole class to visualise.

Having had a demonstration in my PGCE class of this app, I can see that it is a teaching technique that sparks debate. The positives of using such a device in the classroom is that it involves the entire classroom. In order to participate, all of the class need to be involved, with the knowledge that they are entering their results anonymously. Perhaps, this technique can break down the embarrassment students can feel when they are participating in class quizzes. It also may make cheating in quizzes less, as it is anonymous and each of the students needs their own device to participate. Another positive was the fact that the teacher can instantly gain feedback from questions and gauge the whole class' current level of understanding. This saves the teacher time on marking and also the time the teacher would take trying to grasp the statistics of learning and what areas of learning that need more attention. However, like many new teaching techniques, devices such as socrative are going to come with some criticisms.

The negatives of using such a device became clear when using socrative in the PGCE classroom. Firstly, every student would need access to a smart phone or laptop in order to take part in the quiz. This immediately made me raise my eyebrows as who's to say that every pupil can afford smart phones. It is the same as the continual arguments you hear over the prices of school uniforms. Not every child can afford to have the best and newest kit out there and surely a socrative quiz is only going to make those that haven't got the phone even more aware and could cause them embarrassment in the class. One of a teacher's primary areas to focus on when teaching to to make sure that the pupils well-being is ensured. Therefore, does using a device such as socrative guarantee whole-class participation? How can I guarantee if I used this teaching technique in class that all of my pupils would be able to do the quiz? If one or two pupils cannot, then surely the quiz has to be withdrawn from use.

Another critique would be the fact that anonymity of participants in the quiz means that yes the teacher gets a statistic of class knowledge, but they do not gain awareness of individual weaknesses. The teacher is unaware of which pupils in the overall statistic failed in some questions, and who the ones are that had questions correct. The teacher would have to rely on the fact that pupils gain knowledge when they can see the answers at the end on the whiteboard screen. Also, interaction between teacher and student is limited as there is a device in the way (be it a mobile phone or a laptop). Personally, when I am teaching, the less I see mobile phones displayed out in class the better!

Maybe it will be one of those teaching techniques that really grow and is used seamlessly in lessons. However, if it is to be used, this method needs to be backed-up with a teaching technique that undergoes knowledge of individual pupils' knowledge in class. To rely on socrative would not be beneficial for individual students, as they are being lost in an overall statistic.

Therefore, it is not so much on whether the use of Socrative is positive or not, but on how the sole use of such a quiz technique could have a negative effect on learner and teacher knowledge.

References:

http://www.socrative.com/ [Accessed 20 October 2014].