Digital media in the form of videos, pictures and audio are extremely valuable in supporting learning, whether sourced/created by others or by the learners themselves. When digital resources are sourced form others, I feel that there is right and a wrong way to present them to students. For example, as a student in a Biology class I recall watching a fantastic David Attenborough documentary. The instructions from the teacher were simply to "watch and take notes". I was always a very conscientious student so I took this task seriously and I ended up with pages of scrawled notes. There was no follow up discussion about the relevance of the documentary to our learning outcomes or even any general discussion at all. I learnt nothing from this session besides the fact that I really enjoy David Attenborough's work. This is an example of introducing digital media at the substitution level of SAMR, and, since I hardly can recall what the film was about, I am not even sure my thinking that day had any place on the Bloom's Taxonomy at all. How could this have been improved upon? I think the documentary should have been introduced by the teacher with respect to its key points that are applicable to our recent learning. The teacher should have given us a set of questions to keep in mind while watching and following the film, there should have been time to compare the student's answers to the questions, and what they took out of what they viewed. The teacher could have paused the documentary following important points and taken time to really ensure students had absorbed that information. To promote the highest order thinking, there should also have been opportunity for students to formulate their own questions for each other to answer. I have discussed the SAMR model verbally below. Please excuse the two parts to the video...I was interrupted by my little son and unfortunately PhotoBooth on Mac has no pause button (horrified gasp is welcome here). Substitution: Show a diagram or a video/audio that will present key ideas. This is a direct substitution for verbally presenting the content to the class.
Augmentation: Pause or rewind a video or audio to discuss what is being presented in more depth. Ask students to make notes on the image, video or audio then have them taking turns reading a key point from their notes until no one has any unique points left - this ensures all students are actively focussing on the media and are getting additional info from their peers. Modification: Have students find Digital Media information sources themselves on a certain topic and share their findings on a wiki or blog to provide study materials for their peers on the subject. The teacher could then review these and select a few of the most useful to watch together as a class. Redefinition: Individually or in groups, have students CREATE there own digital media to display their learning. In order to create an informative media file, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the content.
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This week we are discussing how digital images, audio, presentations and video can support and enhance learning. There was a fabulous comparison (page 1.1 of week 4 learning materials), that compared a text-filled table with a visual format for presentation of information. My was immediately drawn to the visually appealing diagram and at a glance of the table I found myself thinking "uggggh...do I have to read that?". Although the diagram was definitely more visually appealing, I do fear that there was a lot of information left out, perhaps this could be remedied by converting it to an interactive image such as the "Thinglink" image on page 1.2 of the week 4 learning materials.
I love the idea of thinglink for learning. I have created a very simple thinglink image which describes the process of prime factorization using factorization trees in year 7 mathematics. Future maths teachers such as myself may be finding ICT in our classrooms a little difficult to envisage beyond the basic excel over a project sort of situation. If this is you, then I SERIOUSLY suggest you watch this clip (I had trouble embedding it sorry). Conrad Wolfram is inspirational. Also, check out this website. Type in a query (I did "Australian population")...the output is fabulous and would provide great information for formulating real-world scenarios and questions for classroom mathematics!
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and the SAMR model are directly linked in that they are both strategies for promoting high level thinking in students. I feel that the simplest way to explain this link is through a real life scenario accompanied by a diagram I have made using Bubbl.us and adapted from Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything. Consider a science experiment conducted individually by students. The aim is to explore the impact of fertiliser on plant growth rate as well as the need for large sample sizes to produce robust scientific results. With no use of ICT at all, students could manually draw a graph of their own results after writing them into their laboratory notebook. Now follow the diagram below as I improve upon this lesson step-by-step using the SAMR Model. Watch how it clearly links in to Bloom's Taxonomy. 1) SUBSTITUTION: Swap the lab notebook for an excel spreadsheet and excel graph (this will save time). Ask students to create 4 excel graphs; using 20%, 50%, 80% and 100% of their sample size. Students are memorising their observations from their own experiment, observing how their results appear at small sample sizes compared to large. Visualising results becomes more clear and efficient thanks to ICT. 2) AUGMENTATION: Have the students email their spreadsheets to me once they have completed their excel input. I can combine their data to create a class-wide dataset and present them with these results. This would illustrating the benefits of sample sizes which could not be achieved individually in the time frame. It would instigate discussions over the importance of collaboration in science endeavours. 3) MODIFICATION: Upload all individual's results to a shared file and have students import all others' results into their own spreadsheets and create the results graph individually. Students can compare their results; everyone's graphs should now be identical, so when differences occur this will enable interaction between students to determine how errors were made. This still enables a discussion of the benefits of sample size, the need for collaborative approaches to science, but introduces the idea of error at the data analysis/input phase of experiments. When collaborating in science, everyone needs to follow an identical template when recording observations to avoid future errors. 3) REDEFINITION: Provide students with access to a wiki style spreadsheet where they can add their own results to the class dataset. They will see the trend lines in graphs become more obvious and clear with each added observation. Allow them to export the final dataset, save it as a "play" version and literally play around with their results. Add in outliers, reduce sample size, whatever. They can observe how these changes to the records result in changes in the observed trends. Creating false outliers in datasets and observing their impact is a fabulous way to instigate high-order thinking in a science inquiry context: "One incorrect measurement can cause 'x' difference in my results...how could I reduce my errors when my data is collected from an entire class?". HOW I WOULD COMPARE BLOOM'S TAXONOMY and SAMR: Useful References & Links
If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn |
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Some thoughts on transformational pedagogy...
In my first week of learning how to become a teacher I was introduced to the word pedagogy. In simple terms, someone's pedagogy refers to their method and practice of teaching. Is it ridiculous that an aspiring teacher was not aware that this word existed? Probably, but the important thing is that now I do know about pedagogy. I know that our pedagogy is heavily influenced by our values, our experiences and our beliefs.
My experiences in the classroom and elsewhere will shape my pedagogy, but is it possible for me to actively transform my pedagogy towards what is best for my student's learning? My answer: Of course. I believe that with strong focus, your aspirations will transform your actions. For example, if I aspire to integrate ICTs into my classroom and I keep that goal in the forefront of my mind during my planning phase, then in time I will find that ICTs become a standard and natural teaching tool.
I do not believe a pedagogy can be transformed overnight. Without continual self-evaluation we will, by nature, revert back to our tried and tested methods. I believe that to truly transform we must, quite forcefully, push ourselves to stay outside of our comfort zone until we get accustomed to the "new way". Only when these practices fall within our comfort zone, will we have truly transformed our pedagogy.
In any career or role, the "best practice" is always aspired to. I believe that our pedagogy should also be placed under scrutiny. We must ensure that we are teaching with methods which have been proven to provide the very best learning opportunities for our students. Consequently, we must ensure that our pedagogy is constantly under transformation.
(Reflection 1.1)
Am I ready to teach with ICTs?
On a scale of 0 to 10 I would give myself a five. I believe that I have some idea of ICTs that may be useful for teaching Science (my key learning area). However, I am concerned that I don't have the knowledge and experience to implement these tools effectively to facilitate deep learning.
(Reflection 1.2)
I believe that ICTs are a valuable asset to learning and I am committed to integrating ICTs in my lessons. While do not feel the need to control how my students learn, I do feel a need to have some control over the content they learn. Of course, the level of control over learning will vary depending on the form of ICT that is being utilised.
There are ICT tools that will enable students to learn autonomously, requiring teachers to take a step back. For example, there are countless interactive programs freely available online that provide avenues for experimentation and enable students to make conclusions through trial and error. Would you like to figure out how to create an electrical circuit here? Or maybe return the human organs to their correct positions here? Interactive websites for education extend well beyond the sciences, please visit http://interactivesites.weebly.com/ for more ideas!
Some tools will be very controlled and provide little to no opportunity for autonomous learning. For example, short videos can be displayed using a laptop linked to an overhead projector. Presenting a class with an informative simulation can help to teach concepts that cannot observed in a practical setting. See the video below explaining the the tricky concept of DNA and its function.
In my first week of learning how to become a teacher I was introduced to the word pedagogy. In simple terms, someone's pedagogy refers to their method and practice of teaching. Is it ridiculous that an aspiring teacher was not aware that this word existed? Probably, but the important thing is that now I do know about pedagogy. I know that our pedagogy is heavily influenced by our values, our experiences and our beliefs.
My experiences in the classroom and elsewhere will shape my pedagogy, but is it possible for me to actively transform my pedagogy towards what is best for my student's learning? My answer: Of course. I believe that with strong focus, your aspirations will transform your actions. For example, if I aspire to integrate ICTs into my classroom and I keep that goal in the forefront of my mind during my planning phase, then in time I will find that ICTs become a standard and natural teaching tool.
I do not believe a pedagogy can be transformed overnight. Without continual self-evaluation we will, by nature, revert back to our tried and tested methods. I believe that to truly transform we must, quite forcefully, push ourselves to stay outside of our comfort zone until we get accustomed to the "new way". Only when these practices fall within our comfort zone, will we have truly transformed our pedagogy.
In any career or role, the "best practice" is always aspired to. I believe that our pedagogy should also be placed under scrutiny. We must ensure that we are teaching with methods which have been proven to provide the very best learning opportunities for our students. Consequently, we must ensure that our pedagogy is constantly under transformation.
(Reflection 1.1)
Am I ready to teach with ICTs?
On a scale of 0 to 10 I would give myself a five. I believe that I have some idea of ICTs that may be useful for teaching Science (my key learning area). However, I am concerned that I don't have the knowledge and experience to implement these tools effectively to facilitate deep learning.
(Reflection 1.2)
I believe that ICTs are a valuable asset to learning and I am committed to integrating ICTs in my lessons. While do not feel the need to control how my students learn, I do feel a need to have some control over the content they learn. Of course, the level of control over learning will vary depending on the form of ICT that is being utilised.
There are ICT tools that will enable students to learn autonomously, requiring teachers to take a step back. For example, there are countless interactive programs freely available online that provide avenues for experimentation and enable students to make conclusions through trial and error. Would you like to figure out how to create an electrical circuit here? Or maybe return the human organs to their correct positions here? Interactive websites for education extend well beyond the sciences, please visit http://interactivesites.weebly.com/ for more ideas!
Some tools will be very controlled and provide little to no opportunity for autonomous learning. For example, short videos can be displayed using a laptop linked to an overhead projector. Presenting a class with an informative simulation can help to teach concepts that cannot observed in a practical setting. See the video below explaining the the tricky concept of DNA and its function.
Author
Sarah-Louise Tapper
Pre-service Teacher
Science and Biology