Post 5

POST 5: Using a pedagogical lens, write an evaluation of the impact this project has had on your own TPCK. Referring to course readings and your experiences, include a brief discussion of your views on the social impact of technology on teachers and students. (500 words)

Technological, pedagogical, content knowledge (TPCK) is the intersection of, and interaction between, knowledge of the curriculum, strategies of curriculum delivery, knowledge of relevant available technologies, and the ability to apply these technologies in a meaningful way to achieve maximum educational outcomes for students (Mishra & Koehler 2006). The TPCK model lays out a framework for how ICT can be integrated into classroom delivery to achieve these outcomes. What is of critical importance to the integration of technology into the classroom is that it is done in a way that adds to the intellectual quality of the lesson by being included in a way that is authentic and not tokenistic (Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver 2002). 

This course has been my final course at university, and this my last assignment. As such, I have had experience already in incorporating the use of ICT into lessons in a variety of classes, subjects, and year levels on practicums, internship, and in my work so far as a causal relief teacher. However, undertaking this course has strengthened my own knowledge and understanding of my TPCK. The main way this has been achieved is by enhancing my awareness of the sheer number of available technologies, and in particular websites, that I will be able to incorporate into lesson delivery going forward in my career. Also, it has strengthened my understanding of some websites and applications of which I was already aware. This has been particularly the case for the use of Wikispaces and I know am keen to use this platform to help with the design and implementation of units and programs which I will design in the first few years of my career. Also, my understanding of other educational platforms such as Moodle and Edmodo have has also been increased to an extent where I believe I will be able to incorporate these into my teaching if I choose to do so.

While the social impacts of increasing use of, and reliance upon technology can be argued to be a double edged sword, in my view the positive aspects far outweigh the negatives. Much has been made of the negative influences of technology such as privacy issues and the tendency for some people to become withdrawn from real social interaction, but I believe that improvements such as the availability of information and the opportunities for teaching and learning through multimodal approaches far outweigh these. Students are now more connected with each other than ever before, and more significantly, they are more connected with the world than ever before. Like no time in history students are able to see themselves as citizens of the world as a whole and it is technology that has made this possible. The opportunities that this affords teachers and students in the modern classroom are virtually limitless. It is for this reason that we as teachers should embrace the use of ICT in the classroom with both hands and strive to remain of the cutting edge of technological advancement in both curriculum content and delivery. In fact, anything less than that should be considered a failure in our duty and responsibility to the students of the future.

Koehler, M.J. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for Teacher Knowledge. Teachers College, Columbia University. Volume 108, pg. 1017-1054.

Reeves, T.C., Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2002). Authentic activities and online learning. HERDSA, pg 562-567.

Post 4

POST 4: Discussion of the relevance of multiliteracies and multimodal approaches to supporting student learning. (400 words)

The key to maximising the learning experiences and outcomes for all students is to first remember that each student is a unique individual. Students enter the classroom with not only a diverse range of talents and abilities, but also a diverse range of backgrounds. These factors have a marked effect on what set of learning styles my students will bring to the classroom. It is vital that lesson delivery must reflect this diversity to ensure that allows all students to learn to be able to participate fully in class and in the world outside the classroom (Cazden et al 1996).

A way to ensure this goal is to adopt a multimodal approach to classroom delivery. That is, to modify lesson activities to cater for students with different learning styles by incorporating kinaesthetic, visual, auditory, and investigative approaches into lessons. The incorporation of ICT, and in particular the internet, into classroom delivery has made this much more readily available. Indeed, ICT allows for teachers to include multiliteracies in way that means they are no longer bound by traditional approaches to teaching and learning (Cazden et al 1996). 

With this being said it is still important to ensure the use of technology in the classroom, and the inclusion of multimodal approaches to content delivery, is still geared towards intellectual quality and authentic learning (Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver 2002). One way of using ICT to achieve this is to allow students to learn by discovery using the internet. Students with this preferred learning style can be given ample opportunity to do research based tasks to supplement other classroom activities. Similarly, ICT also gives teachers the opportunities to cater for audio and visual based learners in ways not imagined only a decade ago. 

With the raft of options that are afforded to teachers by the incorporation of ICT into the classroom, and with the ease with which most digital natives are already able to navigate these new technologies, multimodal and multiliteracies approaches to curriculum delivery using ICT should now be an integral part of the modern classroom. 

Cazden, C., Cope, B.,  Fairclough, N & Gee, J, et al.  (1996).  A pedagogy of multiliteracies:  Designing social futures.  Harvard Educational Review; Spring 1996; 66, 1

Reeves, T.C., Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2002). Authentic activities and online learning. HERDSA, pg 562-567.

Post 3

POST 3: Explanation of how a depth of curriculum knowledge also supports the decision making process relating to ICT use in the classroom, with reference to a learning moment in phase two of your project. (400 words)

A depth of curriculum knowledge is vital to all aspects of teaching. Without an intimate knowledge of your subject it is not possible to deliver true intellectual quality, significance, and deep understanding in lessons delivery. It is also vital know specific strategies in terms of delivering curriculum content in the classroom. This combination of knowing what to teach and how to teach it is what separates average classroom practitioners from excellent ones.

One major aspect of this combination of understanding relates directly to the application and integration of technology in the classroom and into programs as a whole. With the amount of information (both accurate and otherwise) available to students at the click of a button, a depth of curriculum knowledge does not just support the decision making process when incorporating ICT into the classroom, but is absolutely essential for it. 

In relation to my particular decisions when developing my online artefact I needed to incorporate both my knowledge of the Stage 4 geography curriculum to ensure I was using information I knew to be accurate, and my experience of teaching Year 7 classes to ensure activities I planned would be engaging for that age group. With this in mind I chose to incorporate an online educational role playing game in which students had to oversee a virtual catchment system over a simulated period of 100 years to see if they could find a balance between economic growth and ecological sustainability. While this game was enjoyable, it was also very relevant to the Stage 4 geography syllabus and had real world significance. However, to understand this, and make an assessment on its suitability to a that particular stage of development, I had to call on my knowledge of the geography curriculum and my own experience as a classroom teacher.

Post 2

POST 2: Description of a key learning moment during phase one of your artifact's production and an explanation of how at least two (2) design decisions were made (400words).

The artefact I designed and developed was an online educational platform using the Wikispaces website. This artefact was designed to allow students to logon to the website and have all the instructions and information they needed to complete two separate lessons if I was absent from school on a particular day. 

There were a number of key learning moments in the design and develop of my artefact. I think the most significant of these was coming to understand just how the platform worked and, in doing so, it’s possible implications for further and more in-depth incorporation into my lesson and units of work moving forward in my career. By developing an understanding of how the Wikispaces website worked in terms of its ability to layer pages within pages, I was able to foresee how I may be able to use this platform to create entire units of work, or even yearly programs for classes. Indeed, this is similar to how other online educational platforms of such as Moodle or Edmodo are designed to work. While these platforms have some significant advantages and are already in widespread use in many schools, developing my own platform using Wikispaces would have the key advantage that I would be able to design it in the exact way that I chose rather than using a predetermined medium.

The first decision I had to make in the design of my artefact was choosing exactly which online platform to use. As mentioned above, there are a number of different websites that provide similar features and applications as Wikispaces. I originally considered using Edmodo, which is designed to look and function in the same way as Facebook, but found the platform a little rigid. I then considered actually using Facebook as this would have the major advantage that students would not need to be encouraged to check it daily to see any updates I had uploaded. However, with the well-publicised negative aspects of social media use, including concerns over privacy, I chose to use Wikispaces instead. While Moodle has almost all the features that Wikispaces has, the one major advantage of Wikispaces is that it is not specific to a particular school as is the case with Moodle. Thus if I use Wikispaces, changing schools will not mean having to recreate everything I had developed previously. This sealed my decision. 

The second decision was exactly how to use the platform in a way that would be most effective in promoting student learning. In this regard I chose to set up separate pages for individual classes and then have a sub page for each with instructions for the students. On each of these instruction pages I added links to websites where they would find the necessary background information and also to specific activities that I wanted the students to do. I thought this was a good balance of using the medium to its potential and keeping it simple enough that students would find it easy and user friendly.

Post 1

POST 1: Discussion of how a pedagogical lens can assist teachers in making choices relating to ICT integration in the classroom. (300 words)

The use of ICT is ubiquitous in the daily lives of the modern high school student. For most students, computers can play a number of roles and are almost considered a birth right. From a means of communication and social interaction to a tool for relaxation and entertainment, ICT such as computers, smart phones and the internet can almost be considered a friend to most digital natives (Prensky 2002). With this being the case, teachers must incorporate the use of ICT into classroom delivery in a way that is not just tokenistic, but rather promotes and enhances the teaching and learning taking place. To accomplish this, using a pedagogical lens to help guide where, when, and how to use ICT in the classroom is not only helpful, but in my view, imperative.

The main way to achieve this goal is to ensure that the use of technology in the classroom is centred on, and geared towards authentic learning (Reeves, Herrington, & Oliver 200). Steps can be taken to ensure that this is achieved. One of these is for teachers to be reflective on their own classroom practice and integration of technology. That is, teachers should make time to go over their classroom delivery once a lesson has concluded and reflect upon what worked and could be improved in order to ensure they are truly learning from their own experiences (Prensky 2002). Whilst this is important for all aspects of teaching, it is particularly so in relation to the integration of ICT into lessons. This is due to how familiar digital natives are with the use of technology and how quickly they will see through the façade if it is not incorporated in a way that adds to the significance and intellectual quality of the lesson.

Prensky, M. (2000). The Games Generations: How Learners Have Changed, Digital Game-Based Learning, Chapter 2, pp 201-226.