Today's lecture focused on Authentic Learning - putting technology into the hands of the students.
It was explained that without the appropriate teaching pedagogy students will not use technology to its full potential. This relates to this unit because by developing an understanding of technology resources and their potential uses within a learning environment we, (as future teachers), will be able to demonstrate how technology can be used to cover
the nine elements of authentic learning:
- Authentic Context
- Authentic Activity
- Expert Performance
- Multiple perspectives
- Collaboration
- Reflection
- Articulation
- Coaching
- Authentic Assessment
All of these nine elements involve using technology as a cognitive tool.
To further demonstrate the meaning of Authentic Learning a YouTube clip of,
"School of Rock", was played. This clip confirmed how a teacher can use the nine elements listed above to create an authentic learning environment which is engaging and productive.
When Jenni discussed each of the elements it was interesting to see how many different technology tools can be used within each area as well as together. For example, in the Expert Performance element Skype could be used to bring professionals from a specific area into the classroom to be interviewed by the students. Skype can also be used to allow children to talk to other year groups, within the same or different schools, about their thoughts on the interview. To record their findings students can then create a Blog page or a Podcast.
During tutorial we worked in groups on a
Google Docs document. We wrote down questions that we wanted to ask about Task 2 and responded to other groups questions, (if we knew the answers). Jenni went through the questions and answers at the end of the exercise and I gained a clearer picture in my mind of what was expected in Assignment 2. I believe that this form of collaborating ideas is an effective way of finding solutions to problems. It is a useful tool to implement within a classroom environment because it is non judgmental and students can participate at their own pace without feeling pressured to give a correct response.
In the next part of the tutorial Jenni explained what a screencast is and showed us an example of a screencast that she had created.
Jenni's screencast demonstrated how to add book reference details into Endnote and then add a full book reference and an in text citation into a word document. Jenni's screencast was informative, clear and easy to follow and it gave me a better understanding of how to complete this section of Task 2. I also realized how effective screencasting would be in the classroom for recording procedures or instructions in various contexts, e.g., for a science experiment.
During tutorial we also formed groups of four and discussed what topic area we were going to base our research on and what resource type we were each going to use. My group chose science as our topic area because we are aware, (from completing a science unit last semester), that science involves many abstract ideas that would benefit from technology tools that provide a way of visualizing these concepts. The resource type that I will be using to research information relating to science teachers using technology in the classroom is a book.
Tutorial 6 also gave me and my group members the opportunity to discuss various screencasts, and I decided to download
Screencast-O-Matic after hearing from a peer how easy it was to use. I was impressed with the simplicity of using Screencast-O-Matic. I thought QuickTime Player was easy to use but Screencast-O-Matic has better features that include a screen sizing caption, that appears on the screen as soon as you open the program, and a count down timer before the screencast starts to record. The menu bar is also clearer to read and use.
I am looking forward to working on Task 2 because my knowledge and confidence with technology has grown significantly. I also feel at ease knowing that my team members, class peers and tutor are always there to give advice and support.
