My final culminating statement

Review of what I've learnt!

7 Blue posts (Posts reacting to readings and comments)

• T-PACK
• INFLUENCE OF BLOGGING
• E-PORTFOLIOS
• IWB
• ACHIEVING EQUITY
• A SCHOOL'S DUTY OF CARE
• IPADS

5 Green posts (Posts reacting to staff or other peers posts)

• Interesting post by a peer (response to Kyle Foster's post).
• A School's Duty of Care (post reacting to Glynis).
• Commenting on Kim's blog (response to Kim Trinh's post).
• Discussing Equity (post reacting to Glynis).
• IWB (response to Rebecca Vacarella's post).

8 Orange posts (posts reflecting on other stimulating experiences in class or on prac)

• First time blogger (in class).
• T-pack (in class).
• IWB (on prac).
• Connected Learning (own experience).
• The use of the IWB (on prac).
• Running my class item (on prac).
• Turning technologies (in class).
• I-pads in the classroom (in class).

OVERVIEW! 

Before undertaking the subject Professional Experience 3 I didn't think that I would gain so much valuable information from it. However, now reflecting over the semester I've actually learned some very critical information ranging from different issues that teachers need to consider and work around. These issues were raised throughout the lit circles week after week, with Maria, Glynis and my peers shedding deep discussion about it.

In my opinion the weeks in which we had discussed and were introduced to the Interactive White Board (IWB) was the lesson most beneficial for myself in, It gave me the opportunity to incorporate it into my teaching practices at this present moment. An example of this was during my prac where IWB was incorporated in nearly all my lessons. The reason as to why I feel this way is because the issues we had gone through in the lit circles are aspects we need to consider as teachers. However, since I'm not yet a fully qualified teacher I feel the only real thing I could do with this new formed knowledge is consider and prepare for it in the future. In contrast to the IWB I could readily implement it to improve my learning and teaching experiences during prac.Therefore, I felt that this new skill and knowledge I have of creating an IWB has helped create effective engaging lessons. This reflection is seen in the posts titled The use of the IWB on prac.

In relation to the topic discussed above Higgins, S., Beauchamp, G, & Miller, D. had covered the advantages and disadvantages of using the IWB in a classroom setting.(Interactive Whiteboards.)

Another aspect as to how Professional Experience 3 has helped was learning actual ways we could implement technology and the range of technology that could be used in a classroom. I was aware that technology has been ever growing in the recent years substantially, however I never really knew how I could work around this trend and implement it into my practices. PE3 has helped me familiarise my self over the 10 weeks where readings of  Roblyer, M (2006) had helped myslef introduce the need to develop the tools and skills needed to integrate technology effectively in a classroom setting (T-PACK).

Davis, A., & McGral, E. (2006) had given me information as to how blogging activities could be implemented into a classroom setting as it could be used in a way to vary the type of literacy students are undertaking. Also, to give students the chance to write more meaningfully about their own experiences. (The influence of blogging in primary Education).

Furthermore, over the course of professional experience learning about the different types of technologies available (First time blogger!) had been very useful also. Some of these include video conferencing (Connected Learning), blogging, e-portfolios (E-portfolios), twitter, I-pads, QR codes (IPADS in the classroom), creating a video (Creating our resource for assignment 1) and different online websites available like bubbl.us.

With professional experience it has ultimately giving me valuable resources which I could only further develop and better my self in becoming a better teacher. From very minimal knowledge of how technology could be implemented into the classroom before beginning this class and now looking back I feel so much more comfortable in actually using certain technologies in the classroom. One of the most valuable resources that I have already used during prac is the IWB which is a great tool to create engaging lessons.  

Reference List

Barret, H.C. (2010). Balancing the two faces of e-portfolios. Retrieved from http://eft.educom.pt/index.php/eft/article/viewFile/161/102.

Davis, A., &McGrail, E. (2011). The influence of classroom blogging on elementary student writing.Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 25(4) 415-437.

Higgins, S., Beauchamp, G. & Miller, D. (2007). Reviewing the literature on interactive whiteboards. Learning, Media and Technology, 32(3), 213-225

Roblyer, M (2006). Teaching with instructional software. In M. Roblyer (Ed). Integrating educational technology into teaching. (4th ed.). Merrill. Prentice Hall. Columbus, Ohio. Chapter 3.

Week 10 I-PADS IN THE CLASSROOM!

The reading that was assigned to this tutorial was about implementing the use of I-PADS in the classroom and whether or not they are really worth the extra expenditure for classrooms. 

This article discusses a project they had undertook in Canada involving 2 elementary schools one being a rural and the other an urban classroom. Both who had implemented the use of I-PADS into their classroom. Both classes had used the I-PADS for the specific task of developing digital story telling skills.The particular focus on upper elementary schools was because students were showing a disinterest in education and the researchers wanted to see the effects of implementing the I-PADS into classroom practices. 

Results from the project tell us that the use of I-PADS was a great  success as students from both schools had great experiences where access to the internet was much quicker and convenient then starting up a laptop. The schools were provided with support from a research team for the main reason on helping with digital storytelling. It was also seen as a great way for students to work independently because if the teacher had asked a question and the students were not able to answer, they simply looked the answer up on the I-PADS. However, with this comes the issue of whether students are really independent of dependent on looking up answers all the time on Google or on other search engines.

All in all, the use of the I-PADS in the classroom setting seem to be an effective resource for students to use because they were highly engaging in this research project.

 LEARNING EXPERIENCE CREATING QR CODES!

In class we had to create an activity using certain apps on an ipad or ipone. The activity we had to complete was to create a journey for students which were broken into step by step instructions. Alicia, Kyle, Charlotte and I for example had questions that led students to go to the library, then to locate a certain a book and return it to their classroom. These instructions were transformed into QR codes where student could only read if they had the correct iphone or ipad app to do so. The QR codes could be created on this website: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Overall, I think that I'd love to implement an activity where students would have to create their own QR codes and share with other peers and complete each others. It would be a unique lesson where I personally believe students would immediately be engaged. As with as any lesson which is hands on is any lesson a student would be highly involved with from my experience at prac.

References

Reid, D. & Ostashevski, N. (2011). iPads in the Classroom – New Technologies, Old Issues: Are they really worth the effort?.
In T. Bastiaens & M. Ebner (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2011 (pp. 1689-1694). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

Interesting post from a peer

I was reading through my fellow classmates blogs and stumbled upon Kyle Foster's. One particular post that really interested me was titled 'Male teacher shortages'. The reason as to why i was interested in this because it had relevance towards myself becoming a male teacher.

The post was primarily based on the article to the right --------------------->

Most of the article was a bit to hard to read because of the resizing of the image. However my view on this issue of a Male teacher shortage is strong as on the past two prac's that I have been on had on average 3-5 Male teachers. However, as this article states there has been an increase growth of 25% of male teachers since 2001 which is a promising amount.

I think that there needs to be a lot more male teachers and my firm belief that contributes to this is the main issue that:

•  A lot of the students who are experiencing family issues for example divorced parents. These children need to have a male role model the child could look up to as an example. This would essential in regards to the way the child would behave in his later years growing up. 
• It may also provide students with someone who they could talk to if they need advice.

Have a look at this post and many more interesting post that Kyle has blogged about here:

http://profex3kyleyfoster.blogspot.com.au/