Thinking about my two resources!

Over the past few days I have been thinking about two resources that I could create. There have been many thoughts and research of topic ideas.

Firstly,  I have been assigned two content descriptors from the Australian Curriculum: Technology. These are:

Digital Technologies:

• Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagram (ACTDIK002)

I was thinking about students engaging in activities where they learn how to collect, sort and represent the data through using various technological devices and programs.

Design and Technologies:

• Explore needs or opportunities for designing, and the technologies needed to realise designed solutions (ACTDEP005)

I was thinking about students engaging in activities where they learn about where food comes from and the importance of healthy eating.

Anyway, I will keep in touch with how I am travelling about this assignment throughout the next few days.

Goodbye for now 🙂

 

Hello there!

Hello there! It has been a little while since I last did a blog post but I’m back!

I am currently undertaking the course, EDP4130 – Technology Curriculum and Pedagogy where the aim of the course is to develop my personal learning network through sharing resources and my thoughts and opinions, which will provide the foundation of developing my own resource connected to the Australian Technology Curriculum.

I believe using a blog is a great option for myself to discuss my opinions and ideas about this course and my resource ideas as well as allowing the opportunity for my peers, friends, neighbours and teachers to provide feedback and share their thoughts about the resources and ideas I have shared. By sharing my resources, ideas and thoughts with you throughout this semester, I believe this is a great way for us to learn with and from each other. I am looking forward to sharing what I find with you over the next few weeks and hearing your thoughts.

Bye for now!

Goodbye for Now!

Professional experience is complete. I had the most amazing prac experience over the past three weeks. It was great to learn and discover new ways ICTs could be incorporated into the learning and teaching of the classroom. Now prac is complete, only one assignment and one exam to go! Looking back over the semester, it has gone very fast however there was many late nights finishing assignments. I would like to wish everyone the very best for your final assessment pieces and for your future studies. I hope you all have a nice holiday and I will talk to you soon. Bye for now 🙂

Tech-savy Students

On June 5th, I came across a news article about ‘Tech Savy students changing the face of learning’. A good point that was raised by Australian Secondary Principals Association executive director Rob Nairn was,

“Gone are the days when a teacher stands at the front of a classroom and are seen as the font of all knowledge … teachers have become facilitators of ideas and learning.”

This is a great point as I believe this motivates and engages students into finding the answers for themselves, instead of passively absorbing the information from the teacher. And ICTs are just one resource that can be used in the classroom to help facilitate student- centred learning.

Should erasers be banned in classrooms?

In a news article I came across earlier this week, Guy Claxton a cognitive scientist at King’s College in London, has argued that,

Erasers should be banished from our classrooms. Children should be encouraged to learn from their mistakes, rather than feel ashamed of them.

I agree with Claxton because students should see that there is nothing wrong with making mistakes but is simply a learning curve where they can apply changes and learn from their mistakes. Students should be able to feel that they can have a go and understand making mistakes is just part of the learning process. What are your thoughts? Do you think erasers should be banned? Let me know what you think.

Using Robots in Schools

Today, I came across a news article about a young boy, who is unable to attend school due to a medical condition. Technology has allowed him to still be able to participate and engage in classroom activities by using a remote control robot with a screen and webcam that allows him to listen, see, ask questions and interact with his fellow classmates whilst at home. The cost of this type of technology may be prohibitive to short term use, but I believe is definitely an option if there are certain circumstances where students are unable to attend school for a long period of time.

Prac Tomorrow

Today I was preparing myself for my professional experience as a pre-service teacher and came across a helpful blog posted by Caitlin. Caitlin had devised a checklist of equipment and materials E.g. hat, lunch, resources etc) that she will require on her first day of practical experience. Caitlin’s blog was a good reminder to ensure that I have organised and prepared myself for my first day at professional experience. This type of communication is a practical example of why we use blogs to share and discuss our experiences and ideas, that could be useful in providing additional advice when encountering similar circumstances.

We are being tracked!

OMG!! I just seen a blog post by Hayley about how our frequent locations are being tracked on our technological devices. I own an iPhone so I had a looked at my frequent locations and it showed everywhere I had been!! It had the exact time of everything! I could not believe it! I didn’t even know anything about it! I have definitely turned off the frequent location settings to ensure I am not being watched. It is such as eye opener about what technology in todays society can do. This just goes to show how technology is encroaching on our personal life, in many ways that we may not be unaware of.

Less than two weeks

I can not believe it is less than two weeks until we begin professional experience.  I am very excited but nervous at the same time. I recently came across Jessica’s blog post where she shared an insightful Youtube video about the top ten tips for student teachers whilst on prac. I highly recommend everyone to view this video because it provides very helpful tips and good advice, that I will definitely take on board whilst on my prac. It is important to remember that when we are on prac we have to be professional, appropriately dressed, respectful, punctual and enthusiastic.

Digital Footprint

I have always been very cautious about posting images and sharing personal information about myself on the internet. I was taught in primary school when everyone was creating their first social networking accounts such as MSN and Myspace to keep personal details private, don’t share anything you wouldn’t share with strangers and once you post something online, it is there forever! So be careful about what you post! With the ever evolving technology in todays society there will always be new and different applications and programs available to share information and images with people. Thus, as the technological world grows I believe as future teachers, it is imperative we are role models to students and explicitly teach them what they should do to keep safe when interacting and engaging with the online environment.

I found a great YouTube video which provides an overview of Digital Footprints. You can view it below:

References:

Becca Lee Jaro. (2014, October 3). Your digital footprint. Video posted to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TUMHplBveo 

Digital footprint. [Image]. (2014). Retrieved from http://nationaledtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/footprint-jpg.jpg