Pre service courses for teachers

We are currently relooking at our courses for pre-service teachers.

Any teachers in the classroom who have any ideas of what they consider important for these students to cover, in relation to the use of ICT in the classroom, while they are undertaking their preservice training please let us know.

Thanks so much for your help.

Vlogging

What is vlogging? As you can imagine it has something to do with blogging as well as videos! The vlog (video-blog) is a blog which mainly uses videos in each post.

This video is by Leigh Blackall and gives a good explanation of vlogging.

New Learning

Kalantzis and Cope (2008) have an article on the Curriculum Leadership web site. This is well worth a read. They are discussing the changes that are happening in education. They ask the questions "what will learning be like and what will teachers' jobs be like?" This is something that fascinates me as I am sure that there are going to be a lot of changes in the near future but just what the classroom of tomorrow will look like I am not too sure.

They discuss eight dimensions of learning today that may help to formulate a theory and practice of New Learning. These include; locations of learning, tools of learning, outcomes of learning, balance of agency, significance of difference, relation of the new to the old and the professional role of the teacher.

Another article I have been reading on a similar vein is by Rachel Bolstad. Rachel and Jane Gilbert wrote a book Disciplining and drafting, or 21st Century Learning? Rethinking the New Zealand Senior Secondary Curriculum for the Future . They have used a series of graphics to illustrate how students 'navigate' through their secondary school life. These graphics helped me to clarify these concepts.

A learning theory for 21st century learners

Marie Sontag has written an interesting article in the latest Innovate journal.

She argues that due to students being so involved with connective technologies that this impacts on cognitive processes and that educational theory must change to accommodate these changes.

She acknowledges the need to incorporate elements from other theories that are relevant and to restructure them to meet the needs of the students.

In the article she describes a social- and cognitive- connectedness schemata (SCCS) theory and presents a study to show increases in transfer by using a model designed on this theory. In the SCCS model she discusses student behaviours as 'link, lurk and lunge' (see graphic).

This article has many ideas for us to ponder and is worth reading.

PicLits

I have been playing around with PicLits. What a great idea to use this site to inspire writing in the classroom.

I can certainly see possibilies for children to work together to create these. What a shame that you appear to be unable to use your own graphics but at the moment using these ones enables children to understand the concept and then they could go on to make their own.

"PicLits.com is a creative writing site that matches beautiful images with
carefully selected keywords in order to inspire you. The object is to put the
right words in the right place and the right order to capture the essence,
story, and meaning of the picture."

Any Questions

Iti s great to see a New Zealand site Any Questions which is for children to have access to expert librarians between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. (NZ time) during term times. This site is for New Zealand children and provides high quality research resources.

"AnyQuestions.co.nz is a free online reference service for New Zealand school
students.
Designed for both primary and secondary students, AnyQuestions puts
them in touch with a skilled and friendly online librarian. Using interactive
software and an agreed information literacy approach these librarians are able
to help school students identify the information they need then guide them to
quality online resources.
AnyQuestions.co.nz focuses on supporting the New
Zealand curriculum. It is accessible from any internet connected computer
anywhere; school, library or home.
The service is an additional resource, to
work alongside and complement, (but not replace) existing school and public
library services - a ‘guide on the side’ at the point and time of need.
The
key benefits of the service lie in its safety and the help it provides for
students in finding quality assured information that’s right for their need and
level."

Sir Ken

This is a video of a talk by Sir Ken Robinson. Although it is quite long it is well worth watching as there are great thought-provoking ideas in it.

eLearning Research

Sarah Jones from the Ministry of Education has created a social network on Ning for eductors interested in elearning.

The aim of this community is:

From research to practice: transforming New Zealand education through
e-learning

Teachers are encouraged to share evidence about the impact elearning is having on teaching and learning. Members are invited to share research they are doing.

It is so fantastic to be able to share ideas and thoughts with others and to get their feedback.

H. Sapiens Digital: From Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives to Digital Wisdom

In the latest edition of Innovate is an interesting article by Marc Prensky (of Digital natives fame) about Homo Sapiens Digital. He discusses Digital Wisdom and how technology may enhance the homo sapiens digital. It is an interesting read and gives a lot of food for thought about the future.

"I do not think technology is wise in itself (although some day it may be) or that human thinking is no longer necessary or important. It is through the interaction of the human mind and digital technology that the digitally wise person is coming to be. I believe it is time for the emerging digitally wise among us, youth and adults
alike, to embrace digital enhancement and to encourage others to do so. With our eyes wide open to enhancement's potential harm as well as its benefits, let us bring our colleagues, students, teachers, parents, and peers to the digital wisdom of the twenty-first century."

Prensky (2009)

Typealyzer

Typealyzer is a fun site where you can have the writing on your blog analysed!

It also shows you what parts of the brain were dominant during the writing.

Children would have a lot of fun having a look at this. I tried how it would work by using a class blog - it would be a lot of fun for children. I wonder if it would change during the year, for example when the teacher originally set up the site and then as children added to it.