Monkey scribbles …

Lees (2008) writes that “Technology is forging new ways of teaching and learning“.  She identifies that “Technology is changing the way we learn. That is a given as school students — the ubiquitous digital natives — come to class equipped with skills and expectations unparalleled in schools in 20 years”. As a consequence, maybe, or rather as a matter of course, technology is also changing the way in which teachers teach. Lees (2008), in reference to the changes occurring to how teachers teach, states that “from how they engage their students and manage their classrooms, to how they shape their working day, manage their professional lives — and indeed how they think about a career in education”. 

Teacher, Wendy Pettit, refers to the impact that technology has had on her Year 5 class and feels that the adoption and change “has been gradual and led by the students”. Dale Spender, an educationalist, sees the shift with technology to be fundamental and states, “There has been a switch from passive to active learners, and active learners need a different range of support staff”. Spender continues by speculating that “skills and new areas of expertise will grow”. Matthew Kearney, a senior lecturer at UTS, “… makes the point that technology will have an impact on how educators manage their career profiles, build their credentials and gain professional recognition …”. He continues by stating that technology will offer teachers “… a flexible and convenient way to develop professionally, providing an opportunity to exchange resources and share success stories”. 

Reflection

1.  In what ways do you think technology is changing the way that we learn?

2.  How will technology assist you as an educator with your class(es)?

Reference

Lees, Kirsten. (April 05, 2008). Teachers on learning curve. The Australian.

Same Suburb Different Park (2009) identify in their post ‘Mobile phones put to good use‘ that some of the other uses of a mobile phone are related to constructive, educational uses within learning. They refer to the 2008 Horizon Report which outlines a variety of uses including the suggestion of podcasted information for museum tours. Whilst technology is constantly changing and the mobile phone is caught up with a paradigm of not always being a phone, schools and educators are faced with interesting challenges. Consideration needs to be given to the effective and responsible usage of mobile phones, as tools, in the teaching and learning process. Same Suburb Different Park (2009) state that “the iPhone and similar next-generation phones have arrived in Australia but are still basically in a stage of infancy”. Some educators today are also in a stage of infancy at realising the changes that have occurred with technology and how these changes might impact on their classroom and the learning by students and themselves.

Reflection

How should mobile technology including phones be used in classrooms?

What constraints are there that need to be considered if mobile phones are used in the delivery of a lesson?

Image Source

Original Chart:  Nokia Mobile Phones; There Is One For Everyone!

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution

Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Available at: http://www.mypage.com/smallbiznet/weblog/category/Mobile%20Edition

Nyssa (2008) describes her inexperience with interactive whiteboards in the classroom setting and refers to a worthwhile video segment ‘Interactive Whiteboards: Boon or Boondoggle?’

She refers to the research that “overall, the pace of lessons, student motivation and engagement, and teacher preparation are all improving with the use of this technological tool. Some have stated that student engagement with the use of Interactive Whiteboards is unlike any other technology”. She poses an interesting question to reflect upon in terms of:

The challenge of teaching is becoming an increasingly complex one, with a growing emphasis on vocational education, lifelong learning, and the use of information and communication technologies in the teaching-learning process. In classrooms, we are faced with learners who are often described as being “digital natives”, whilst the older more experienced citizens and educators are now often commonly referred to as the “digital immigrants” … an interesting use of terminology to describe people, roles and interactions.

The following clip identifies the needs of students and a vision of where teaching and learning today is headed to support, encourage and nurture these individuals …

A Vision of K-12 students Today!

How do we work towards supporting, engaging and interacting with these types of learners?

Welcome!

The purpose of this blog is to consider and reflect on key issues related to teaching and learning. An emphasis of the resources contained within will be related to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for classrooms K-12 and its integration across KLA areas.

I look forward to your comments and the discourse that develops.