Scenario
Geography lesson on the content of Africa.
Wikis enable LMs to transform the learning into exciting
learning experiences through the use of Google Earth by catering to the visual
needs of students. This transforms lessons that were previously sheets of place
names into a 3D, interactive world where students can take a walk along the
streets of Johannesburg or switch to an aerial view of Rustenburg. Google Earth
facilitates learning due to enabling LMs to provide students with visual
representations of the places being discussed. LMs are able to show students
the big picture (the continent) and narrow it down to a street view. Students
learning is therefore far more comprehensive than if pen and paper methods had
been used. The learning is also supported due to students having the ability to
interact with Google Earth and the various view tools available in Google
Earth. Some students, such as Global learners would prefer to view Africa from
an aerial viewpoint whereas analytical learners would prefer a street view,
each of these options are available to students. The learning is also enhanced
due to LMs being able to provide students with far more comprehensive teaching
on the continent of Africa by providing so many interactive maps for student
use.
Animations and Simulations
I love working with animations, they turn the old still image into something far more fun. Animations and simulations go far beyond this though, a good animation/ simulation is learning objects. There are many many different ones out there, taking the content from textbooks and making it more interactive. I dont see any negative to interactivity in learning, even if you use the old excuse of that students get distracted with all of the flash bam buttons, they are still gaining ICT skills. The learning objects that are available on the learning federation are great to use in the classroom. My previous maths assignment was all about using and teaching from learning objects, while we were completing the assignment we found that learning objects contain so much content that one object can be used to teach 6 weeks of maths. Some of them even come in sets therefore scaffolding the students learning. Another benefit with learning objects or animations and simulations, students can complete them in their own time. If the LM creates a class wiki and posts the learning objects students can use them for revision or additional work for either support or extension students. The opportunities for learning are endless.
Google Earth
Google earth is another good tool, taking the old flat map or globe and making it far more interactive. Now students dont have to look at a globe and read tiny town names but can rather search for a place and go directly there with google maps. Google maps also allows the user to go zoom right in and see the actual street view of most places in the world. This makes the learning far more relevant to students, their not only looking at a country that off in the middle of nowhere, a place they know next to nothing about. Now students can see that they are looking at a real place, where people just like them live. One negative that i see though that the LM will need to be aware of is that students will be learning and focusing in on details, but will often miss the bigger picture. They may be able to google texas and see the street view but have no clue that it is in america or where in america. LM will need to be sure that students use google earth to not only locate places but also to zoom out and look at the bigger picture.
Google Maps
Google maps is a good tool for personal use but i really had to sit back and think of how it could be used in the classroom. An idea that came to mind is in maths, rather than telling students to complete a problem that is completely irrelevant to their lives, now they can be given real places and real measurements to use in class. An example would be, Bob wants to get from place A to B but also needs to stop off at place 1, 2 and 3. What would be the quickest route and how long is it in km? This would require students to look up real places and look at the routes available in their own town, students could even pull in their parents for route suggestions. The learning would be relevant and fun. This is just one example of its use in the classroom but if combined with the google earth tool great learning experiences could be designed.
Google Documents for Collaboration
This is a good tool for group work, more so for assignments than in class work though. From my experience with it i understand it to be just like a group wiki where multiple people can work in the same space, rather than being the same website like in a wiki its word documents. The setup seems to be more complicated than a wiki with very few additional benefits, as such in my own classroom i would have a preference for wiki based group work as opposed to google documents. This though is a purely personal preference rather than and supported preference statement. The benefits for using this tool in the classroom i see as being the same as a wiki so nothing new really here.
Online Concept Mapping
I really enjoy using the concept mapping tool of bubbl.us. I'm not someone that enjoys concept mapping to begin with but the fact that it is an online tool makes it far more useful. Everytime i try to do a mindmap on paper, it becomes over crowded and unorganized. By having the old mindmap digitized, this removes all of the above mentioned problems. The bubbles are easy to move around and reorganize the different coloured bubbles show how many levels away the new idea is, the fact that it is typed and not handwritten makes the writing much neater too. Personally i am far more likely to use this tool personally and as such incorporate it into my classroom simply because it is a digital tool. I can see the benefits in teaching the use of a tool like this because it helps students organize their own and others thoughts into one image. New ideas are linked to old ones and so forth, therefore facilitating scaffolded learning. Other uses within the classroom would be in group work , rather than students working together to solve a problem individually, students can use a tool like bubbl.us to work out the best method or solution as a group, therefore gaining multiple perspectives.
Online Timelines
Another tool that i had never encountered before, i like this tool, especially all of the different view functions it provides. The map one i can see working well in conjunction with the other two mapping tools mentioned in this post (Google Earth and Google Maps). Say there is a RE lesson and students are learning about Paul, where did Paul travel on his missionary journeys? Students can use the online timelines to map it out and also write descriptions of key point in the journeys for the timeline view. Another lesson where this tool would be excellent in is history. If students research a particular country, they can use the timeline to mark out significant events, the dates and where these events occured on a map. This is an excellent tool for visual learners in particular and will enhance students ICT skills in the process. Personally if i end up teaching the older grades i would like to use a tool like this in my lessons, whether it be in class or as part of an assessment piece/ homework.
Zooburst
Looked at some of the pre made story books and i admit that i dont much like this tool. This tool as i understand it is just a way to digitalise the old story book. I can see how it can be applied in the classroom, say for creative writing where students need to create illustrations that are reflective of their stories, but looking at the benfits that a digital story book has compared to a traditional one, i believe the traditional method to be better. The traditional storybook will provide the LM with opportunities to teach from the Arts KLA and hace students actually practice using the different art mediums and select which one would suit their story and why. A digital story may teach ICT skills but they are irrelevant to the english learning that is occurring and are just an added bonus. The graphics in this tool are also quite poor compared to some of the others i have looked at so far this week, this would demotivate students when after all of the hard work they are putting into creating the illustrations for their story cannot be supported by the ICT tool they are using.
MuseumBox
The last ICT tool i looked at this week was MuseumBox, this is another tool that i quite liked. I see this tool as being a good way for students to organise their research on a particular topic in one area, this research can than be displayed in a fun and exciting manner. The skills required to create a museum box seems to be quite basic and as such i wouldn't be using this tool in the classroom to teach ICT skills, rather this tool would be used as another presentation or organization option available to students. This tool is also quite versatile so i dont see it pertaining to any particular KLA, rather it can be incorpared into any and all of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment