Task 2: TECHNOLOGY - Blogging… A closer look and why the hype?

Honestly, for so long now I’ve wondered what was the real purpose for a blog. I was jealous of the people who had the time to make blogs and even more envious of the people who were able to spend hours reading them broadening their fun facts. I was always thinking about how interesting they are and how I’d love to be that ‘cool’. Well, well, well, here I am- a blogging extraordinaire. Not really but I am going to reflect on blogs and why they’re extraordinary.

So what is a blog, ey? A blog is a common term for ‘web-blog’, its actually a website that promotes communication regarding a particular subject or is a point of record for a personal diary entry  (Zawilinski, 2009) on really important things like how unbelievable delicious your acai bowl and double shot coconut latte was at that awesome cafe’ in the old ambulance station, or about the new shirt you bought super cheap and all of the ways you can wear it! Fellow bloggers are able to subscribe to their peer’s and keep updated with current fads, news and research. Bloggers can draw inspiration from each other as they comment and discuss relevant topics. Blogs can be customised to individual preferences. Layout, font, background and colours can be altered and pictures, videos, and links can be embedded. Basically, blogs are apart of the 21^st centenary phenomenon and when you really delve deep into what a blog is, you may have to pinch yourself because a blog is proof we are living in the future.

So, what does blogging mean for the education world? Beautiful things or another time consuming, inconvenience for teachers? Morris (2009) believes the blogging notion is impacting classrooms positively as it encourages children to task risks as they move in and out of serious and playful experiences and reflections, and they bring awareness to public and private writing. As students navigate each others blogs and discuss information via posts and comments, they are integrating traditional and online reading competencies which supports and builds their online reading comprehension (Zawilinski, 2009). These experiences encourage learners to move in and out of the various stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy as they critically analyse, question and synthesize diverse perspective as well as develop the the necessary online problem solving skills needed to be literate in the 21^st century (Zawilinski, 2009). The Blogger concept is strongly underpinned by the social and cognitive constructivist theory as it designed in a way which helps students build onto their existing knowledge as students as they participate in discussion, and educators are encouraged to be the supportive facilitator.  It also links with connectivism as children are encouraged to reseach, comment, collaborate and embedded relevant links and information within their blog. Blogger has also drawn influences from behaviorism, as children are able to receive around the clock feedback, when appropriate and children are able to work at own pace. 

There are many ways Blogger can be used as a teaching learning tool some are:

Blogging can be a Substituted for a reflective journal on a learning journey, Augmented in the sense learners can reflect on their learning journey at anytime and build from home beyond curriculum, Modified by having children comment on eachother learning journey, assisting them with skills and comprehension and can be Redefined by connecting with classroom in other areas of the world instantly and comparing learning journeys etc (SAMR). Blogging is great as it redefines collaboration as children can collaborate with classmate and like-minded people all over the word.

So how can 21^st century educators use this marvel to their advantage? Oh, in so many ways. PLUS:

∆      Build children’s traditional and online literacy skills.

∆      Increases students engagement to literacy.

∆      Caters for all learners, eg children are able to upload audio as opposed to writing, when appropriate, if preferred

∆      Provides opportunity for formative assessment

∆      Encourages students to explore (constructivism).

∆      Provides opportunity for teachers to get to know their learners

∆      Simple and easy way for teachers to communicate with students and parents regarding up coming events and expectations, examples and criteria for tasks ect

∆      Simple way of students communicating and understanding tasks with peers (constructivism).

∆      Increases students accountability and ownership of tasks, promoting authenticity in learning experiences

∆      Children are able to work in their own time (behaviourism).

∆      Easy opportunity for feedback between student and teacher, and students and student around the clock (behaviourism)

∆      Easily accessible

∆      Encourages students to explore the internet and embedded content related to tasks and their own interests – children encouraged to collaborate and discuss these points (connectivism)

So what’s not so good about this movement? MINUS:

∆      Student work samples online forever

∆      Students work samples may be open for unfair and unnecessary criticisms or comparison between parents

∆      Instructions for task may be misinterpreted if not explicit.

∆      Children will have to be taught online etiquette which is time consuming. It may also not be taken seriously and this may impact student/s negatively.

∆      Children could provide unwanted/ unfair/ incorrect feedback- cyberbullying

∆      Student’s work may not be saved and all lost.

∆      Sometimes tricky to work out

∆      One user

What’s a little interesting? INTERESTING:

∆      Blogging is the way of the future.

∆      Facebook is a big blog. Moodle is probably a blog too

∆      Here are some interesting blogs:

à       http://www.coolcatteacher.com

à       http://earlylife.com.au/info/blog/7

à       http://www.playbasedlearning.com.au

Well if that’s not enough to sway you then, I’m not sure you can be swayed. Blogging for me will fit nicely into my classroom correlating with my constructivist approach to learning. I love the notion for authentic learning and blogs are so individualized. Children are able to take ownership of their learning and have fun while they do it! I also love how it’s a point of contact between parents and teachers.  I’ve had experience at a school which had a micro blog for each class and a macro blog for the school. It was a simple and very effective way for the community to connect and feel in the loop with what their child is currently learning and loving.

Blogger OUWT, xx

Reference:

Morris, G. (ND). Using Blogs in the Classroom. Retrieved from: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/UMICH/sweetland/Home/Instructors/Teaching%20Resources/UsingBlogsintheClassroom.pdf

Zawilinski, L. (2009). HOT Blogging: A framework for blogging to promote higher order thinking. The Reading Teacher. 62(8), pp 650-611. Retrieved from: http://www.nesacenter.org/uploaded/conferences/SEC/2014/handouts/Teacher_Workshops/JeziorskiNESA2014.pdf

I tried Voki, and i looveee it

I haven't had much to do with Voki, other than watching them every now and then when ma peers have been presenting.. My thoughts were- they are a handy tool to 'hooking' students into an experience and they reminded my of olden day movies like Charlie's angels and Mission Impossible (the robot voice that is). But oh how my views have changed... After playing around with them i realise the potential they hold. They are so fun and I was actually laughing out loud (to my self) during the process. Choosing the character, voice and even accessories down to the hairdo, i was on cloud nine, seriously having so much fun!I had a bit of a struggle loading the Voki onto this post, i even opted to posting a comment on a friends page to ask how to do it.. and then i got it!! i was so excited i did a fist pump into the air, haha. 

Plus: 
- Awesome for hooking students into learning experiences 
- Awesome for explaining to students instruction of a task (alternate technology, recorder box). 
- Awesome time and energy saver 
- Great way to teach punctuation (because if you don't use it correctly the program morphs sentences, mis-pronunciate, etc). 
- Fun! 

Minus: 
- A bit fiddly
- Robot voice can be hard to understand and if message is too long and complicated students may loose interest. 
- Have to replay to ensure program has taken note of punctuation 

Interesting: 
- Different levelled subscriptions available
- Familiar characters available (Ali G, George Bush, Humpty Dumpty, etc). 

Blogger OUWT, xx

Task One, Week Two. Sub-Reflection, De Bono's Hats

Well, well, well, we meet again.. 

This weeks task involved use of De Bono’s Thinking Hats to critically reflect on the concept of mobile phones in the classroom. The reflection was submitted via a wiki space created for the purpose of this task.  The use of the wiki space promoted peer collaboration and encouraged us students to move in and out of higher order thinking as we considered all viewpoints of the argument. It encouraged us to think deeply and reflect on our peer’s opinion and challenged old ideas, as we formed an opinion of our own. This process was clearly and effectively scaffolded with instructions and prompting questions. This aspect was so helpful, and upon reflection seem essential as with out the questions to prompt my thoughts I could have completely misinterpreted the whole idea of the task and gone above and beyond in the wrong direction (something that has happened once or twice before). The tasks promoted development of savvy IT skills as it required participants to change font color and encouraged they insert multimodal aspects such as picture and videos. On deeper reflection of the activity and the course content, it became apparent the ‘mobile wiki’ activity, was more than it seemed with various learning theories leaping out at me, namely connectivism and constructivism.  

Connectivism is a learning theory created by Siemens and Downes for the digital age (Duke, Harper & Johnson, 2013). They believe, knowledge is derived from personal reflections of diverse opinions and a collaboration of current ideas shared through email, wiki, blogs, social networks etc. (Duke, Harper & Johnson, 2013). They advocate our society is more complex than ever before due to internet technologies allowing expert groups to connect, and our education systems needs to acknowledge this to ensure our students are active members of society contributing to this learning and sharing cycle (Duke, Harper & Johnson, 2013). They believe that learning is stimulated and strengthened when students are able to make and maintain connections (Duke, Harper & Johnson, 2013). This learning theory clearly underpins the ‘mobile phone’ wiki activity.

The Constructivist learning theory also supports this activity nicely as the task encouraged the learner to build new knowledge and responses to questions from their previous experiences and understanding of use of mobile phones in the classroom (O’Donnell, et. al., 2012). The participants were also encouraged to read and reflect on their peer’s contributions, this supported and guided the learners (O’Donnell, et. al., 2012). The teacher facilitated learning in the form of a clear layout, instructions and helpful prompting questions, this encouraged effective integration of new knowledge and supported the collaborative process (O’Donnell, et. al., 2012).  This process encouraged students to engage higher-order thinking as they moved beyond simple recall and reflected critically by building on their own experiences (O’Donnell, et. al., 2012).

The purpose of this wiki activity was not only to expose learners to the concept of a wiki web page in an educational setting, however also to use De Bonos 6 Thinking Hats to deepen understanding and promote higher order thinking both individually and collaboratively by reflecting, critically, productively, and creatively. It was to encourage the participant to consider good pedagogy, and how it influences the process of teaching and learning. Learning outcomes were achieved through collaboration in a socially supportive environment and a carefully scaffolded experience which allowed learners to take control of their learning in a organised manner. Good pedagogy involves, problem based, real life and relevant learning, this task demonstrated this. The planning and scaffolding of the task provided value to the activity, promoting deepened knowledge.

On reflection, this activity was very beneficial. Both wiki space collaboration and the 6 thinking hats are beneficial. Using the program was great. The instructions were clear and the layout was simple to follow. I can definitely see it working in a classroom setting, however I understand the fundamental requirement for scaffolding and explicit instructions.

Blogger, OUWT xx

Reference:

Duke, B., Harper, G., & Johnson. (2013). Connectivism as a Digital Age Learning Theory. Retrieved from: https://www.hetl.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/HETLReview2013SpecialIssueArticle1.pdf

O’Donnell, A.M., Dobozy, E., Bartlett, B., Bryer, F., Reeve, J., & Smith, J.K. (2012). Educational Psychology (1^st Australian ed.). New York, USA: John Wiley & Sons Australia.

Look at Me I Have a Blog...

Hiya, my name is Brydie Blackburn and I am a blogging immigrant. I mean I kinda know what one is, I read a couple and I have the ‘blogger’ app installed on my iPhone, however I have never made one of my own K. Actually, if I am honest with you- I’m pretty excited, because I think blogging about my thoughts regarding my experiences with e-learning is pretty hipster, and if its successful I’ll probably end up in Sydney with a few thousand extra followers on Instagram.  Stay tuned, blogger OWUT!! 

This is future incredible hipster me, who is famous for blogging like no blogger has ever blogged before! (Not really, as I'm a girl..)