tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60313876203318492712024-03-17T20:03:58.128-07:00Techno in the ClassroomImagine the possibilities...Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-70754428015869609992017-03-24T22:56:00.001-07:002017-03-24T22:56:17.194-07:00Feedback makes all the difference<div class="MsoNormal">
Have you ever completed a test or a task and you can't wait to hear some feedback? I know I have completed a few courses or tried to cook something fancy and the feedback it almost as important as the work you have completed. For most learners they want to know they are on the right track. </div>
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In blended learning environments teachers can provide face to face or online feedback. More and more students expect feedback as soon as possible. Online quizzes are great for providing feedback instantly however they can also be disheartening and impersonal if you keep getting things wrong. </div>
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Whilst there is much evidence that online quizzes and tests
can be beneficial for some learners this can be more of a hindrance than a
help. For some trade students they have little access or desire to use
technology apart from their mobile phones. Many dislike using their laptops and
tablets because they are slow to use them and often get frustrated when things
don’t work out. However this is not always the case. Two weeks ago a build a
blended course for Carpentry students to practice their measurements and calculations.
Many found this very helpful and the instant feedback certainly made a huge
impact on them.</div>
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<b>Blended environments means assessments can be flexible</b></div>
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In the past students have completed their written
assessments via a Moodle quiz. More often than not <o:p></o:p></div>
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there have been issues with
the connection to the internet and trade students like to work their calculations
out with their hands (pen and paper). They are kinaesthetic learners and so
sometimes an online assessment has to be redone because they failed only to
pass when they were given a written assessment. In recent times I have used
Google Forms to create online quizzes and then used Flubaroo to grade them. The
students and teachers love it however they have not yet used this method for
formal assessments. <br />
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Whilst rubrics can be helpful when marking assessments and
providing feedback it ultimately seeks a judgement that is not always helpful.
For the most part students near clear guidelines for what is expected however
students are very much looking at outcomes in new ways than in more traditional
ways. Entrepreneurial assessments may have broader assessment outcomes than say
a spelling test. Modern learners have much more access to learning networks and
learning that allows autonomy can more greatly beneficial to building
confidence in learning that can’t always be measured on a rubric.</div>
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<b>Use plain English please</b></div>
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Education jargon can be a stumbling block for learners. When
providing feedback it is important that the feedback in plain English so that
the reader doesn’t have to try and work their way through complex educational
terms that don’t really tell them what they need to know. Giving video feedback
and aural feedback can also help learners who don’t like to read. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-67759719595207373332017-03-09T02:57:00.000-08:002017-03-09T02:57:11.334-08:00Connected learning environments<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teachers have forever been Instructional Designers. As teachers we know that the learning space influences so many things about learning. The design of the room, learning material, assessment items, feedback etc. greatly influence how the learner might feel about the subject that is taught or whether or not their curiosity might be stirred. <a href="http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2010/10/-cefpi-clicks-bricks-when-digital-learning-and-space-met.html" target="_blank">McIntosh</a> (2010) suggests that there needs to be real synergistic design with classroom and blended spaces so that learning moves freely between the two spaces.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Collaboration</span></b><br />
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Collaboration is a skill that can be developed in face to face learning and in virtual or blended environments. Communication is at the heart of learning. There can be no doubt that collaborative environments will not work for everyone but in an information society it will be so important for our students to understand that the traditional frameworks of our societies have been changed because of social media and knowledge networking have given access to more information, experts and groups of people than any other time in history. Reingold (2008) saw that the internet has disrupted the way we connect and communicate and our students are part of a connected world and connected communities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Students in a modern learning environment need to be ‘participatory learners’ much like Sieman's view of the concierge, deeply involved in the process and virtual classrooms begins to address this concept
but also aligns with Rheingold’s view that human interaction is still an
important part of learning. It seems as though some learners are happy to be in
a space where the connection is somewhat distant (blog, social media, texting)
from an actual face to face interaction with a physical human however
technology is really pushing for meaningful connectedness and virtual or
holographic learning may be a norm in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><b>Students as innovators </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">In designing and developing blended learning courses Blooms Taxonomy can be so useful. It's important in face to face and blended learning to develop all thinking skills. It's easy to get excited by shiny apps and fun games but students need to explore ideas not just in creative ways but really develop critical thinking skills that include thinking outside the box. George Couros's (2015) book 'The Innovator's Mindset' really helps to see that if you aren't an innovative teacher than how can you expect your students to be innovative. Syliva Duckworth's image is on my wall above my computer and is a daily reminder to be the best that I can be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">References: </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Rheingold, H., (2017, January) The new power of collaboration. [Videofile] Retrieved <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA9a4rEcpCY" target="_blank">from </a></span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA9a4rEcpCY" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA9a4rEcpCY </a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Siemens, G. (2007). 10 minute lecture – curatorial teaching. Retrieved from </span><a href="http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/10-minute-lecture-george-siemens-curatorial-teaching" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #066da5; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/10-minute-lecture-george-siemens-curatorial-teaching</a></div>
Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-40793038149801868902017-03-08T13:58:00.003-08:002017-03-08T14:11:16.629-08:00Make it a nice blend, not a technology smash up<ol class="s-elements" style="line-height: 18px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-height: 200px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">It seems for some that there is no doubt that blended technology is working. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">U.S. Department of Education’s (2010) “</span><a href="http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #066da5; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Online Learning Studies</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">,” “Students in online conditions performed modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction” (p. xiv) and, notably, “Instruction combining online and face-to-face elements had a larger advantage relative to purely face-to-face instruction than did purely online instruction” (p. xv).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">However in the Vocation and training sector in NSW, Australia this is by far the same case. In some cases as little as </span></span><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/vocational-education-a-debacle-waiting-to-happen-20161220-gtexyf.html" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" target="_blank">7% of students complete</a><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> online courses and there are few skilled teachers with experience to use blended technology well. Below is an except from a piece I wrote a few years ago addressing the <a href="https://storify.com/Kathmcg1/addressing-complexities-in-education-for-tomorrow-" target="_blank">complexities of online learning</a>. </span></span></span></div>
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I don’t know about you but I have come to realise that I
take the internet for granted. I get all excited by new technology and gadgets
and this might stem from a fascination in Star Trek over the last twenty years.
Star Trek looked to a future when information, communication, education and
life where all intertwined and lived in harmony with each other. Trends in
educational developments can’t only been seen in the hardware or software that
will be developed but in education theory that drives change and understanding
about how and why we learn. </div>
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<b>Pedagogy in a digital age</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was a shift in the 1990s from the internet being a suppository of
knowledge to a place where crowd wisdom could be harnessed and used for work,
learning or pleasure. (<a href="https://interact2.csu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-249313-dt-content-rid-635388_1/courses/S-INF530_201530_W_D/documents/Conole.pdf" target="_blank">Surowiecki</a>, <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/rzhm3fwaejbums9/Open%20social%20and%20participatory%20media.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Canole, G</a>., 2012.p.49) Once technology afforded new ways of
accessing knowledge and information it was a game changer for education. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: "museo sans", "helvetica neue", sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew
yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.” Margaret
Mead(1980)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p style="color: #5c6c84;"> </o:p>There are many beliefs that currently underpin education pedagogy that predate
the digital age, (<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/bcu6x2iprsqmokf/Technology%2C%20pedagogy%20and%20Education.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Heppell</a>,1999,p.20) so the challenge for education
specialists is to consider how fixed knowledge can be included in a learning
environment where new networks,collaborations, connections and innovation are
driving learning experiences that are afforded to students in the new digital
environment. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiGabUBQEnM&list=FLFm4UviNRnYIGksLNvidwNw&index=8" target="_blank">Brown ,S.,</a>2012)When creating learning experiences pedagogy
and assessment cannot remain fixed on information gathering and regurgitation
of knowledge based on fixed predetermined tests but rather to the broader
experience where learning is relevant and meaningful. Starkey suggests that we
are moving from ‘knowledge based’ learning to ‘critical thinking’ based
learning and this shift will allow for more connectedness when it comes to the
learning environment. (2011, p.19)Students will seek to gain autonomy and the
ability to be masters of their own learning through experimentation and
meaningful dialogue. (<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/qauprstbwtf5ce0/Reclaiming%20thinking%20Dialectic%2C%20dialogic%20and%20learning%20in%20a%20digital%20age.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Ravenscroft</a>, 2011,p.46,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixaRpqIHEc0&list=FLFm4UviNRnYIGksLNvidwNw&index=10" target="_blank">Haesler</a>, 2015)These learning experiences come about through
networks, connections and collaboration.(<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/bcu6x2iprsqmokf/Technology%2C%20pedagogy%20and%20Education.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Bereiter,2002, Gilbert 2005, Simens, 2004</a>), p.21, <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/jonilooul1a26pb/Education.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Ford,</a> 2008,p.77)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whilst these new learning opportunities may be useful <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I" target="_blank">Ken Robinson</a> (2012) goes
as far as suggesting that passion and desire to learn are fundamental when we
are learning and Dillon adds that curiosity is key to engage in learning. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=FLFm4UviNRnYIGksLNvidwNw&t=19&v=jR4jbI3Ds9A" target="_blank">Dillon</a>, 2012)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!<span style="color: #5c6c84; font-size: 22px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://youtube.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/jonilooul1a26pb/Education.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Ford</a> suggests three ways in which teachers can develop
different pedagogy modes in order to engage with students in the learning
environment. (2008, p.77)A cognitive view of learning considers that
learners construct and build upon their own internal knowledge structures and
representation to engage with new learning opportunities. In contrast he also
suggests a humanistic view where the goal of learning is
self-actualisation and fulfillment in the learning experience comes from both
cognitive and affective levels. Lastly he considers a socially/situated
perspective where learning becomes interactive and is between people and
real world contexts. When the possibility of these theories are combined with
positive learning experiences through structured experimental learning then
these theories are useful in supporting the development of learners’ process
capabilities. (<a href="mailto:https://www.dropbox.com/s/t4mykp319n9kzx5/Journal%20of%20Information%20Science-2003-Levy-298-310.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Levy</a>, 2003, p.303.)Knowledge gathering and use therefore
becomes intrinsically woven into the students learning experience.<span style="font-size: 22px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/jonilooul1a26pb/Education.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Ford’s</a> theories may align with modern pedagogies about
the changing nature of knowledge gathering and interaction however <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adult-Learning-Digital-Age-Information/dp/0415356997/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432982978&sr=8-1&keywords=adult+learning+in+the+digital+age+selwyn" target="_blank">Doring</a> adds that the learning experiences afforded in
the process speaks to one of the core values of teaching which have not changed
, “Education is a fundamentally conversational business.”(1999, 18%) Once
knowledge is acquired (in whatever mode it has originated) it then transcends
into further application or concept understanding by the learner that may lead
to a connection with others and engagement beyond the knowledge itself.
(Doring, 1999).Whilst constructivist theory may align with modern approaches to
learning it is not new and whilst the use of technology can be incorporated
into this view it is by no means only dependent on the use of technology for
this engagement to occur. (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adult-Learning-Digital-Age-Information/dp/0415356997/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432982978&sr=8-1&keywords=adult+learning+in+the+digital+age+selwyn" target="_blank">Imel</a>, 2001,18%) Quality teaching engages knowledge and
dialogue in such a way that the teacher and the learner feel safe in the
learning environment and they curiously explore knowledge and critically
evaluate and reflect on this information to achieve mastery of a skill or
concept. (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Adult-Learning-Digital-Age-Information/dp/0415356997/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432982978&sr=8-1&keywords=adult+learning+in+the+digital+age+selwyn" target="_blank">Mayes</a>, 2000, 18%)</span><span style="color: #5c6c84; font-size: 22px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Blended Learning</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With new developments in pedagogy come new opportunities for delivery,
engagement, assessment and skill development. Understanding the digital
environment is vital to understanding learning in a digital age. There is an
expectation by </span><a href="mailto:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">digital natives</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> that technology will be woven into all
aspects of their lives and that includes learning and education. (</span><a href="mailto:https://www.dropbox.com/s/jonilooul1a26pb/Education.pdf?dl=0" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Bauman</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, 2005, p.30)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/2kx5UApsGJpFSf" style="border-width: 1px; border: 1px solid #ccc; margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="595"> </iframe><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong> <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/digital-in-2016" target="_blank" title="Digital in 2016">Digital in 2016</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg" target="_blank">Kepios</a></strong> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Therefore in the face to face learning environment there is an expectation that
blended learning will be part of the learning experience. (<a href="mailto:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQ5U53E/ref=wl_it_dp_v_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=37FSRQBVI5C5W&coliid=I3TVX8OTAODSWB" target="_blank">van de Ven</a>, 2014) Blended learning might simply supplement
course work and reading of online articles however it can also include
simulations and collaborative experiences that may occur in more than one
place. (<a href="mailto:https://www.dropbox.com/s/jonilooul1a26pb/Education.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Bonk, Kim andZeng</a>. 2006, p.92) Technology enabled learning
is only as good as the learning principles that underpin it so planning and
preparation are key before implementation.(<a href="http://www.amazon.com.au/Redesigning-Education-Shaping-Learning-Systems-ebook/dp/B00CNXMNMK" target="_blank">GlobalEducation Leader’s Program</a>, 2013,29%) With the
opportunity for learners to access the internet learning becomes an everywhere
and anytime activity and global connectivity soon draws learners from a
know-how and know-what activity to one that is supplemented by know-where. (<a href="http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm" target="_blank">Siemens</a>,
2004.)Learner engagement is at the forefront of curriculum development and
including blended learning opportunities will be essentially important to
building confidence in learners who are living in a digital age. These
opportunities will allow learners to be more creative and innovative than ever
before and <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/u9b1ba01cwnh8te/thelimitsofcreativityineducationarticle.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Craft</a> concludes that learners can “extend ideas or
hypothesise using imagination in order to achieve alternative and innovative
outcomes.”(2003,p. 115) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Blended learning is both simple and complex. At its simplest blended learning
is the thoughtful integration of classroom face to face learning experiences
with online learning experiences.”(<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fahlvik/teacher-role-in-the-blended-classroom-itslearning-user-conference-the-netherlands?from_action=save" target="_blank">Kanuta, Heater og Garrison, Randy, D</a>. 2004.) Without teachers who are skilled in blended environments classrooms will continue to use technology as an information repository. Failing to give students collaborative tools and confidence using technology will not equip them to live in an information society of the future and much needs to be done in the area of critical thinking in relation to how students are engaging with technology for learning. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">References:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Banks, K. (2014) In De Waele, R. (2014). Shift 2020 How TechnologyWill Impact
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bauman. 2005. In Selwyn, N. 2011. Schools and Schooling in theDigital Age.
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games and learning: A review of current literature on games in education</a>.In
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bereiter 2002, Gilbert, 2005 and Siemens, 2004. In Starkey,L
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bonk, Kim and Zeng, (2006) In N. Ford (Ed.), Web-Based
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Craft,A. (2003). The limits to creativity in education:
Dilemmas for the educator. British Journal of Educational Studies, 51(2),
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social and participatory media, Chapter 4</a>. Designing forlearning in an
open world. New York, NY: Springer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Doring,(1999). In Selwyn, N., Gorard, S. and Furlong, J,
2006. Adult learning in a digital age. Routledge: New York
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ford, N. (2008). Education. In N. Ford (Ed.), Web-Based
Learning throughEducational Informatics: Information Science Meets Educational
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classroom. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fahlvik/teacher-role-in-the-blended-classroom-itslearning-user-conference-the-netherlands?from_action=save">http://www.slideshare.net/fahlvik/teacher-role-in-the-blended-classroom-itslearning-user-conference-the-netherlands?from_action=save<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Imel, 2001. In Selwyn, N., Gorard, S. and Furlong, J, 2006. Adult learning
in a digital age. Routledge: New York (KindleEdition)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jenkins, (2006) In Conole, G. (2012). <a href="https://interact2.csu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-249313-dt-content-rid-635388_1/courses/S-INF530_201530_W_D/documents/Conole.pdf">Open,
social and participatory media, Chapter 4</a>. Designing forlearning in an
open world. New York, NY: Springer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kafai,(2006). In Becker, K. (2010). <a href="http://www.igi-global.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/gateway/chapter/full-text-html/41466">Distinctionsbetween
games and learning: A review of current literature on games in education</a>.In
R. Van Eck (Ed.), Gaming and cognition: Theories and practice from the
learning sciences (pp. 22-54). Hershey, PA:
.doi:10.4018/978-1-61520-717-6.ch002</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fahlvik/teacher-role-in-the-blended-classroom-itslearning-user-conference-the-netherlands?from_action=save">Kanuta,
Heater og Garrison, Randy, D</a>. (2004)In Fahlvik, M, (2014). Teacherrole
in the blended classroom. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fahlvik/teacher-role-in-the-blended-classroom-itslearning-user-conference-the-netherlands?from_action=save">http://www.slideshare.net/fahlvik/teacher-role-in-the-blended-classroom-itslearning-user-conference-the-netherlands?from_action=save<br />
</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kramer, M.(2014) In De Waele, R. (2014). Shift 2020 How Technology Will Impact
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Presnsky,M. (2001.) In Selwyn, N. (2013) Global Perspectives on Education
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ravenscroft, A., Wegerif, R., & Hartley, R. (2007). <a href="http://www.interloc.org.uk/publications_files/RecthinkBJEPfinal.pdf">Reclaiming
thinking: dialectic, dialogic and learning in thedigital age</a>. Retrieved
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Technology. New York: Routledge</span><br />
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learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved from<a href="http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm">http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm</a></span><br />
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adigital age learning matrix, Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 20:1,
19-39,DOI: 10.1080/1475939X.2011.554021</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://interact2.csu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-249313-dt-content-rid-635388_1/courses/S-INF530_201530_W_D/documents/Conole.pdf">Surowiecki</a> (2004)
In Conole, G. (2012). <a href="https://interact2.csu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-249313-dt-content-rid-635388_1/courses/S-INF530_201530_W_D/documents/Conole.pdf">Open,
social and participatory media, Chapter 4</a>. Designing forlearning in an
open world. New York, NY: Springer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Trigwell, Oliver, (2008) In N. Ford (Ed.), Web-Based
Learning throughEducational Informatics: Information Science Meets Educational
Computing (pp. 75-109). Hershey, PA: .doi:10.4018/978-1-59904-741-6.ch003</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Van den Ven, A., (2014). In De Waele, R. (2014). Shift 2020
How Technology Will Impact Our Future [Kindle DX version].Retrieved from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQ5U53E/ref=wl_it_dp_v_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=37FSRQBVI5C5W&coliid=I3TVX8OTAODSWB">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQ5U53E/ref=wl_it_dp_v_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=37FSRQBVI5C5W&coliid=I3TVX8OTAODSWB<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wenmoth, D. 2010. Globalised Learning. [Video file]Retrievedfrom <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20&v=porLT0xIkR4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20&v=porLT0xIkR4<br />
</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wesch, M. (2010) TEDxNYED. [Video file] Retrieved from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=618&v=DwyCAtyNYHw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=618&v=DwyCAtyNYHw</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Futch, L., and Chen, B., (2017) Understanding Blended Learning. Retrieved from <a href="https://blended.online.ucf.edu/blendkit-course-blendkit-reader-chapter-1/" target="_blank"> https://blended.online.ucf.edu/blendkit-course-blendkit-reader-chapter-1/ </a></span></div>
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<li class="s-element s-element-text" data-eid="3fff85616efe289e3c726438" data-permalink="https://storify.com/stories/556adcd88e3aaa87692f8a14/elements/b8b61aec684eebee75cef51335ce319a" data-source="storify" data-type="text" style="margin: 0px 0px 33px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></li>
<li class="s-element s-element-text" data-eid="3fff85616efe289e3c726438" data-permalink="https://storify.com/stories/556adcd88e3aaa87692f8a14/elements/b8b61aec684eebee75cef51335ce319a" data-source="storify" data-type="text" style="margin: 0px 0px 33px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fahlvik/teacher-role-in-the-blended-classroom-itslearning-user-conference-the-netherlands?from_action=save"><br /></a></span></li>
<li class="s-element s-element-text" data-eid="3fff85616efe289e3c726438" data-permalink="https://storify.com/stories/556adcd88e3aaa87692f8a14/elements/b8b61aec684eebee75cef51335ce319a" data-source="storify" data-type="text" style="margin: 0px 0px 33px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/fahlvik/teacher-role-in-the-blended-classroom-itslearning-user-conference-the-netherlands?from_action=save"><br /></a></span></li>
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Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-82659927943388171292017-02-05T22:34:00.001-08:002017-02-05T22:35:22.268-08:00What a great time to be a teacher!!Starting a new year often allows time for reflection but also a chance to think in new ways about old challenges and new ones that might happen this year. Having been working on my Masters of Education and participating on the conference junkit for the last few years I have stretched my professional learning far more than I would have ever imagined. The last few years have been rich with sharing, pondering and experimentation and it's not going to end anytime soon.<br />
<br />
<b>Google for Education Certified Trainer</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X55S5NkUKlU/WJgWOZTyTdI/AAAAAAAAKyQ/hdBFdo8C2UMa04F3ZbkcxS1aPQ8UR9YAACLcB/s1600/Training%2BLogo%2BGraphic.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X55S5NkUKlU/WJgWOZTyTdI/AAAAAAAAKyQ/hdBFdo8C2UMa04F3ZbkcxS1aPQ8UR9YAACLcB/s200/Training%2BLogo%2BGraphic.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
Like many teachers in the break you get to do some serious thinking and learning without all the other usual distractions. I am so pleased to have been accepted as a Google for Education Certified Trainer. This means that I will be sharing much more about Google for Education this year.<br />
<br />
You have heard it first from me that this year I will be providing FREE training for those wishing to learn about Google for Education. If you are on the Central Coast in NSW, Australia then you can stop on by. Stop by for some afternoon tea, networking and learning. You can check out the dates on the calendar for the group that might suit you. Tech and Tea will provide you with hands on training that suits your learning group.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=nh9tmkgv89ll63q834tlcuvd8c%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Australia/Sydney" target="_blank">Tech and Tea - Primary teachers</a><span id="goog_1673154344"></span><span id="goog_1673154345"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=pq97p3q4k6ibrdom80adpo2b40%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Australia/Sydney" target="_blank">Tech and Tea - High School Teachers</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=64s6vpcv176rueri3rmvp8l4nc%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Australia/Sydney" target="_blank">Tech and Tea - VET teachers</a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Virtual Reality</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Just for fun in the holidays my 14 year old son and I decided to try and nut out how we could do some serious virtual reality apps for carpentry students. We both love the Microsoft Hololens and even though we don't have one we thought we might be able to code for it. Here is the video of our project and we are hoping to use it soon.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NCpMaT7kmyo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NCpMaT7kmyo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://sketchfab.com/" target="_blank">Sketchfab</a><br />
<br />
I would like to make a shout out to a colleague of mine Shane Johnson, a carpentry teacher in the North Coast region. He shared some of his ideas about how we could use augmented reality for carpentry students and boy were my fellow carpentry teachers at work excited. This is a great app for 3D modelling and one we will be using this year.<br />
<br />
I guess in terms of virtual reality I will be closely watching how drones can be used to capture construction pics and video we can use for teaching and learning as well as new virtual reality goggles and apps that will be rolled out in mass over the next few years. It is such an exciting time to be a teacher. There is a real technology revolution that is exploding and it's fun to be part of.<br />
<br />
Hope all my teaching friends have a great year!<br />
<br />
Until next time,<br />
KathrynKathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-5148599386649456632016-08-23T04:38:00.000-07:002016-08-23T15:40:32.434-07:00i On The FutureI had a great weekend at this amazing conference. A few weeks ago I attended the EdtechSA conference and presented on the Crisis of the Introvert. I'll need a whole blog post for that one. Anyway there were some strong messages that came out of this conference. As a secondary and TAFE teacher it is interesting attending conferences where the majority of the teachers are primary based. They definitely have a different way of looking at things and I am finding this quite refreshing.<br />
<br />
For most of this year I have been designing online resources for trade courses. Whilst I love working with the tradies to develop these courses I am missing the classroom. So I need to prioritise working on a balance. I love to work with the teachers to mentor blended learning and student engagement as well as my online work. This was one of the big take-a-ways from both conferences.<br />
<br />
<b>Assessment</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HtO2iakm5_w/V7wUFl0eEkI/AAAAAAAAJrQ/FfiGoTAQ_tg2MEWq0HX1LVhZI4U8vfGEACLcB/s1600/Blooms%2Btaxonomy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HtO2iakm5_w/V7wUFl0eEkI/AAAAAAAAJrQ/FfiGoTAQ_tg2MEWq0HX1LVhZI4U8vfGEACLcB/s320/Blooms%2Btaxonomy.jpg" width="316" /></a></div>
There is always a lot of emphasis on assessment in teaching. Obviously. We want to see how are students are developing in their skills and understanding. Once again <a href="https://storify.com/Kathmcg1/i-on-the-future-eric-mazur-2016">Eric Mazur</a> (@ericmazur) reminded me the importance of Blooms Taxonomy in developing skills.<br />
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</div>
It's important at times to teach new information or demonstrate a new skill but it's all the more important for students to then be able to create and apply these skills. Without the time to use these higher order thinking skills they will never have confidence to do the task well or be able to demonstrate real quality with their work.<br />
<br />
My two favorite quotes from Eric are,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Perfect is the enemy of done" </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Teaching is non evasive brain surgery"</blockquote>
<br />
Too often students think that 90% will do. "Perfect, I'm done." There can always be improvement and reflection.<br />
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<b>Learners need to be connected to learning</b><br />
<b><br /></b><a href="https://storify.com/Kathmcg1/i-on-the-future-dean-shareski-2016">Dean Shareski </a>(@shareski) reminded us that joy is a key component in teaching and learning. Emotionally connecting helps cement memories much more strongly than when students are empty vessels filling their brains with content.<br />
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<a href="https://storify.com/Kathmcg1/i-on-the-future-2016-kevin-honeycutt">Kevin Honeycutt</a> (@kevinhoneycutt) inspired us with some of his projects where students have the opportunities to be entrepreneurs and make a difference. Check out the amazing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whlYQ67Z9ow">GoDium </a>project.<br />
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I love this quote from Kevin<br />
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Dan Haesler (@danhaesler) at the EdtechSA conference also highlighted the need to have learning that is going to stretch students and give them real world experiences. I love the idea of students writing proposals for real work and encouraging entrepreneurship. <a href="https://www.freelancer.com.au/?utm_expid=294858-455.eWhFRLnqSrWLOTgn5UGbiQ.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com.au%2F">Freelancer</a> is a great site where students can solve real problems and get paid to do it!</div>
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There were great conversations and many more inspiring messages however they will have to wait for another blog post. </div>
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Until next time,</div>
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K</div>
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<br />Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-67285126730401680092016-03-12T14:40:00.000-08:002016-03-13T00:42:35.245-08:00Why do students hate Moodle?<h4>
<b>Hello my blog, old friend</b>. It has been quite some time since I paid you any attention. However the is all going to to change. I'm sick of all these ideas and thoughts rolling around in my head and the best therapy for lots of ideas is to get them down. So over the next few weeks I shall try to jot down some of my thoughts over the last few months in a series of blog posts.</h4>
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In the last few weeks I have conversations with a range of teachers from both the public, private and VET sectors about Moodle. Why is it that students don't like it?<br />
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When Moodle started it was a revolutionary way to share all your class work with your students and have them interact with you and each other and also it took away the anxiety and worry about notes being lost or crushed in school bags. Teachers have long held the idea that knowledge is the gateway to success, enlightenment and understanding so just as the humble photocopier revolutionised access to the knowledge of teacher's via their notes Moodle was able to give students access to knowledge through the new culture of technology and content curation.<br />
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Some teachers saw Moodle as a product that would revolutionise Education and to a certain degree it<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image by <a href="http://presentermedia.com/">presentermedia.com</a></td></tr>
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did however for the less tech savvy teachers it was clunky, unyielding, time consuming and overly complicated. The students on the other hand initially were enthusiastic but as time has worn on the appearance and drudgery of using Moodle for assignments became a burden and not such a cool use of technology. Many teachers hadn't realised the real capability of the program nor did they have the time, energy or skills level to use it. It became the knowledge repository of the classroom which was accessed only when you needed to check when an assignment was due or when it needed to be uploaded. Sad really, as many Institutions did put it to good use and it became a global sensation to those who used it well. <br />
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<b>So what's changed?</b></h4>
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I think there are three things that have changed in the mind of the user and they have an appetite for something different.<br />
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1. Students <b>expect</b> the technology that they use to be user friendly and aesthetically pleasing. They want the online experience to have easy navigation and yet it be presented in a way that is still challenging and they can chat about these things with their peers. It must have social capability that is similar to other ways they interact socially online.<br />
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2. It needs to be accessed and viewed <b>easily</b> over multiple devices. Sometime companies say that it is mobile friendly but when you go to use it on your mobile it's so different to the computer experience that you can't find anything you need.<br />
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3. There needs to be points of <b>emotional connection</b>. Whether or not teachers are producing elearning content or flip teaching students need praise when they get something right and guidance if they are heading in the wrong direction. There has to be the opportunity for a human connection. The problem with Moodle quizzes is that there is always the predicted right answer unless the quiz is set up for short writing pieces that are not self marking. You can't ask for clarification. This can be frustrating. In some cases you probably know the answer it's just the question is not clear and you doubt what they are really asking. If a student is working on an online quiz there needs to be the option to talk to a real human because teaching for thousands of years has been a conversational business. (Doring, 1999)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image @ <a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-86218286/stock-photo-emotional-kid-play-video-game">bigstockphotos.com</a></td></tr>
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If our students are playing online games at home with their friends and they are working through the challenges and levels of a game and get stuck they with will always default to the online chat to find a work around. So why do we allow this kind of learning in a game but not in our online programming of learning activities as a whole? Obviously I am grossly generalising as I know there are some programs and teachers who do this but I find in much of the conversation I have with teachers and students the real lack of connection about how young people want to learn and think in a digital age. There is still a mindset at times that it is the pursuit of knowledge is key but what has changed it that it is the skill in accessing knowledge is becoming far more useful.<br />
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I had the absolute privilege in the last few weeks to test run an eCoach learning system by <a href="https://futuragroup.com.au/" target="_blank">Futura</a>. I would encourage you to have a look. I have no financial connection to this it's just another tool I have come across and I love it! If you are a teacher that loves flip teaching then I would encourage you to check it out. It does plug into Moodle so if your school or organisation is a Moodle fun place then it is certainly one to consider. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/153721748?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/153721748">Conference Loop</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user12954692">Futura Group</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Students want a more polished, meaningful and aesthetically pleasing interactive elearning experience. I would encourage you to think outside the box.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
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K<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">References<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24.75pt;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Conole,G. (2012). <a href="https://interact2.csu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-249313-dt-content-rid-635388_1/courses/S-INF530_201530_W_D/documents/Conole.pdf">Open,
social and participatory media, Chapter 4</a>. Designing for learning in an
open world. New York, NY: Springer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Craft,A. (2003). The limits to creativity in education:
Dilemmas for the educator. British Journal of Educational Studies, 51(2),
113-127.Retrieved from<a href="http://web.nsboro.k12.ma.us/algonquin/faculty/socialstudiesteachers/smith/documents/thelimitsofcreativityineducationarticle.pdf">http://web.nsboro.k12.ma.us/algonquin/faculty/socialstudiesteachers/smith/documents/thelimitsofcreativityineducationarticle.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Doring,(1999). In Selwyn, N., Gorard, S. and Furlong, J, 2006. Adult learning in a digital age. Routledge: New York (KindleEdition)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; line-height: 16.8667px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ford, N. (2008). Education. In N. Ford (Ed.), Web-Based
Learning through Educational Informatics: Information Science Meets Educational
Computing (pp. 75-109). Hershey, PA: .doi:10.4018/978-1-59904-741-6.ch003<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ol class="s-elements" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-height: 200px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kafai,(2006). In Becker, K. (2010). <a href="http://www.igi-global.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/gateway/chapter/full-text-html/41466">Distinctions
between games and learning: A review of current literature on games in
education</a>.In R. Van Eck (Ed.), Gaming and cognition: Theories and
practice from the learning sciences (pp. 22-54). Hershey, PA:
.doi:10.4018/978-1-61520-717-6.ch002</span></span></ol>
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Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-39088459931081694172015-10-20T00:08:00.000-07:002015-10-20T00:08:05.290-07:00A Global PerspectiveThis year my poor blog has suffered from lack of attention. I started my Masters of Education earlier in the year and had to keep a blog for that course so I haven't really been able to maintain two blogs. However I am taking a break from my Masters until next year so I return. Once again I feel like I am returning to an old friend. So what have I been up to.....<br />
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<b>June ISTE Conference</b><br />
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In June I flew to Philadephia, USA for the ISTE conference with 20 000 other teachers. It was huge to say the least. I spoke at the TeachMeet which was fantastic and I would say that the TeachMeet was a highlight event for me. I was able to connect with some other Aussie teachers who I know now will be life long friends.<br />
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Some of the key themes from ISTE:<br />
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<ul>
<li>gamification will drive learning in the future, </li>
<li>students will learn more effectively when they are having fun,</li>
<li> augmented reality is a developing area for education, </li>
<li>there is tension around the use of Google products, social media and student privacy,</li>
<li>collaboration that is relevant and meaningful to students connects with them at a deeper level and develops long term communication skills</li>
<li>developing communication and problem solving skills for students is key to survival in an information society.</li>
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<b>September Engage Conference</b><br />
A month ago I also was able to attend the inaugural Engage conference for TAFE NSW. It was great to hear and see how are others are incorporating blended learning into their practice and how they are developing courses for online learning. There was great conversation about learning spaces and the integration of technology in these spaces. Mike Heppell was insightful in the direction that online learning needs to take and solid pedagogy must drive learning and much planning needs to take place before courses are delivered.<br />
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<b>October Practical Pedagogies</b><br />
Finally I have just returned from France where I <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1L5JzlZ2mb8Qz_Gzoy86RDfUCTpcfd1e2Cs0XGO1sz7g/edit" target="_blank">presented </a>at the Practical Pedagogies conference in Toulouse. I really enjoyed the rich conversation with a very European perspective and it was great to hear about the challenges and success of teachers in Europe.<br />
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There seems to be similar ways that teachers are using technology and blended learning in the classroom and there is a developing industry of educational technology consultants or instructional designers to support teachers as they develop blended learning resources. I must say that the USA is definitely leading the charge on this however Britain is really adopting this kind of support much more so than Australia.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image at bigstockphotos.com</td></tr>
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Once again at all three conferences I see that we are moving into a new phase of education technology. There is an acceptance that technology is here to stay and there has been some real experimentation in the best ways to deliver online and blended learning. We are now in the 'how' phase and it is interesting to see that there is a real need to map blended technology with curriculum and pedagogy as technology is not a fly by night trick. What has also come out of some good conversation is the need to consider the use of technology in the learning space so that students are comfortable and they have the capacity to collaborate and learn together. <br />
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Ewan McInsosh has much to say about virtual and physical learning spaces and I have found the 7 spaces for learning helpful to create a holistic approach to learning.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/15945912" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/15945912">The Seven Spaces of Technology in School Environments</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/notosh">NoTosh</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Thornburg's <a href="http://tcpd.org/Thornburg/Handouts/Campfires.pdf" target="_blank">Primordial Learning spaces</a> also can be helpful in assisting students with critical thinking and problem solving skills.<br />
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<b>Campfire, Watering hole and Cave.</b><br />
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<b>Data Usage</b><br />
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Another key trend is data usage. Now more than ever we can give students more feedback about their work and we can track areas for improvement like never before. Keeping data that can provide overall insight into how a student are going in specific learning areas will be helpful in the future to assist students with areas for development that can be picked up quickly and more precisely.<br />
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<b>Safety</b><br />
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There is still concern over students rights and privacy in cyber space and there are many schools in Europe who are unsure about how Google is going about keeping the students data and what they are going to do with it. Is seems as though this is an area that is still developing and whilst many schools are using Google's Apps for Education there are still some who aren't convinced that this is the way to go.<br />
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<b>Problem Solving and Critical Thinkin</b>g<br />
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I must say that at all three conferences there was a greater emphasis on this point than I have seen <br />
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over the last few conferences I have attended over the years. It seems to me that in an information society it will be key for people to have good problem solving skills and use critical thinking in the workplace and the level of competency in this area in particular is really growing. Teacher's will need to use collaboration in class activities but also provide students the ability to collaborate online and be creative in how they identify and solve problems.<br />
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<b>Australia is a player</b><br />
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Lastly Australia is a player in the areas of education technology. This was clearly seen at all three conferences and through rich conversations I can see that Australia has been engaging in quality education practice as well. There were many teachers who felt that #AussieEdchat was an excellent place to find resources and that many of the Australian twitter chats are being followed around the world. Many conversations that I had included discussion about how Australia was being innovative and creative in the education technology space and the world is watching and taking note.<br />
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These last few months have been educational rich as I explored what was going on around the world in the area of education technology. What I found is a dedicated group of enthusiastic and passionate teachers like myself who strive everyday to care for their students and engage them in learning activities. I also have found a spirit of generosity to share and support fellow teachers and this global perspective makes the world very small as education communities are engaging with each other like never before.<br />
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This is but a small brain dump and I hope to blog more about my experiences over the coming weeks.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
K<br />
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<br />Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-77809089414907693512015-09-01T05:29:00.004-07:002015-09-01T05:35:21.453-07:00Full Immersion<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">
This blog post is some recent thinking I have had in relation to my Masters Degree and is copied from my blog for this subject. </div>
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I have been very slack in writing blog posts this semester and I don't quite know why. Last semester we were really pushed to write posts and I was very excited too however this semester is different. One reason is that I started a new job and have been flat out busy with that but that's not really an excuse because I have been crazy busy before and still managed to post. So it has to be a bit deeper than that. I think there are three reasons that have held me back and I think I need to dig deeper and explore these a little more.</div>
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<strong>Going underground</strong></div>
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There have been some really major changes to the industry I work in over the last 12 months. There are been times when I have felt overburdened by the enormity of the changes and job insecurity. This has impacted on my creativity and my usual unending supply of exhausting energy. I knew I was a frog in a pot slowly being heated but didn't know how to get out. I needed time to process and I didn't realise that takes time.</div>
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I love this course. It has come at the right time in my career. Tim Brown's states, "In times of change we need new alternatives and new ideas." A cross road can provide the opportunity for reflection and an opportunity to veer to a new course. The many and various theories around Design Thinking has so challenged me in the last few weeks I decided to go underground to think, mull and discuss my thinking with my new colleagues. This has provided me the opportunity to challenge how I go about developing new learning opportunities for students in the space available to me.</div>
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When I was approached to do this new job I was given a problem. Very loose figures were that 1/3 of the students were not passing the course and I was to be part of the process of fixing it. The Head Teacher didn't know how this would happen but looked at my skill set and he has employed me to assist with the problem. He wants me to think out of the box. With this in mind I turned to Seidel and Fixon (2013, p.20) and found their ideas were a good place to start and structure how I was thinking as a means to work out exactly what the problem was and then develop strategies to work on the problem in order to fix and find a solution.</div>
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(1) needfinding, encompassing the definition of a problem or opportunity through observation; (2) brainstorming, a formal framework for ideation; and (3) prototyping, building models to facilitate the development and selection of concepts.</blockquote>
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The Design Council was also helpful as they framed their concepts; “Discover the problem; Define the cause; Develop ideas; Deliver what works.” When a problem seems so complex it is difficult to know where to start and the Standford Design School's visual below is also great in being able to visualise the process before you get caught up with all the issues. The colours were an appealing way to break up thinking and these really helped me be disciplined in my thinking and I became very deliberate in the process rather than just trying to work on small individual problems that arose.</div>
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<strong>Full immersion</strong></div>
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So I decided to fully immerse myself in the culture and processes of my new job. I knew nothing about the Building and Construction Industry so nothing was where I started from. I sat in loads of lessons with lots of different teachers. I had conversations all day long about what was wrong, what was right and how it could change. The conversations were rich and exploratory. According to Braha and Reich (2003), "the design process is characterized by being iterative, exploratory, and sometimes a chaotic process." This is exactly what happened. What came out of some of these conversations were the opportunities for the teachers frustrations to be heard, and these were taken to heart and provided them with a platform to feel the pain and address the heart of the problem. Their feelings were validated. Many said that there was always change in the Industry and that living with constant change is part of the job however there is a cost associated with the great change to their beloved Industry and the consequence of all of this is that it had stifled their creativity. After a few weeks the discussion turned to the heart of the problem and small strategies began to be devised as enthusiasm grew.</div>
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<strong>The Crisis</strong></div>
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After a few weeks I had been working closely with two teachers who had been given the task of working with a group of students who faced unique challenges. We had discussed, strategised and implemented some new teaching strategies and 99% of the group passed the assessment. This feat had never been done before with this group and there was real sense of achievement from the group and the teachers were greatly encouraged.</div>
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I was thrilled with the result at such an early stage in my work. However it was short lived as I received some news that totally threw me. A permanent teacher from another section needed hours and was after my job. There had been some changes in management in the new section that I work for and they had only just found out about me and weren't necessarily too pleased that I was taking up valuable teaching hours. However I had the support of the new Head Teacher and through very successful maneuvering on his part I was able to stay put for the time being.</div>
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This stress caused me to really evaluate what I was doing there and what my goals and aims were for the job. It forced me to sit down and put together a proposal or a plan for what I could contribute as an innovator to the section. This was a true moment of clarity for me.</div>
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<strong>An awakening</strong></div>
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I was powerfully influenced by <a data-mce-href="http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hockenberry_we_are_all_designers?language=en#t-5489" href="http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hockenberry_we_are_all_designers?language=en#t-5489" style="color: #66cc66;">John Hockenberry's</a> video about the intent of design and this steered my thinking in new directions as I was put on a new class. The word 'innovation' gets bandied around a lot and whilst I had my own understanding of it I hadn't really grasped the full extent of it until I watched Linda Hill's TED Talk on Innovation and I have come to a new realisation that the process of innovation doesn't happen over night but it is deliberate and requires risk and whole lot more!<br />
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Design thinking has kept me grounded and assisted with keeping my focus on what's important in this new venture and I'm excited and where it will take me. Having opportunity for leadership in this male dominated industry has been challenging yet so rewarding. Men who work on building sites are used to being a team player and my colleagues couldn't be more supportive. With a re-energised team and the opportunity to push new ground in teaching delivery it's very exciting. Watch this space!</div>
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<strong>References:</strong></div>
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Braha and Reich 2003. In Razzouk, R., & Shute, V. (2012). What is design thinking and why is it important? <em>Review of Educational Research</em>, September, 82 (3), 330–348. <a data-mce-href="http://rer.sagepub.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/content/82/4/483.full.pdf+html" href="http://rer.sagepub.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/content/82/4/483.full.pdf+html" style="color: #66cc66;" target="_blank">http://rer.sagepub.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/content/82/4/483.full.pdf+html</a></div>
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Brown, T (2009, July). <em>Designers- Think big!</em> [Video file]. Retrieved from <a data-mce-href="http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_urges_designers_to_think_big " href="http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_urges_designers_to_think_big%C2%A0" style="color: #66cc66;">http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_urges_designers_to_think_big </a></div>
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Gardiner, E. (2013). <em>Changing behaviour by design: Combining behavioural science with design-thinking to help organisations tackle big social issues</em>. Design Council & Warwick Business School. Retrieved from:<a data-mce-href="https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/asset/document/Changing%20behaviour%20by%20design.pdf" href="https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/asset/document/Changing%20behaviour%20by%20design.pdf" style="color: #66cc66;" target="_blank">https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/asset/document/Changing%20behaviour%20by% 20design.pdf</a> p.5</div>
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Hill, L (2014, September). <em>How to manage for collective creativity</em> [Video File] Retrieved from <a data-mce-href="https://www.ted.com/talks/linda_hill_how_to_manage_for_collective_creativity " href="https://www.ted.com/talks/linda_hill_how_to_manage_for_collective_creativity%C2%A0" style="color: #66cc66;">https://www.ted.com/talks/linda_hill_how_to_manage_for_collective_creativity </a></div>
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Hockenberry, J (2012, March). <em>John Hockenberry: We are all designers </em>[Video file]. Retrieved from <a data-mce-href="http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hockenberry_we_are_all_designers?language=en#t-5489 " href="http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hockenberry_we_are_all_designers?language=en#t-5489 " style="color: #66cc66;">http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hockenberry_we_are_all_designers?language=en#t-5489 </a></div>
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Seidel, V., & Fixson, S. (2013). Adopting design thinking in novice multidisciplinary teams: The application and limits of design methods and reflexive practices. <em>Journal of Product Innovation Management</em>, 30, 19–33.<a data-mce-href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12061" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12061" style="color: #66cc66;" target="_blank">http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12061</a> or <a data-mce-href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/10.1111/jpim.12061/pdf" href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/10.1111/jpim.12061/pdf" style="color: #66cc66;" target="_blank">http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/10.1111/jpim.12061/pdf</a></div>
Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-69413342386548309942015-07-02T15:10:00.000-07:002015-07-02T15:10:49.977-07:00Getting on with itThe last week has been crazy and awesome at the ISTE Conference in Philadelphia. I was so excited to deliver my presentation on Gaming and Socratic thinking. My talk focused on the pedagogy behind gaming and why it is so important to get the planning right so that learning can be fun, critical and creative. We want our students to gain skills to be masters of their own learning. My presentation was really well received and I had some great conversations about it after. I have been asked to speak at another conference in the UK in October and hope I can get the finances together to go. I want to break up this post into common themes in conversations that I had and my takeaways from the conference that I need to implement. <div>
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<b>Conversation theme 1: Tech tools</b></div>
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Tools are great but you need to the pedagogy and the reasoning behind the tool before you use it. There seemed to me to be a lot about Google Apps and tools and not so much about the pedagogy and application. The tools have been around for some time now and they aren't new anymore. There was very little there that I hadn't seen before or that I don't already use in the classroom and so this says to me that Aussie's are really on top of what is going on in Edu tech. </div>
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<b>Conversation theme 2: Assessment</b></div>
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Around there world educators are drowning in assessment reporting and standardised testing and this time is taking away from really creative and innovative teaching. Administration is taking over our lives and teacher's are resenting the negative impact this is having on students. There needs to be accountability but trying to fit every one in the same box isn't really working. The assessments aren't necessarily helping students to become autonomous in their learning nor masters of their own learning style and skills. These standardised tests are a reflection not of the current digital age but of those concepts that were important in an industrialised age not an information society. </div>
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<b>Conversation theme 3: Confidence in digital spaces</b></div>
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The whole conference was about education and technology but there were many conversations about the skills needed for students to cope in a digital age. It is clear that there is a widening gap concerning those who have access to technology and those who don't. There was also a lot of chatter about the importance of having parents on board and being able to provide them with information about the fun learning opportunities that their kids were having at school. </div>
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<b>Takeaway 1: Have fun</b></div>
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There have been times this term when I have been really bogged down in paperwork. The new admin system at work is not functioning like it should and it has taken up a lot of time to get things fixed. </div>
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This has impacted on my time to be creative and I feel that has always been key to how I teach and I haven't been having fun. Al Doyle has a great motto which is that he needs to be having more fun that everyone else in the room. If the teacher isn't have fun then how can we expect our learners to enjoy learning. </div>
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<b>Takeaway 2: Gamify</b></div>
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There are ways that I can incorporate more gamification and game design in teaching and learning and I need to step up more with this. There are so many tools and even in an adult learning environment they can be incorporated. </div>
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<b>Takeaway 3: Collaboration</b></div>
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I really enjoyed the session on Mystery Skype. I love the idea that you can connect with other teachers and the class has to work out where they are in the world. I really would like to connect with other TPC classes around the state and this would be a great way of doing this. Working together makes life so much easier and richer. </div>
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<b>Takeaway 4: Augmented Reality</b></div>
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I loved the session on Augmented Reality and didn't realise that it is such a growing field. My new party trick is the app Zookazam. You do need an American $1 bill or you can print background triggers from their website. If you are really clever you can move the elephant from the bill onto your hand. The elephant moves and looks around. If you touch it the elephant will move. So much fun to be had there. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GgERWdFXk3g/VZW1wFEJ5xI/AAAAAAAAEr4/DCqy9PdkL_Q/s1600/20150630_203636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GgERWdFXk3g/VZW1wFEJ5xI/AAAAAAAAEr4/DCqy9PdkL_Q/s320/20150630_203636.jpg" width="180" /></a>With information overload I know I will be thinking over and over things and going back over sessions in the coming weeks. Just before I left the conference I wrote an email to my self using Future.org and will receive it a year from now. I wonder if I will have accomplished what I set out to do from the conference. Interesting. </div>
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Anyway I hope all my Aussie teacher friends are enjoying their holidays. Safe travels. </div>
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Until next time,</div>
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Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-45781873586538552822015-05-06T02:24:00.002-07:002015-05-06T02:32:14.909-07:00Looking through a different lens<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">
This is a blog post from the blog I have been using to reflect on my learning for my Masters Degree. </div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>I live in a 'geeky' household. I was chatting to my Mr13 in the house the other day and I was telling him about Teach Meet. At the moment I have a year 12 student who has been doing the live streaming for the event each year. I said to him it would be great if I could ask him to train my Mr13 in case Mr Year 12 student went off to uni in Sydney and I lost those skills and would have no one to live stream for me. (I clearly don't have the time or the inclination to learn such detailed coding.) So we were chatting about it and he said wouldn't it be cool if the people who couldn't make Teach Meet that night were able to use <a data-mce-href="http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us" href="http://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us" style="color: #66cc66;" title="Hololens">Hololens</a> to join in. He said wouldn't it be cool if they signed up for teach meet and you sent them some Hololens glasses ( a little less chunky than the ones in the video below. A bit more like the 3D glasses you get at the movies )or they had some and just had to sign in or something like that and they would completely feel like they were there on the night. The people at home would be able to interact with the event on the night in a much more engaging way.<br />
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Whilst he is only 13 he is thinking in a connected way. Thinking about how to use technology to bring people together. Who knows in the future holograms of people might be virtually sitting in the lecture theatre projected from their lounge at home. Beethan (2009) talks about the need for future learners to be digital entrepreneurs and I can see that students these days naturally think about creative and innovative ways to use technology that will benefit not only themselves but the broader community of learners. A few years ago I began to follow the work of <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/virtuallyhyperconnected" href="https://www.facebook.com/virtuallyhyperconnected" style="color: #66cc66;" title="Virtually Hyper Connected">Alex Miller</a> from North Coast Institute of TAFE and her virtual classroom.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">De Frietas and Colone (2010) talks about the need for students to be part of 'participatory learners' and virtual classrooms begins to address this concept but also aligns with Rheingold's view that human interaction is still an important part of learning. It seems as though some learners are happy to be in a space where the connection is somewhat distant (blog, social media, texting) from an actual face to face interaction with a physical human however technology is really pushing for meaningful connectedness and virtual or holographic learning may be a norm in the future. It's a little science fiction but the reality is that the technology is already here.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Creating creative content has been around since the onset of video games and if you want to see the development of creativity in this field you can't go past looking at </span><a data-mce-href="http://welcome.projectspark.com/" href="http://welcome.projectspark.com/" style="color: #66cc66; font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;" title="Project Spark">Project Spark</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Lato, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">. Mr13 has been a BETA tester for Microsoft with this project and he has had a real ball creating his own video games. Mr13 is creating, problems solving, using various modes of digital literacy, story telling, maths, spacial awareness and the list goes on. Looking at life through Mr13 is a different lens to that are Mrs near 40.</span><br />
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It seems that learning is not all about the cool technology tools but the teenagers of today are pushing for a different way to learn in a space that is pedagogically modern and relevant to the jobs skills needed in the future.</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6031387620331849271" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;">References:</span><br />
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G. Conole, <em>Designing for learning in an open world</em>. New York, NY: Springer. Available as ebook from CSU library.</div>
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Conole, G. (2012). <a data-mce-href="https://interact2.csu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-249314-dt-content-rid-635373_1/courses/S-INF530_201530_W_D/documents/Conole.pdf" href="https://interact2.csu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-249314-dt-content-rid-635373_1/courses/S-INF530_201530_W_D/documents/Conole.pdf" style="color: #66cc66;" target="_blank">Open, social and participatory media, Chapter 4</a>. In G. Conole, <em>Designing for learning in an open world</em>. New York, NY: Springer. Available as ebook from CSU library.</div>
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Microsoft Corporation (2013), <em>Project Spark, <a data-mce-href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37sVEgJrOA" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37sVEgJrOA" style="color: #66cc66;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m37sVEgJrOA</a></em></div>
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North Coast Institute TAFE (2015), <em>Virtually Hyperconnected, <a data-mce-href="https://www.facebook.com/virtuallyhyperconnected/timeline" href="https://www.facebook.com/virtuallyhyperconnected/timeline" style="color: #66cc66;">https://www.facebook.com/virtuallyhyperconnected/timeline</a></em></div>
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Rheingold, H (2014) <em>Network Awareness, <a data-mce-href="https://vimeo.com/86182564" href="https://vimeo.com/86182564" style="color: #66cc66;">https://vimeo.com/86182564</a></em></div>
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Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-8064637617280957172015-04-06T04:28:00.001-07:002015-04-06T04:28:35.917-07:00Do video games make you violent?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just this week one of my students presented a talk about video game violence. For some reason it has been mulling around in my head all week. I am a parent like millions of others in the world and I am trying to guide my kids through this scary crazy world like anyone else. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who won't let me them play 'those' games and it's not that I don't want my kids to fit in, it's that I strongly feel that these games are not giving benefit to my children in their childhood and as I love them dearly I wouldn't want to expose them to violence unnecessarily. However I shouldn't base my views on a hunch. I think I need to do a little research.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There has been some research to suggest that there are some real benefits for kids when they play video games. You only have to listen to <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games?language=en#t-428071" target="_blank">Daphne Bavelier's</a> TED talk on how the brain can be retrained by video games. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/violent-video-games-dont-affect-kids-behavior-but-this-might/" target="_blank">Randy Dotinga</a> from CBS also supports the idea that there can be some benefits from playing video games. It can assist with concentration, problems solving, attention to name a few. However I just can't ignore the fact that there are alternate views to this topic. A <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2014/03/25/3971009.htm" target="_blank">Singaporean study</a> found that children who play video games for long periods are more aggressive. There has been strong evidence to suggest that many of the school shootings in the USA are linked to students who have been bullied and isolated and have played violent video games before they committed the crime. It seems that there is a desensitization to these games and students blur the physical world to the make believe world of the game. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was great discussion in the class about what age should kids play these games. Two students who had children aged 7 and 5 let their kids play Grand Theft Auto 5 and Call of Duty. Their main stipulation was that they could play Grand Theft Auto with their dad but they weren't allowed to go into the strip club. I was a bit taken aback as I know these games have adult ratings. However these parents said that their kids know it's just a game. I argued differently and we agreed to disagree but it's was very obvious to me that in the class there were very different views about who can play the games, at what age and whether or not there are aspects of the game that are socially deplorable or just seen in the realm of 'pretend'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found these two articles quite helpful and insightful. </span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/violent-video-games-fun-hobby-or-mass-murder-training-tool-20110822-1j5ya.html" target="_blank">Mark Dapin </a>states that video games can help boys understand manhood. Lydiard also<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image @ <a href="https://academichelp.net/samples/academics/research-papers/video-games-negative-effects-children.html" target="_blank">Negative Effects of Video games</a></td></tr>
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states that <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.4288005828857px;">"I know if I play a war game, I can't go shooting people on the street," says Lydiard, "because, first of all, I'm not a soldier. If I'm playing a soldier in a game, it's not like I'm going to go down to Kmart and buy an M-16 - which I can't - put on an undetectable outfit, hide up in the bushes and then ambush a bunch of pedestrians. It's ridiculous to think a normal person would think that's something they should do after playing a game."</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.4288005828857px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/grand-theft-auto-and-the-problem-with-banning-violent-video-games-and-media-20141204-11zq3h.html" target="_blank">Tim Biggs</a> goes as far as saying that Video game violence and the over sexualisation of women can lead to domestic violence. </span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.4288005828857px;">Both these writer's present a view I am familiar with and adhere to however I know that perhaps my conservative views are not always shared by those around me. I suppose all things need to be done in moderation and playing video games 12 hours a day is not moderation. Kids need to play video games because it is a normal part of their own generational culture and can provide an outlet for fun and play but for now I want to steer my kids away from violent video games to ones where there is more creativity involved. </span></span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m37sVEgJrOA" width="640"></iframe>Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-88258015558314675282015-02-19T16:19:00.002-08:002015-02-19T16:21:24.949-08:00Stuck Getting StartedThis week I have noticed that my students have had some trouble just starting.<br />
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When there are a number of students in the room that struggle to start it can be quite difficult to race around and speak to everyone. After all there is only 1 of you. However you may be able to try a few strategies.<br />
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<b>What do you already know?</b><br />
Often students don't think they know anything on a topic when in fact they really do. A set of general questions might help the grey matter get moving and be a prompt to have a place to start.<br />
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<b>What don't you know?</b><br />
Similarly sometimes when students are overwhlmed they just say, " I don't know anything." This always needs to be followed by a series of questions. Exactly what is it that you don't know? How can we go about finding out about it? Who else might know something about it? Supporting students using higher thinking questions can also assist in prompting them to begin to think about their topic. <br />
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<b>Give an example</b><br />
More often than not I always give an example. Students need a place to start or at the very least some idea of what is expected. The difficulty sometimes is getting the less able students to not copy word for word the example that is given but to ask them to use the structure and their own words to respond to the topic or instruction.<br />
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<b>Pair up with someone</b><br />
Pair the student up with a more able student who does now how to start. It's hard to get around to everyone so use your able students to encourage and assist others. However make sure that even though they might be helping someone they don't feel as though you are neglecting to speak to them about their work because they have been busy helping others.<br />
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<b>Provide some prompting questions</b><br />
Asking good questions will always lead to further thinking of ideas and strategies. Even though who, how, what, why, when and where are a good place to start the 5 whys can be a way of digging a little deeper. If you have a problem you are trying to work out then ask at least 5 <i>why</i> questions to get the student thinking.<br />
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<b>Provide a very structured outline</b><br />
Providing a rubric they can complete is a great way to start thinking. There are many ways to record your initial ideas and thoughts however with many different learning styles in one class it can be tricky. Some learners like to use mind maps and others like to make lists. It's important not to constantly force learning tools on students that they don't like to use. Having options for initial thinking gives the learner choice and gives them confidence in their own learning style and ability.<br />
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These are a few strategies I used this week to help students begin to research a topic for an oral presentation.<br />
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Here is the <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/2zbjcwcrpb0z9zl/Oral%20Presentation%20Template.docx?dl=0" target="_blank">template</a> I gave to my students as they began to think about their topic and where they could start their research.<br />
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Please let me know if you use some other strategies.<br />
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Until next week,<br />
KathrynKathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-74516343464442546682015-01-30T17:05:00.001-08:002015-01-30T17:09:10.180-08:00Are you digitally enhanced? <br />
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Have you ever used Photoshop or photo editing software to digitally enhance a selfie or photo of yourself? It almost seems like we are part of the generation of 'fake'. It's hard to know whether or not images, videos and information is real and genuine. However in an information obsessed world there is no denying that information technology in schools is now part of everyday life. It is embedded in the curriculum and there is an underlying assumption by the consumer (the students) that technology will be part of any course that is taught from 2 years to 99 years. Technology is part of everyday life and if teachers are <b><u>not</u> </b>digitally enhanced or skilled in using technology then the quality and teaching standards will by and large be affected.</div>
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<b>Innovating Pedagogy</b><br />
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If you are going to innovate using technology then there has to be an understanding as to why you are going to to do it. Pedagogy has changed and developed over many years and will continue to do so. As it should. There will be those elements of pedagogy that remain the same however it is the developing research and discussion that most excites education junkies as we seek to push new boundaries of learning, student engagement and success. The <a href="http://www.openuniversity.edu/sites/www.openuniversity.edu/files/The_Open_University_Innovating_Pedagogy_2014_0.pdf" target="_blank">3rd Open University Report </a>into Innovative Pedagogy highlights these trends in technology and student learning and lays out a strong basis for the change in classroom practice to meet the demand of the current generation but also to consider the future needs of students and skills required for a technology skilled workforce of the future.<br />
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As an education junkie myself the challenge for me often lies in considering what is going on in <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Image @ </span><a href="http://bigstockphotos.com/" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">bigstockphotos.com</a></td></tr>
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schools and can some of these elements be moved to andragogy practices when I am teaching adults. Often they can but my greatest challenge with mature aged learners is their experience using technology. There is a huge range of experiences with technology in my classes and trying to find the balance of using technology to enhance learning rather than causing a stumbling block is one I spend much time trying to get the balance right. In one of my classes they can range in age from 16 - 70. In fact in the last two years I have had classes with this exact scenario. Younger students by and large can't get enough of the opportunity to use technology however in the same class you have more mature aged students who find the whole process frustrating and a waste of time.<br />
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It is through providing opportunities, much support and encouragement that will win at the end of the day. There is less fear these days that you can't break technology just be clicking then there was 20 or even 10 years ago. The use of technology has to be phrased in an adult learning environment as conducive and meaningful to not only the learning experience but also the outcome and is shown to be of further use when applied to a variety of situations and circumstances. An example of this would be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Docs" target="_blank">Google Docs</a>. Having shown my students how to use them they can use the same skill in other subjects and also continue to use them outside of study and for life. The practical use and relevance is important to adult learners and they don't want to learn technology if it is going to never be used or is a waste of time.<br />
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<b>How can you become digitally enhanced? </b><br />
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Be open to experiment and fail. Using twitter and reading blog posts are some of the easiest ways to get ideas on what you can use in your classroom. (<a href="http://judyoconnell.com/" target="_blank">Judy O'Connell's</a> blog is excellent!) Many academic journals (for example;English Teachers Association) are great places to find the latest research on the use of Innovative Technology but also you will find many practical tips from other teachers on what has worked in their classrooms. The joy of experimenting is not only for students and I know I have enjoyed experimenting on my students using technology over the years.<br />
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<b>Time to share your selfie</b><br />
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Sharing in your success or failures is something we expect of our students but don't necessarily practice ourselves. Join a <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ETVR7zYXKRsFIEWYMqvwDMzaB1UIS61SDi6ao7MUwr4/edit#gid=0" target="_blank">Twitter chat</a> and listen to what others are doing in their classrooms and join the conversation around your own classroom practices.<br />
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Until next week's musing....<br />
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K<br />
<br />Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-42473983260521441342014-12-11T17:03:00.000-08:002014-12-12T18:32:29.910-08:00Moving beyond hurtI admit not only have a I been totally overwhelmed by life in the last 6 weeks but I have had a bit of writer's block. There have been moments when I have started a new post only to sit there and stare at a blank page. Mentally exhausted and emotionally spent. The last semester has been the most rewarding and most challenging I think of my career. There has been truly powerful moments and realisations with students that has deeply moved me. The ability to truly teach in a creative capacity allowed me to push myself harder than ever before, to see what I was capable of. I was truly chuffed to receive a nomination for an Excellence in Teaching Award for Hunter TAFE and whilst I didn't win the acknowledgement has provided some reflection on my part.<br />
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<b>What is it that drove me to drive my students harder than ever to succeed? </b><br />
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There has been many times in my life when others have told me that I would never amount to <br />
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anything. I was average and mediocre at best as a teacher. Never was this more difficult than in the last school I taught at and so profoundly did one Head Teacher's negative long term harassment and bullying impact on me that I never want to teach in schools again. TAFE provided a safe place to heal and my amazing head teacher gave me the opportunity to really teach in a creative and innovative way, very different from others in my section and as a result the students have achieved outstanding results and will get into the university courses of their choice. There have been volumes and volumes of people who have written on this topic and I join the chorus. Really negative experiences in life produced a drive in me to not only prove them wrong but also prove to myself that I could do it too.<br />
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Some students that come to TAFE have the same story. Broken people who are wanting to put the pieces back together. The outcome of success comes not in being given everything on a silver spoon but through genuine achievement found in hard work, perseverance and a desire to improve oneself. Being connected with others is profoundly important to success. Having a team or friendship group that not only values you as a person but is also happy to conjole, push and stretch you can produce a more significant result than if you are going it alone.<br />
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Henry Ward Beecher a 19th Century American Congressmen who fought for human rights and the continued abolition of slavery sums it up nicely.<span style="background-color: white;"> <span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">“We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have travelled from the point where they started.”</span></span> </span></blockquote>
<b> Moving beyond hurt</b><br />
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Working and interacting with people day in day out puts teachers in line for criticism and analysis of their work. Maintaining professionalism when that criticism has no founding is hard. It's hard to not to be really affected but it can't define you as a professional. Some criticism can be warranted and helpful for growth however truly negative and truly personal criticism can be soul destroying.<br />
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There will always be bullies. These behaviours are passed down from one generation to the next or are reinforced by social groups and peers who wish to have power over others. I can't be defined by this any longer.<br />
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Not all students will pass all the time. I am not oblivious to that fact. Learning is never wasted. My journey is by no means over but I draw in the strength of past hurts to move on and as a result have more confidence in my abilities to teach and assist students than ever before.<br />
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Getting over life's hurdles can produce real growth and success.<br />
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Many of the struggles that adults have come from their early childhood, primary and teen years.<br />
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Anti-bullying songs and campaigns need to continue in work places as much as schools to continue to discuss the importance of respect and tolerance in our society. With high rates of domestic violence in our society it is imperative that we continue as a society to speak for what is right and then of course to act and model the right behaviour to our kids and our peers.<br />
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The Report estimated that workplace bullying costs the
Australian economy between $6 billion and $36 billion every
year and that a workplace bullying cases costs employers an average
of $17,000 to $24,000 per claim. <a href="http://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/254920/employee+rights+labour+relations/Workplace+bullying+amendments+to+the+fair+work+act+2009+CTH">Fair
Work Act 2009</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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The social and financial cost to our community is great. I have struggled this year with over coming past hurts but at no time did I ever register a claim or take time off. How many others are part of an unknown statistic?<br />
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Anyway it's time to move on and I have some very exciting changes for next year. I have enrolled in my Masters of Education (Knowledge Networks and Digital Innovation) with Charles Sturt University and am also hoping to finish my Diploma in Adult Language, Literacy and Numeracy Practices. I am continuing to work at TAFE but have cut right back in the hope of pursuing my business in a more significant way. I'm also going to do some work for my local community college and who knows what else I'll pick up. The future is bright and I'm excited for what lies ahead.<br />
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Thanks to you all for reading my blog and I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and safe and happy holiday.<br />
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Until next time,<br />
KKathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-86363347190861448302014-10-30T04:13:00.000-07:002014-10-30T04:15:56.889-07:00Identify, Analyse and EvaluateOver the last few weeks my History students have been working on a new essay. They have been considering how continuity and change effects the topic they have chosen. Yesterday I had a discussion with some students about the fact they weren't enjoying this essay and just struggling with the subject in general. I was a little gutted for a few moments and realised this wasn't about me but about the fact that for whatever reason the students were not really understanding what I was asking them to do. So... last night I did some hard thinking about how it is I can really engage them not only in the topic they are researching but really develop their analytic skills. So I have a new strategy now with some fun and engaging activities for next week to get them thinking and build their skills but it has really got me thinking about critical thinking.<br />
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<b><br /></b><b>So what is critical thinking?</b></h3>
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Because we live in a media saturated world students often take what they see and hear for granted. The expression "Curiosity killed the cat" is one that does not apply here. We want students to question what they reading in relation to what they know.<br />
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So much of what students see or hear is sensationalised and writers are often paid to persuade us to believe what they write. What is needed is a good dose of skepticism in order to start thinking more objectively about things.<br />
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Developing your own views</h3>
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Often students read information and only consider what they comprehend in what they have just read. They need to connect the information they have read into other aspects of what they know or how it might link in or be in relationship with other information they have at hand or have experienced.<br />
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Identify, Analyse and Evaluate</h3>
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I find sometimes that students lack logical flow in how they think when they are developing ideas. Some students like structure in order for them to develop their ideas and opinions. Sometimes students just don't seem to know which questions to ask in order to dig a little deeper in a complex problem or issue. </div>
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As students develop their higher order thinking skills they will begin to ask more complex questions on the issue they are considering however for some students they just need a starting point. I need to help my students really understand the importance of analysis and the ability to account for the information they are reading in relation to their topic. The thing I like about this essay is that the students need to consider continuity and change and this in itself is asking them to make connections and see how complex issues form relationships within the historical context. </div>
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So I have a challenge that awaits for me and only 3 weeks until their final exam. </div>
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Until next week,</div>
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<br />Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-759660527555530672014-10-18T04:47:00.000-07:002014-10-18T04:47:17.297-07:00YouTube's Creator Studio<br />
So I mentioned in my last blog post that my students have been using the latest in You Tube's video application. Many of my student have had no experience with videos and video editing and they have picked it up as though it was child's play. It's not the Rolls Royce like Adobe's Premier Element 11 which is fantastic if you can master it but it's great to put together something if you have little time or experience.<br />
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The example I am using below is from one of my students. This term we have been talking about different cultural values we all possess. We have been examining how we are shaped by stereotypes and how we can overcome some of these negative stereotypes and break down some of these barriers we place on people. This student created this video with no knowledge of video editing. I think he did a great job but I'll let you be the judge.<br />
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<b>YouTube's Creator Studio</b><br />
One of the best features about this program is that it's really easy to use and the interface is similar to all other Google products.<br />
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Students like the freedom to be expressive using technology and this new application really does tick a lot of boxes. Have a play with it and see what you think. Probably 3 of my favorite features are:<br />
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<b>1. Creative Commons</b><br />
I am always banging on to my students the importance of copyright on the internet. The videos in CC are great because the students can use them to get the message across legally without having to worry if they are using someone's work without permission. <br />
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<b>2. Audio</b><br />
There are many different sounds and songs that are free that they can use to make their videos interesting. I was really surprised at the range of music and genres and there are plenty to choose from.<br />
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<b>3. Cutting Tool</b><br />
Once you have dropped in your video you can cut and move it around very easily. Students were able to add in images, video and music and manipulate them into different time frames and places within the video. This gives so much flexibility for students to be creative and publish a really nicely finished video.<br />
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So why not have a play around with the new Video Editor in YouTube. You can't break it and you might actually have fun.<br />
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Until next week,<br />
KKathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-28013890700673936952014-10-18T04:09:00.002-07:002014-10-18T04:09:39.547-07:00Favorite Google Docs ToolsWell it has been some time since my last blog and so much has happened. My TPC History class handed in their essays and I was so proud of their efforts. So pleased everyone passed and 3 got full marks. So after a lot of sweat and tears some excellent results. It's a bit stressful to get them all through (50 of them) however it has been very rewarding. So many of them have improved in their skills and really that's all I expect of them.<br />
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<b>Loving Google Docs.....</b><br />
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My greatest tool this term has been Google Docs. I have been using Google Docs now for about 4-5 years. I can't really remember when I started using them but I really find this technology extremely useful and they are the best way to work with students on their essays or pieces of writing. I also like to use them for collaborative purposes and they also like to use them this way. Clearly the <b>sharing </b>option in Google docs is so great and one I use all the time. My favorite function is the <b>comment </b>function followed closely by <b>revision history</b>.<br />
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Sometimes in class the students and I work on the document together in real time and they find this so helpful. I also work with them outside of class time if need be and Google docs gives you the freedom to do that. It's great that you don't have to print out multiple copies of drafts. One of my other favorite new features in comments if one of the add-on called <b>Kaizena. </b><br />
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You can voice record your comment rather than typing it out. I like this option when you have a little more to say about a paragraph and I use this option rather than have a really long comment on the side of the page. </div>
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As I mentioned earlier I also love <b>revision history</b>. It's great to see when your students are working and also great if they make a mistake and accidentally delete a paragraph or sentence and they can easily go back and restore it to an earlier time when they were working. The only time I know that you can rewind your life. You can click on any of these time and the document will be restored to this time. If you are working on a doc with multiple students then you can see how much each student has contributed to the assessment or classwork. It's such a great feature. </div>
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In one of my other classes the students have been using the relatively new <b>'YouTube' Creator Studio.</b> It was launched in July this year and it has been great for them to create some videos about negative stereotypes we have about people and how we can overcome them. I'll blog about that one next week. </div>
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Happy playing in the land of Google. </div>
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Until next week,</div>
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<br />Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-69676145014925583382014-09-14T22:07:00.000-07:002014-09-14T22:07:13.761-07:00What is the new normal in education?It's been interesting watching the trends in education over the last few years. There have been many predictions from marketers and specialists however I am a casual observer. This year in particular hasn't seen a dramatic change from any previous years but it is very to clear that different regions, schools and colleges have different levels of access to technology and the speed at which they can use this technology.<br />
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<b>Internet Speed</b><br /><br />
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Dial up used to be the bane of our existence. We became used to the click, go get a coffee before settling in to wait for the page to upload. However it's interesting how annoying it is when there is a break in the video you are watching or the page doesn't load or crashes.Our expectation of how fast information needs to come to us has changed greatly over the last few year. I know in my area that people are moving to areas where there is high speed broadband and I myself would love to have it at my house but will have to wait some years for that to happen. I have family members who live in rural areas and can only use the mobile network and so they don't use the internet much because the speed it incredible slow and expensive. So until there is broader access to the internet there will be disparity between those who have access and those who don't. In terms of the new normal there is an expectation that when we want to purchase something, find out about something or just want to watch something that we can do it where we want and when we want either through our laptops, mobiles or tablet devices and that we can always stay 'connected'.<br />
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<b>Skill level</b><br />
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We are living in an age where there is currently a generation that are 'digital native'. These children<br />
and young people have never known a time when there wasn't computers. Just a few months ago I had a conversation with a colleague who grew up without a calculator. I just couldn't fathom what this would be like. It's just something I take for granted. Australia's teachers come from several generations and within these generations are teachers with some technology skills and others with very few. Young teachers who are graduating not only tend to have excellent computer skills but seem to navigate social media to help them in their profession and if given the opportunity will be a flag bearer for the positive aspects of using technology for teaching, learning and professional development. There will always be those who are not interested by technology at all and then there will be those that think it is wonderful and embrace it.<br />
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<b>Time is a factor</b><br />
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I think one of the areas that teachers struggle with the most is time. Having had a good look at the new National Curriculum there is so much content that teachers need to cover in class but also much added pressure to be transparent about students results and feedback. The administrative side to education is getting worse and there doesn't seem to be any obvious signs this will change in the near future. Perhaps there needs to be a business admin component to the teaching degree.<br />
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<b>Social Media</b><br />
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What is becoming more obvious in the last 12 months or so is the influx of educators regularly engaged in social media activity based around their teaching area. Over the last three years there have been many <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhTVOUr9eB38dHFicnpHRjZwUEtCRENIT2RfVmRKMHc#gid=0" target="_blank">education chats</a> spring up to support teachers and learning. As teachers are under great pressure to make their lessons interesting and engaging they look to the internet and social media to provide ideas and support for their projects and lessons that are quick yet very effective. There is no point re-inventing the wheel and if someone has already done it then you don't have to create something from scratch. It's about being savvy with your time. I'm not saying go and steal ideas from others and claim them as your own I'm saying that sometimes social media can provide a starting point in your thinking to produce something better than you may have come up with on your own.<br />
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<b>Teach Meets</b><br />
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Teaching has for thousands of years has always been about the sharing of knowledge and skills. There will always be those who think that their intellectual knowledge is not to be shared with other professionals and is to be only delivered to students. However there has been a real shift in thinking for many educators over the 10 years that personal knowledge is something that can be shared. <a href="http://www.teachmeet.net/" target="_blank">Teach Meets </a>provide an opportunity for teachers in a local communities to not only share what is happening in their classrooms but it provides support for teachers in communities for teachers and students and can address real issues that are affecting students in those suburbs or regional areas.<br />
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Education has always had to adapt and change to meet the requirements of each age and generation. As with the invention of the biro and the calculator so have interactive smartboards and greater access to the internet allowed education to become more of a global institution for our current student cohort.<br />
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I wonder what the next 10 years have install?<br />
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Until next week,<br />
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KKathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-61916134700851719322014-08-27T04:52:00.000-07:002014-08-27T04:57:42.975-07:00The art of bloggingThis term, as in past terms I am one of those horrible teachers who forces their students to use technology. I<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rNosMncRK_8/U_3GAsyTLEI/AAAAAAAAESI/oIvfe0b2E20/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rNosMncRK_8/U_3GAsyTLEI/AAAAAAAAESI/oIvfe0b2E20/s1600/images.jpg" height="123" width="200" /></a> make my students create a Google account just so we can all play in Google's Technology Playground. I really think I must do that Google course and get qualified because a lot my time is spent showing others around. I usually don't have too much opposition and if a student really doesn't want to create an account then they just complete their weekly blog in a Word doc. Anyway one of the assessment tasks this term is to blog each week. The students are given a rubric of questions for the term that they have to address each week. Some really dislike it. Others find it beneficial to help them process what they have learnt. It's no different to writing in a journal like the good old days. So is there a right and a wrong way to blog?<br />
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What is really interesting about Gen Y is that they are very confident using certain aspects of technology. They appear to bawk at something that might be a bit different but they take no time at all to pick it up and run with it. I guess for the purpose of the assessment task they are just reflecting their learning online but what I find interesting is the internal thought process about their learning that I don't always hear in the classroom. <br />
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Often they are not bothering with punctuation and there can be large slabs of text. It seems that the usual grammar rules get thrown out the window when they type. I am not really so concerned with these things as part of the exercise because it is the information I want but I do find it interesting and insightful in their thoughts and musings that grammar doesn't seem to rate as an important part of the writing process. The internal dialogue is rich with information for me and helps me pick up on those things I hoped they had learnt and areas where they are struggling and also indicates to me if there were things in the lesson that I haven't explained clearly enough. Students often struggle with what to write. It seems that the art of thinking and writing ; considering, analysing and synthesising new learning are lost on a generation who are used to regurgitating and memorising information for tests. However all is not lost and I find that as each week that passes there is more writing and thought provoking ideas that come through the more their blogs.<br />
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There are those who clearly have the gift of writing. I'm afraid I'm not one of the lucky ones. I wish I could eloquently piece my ideas together and weave my thoughts with beautiful images and analogies however I do my best. I don't necessarily think there is an art to blogging but more over a sense of being able to communicate with others in a different space and time in which I would normally communicate with someone face to face or over the phone. I have found blogging has been key to my own professional development and have found it has forced me to think about what I do in my classroom and also how I engage with others in the education community.<br />
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There can be no art if there is no blogging. So blog away. Delve into your thoughts and reflections and share what's on your mind with others. It's a great way to connect with yourself and others who might share in your struggles and frustrations and it will also help you process what is working in your class or what's not.<br />
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I haven't had much time to share some of my favourite websites but I have been diving into Google a little more off late as I'm teaching a Google Apps class at the moment. I guess my two favourite Googly things at the moment are Google Keep and YouTube Creator Studio. Instead of my students doing an oral presentation they are creating a 3-5 min YouTube clip on their topic. Can't wait to see what they come up with. Have a play around in the Creator studio. I love how easy it is to access creative commons videos and audio.<br />
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K</div>
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<br />Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-11197077212122135832014-08-02T23:42:00.000-07:002014-08-02T23:43:15.782-07:00What do you do with a good idea? Well it has been a few weeks since my last post and I didn't realise until today that I have sadly been neglecting my blog. The last few weeks have been a real blast and I am loving teaching Humanities and History again. My brain is all a buzz with all the wonderful lessons I've had lately and the same buzz I felt when learning about the past is still as exciting as ever.It has really fired me in the belly. By and large I am an ideas person. I generate new ideas every day. I'm constantly thinking and like to look at things outside the box and search for new and innovative ways to do things. So what happens to all these ideas you come up with?<br />
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Well this has been a great source of frustration for me over the years and I have learnt (sometimes the hard way through brutal honesty by others) that not all my ideas will come to fruition. I would say very few of my ideas in fact actually come to fruition. However in saying this it is not a bad thing. Often us frontal lobe extroverts are thought and action people. The two are linked. I like to come up with an idea and then like to make it happen however in reality I often neglect to think all the steps through and who it might affect. This in term makes a lot of work for myself or others. So if you are an ideas person how can you not get discouraged when things don't happen and if you live with or have students who are ideas people how can you help them see reality and make reasonable adjustments so as not to burst their bubble all the time?<br />
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Be encouraging</h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.talesofinterest.net/the-26-most-outrageous-japanese-inventions-of-all-time/" target="_blank">Visit this site for more ideas. </a></td></tr>
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From we are quite young age our parents tell is 'no'. Often it is to keep us safe or to instruct us in what is <br />
social acceptable in a situation. No can be said in a variety of ways. "I don't think now is the right time for that." or "We'll look into that a bit later". I know these phrases because I use them on my children however I do find it much harder when these phrases are directed at me and my ideas at work. However I have a most excellent boss who totally understands my over zealous ideas and he always starts his no answer with an encouragement. "I think that's a great idea however we might have to revisit it in a few months." or "It's a great idea but I don't think we can manage it at the moment." It's good to feel that what you have to contribute is valuable but in reality it just isn't going to happen.<br />
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Be realistic</h4>
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Ideas people often have a lot of energy. There are some people in work places that this really annoys. Particularly people who want to go away and think about things for a bit and get back to you. Yet again ideas people need a good dose of reality and patience from time to time to come around and see things in perceptive like others do. I have learnt over the years that not rushing into things is actually quite a good thing. However sometimes the thinkers also need to come to the party sooner rather than later. (The great thing about a blog is you get the last word.) :)<br />
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Take a chance</h4>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image by Bigstockphotos.com</td></tr>
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I right this paragraph on behalf of all my other fellow idea personality friends. Sometime we come up with good ideas. Give us a chance occasionally to give us the freedom to fly and you might be surprised. I have a very good friend of mine in business and we share the same personality type. Thankfully he has a job where he is paid to trouble shoot and come up with creative and innovative ideas however not all of his ideas come to fruition either. There is nothing wrong with ideas but there is a great need for perspective and time to allow others to support and come with you as part of change rather that you flying solo and forcing others to change. </div>
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Mark Twain writes, "Write what you know." I have found that writing my ideas down does help to 'get them out of my head' but also allows others to go and ponder these ideas and this creates an opportunity for richer discussion and sharing. Often the challenge for teachers is time management. Sometimes ideas people can take up much time and create more work however as students grow and become more independent learners there should be opportunities for students to experiment with their ideas and take manageable and realistic risks in their learning and ideas. </div>
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"Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others." Plato</blockquote>
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More pondering next week. Thanks for all your comments via social media about this blog. I do find it encouraging and find these exchanges richly rewarding.<br />
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Until next week,<br />
K<br />
<br />Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-69894698942588382802014-07-12T02:47:00.003-07:002014-07-12T02:55:22.187-07:00Too scared to shareWhat a wonderful school holidays it has been. It's been great to unwind and take time out to ponder on things. I really do love to ponder. No wonder I like blogging so much. I have spent some of the hols preparing for next term and I am feeling very excited about it. I have longed to have a senior History class for many years and finally I will be teaching History as part of the TPC course (Tertiary Preparation Certificate) at TAFE this semester. This is a wonderful subject with great scope for understanding historiography and applying these skills throughout the semester. It has been pure joy revisiting some of my resources and reliving those moments when I am truly enthralled by interesting insights into the lives of people in our ancient and recent past. I am also teaching a subject called Humanities and it is much like Society and Culture for those who understand that subject. Very interesting to learn about our own culture and that of others around the world. Anyway enough waffle.<br />
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As usual I have had some wonderful conversations with colleagues and teaching friends over the holidays on a wide range of topics but one conversation has come up a few times and it interests me greatly. Why bother sharing what you do in your classroom or your thoughts about education on social media? At first I was taken a back because I have come to realise that sharing on social media has become my new normal and so I needed to dig into this question and digest it before I answered. My dear friend who raised this question with me has given me some fresh insights into this concept that I had long forgotten and one I think is important to revisit because I think it is one that many teachers face.<br />
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<b>Fear of rejection</b><br />
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There are many wonderful teachers out there who are fantastic at their job but would not want to be judged <br />
on what they do. In the last twelve months I have 3 instances where I had colleagues evaluate what I teach. I would prefer to speak in front of hundreds of people than get peer reviewed. I was so nervous. I was so worried about failing and appearing stupid in front of my colleagues. Of course it was fine and it went over really well but the bar I set for myself was so high I freaked myself out. The fear of being rejected by peers was overwhelming and staying within the safe walls of my own classroom is a much more comfortable space for me. Sharing on line and putting your thoughts and ideas out there for others to judge could really be daunting for some people. You do make yourself vulnerable for criticism and this can be hard.<br />
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<b>Personality differences</b><br />
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There are some teachers who are quiet and private. There are some people who do not have a tendency to want to share and who like to keep to themselves. There are some teachers who feel that their intellectual knowledge has come about through hard work, experience and dedication and they are not about to share that freely with anyone or they might steal it an claim it as their own. Those of you who like to use social media probable have greatly benefited from the experience of others yet not everyone has the desire or the personal drive to want to do this. These teacher types don't like to be pushed into anything like social media and they will not be forced into doing it. I can respect that because social media is not for everyone.<br />
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<b>Lack of confidence in writing</b><br />
I know when I started to blog 3 years ago I wasn't very good at it. I might be an English teacher but writing wasn't necessarily my thing. I was so afraid that I would sound stupid and the things I wrote wouldn't make sense. It is one thing to verbalise and communicate effectively through this mode but writing your thoughts in some cohesive manner is completing different to speaking. I had to write and rewrite what I had written and even then I would delete whole blog posts. It took months and months of diligently writing on my blog to improve the way I communicate through the written word. When I was asked to be a guest blogger on some educational websites over the last few years I nearly fell over. I still don't consider myself to be a writer but I continue to develop the way that I express my thoughts and ideas through the written word. When you use social media you have to learn the language and jargon that goes with it. (e.g Twitter, 140 characters to say what you want) Like learning anything new it is best practice to sit and watch. See how others do it and then jump in and have a go. You can't break it and you might even enjoy it.<br />
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<b>I don't have the skills</b><br />
With an aging population comes an aging work force. Baby Boomers and many Generation X are not digital <br />
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natives. We didn't spend our childhood playing internet games or being entertained by 'tablets' and devices. We actually went outside to play. Imagine that! Anyway there are many teachers who find it difficult to learn how to use technology and it takes them a lot longer to learn how to use it then say a Generation Y teacher. Some teachers are so busy with their full time teaching loads that making the time to regularly learn how to use social media falls into the too hard basket. So with these types of learners I like to go steady and slow. It's great to be in their ear reminding them of what's going on in social media and occasionally you help them 'dip a toe in' and have a go. There is a lot to be said for modelling and encouragement.<br />
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Considering these points has brought back to the forefront of my mind the real and genuine barriers that teachers face when considering using social media. For some teachers to share is to make themselves vulnerable for scrutiny by their colleagues and those in the education community. However whilst I can see these barriers I see it as my job as an advocate for education to equip and encourage the sharing of knowledge for the benefit of all.<br />
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<i>"In vain you have acquired knowledge</i></div>
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<i>if you have not imparted it to others."</i></div>
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<em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Deuteronomy Rabbah<br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(c.900, commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy)</span></em></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">I do hope that if you do share using social media to help advocate for students and learning that you would encourage others to do so. It takes just one teacher at a time to help change a culture and recreate a technology revolution. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">I wish you all an inspiring and innovative semester!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Until next week,</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">K</span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></i>
<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></i>Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-4191759954934385112014-06-26T05:02:00.000-07:002014-06-26T05:04:16.745-07:00Feeling the buzzYou know when you are part of something exciting or new there is a real buzz in the air or 'feeling the vibe'. <br />
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It's a strange sensation and not one I feel very often. I felt it at the first Teach Meet in Sydney I went to. (I was actually really nervous because I didn't know anyone and I wasn't sure what to do.) I felt it at TEDxSydney this year and totally felt like a fish out of water amongst all the young Gen Y city folk. I have felt it at staff development days when I am hanging of every word of the presenter and constantly thinking about how it relates to my teaching. I love the anticipation of knowing that I will have been part of something that improves my life for the better. I often feel this when I attend church conferences too. However it doesn't have to be a spiritual thing it can just be a moment of sheer joy and anticipation as to what is to come. The unknown can sometimes seem daunting but not always.<br />
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This week I have been involved in enrollments at TAFE. Last week week we said goodbye to all our students who had completed their six month course. It was such a celebration of their hard work and even more rewarding was seeing many of them having confidence in themselves and having clear pathways as to what would be their next step for employment or further educational opportunities that would give them greater opportunities in the long term for employment and job satisfaction. This week was totally different. There were students standing around unsure of where they should be. Quiet students hanging back not wanting to reveal too much and some students really revving up and rearing to go. Some of our students from the previous term have decided to continue on with us and go on to harder courses because they felt they had some momentum in learning and wanted to keep going while they still had the drive. There are a real mix of people who come to TAFE and everyone who comes has a different path they need to take. </div>
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Optimism is something I try to have lots of. I don't always succeed but often there is a real sense of optimism when students start something with the yearning desire to get through and succeed. TAFE has taught me that it doesn't matter how old you you can still learn and keep learning. I have had students in their 60s who are changing their careers. It's wonderful to see that there is no discrimination when it comes to learning. No one can tell you to stop learning. I relish the fact that life is a learning curve and I am always excited to learn something new particularly from my students. On the last day of term one of my classes had a 'teach the teacher' day. It was great to be surprised by the different variety of knowledge and skills that my students possess. I have never and will never consider myself to be the font of all knowledge on my own subject area because quite frankly I just can't be. Knowledge and information is always changing and I am looking forward to next semester and the surprises that await for me. I am teaching on 3 courses I have never taught on before and I am a little overwhelmed by how much preparation I will need to do in the holidays but I feel like a dog with a bone. I can't wait to just get in and start programming. </div>
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I am feeling the buzz of teaching something new that I love, History. (I love teaching History most of all) I also get to jump in and join the learning journey with my students. I am teaching Google Apps as well this term and was so excited to have the opportunity to share with others my love of technology. </div>
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I wish all my teaching pals a safe and happy school holidays and hope I can share with many of you at our next <a href="http://teachmeetcc.wikispaces.com/home" target="_blank">Central Coast Teach Meet</a>!</div>
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Until next week,</div>
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Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-32857661599095346792014-06-15T02:21:00.002-07:002014-06-15T02:26:02.098-07:00When learning becomes super funA friend of mine who owns a wonderful book shop, The Book Bazaar in Umina recently took a pic of one of <br />
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her window displays in which she drew the viewers eyes to Enid Blyton's, The Magic Faraway Tree series. These were some of my favorite stories growing up. When I read these stories as a child I was with Joe and Beth, Fanny and Dick (I have noticed in the new versions they changed the names of Fanny and Dick) and all the other characters. I was one of the kids. I couldn't wait to get up to the part in the story when they went up the Faraway Tree and peeked through the clouds to see what land was at the top. I loved the different folk that lived in the Faraway Tree and those who would come visit it when their land was at the top. I wanted Silky the most beautiful fairy I could imagine to be my best friend. Moon Face was one of my favorite characters and I would dream about trying one of his delicious gooey honey flavored pop cakes. One of the most wonderful things about these stories was that in my imagination the scene was perfect and the pictures in my head were clear and wonderful. So engaged was I in the text that 25 years later I feel like I am writing about an old friend. I went on scary and dangerous adventures as well as indulging my imagination in the Land of Sweets. These stories made me read deeper and deeper into the text and I tasted every morsel of imaginative delight as I read from cover to cover.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vM90HLPq5tA/U51kX5bSbqI/AAAAAAAADvc/RkQQfthIoM4/s1600/faraway-tree-1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vM90HLPq5tA/U51kX5bSbqI/AAAAAAAADvc/RkQQfthIoM4/s1600/faraway-tree-1.gif" height="180" width="200" /></a>One great thing about the internet is that you can get some wonderful and creative teaching ideas from others. Just as Enid Blyton stirred my imagination as a child I know that there are teachers who are recreating places and adventures right in their own classrooms. There may be some of you that feel that Harry Potter or The Magic Treehouse series are some examples where students can immerse themselves in the land of make believe. I know some teachers whose students are so engaged in what they are doing that they don't hear the bell or keep talking about the lesson via social media sometimes days after it happened. Your imagination is a learning muscle just like any other learning muscle. It needs to be flexed and used every now and then. </div>
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In this day and age technology has become, for some teachers the thorn in their side, whilst for others they are too busy playing maths in Minecraft with their students to notice that other teachers have no clue what <br />
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they are up to and can only see them wasting time and resources playing video games. We can't have every lesson playing games but there is much to be said about learning when it is fun. There are some that think video games are a cop out to students using their imaginations but I think there can be a balance struck. There are so many apps that students can use to create their own video games and movies which display their knowledge and understanding of a topic or concept that allows them to not only learn experentially but enables learning to be super fun. </div>
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My son went to Super Nova in Sydney today and met one of his childhood heroes Stan Lee. (The creator of Marvel comics.) He was telling me about this creative place where people were dressed up and thoroughly immersed in the world of make believe. There were people from all generations there and clearly make believe doesn't just stop when we leave our childhood. Some of the world's most amazing theme parks, architecture, art and engineering all require that space in our brains where our imaginations are probed. So clearly learning can be super fun and I hope that our students can develop life long learning through engaging in super fun learning from time to time in our classes. </div>
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Until next week,</div>
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Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-85906680619483448952014-06-13T21:58:00.001-07:002014-06-13T21:58:57.956-07:00Cross curriculum sharing Over the last month I have attended some professional development training through TAFE that was specifically targeted at inspiring us as teachers to reflect upon our teaching practices and philosophies. Yesterday marked the last day and so it has been on my mind in the last 24 hours. The best way I find to get these thoughts sorted is to blog. Yeah for blogging!!<br />
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These sessions covered teaching and learning styles, classroom management, lesson preparation and delivery, feedback, validation and challenges our students face through discrimination, stereotypes and disabilities and the struggles that our international students have to contend with each and every day. It was quite refreshing to hear how teachers were able to facilitate learning where there seemed to be many barriers. It was wonderful to hear about students who are making an impact in our communities and below is a story of a student who truly inspired me.<br />
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Through cross curriculum sharing I have begun to think with a new perspective about the teaching and learning experiences in my classroom and how they are going to impact my students when they engage in work and employment once they leave my course and how their learning experiences will impact their life and others in their lives. Any sort of learning is never wasted and even on our worst days we can learn from our life experiences. Often it is in these difficult experiences that we learn the most. We often don't know as teachers when our students will apply what they have learnt in class or with whom.<br />
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It's easy to stay in our own teaching discipline to work hard at what we know but I have rediscovered that the learning experience is much broader than that for our students and drawing on experiences and stories from a range of educational and work disciplines allows the students to make greater connections, be more resourceful and reflective.<br />
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So can I encourage you to go and ask a colleague what they are teaching in their classroom and share a story or two. Whilst I am thinking in this vein I am currently in the throws of organising the next <a href="http://www.teachmeet.net/teachmeet-central-coast-8th-august-2014/" target="_blank">Central Coast Teach Meet.</a> If you do live on the Central Coast then please come along. Make sure you register and please consider sharing what's working in your school/ TAFE college or University that might inspire others to think beyond their normal range of experience.<br />
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Until next week,</div>
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<br />Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6031387620331849271.post-80744717269204524602014-06-09T04:40:00.002-07:002014-06-10T04:38:29.470-07:00Do we trust teachers?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A good friend of mine posted this image on her Facebook page the other day and it really got me thinking. Has there really been such a paradigm shift in the thinking of parents in relation to how their little darlings are 'performing' at school. Being a parent myself there are certainly the 'over achieving' parents who will do anything to make sure their little treasure is coming first however do we by and large really trust teachers to fully educate our children?<br />
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This thinking led me to a conversation with one of my classes this week about school reports. All of the students in the class who were parents (which was about 90%) felt that they would like someone to sit down and explain the school reports because there was so much education jargon that they really didn't understand how their child was really doing. They really felt that school reports were not in plain English. Perhaps it is these confusing reports that are really putting pressure on teachers to try and explain to parents what their student can and can't do?<br />
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It seems as though on the world stage Australia's are excelling in many areas. Science, Arts, Medicine, Innovation, technology, Agriculture yet we often hear in the media that we need more teacher training because it must be the teachers to blame for the supposedly bad school results. I find all this very confusing and conflicting and it is hard to know what to believe.<br />
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It is hardly fair of parents who have unrealistic expectations of their child and take no responsibility for their child's education outside of school hours to blame the teachers for their poor results. Perhaps it's a generational thing. Maybe kids these days spend too much time on technology and don't do the extra study and reading that previous generations did?<br />
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There is a bigger problem here though I think. In generations past teachers were rev erred and admired.<br />
There has definitely been a shift in thinking in subsequent decades. There have been many reported cases of child abuse in both public and private schools. There have been schools and individual teachers sued because of poor school results and of course don't forget the overly scrutinised NAPLAN results that have left genuinely great schools and teachers feeling vulnerable by the lack of trust of parents in the community.<br />
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It's a real shame and I don't know how to solve the problem but I wish parents would take on board a team mentality. Children and adult learner's alike need to be in a learning partnership so that all partied have the opportunity to succeed.<br />
During the week I watched Sugata Mitra talk about his dream for a school in the cloud. Perhaps this is where education is going in the future?<br />
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Until next week,<br />
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Kathryn McGilvrayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01877442952530079514noreply@blogger.com0