Learning Styles

We are all equally different... or so I tell my students. As a teacher when I walk into a classroom, I know that all of my students have different strengths. I always seek to find these strengths and try to build lesson based around them. It is my view that by doing this students will improve in many areas.

A number of years ago I began looking at various Learning Style theories. I was particularly attracted towards the work of Howard Gardner and his Multiple Intelligence theory. His work states that there are 9 intelligences.These multiple intelligences can be nurtured and strengthened, or ignored and weakened.

Creative Commons

I am about to start a Blogging program with my ES students. One of the first things I shall be introducing them to is Creative Commons and using images on their blog posts. I think this is something that they must be aware of and will be a useful skill for the future.

The image I have chosen is a picture from the recent flooding in Thailand.

Photo Attribution by NIST SCHOOL SHARED ACCOUNT

Creative Commons Licence

Personal Learning Reflection.

When I began this course, I was looking for ways to further integrate technology into my workplace. I felt that I was using a wide variety of technology tools and was able to use these tools effectively. I still firmly believe that we have to teach our students to use these new tools effectively, so that they can make the right choices.

This course has taught me many new things, not only new tools, but many of the sessions have added value to my knowledge. This has been mainly in terms of being able to answer the question 'why'. When I previously tried to introduce these new tools into my workplace, I never really addressed the question "why are we doing this?'. Much of the work I have done has made me, firstly consider the reasons for doing something, secondly, give evidence as to why using certain tools will benefit our students.

My personal learning curve has been heading up since day one of this course. Each of the different sessions has added so much to my development. In the early sessions I was able to further my understanding of web 2.0 technologies and collaborative technologies. I used this information to discuss with members of my leadership team, why I wanted to see teachers in my organisations adding web 2.0 tools to their toolkits. As a result, I have now implemented classroom twitter accounts and will be starting a blogging programme for our upper elementary students. The collaborative tools, particularly Google Docs have been fantastic. Although we are not yet using Google across the school, I have begun setting up documents for teachers to collaborate on. This has been particularly useful during the recent flooding in Thailand. Teachers, who have been dispersed all over the country, have been able to contribute to our efforts to provide an on-line learning environment.

NETS-S Lesson

The following is a post I made some time ago on some work I did with a Maths class. I think it falls under these categories:

Creativity and Innovation (Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.)


Technology Operations and Concepts (Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.)



Our Year 5's are studying Ancient Greece as their topic this term. They kicked off with Greek Day which saw them experience what it was like to live in the Ancient World through a range of interesting activities. They are now busy learning more about this wonderful civilisation through a varied range of cross-curricular learning experiences.

I teach Maths to one of the classes in this Year Group, and last week, got together with another of the Y5 teachers (Two heads are better than one... and Gemma's Brain Rocks!) to look at how we could link our Maths to the topic and integrate some technology for the students. We both felt that it was imperative that the technology must contribute to and enhance the teaching and learning and be used as a tool for reaching the instructional objectives - not be a time filler!

The objectives we wanted to cover were: Recognise and describe 2D and 3D shapes, sort shapes, measure using standard and non standard measurements, Area and Perimeter and Nets of 3D shapes.

The following is a description of how we set about achieving all of this. As the unit will run over the next few weeks, I will break this post into 3 parts.

PC Maintenance

Hardware vs Software Firewalls

Firewalls are extremely important to keeping your PC’s safe. There are two main types which you can get - Hardware and Software and there is a difference between them. Hardware firewalls are contained in your router. These help to keep your computer invisible on the internet and block traffic which you didnt originate. Software firewalls have to be installed onto your computer and often come with securtiy suites. Software firewalls also block outbound traffic. Surprisingly, the Windows firewall is an exception to this rule. It is highly recommended that if you have a high speed internet connection then you should have both a Hardware and Software firewall. I was very interested to examine these topics and I shall be looking at what Firewalls we have in place at school as I now wish to develop my understanding of firewalls, so much so that I chose another Firewall tutorial.

Explaining what Firewalls Do and Do not do.

Hardware firewalls DO not prevent virus installations. There is always a good chance that you can download a virus which is disguised as something else. Also, Hardware Firewalls do not block spam emails or attachments, these could also be viruses. In addition these firewalls also do not stop you spreading viruses. It is interesting to see just how much hardware firewalls DO not do. On the other hand, Software firewalls tell you when software is trying to access the internet or when something is trying to get into your computer. They are a second line of defense. This tutorial extended my understanding of Firewalls. It made it very clear what they each do and enhanced my understanding of why we really need them both.

Following a PC Maintenance checklist

The tutorial gave a very practical guide which users should do monthly to keep their computers out of trouble. These tips included, checking for updates (manually too), updating security software, defragmenting disks for longer life, use PC Pitstop, msconfig to speed up your computer, running a clean up utility and backing up everything you have. It really struck me how slack I am at doing this. When I consider how much work I do on my computer and how valuable it is, I should spend the time to go through this check list once a month... If not all of them, then definitely try to back up.

RSS 2

It has been really great getting back into using Google Reader again. As i mentioned in an earlier post, I had kind of 'neglected' this fantastic tool before starting CEP 810.

An earlier assignment for my PLN visualisation had made me realise what an important part of my PLN this is. David Warlick referred to it as Dynamically Maintained Asynchronous Connections, in other words, an RSS aggregator is at the core of your PLN and should be used to bring us information that helps us to complete our jobs. I have really enjoyed using my Google Reader in this way. To me it has really added value to my current PLN. I have been checking the blogs which I am subscribed to every other day and discovering some excellent material as a result. I have also added the RSS Subscription Extension to Google Chrome. This has allowed me to easily add more blogs to my reader.

Although I have gained a lot of information from the blogs on my reader, there is one that i have really enjoyed. Free Technology for Teachers is a fantastic blog and has many superb posts during the week. The blog offers a range of tips/ advice and guides on a range of Educational Technology topics. The posts are always well written and I have found myself using alot of this information to enhance my teaching and the jobs I do. Another blog I have recently subscribed to is the Docs Blog which provides the latest news on Google Docs and sites from the Docs team. I am really enjoying extending my knowledge of Google Apps, particularly examining how they can be used to enhance education and I am finding many of their posts extremely beneficial.

I have often discussed ways in which colleagues can develop their own Personal Learning Networks and it is not until now that I have added an RSS reader to the tool box. They are valuable tools which every teacher should have.

Getting Things Done

I remember a number of years ago, panicking on a Friday afternoon as I had not finished all my tasks for that week. My Head of School, saw me and asked what I was doing... I told her that I was trying to finish my tasks for that week and she said "A teachers job is never done...". Although she may have been right, there are times (and many of them) when we have to get the job done.

Social Networking

Social Networks have seen a huge explosion over recent years. Many of our students are on Facebook and are more than familiar at using these tools to develop and extend their own networks. Educators have seen this rise in Social Networking amongst their student bodies and have looked at how they can use them to benefit education. The different ways in which educators are using Social Networks is growing all the time.


Currently, my Social Networks consist of Twitter, Technology Integration Ning, Classroom 2.0 Ning, Educators 2.0 Ning, Facebook and Google Plus. They are all valuable and offer benefits to many areas of my life, learning and development. 


Google+ has got me excited and is the network I am most interested in developing. The main thing I like about Google+ is the idea of circles and being able to decide which of my circle/groups see which of my feeds. I have separate circles for educators, family and friends outside of education. I can easily filter which information goes to each group. This feature allows me great control over the types of information i am releasing. The Huddle is another area I can see benefitting educators. Huddles allow multiple groups to video conference. In terms of collaboration I can see this having a huge impact. 


Although there has been resistance, in some schools, to students using Social Networking as part of their educational tool kit, I feel that schools must start to open up. When we examine how many of our students are using these networks, it would be verging on naive not to use them in the classroom.

RSS

I recently commented on Ways of Learning. The post I commented on was entitled What does being educated really mean? Although not about Technology, this blog forms a core part of my PLN and I really wanted to say how much I had enjoyed the post... It was thought provoking and inspirational.

I used to use Google Reader on a daily basis, however, I had started to rely more on Social BookMarking... Thanks to this course I have jumped staright back onto Google Reader as a great way to keep track of my info - I am checking in daily.

I have really enjoyed the Free Technology For Teachers Feed. The authors posts are always well written and just the kind of practical information that busy teachers need.

In my own setting, I will be introducing Google Reader to colleagues of a way of bringing upto date information to them.

Blogs VS Websites

So what exactly is the big difference between the two? Some might say nothing... after all isn't a blog kind off a website?.
Well, historically, there have been some major differences. In terms of interaction, your webpage is static and just shows you the information, whereas your blog allows you to get dynamic with the content and others who are shaping which way the conversations flow. When looking at the message, a website usually sticks with the same theme and keeps reiterating what it wants the reader to see. Blogs, on the other hand, are far more versatile than they used to be. You can embed video or audio or photo galleries in your posts, use the blog as a base for a podcast, integrate widgets or interactive tools, and have separate static pages for things like your bio. I love blogs!

Personal Growth Statement

The growth in Technology in recent years has been massive. Everywhere you look, people are using digital devices in almost every aspect of their lives. The smartphone allows users to make our computing experiences mobile… we have become permanently connected in the digital age.

As educators, I firmly believe that we have to teach our students to use these new tools effectively, so that they can make the right choices. From an early age, we should give opportunities to the children in our schools to be aware of the technology which surrounds them,  encourage them make responsible choices in how it is used and allow them to enhance their learning experiences with this knowledge.

Through this course I would like  to enhance and further develop my own understanding of how technology can be used to improve Teaching and Learning and understanding in my organisation. I also firmly believe that these technologies are tools which are used by students and educators to add value and enhance their learning experience. I would like to further develop my understanding, knowledge and mastery of these tools so as to assist members of my learning community in how they can use them effectively in order to complete tasks.

One of the main outcomes I would like to achieve from the course is a range of Web 2.0 technologies and look at how they can be applied to my educational setting. Currently I am responsible for ICT/Technology across 7 year groups. It is my opinion that the use of web 2.0 tools in these year groups is limited. I would like the students, staff and parents of these year groups to start using and become more familiar with a range of these tools. I would like not only for them to be used as tools to enhance learning but also as a way of developing the digital footprints of those involved.

I am currently hoping to do this by introducing 1 web 2.0 tool to each year group. I will provide a guide to the tool and provide training for the teachers. I will also introduce the tools to the students. From here, I would like to see teachers integrating the new technology into their lessons. When the teachers, and students are comfortable with this new tech, I would like them (together to introduce this technology to parents. It is hoped that by doing this, three vital members of the community will be introduced to a new tools. Our school has 6 terms, therefore, i would eventually like to see year groups rotating on a half termly basis. This would see all involved effectively using 6 web 2.0 tools over the year.

I am aware that this is a tall order for a school which already has limited use of such tools. Therefore, using material and research from this course, I would like to find three classes at different stages who would trial a web 2.0 tool as outlined above for a half a term. This would give me vital evidence that the plan can be implemented and some sound indicators as to how to turn it into a whole school initiative.