Over the past few weeks the study of Information and Communication Technology’s (ICT’s) has been my main focus in regards to my university study. It seems like the one subject that we can get a master of before heading into a teaching environment where we can then put it into practice. We have been introduced to a number of new concepts: some that I had never heard of even though I felt that I was quiet confident on a computer. I have found that the term ICT’s is a lot more than just using computers in education settings to type assignments or to play maths games; it is now and is continually being improved to be one of the major educational tools used in schools worldwide.
To introduce us into the world if ICT’s we were asked to create a profile wiki. Personally I had never heard of anything like this so the scaffolding that was provided through the online Moodle site was used extensively to create my profile wiki. Scaffolding is used in educational settings by teachers to work with students to build upon previous knowledge regarding a subject. From the foundations of the students initial knowledge scaffolding should be concrete, external and visible (Commonwealth of Australia, 2002). For some of my classmates scaffolding was not needed because they were miles ahead, and knew exactly what to do, where to make their profiles, and how to make it look visually appealing. However, there were a number of students in a similar situation as myself who found the scaffolding very helpful, further developing our initial skills in ICTs. This kind of diversity amongst students is something that will also be evident in educational settings that I may be managing in the future. From this task I have learnt, as a student, and as a future educator that it is important to cater for all knowledge levels. By provide the scaffolding necessary for the students who may struggle with step by step guidance through an activity but also the confidence to complete the task.
I was also introduced to a number of learning theories which I was not familiar with but have now become part of my everyday learning. Constructivism, Cognitivism, Behaviourism and Connectivism are the four learning theories that we have focused on, and although it took me the few weeks of reading and using the Constructivist approach through taking an active role in the learning process, (Lein, n.d.) I now believe I understand them better. Each of these learning theories were used when reflecting on the information or activity that we had learnt or completed within the week. As a group we explored the difference between the learning theories via a wiki on the Moodle site. We were engaged in cognitive learning by actively participating in the wiki, exploring, problem-solving, knowing, memory and thinking in our discussion (Learning Theories, 2008). Behaviourism relates to the positive and negative reinforcement of the learner (Learning Theories, 2008). In a classroom situation we would look at the behaviour of a student and shape their behaviour through the use of positive and negative reinforcement. An example we experienced involved the penalties associated with not completing the requirements of the course. Throughout the learning of these theories we also used the Connectivisim theory. Which is briefly, where we were continually networking amongst our peers and learning outside of ourselves within our wiki’s and blogs (Siemens, 2004).
In addition to the scaffolding for the set up of the profile wiki we were provided with scaffolding for other tasks we were asked to complete. In the first week of the course I completed a Felder and Soloman (n.d.) Learning Style Questionnaire which indicated that I am a sequential learner, and learn more effectively if I follow a number of steps to find a solution. These steps are similar to those found in a scaffold and also in the constructivist learning approach. As a future educator I believe it is important that a similar test is carried out within a classroom at the start of each year to provide me with an understanding of the different learning styles within my class to enable me to teach more effectively.
Previously I mentioned the creation of my profile wiki, in addition to this we were asked to create a blog to share and reflect on the week’s activities. It didn’t take long to understand what blogging was and soon enough it provided us with a new platform in which we could share our thoughts and upload our responses to activities. Having a blog for both personal and educational purposes has come to be very handy tool. Not only are we able to share our thoughts amongst our followers but also read the ideas and reflection from our fellow students and comment on their blogs. This could possibly be a very beneficial tool in education settings because students can interact with each other using the wide world of ICT’s and share information and ideas. Having a blog could also benefit the relationship between a teacher and a student; teachers have the access to the reflections posted by each student which may help to understand their learning style better. A link to constructivism is also evident here in that student are being active in their learning by sharing information and ideas.
Another form of ICT that we focused on was the use of mobile phones for educational purposes. Originally I was against the idea because of the distractions and privacy issue that schools are already struggling with; however, over the course of the week we looked more deeply into the topic and found studies to suggest otherwise. A study by Hartnell-Young and Heym(2009) showed when used in conjunction with outdoor activities and sciences that mobile phones were very effective.
Finally it is important for ICT’s and eLearning to be further integrated into the 21st century education setting however it is vital that teachers use the appropriate scaffolding to ensure their students are building onto previous knowledge. It is also essential that teachers are aware of the different learning theories and that they show diversity within their classroom.
References
Commonwealth of Australia. (2002). Scaffolding Learning. Retrieved, March 15, 2011 from http://www.myread.org/scaffolding.htm
Felder, R., & Soloman, B. (n.d.). Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire. Retrieved, March 2, 2011 from http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html
Hartnell-Young, E., & Heym, N. (2009). Mobile Phones and student learning in Secondary Schools. Retrieved, March 9, 2011 from http://cmslive.curriculum.edu.au/leader/default.asp?id=28526&issueID=11897
Lein, K. (n.d.). Constructivist Approach. Retrieved, March 2, 2011 from http://elearningpedagogy.com/constructivist.html
Learning Theories. (2008). Cognitivism. Retrieved, March 2, 2011 from http://www.learning-theories.com/cognitivism.html
Learning Theories. (2008). Behaviourism. Retrieved, March2, 2011 from http://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html
Siemens, G. (2004). Constructivism: A learning Theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved, March 2, 2011 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm
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