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End of Semester: Reflection (Task 2.5)

How has my knowledge and understanding of ID and learning technologies progressed this term? Over the first semester my knowledge and understanding for instructional design has grown tremendously. It has made me more aware of the impacts learning theories/views have on the decisions I make for how I design learning content for both my students and staff. I have realised that it is extremely important to have a deep understanding of these theories to be able to purposefully use them to enhance learning experiences, rather than letting them occur by chance. I have found that my pedagogical practice and beliefs for how people learn are strongly influenced by a constructivist perspective, however I can identify where many of the other learning theories and views are woven throughout my learning programmes.  I have found many of the tasks this semester to be helpful - particularly the collaborative tasks as they have helped me to understand how collaboration can be achieved...
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Digital Affordance Critique (Online Activity 8)

Article Critique ( Online Activity 8 ) Seven Affordances of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: How to support Collaborative Learning? How Can Technology Help? by Jeong & Hmelo-Silver (2016) When selecting an article to critique from the module 3 readings I decided to read a few to help me to gain a better understanding of what is meant by digital affordances and decide which reading would best compliment teaching in a blended learning environment. I decided to choose Jeong & Hmelo-Silver's (2016) article because it compared two key areas of interest to me being collaborative learning and how digital affordances can support this. It is also quite a recent article with relevant ideas.  I feel my critique was objective and fair because I had enough prior knowledge/experience with collaborative learning to make fair judgements. The background reading I had completed in regards to digital affordances also assisted me with understanding certa...
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Learning Theories and Views (Task 1.4)

Learning Theories Reflection The learning theories and views group task was a big learning curve for me. I had never really considered the fact that learning theories had such an influence on the different digital technologies that have been developed over the past few decades, until I read more about them for group task 1.4 . I also didn't realise the ways teachers implement these technologies were so heavily influenced by a range of different learning views and how these align with our personal pedagogies and beliefs. While working on assignment 1, the many activities I recommended for use in the consulting report I discovered were heavily influenced by the constructivist learning theory. This was a theory I really identified with back when I completed my degree 9 years ago, however I hadn't though about it or any learning theories for a long time. This lead me to think back on how I have used digital technologies in my classroom over the past few years and how without even...
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Digital Artefact: Top 10 Tools for Yr 4&5 Blended Primary School Class (Task 2.4)

Choosing 10 Top Tools Reflection For the last few years, I have taught in both 1:1 iPad and Chromebook classes. This has led me to try out a range of different digital tools for different subject areas. I found picking only 10 tools was quite tricky and I really had to think carefully about which tools I would prefer to not go without. I managed to narrow them down to 10 and decided to rank them beginning with my number 1 being Hapara Dashboard.  When selecting apps for my learning programme, I try to find those that are free - as teachers generally have a limited budget for all materials. The only app that costs money on my list is Hapara Dashboard which the school purchases licenses for, for all Yr4-8 students. The reason for this is that it is a necessity to keep all students safe online as it gives us access to their devices and screens in real time - as well as many other amazing features.  Over the years I have been guilty of adding apps into my programme ...
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Ownership, academic integrity and digital artefacts (Online activity 7)

Academic integrity is an area I became familiar with while studying for my Bachelor of Education 12 years ago. My understanding of it (very basic I now realise) was to always make sure the ideas or information you get (particularly when completing assignments) are recognised using a referencing format such as APA. With the introduction of 1:1 device use in my primary school classroom, and the use of these devices to create digital artefacts and share learning online, it has only recently become apparent to me that my students need to be skilled up on the legalities of ownership and using content from the internet in their creations.  Last year was my first year teaching Year 4/5 students (with 1:1 Chromebooks). This older and more digitally capable class opened up a whole new world in terms of the content they could create to demonstrate their learning. It also opened my eyes to their lack of understanding of the legalities and permissions involved with using content from the int...
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Recommendations for cultivating learner motivation (online activity 3.3)

After reading a wide range of literature in module 3 about motivational strategies, I have come to realise that there are many factors that impact on cultivating student motivation. Based on what I have read, I propose the following recommendations for cultivating student motivation. These include; understanding teachers' pedagogical approaches, fostering learners' self regulation skills, and purposeful programme design and supports. Understanding Pedagogical Approaches  Bonk & Khoo (2014) highlight many strategies teachers use to motivate learners aligned with particular pedagogical approaches and learning views. These include behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism and socio-cultural views. Behaviourism pedagogy involves the teacher emitting knowledge to the student and providing instant feedback and rewards for successful learning achievement. Cognitivism entails the teacher breaking learning into manageable chunks, supporting students cognitive processing - recogn...
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Multimodal/Multimedia: Digital tool demonstrator (Online activity 6)

What have I learnt about multimodal/multimedia tools for use in a blended primary school environment? After looking at a range of digital tools in online  activity 6 , it has motivated me to do further reading about multimodal and multimedia use in educational contexts. Through my work as a teacher in a blended primary school environment, I have used a range of multimedia tools to help present lesson content to my learners with the aim of catering for a range of learning preferences and styles. The platform I mostly use to present learning material is a class site using the google sites platform. Although my students appear to enjoy the material I share with them on the class site, I have never been completely sure whether their learning is advantaged by this in comparison to more traditional approaches.  A few of the articles I have read in recent days have provided me with insight and clarity into the advantages and disadvantages of using multimedia to present learning ma...
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