As a cohort we came up with a list which of ideas that we thought were essential for student engagement. This is my ranked list ranked from most important to least.
1. Purposeful- Ensure that the technology and activities relate to the
task/learning and will enable meaningful learning
2. Choice about how they work, autonomously or collaboratively
3. Provide a variety of technology mediums for delivering information and instructions
4. Cultivation of on-line presence so participants feel like they are communicating with people they know.
5. Prompt, detailed and personal feedback was what ended up being the
most significant for my online class. Also providing a choice of
platforms to access and submit work.
6. Feedback from peers and tutors.
7. Provide access to real-life data from online source.
9. User Testing - Test your activity with actual users or close to actual users.
10. Apply online communication and F2F opportunities to connect learners with external support and experts
It was difficult locking in my final rankings but I think purposeful
technology is a strong component in student engagement, followed closely
by giving children choice about how they work. Learning is enhanced
when students are encouraged to talk with their peers and technology
enables learners to communicate with people in different classrooms
anywhere in the world, a powerful tool to support peer to peer
networking (McLoughlin & Lee, 2008).
Showing posts with label module 3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label module 3. Show all posts
Am I doing enough with my class of 5 year olds? - Artefact 8
The documentary "World Class-Inside NZ Education" aired on television at the right moment for me in my journey with E-learning. There were many interesting aspects regarding education in New Zealand discussed but there were some significant comments made that stood out for me regarding the role technology plays in teaching and learning.
Many people have the belief that children need to learn the basics before they can be involved. Zaka (2013) carried out a study on the challenges that arise from blended learning and one main challenge was student’s readiness to learn in such an environment. This is something that I encounter a great deal in new entrant classrooms, however after watching the documentary I wondered if I am doing enough to set my students up for effective blended learning in the future? If I focus only on teaching the basics then the message I am sending my students is that this is how you learn, whereas I want them to be creative and innovative learners.
Link to video on TV3
Learner Engagement Pitfalls - Artefact 7
Describe (a) the situation or context including how much experience with
teaching and technology that you had at the time (b) the reason for the
learner activity (learning outcomes, how it links with other curriculum
areas, etc). (c) what you did (or didn’t do) (d) the result and (e)
what you learned from it.
For a whanau team building activity I set up a QR code scavenger hunt around our school grounds. Students had to scan the red QR code to receive a challenge they had to complete as a team and then scan the blue QR code to receive the clue to the next QR code. Children were initially excited and eagerly headed off to complete the scavenger hunt but as the activity progressed it was evident most children had disengaged from the activity. One child was typically in control of the device scanning the codes which meant the other children were just along for the ride. Other groups scanned all of the codes and failed to complete the tasks in sequence, rather they scanned them and then tried to complete them all at once. I found that many of my year 1 students spent the time picking daisies or just running around with their group as the older students took charge as they knew what they were doing.
Looking back on this activity with some more pre-teaching and setting the scene it has the potential to be an engaging activity. Perhaps it should be done in smaller groups or done in classes rather than a whanau of four classrooms.
A QR scavenger hunt was an enthusiastic way to carry out a scavenger hunt and the same issues might have occurred regardless if the clues had be written out for the children to read. Next time before setting children out on the hunt some common understandings need to be established; ensuring all group members are included, tasks have to be completed in the order you find them, all team member need to be involved in the challenges.
For a whanau team building activity I set up a QR code scavenger hunt around our school grounds. Students had to scan the red QR code to receive a challenge they had to complete as a team and then scan the blue QR code to receive the clue to the next QR code. Children were initially excited and eagerly headed off to complete the scavenger hunt but as the activity progressed it was evident most children had disengaged from the activity. One child was typically in control of the device scanning the codes which meant the other children were just along for the ride. Other groups scanned all of the codes and failed to complete the tasks in sequence, rather they scanned them and then tried to complete them all at once. I found that many of my year 1 students spent the time picking daisies or just running around with their group as the older students took charge as they knew what they were doing.
Looking back on this activity with some more pre-teaching and setting the scene it has the potential to be an engaging activity. Perhaps it should be done in smaller groups or done in classes rather than a whanau of four classrooms.
A QR scavenger hunt was an enthusiastic way to carry out a scavenger hunt and the same issues might have occurred regardless if the clues had be written out for the children to read. Next time before setting children out on the hunt some common understandings need to be established; ensuring all group members are included, tasks have to be completed in the order you find them, all team member need to be involved in the challenges.
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