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.

The documentary also made the comment that we have the technology available that allows student’s to learn at his or her own pace. This is true, however is something that is complex with such young students but enjoy the challenge it brings.

 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.

Making connections to my teaching context - Artefact 5

 

After considering the relationship between pedagogy and technology and student engagement I started to think where these concepts fit into the model of negotiated learning implemented at my school, Summerland Primary School. Negotiated learning was introduced to my school in 2013 and this visual representation came about through staff professional development, visits to other schools and numerous staff meetings. 

Negotiated Learning Model at Summerland Primary School (2013)

Taking into consideration my new understandings I would make slight changes to this model.
Student engagement would be placed in the central circle as negotiated learning puts students at the centre of learning and McCombs and Vakili (2005) stated that this fosters positive relationships between teachers and students built on mutual respect and compassion.
Technology has been added to the background of the diagram, showing the seamless integration and role that technology plays in the learning. It is there as a tool to enhance learning, it is not being used for the sake of it.

 

Adapted model (2016).

Pedagogy driven by technology? - Artefact 4

• What is the relationship between technology and pedagogy?
• Why do you think so?
• What is the implication of that position for teaching?

Technology is playing an increasing role in modern learning and is forcing teachers to think carefully about their pedagogical beliefs. Prior to studying this E-Learning paper I would have said that strong pedagogy would drive effective technology use, however I now think that they are reliant on each other.

Teaching that is driven by technology without sound pedagogical knowledge is ineffective and Hannum & McCombs (2008) stated that the introduction of media and technology alone to a learning environment, will not cause any improvements in learner achievement.

Technology is here to stay and I think we all make an extra effort to make use of technology in our classrooms. I think technology has been a positive way to encourage teachers to try new things in their practice in order to make learning more interesting and engaging for students.
Using technology for the sake of it has little or no value but every new app or device builds a teachers resource bank to choose from.