Week 12: Formal Blog Task

In this final blog entry, I am going to summarise and reflect on my learning from this module. I will also identify any implications for my own teaching and for my future role as an ICT subject leader.

I have gained many positive learning experiences from this module. Firstly, from the theory sessions I have gained an understanding of digital literacy and new technologies to understand the impacts they have on 21^st Century children, the primary curriculum and myself. Children should experience using digital and new technologies to learn, create and present ideas (Futurelab, 2010). I have understood the effects of using graphic novels and comics with children. One of the positive impacts is put forward by Winch and Holliday (2010) who argue that experiencing graphic novels and comic books enables children to read more widely to gain richer learning experiences.

The practical sessions and the visits to Shirley Warren Primary School have allowed me to explore multimedia and new technologies to understand the impacts they have on children’s learning and skills. I enjoyed creating, for example, multimodal texts and exploring apps to develop my skills and confidence with using a range of technology. Davies and O’Sullivan (2002) argue multimodal texts enable children to develop many ICT skills and enhance children’s reading experiences for example hearing sounds in the book. The first hand experiences have also enabled me to gain a richer understanding of how they enhance children’s learning. The visits to the school have also allowed me to demonstrate my ICT skills from the sessions to support children’s learning.

The assignment has allowed me to develop my thinking and reflect on my understanding and learning from sessions, my readings of literature and my school and personal experiences. I was able to demonstrate the links to the theory and my personal experiences of working with children in school. In addition to this, the blog entries have enabled me to present the texts I have created in the practical sessions of the module. I have also enjoyed learning from my peers’ reflections to deepen my understanding of topics for example, the drawbacks of using comics and graphic novels. The sharing of ideas and resources has supported my future practice and development of ICT.

The understanding, experiences and skills that I have gained from this module will positively support my teaching. However, I need to further develop my understanding for example, of using apps effectively because we briefly explored the apps in the practical sessions. Therefore, I would need to carry on developing my skills and becoming more confident with using apps to support my teaching (Prensky, 2001). By gaining, an insight into a range of technology will positively support my future role as an ICT coordinator because it will support me to make decisions on what technologies should the school invest in to support the teaching of digital literacy.

Overall, I have gained positive learning, experiences and skills from this module that will support and enhance my teaching and children’s learning.

Bibliography

Davies, H. and O’Sullivan, O. (2002). ‘Literacy and ICT in the Primary Classroom: The Role of the Teacher’ in Loveless, A. and Dore, B. (2002). ICT in the Primary School. Buckingham: OUP.

Futurelab. (2010). ‘Digital literacy across the curriculum’. [pdf]. Available from: http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf  (Accessed:  31/03/2014).

Prensky, M. (2001). ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really Think Differently?’ On the Horizon, 9 (6) pp. 1-9. [pdf] NCB University Press. Available from: http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf (Accessed: 31/03/2014).

Winch, G., and Holliday, M. (2010). In Winch, G., Johnston, R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L. and Holliday, M. (Eds). Literacy: Reading, Writing and Children's Literature. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.