Blog 12: Past and Future

Summarise and reflect on your own significant learning from this module. Identify its implications for your future role as an English or ICT subject leader. Make links to relevant readings.

As an ICT specialist, the most significant learning for me was based in the literacy side of the module, in particular the innovative ways in which I can apply my ICT knowledge and skills to provide a more balanced and beneficial literacy curriculum. The connecting, applying and condensing of knowledge in order to encapsulate the most beneficial and efficient learning within my understanding of cross-curricular pedagogy has been my focus for the module. I will now summarise the major significant points of learning from the topics of previous blogs and reflect upon their implications for my future teaching.

I began this module well aware of the stigma placed upon children of the digital age in schools with regards to attention span and the redundant negativity of it towards a mindset that is enevitably the future for children (Prenski, 2001). Well established was my view that technology was imperative to the modern classroom and my understanding of the requirements of digital natives, besides reservations about over-use. This view was supported by theorists such as Merchant (2007) and Higgins, Xiao & Katsipetaki (2012) who agree that technology increase is a vital step forward, but as a support structure for learning in order to enage and provide equal opportunity learning. On the other hand, they do state that to effectively used in this way, teachers must be trained in its usage adequately, something I already understood would rely on potential ICT coordinators and digital natives such as myself. My technology knowledge and skills at this point were already sufficient for this task, however, my knowledge and ideas for implementation of them and the adaptation of the curriculum were not.

My first notable learning point was tied closely with a topic I myself take pleasure in, that of comic books and graphic novels. I already understood their benefits for maintaining engagement with difficult concepts (Moss, 1999), and their links to visual learning, especially with younger children (Tiemensma, 2009). Even so, I was not initially comfortable with such bold application as using them to teach religion, until I shared my ideas and was reassured that they were well-founded. Comic creators were another surprise as I learned that they can offer holistic benefits to learning by aiding children to understand that meaning can be gained or presented in creative ways.

The diverse applications of Web.2 technologies aided my developing understanding of apps in practice. I learned that so long as they are used with relevance to the learning objective (Allen, Potter, Sharp & Turvey, 2001) and are up-to-date (Halsey, 2007) that they were pertinent within the classroom. This means that as an ICT coordinator, it would be my responsibility to ensure that I remained aware and interested in Web.2 developments, continuously seeking useful apps with real relevance that could enhance the learning of all children in my school and sharing that with the other teachers.

Multi-modal texts offered the most significant learning this module, reading alone did not engage me with the idea substantially enough to affect my perceived limitations of their use in school due to my own opinion of them being time consuming. Once experienced first hand during our Shirley Warren project, even with such tight time constraints, the children achieved something great. This piqued my curiosity as to their potential and once I began to get my head around their immense cross curricular applications, with the help of reflective tasks, I realised their importance for the future. It now entirely makes sense to me how they prevent children from passive readers and instead immerse them within it, obtaining the engagement of these children through multi-sensory features (Evans 2004). They can allow children with lower confidence in writing to apply other skills they may have and create work that is meaningful to them (FutureLab 2010), thus adding to their self-worth, giving them more confidence and social capital in school.

Now that I have completed this module, I feel that I could more adequately fulfil the increasingly important role of an ICT coordinator. I have become more comfortable with believing in my own ideas for application of technology in school, which is due to an increase in confidence gained through reading, practice and reflection during this semester. I now feel equiped enough with knowledge to distinguish between useful and detrimental apps and other technologies along with literary resources and can be sure that my ideas for these will be rooted in their benefits to the children's learning experience. It is important, however, if I was to continue fulfilling the role of an ICT coordinator, that my knowledge grows and develops as quickly as the technology itself and I am aware that this is no small feat.

Bibliography

Evans, J. (2004) Literacy Moves On: Using Popular Culture, New Technologies and Critical Literacy in the Primary Classroom. Abingdon: David Foulton Publishers.

FutureLab. (2010) Digital Literacy across the Curriculum. [online] http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf (Accessed: 01/04/14).

Higgins, S., Xiao, Z. and Katsipataki, M. (2012) The Impact of Digital Technology on Learning: A Summary for the Education Endowment Foundation. Durham University: Education Endowment Foundation.

Merchant, G. (2007) Writing the Future in the Digital Age. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford.

Prenski, M. (2001) 'Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Part II: Do They Really Think Differently?' in On the Horizon. 9:6 NBC University Press. [Online] Available at: http://britannia-spb.ru/downloads/Prensky-Digital-Natives-Digital-Immigrants-Part2.pdf (Last accessed 01/04/2014).

Tiemensma, L, (2009) Visual literacy: to comics or not to comics?: Promoting literacy using comics, World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Council, [Online] Available at: http://conference.ifla.org/past-wlic/2009/94-tiemensma-en.pdf  (Last accessed 04/03/2014). 

Blog Task 12

This module has given me many opportunities to use ICT and to make links to Literacy which has been inspiring for me as a future practitioner and ICT subject leader. I had not used Ipads with children before and have become a lot more confident in using the different Apps. I underestimated the abilities of children using technology, especially working with Year 1, as the majority of them had their own Ipads and knew more than me when using the Ipads. However, children are growing up in a world full of technology and need to be digitally literate and embrace it (Halsey, 2007). Therefore it is important for me to keep up to date and continue learning new technologies to be able to use them in my own teaching. This module has given me an insight into the background and theory behind different modes of text used in the classroom and how advertising effects children.

Having a greater understanding of using technology in schools through experiencing planning and leveling children's work, I appreciate the role of the ICT subject leader. I must ensure that all staff are confident using technology and to support them in their understanding and critical thinking (FutureLab, 2010). I have challenged myself by learning how to use different Apps on the Ipad and also teaching this to children.

I have particularly enjoyed being in school, as I have learnt many features of using Ipads which I was not aware of before. Creating videos, animation and sound bites has improved my skills and showed me how versatile ICT is through a range of cross curricular links. I found that learning how to level the children helped as you can easily plan the lesson so it meets each of the levels, to give the children the best level achievable. I have learnt how talk partners are to help encourage children sharing ideas, as well as incorporating ICT into literacy lessons, to make them more engaging through learning new skills when typing up work and presenting it in creative ways. For example, carrying out projects, instead of writing essays, the children can create animation, videos and sound bites to share information or stories, which gives children the opportunity to become digitally literate (FutureLab, 2010).

During my own teaching, I plan to incorporate a range of technologies which children can take advantage of new emerging opportunities with cross curricular links for children to help make sense of the world (FutureLab, 2010). I have enjoyed completing blogs each week on different areas of technology and literacy, as it increased my knowledge in researching new areas which all linked. Children need to be equipped in using technology (Marshall, 2010). I now feel confident using technology with children and would like to give them the opportunity to use new and interactive ways to develop their skills and understanding through experimenting with technology.

FutureLab. (2010) Digital Literacy across the Curriculum. [online]http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf(Accessed: 29/03/14)

Halsey, S. (2007) ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for literacy learning in the primary classroom’. in English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 6 (2) pp. 99-107. [online] Available from: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ832191.pdf (Accessed: 31/03/2014).

Blog Task 10/11

Visiting Shirley Warren and working with the children bridged the gap between us learning to use different Apps in seminars to putting it into practice with the children. As a group, we were able to plan an idea to make videos based on a chosen right. However, we did not take in to account any problems that may occur. Our aims for the children were to understand the right chosen and to be able to maneuver images and text on the Ipad. 

During our planning, we thought the children would give us ideas to use in the video. Even though they were good at identifying what to say to promote being safe, we felt that us adults were directing them. This resulted in the question of were the children learning? As the tasks continued, the children became more confident in their roles and found meaning of the activities. Due to working with the children for such a small amount of time, I did not feel we got 'the best' out of them, not knowing their strengths, but they still produced great work that they were proud of. This compares to their teacher knowing them really well individually and knowing what their skills are, to use them to their advantage in videos. The children carried great enthusiasm and excitement of using technology. 

We found it challenging to incorporate teaching the children how to use the different Apps on the Ipod due to the amount of time we had. However, the children learnt how to create their own avatar and took it in turns to change the different features and to input text in Tellagami. 

A technical problem occurred when we wanted to show the videos on the board, to point out how to create an avatar, as the air play feature would not work. We overcame this by passing round the Ipad to the children to explore themselves with a little input as a group. This included the children huddling around the Ipad to hear and see the instructions on how to use the Apps. This was very time consuming and some children lost interest as they could not see properly. Technical issues can be overcome through teachers being trained to fix any problems and being organised to ensure the Ipads have enough battery. During planning, it is vital that when using technology, there is always a plan B to overcome any problems found in lessons, as teachers need to be flexible to not waste children's learning time.

We shared our work with the children which they were excited to watch and were proud of themselves. This experience helped them understand and learn children's rights in a fun and interactive way, learning new skills with cross curricular links. 

Formal Blog Task 12: Media, Language and Multiliteracies/Multimedia and Technology

Formal Blog Task 12: Media, Language and Multiliteracies/Multimedia and Technology

Over the period of this module my thinking has changed dramatically. With 92% of children having access to the internet and other forms of digital media (Livingstone and Bober 2005)  it has been highlighted to me that this is a very important area for me, as a primary teacher, to address in the classroom appropriately.

I have been challenged to teach skills alongside competencies. Children should have the ability to use digital technology as well as know when it is appropriate to be used, What FutureLab would define as ‘Digital Savvyness’ (FutureLab 2010). They need to be able to use the technology to its fullest but they must also be aware of the draw backs and limitations. This may act to inspire a generation of future developers with a drive to overcome the limitations with new technologies that haven’t even been dreamt of yet. This makes me aware of my own ability and skill with technology to teach it effectively I have to know how it works and how to use it, my personal skill needs to be high and this is something I must work on as I go out into the classroom.

As an English specialist I believe ICT is an essential tool to help develop key English skills. ICT can act as a very effective hook to gain and hold children’s attention (Stafford 2011) this is particularly useful as sometimes English can be seen as a boring subject by some children. Also Technology can also be used across the curriculum in many ways and can act to link subjects in an effective way, as we have seen on our visits to school. I intend to challenge myself to continue to use technology in many areas of the curriculum, creating opportunity for children to become ‘digitally literate’ (FutureLab 2010).

I believe teaching is not only about academic knowledge but about preparing children for the world which they will be part of and one day the world which they will be shaping. Therefore, it is essential that children can function in a digital society. I have been challenged as to how I teach children to use technology and especially how I teach them to use it appropriately and safely. Children are vulnerable to many areas of technology from advertising (Gunter, Oates and Blades 2005) to cyber bullying (DfE 2011). Children need to be equipped with the skills and kn0owledge to avoid the negative aspects of technology and to respond to the appropriately when they do appear (Marshall 2010).

Finally in a world of increasing change and advancement in digital technology I must be aware of the knowledge which children come in to the classroom with. They may know more about some aspects of technology than me, especially in the future when I am not so on trend with technology. Children must be taught how, when and why to use technology in order that they may be fully functioning members of the modern digital society we live in.

Bibliography

Gunter, B., Oates, C. & Blades, M. (2005) Advertising to children on TV. New Jersey: Lawrence Erbaum Associates

Marshall, D. (2010) Understanding children as consumers. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

DfE (2011) The protection of children online: a brief scoping review to identify vulnerable groups. London: DfE [online]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181476/CWRC-00085-2011.pdf (accessed 29/01/14)

FutureLab. (2010) Digital Literacy across the Curriculum. [online] http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf (Accessed: 25/03/14)

Stafford, T. (2011) Teaching Visual Literacy in the Primary Classroom London: Routledge

Livingstone, S. and Bober, M. (2005) UK Children Go Online [online] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/28_04_05_childrenonline.pdf (accessed 30/03/14)