In the 21st Century the world has uncovered the understanding that ICT's are an important, exciting and necessary part of education. This fact has been acknowledged within the Australian Curriculum with regards to ICT capabilities in the classroom. When used effectively and appropriately ICT's can allow students to communicate information and ideas, access their creativity, work collaboratively and solve problems in every area of learning both within and outside of school (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, [ACARA], 2012). These capabilities allow students to employ digital technologies to substitute their regular pen and paper learning as well as enabling the adaption to new ways of doing things (ACARA, 2012). The Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment Training and Youth Affairs [MCEETYA], 2008) recognises that in todays digital world '...with rapid and continuing changes in the ways that people share, use, develop and communicate with ICT, young people need to be highly skilled in its use.' For students to be active in this technologically rich society both immediately and in future contexts it is imperative that they have opportunities to hone their skills and become confident in making ICTs an internalised part of their life be that at school, at home, at work and in their communities (ACARA, 2012).
The term 'digital pedagogy' is an emergent term regarding teaching and learning in contemporary times with the information and communication technology [ICT] integration (Australian Council for Computers in Education [ACEC], 2008). The Queensland Department of Education Training and the Arts (DETA) has included digital pedagogies as one of the five integral elements of 'smart classrooms' (2006).
Effective teaching and learning practices occur by first considering the individual students and their digital requirements based on the consideration of relevant policies and guiding documents (ACEC, 2008). In order to better meet the requirements of students today, educators facilitate the use of ICT, or substitutions of old technology for new in order to ensure quality learning is achieved (ACEC, 2008). Digital pedagogy allows a personalised approach to teaching and learning with the opportunity for intellectual engagement, higher order thinking, the ability to learn creatively and collaboratively whilst offering connectedness within a global context (ACEC, 2008).
Here are examples of how the analysed digital tools could be effectivily used on each phase of the SAMR model:
Another necessary indication of the measure of practicality or effectivness of a digital tool was the ability to incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy of higher order thinking into the ICT lesson. In incorporating digital tools in the learning environment which adhere to Blooms Taxonomy considerations must be made (ACEC, 2008). It is vital that educators ensure that the practaclity of the tool is evident and that the Blooms Txonomy is adhered to (Classroomconnections.edu).
With the vast array of Web 2.0 tools and other technologies available the emphasis must remain on the safe and ethical use of these tools in order to facilitate learning. The ACARA documents state that educators and students must apply social and ethical protocols and practices when using ICT'. (ACARA, 2012). The Curriculum also outlines that "students use appropriate practices for the physical and logical storage and security of digital information, and apply appropriate protocols when using ICT to safely create, communicate and share information" (ACARA, 2012). Learning outcomes using digital technologies are measured based on the competency of users and the quality of the learning process.
References
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| Organising elements of ICT capability |
The term 'digital pedagogy' is an emergent term regarding teaching and learning in contemporary times with the information and communication technology [ICT] integration (Australian Council for Computers in Education [ACEC], 2008). The Queensland Department of Education Training and the Arts (DETA) has included digital pedagogies as one of the five integral elements of 'smart classrooms' (2006).
Effective teaching and learning practices occur by first considering the individual students and their digital requirements based on the consideration of relevant policies and guiding documents (ACEC, 2008). In order to better meet the requirements of students today, educators facilitate the use of ICT, or substitutions of old technology for new in order to ensure quality learning is achieved (ACEC, 2008). Digital pedagogy allows a personalised approach to teaching and learning with the opportunity for intellectual engagement, higher order thinking, the ability to learn creatively and collaboratively whilst offering connectedness within a global context (ACEC, 2008).
This reflective synopsis will discuss five digital tools with the common denominator being thet digital tools provided the ability to be used in scaffolded learning by using the SAMR model. The aim of this model is to 'support teachers to design, develop and integrate learning technologies to support high levels of learning achievement (Classroom Connections.eq.edu, 2013)'. This assists with the intergration of ICT use within pedagogical practice in everyday learning. With each new digital tool researched the SAMR model was used to assist in the analysis and shows the breakdown of each tools' uses into four categories of use. The model assesses the technology in its ability to redefine, modify, augment and substitute the regular lesson. SAMR enables educators to refine their practice and pedagogy when engaging with technology. The SAMR model is effective in the justification of practacility with the use of ICT tools in the classroom (ACEC, 2008); sometimes there is not a reasonable need to incorporate digital tools and the use of the SAMR model provided a sound assessment of these tools within pedagogical practises.
Here are examples of how the analysed digital tools could be effectivily used on each phase of the SAMR model:
Digital tool
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Substitution
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Augmentation
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Modification
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Redefinition
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Wiki
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Wiki substitutes the paper and pencil tools that students are familiar with.
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Students use the collaborative tools in Wiki to peer edit essays or other student work.
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Students are asked to write an essay based on a particular theme in groups where the wiki is used to collaborate.
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Students have a focus question and post it on the class wiki. Groups of students research sub-topics and then collaborate to create one final product.
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Weebly
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Weebly substitutes the paper and pencil tools that students are familiar with.
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Images, digital photographs and graphics are easily incorporated into the overall design of student work, allowing for curriculum links with using multi-modal tools.
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Student tasks, assessments or information may be presented in various ways such as Podcasts, Blogs, Vlogs, YouTube videos; the scope for variety is abundant.
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Students learn content and skills in support of important concepts as they pursue the challenge of creating a professional quality video.
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YouTube
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Text books and other such reference material give way to sources such as YouTube, with resources available which are almost inexhaustible.
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Digital videos are incorporated into the overall design of student work, allowing for curriculum links with using ICTs
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Students are asked to use still images or clips to make their own movie using YouTube Video editor
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A classroom is asked to create a documentary video answering a focus question and uploading it to YouTube.
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Glogster
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Personal reflections in images and text; this substitutes writing a reflection on paper and drawing a picture.
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Digital scrapbooks using images
from the public domain and video and audio clips from a time in history can be used to augment a lesson which would otherwise have used books.
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Students "create" a whole-class glog together using an interactive whiteboard. The Glog is a collaborative space for information to be accessed and shared.
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Students create a visual essay, or scientific report with many of the glogster functions used to present the piece. However Glogs may also be viewed collaboratively in order to learn from each other.
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Bubbl.us
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Mind map using Bubbl.us is used as a substitue for pen and paper concept mapping with the teacher using the software in a class based discussion.
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Concept mapping using pictures sourced by students as well as text typed in by them into the bubbl.us map
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A collaborative version of mapping could be implemented as a note taking process.
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Students collaborate to make a concept map using an interactive whiteboard
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Another necessary indication of the measure of practicality or effectivness of a digital tool was the ability to incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy of higher order thinking into the ICT lesson. In incorporating digital tools in the learning environment which adhere to Blooms Taxonomy considerations must be made (ACEC, 2008). It is vital that educators ensure that the practaclity of the tool is evident and that the Blooms Txonomy is adhered to (Classroomconnections.edu). With the vast array of Web 2.0 tools and other technologies available the emphasis must remain on the safe and ethical use of these tools in order to facilitate learning. The ACARA documents state that educators and students must apply social and ethical protocols and practices when using ICT'. (ACARA, 2012). The Curriculum also outlines that "students use appropriate practices for the physical and logical storage and security of digital information, and apply appropriate protocols when using ICT to safely create, communicate and share information" (ACARA, 2012). Learning outcomes using digital technologies are measured based on the competency of users and the quality of the learning process.
References
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), 2012. Information and communication technology (ICT) capability Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/information-and-communication-technology-capability/organising-elements/organising-elements
Australian Council for Computers in Education [ACEC]Digital World, Digital Pedagogies: Reframing the Learning Landscape. (2008).
Classroomconnections.eq.edu.au,. (2013). The SAMR model: engage in deep learning and authentic contexts . Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://classroomconnections.eq.edu.au/topics/Pages/2013/issue-7/samr-learning-technologies.aspx
Curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au,. (2014). Integrating ICT in PDHPE. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/primary/pdhpe/crosscurriculum/ict/index.html
DETA. (2006). Smart Classrooms Professional Development Framework. Retrieved December 9, 2006, from http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/strategy/tsdev_pd.html
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment Training and Youth Affairs. (2008). Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians. Carlton South, Vic: Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs.
Shaltry, C., Henriksen, D., Wu, M., & Dickson, W. (2013). Situated Learning with Online Portfolios, Classroom Websites and Facebook. Techtrends: Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning,57(3), 20-25.
