My First Prezi

Group 2 Technology - Blog Reflection - Images

In my chosen KLA visual literacy is crucial. In the context of a visual art class a student needs to be able to communicate through images while in the context of a media class students need to be able to read an image. Either way the students need to be visually literate.

Websites in The Arts

I've spent time building my website called 'Exploring The Arts'. Here you can find my reflections on using websites in the context of Visual Arts. It was a great learning experience and the easiest website I've ever built. The functionality was limiting at times but the simplicity and ease of use more then made up for this. I can see Weebly being a very useful tool in the classroom.

My Weebly Website Exploring The Arts - Click here to visit

Wiki's in The Arts - A SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis for Wikis in The Arts

Wikis - A Reflection of Wikis in the Learning Context of 'The Arts'

This week has seen my opinion of Wikis change dramatically. At the beginning of this week I thought that there couldn't possibly be a use for wikis in the context of The Arts. I can think of so many useful possibilities for other KLAs but none that would be interesting or most importantly useful in the Arts. Sure I could make the students go online and participate in a wiki for the sake of it but how does it really have an impact on their learning. That old question from the students 'What is in it for me' is always in the back of my mind.

The Potentials of Blogs in Visual Arts

Below is my SWOT analysis for the potentials of using blogs in the context of a visual art class.
Strengths:

• Art is a journey. Blogs could be used to effectively illustrate a students journey. The blog acts as documentation to show that their visual responces have been well researched.

Weaknesses:

• A blog may create an easy option for those students who couldn't be bothered to show thought processes through hand-made explorations of texture, colour, shape, mediums etc

Opportunities:

• Using a blog creates opportunities for students to hear different perspectives. Art is very much open to interpretation and a blog is a great tool to share these opinions.

Threats:

• Spending too much time on-line and not experimenting with real objects might take away the fundamentals of visual art.  

The Dangers and the Benefits of Using Blogs in Schools

Using a PMI Chart I am going to objectively analyse the dangers and the benefits of using blogs as learning tools in schools. My initial thoughts are that blogs are a great idea if they are used in the correct way.

Conclusion

This reflection will demonstrate my current understanding of how learning theory and pedagogy frame eLearning design. Drawing from my acquired knowledge on the theoretical frameworks presented in week one, I have considered learning theories such as behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism and connectivism in providing the key principles to build a framework for successful eLearning design. My reflection has also considered the frameworks of TPACK, Bloom's Taxonomy and Learning Engagement Theory and will conclude with my recommendations for integrating these learning theories into the context of my eLearning design.

Modelling Wiki - A Reflection on Scaffolding Discussions of Different Perspectives

The topic of discussion is mobile phones and whether or not they are useful in an education context. The platform for this discussion is a wiki broken down into six different perspectives. We take a turn at wearing each of the hats and give an opinion based on that perspective.

A Framework for eLearning Design

Designing my framework for successful eLearning design has been the toughest challenge yet. Could it be right that they were asking us to develop something that theorists have been trying to perfect for years? The very idea had me sick to the stomach. Procrastinating seemed like it would be my best option.

How was I going to approach this task, how would I display my ideas, would it even work? Naturally this is all part of the scaffolded journey. I eventually found a starting point and went for it. This involved using Bloom's Revised Taxonomy (Anderson, 1990.) as a guide.

eLearning design - A reflection on reflecting

The method of teaching this course works brilliantly!

Three weeks ago I was feeling very overwhelmed by Assignment One. I had no idea how I was going to ever get it finished, and then how I was going to pass. Little did I know that the whole time I was reading, learning and completing all the activities I was analysing and evaluating the learning method that I was actually learning with at the time. Confused? It feels like I've been tricked into higher order thinking (in a good way).

Week 1 Blog Reflection - Learning Theories Wiki

I have to confess that in my quest to complete my activities within the small time frame I have, I've rushed in, completed the task by myself and missed the point entirely on why it was suppose to be collaborative and not individual.

The purpose of the learning theories wiki task was to engage in a group activity using the expert jigsaw strategy. Using this strategy an otherwise time consuming task of analysing and evaluating large amounts of information was made easier by breaking down the topics and dividing them out to smaller groups. After the PMI's were completed everybody was invited back to read, analyse and evaluate each others findings.

Digital Natives or Digital Immigrants

I have to say I agree to an extent with Prensky. His argument that learners can be catagorised into 2 main groups, digital natives and digital immigrants is possible in some respects however I do think a majority of people where technology effects their lives have grown and moved with technology as much as the digital natives. 
 

Multiple Intelligence - Learning Activity

According to this multiple intelligence test I am more Intrapersonal than anything. It is a surprise to me that I was not more Visually smart. I do love being active so I'm happy to be rated quite high in the body smart area.

Learning Style - What side of the brain do you use?

Learning Style Activity

1. What is your learning style? What sorts of learning experiences would suit you best with your learning style?

According to Felder and Solomon's learning style inventory, my learning style preference favours:

• reflective learning over active learning,
• intuitive learning over sensory learning,
• I show a very strong preference to visual learning over verbal learning,
• and an equal preference between sequential learning and global learning.

The results from Felder and Solomon's questionnaire would infer that I understand information better when I see it in a visual format. Examples of this could be seeing information in diagrams, on a video, illustrated, highlighted using different colours etc (http://www.jcu.edu.au/tldinfo/learningskills/learningst/visual.html). My preference for Reflective learning implies that I spend a lot of time thinking about information rather than jumping in and trying new things with that information (http://www.jcu.edu.au/tldinfo/learningskills/learningst/active.html). I have to say I agree very strongly with the results of this questionnaire. 

Pavlov's Dog Theory of Conditioning

Watching one of my favourite shows and I came across a classic case of conditioning. Thought I would share it with you all.

The Pavlov Altoid Theory - The top video clips of the week are here

Blog Reflection - Profile Wiki

I posted my Profile on the Wiki over a week ago and am only just getting around to blogging about it.
This isn't because I haven't been doing any work on my ICTs, quite the opposite in fact. This course is so involved, it is easy to get carried away with one element and forget to go back and do the basics.
So back to reflecting on my profile wiki...