Week 8, 1.2 Professional Networks

I have been struck around the ‘universality’ of having a Personal Learning Network, although the majority of the detail and content is within a North American context, interestingly in their own reflections in the content provided there is reference to Australia; least of all the alignment of the 4 C’s to the Australian Curriculum.

On enrolment to the Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Learning, after confirming my Subject Areas, I earnestly began ‘googling’ these areas within a South Australian context to see what is existed. Needless to say I was beyond disheartened to find the extend of established professional networks, being the ‘annual HASS’ conference and the annual conference for Legal Studies teachers network. It’s within this context that being exposed to the concept of a PLP has ignited my interest and the relevance to support my current learning, but importantly enhancing my teaching as I proceed. Further, by viewing a PLP as ‘corridor conversation’ that now becomes global, instant and therefore rather than learning and collaborating by happenstance, this can now be facilitated through targeted platforms, is particularly meaningful to me and re-enforces the importance of a PLP to the life of a teacher. It was surprising, but not shocking, to hear both Wendy and Kirschty that 80%+ of their professional development is through on-line content, re: blogs etc.

Equally, beyond obtaining learning/collaboration etc through a PLP globally, particularly in relation to pedagogy etc; I think the nationalised approach of an Australian Curriculum also means that I am able to potentially enhance and deepen my own content and subject area knowledge – whether through a Teacher in Northern Queensland, Metropolitan Sydney or regional Tasmania. By engaging with peers delivering across the same subject areas through a national curriculum excites me, even if the learning is delivered within a localised context, I believe nevertheless will enhance my own content knowledge and learning throughout my professional life, including my own pedagogy in the future.

In a similar vein, considering the requirement to embed 21^st Century skills, whether viewed as the 4 Cs or the general priorities in the Australian curriculum, when considering the benefits of a PLN to a professional teacher (and in fact across industry and sectors) similar benefits can be found for students. For example, if we consider Steven Johnson’s (Steven Johnson) concept of how ideas are formed, utilising a PLN for students to enhance not only their content learning and deep thinking within their subjects for instance, but also by way of growing their ‘capabilities’ that will become their passport in the contemporary workforce; and practically this will also model a mode of learning that they can take with them in post school life, whether in further learning pathways or employment.

References

Riverhead books, video file. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU

Week 6

1.2. Authentic Learning

Reflection on Authentic Learning:

On reviewing the content introduced to us through week 6, it is both challenging to me and yet also inspiring and (without exaggeration) almost revolutionary.

Why Challenging?

In the first instance authentic learning challenges my pre-conceptions around explicit teaching and instruction and, dare I say it, Teacher Authority. What I mean by this, how can the students learn if they don’t know the content of what they are learning? (my response and reflections to this below).

I find it also challenging; given (as is acknowledged) one must be prepared to ‘walk the line’ between students obtaining maximum authentic learning and learning how to think and associated skills, and students not diverging too far from learning the actual content. In this context, as is acknowledged the delivery of this type of learning is often refined after many years of teaching.

Equally, overlaying this with the depth of expectation embedded through my learning areas (HASS) in the Australian curriculum, coupled with minimal ‘time allocation’ to cultivate this type of approach; and my mind wonders to the practical reality of this becoming problematic in practice.

Inspiring/revolutionary?

I think back to my entire schooling, and the entire approach was related to explicit instruction, week on week – the teacher explaining the content, we would take notes; and then answer questions (and sometimes answering questions to problems) to demonstrate that we could apply what we had learnt. (seldom did this draw on higher order thinking, by way of Blooms Taxonomy ‘verbs’, and in this context did not enable us the opportunity to think critically in many different ways – related to the content that was being taught).

Although this approach has merit / including the rigour to apply structure; I now think of my own working life – and the skills that I am required to draw on from a daily basis are purely higher order thinking (making meaning from a range of areas and stimulus, interpreting this and applying to decision making on a daily basis. And real life decision making, that if I get it wrong will have dire consequences for me personally and also the organisation I work for).

Therefore, to ‘empower’ Teachers to teach within a real word and authentic context, should necessarily increase the participation of learners and generate greater meaningful learning experiences. In this context, the readings also make clear to me the neurological component of deep learning – i.e. it is only when we apply and test learning to scenarios and interrogated, engage others on it – that the learning becomes deeply rooted in understanding.

Overlaying this with problem based teaching; and although stretching students – drives higher quality learning. For me, this enables Teachers to: teach how to think and teach content in an interchangeably and enmeshed fashion.

Finally, why is it inspiring? Besides connecting the relevance for students into the real world; it enables teachers to be profoundly creative in their pedagogy – in fact almost limitless; and an opportunity to put on display for students the importance and application of content in my subject area (in a manner that enables ownership and self discovery).

For instance, in the context of Civics and Citizenship; rather than just teaching and providing content on Australia’s Political System – we could start with a problem or an outcome we wish to derive. For instance (after workshopping with the students); ‘my Council should build a Central Business District in my suburb and attract Universities and Businesses to be there’; through an authentic learning process we could:

              Work through how Australia’s political system can enable this; such as The role of Local Government in South Australia, the funding mechanisms, the decision making processes, the overarching strategy to achieve this etc.

              By using this approach, it would enable students to ‘road test’ the Political System in action, rather than a teacher providing a handout on Local, State and Commonwealth parliament and then asking students a series of questions to test their ‘recall’.

As I mentioned above, this would be challenging – and of course messy, BUT would it replicate the real world and be profoundly authentic; whilst therefore creating an environment to embed a number of the general capabilities – absolutely!

Week 5 Embedded Task 3

On review of the various digital tools presented this week, as always approximately 90% of the literature and educational concepts introduced are new to me, and as always therefore I am continuing to ‘stockpile’ my repository of pedagogical content and ideas for future use.

In this context, although I am very familiar with Microsoft Power Point, where I use Power Point regularly in employment, I did enjoy observing and playing with enhanced use. However, for my reflection I have dedicated my exploration to Prezi. Why?

When we consider that one of the key expectations of pedagogy is to create a meaningful learning experience for students, the functionality of Prezi presents as being contemporary and highly interactive and engaging for both the user and the student. Equally, where I have never used Prezi, I wanted to spend adequate time to move from a basic use and understating, to progressing in my fluency in the utilisation of Prezi for my future career in Teaching. I was also impressed by Prezi’s corporate commitment including contributing $100 Million in software licenses to Schools throughout the USA, as part of former President Obama’s Connect ED policy (wolfgang 2014).

I signed up for basic Prezi use; however once I attempted to commence with Prezi (after watching multiple You Tube clips, and with the power of deduction), my current web browser did not support any editing of Prezi. As a result, I loaded Google Chrome on a number of occasions as my default browser, and at one stage this seemingly fell out, and I was required to re-install and commence Prezi again. When completing my first Prezi, I pictured myself within my teaching context of Civics and Citizenship, regarding Australian Political Parties and forming Government (ACARA 2016), therefore I chose the use of ‘newspaper’ as the template.

In a not too dissimilar way to using weebly, I found Prezi highly intuitive (whilst having training wheels with a You Tube tutorial running concurrently), with the tools and functions mirroring that of word, including inserting of pictures and videos (including being able to embed You Tube videos and links – which I have included in my Prezi), change of font type and colour, and importantly an ‘edit undo’ button.

Given it’s ‘relative’ ease, moving forward in my career I do think I would sign up to the ‘Edu Pro’ (Prezi for Teachers), at only $4.92 US per month, with the first months use being free. I would then progressively build a repository of content, that could be edited and refined on an ongoing basis to build in contemporary issues. For me this is a key factor, in effect each presentation therefore can become a living document, to ensure relevancy to students lives.

This is my presentation here:

https://prezi.com/view/mmIe3fPIjaJwqYJ12f2M/

In the context of Prezi through the SAMR model, I would suggest the following:

Substitution:

Rather than presenting the Australian Curriculum, role of Political Parties and their role in forming Government ACHCK075 (ACARA 2016), through a text book or handouts, I would ‘substitute’ this through the presenting of the content via a Prezi presentation.

Augmentation:

Students would then be split into small groups, and each group would be assigned a political party and/or independent; that makes up the current Australian Parliament (with one group representing each party or independent).

Each small group, would then jointly create a Prezi Presentation, that would capture all the relevant details of the party, such as their history, how many times they have formed Government, noteworthy achievements, their current composition in the Australian Parliament etc.

Teams would have to necessarily draw on higher order thinking skills, including ‘how are they going to present their Prezi’, as well as ‘soft skills’ such as working in a team etc.

Modification:

After the students then present their Prezi’s to the other groups; the groups ‘swap’ each other’s presentations. At this point each group is now required to research and then synthesise the key policies of each political party; and update the Prezi in a manner that succinctly captures these policies and the importance of them, presenting why this party should win (or be part of, in the case of independents and minor parties) the next election and form Government.

Redefinition:

Students then make their Prezis live; linking them to established blog pages. (once the relevant logistics had been work through); students then make contact with both the ‘party office’ and the ‘closest’ Member of Parliament representing this party. The students request that this Member comment on, after review of the groups Prezi presentation including the students synthesis of policy to win the next election, with the Member or party office then comments to this (which might include part validation of the work, or even augmenting and refining the content of the synthesis).

References:

Wolfgang, B. Obama to announce $400 million in private-sector technology grants. Retrieved from:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/28/obama-announce-400-million-private-sector-technolo/

Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority. (2016f). Foundation to Year 10 Curriculum, Humanities and Social Sciences, Introduction. Retrieved

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences/civics-and-citizenship/curriculum/7-10?layout=1

Assessment 1: Embedded task 2

I have chosen the use of imagery to synthesise my learnings across the readings from this week.

As I reflect on in my blog update 4.1: http://hass-australian-curriclum.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/4.html, when considering some of the key aims of the Australian Curriculum is to ensure “that all young people in Australia should be supported to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens” (ACARA 2016), how do we (as Teachers) actually go about realising this for students?

Reflecting on the range of digital literacies within contemporary society; students will be faced with a vast range and multiplicity of imagery on a daily basis (often that will be contradictory). This imagery will range from marketing contexts, placing them in decisions around their ‘consumer behaviour’ and ‘purchase patterns’, other imagery will be ‘political’ forcing them to place themselves in decisions in relation to voting and contributing to public discourse (such as discussing with friends in a social setting what they think of the Prime Minister); to imagery related to their social beliefs and attitudes (such as the supposed ‘ideal family’), through to making decisions in their future workplaces. The capacity to make meaning, analyse, reflect, discern, think critically and make informed decisions will become a ‘currency’ to their life choices and (I believe) life outcomes.

In the context of pedagogy therefore it is incumbent on us as Teachers to ensure that the learning experience for students is not only memorable, but meaningful; meaning is often created when it is driven and realised from the student and content is anchored in a real world context. The use of imagery therefore, both assessed and created by students creates great opportunities to do this, that are flexible and vast.

For instance, as I have shown throughout my blog posts, images can be saved (downloaded) direct from the internet and then uploaded (such as on a blog page) for explanatory purposes, images can be taken direct by students, and easily shared, whether through handheld devices, such as mobile phones, or digital cameras.  An important component of this is ensuring appropriate referencing and accreditation; I have found when reviewing the readings and updating my blog posts (and thinking about future teaching opportunities) the use of imagery from the: http://photosforclass.com/ is a fantastic resource, with not only global, but Australian photographs; which are ‘creative commons’, meaning they are legal to use and share. And within the context of my teaching area across Civics and Citizenship, I have found and explored some great images through the ‘National Museum’ Australia’ that will make great teaching resources: http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/behind_the_lines_the_years_best_cartoons_2009/leaders. Further, I have found that one of the great features of the use of a blog is that it accepts a range of image types (such as JPG, GIF or PIN, as shown in the image below):

Further, besides the type; the quality and character of images can easily be changed. The purpose and use of this is various, it can be for aesthetic and creative reasons; but equally it can be to create different meaning, colour reality; or, and often most perniciously, to distort or re-frame reality.

Such as these two photos.

Photo one, shows an ‘authentic’ picture of the definition of democracy. On reading it, to me, it conjures something that is positive, empowering and almost utopian.

Photo two (by zooming out and changing the colour to a dim and sombre grey), to me, conjures up a different meaning. One that is perhaps bleak; and the searching for the ‘utopian’ that is captured in the photo above, becoming unattainable. Equally, by zooming out – you can now read the full picture, with the inclusion of the words ……’you call this DEMOCRACY?’, thus lending itself to the unattainable goal, that from the ‘real world’.  

These are just some basic technical options available when working with images. Equally, the use of ‘screen dump’ and ‘snipping tool’, as I have used throughout my blog, are important functions.

Moreover, continuing with technical features; images do not need to be ‘static’ or ‘isolated’. The can form frames within a video, and support audio, as I have shown in my basic video within blog post 4.3: http://hass-australian-curriclum.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/blog-post.html.

There are also a range of websites, where students can easily create their own images. In this context, images are not merely, and don’t have to be, photographs of events; the use of infographics and mind mapping are used more and more to present information (especially within organisations, Government and business); such as this infographic from the organisation ‘Mission Australia’, showing a snapshot of their 2016 Youth Survey:

https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/publications/research/young-people

In designing pedagogy, it is important that use of images (visual literacy) is integrated with traditional literacies, such as reading, critical reasoning and higher order thinking; drawing on images to optimise meaningful learning for students. For example, a ‘topical’ and extremely contentious issue in South Australia at the moment is the potential use of Nuclear Energy proposed by the Premier; this has become rapidly magnified in the wake of the recent ‘energy crises’ (that followed a recent State Wide Blackout), and leading into a State Election imagery and messages about energy and nuclear are abundant.

Referencing this current ‘real’ nuclear debate through pedagogy, with the use of imagery; embedding the SAMR model, I would propose students to identify images that capture ‘nuclear’ in South Australia; such as:

Students would then ‘upload’ these images to their lesson blogs; and describe what these images mean and say to them.

Exploring the issue further, students would then use google earth and maps to identify the proposed locations of Nuclear in South Australia; as well as using google images to identify other nuclear sites across the world; such as Switzerland and Finland. To embed and ensure higher order thinking, students would then create an info graphic to present the process and timeline of the State Vote (plebiscite) on Nuclear (once complete, this would then be uploaded to their blogs): (such as this generated inforgraphic below)

 References:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2016) http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/overview/general-capabilities-in-the-australian-curriculum

BLOG GROUP

WEB-Log

Taylor http://teebee333.blogspot.com.au/

Luke   https://blogazsq.blogspot.com.au/

Adam   http://hass-australian-curriclum.blogspot.com.au/

Sarah  http://sarahallenstudies.weebly.com/

Anna   https://missannaloosmore.blogspot.com.au/

Rhea   http://to-infinity-and-beyond-via-saturn.weebly.com/

4.3

As has been a theme throughout this unit, the scale and scope of the readings and my own ‘learning curve’ has been exponential.

Most importantly, it has been challenging, yet exciting; exciting as the scope and breadth of pedagogy through ICT is almost boundless and limitless. When considering the ICT requirement under the ‘general capabilities’ of the Australian curriculum – coupled with my ongoing learning in this unit, I feel a sense of ‘empowerment’. The key takeaway for me is ‘how do I create memorable learning experiences for my students’, that embeds ICT that is integrated within the context of the SAMR model and Blooms Taxonomy, that is scaled to higher order thinking and high quality learning.

I reviewed a number of the hyperlinks to create videos (and indeed wished Windows Movie Maker hadn’t been withdrawn). I dabbled with a number of them; including the use of Powtoon – although still constructing my video – per the screen dump below; I found Powtoon ‘high intuitive’ and actually create creative; forcing me how to present ‘ley messages’ to the learning content that I would be delivering, within a classroom context.

Equally, on reviewing the paper by Daniel Schwartz and Kevin Hartman (http://aaalab.stanford.edu/papers/Designed_Video_for_Learning.pdf) I equally felt a sense of empowerment of the ‘richness’ in learning through the use of video in pedagogy.

In the context of generating my own video, I utilised ‘videopad’, and although it is rudimentary; it really gives me the sense of a foundation; which I can use to grow and grow my own proficiency and pedagogy as I progress. I am also somewhat pleased to say, that is the first ever ‘you tube’ video that I have launched:

By way of pedagogy, integrating the SAMR model, drawing on both student generated and student accessed videos, I would propose:

‘How laws are made’

Substitution:

Students simply go on the Parliamentary Education Office Webpage, and watch the video on ‘passing of a bill’ and ‘what is parliament’

http://www.peo.gov.au/multimedia/videos.html

Augmentation:

Rather than watching an ‘introduction’ video to how laws are made; students then watch parliament live. I feel this ‘augments’ the use of video, as it enables the students to ‘be present’ in watching how laws are made (at this point, I would utilise a blog, and integrate a rage of pedagogical options (mentioned earlier in my blog) for students to respond to a range of questions around their observation of parliament.

I may coordinate this, relating to a specific piece of legislation (such as the creation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme); and the passage of this legislation into law. Students could track through the use of parliamentary videos, the creation of the NDIS from first reading through to Royal Assent.

Modification:

Once students had reviewed the initial videos (substitution) and then ‘augmented’ this through the ‘tracking of a bill’ to ‘a law’ (example: the NDIS) through parliamentary videos and recordings; students would then each be split into groups, and each group would then be allocated a particular ‘stage’ of making a law.

At this point, students would have to create their own video – capturing this stage of the Bill (although I have mentioned NDIS, students may decide on another issue: i.e. if you could pass a law tomorrow, what would it be? Or, what issue do you want changed in Australia?), at this point I would be drawing students prior knowledge of ICT and various video making platforms to create their video.

Redefinition:

As a class, coming back together; we would then co-join; the videos; that demonstrate and track how a bill becomes law. Once we have created this, we would then share via you tube; and students could embed on their blog. Where the class had decided on a particular issue that they have now ‘legislated on’, through their blog; students would then engage their Federal MP to show them their blog; and using this as a ‘platform’ to as the Federal Member on his response and consideration of the ‘chosen issue’; and indeed, within the right context, the Member of Parliament could introduce legislation to this extent, or utilise other mechanisms within parliament; such as a ‘Matter of Public Importance’ (MPI) to talk to ‘The House’, on the classes creation of the legislation and the importance of this in their education. This video of their parliamentarian speaking, could then also be embedded in their blogs – as a response to the class video of ‘the making of a law’.

4.2

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this section on audio files and learning; the key reason why? It has fundamentally stimulated my thinking around ‘literacy’ for the 21^st Century. I often approached the ‘concept’ of contemporary multi literacies and digital literacies, perhaps with a little reticence, and perhaps placed it in the same basket as the tired old debate centred around ‘proper English’ and ‘English’ that one might hear in different contexts, such as ‘street’ English for instance; and whether the latter truly constitutes English. However, on reviewing the content, it becomes clear that ‘simply listening’ to a record should not be a one-dimensional approach to learning.

Equally, to my mind, it also presupposes the use of higher order thinking and critical thinking skills, these do not dissipate with the introduction of digital literacies; but in many ways can be enhanced.

It also forced me to reflect on my own High Schooling; and how often things such as ‘watching a video’, including the video ‘Shawshank redemption’ I recall myself and friends and class mates all talked about it for such a long time, and the meaning of it etc; I now reflect to think ‘what richness’ there were in our discussions. However, these occurred outside the classroom; and watching a video was almost framed as a ‘treat’, and from there we simply wrote independent assignments, answered prepared questions on the film independently (so many wasted opportunities).

Therefore, when reviewing this section of podcasting and audio; (and the number of links and articles) it really ‘hit home’ for me the importance of integrating audio as a legitimate ICT function into my pedagogy.

Reflecting again on the SAMR model;

Substitution:

Perhaps rather than students reviewing a text book on the Australian constitution, they listen to a podcast/audio from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Education Office.

Augmentation:

Students then record each other, disseminating and discussing the key ideas of podcast they just listened to. Students may prepare this in writing first, as a script to read from; that the teacher reviews.

Modification:

Students then engage an expert or a commentator and record their discussion on the Constitution.  This could be researched through the internet, such as news articles etc on the Australian constitution, relevant to a particular social issue. This could all be done on-line. Or they could engage a Member of Parliament, and ask them to record via audio their reflections on the importance of Australia’s Constitution (this could be done via voxopop for instance).

Redefinition:

Students then research a key Constitutional issue, that has been judged by the High Court. Students, once learning this, then record a ‘mock’ trial at court, meaning they have to write a script and ‘pull together’ their learnings, for one final court room scene on the Constitution. Indeed, another group of students, could be the media for the day ‘covering the story’ by audio (i.e. pretending to be an ABC journalist for instance).

4.1

When I reflect critically on Goal 2 as set out in the ‘Melbourne Declaration on Education goals for Young Australians’, “that all young people in Australia should be supported to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens” (ACARA 2016), although the entirety of this goal (and indeed Goal 1) is equally important, as a pre-service Teacher across my subject area of Civics and Citizenship I have a particular interest in how I can best ensure that my pedagogy enables that young people are ‘active and informed citizens’.

For me, a core component of this is, how do we make meaning in our life? Make sociological meaning? Form opinions? Decide which way to vote? If young Australians are asked in 5 years time to vote on Australia becoming a republic though a referendum, will they have a full comprehension of this? and ascertaining models put forward? But also contributing to the debate? Indeed, in my own State of South Australia the Premier has committed to a ‘referendum’ through a plebiscite in 2018 for a nuclear waste dump (this won’t change the South Australian constitution, as is seeking feedback from the majority of South Australians one way or the other).  Similarly, the South Australian State Government has committed to a formal referendum in 2018, seeking a change to the state’s constitution, related to the function of voting in the State Upper House, and also of dealing with ‘deadlock’, so houses of parliament could potentially be dissolved more quickly (these are by no means, trivial. But are incumbent on citizen engagement and awareness).

To make meaning of these issues and to come to an informed decision, there will invariably be a range of images presented in media (on the television, internet, bus stops etc) and elsewhere; for students to be able to critique these and then drill down to formulate an opinion, is an excellent example of being an ‘active and informed citizen’.   

Further to this, regards images and visuals that are designed and generated by learners, learners also are required draw on higher order thinking, critical thinking and skills related to Blooms Taxonomy, but why is this so? If a learner is required to generate an image for a certain reason, let’s say it’s to promote their blog around whether their local council should vote to sell a parcel of land, to fund a dog park (for instance), the use of imagery to ‘persuade’ others to their position will be critical. For students to draw on their ICT capacity to create imagery, but also source imagery from the internet (and understand the Copyright component) are both key skills on their learning journey, and represent their learning purpose.

To expand on this example more fully, reflecting the SAMR model; I would propose to integrate the use of blogs and visual images, in my pedagogy, as follows:

Substitution:

Students set up two blogs, one blog is to vote ‘yes’ (for) to sell the land and create the dog park, the other blog is to vote ‘no’ (against) to the motion to sell the land and vote for the dog park.

By utilising a blog, students are substituting would otherwise be done either hand written, or let’s say by the use of a Microsoft document only. Students take photos of the site, and load these images on their blog page.

Augmentation:

Students now enhance the blog, both for and again; by using google earth to show pictures and imagery of the land that is to be sold; and the location in which the dog park anticipated to be built.

Student’s also start to research the issue, including previous council reports on the matter; and have hyperlinks to this; as well as hyperlinks to the plans for the dog park etc.

The display, for instance, the ‘master plan’ and ‘concept design’ of the imagery on their blog page.

Modification:

Students now engage with members of the community (post logistics) around their views of the issue; and record, document and capture these on their blog pages – wether for or against. Students also interview the relevant council managers who have created the reports for public consultation; and engage with them through their blog posts – around how engagement occurred, and how this informed the proposals.

With this information; students then develop ‘concept maps’ with imagery – that attempts to capture a summary of the issue; the master plan of the dog park, and the earmarked land to be sold and concept map out the issues, such as:

·       Voters/community member feedback and support for and against

·       Links to relevant documents and local media issues

·       Links and google earth to other council areas with dog parks have been achieved

·       Bar graph information related to the ‘expenditure’ to build the dog park, and the steps to ‘revocate and sell land’ etc

·       etc

Redefinition:

In the week leading up to the vote; the students engage with the elected councillors; and as them their views as they lead into the vote. At this stage, media could also review the students blogs and drawn on content, to be published in the local messenger newspaper; which reaches a wide audience. As the students are constituents, Councillors would be engaging through their blog.

Students then create a final ‘info graphic’ on the issue (and ask Councillors to review these before they vote); and finally would then link the ‘live stream’ of the council meeting; through their blog pages (and, with permission of their parents, can watch the council proceedings, debate an ultimate vote/decision).

Reflections from week 4 readings:

schooltube:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SchoolTube


Please note: this is not reflection 4.1; but is in reference to '1. Using Media for Learning', which asks us to google digital media in the science classroom.

I have done this for my subject area of Humanities and Social Sciences; and although a lot of the content is American; I believe - putting aside the curriculum details for a moment - this is a good clip; where the teaching  integrating technology through research of an individual migrant at the turn of 19th Century America:


http://www.schooltube.com/video/ed9ff3c8ce86a1d87466/Digital%20Media%20in%20the%20Social%20Studies%20Classroom

I am looking forward to reading the rest of this content; to ascertain the intent of the readings wether it will be integrating 'media' (as in the mass media, such as newspapers, online such as abc); or wether it is reviewing the use of digital media more generally.


Use of images:

http://www.managetrainlearn.com/page/old-hag

Although the use of counterparty technology around photo manipulation can at one level, be ‘light hearted’ and almost fun; and to a large extent a part of contemporary culture. For instance, if we thinking about celebrities, and airbrushing to achieve certain fashion etc. The importance of teaching students to think critically (per the readings) takes on new meaning, when the full implications of ‘historic airbrushing’ are explored by students (NB: this does not distract from the importance of critical analysis of contemporary and of culture, and analysing and discerning its role in the ‘market place’, or ‘self esteem’ and wellbeing etc; which is also of critical importance).

The website below provided as an example is noteworthy. For instance, the picture edited to remove Benito Mussolini’s horse handler, and how this aims to frame the Fascist Leader in a certain light, that linked to his status – and ultimately Italy’s part in the ‘Axis Powers’ of the War.

http://twistedsifter.com/2012/02/famously-doctored-photographs/

When thinking across my curriculum area of civics and citizenship; and for instance the role of political parties; reviewing political photos from the National Museum would be key:

http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/behind_the_lines_the_years_best_cartoons_2009/leaders

I would use these to explore and critique meaning; and link this to the curriculum (as noted above).

Reflection 3.3

Up until this point; I have spent the majority of my energy using Blogger and customising my blog page; whilst initially setting up weebly – without deep diving into its functionality.

As I have progressed this week by playing around with the functionality of weebly; I do sincerely enjoy the intuitive functionality of the ‘drag and drop’ feature; and the relative ease in which to embed videos, audio and picture; and indeed I am a fan of embedding weblinks within pictures; when an a visitor hovers their mouse over an image. Where your weebly site can be positioned for a range of purposes, additional functions such as this ensure a great range of functionality.

However, of course a downfall may be not allowing a multi author capacity (since it is a website after all); however there are ways around this, including the comments function for visitors (however this lacks in effectiveness, compared to say a blog). However in this context, I have enjoyed the multi-page ability of weebly, including the link to a blog – this increases its universality and function, particularly therefore in its application to an education setting.

By way of example, drawing on the SAMR model (across the civics and citizenship teaching area):

Substitution:

As a teacher, I could have a weebly page; and on this page there could be a range a multimedia videos and links to the Australian ‘Parliamentary Education Office’.

By viewing content, by way of video – such as ‘what is the Australian Constitution’, this is being substituted from reading in a text book.

Augmentation:

On the weebly page, at the end of the page on ‘referendums’ and the ‘Australian Constitution’ for example, as a teacher, I could then have a quiz, with various questions that students could answer. I could enable students to respond into the webpage through a comment, or perhaps on the blog section of my weebly page (this way they could contribute to each others responses; and this could be done in a variety of ways, such as each student answering one question, and the next responding). Equally, this type of work could be done in a ‘forum’ setting on the weebly page, so it is more interactive. This would also necessitate students drawing on higher order thinking, drawing on blooms taxonomy; including analysing the material just viewed etc.

Modification:

In exploring the constitution more fully, and as required as part of the curriculum, students would explore the process for referendum. A traditional approach may be, to research in a text book what have been the constitutional changes since 1901 and how many referendums have not achieved a constitutional change. Students could interview a cohort of the community around how this change affected their life or that of a cohort or community; such the 1967 Constitutional change enabling the Parliament to legislate regarding Aboriginal Australians. They could then present their findings in the blog section of weebly.

Redefinition:

Continuing in the context of referendum and the constitution; students as a class could decide on an issue that failed at referendum, such as Australia moving from a Constitutional Monarchy to a Republic. Again, research could centre around the debate for and against, and the utilisation around a range of digital tools on the weebly page. Such as, the class could set up one weebly page for a change to a Republic and a page that remains. Through this, we could then engage both formally with ‘entities’ that champion a republic (such as the Republican movement) and a constitution monarchy (such as Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy); and ask these entities to contribute to the weebly page (this way, really connecting socio-politically with this issue); indeed the Class could also engage their Federal Member of Parliament, and ask them to provide a 30 second video on their position; and this could be embedded on the Weebly.

Reflection 3.2

Although I have ‘struggled’ a little in my fluency of the technical functionality of creating and editing my wiki space; on review of the literature and multiple examples I can really see the relevance to the utilisation of a wiki. Critically, a wiki acts as a platform for learners to contribute and be collaborative on a live page. Importantly, a wiki is a ‘living’ page and can have multiple authors contribute to the page; although unfortunately a wiki does not have the capacity for multi authors to be updating the page at one time (this is one shortcoming of a wiki page).

When thinking of a wiki as a on-line ‘butcher’s paper, per the reading (https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=418563&chapterid=29403) there are great advantages from a pedagogical perspective, to optimise student engagement in learning, however consideration must be given that unlike a blog a wiki is not ‘chronological’, but users add, update, delete and then contribute to material. (Of course it must be noted however, that there is a history of editing; but this is not necessarily ‘fit for purpose’ to measure distance travelled of a learner’s journey and contribution).

By way of example, drawing on the SAMR model through the utilisation of a wiki across my curriculum area of Humanities and Social Sciences (Civics and citizenship) ACHCK090 students are required to understand: “The key features and values of Australia’s system of government compared with at least ONE other system of government in the Asia region” (ACARA 2016):

Substitution:

The Teacher and students creating two lists: one with Australia, and one with (for example) Indonesia, on a white board with the teacher facilitating the learning and discussion based on what has been learnt;

Incorporating a wiki:

The class now substitute this for a wiki page, where they are to each individually add to their list. (this enhances what otherwise might be done on a physical whiteboard).

Augmentation:

Students then ‘augment’ this, by embedding direct webpage links to the ‘official’ Government webpages of both Australia and Indonesia that describe their key features ad values of their system of Government.

Additionally images could then be added, of the countries various parliaments; and also ‘you tube’ and other videos from Government sites that explain the countries system of Government from official Government webpages.

This would ‘augment; what otherwise would be read in a text book.

The transformative levels could include:

Modification:

On the wiki page, students could then be split into two groups, one group would concentrate on Australia, and another on Indonesia. Each group would set up a link to a new wiki page; and they would perhaps record a 30 second recording, explaining the key features of the countries system of government; form their new page of wiki.

Redefinition:

Through facilitation, the class would then interact through the wiki, with a school in Indonesia where they would share their recorded summaries of both Australia’s and Indonesia’s systems of Government; and invite these students to contribute to their reflections on Australia’s system of Government from an Indonesian students perfective, and also to provide feedback on our students understanding and summary of Indonesia’s system of Government.

Importantly, although through the redefinition phase would take a level of logistics to realise (as embedded within the wiki functionality; and other relevant ethical, safety and legal concerns), I feel the authenticity of this would be a profound learning experience; as well as critically working toward the cross-curriculum priority of Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia.

Reflection 3.1

As we have proceeded to week 3; and also aligning this time with our first weekly embedded task, I do feel (as I have mentioned in previous blogs) that although we are progressing through a lot of content; I am now starting to ‘see’ what I am reading and learning – rather than a ‘haze’ and perhaps a ‘sketch’ – to now having clarity and synthesising the content so I can make sense of it. But critically how this can translate and apply to my own teaching and pedagogy; integrating week 1 and 2 learning.

In this context, perhaps the most important takeaway for me is: how can I keep front and centre in my future lesson design and pedagogy that learning:

·       Needs to be authentic, to increase learner engage and optimise learning outcomes, anchored in a real world context

o   This rests on the premise that students today are living in a thoroughly complex world, that perhaps can seem overwhelming and daunting.

o   This means that to ‘cut through’ our pedagogy must immediately inform the learner of the ‘relevance’ of this content to the world that they inhabit.

o   At the same time, to increase the quality of learning; one must think ‘how can ICT be a cornerstone’ of my pedagogy (and not merely an afterthought); in a way that strikes the right balance between ‘teaching content within the context of the Australian curriculum’ and ensuring co-design and co-learning occurs for students

o   Importantly, all pedagogy must ultimately lend itself to ‘high end learning’, reflecting here on Blooms Taxonomy

o   Finally; the above provides the framework to ensure that the important general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities are also imbued within delivery; this way ensuring the key goal as set out in the Melbourne Declaration on Education goals for Young Australians “that all young people in Australia should be supported to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens” (ACARA 2016)

As represented diagrammatically here (ACARA 2016):

NB: As just a brief reflection; I think it is a very noble concept to embed these throughout the Australian Curriculum, critically for those students who may be attending their schooling from very challenging and often complex personal and individual circumstances. Particularly, if this cohort of ‘disadvantaged’ learners may become ‘Early School Leavers’, outside of subject content; if the above can be achieved, in my view this will lend itself to an increase across their life outcomes, and future social and economic participation.

When reflecting across my curriculum area, one content descriptor states that students should be taught: “The role of political parties and independent representatives in Australia’s system of government, including the formation of governments” (ACARA, 2016).

Although this content descriptor could be viewed as a gargantuan task, it is important to consider the learner and their prior knowledge, as well as breaking this into potential Units of work to lesson plans. Drawing on week 1 and week 2 learning I would use a blog for this content descriptor as follows:  I would ask each student to create their own blog, and on this blog students would nominate a political party, or independent representative as the theme. As part of this research, prior to commencing the blog we would agree as a class (through workshopping ideas): what would we want to know about this political party? (more on why this is relevant later). In this context, I would be working to ensure the tasks set are in part co-designed with the learner, and learner centred. Ideas may be (for example):

·       The party’s (or independent) history

·       What does it stand for?

·       How many times has the party ‘formed Government’?

·       How many Members of Parliament does it have in the current Australian Parliament?

·       Identify a local Federal Member of Parliament from this political party, and research their most recent speech in Parliament

·       Identify a social issue you may be passionate about, what stance does this political party have regards this issue?

The blog would use the framework above, and have a particular focus on being multimodal; and would have to include links to videos of speeches in Parliament from the MP chosen, newspaper articles on party issues, web links to the Party’s home page etc. Importantly to ensure, reflecting on the SAMR model, that tasks achieve higher order digital learning, as a redefinition task, students would have to engage with their Member of Parliament chosen, or political party, or their various staff representatives; this may be framed by asking the Party representative, their individual views on the social issue that the student is passionate about for instance.

Reflecting on Blooms Taxonomy, the blog would culminate in the student providing an argument as to why their particular party or independent chosen, should form the next Government of Australia, thus drawing on higher order thinking, and critical thinking skills such as analysis and evaluation. Importantly then, the whole blog would act as a ‘campaign’ to convince their audience of the merits of this party forming Government, or the independent members role in the next Government of Australia (thus drawing on the various technical capacity and functions of blogger).

References:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2016) http://v7-5.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/overview/general-capabilities-in-the-australian-curriculum

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2016) http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-sciences/civics-and-citizenship/curriculum/7-10?layout=1#level10