Week 2 - Reflection

Well its only week 2 and already we have learnt so much about the advances in ICTs and how we may be able to use them in the classroom to become effective teachers. TPACK, Blooms Taxonomy, PMI, Six Thinking Hats, Wikis, Blogs, Multiple Intelligences, Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, Connectivism are just some of the terms we have to become familiar with over the past 2 weeks. Yep, talk about INFORMATION OVERLOAD. There is so much information, ideas and frameworks out there that involve the use of technology and effective ways to use it. Until now I had no idea of the endless opportunities that the world of ICTs could provide us. Although I am now much more familiar with what ICTs are and how we might be able to use them in the classroom I still have a long way to go before I fully understand the concept of it all.

So what is an ICT (Information and Communication Technology)? Well to put it simply it is any digital device. It covers all forms of computers and laptops, communications equipment such as mobiles and radios, internet, scanners, televisions, cameras, MP3 players, GPS devices and digital microscopes to name a few.

Education Queensland identifies digital pedagogy as being "a new way of working and learning with ICT to facilitate quality learning experiences for 21st Century learners. Digital Pedagogy moves the focus from ICT tools and skills, to a way of working in the digital world". (p.3) Students can use ICTs to access, integrate, manage and evaluate information, develop new understanding and to participate as global citizens through collaboration across local, national and intentional borders. It helps students to develop deep knowledge through inquiry and supports the students thinking, organization of ideas, planning of solutions and the ability to model and visualize the invisible. (CQUniversity, 2011)

When teaching eLearning we must ensure that the appropriate pedagogy and technology is used to ensure the best possible outcome for the content being taught.

We also learnt  this week of the importance of how to work legally by abiding by copyright laws and also the importance of safe and ethical operations that should be used online to prevent the exposure of inappropriate material and the risk of harassment or bullying to students. NetSafe Kids provides some resources to help keep children safe.

References:

CQUniversity. (2011) ELearning Design. Retrieved 17 July 2011 from 

http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=186314