Group 2 Tools - Video Reflection

Along with audio, video can play a big role in music education. In many ways, it can enhance audio with a visual display of the sounds – music videos are an excellent example of this. However, a study by Swisher (2007) has suggested that how the video is used is much more important that whether video is used at all. This suggestion has implications for us as teachers – the pedagogy of how we use videos in the classroom is critical, this is what Technological Pedagogy Knowledge is all about.

Not only is video and excellent way to present content and reinforce the learning experience, it can also prove an excellent tool to develop higher order thinking skills (HOTS) as well as developing students’ literacy ability (data organisation, communication and presentation) whilst making students review previous information – this is critical analysis.

Once again the issues of privacy, permission/licencing and student safety all need to be recognised within video content – on the Internet and on a community-sharing basis. For public videos, students should not be identifiable for their own safety. Videos created should also be of the best possible ethical standards.

There are so many ways students could use video to enhance their learning experiences. Here is a list of some of the few:

• Video displays of sheet music with the audio form of the music here is an example:

• Documentaries of musicians can be viewed to help the students make connections with the artist.
• Students could videotape their practice and upload it to a blog for discussion – potential for a video diary of their practice.
• Students could record performances and then edit the recording to make a DVD presentation for the class. They can enhance their video editing skills in this process, whilst reviewing their performance.

Here is PMI Analysis of videos as a educational tool:

Plus

• Engaging
• Induces higher order thinking skills
• Can be used as a content introducer or as a content reinforcer
• Both visually and aurally stimulating 

Minus

• Student safety, privacy and licencing concerns
• Can distract from content and pedagogy if used ineffectively

Interesting

• Very helpful in documenting student progress
• Video reviews are often the best way to rectify technical issues in music. 

References

Swisher, D.J. (2007). Does multimedia truly enhance learning? Moving beyond the visual media bandwagon toward instruction effectiveness. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/1046356/Does_Multimedia_Truly_Enhance_Learning_Moving_Beyond_The_Visual_Media_Bandwagon_Toward_Instructional_Effectiveness

Group 2 Tools - Images Reflection

The saying ‘A picture speaks a 1000 words’ is often thrown around when discussing graphic displays of information. Images are not new fangled communication methods; they have been around for millennia. The way we use them with ICT’s though, this is a huge consideration in planning for technologies in the classroom. The key thing to remember when using images in ICT’s is what words do I want this graphic to convey? – Ultimately, how will I frame this image so that my students take appropriate meaning from it?

This what Thibault and Walbert (2003) identify as the first level of visual literacy, the “Basic identification of the subject or elements in a photograph, work of art, or graphic.” We should scaffold activities appropriately for effective learning experiences so that the visual literacy component does not become lost in translation. This being said, images are very helpful for engaging student attention, but have the potential to weaken the actual message through distraction and misinterpretation.

Many issues arise when using images in online spaces. Here is a summary from my experiences in the exercises I participated in:

• Licencing. Picture taken from the web need appropriate approval from their owner if they are under licence. One way around this is to use images with a Creative Commons licence. These are free-sourced images that can be altered, modified and used for commercial purposes. One source for searching these types of photos is the Creative Commons website – www.creativecommons.org.au
• Safety. Especially in school environment, students must never be identifiable on the open Internet. Along with this, images that show informal and incorrect situations should never be uploaded, as so many issues can come from this.
• Permission. As with any picture or multimedia, the permission of the subject/owner of the photo must be obtained before it can be used.

Putting these issues aside, correctly structured activities involving images can be very effective learning experiences. In my KLA of the Arts (Music Strand) images can provide very useful as a learning tool, however, the ideas for activities are limited as it is an audio focussed medium. However, some examples of using images include:

• Students can make a photo diary of a school recital and reflect on the entire event. (Practical workplace situation activity)
• Students could take photos of setups during a music-recording project to easily document the complex setups instead of writing on very, very confusing diagrams. The same can be done with screenshots of the software setups (Eg. Mixing Bus setups on ProTools LE)

Activities that we were asked to do in the Images Tool section included resizing and altering images. As I have a lot of experience with software including PhotoShop and Fireworks, I feel rather comfortable with manipulating images. It did make me realise that images need to be tailored for online spaces – right size and right resolutions. An example of this consideration can be found on my Group 2 wiki page.

To summarise my experience with images for ICT’s, I prepared a PMI analysis:

Plus

• Visuals are excellent for engagement!
• Removes a lot of reading writing and reduces work time – a picture says 1000 words.
• Powerful as a memory stimulant: Visual memory.

Minus

• Online safety of students needs to be considered.
• Permission needs to be obtained to use images taken from others (Permission and Liscencing)
• Can detriment content through distraction (irrelevance)

Interesting

• Graphic forms of data and images in general are so much more appealing than what words and tables can be. This makes learning and reading a lot easier.

References

Thibault, M., & Walbert, D. (2003). Reading images: an introduction to visual literacy. Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/675

Group 1 Tools - Websites Reflection

My website can be found here.

When comparing to wikis and blogs, websites seem very dull. They are static sources, unable to be interactive and unable to grow on their own. However, websites are a very helpful tool to use in the classroom. Due to their static nature, teachers can create websites packed with class materials, knowing that they will have full control over it and nothing will be altered or inappropriate for their students.

This though, can lead to issues of disengagement by students. Whilst a website may be an effective place to put a stack of lesson notes, it is simply no better than a written textbook. The internet, and indeed, websites are high technological repositories and teachers should make every effort to make websites as interactive as possible for students.

A good example of a website I use for class material is Moodle. Content is continually added and I can find all of my resources and notes there. While effective and very helpful for tertiary level students (most of the time), this would be a poor use of a website for secondary students. Websites need to interact with students and involve them in class content, not just be another place to find the content, but with a little technology added in. Again, teachers should refer to the TPACK framework before integrating technology.

Once again, scaffolding is the most essential part of preparing technologies for classrooms. Students should be able to see clearly outlined procedures for interaction and engagement with activities. Websites, I believe, should be presented in a way that captures student attention whilst being clearly and rationally organised. A page with a screen full of text will not suffice.

One issue with creating websites is a need to know how to create webpages. Websites are a bunch of coded messages translated by our browsers to show up on our screen, so once upon a time (Back in the days of HTML 3 at least) webpages had to be designed from the code up. From experience this process is so frustrating.

Today however, tools have been designed so web pages can be created just like word processing programs produce documents. These tools, such as Google Pages, and Weebly (the tool we use) make web design much easier and much more effective. Design and structure become so much easier to deal with using these tools. Of course, a little bit of code never did any harm, and I believe it is crucial to understand how the Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) works.

I think websites have effective uses in my KLA (The Arts). Interactivity and connection to other resources are the most essential aspects of website design for students, and I will constantly need to think of this credo when designing class websites. Examples of how I can use website in my teaching area include:

• Designing a page with a series of videos of music with the accompanying PDF of the sheet music beside it.
• Multiple choice quizzes with references to video, audio and visual materials
• Using a page to embed various artefacts – YouTube, Slideshows, Facebook, Instagrams, Flickr, Twitter, RSS Feeds, Podcasts, even Wiki’s and Blogs!
• Probably the most used way to incorporate a website into lessons is by using it as a virtual textbook. Care must be taken to ensure that it still is interactive and student focussed (engaging and content based.)

Using a website in the classroom has various positive and negative implications for the students’ learning outcomes. The following PMI Analysis is a helpful tool to structure my analysis.

Pluses

• Unlimited space to deposit any form of media whether it be text, graph, audio, video, application, tool or script. The possibilities are endless.
• Websites can be used as the first point of call to the vast and unlimited resource that is the internet. Links can provide quick access to some of the better resources.
• Websites are static and are controlled by one entity.
• Design of websites is strictly up to the controller of that site.

Minuses

• Potential to become dull and uninteresting – like an online textbook.
• Unless using a design tool like Weebly or web design software like Dreamweaver, knowledge of coding is needed, and this can be terribly complex.
• Websites take lots of time to create and present well.
• Content under copyright cannot exactly be copied without various infringements.

Interesting

• School systems already have websites dedicated to various subjects. The idea of websites in classes is not new.
• Websites can become online diaries for students, marking assessment dates, homework and other such important information that can’t be changed.
• Pages can become useful resources when creating assignments.

Group 1 Tools - Wiki Reflection

My wiki can be found here.

The use of a wiki in the classroom I believe, provides the most difficult integration challenge for teachers. A wiki is a type of website that allows the user of that website, to add, modify and delete page content. It differs from a traditional website in that a standard website can only be modified by the owner (like a read only file), whereas a wiki can be modified by anyone who is able to access it. Fasso (2013) likens it to a “never-ending, paginated sheet of online butchers paper.”

From creating my own wiki, it becomes apparent that everything about a wiki can be modified. Everything. From the title of the page to the content, to the videos to the pictures and everything in between, someone can change it. In the classroom, this provides a potential disastrous situation.

This being said though, wikis can be used as valued tools in the classroom. From being used as a collaboration tool for assessment, research, brainstorming and creating online resources between students, wikis can be used to broaden the discussion taking learning outside the 19^th century classroom and into the 21^st century world. Students should be taught correct etiquette for using wikis, just like they are taught correct etiquette for all parts of their life (this could be described as meta-etiquettes e.g. golf etiquette, library etiquette, wiki etiquette, dinner etiquette).

Here is an excellent article on Blog and Wiki etiquette. 

Wikis are a valued tool in the classroom due to the flexibility and somewhat organic growth they are able to achieve. This presents the same issue that blogs do that they become overarching behemoths and flatten the pedagogies and content they are supposed to work in harmony with. For this reason, the TPCK framework must be utilised for the benefit of the lesson. The wiki should always be scaffolded to focus on the content using such structures as Blooms Taxonomy or a PMI analysis among others. I believe that if correctly used, wikis can become a powerful tool for creating interactive learning skills for 21^st century learners.

There are several examples of ways I could use wikis in my KLA (the Arts). Here are a few examples:

• Creating a dictionary of Musical Terms in a table
• Ask students to add their thoughts to a well-worded question (Blooms) discussing a musical concept/genre
• Get students to post single instrument recorded tracks to their wiki (using a common theme/song) where students can then access them and mix and edit them and the combine them into a song.
• Ask students to post any issues they have or challenging questions to the class wiki for classmates to collaborate and answer, working together (Stop, Collaborate and Listen…).
• Ask students for homework to find 10 YouTube clips fitting a certain genre. Links are to be posted to the wiki. Other students can comment on what they think of the songs. (Scaffolding needed.)

Finally, using a wiki as a classroom tool as many implications, both positive and negative. The following PMI Analysis is a helpful tool to structure my analysis.

Plusses

• Ability to grow with a group of learners – progress then becomes visual.
• Flexible and able to be designed for many uses
• Collaboration stimulates group work
• Fosters Connectivism for students
• Sharing becomes much easier
• Teachers can have an oversight in the learning, not actually teaching, letting the students do it.
• Caters for various learning theories – constructivism (building on previous material), cognitivism (thinking about it and drawing conclusions from others work), behaviourism (wikis can be used for similar activities several times without students becoming bored) and Connectivism (able to connect to other parts of the Internet and information discovery alone.

Minuses

• Anyone can add, modify and delete. Safety issue, potential calamity for content.
• Only 1 person can edit at a time (blogs can be done as many whenever)
• Wiki etiquette can easily be ignored
• Students need to be taught how to use a wiki. Detracts from content.
• People who aren’t part of the class (anyone) can access the wiki

Interesting

• Can be accessed anywhere, anytime with mobile devices.
• Technology fosters the subconscious retaining of content. Conning is half the act.

References

Fasso, W. (2013). Digital tool 2: Wikis for Collaborative Learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/407928/mod_page/content/8/wikis.html

Group 1 Tools - Blog Reflection

The use of a blog in the classroom as a teaching tool/pedagogy has what appears to be on first glance, many, many uses. This I believe is where the problem lies. With seemingly endless possibilities of uses in the classroom, the challenge is focussing this web space for singular classroom activities.

The way the blogs have been used in this course as both reflective tool and an assessment tool demonstrates this focussing of potential. We have been asked to use the blog to reflect on various parts of the course so far, from learning theories to basic ICT tools, such as this. Throughout the entire course so far, we have been strongly encouraged to use appropriate scaffolding to our own analysis’ to ensure we continue to focus on our content.

Through effective scaffolding, I believe I can use a blog in my classroom to affect a positive, maximised learning experience. Teachers should realise the potential of blogs but also realised their need to be part of very well designed lesson plans.

An example of a poor use of blogging is to simply set a class the activity of setting up their own blog and making four posts on a topic being studied. Whilst it does provide the student with an opportunity to learn how to set up a blog, stressing a focus on technology, it does not focus on content and has a very limited pedagogy. Teachers should be aware of the TPCK framework and make sure that the technology works with the pedagogy and focuses on the content to enhance the students’ learning outcomes.

Fasso (2013) suggests, “One of the very best ways to encourage your students to write is to have them record their own learning journey, remembering also that school is only a small part of their learning journey.” A modification to that activity would be to ask the students to set up a blog, and ask the students to reflect on what they learnt in 4 separate lessons, using an analytical thinking tool such as De Bono’s thinking hats or a SWOT or PMI analysis exercise. Also, Bloom’s Taxonomy is a very helpful tool for posing questions effectively to student and engaging higher order thinking skills (the HOTS). This way, students are always focussed on thinking about content whilst using effective pedagogies to make sure students are thinking in the right manner about the content. Overall, the technology is not the overarching behemoth that some teachers can let it be.

Other examples of the effective use of blogs in the music classroom I teach in are:

• Posting a video or sound clip for students to listen to, then asking them to comment on how the elements of music are manipulated to create the particular song.
• Instead of using an end of term exam to present an analytical essay, the assessment could be broken up into parts and student could write posts on their own blogs for a series of songs analysing them against the elements of music.
• Students could post original compositions to their blog for discussion with classmates (brainstorming ideas) and along with that, use the blog as a reflective journal.
• For a performance assessment, students could reflect weekly on their progress toward the final performance discussing how they have improved, what they have learnt and what they could learn from here.

Using a blog in the classroom has various positive and negative implications for the classroom. The following SWOT Analysis is a helpful tool to structure my analysis.

Strengths

• Extends the learning to outside the classroom
• Gets students to take control of their leaning in an interactive environment
• Allows access at any time
• Allows discussion via comments
• Allows for some Connectivism via connection to the rest of the internet
• Has many different uses, but can be scaffolded very efficiently
• Allows students’ to voice their ideas and opinions from the comfort of their own home, whilst allowing them to provide sufficient evidence to support their ideas and opinions.

Weaknesses

• Because of public access, anyone can obtain information and materials. Online safety becomes an issue.
• Comment moderation is only optional. Defamatory comments and even defamatory posts can be presented.

Opportunities

• Endless ideas for student interaction and engagement
• Mobile technologies allow for posts to be viewed and updated on the go.
• Student creativity can come to the forefront (a big plus in my KLA the Arts)
• Interaction between students on a whole new level outside of face to face and Facebook.

Threats

• Through a lack of scaffolding, activities can become somewhat blunted and purposeless.
• Student safety is a massive issue, but if comments are disabled, discussion is muted.

References

Fasso, W. (2013). Digital tool 1: Blogs for Learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/407928/mod_page/content/8/blogs.html