24/7 - Girls and ICT

Being a female, using the computer and undertaking a teaching degree I found this article highly relevant and incredibly informative. As I am about to graduate and commence my first year of teaching, I will inevitably teach girls. Thus I need to understand firstly what they are doing on the computer and secondly why they're using it and possible risks that are associated with it's use. Although I do see a need to incorporate technology within the classroom, I do realise the risks that are associated with it's use however I am not so certain whether the students understand these risks and the implications. I think that it is imperative that as an educator we inform these students of the risks and where to seek help if they are having trouble. Gannon 2008 found that 26% of students main concerns were about hackers and developing viruses, not about cyber bullying or other associated risks.

The aim of this blog is not to demise the internet or cyber communication it is to make teachers aware of the risks. Whilst making us realise the benefits of girls using ICT. This paper empowers girls/women to utilise technology and it's creative opportunities that it provides then we can further understand why students use the internet for various reasons, as a social network and constructing their identity.

Teaching, Learning and the World's Stage

The article that Esra has reflected on was of real interest to me. I was unsure of what both instructionism and constructivism were. I have learnt from this blog that, instructionism is to teach students through instructions to ensure learning, a chalk and talk approach to teaching. Whereas, constructionism is a student centred learning approach. That is students develop ideas and gather information on a topic area, experiential learning. Constructionism should be a teaching method used within the class to engage the students whilst encouraging a deeper learning and higher order thinking of the topic area. This can be achieved if students are able to use the internet to engage in their own areas of interest.

I found it relevant as a newly qualified teacher, if we are to undertake a new form of teaching, that being utilising the use of ICT within the classroom then it is imperative that the computer is both the instructor and the constructor. No longer is the teacher the instructor, in this changing world the computer shoud now be utilised as an effective form of education. If we are to engage students of the 21st Century in the classroom then we are required to utilise the computer, internet and blogging.

Whether this is possible in both my KLA and Esra's KLA is yet to be determined.....I guess will have to wait and see.

Whats the equation for success?

Sophie's article was very informative and provided significant insight into the changing scope of today's world. As suggested by Papert, the computer and internet is an extremely useful tool in that it can appeal to all tastes, ages, genders and backgrounds. Therefore must be used as an educational tool within all classrooms and key learning areas.

This article really appealed to me as like what Sophie noted, this article provides meaningfulness by relating the article to Papert's interests of cars and gears. Thus I think as newly qualified teachers, we should take this article into consideration, we should relate the content and the syllabus to the students by utilising knowledge that is prexisting to them and connecting it with the new information that is being presented. This can be achieved through using the internet or other mediums to develop students cognitive development. Thus can this new form of education assist students in becoming self regulated learners? Will relating information in the classroom that is both appealing and relevant to these students make learning easier for them hence making students more motivated?

I guess the goal for me as a teacher is:

The Goal of Teaching: Lifelong Expert Learning

Hence in order for me to achieve this, I will need to adjust and embrace the changing nature of education for the students to ensure that it is meaningful to them.

Does and Will Blogging Actually Assist in Students Literacy Levels?

Although blogging does allow for three elements of learning:
- promotes verbal and visual literacy through storytelling
- allows for collaborative learning
- equitable access for all learners and developmental stages of learners

However is this really the case? Or does blogging really only allow for a casual form of communication? If students are continually blogging do they lose all their ability to write in a formal way, if this is the case what will happen when students seek higher education? Will it result in lower marks and literacy levels of students? One university lecturer has commented that despite those students who receive the highest UAI marks they continually
commence uni with both poor spelling and grammatical errors - would this not only be exacerbated with an increase in the use of blogging within the educational environment? Or would it consequently mean that becuase students work was eligible for many people to access would it make students proof read their work more?

Kennedy 2003 has noted that blogging within the classroom has made a marked improvement in students literacy levels, blogging helps students to become more aware of their writing, as well as their audience....

Thus just maybe my first hypothesis was incorrect. In a changing world I feel that it would only be appropriate to change the medium in which we teach.

Kennedy, K (2003) Writing with Web Logs

Huffaker, D (2005) Let them Blog: Using Web blogs to enhance literacy in the K-12 Classroom

Connected or Disconnected

Spohie's article was extremely relevant, I agree with your fundamental principle, that is students ability to connnect and access information via the internet. Their ability to research and access information for assessment tasks has improved dramatically due to their researching abilities, however at what expense?
I feel that this alteration in communication processes (msm, texting and skype) has lead to a decline in students and adolescents ability to express themselves phonologically due to the technological advances. Thus students ability to express themselves verbally has alleviated due to thier constant "connectedness" therefore students are acting out in a way of expressing themself as they can no longer do this verbally.

Really are students connected? Or is it a case of being connected whilst being disconnected at the sametime?

Australian Teachers "Tops" at Intergrating Technology

This article was extremely informative, I was unaware that students who are exposed to ICT in their learning and who are established computer users perform better than those who are limited computer users. Thus from this statement it's imperative that technology is utilised, however it needs to be used in an appropriate format - teachers can not simply use technology as a way of ticking the box. That is using a power point presentation to convey the lesson content is not teaching, it is mearley ticking the box in accordance with the NSW Board of Studies.

Teachers need to utilise technology to engage the students. Like those teachers who won the Australia's Innovative Teachers Awards, where they used technology to engage students who had previously had little interest in the subject content and in learning. It is these teachers who are making use of the changing nature of technology to open the minds on adolescents to ensure that they're learning within the classroom and engaging within the activities. What a great article and an inspiration for me as a newly qualified teacher!

Technology in Tomorrow's Schools

This article - The Technology use in Tomorrow's School, provided huge insight into the changing nature of the classroom, and the expectations of both student and teachers alike. Nearly 50% of teachers in the past year had required word processing (Becker 1999). However what are the costs involved with this influx of technology within education? Despite the great strides in incorporating technology into US classrooms, we still fall short of providing a seamless, convenient, reliable and robust technology support structure for all teachers and students. Today's desktops and internet usages are not the educational ideal (Roschelle et al The future of education) however how can we create equity among all classrooms worldwide? Where learning can be formally organised and evenly distributed.....
Barbara Means 2002 copyright

Teens, Technology and the Future of our Education

They’re a generation that is highly technologically literate and immersed in a world of media and gadgets, their technology is no longer simply limited to the home, it has now become mobile and readily accessible to them (Rainie 2005). Technology has not only changed the face of communication and interaction between these teenagers, it has also radically altered the educational environment in which these students participate. These students are ‘Digital Natives’, they are students of whom are native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the internet (Prensky 2001). The problem that this poses for the ‘digital natives’ is that there predecessors (digital immigrants) do not speak the same language, speaking an outdated pre-digital age, thus making it difficult to teach and engage the digital natives. Digital natives want their information fast, they are able to multi-task receive information whilst performing other tasks. Information technology is woven throughout this generation’s life, they communicate with their friends through instant messaging systems either through the computer or their mobile phones. This generation of students needs to be connected not only to their friends however to their technology. Thus it is imperative that as educators of the future, that time is taken to develop and implement technology within the classes and syllabus content that is being taught. 73 % of the net generation students are more likely to use the internet for research purposes rather than the library, with two thirds of students allocating appropriate information and references from the internet (Online computer literacy centre 2002).

Rainie, L. (2005) Life online: Teens and technology and the world to come. Speech to annual conference of Public Library Association. 23/3/06. Washington, Pew Internet & American Life.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–2.

Constructivism vs Instructionism

I agree with Ming's comments about constructivism and instructionism within the classroom. I feel like you, that there is a need to develop constructivism within the classroom. Students need to develop their own ideas and congitions however there is also a need at certain times for a teacher to direct the students and provide them with instructions.
With the changing nature of technology and education, it is imperative that we as educators embrace this change and implement the use of technology within our chosen KLA's. It is no longer good enough for a teacher to utilise the chalk and cheese pedegogy.

MID SEMESTER STATEMENT - Designing Learning for a Digital Generation

Analysis of literature and first hand experience through practicum has made me realize that Generation Y is a generation filled with and surrounded by technology, thus it is integral that I employ technology within the classroom, not everyday however throughout the course content to engage this new generation of learners. Unlike that of their predecessors, these learners are able to comprehend and absorb information whilst listening to music or watching the television.

I found the following articles (Rainie 2005 and Prensky 2001) to be extremely informative to help me understand the current generation.
That the students that we are educating are surrounded by technology therefore it is imperative that it is introduced and utilised in the classroom (Prensky 2005/2006) . I have come to realise having studied the literature and first hand experience at practicum, both teachers and educators need to re-evaluate their teaching practices and the way that information is provided to students. These digital natives are no longer engaged within classrooms, teachers need to engage these students to encourage learning – higher order thinking and deeper understanding of the content. In order for this to be achieved teachers need to be aware of the way these students best learn thus incorporate technology within the classrooms these students disengage if classes are not interactive (Oblinger. D & Oblinger J. 2005). Ask students how the technology best facilitates learning for them, how the information being presented to the students is similar to that of their computer games. Educating these students (the Y Generation) without technology would be similar to that of a plumber working without his wrench.
I as a newly qualified teacher will utilise what I have learnt in this subject and employ these methods into a classroom. I will allow for assessment tasks in which the students develop their own podcasts of the content, be it to encourage students into physcial activity or ways in which to improve adolescent health. I may even encourage students into blogging on topics thus to generate new ideas and broaden the scope of their congitive abilities.

I witnessed at practicum how successful a podcasting task was for the students. Not only did all students actively participate in developing their podcast, they even managed to hand it in on time! The school found that it was so successful that they were going to utilise the assessment for the following year. It is tasks such as these that I found to be effective and engaging to the students – the digital natives. I have realised that this generation of students view learning as a constructivist approach, a self directed learning task (Rainie 2005), thus it is integral that I keep this in mind when developing assessment tasks for these students. It is important to note that the students can challenge themselves to browse the internet for relevant information and seek guidance from each other. I as the teacher am more of a ‘support role,’ my jobs is not to provide the students with all the answers or spoon feed them, I am in fact there to guide them along the way.

Rainie, L. (2005) Life online: Teens and technology and the world to come. Speech to annual conference of Public Library Association. 23/3/06. Washington, Pew Internet & American Life.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–2.

Oblinger, D. & Oblinger, J. (2005). Is it age or IT: First steps towards understanding the Net generation. In Oblinger & Oblinger (Eds.) Educating the Net Generation. Educause.

Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), "How Academic Librarians Can Influence Students' Web-Based Information Choices," OCLC white paper on the information habits of college students, June 2002,

Prensky, M. (2005/2006) Listen to the Natives. Educational Leadership. 63(4), 8-13

The Internet and Education - Elementary And Secondary Schools, Colleges And Universities, Distance Learning, Cheating

I agree with what this article states. In today’s world it is not good enough to resist the technological change that has come about. However as stated it does create some educational challenges for us educators. How can we be sure that students are cognitively
aware of the information? How is it the students are simply not copying and pasting the information then adding appropriate references? How can we as educators utilise the internet whilst assuring student understanding?

Listen to the Natives

We must like those digital natives abandon our predigital lives and accept this new world, in which is filled with technology – the need to be constantly contacted and connected. Us as educators need to embrace this new era with open arms. Teachers must practice engagement before content. Now when I first read this I thought that the notion was absurd however after many hours of pondering I came to realise the importance of engaging these students (even if it’s at the expense of my technological illiteracy!). If students are engaged – be it through interactive experiences in the classroom or chat lines about the syllabus content, then they’re likely to learn and take something away from the lesson and achieve the deeper understanding and higher order thinking – all of which us educators are trying to achieve! It’s just a new and dare I say exciting way of creating this outcome.

Is it Age or IT: First Steps towards understanding the Digital Generation

I found this article to be extremely interesting and informative. It made me realise just how much the students of today are connected to technology, they’re in a world surrounded by it (70% of students use instant messaging - for those of you digital natives IM!), on the way to and from school, at homE. Now more so than ever before there, is a need to develop technology within the classroom to challenge and engage these students. This net generation disengage if the class is not interactive. These students thrive on technology and the need for it be accessible and introduce within every class and all content.