Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

I really enjoyed this reading, most of what was said is common sense but sometimes it is helpful to read views such as these to keep your own teaching in check! I often remind myself of the importance of 'keeping up with the times' and not making excuses about teaching approaches.

I agree that teaching styles need to evolve in order to meet the needs of the students. Perhaps being a digital immigrant is not such a bad thing, at least we have come to the understanding that we need to be 'life long learners' in order to be effective educators.

It was also refreshing to be reminded that we are on a journey with our students, we are not expected to know all the answers, we just need to be open to new approaches and viewpoints.

What is NET?

"Using modern, up-to-date technology and devices to help promote effective teaching and learning"

The main point here is that it is about learning.

NET, ICT, E-Learning - Same things

Colbert Reading

I really enjoyed this reading as it focused upon teaching younger students. I have used kid pix and similar programmes with my Year One classes in the past with success. I usually get the children to publish their writing by hand in the first two terms and then as they grow in confidence they start to publish their writing on the computer later in the year using word (as you can imagine this is a very long process sometimes!)

Reading this article reminded me that children of all ages are very capable to use technologies such as computers, digital cameras, scanners etc (even at the age of 4!) if enough time is spent teaching the students to use the tools correctly.

It was fantastic how the teacher provided the children the opportunity to share their stories through photos and audio. I will definitely keep all these ideas in mind next time I am teaching the younger students.

Hendron Reading

I enjoyed this reading as it clarified the difference between blogs, wikis and podcasts.
Blogs - like an interactive journal or diary (short, individual posts of content)
Wikis - Made up of document files or web links
Podcasts - Can be audio or video file

Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts are all tools for finding and leaving information online. Behind the scenes RSS is helping all these tools to work.

It also encouraged the reader to think about how new technologies can help us as educators to share ideas, views and information with our students and colleagues. A good example is de.li.cious which we use at our school to share websites etc with other teachers.

I liked the way the reading talked about the new web as people actively being involved, rather than just passive recievers of information.

It also highligted the benefits of creating a class blog to share the children's work with their parents. Now that I have seen how easy it can be to set up a blog, this is something I am going to investigate further.

What is Educational Technology?

Main ideas and thoughts from Roblyer, M.D and Edwards, J. (2006)

Educational Technology:

Definition:

Keeping up to date with processes and tools that help teaching and learning.

I enjoyed reading this article and it got me thinking about how technologies are used in schools. Different technologies can help cater for different learning styles. The article highlighted the importance of always thinking...

What are the needs of my students?

How can I best meet these needs?

What resources are available to me?

"Today's technology is tomorrow's science fiction"

This quote made me think about how quickly our teaching styles are changing with the development of technology. The article mentioned the pressure teachers feel to "keep their knowledge up-to-date". We are lucky enough to have Smart boards in our classrooms , but so far this year we have been provided with very little professional development in the area.

I also think it is important for teachers today to 'take risks' and try new things.

Advantages:

* Technology makes learning fun and interactive.

* Teachers can use technology to organise their planning and assessment

* Technology provides the opportunity to closely montior students progress

(Electronic PAT results, Synergetic etc).

E-Learning

Main points and thoughts from the reading E-Learning by Holmes, B. & Gardner, J. (2006)

"Online access to learning resources, anywhere and anytime" Holmes and Gardner (2006)

* Teachers now have the opportunity to surf the Internet to find teaching ideas, lesson plans, interactive whiteboard files, power points and join in discussion forums with other professionals anytime and anywhere. I find this keeps your teaching fresh, new and exciting for your students.

When I first arrived in London it took me a term to come to grips with teaching without all my much loved resources! But very quickly it became evident that usually I was better off to source new resources online anyway.

"No one is excluded from learning due to geographical, physical or social circumstances "

* E-Learning provides an exciting opportunity to learn no matter what your circumstances are. A perfect example is how we as teachers are able to study online as well as teach full time.

* E--Learning seems to me to provide an excellent way for the teacher to ensure they are a facilitator of learning. It allows teachers to guide students in the direction to make their own discoveries and form their own opinions through the support of E-Learning technologies.

How do I use E-learning technologies in my classroom?

Emailing, Internet - interactive reading and maths games, Smart board, Microsoft, Power points, Digital cameras etc