TPACK and Digital learning design

TPACK is the framework that identifies the three strands of knowledge in which teachers need to know to be able to become effective teachers. The three stands are Technological, Pedagogical and Content.

TPACK is explained as follows;

T - Technological

P - Pedagogical

A - And

C - Content
K - Knowledge

It is important to have a vast understanding of each of these strands because if a teacher is competent in only one or even two of the stands then the circuit isn't complete. There is no use having all the Technological and Content knowledge if you don't know how to teach it though Pedagogy. There is also no point in knowing how to use technology and being able to teach if you don't know the content you are teaching.

I never knew about this great framework until now and I think it makes perfect sense. I have just completed my first year of prac teaching and I can see this framework being used in every situation when teaching children. I have learned a lot throughout this activity and intend on reflecting on it further and focusing on it throughout my future prac teachings.

What hat shall I put on when thinking about Mobiles in the classroom?

DeBono's Six Thinking Hats is a thinking tool that allows individuals and groups to express their opinions and feelings about a certain topic. Throughout this post I will be writing about the topic "Mobile Phones In Classrooms". I will be utilizing the wiki of our cohort and sharing the consensus of everyone's opinions and categorizing them into each hat.

My personal opinion of this topic is that I believe mobile phones should not be allowed in the classroom. I remember when I was in high school and got my first phone and I was constantly on it playing the old game Snake. I was often distracted and disengaged from learning because of this old game. I can only imagine the disengagement of students these days with the advancements of phones with all their games, apps and social networking. There are enough technological tools that can help teachers to keep students engaged and enjoy learning such as smart-boards/projectors, computers and Ipads. I believe all students should own a mobile phone whilst away from home purely for safety but not whilst in the classroom, this is where they need to be left in their bags.

The Black Hat (Negative)

1. Distraction to the individual as well as others in the vicinity. 
2. Security measures to keep the individual safe from explicit exposure.
3. The costs to parents for buying, maintaining and replacing/repairing of the phones.

The Blue Hat (Process)

1.  Design a way to utilize them effectively in the classroom.
2. The necessity to keep up to date with modern technology in society.

 The Green Hat (Creative)

1. Phones bring a lot of extra resources into the classroom.
2. Can replace some learning areas such as completing homework on the phone.
3. Allows more opportunity for individuals to express themselves through phone technology. 

The Red Hat (Intuitive) 

1. Arguments on which device would actually be better owned by a individual in the classroom, Smartphone, Ipod or Ipad. 
2.  So much uncertainty of how successful this would be in a classroom
3. Positive and negative opinions of the topic so there always be some individuals not happy with the decisions made. 

The Yellow Hat (Positive)

1. It is a great engagement tool as long as the use parameters are set to keep learners on task.
2. Helps with organisation of the individual, diaries, calenders, due times and homework. 
3. Can promote a high level of learning through available apps. 

The White Hat (Objective)

1. What age levels do we allow learners to use them?
2. More time spent tutoring spent tutoring the learners how to actually use it.
3. Possible increase of cyber-bullying.

Overall participating in this wiki experience and reading everyone's opinions and judgements on this topic was a great experience. I have learned a lot not only about the use of DeBono's system but also the many different views of Mobile Phone use. Using both a wiki and the DeBono's system would be a great resource to utilize in the classroom with your learners as it is interactive and engaging.

Multiple Intelligences

This post is a recap of the learning styles post I wrote earlier. Following is another test I have found that is a bit more visually engaging to people and shows clear representations of what learning style the learner is.
 As shown in the results below I have quite an even spread across all the learning styles however more so in Interpersonal, Musical and Visual/Spacial categories. My typical learning style which is Kinesthetic is high on the test results still but not in the top three. Which I am quite surprised with as I prefer to do certain things rather than listen or watch.
Regardless of the results you get and how accurate they are I still believe this is another great tool to have your learners engage in to give you a better understanding of what type of learner they are. The questions are quite relevant and simple, the answer system can be a bit too thorough and it can become a bit hard to select the right answer.

 

 

Learning Styles

Knowing your learning style as well as your students learning styles is important as it allows us to recognize how we best learn. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in our learning enables maximum learning potential. 

I have done a number of learning style tests in the past that have been quite basic and give me a rough understanding of what type of learner I am. This test that I undertook was derived from Feder and Solomon's online learning questionnaire. It was a long questionnaire but the advantage was there was only two answers for each question which made it easy to decide which answer best reflected myself. Below are the results shown.

As shown in the results above I have a very high Active and Visual learning style which before the questionnaire I somewhat already knew. This new information however allows me to recognize what I am and what I am not in terms of all learning areas and what processes I can put in place to help me learn more effectively. Feder and Solomon suggest that a balance between learning styles is advised as it allows for maximum efficiency in learning outcomes. As follows are some of the techniques I can implement to help me learn more effectively.

• To better help understand the content I am learning I should not just read through it but as I read go back through and review the content as well as writing down questions or possible applications. Also to write down short summaries in my own words to help better retain the information. (Reflective & Verbal  Learning Advancements)
• Try to link the content back to facts or real life relevance will help keep me focused while learning. When undertaking tests I need to focus on reading the whole question and then answer otherwise with my learning style I might be prone to careless mistakes. (Intuitive Learning Advancements)

Gathering this information for your students would be an effective tool as you can plan and customize your learning experience around the vast differences of learning styles throughout your learning cohort. This tool would identify if there would be any specific need for a certain aspect of each lesson and whether students would need specific activities or resources for them to become and/ or stay engage whilst learning at a high level.