What are ICTs and how do I learn new ICT?

So What are ICTs? The  abbreviation ICT stands for information and communication technology which is an umbrella term that encompasses any communication device such as: television, radio, satellite systems, smart phones, etcetera.  This means that many of the electronic devices that we use, be they smartphones, tablets, radio or television, all fall under this category of Information and Communication Technology or ICT. This includes the various services and applications associated with them these devices, such as video-conferencing the internet and distance learning (Rouse, 2016). Rouse (2016) goes on to say that ICTs  are also often spoken of in a particular context, such as ICTs in education, health care, or libraries, with ICTs in education being the point of the course EDC 3100- ICT and Pedagogy.

So, how do I learn to use new ICTs?  Today most people have some form of ICT skills without even realising it. Every time that you make a phone call, send an email or browse online… Yep you guessed it, you are using a form of ICT. Learning a new skill in ICT can be daunting to some but there are ways around that. An example is that when you purchase a new tablet or smartphone, you would normally read the instructions on how to operate this particular device.

There are also YouTube ‘how to do’ guides online that can be accessed in order to help learn how to use the various apps that come with these particular devices. This example has been sourced from You Tube and made by  Ho, B., 2011. Another example of learning to use new or even older forms of ICT can be found on the University of Sydney Faculty of Education and Social Work website at: http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/learning_teaching/ict/ . This sight has a menu bar that contains a list of ICT skills  that can be accessed and then open the relevant skill that contains a basic walk-through of the selected software. For example click here.

So I hope that this answers these two questions for you sufficiently and thanks for reading

Matt

Back Again

Welcome to everyone who is starting this course. My name is Matt and I am a third year education student with my major in early childhood. Due to complications, I am repeating this particular course, however, I am looking forward to refining my ICT skills further.

This is my first blog for quite sometime, so it is only going to be short and simple. My understanding of ICT is expanding due to using interactive whiteboards, I-pads/ tablets and learning more complex processes of office software, like power-point and word. Please do not get me wrong, this course requires a great deal of focus, but the moodle book is fairly straight forward and if you follow the guide, you should be okay. To those just starting, WordPress is the blogging software that I have used and find fairly simple to use. You can find it here at: https://wordpress.com/

I hope to meet some of you in person at the Springfield campus on Monday the 29th, and that you all do well in the coming semester and on your professional experience.

All the best

Matt Scheiwe

 

 

 

The relevance of ICT and certain subjects

Well I have been thinking about this a while now, and I am coming to the point that we may be teaching trough pure ICT interaction. Take handwriting for example. At the moment it is still taught in school, but for how much longer? When was the last time you saw someone writing in an office, or any other profession?

Yes some still do, but a lot are now typing away on laptops, smartphones and  computers. OurICT (2014) points out that hand writing actually improves fine motor-skills, and that reading is the only one of the two not greatly affected by the digital world. Please read their blog it is fantastic. Another thing that is notable, and again OurICT makes note, is that texting appears to be limiting peoples’ ability to spell when they communicate. Despite all of this, there is the other spectrum.

Some people think that there is not enough evidence that ICT or handwriting is better. The British Psychological Society conducted research on the matter of keyboard vs pen and paper. They made note that there was ‘no evidence that showed that using ICT in teaching reading, spelling or writing contributed any more than traditional methods‘. So I will leave it to you to take a look and make up your own minds friends.

I still believe that handwriting is still important, but I will also take on the ideal that technology is the future.

Cheers everyone

Matt

The ‘Bloody’ Internet

So, we all have bad days, good days and then there are assignment days.

Yes we all have them and yes they are just awful. Well I am currently working with internet that is almost dial up speed and it limits my ability to blog, research and worst of all submit assignments. So I have long ago limited my research online and actually dug deeper into my text books and the local library (Vampire hiss).

The internet is a valuable research engine, as it provides simple and up to date research at the click of the button… Oh, what’s that? I’m sorry, two hours of trying multiple key phrases and finding what you want and realising that you now have to register and fork out thirty dollars for a PDF file from the 90s :(.

This is what happens when I go on sites like Wiley.com. If you want more on this rant see my last post The Joys of Researching Journal Articles. So as an educator, do not forget the value of printed resources, because they will be your plan B if it all goes south with the internet.

Hope this was sage advice

Cheers

Matt

Interactive White Boards vs Written work

Okay, IWBs are a great resource don’t get me wrong.

I used one for the first time and they are extremely temperamental pieces of tech. Every time my mentor and I tried to use it, we wasted valuable teaching time trying to recalibrate the system. Luckily I had a plan B as Jenny posted a while ago :). So yeah they are a great machine for YouTube and digital resources, however, as an educator it may be very beneficial to you to keep to the old type and print method in case the system crashes.

My mentor used the IWB very little while I was with her and observing, preferring to model most of what she wanted the students to copy. However there can be advantages to using IWBs of the originals. An example can be seen in this clip. I personally find a mix of both would be more to my liking where I could like to demonstrate hand writing on a solid surface while having almost an unlimited number of windows that could be opened and closed depending on the subject content.

So, IWBs are an awesome device when working, but having an original board would also be of benefit to content delivery.

Thanks

Matt

ICT and ESL students

Hey all.

Doing the cross-cultural course this semester, I began thinking about ICTs and how they can help students who have difficulty learning or speaking English, or their parents speak another language.

ICTs can be used through the use of translation software such as Babylon 10, that can translate students’ work or newsletters into another language so that parents or guardians can read in their own language so that the chance of miscommunication is narrowed. There are also apps and sites like THRASS that provide  “a phonetics teaching-tool that has phonographic and multisensory focus, complemented by an analogous learning model that makes reading and spelling acquisition much simpler, faster and more sustainable than conventional ‘phonic’ approaches (Thrass Institute, 2015). This particular method is one that I will be using while on prac.

Sorry about the limited blogs, but prac is top priority atm. I will do my best to keep up.

Good luck

Matt

The Second Assignment for EDC 3100

A unit plan. It just had to be a unit plan.

This assignment is just shy of torture. Just writing it up for ICT is quite a painful task over the course of three weeks for Year 1. However, it is going to benefit in the long run, should there ever be the need to write one up. The Year 12 example is apparently the best example, but it could of been beneficial to have one in the primary years that was just that bit easier to follow. Again I am not complaining as it gives the prime opportunity to practice.

The reality of it all  is that what we are learning is not entirely the same as what is waiting for us according to a graduate friend of mine. Does anyone else feel this way or is it just closing in on prac and we have difficult assignments all due in three days? Hahahaha! No, I just keep going and hopefully do a good job with and all. Hope that everyone else is doing okay and that the stress is not too much.

All the best to everyone and good luck

Matt

Hey all

I have been wondering how educators plan their own units. With university we are given templates, such as the one for EDC 3100, so is that just a generic plan or is it developed by Microsoft Excel?

Another thing is whether or not that service teachers have to actually form their unit plans from scratch? I have found that this is not the case. Educators in Queensland can actually download a generic unit planner template from www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/3165.html. This means that half of your troubles are over, because you do not have to create your template from scratch. Another way to make life just that bit easier is to go to the Teacher Resource Centre, where you can access a number of different resources for your classroom.

We all know that writing up lessons and units takes a great deal of time, but one of my mentors actually told me that it does get easier with time and practice. Best part is, we don’t have to sit Microsoft Excel and curse and scream for a couple of hours before we actually start planning for school.

Thanks again for reading my blog

Matt

Keeping up with the Australian Curriculum

Well I’m back again.

We all are all familiar (I hope) with the EYLF and the Australian Curriculum. For all the good that are for planning and guiding, the biggest peeve I have is when the Curriculum undergoes some changes. You go through your courses and lesson plans and download the documents for later. All well and good.

You go back to your list and yes, the EYLF is still the same. But, you look at the Australian Curriculum again and something has changed with a new update. I am all for this, but you are constantly downloading the curriculum every month to a year. Does this sound familiar?

Is it actually worth downloading the curriculum as we are so often told to? For argument’s sake I would say yes, because of the ease that you can look at it without having to open a browser, leaving you free to pursue other research on-line. Having to constantly update your curriculum gives the opportunity for constant ICT practice as you follow the links to find what is new to the documents and what has been removed.

In short, it may be wise to download the Australian Curriculum for ease of reference, but, always look at the website to make sure that what you have is up to date with the drafting.

Thanks for reading

Matt

Always be prepared to have a back up

Reading through Jenny’s blog, I noticed that she mentioned plan B when it comes to recording and gathering data through systems like One School and the USQ Study Desk.

I too have experienced these issues when the systems crash and you are left to basically try and find your way in the dark. I also agree with Jenny’s point about having hard copies of critical data such as emergency contacts, health risks and behaviour students. As an educator it is important to keep records of the students learning not only for them and for the sake of recording, but it enables the educator to reflect upon their work and use it to improve their pedagogical delivery.

Jenny, I would like acknowledge your statement and add to it, that it is important for the educator to keep personal accounts where possible, so that if any of the school systems crash, the educator still has a portion of what may have been wiped so that it could be used for recovery. Feel free to disagree :). But no I agree with you about having plenty of lesson material available should the need arise. This could be true if you are teaching in remote areas where technology may be less reliable.

I am looking forward to more topics with you all.

Cheers

Matt