The NMC Horizon Report 2015 K-12 and links to Wang and Weller readings:
The current edition of the Horizon report can be found here and a commentary on what it means for education can be found at the Mind Shift blog. It is always thought provoking to investigate this report and much of the content resonates with the subjects I have taken as part of my course.
This diagram gives a brief overview of this year’s findings:
The report this year sees integrating technology onto teacher education as solvable and cites the Finnish example of using Edukata (a participatory design model):
The more difficult, or wicked, challenge is scaling the models of teaching innovations(Johnson, Adams Becker, Estrada, & Freeman, 2015, p. 1).
Personal development of instructional design for my students:
As our students are equipped with devices whole new ways of learning open up to us. Over the last few years I have exposed my students to PLN construction through offering lunchtime introductions to Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as using these tools, Facebook, and access to learning materials in online spaces.
In our region Internet provision is patchy and until recently I have used this as an excuse not to develop too much online material. Aaron Sams in:
Bergman, J. & Sams, A (2012) Flipped learning founders set the record straight in T.H.E. Journal. from: http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/06/20/flipped-learning-founders-q-and-a.aspx , offers a range of easy to provide solutions to the issue of Internet access: provide the content on a flash drive, CD or DVD for example.
For a number of years, I have experimented in a somewhat ad hoc manner with flipping my classroom using a class wiki and exporting lessons from my interactive whiteboard software and adding links to other materials. In the last two years, as senior students in my History Revolutions class have had access to devices I have given them blogging as a means of accessing and reflecting on material.
In the last 12 months, in addition to student technology, there have been a number of improvements to Microsoft Office products that have sped up the process of adoption. The most impact has been achieved with the collaborative OneNote app, which, as a Microsoft school, allows me to seamlessly add my students to a class notebook. In image 1 below you can see the different sections, and part of the name of my first student, with the rest of the class along the top in alphabetical order. The notebook offers me a space to create their “textbook” type materials, (teacher notebook) and each one of them gets their own “exercise book” for working in (you can see Harry’s tab), and we all get access to a collaborative space where I can set up work for them to do together.
In the collaborative space you can see who has added or altered which contribution by the colour-coding, and the student’s initials which automatically appear.
The options within a collaborative OneNote notebook
Collaborative space
Sharepoint home page for History Revolutions
Using Sharepoint I have been able to set up a Mosaic Live Tiles page (which still requires work) that is like a website but is only accessible within the school. This gives me the option of collecting any video clips I make and add to YouTube; any photographs that I have taken, and podcasts I create. This is a space that I am still conquering but which will allow seamless collection of data for student access.
Office Mix, an add-on for PowerPoint, which I investigated as an option for my artefact: http://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/msimkin/2015/04/28/artefact-design/, will be very useful for converting my interactive whiteboard flip-chart exports from previous years into film to support students through the subject timeline.
The learning from INF532 has pushed me to develop a greater range of supporting materials to assist my students to master their material. Referring to the table below I can now see a holistic and valid reason for using as many combinations of the different types of learning models in order to assist all learners and learning styles.
As with all learning, the critical process is the designing the materials which will support students to develop their understanding. http://www.instructionaldesign.org/ is a very useful resource which collates all the theories, concepts and learning domains into a series of hyperlinked definitions and gives a ready reference to understanding the processes involved. http://www.slideshare.net/MikeKunkle/basic-instructional-design-principles-a-primer Adds some simple summaries which are of use as a quick reference.
Another easy to apply process is the ADDIE model (ADDIE Model, n.d.)
Instructional design supports the processes promoted to us at our school, such as Grift and Major’s Teachers as the Architects of Learning (Grift & Major, 2013).
The critical issue now is having the time to complete resource creation – a common complaint of teachers everywhere.
Grift, G., & Major, C. (2013). Teachers As Architects Of Learning: Twelve Considerations For Constructing A Successful Learning Experience. Moorabbin: Hawker Brownlow Education.
Module 6: Curriculum and learning design in a connected world.
The title for this post comes from Julie Lindsay’s blog and her follow up comments in another post. It was, therefore, imperative to find out what fishbowl technique actually is, and whether the concept might be useful for C21st educators to apply to their real or virtual learning experience design.
There is definitely a place for such a tactic in student-focused classrooms and also for adult participation in professional learning experiences. Designers of meaningful lessons based on Mystery Skype or Skype and author use a similar technique – allocating roles to participants to enable the process to unfold smoothly for the connected groups, and sharing the workload in a collaborative fashion. Fishbowl structure presents domination of any one individual during a debate or discussion.
The spelling in the title of this post is based on a pun of Julie’s during the development of her post when she believed that Karl Fisch was the creator of the technique. Knowledge networking resulted from this mistaken belief, with Karl participating in the online debate about the technique – and other connected learning experiences.
Theory and practice of connectivism in flat, global classrooms, are clearly dealt with real-world examples of different types of activities referenced. At about the 7-minute mark, Julie uses a new word: GLOCALISATION to sum up the type of knowledge networking involved. Cultural sensitivities must be considered when engaging with classes overseas.
At about the 10-minute mark, Julie comments that going global is a mindset, not a plane ticket.
Google I/O 2013 – Building an Online Education Platform using Google Technologies:
This video shows the range of considerations and developments Google has been working on to enable blended or flipped classrooms. The basis for driving this agenda come from the belief that the art of lecture is lost – we now have the ability to go back; lots of things about a book are better than a lecture; video production for supporting learning allow the luxury of rewinding and replaying until the process demonstrated or information presented is fully understood.
Jen Jonson explains what makes learning blended:
These terms are considered further in my next post.
Margaret Simkin 