Blog reflection on wiki activity

There will on certain levels be elements of all of these learning theories involved in this activity.

Behaviourism is really looking at conditioning training. We use it to train animals all the time, as a horse rider we call it pressure/release training. Dressage training is really looks like we teach a horse to dance but is also more than that as it is abit like yoga for horses.

All of the movements are natural but they are refined. Pavlov was not the first animal trainer to have reflected upon the use of classical conditioning techniques  as this type of training had been refined in equestrian training since the days of the Greek philosopher Xenophon in the 4th Century BC when he wrote "the Art of Horsemanship". 

There were even earlier examples of Hittite texts dating back to 1360BC  translation of Kikkuli,  a master horse trainer and author of a  chariot horse training text written in the Hittite language, dating to the Hittite New Kingdom, (Bedřich (Friedrich) Hrozn,1931). Pavlov may has been the first to consider conditioning training from a purely psychological perspective relating to people because essentially we are simply, an animal, but he certainly did not invent conditioned responses he merely continued to refine it.

Horses are essentially a prey animal therefore to teach a horse to run into battle with people screaming, trying to kill them and attacking them was a 'conditioned' response and through the centuries, cavalry trainers have been aware of this fact. Some examples of this were Antoine de Pluvinel (1552–1620) and later François Robichon de La Guérinière (1688–1751) (Karl, 2009). The modern sport of dressage is essentially derived from the movements that were trained in the cavalry to allow a horse and rider to work as an absolute team but to assume that there is not substantial training that goes into this is naive. However a purely behaviorist model does not account for the aspects of the training that go outside the model. An example of this is horse that are trained for combat in the cavalry, there is conditioning training that controls the response that the horses give so that they do not go purely on fear, but also there are responses that go outside this:

As students by following the sequential elements of this designed working structure we were conditioned to follow the course, to go to the wiki and hopefully meander their way around until they worked out how it all worked or in my case initially did not work it out. But as indicated some of the problems with a purely behaviorist approach is that it does not really allow for expression and experimentation outside of the ambit of the structured behaviour. So what happened when we just worked it out. This is what happened for me after being pointed in the right direction by Kris, so therefore it does not really follow that this engagement is behaviorist as it only leads you part of the way to the desired response.

I would reflect that Congnitivist behaviour really assumes that the fundamentals of knowledge are already present by the age of 12. After that, we are really simply apply the knowledge that we have already acquired during that earlier time period to throw us off our equilibrium until we reach a new equilibrium. I can see aspects of this here however it was the assistance of the adult who was familiar with the design and use of the program who was able to instruct be into the correct areas so that I did not make the same errors as before.

Clearly under my own level of knowledge, in 1982, when I was 12 years old, computers themselves were only in their infancy and the idea of a blog or a wiki were barely even considered in science fiction writing. Therefore I cannot see how this learning theory  would apply to this example. The structure of the wiki did give some indications as to what to do and perhaps if I was the younger generation then this would apply but clearly this was not the case for me. With the greatest respect of Piaget this idea really does not apply to generational change especially in a modern society where technology changes the tools that we can use to such a dramatic extent.

Therefore in my opinion Constructivism is probably more applicable to this engagement as it was with the assistance of Kris, that I was able to negotiate the wiki where I had failed in the past. Obviously the engagement was bound up in our existing knowledge but it was the expansion of that and construction of having us essentially 'get lost' and then have to seek help that we were able to construct our knowledge into a new manner. I will reflect that this is similar to my first experiences with learning to use emails back in the late 1980's at university, it was frightening and occasionally embarrassing especially when we sent multiple emails to unintended recipients but we certainly made sure we never made that mistake again. 

So why use Wiki's? They are a really useful tool for on-line collaboration and now that I have been introduced to them I would consider using them in a number of formats. I have even considered how they could be used from a legal professional perspective in the drafting of contracts, agreements and orders.  

There are many times in many aspects of professional and educational life that effectively 'drafts' are used, adjusted and perfected prior to the finalised version being used. 

From the perspective of a law firm this is an issue that comes up again and again and clients become continually frustrated at delays. Like everyone these days they want things to happen at breakneck speed and get annoyed when this does not happen. This is law is really par for the course or does it not have to be !!!

Now that I have considered the various aspects of Wiki's there is really much greater ability for collaboration than is actually being used. Perhaps it is time for law firms to embrace this technology and make use of this skill.

From a classroom perspective as Solomon and Scrum, 2010 state, "Wiki's are effective tools for collaborative learning". But they can be more than that. As I have raised in my wiki in the Legal Studies Curriculum there has previously been the strong ability and indeed encouragement of the Queensland Studies Authority to use role playing as an assessment tool (QSA, 2007 Syllabus). Unfortunately there does not seem to be an overwhelming take up of this aspect of assessment. 

Alternative Dispute Resolution, as an assessment or teaching tool would be useful on a number of levels. The ways that it could be incorporated into a school are essentially endless. The courts have recognized the benefits of ADR and it has become a crucial aspects of all court institutions.  I have included into my wiki a number of pages detailing the use of ADR, what is involved and methods of using it as a teaching tool in schools. I have also included pages detailing exactly what an ADR is: - So what is an ADR? and importantly  What happens at an ADR? Hopefully these can be examined and perhaps be useful to teachers. I have also created a project page in my wiki about teaching ADR in schools and would welcome comments elaborations and discussions of this issue. There is also added into this space some ideas as to Mediation in Schools and Mediation competitions that exist in Australia. At the very least it might give teachers some ideas and directions to go in with respect of this area.

With the collaborative abilities of a Wiki, a teacher could track what work a student is actually doing and the Wiki group could just be the student and the teacher. This would give the teacher the power to see and make notes on the 'Drafts' of a students work, because previous versions of the documents are able to be viewed and considered by the teacher (Solomon and Scrum, 2010, pp139-140). As I have also detailed above it give also the ability to disperse knowledge to members whilst also allowing collaboration. 

Teachers know that collaborative learning is a valuable tool both inside the classroom environment but also in the setting of tasks to be completed as part of homework and assignments. Teachers feel for students who have the misfortune to have to collaborate with a student who simply does not hold up their end of the workload. The revision aspects of a Wiki allows teachers to clearly see who has actually contributed and who has not (Solomon and Scrum, 2010, p140). This is itself also makes a wonderful assessment task. 

Again though as discussed the editing abilities of a Wiki like those of a Blog are limited. I have as previously discussed found the editing abilities of the Blog itself to be frustrating. I have however now discovered that Microsoft Office actually has a template when you create a new Word document called 'blog post'. It is likely that future versions of Microsoft Office will also include variations upon this for things like Wiki's so that we can use the word processing abilities of Word but the collaborative elements of a Wiki. 

I can actually state that the more that I used this tool the more I enjoyed it. It allowed me to explore creative elements that I had neglected for years.

Bibliography:

Bedřich Hrozný: Re-Discovery of the Hittite Language: http://www.radio.cz/en/section/czechs/bedrich-hrozny-re-discoverer-of-the-hittite-language

Karl, P: The Art of Riding; 2010, 2nd Edition, Cadmos Books. 

Russell, Eleanor."The Truth in Teaching of Nuno Oliveira". Referenced 5/16/08.

Solomon, G and Scrum, L: Web 2.0: How to for Educators;2010 Hawker Brownlow Education;

 

Reflections on Working in a Wiki

Well I really mucked this up the first time, see there is that ICT beginner stuff coming up again. The interesting thing was that after working with a friend who showed me where I had gone wrong the first time I had to put my answers to all the questions again as they were lost from my first effort, typical!.

This (essential) activity asks you to participate in the mobile phones wiki, using a thinking routine called De Bono's Six Thinking Hats. This is a very useful routine for both individual and group work that scaffolds a way to examine a range of perspectives on a contentious issue.

DeBono's hats, I came to understand is really an exercise in getting us as students to think from multiple or different perspectives:

Essentially as discussed because I did not understand really anything that I was doing I ended up in some respects doing this exercise  twice.  Not very clever of me I know, but it does show that whole ICT beginner stuff at its very best.

I have included both of my initial responses it is interesting how our responses to things change over a week! The Black Hat section asked the dangers that the use of mobile phones can present in a learning environment -

Entry (14/3/2013)

This would be a classic example of technology being a 'wicked' problem (Mischra and Kohler, 2010) . There are always dangers in introducing any new technology to a classroom particularly one that has the potential to be as interactive and difficult to control as mobile phones. It would be fine if you were able to constantly monitor what the student was doing but this may not always be practical in a classroom situation. Then there is always the problem of cyberbullying in the classroom and how it can be managed. The role of the teacher is to be a facilitator of the learning and to put in place structures in the learning process to minimize these problems but I would fear that for as many solutions that you would find there would no doubt be others that arise.

Entry (9/3/2013)

There are the obvious advantages of being able to access information freely and easily from a variety of sources. Then there is also the distraction factor.

I would agree with the statements that Nikki has made in respect of mobile phone usage in a classroom. Whilst others have stated that use of a mobile phone in the classroom would be a utilization of the TPACK model there are inherent problems in it. 

1.  As indicated by Katherine, the majority  of schools have a no mobile phone policy such that if the phones are used they will be confiscated or they have to be handed to the office at the beginning of the class or day etc.
2.  We always keep our mobile phones with us which kind of creates as double standard;
3.  There is now substantial research relating to the medical effects of mobile phone or other technology usage on children of a variety of ages. 

There is evidence of from Occupational Therapists to Pediatricians detailing concerns over the overuse of technology and studies indicating that it is affecting gross motor and fine motor development in children of multiple ages (KE Hatch - 2011) There is also evidence that video games which can be installed on mobile phones may increase aggressive behavior because violent acts are continually repeated throughout the video game (Gentile & Anderson, 2003) and this has been backed up by further studies and research as published by (Bushman & Anderson, 2002). As stated by the American Psychological Association daily overuse of media and technology has a negative effect on the health of all children, preteens and teenagers by making them more prone to anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders, as well as by making them more susceptible to future health problems.

I guess the question is really does the good outweigh the bad particularly when there will be a variety of monitoring of usage happening outside the school environment. If co-ordination could happen to ensure that there was not overuse outside then perhaps the usage if correctly monitored could have advantages.

I guess the reality is that I have come to the same conclusions as before but from a slightly different angle.  I really stick with what I said on my most recent notes, this really is a 'wicked' problem and for every question we answer a multitude of others will then arise (Mishra & Koehler, 2008). 

In respect of our conclusions on the Blue Hat section we were really asked to look at where the technology is now and how it can be used in a beneficial manner. The absolute key that I found in this whole exercise was to look at the technology even though it sometimes frightens me was to look at what positives can it bring to my experience. Where I work we recently had the introduction of a new computer program that was supposed to be the best thing ever. Naturally enough it was not quite all that it was cracked up to be and I have experienced the good and bad of it because I have taken to using it more than the other professionals. I have been able to 'mentor' some of my colleagues not to make some of my mistakes in being too trusting of the program and still remember that the fundamentals will still apply.

I reflected back to my own school days of bags that were too heavy and some students were potentially left with back problems as a result. The previous week this idea had not occurred to me. It is amazing how when posed with different ideas like this De Bonos hats model to make us structure our thoughts but obviously as we construct our ideas we then deconstruct the ideas we had and begin to structure them in a different way. Is this not what Social Constructivism is really about? 

Obviously I will get onto in the later blog on Engagement Activity 4!!

 As teachers there is always information out there that can be frightening or indeed dangerous to students at times. Our job will be to facilitate learning in that safe environment. As you can see that at this time I really hated working in this Wiki. 

I found the scaffolding cumbersome and lacking in any type of explanation. This resulted in sheer frustration and I can say a great deal of self-contemplation about what on earth was I doing this all for. I can say that at the end whilst I still am not a fan I can see the purpose. This whole exercise has forced me, on an extreme level outside my comfort zone.

The thing is though is that not part of Social Constructivist learning in itself?

Bibliography:

Mishra and Koehler, 2008 quoted in Borko, H, Whitcomb, J & Liston, D: Wicked Problems and Other Thoughts on Issues of Technology and Teacher Learning;2009, Journal of Teacher Education, Vol 60, No 1, p4;
Bushman, C.A. and Anderson, B.J.:  Human Aggression: 2002, Annual Rev Psychol 2002, 53:27-51;

Anderson, C.A., Gentile, D. A and Buckley: Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research and Policy (Book Review): Journal Youth Adolescense, 2009, 38: 483-485

 
Gentile, D. A  & Anderson, C.A., Violent Video Games: Public Policy and Implications: http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/~caa/abstracts/2005-2009/05GA2.pdf

Reflections on Productive Pedagogies

In writing this last week considerations I have utilized the activities that are referred to in the learning engagements. Therefore it is in that order, or course with my own 'twist' upon it. I did try to have a go at the Wiki stuff but like many others got abit lost so I will have to have another go later on that one!

This week we were asked in the Engagements to consider the learning sequence as detailed as if or how we would adjust it. I came up the following as an example of teaching students in year 11 & 12 about Alternate Dispute Resolution but this would also apply in Year 10 or First Year Law students.

There is the capacity in the Legal Studies Syllabus to teach Alternate Dispute Resolution but it is rarely taught as most teachers are unfamiliar with the process. This is a shame as this would be a valuable learning tool for students and teachers.

Some of the examples used really seem to go from one extreme to another so really it depends upons from what I can understand the level of back ground knowledge of the student.

Think of a short learning sequence as an example.  Add the sequence of steps to the boxes in the middle :

	Teaching ADR
Cultural Knowledge	ADR is used in all things but especially in court to try and settle matters. So how would an ADR commence. Assume teaching this after students have looked at Employment law and then base the process around a hypothetical on this	Higher Order Thinking
Inclusivity	Exactly what is an ADR and what happens in them. What behaviour is permissible, how they are structured , what happens the objectives,	Deep Knowledge
Narrative	Who are the parties to an ADR and what group am I teaching, always keeping it age appropriate	Deep understanding
Group identity	Students divide into groups of three and nominate 1 to the plaintiff, 1 to be the defendant and 1 to be the mediator,	Substantive conversation
Active citizenship	Students consider matters about how to present their arguments.	Knowledge is problematic
Explicit quality performance criteria	Students and Teachers discuss behaviour in ADRs and what needs to occur for negotiation to take place.	Metalanguage
Self-Regulation	What is Alternate Dispute resolution (ADR) and how is it used in the courts, ask them to research whether ADR can be avoided in any litigation proceeding and possibly effect of matter if you refuse to attend.	Connectedness to the world
Academic engagement	Students engage in an ADR to see if they can or cannot negotiate the dispute and how compromises might come about.	Problem based curriculum
Student direction	Students come back together at the end and discuss their successes or failures of this venture.,	Knowledge integration
Social Support	Working in groups of three as required for a dispute resolution	Background knowledge

 

Reflections on TPACK

  

This sounds like a day at work, pitching something at the 'Average Joe' yeah good luck with that one.

Any way here goes!

TPACK is essentially is educational theory that takes into account advances in modern technologies.

PCK is the ability of a teacher to combine their knowledge of a subject, the content knowledge and their knowledge of how and what needs to be taught to a student. 

TPACK introduces this new element of Technological Knowledge into the equation. That is a teachers knowledge of technology. This used to be things like blackboards but has expanded to the internet and digital media (Mischra and Kohler, p1027). A teacher needs to know and understand not only the technology that is available to them but also what technology is available to the students and how to combine the best of both.

Bibliography:

Mischra and Kohler: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for Teacher Education; Teachers College Record Volume 108, Number 6, June 2006, pp. 1017–1054
Copyright r by Teachers College, Columbia University

Well now I can actually get a little bit of time to do this properly. I have learned so many things in the last week I think my brain is just about ready to explode.

So I went and took the Felder and Soloman online test I seem to be an active learner tending to retain and understand information by doing something active with it. I do however have some reflective learner tendencies so I need to make sure that I balance this out.

I show some strong sensing learner aspects and need to be careful to try and find ways to apply the abstract and theoretical aspects of the information to practical elements. I showed myself to be an equally visual and verbal learner so that creates a good balance but I have a very strong preference for sequential learning. This all states that I need to be careful not to leave things til the last minute as this may cause problems for me. Well wow did that all hit me like a nail on the head or what!!!

I then took the Engagement Activity 2: Multiple Intelligences test. It would seem that I am a word smart but I also have aspects of Logical and Interpersonal aspects as well as Intrapersonal aspects

The funny thing about learning this stuff is that you now see not only how it applies to you but also how it applies to other people.

To consider how to bring this to bear in a class room with 25 students brings its own varied and interesting challenges. Personally I would probably do some of the following:

• Be sequential in my process but able to explain to global learners what the big picture of the unit would be;
• Be factual in what I apply to realistic problems while allowing group discussions that allow for innovation and brainstorming;
• Provide visual and verbal stimulus in the form of power-points, graphs, handouts and other items to give a visual cue whilst also allowing for simply factual learning and then think-pair-share/groups discussions to expand on that knowledge.

Better recognition that there are some students that will be learning at a slightly different rate and using a different method. Incorporation of different ways to display and provide the information rather than just utilising the standards of verbal, books and maybe handouts – also use power points, blogs or wiki’s etc.

2. What sorts of profiling questions would you be asking about your learners to ensure you cater for everyone's preferences?

Perhaps looking at what the children do at home or out of school, are they using the internet, computers, phones etc. Use more direct checking when at school

3. How does ICT support differences in learning styles?

ICT allows provision of almost all the learning styles. The only one that you would struggle with would perhaps be Active learners but they too could be incorporated by activities designed to cater to their requirements.

 

But here is the really cool thing that I have learned in the last week but it will have to go back to a fairly boring story about how I got there!

I was asked to provide the negative presentation to the Schools Constitutional Convention in Mackay (how do I get roped into these things!).

The topic was rather challenging "Would amending the Australian Constitution provide greater equality", we were to particularly address this issue from the perspective of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Well how do you provide a negative argument to that one without sounding like a complete and utter jerk!

Anyway managed to get all the research done, it was to be a 10 min speech to then allow 10 min of questions from the students. If we were available I was then to stay and assist the students in their further work on at the Convention. The Constitutional Convention is held every year around Mackay and other areas to pick a delegate to travel to Canberra to represent the region at the national Schools Constitutional Convention. 

Then I read my work while I was doing the research for this and realized something, that if I gave a pure speech then I would only be appealing to the "verbal" learners but those who were more strongly visual would miss out. I would not be catering to more that one type of learner. 

I also remembered that because Constitutional Law is somewhat dull some of the students would be so bored they may actually fall asleep, not great for getting them to think! I recognized that the last time I had seen my constitutional law textbooks was when I used them to hold up a desk and my lecturer essentially was so boring that we used his lectures as a time to catch up on sleep. So how could I reach these students and getting them thinking about other ideas?

Dammit ICT for Learning Design you already got me thinking so I prepared a Power Point for the Presentation. I will try and upload a copy to my blog but please do not cross reference it as it was not fully reference checked but the information came from the Constitution  Constitutional Law textbooks, Law Council of Australia papers and Human Rights and Equal Opportunity reports. Anyway after a period of time I ended up with a 28 page Power Point that was very useful not only from a learning perspective but also from a teaching/presenting perspective as it helped me keep on track.

I ended up with the other presenter agreeing with my argument which was pretty cool but also I was able to get to some students who the teachers later indicated do not normally engage and get them to think.

One of those kids was an indigenous girl and another was a very shy student who rarely spoke. Well after my speech and question time we asked the kids in mixed groups to come up with their own preamble to the constitution and consider what should be included as well as further group work relating to what should if anything be changed.

Both these students were amazing by the end of the day. The indigenous girl had indicated to her teacher prior to my speech that she was concerned by what I would say, she ended up voluntarily speaking to me about the issues and agreeing with some of the points that I had raised. I explained to her that it was simply one position and the important thing was to understand the topic and all the options that were available. By making her realize that there was no such thing as a wrong answer she was able to really engage with and think about the issues. Her teacher was amazed.

The second very shy student ended up introducing one of her schools' speakers which her teacher said had never happened. It's is amazing a a safe and supportive learning environment combined with utilizing alternative teaching methods and understanding what those methods can achieve can create in opening the minds of the students.

What a truly inspiring mix of students and teachers. I can say that I loved every minute of it and the feeling that you may even for a short period of time have made a real tangible difference to show those kids their own potential was amazing. Anyway that was my week last week so even though I did not get everything down in a post last week I was reading and understanding some of the issues that are being raised.