Captains Log - week four

So its week four and I'm think I'm starting to get the hang of this......maybe. I think I would enjoy the process more if I wasn't constrained by time. I like the fact that I am being dragged into the twenty first century, cos really, I don't see myself doing it on my own. Which brings me to thinking, given what I have just said, I have real doubts about my ability to incorporate this stuff into the classroom. I am afraid that because I'm not a 'digital native' that it might be impossible to walk the talk. I can consider the framework, read the literature and do the activities but putting all together to make a meaningful learning process seems beyond me. Having said my piece, lets talk about how digital images/sound can work within the pedagogy's discussed in the course so far. 

I'm not going to come up with anything original, alas, cos I don't think I'm up to that yet. So lets go with constructivism and engagement theory, (why? because that is what I focused on in my conclusion) and I think these would lend themselves well with absorbing digital devices. If we presuppose that learning is best achieved when creating meaningful experiences with the learner, then the creativity and scope of using sound and vision would hit the mark. I really enjoyed seeing the movie of baking cookies (C is for cookie, I've had that running in my head ever since) and it really was a eye opener for me that it didn't take a long time to put together. I could see that this assessment piece ticked a lot of the boxes that engagement theory suggests. Working collaboratively, (student with teacher and parent I would assume to aid in the production side) and perhaps with the planning. A project that compels the student to think and plan about the content of the movie and  devising a coherent aim of the movie itself. This would involve higher order thinking skills in several areas to complete the assessment. Not to mention a need to employ multidisciplinary literacies. And finally to publish onto a public space for the benefit of others. It may not have been created completely in mind for the benefit  of another group, but comes pretty close. To marry this example with constructivism, this assessment task could be scaffolded to help the student achieve the learning aim. Baking cookies would be relevant to the students past experience and would provide a sturdy platform for future exploration and growth. Perhaps if the student worked with a class peer, this would satiate the constructivist approach for peer to peer learning. 

How would podcasts work in these frameworks. Fairly similarly I suppose. Podcast might even be easier to put together than a movie and I think would be great in a P-3 context. I really liked the idea of the 'museum' example in the readings and think that something like that could be very easily put in the classroom. However there was one point made in the course work, (sorry they have all blurred into one giant reading) where it was suggested to use a vodcast of a student doing a mathematical equation incorrectly to teach a class what not to do. I wouldn't prescribe to this method of painting a negative word picture. You can't think about what you don't want to think about, without thinking about it. Confusing? How about 'you can't not think about the pink elephant without thinking about it.' It makes no sense to me to do that.

Anywhoo, food for thought. Thanks for taking an interest.