It would seem that having more than one blog causes confusion for it’s owner and those who are trying to follow. I just spent some time this morning writing a review of week 3, only to find that it has gone to the wrong blog. Had a go at cut & paste, but that was not a happening thing. So I am going to press on and try to put a couple of blogs in the right spot.
Week 3
It was good that the course work load eased up a little this week, allowing more time for assignment 1. It took me a good while to work out how to approach the first part of the assignment, primarily due to my limited experience with ICT’s. Having used Prezi before, that is what I have decided to go with and hopefully can produce a satisfactory result.
Searching for information about ICT’s in the VET context is proving a little difficult. What I have been able to find is usually dated from the nineties and talks more about the current teachers ability to cope with the changes that will come from the introduction of ICT’s. I have witnessed this happen in my own work environment, where long time teachers are not ready to let go of the structures they have established within their own classroom. This plus the attitude of institutions that think installing computers into the classroom will create a better learning experience, are not being totally honest with their students.
Jasinski supports this is saying “Technology does not cause learning. As an instructional medium online technologies will not in themselves improve or cause changes in learning. What improve learning is well designed instruction.”
http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv38664
I feel that it will be the pre-service teachers of this course who will be the one’s that will create the real technological classroom, because they will have no fear of the technology.
VET Community Blogs
I am finally at Hanoi airport after 30 days straight of 12 hour shifts. A bit tired and ready for a decent sleep, which I doubt will happen tonight as I fly first to Singapore then to Brisbane. Then a 2 hour bus trip home. I wish I had a $1 for every how I have spent in airports over the last 20 years. Anyhow I thought I would take the time to produce a blog or 2 whilst I am waiting the 3+ hours for my plane to depart.
The URL will take you to the Innovation and Business Skills Australia web site and their blog page. If all has worked OK you should find an annotation next to Ways to stay current as a VET teacher/trainer. As with everything keeping current takes up a lot of time and I am sure that most of you…
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We recently had four big flashy interactive whiteboards installed into our classrooms. The only problem is that none of the teachers know how to use them. So this is a link to some of the stuff I am currently looking through to see what maybe useful to use in our area of teaching carpentry apprentices.
Week 3. Part2.
This is starting to grab my attention. I managed to spend a good amount of Friday looking at the Week 3 stuff and two of the film clips really brought home to me how powerful some of this technology is. The clip about the nine year old girls blog, which showed her school dinners had a huge effect both locally and globally. Then there was the cardboard arcade and how just by putting it onto facebook, people responded in big numbers. This all goes to demonstrate how people are connected through electronic networks like never before.
I am still struggling with the lack of knowledge and the amount of time this is consuming. This has to increase greatly if I am going to achieve the assignments. There are obviously tools out there to create whatever it is you are trying to put together, the trick is knowing where to look. I seem to be reading so much stuff that is just not relevant and that is frustrating because of the lost time.
I so wish I could make this blog look better, but after two or three attempts I move on to more course work.
I have been thinking about how all of this technology could be used within the context of my teaching environment, but I feel that I really need to know and understand it all a lot better.
ICT Reflections
Week 3.
Started to have a look at the first assignment and don’t have a clue how I am supposed to create any of that. Some of the stuff from last semester looks amazing and even some of the blogs invoved here are incredibly. I am still madly getting the boxes ticked off and trying toput some posts onto the forums. I found the argument for and against the iPad interesting, especially having just had my grandchildren stay. They spent quite an amount of time on them and even the two year old was showing me what he could do on it. Having had Apple computers at home for a long time I do like there operating system and it seems to be more intuitive. This I think helps the younger people and I can see why they have been picked up so rapidly. The issue of single user is a strong argument against them when networks are involved, but this is classic apple marketing.
That mind map, where are the tools to create that ?
Week2 Part2.
Getting very concerned. Just don’t have the time. The teacher must never sleep, he seems to be putting stuff up and answering peoples questions 24/7. The little film clip with the one year old girl trying to make the magazine operate the same way as a tablet caught my attention. She is wired to operate in this electronic world already. What will she be able to do in twenty years time. Finding it hard to find stuff on vocational practises with technology, especially in carpentry. With the move towards workplace training the classrom technology is not going to be used by trde teachers.
ICT Reflections.
Week 2.
So many teachers away for one reason and another my week will be full with teaching like last week. Still ticking boxes and still not really sure what this is all about. More acronyms and passwords, bring on the barcode tattoo. Alot of the resources are geared towards the school curriculum and not really relevant. Have had a look at some of the blogs from other students and they make this thing look very ordinary. I am more concerned with getting all of the posts on, now that I have found it again. Still worried that this is all beyond me, checked the jump out date 9th August.
Week 1 Part2.
Where did that week go. The work load seems to be running away from me, so much stuff to do and register for. Did manage to open a Diigo account, but not sure what its all about. Trying to tick all the boxes on the Study Desk at the moment is taking all of my time. Also managed to get this blog up and going, but then lost it. Frustration is moving into major concerns as to whether or not I can actually achieve this. Most of the frustration comes from insufficient computer skills and not knowing someone who could help. I know I am supposed to ask questions on the forums, but that just stretches out even further and I feel that no headway is being made.
Week 1 of ICT & Pedagogy
Mark Laity 