Assessment Task #6

REFLECTION 6 WEEK 6 – Reflection Synopsis...

Zteven Whitty

This reflection regards the nascent thoughts hovering the latitude of material that have surfaced over a series of several inquiries. To both gage and refine a procedure for appraising this material – of which centred on web 2.0 technologies (a.k.a. ICT tools) – various engagement activities were evaluated upon their digital and non-digital pedagogical potential to satisfy or even confront recognized learning theory boundaries. This took place alongside considering the ethics related to their use in a primary education context. The appraisal method used for the inquiries entailed judging a range of web tools on their ability to foster SAMR Modelling into their conveyance of learning content, and, their ability to scaffold Bloom’s Taxonomical Hierarchy into their posturing of learning content. Further information and glossary found at synopsis end  (please see appendices 1 & 2).

In a recent address to CQUniversity on the notion of learning gains Professor Emeritus, Royce Sadler, marks on the importance of recognising how competency based assessments or activities can possible limit the learning gains made by students if their orchestration is poorly grasped.¹  I acknowledge this assertion as being extremely significant as a result of shifting mainstream pedagogues. Online learning presents many wonderful avenues of pedagogical profitability, however, currently, I would strongly hesitate to fully entrust that these avenues will securely lead students to generate an individual cognitive acumen due to a lack in focus on fundamental content apprehension.

...Minimizing word-counts is cool. 

...So, too, is attribution²

1 Enhancement Technologies.

The tools demonstrated supplemented or augmented change with no to little functional improvement to an original objective. These include tools such as YouTube, Pixlr, 123RF, Weebley or any autonomously created information website.

Learning with these tools is didactic and rote as task outcomes are prearranged for students. One would be correct to consider video or image online bank or editing tools like the aforementioned and autonomously administered websites as possibly augmentative yet definitely non-collaborative, technological applications. However, I feel they still serve a vital cognitivist role by housing useful knowledge from which to store, compare, contrast, comprehend, source, apprehend, and, improve upon proficiency and good-old-fashioned-behaviourist-know-how. I certainly use proficiency when I continue to maintain the informative yet non-transformative website for my small dance business that I created many years ago, ZtevenWhittyDance.  

2 Transformative Technologies.

These tools demonstrated modified or redefined change with noticeable functional improvement to an original objective. These include tools such as Blogger, Wikispaces, GoAnimate, emaze and Tiki-Toki. Also, interchangeable tools such as Spicynodes and MindMeister, where information might be accessed pre-arranged for the comprehension of individuals yet also be accessed collaboratively for the synthesis by peer networks. 

Learning with these tools is efficient as time investments and the mercurial engaging nature of the activities complement the attention spans of students. Here, students are met with rewarding learning gains. Redesigning the delivery platform of an activity allows for the creation of new task – a sense of hyper-connected-meta-functionality. I would like to make use of collaborative social constructivism to empower the confidence levels of community-minded members. 

3 Relevant Ethical Insights.

Safety

These inquires have made it blistering clear that many implications encircle the safety of teachers, students and all incidental people involved with a learning site or event. Imperative aspects I encountered were; to ensure upon written copies of everything to do with any anticipated use of delicate or sensitive assets e.g.: identifiable pictures of students, personal details of students etc; in the event of reporting an incident, do so through the appropriate chain of accountable staffs, and; to collect or ensure student assent to policies put in place by a school is verified before commencing any online activity like in the example of a school ICT policy featured here.

Lawfully

Operating within the parameters of the law should be a precedent set and demonstrated by all teachers, regardless of circumstance. Fortunately resource abounds for issue regarding online legal conduct. Important issues such as copyright infringement, attribution etiquette, website monetization, and, learning institute permissions can be consulted  with ease via a simple search engine entry of their objective topic, or, via information supplied by a participating affiliation or service provider like in the example of GoAnimate featured here. 

Ethically

I feel it would serve well for a teacher - who intends to expect their students to uphold positive values and beliefs for online ethical conduct - to establish a sense of envelopment and overflow from non-digital ethical culture into digital ethical culture like in the example proposed here by Linda Starr in her article "Tools for Teaching Cyber Ethics"  featured here.

4 Relevant Pedagogical Insights.

Admirations:

Technologies like those used in this series of reflections have the ability to commit young students to an affirmative position on study. In addition to facilitating access to get work done anywhere in many forms and on a range of devices, students are provided learning scenarios complemented with a sense of self-navigation. A social constructivist collaborative based learning scenario like the example with which I experimented here in emaze with, Bangarra Mutton Birds, opens and caters for multiple learning sites. They do this through redesigning an objective, and, by platforming compound positive learning experiences among students through peer feedback and group cohesion. All amounting to very admirable traits of which I would indeed consider worthy of employing.

Concerns:

A point of increasing social constructivist, mediatisation of youth scrutiny faculties is amounting at an alarming rate. I find this worrying as other faculties relating to discernment and judgement are receiving decreased attention. It can be easier, sometimes, to follow the crowd. A connectivist, competency based learning scenario like the example with which I experimented here in Tiki-Toki with, MOOSECLUMPS PoemTrail, might attribute excellent scaffold spaces for high-level thinking, however, elucidates this concern well. Any student could easily copy the responses of other students. So, when devising activities I feel I need to try to make activity responses call for social construction with an individualized perspective layered in as much as possible. As in, at the very least, base the tense or mode of an activity response in such a context that demands of a student some form of personal positioning on the stimulus.

Inquiry Summation

To concisely condense how the queried material has influenced my many significant concepts and appreciations that are currently providing some coagulation to my continually forming digital and non-digital pedagogue is challenging. However, I assert split intuition towards the use of ICT in a primary school classroom setting at this stage of my forming an ideal digital pedagogue in their implementation for learning design. This design would be guided by curriculum and assessment requirements set by ACARA. All together, they inspire me to approach change with both professional caution and to accept indications of rewarding and appealing pedagogical orchestrations on positive continual technological shifts. A shift can be read as a prelude to change. I hope that with any pedagogical changes I make - I keep some old, good stuff.

Appendix  

1) 

SUBSTITUTION

Activity definition: a demonstration of topic knowledge in response to an activity.


AUGMENTATION

Activity definition: an interpretative or reflective response to an activity of which calls for added comprehension, and, the application of extended concept avenues.

MODIFICATION

Activity definition: a demonstration of topic analysis in response to an activity.


REDEFINITION

Activity definition: an investigative or diagnostic response to an activity of which calls for added evaluation and, the synthesis of extended concept avenues.

2) 

Bloom's Taxonomical Hierarchy:

Image Credit³ 


Glossary

ICT:

Information
Computer 
Technologies

Website Monetization:⁴ 
- is the process of converting existing traffic being sent to a particular website into revenue. The most popular ways of monetizing a website are by implementing Pay per click (PPC) and Cost per impression(CPI/CPM) advertising.

Mediatisation:⁵  
- is a theory which argues that it is the media which shapes and frames the processes and discourse of political communication as well as the society in which that communication takes place.

ACARA:⁶  
- is a the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority.

References 

¹Taken indirectly from presentation, accessed 08 April, 2014: 

Royce Sadler.

²Attribution example: Attribution, image credit: screenshot edited image from 

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6628111162550924093#editor/target=post;postID=3148035416923174249;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=link 

³Attribution example: Attribution, image credit: image from 

http://w3.unisa.edu.au/gradquals/staff/program/blooms.asp

⁴Attribution example: Definition, quote credit: quote taken directly from  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_monetisation

⁵Attribution example: Definition, quote credit: quote taken directly from 

http://knowledge.sagepub.com/view/key-concepts-in-political-communication/n29.xml
⁶Attribution example: Definition, quote credit: quote taken directly from 
http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/curriculum.html

• Starr L. (2003). Education World - Tools for Teaching Cyber Ethics. Retrieved from: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech055.shtml

Thank you for reading my reflective synopsis. 

Good Energy !! 

Zteven Whitty 

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Assessment Task #5

REFLECTION 5 WEEK 6 – Exploring Group 4 Tools...

Zteven Whitty

This reflection regards the brief interaction and building experiences I have had over the last week exploring the web 2.0 Group 4 tools. These were tools that could be chosen for their simulation function. My focus was Tiki-Toki. As a simulation tool, Tiki-Toki is ideal for teachers to employ when introducing or working through unit tasks. Equally ideal is its suitability for students to collate their findings in various reporting style assessment pieces. This tool has added to my constantly developing pedagogy by displaying the value in the interactive potentiality of a logbook-based lesson and submission style of activating learning. Incorporating exploration of both space and time, this software could effectively commit young students to an affirmative position on self-guided study by creating a feeling of navigating ones own learning; a positive promotional assistant for introducing the concept of homework in my focus teaching area: Primary school settings. 

Please find the following components in this post… 

1. MOOSECLUMPS   - a logbook example produced this week using the online timeline creator.

2. PMI MindMap  - a graphic charting positive, negative, and, appealing factors of this tool.

3. Ethical Insights   - some safety, legal and ethical notions surfacing from publishing content.

4. Technical Insights  - a brief usability and potentiality account of the technology this tool uses.

5. SAMR Connections -  how this tool integrates established education resource modalities.

1. Year 3 English Lesson Term 2 Week 1 ... 

Made for CQUniveristy educational purposes 

under Part VB, Copyright Act 1968

Date of Publication:

Mooseclumps...............................2013

Squeak........................................2013

A Highland Lullaby......................2013

Date these copies made: ...05 April 2014

*All poetry content and images without individual attribution remain the property of Ryan T. Bliss

**********************************************************************

Timeline can be found in the example student link below or at the bottom of this blog page. Thank you.

Notes to students...

Tiki-Toki timeline login for Year 3 English click here

• Be sure to carefully select the "Edit this timeline" login box
• Be sure to use the Secret word sent to you in the link email
• Be sure to select "3D" in the bottom left corner of the workspace
• Be sure to carefully select a date away from other students
• Be sure to save your entries before closing the browser window

Name:             your name (add last initial if you share a name with a classmate, please)

Secret word:   MOOSECLUMPS (all uppercase please)

2. A little digital diarizing ... 

Please please click to enlarge 

3. Some specific considerations on legal and ethical matters... 

Using any online content generation tool to create quality educational resources warrants the attention of safe, legal and ethical conduct. Tiki-Toki would put a user in the same delicate position as any other online content generator when reckoning with content proprietary inside the act of producing and promoting education resource.

·      Tiki-Toki and safe content proprietary. As with all content and assets created and published online, the safety of those involved in any capacity whatsoever is paramount. This include students, teachers and, auxiliary content or asset associates. Under the Teacher premium of the paid services a "Group Edit" function is available. This entails an invitation only method of participant incorporation where a timeline creator - in this case a teacher - would email relevant students a link to the timeline or a site to access the timeline. This email would be accompanied by a password for contribution security. 

Tiki-Toki and legal content proprietary. Like any online conduct, when intending to appropriate and publicly distribute any non-personal asset, one must ensure that copyright issues are revealed and dealt with professionally. Any reproduced or communicated assets are to be properly attributed to their original creators/authors when used in an appropriate manner under certain acceptable circumstances. Parts VA and VB of Copyright Act 1968 are principally relevant to the issues likely to constantly rise in educational contexts such as library and activity asset resourcing. A statement taken directly from the ComLaw website clearly describes the how the act plays a role in this area with “An Act relating to copyright and the protection of certain performances, and for other purposes.”¹ Although there may be scope for exception to the reproduction and/or communication of works or assets in an educational or other institutions, the act requires adherence to measures such as applying warning statements on content containing copyrighted material and, ensuring such material stays clear of entering the public domain. In relation to this example, an area where copyright sensitivities might be tested could lie within the image captures of screens copyrighted software are featured (please see appendix 1).

·        Tiki-Toki and ethical content proprietary. Again, like others, this technology is no different to any other web tool. With the nature of experience for this simulation tool, however, is the direct ability of a student to see the work of other students. In the context of a learning environment, and more specifically a response assessment task, any student could simply copy the ideas or full responses of other students and paste this borrowed content as their own. Originality is extremely precious in circumstances where a shared activity response will generally muster similar thought lines. This would be an issue in serious assessment contexts, however, from a young age learners surrounded by online education technologies culture an approach to inside shared response space interaction contexts. Here, the notion of generating a sense of culture becomes important for students whose learning might be heavily facilitated by participatory environments such as the one in topic. Contemporary teachers would do well by identifying the similarities cyber and non-cyber activity have in respect to the issue of proper use of online technologies and online culture in general. Then, demonstrate and acknowledge such proper use to conjure a positive culture around online ethical conduct (Starr. L, 2003). This idea was extracted from and can be further investigated at EducationWorld. 

·        

Time for a picture... 

...Choreographing presentations is cool. 

...So, too, is attribution² 

4. Technology applications in my teaching area… 

Accessibility:

Tiki-Toki is very accessible. Most creation functions are similar to other on line content generation tools. In brief, the main Admin drop-down menu branches into a timeline creation section and two other sections pertaining to managerial aspects of the service. These managerial aspects include accessibility, premiums and group settings etc. and are adjusted solely by an account holder. The creation drop field named My Timelines offers an option to hide access to timeline printing, timeline JSON (Java Script Object Notation), timeline embedding code, CSV backup and, PDF conversion. For the purposes of brevity further technical elaborations will be kept to covering the interface used for creating new Stories as per the experience of a contributor. This user interface, from where the event panel boxes are created and edited, follows a set progression. These creation phases require constant saving to initiate successive stages of which this list shares their overview:

1) Create a New Story to enter a title of the event, adjust the position of the event in the timeline by selecting dates surrounding desired start and end points, enter panel details, designate a category, supply more information by linking this panel to an external web page and, then, save it to; 

2) Attach Story Media by selecting, uploading and positioning options for images, videos and audio under this tab, and, or

3) Supply Extra Info like text chunks and multiple outbound links (some html coding required). 

To open collaboration a teacher would send individual invites via email to those students to be involved in the contribution of a timeline. Upon receiving a link accompanied by a secret word . This will only be available if the original creator selects public access as opposed to private. This public/private setting also applies to the end viewing setting of a timeline and is made in the advanced settings section of each timeline.

Construction:

There are two options from which to choose the viewing dimensionality of a timeline project. Either a 2D or 3D setting will place story panels along a passage. The placement of the panels themselves will dictate how the experience of a timeline will unfold, particularly if the timeline is to be have an explorative aspect to activity engagement. 

Presentation:

The viewing of a timeline is subject to the public setting of an account. Three premium account options, each with their own free trial periods, allow for the downloading of timelines. Here, complete and functional content can be embedded into other sites such as a blog or website. This function idea can involve varied usage for instance a logbook much like how dipity can be used as a Flipbook. However, a particular difference from other simulation tools would be the notion of exploration through the 3D setting - Tiki-Toki offers a unique timeline experience by materializing a feeling of achievement.

TECH

An amazing detail I noticed with this unique software was that a user will experience and garner within themselves a notion of established travel. Young learners enjoy being set both adventure and object-seeking tasks to accomplish. The example provided for this tool explores the prospect of a student working independently on a unit of poetry over, perhaps, a full term. This travel notion could evolve and merge with other study behaviour factors to serve as an excellent aid in encouraging students to confidently engage with work set for completion outside the context of the monitored classroom. Tasks could easily be given as casual activities with some being incorporated or themed as 'pit stops' (deadlines) for teacher review, or as 'class meetings' (collaborations) with other students to discuss group/class work. 

A strong merit of this technology is its potential to positively influence future attitudes towards homework and autonomous study at a time when reactivity to independent task work is beginning to develop in young learners. Having the ability to view other children reporting on their poetry readings provides a student with, whether in an obvious or subconscious way, a concept of togetherness and acceptance. For they will be working on activities completed be many other students, all of whom experiencing the same situation simultaneously.

I would use this tool as a mask for covering content in a class. The activity could be able to cover ACELY1707 (please see appendix 2) ACARA Year 3 English descriptor. Poetry is a delicate area of exploration for young learners new to reading. Those students of whom identify with unique learning needs might benefit by the inclusivity aspect of this activity platform. A faceless, less pressured environment to share ones thoughts on abstract of thinking might be a fantastic place to begin.

5. SAMR concerning my group four tools... 

SUBSTITUTION

Activity definition: a demonstration of topic knowledge in response to an activity.

Activity outline: At this level a student might gather potentially difficult words or phrases found within a written text and place them in a timeline in response to a text source.

Activity example: Use timelines to list and define any words that, when skim read, may may be considered "tricky"...

AUGMENTATION

Activity definition: an interpretative or reflective response to an activity of which calls for added comprehension, and, the application of extended concept avenues.

Activity outline: At this level, in response to a text source, a student might make inferences on the theme of a text and any accompanying imagery, generate their own responses, then place them in a timeline with the overlay of supportive content through chosen text, images, graphs and videos.

Activity example: Use timelines to relate the pictures of the poems, "Mooseclumps", "Squeak" and "A Highland Lullaby" to the ideas found in their text...

MODIFICATION

Activity definition: a demonstration of topic analysis in response to an activity.

Activity outline: At this level a student might acquire a selected amount of examples of thought clustering from two different text types (such as written pros or song lyrics) to contribute towards a group response articulate timeline. Here, a designation of tasks objectively drives the group consensus to arrive at a desired end product. 

Activity example: Use timelines to question how the studied poems are assembled to present individual or multiple thought chunks, concepts or ideas by considering the structures of poetic verse through alternative text types and contribute to the arrangement of a concise group multi-type text response...

REDEFINITION 

Activity definition: an investigative or diagnostic response to an activity of which calls for added evaluation and, the synthesis of extended concept avenues.

Activity outline: At this level a student might collaborate in an original, editable timeline that reports on their findings in response to a unit of study of thematic contribution. Here, designated roles from a concordant element found within a text source could be used to perceive and work towards garnering alternative understandings or depictions for a contributory thematic element.

Activity example: Use timelines to devise a nonverbal group participatory reenactment of the events in a poem, such as becoming a rusty gate, a lectern, or, a friend, to expand upon and reveal alternative readings of a narrative...

Extended SAMR thoughts...

The result of experimenting this week is a logbook of which aims to excite a year three class through a body of work at a pace at which the student feels comfortable. Hopefully, if the objective was met, the experience of viewing and working alone yet within the same context as others would be one of enjoyment, progression, and, achievement for the participant. This tool has the potential to foster these great attributes by modifying a traditional topic exploration found in the form of a hand-made timeline.

                     

  

  

Appendix  

1) 

please click to enlarge (2 assets)

http://www.tiki-toki.com/

2) 

Literacy

Creating texts

Use software including word processing programs with growing speed and efficiency to construct and edit texts featuring visual, print and audio elements (ACELY1685)³

ACARA: ENGLISH, Year 5

References 

¹Taken directly from website, accessed 06 April, 2014: 

http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2013C00145/Html/Text#_Toc354567689

²Attribution example: Attribution, image credit: screenshot edited image from 

http://www.mooseclumps.com/

³Taken directly from website, accessed 06 April, 2014: 

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/Curriculum/F-10#level3

• Starr L. (2003). Education World - Tools for Teaching Cyber Ethics. Retrieved from: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech055.shtml

Thank you for reading my reflection. 

Good Energy !! 

Zteven Whitty 

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