Week 3: GlogsterEDU Review

As a primary school teacher using PowerPoint, I have been forced to witness some of the very worst presentations ever produced. Overuse of coloured text, a different transition between each slide, and slide content which is voluminous and cut and pasted directly from the Internet. Not to mention the obligatory 'Thanks for watching' on the last page created in any one of the numerous glitter text creators.

Unfortunately, all of these issues are sure to be repeated using any of the alternatives to PowerPoint. However, using a range of different presentation software could at least make viewing these presentations somewhat more bearable.

According to Bower (2008), "the success of educational technology implementations is dependent on the educational developer's ability to appreciate the requirements within the learning context and subsequently select and utilise technologies in a way that meets those needs".

So what are the needs in a primary classroom? As a primary teacher, my top three requirements are:

1. Easy to use,
2. Educational version (for management of students), and 
3. Cost (preferably free).

Glogster is an online poster creation website which allows users to create interactive multimedia presentations in poster format. It meets all three of the requirements listed above.

Easy to use
Glogster has a simple interface to select elements from a gallery or uploaded from the computer. It is simple to insert a range of media including text, video, and images. There are hundreds of templates to choose from within a range of subject areas. Students may also choose not to use a template.

Educational version
GlogsterEDU provides school licences and teacher accounts. This enables teachers to create classes, distribute projects, and monitor student work. The EDU account allows teachers to create and manage student passwords. Students are also able to collaborate by commenting and providing feedback on their classmates' Glogs.

Cost
While not free, Glogster EDU is not expensive. Primary teachers can access a full education account for US$39 per year for 30 students. The Secondary option is US$95 per year for 125 students. Should teachers only want to use the software temporarily, there is a monthly option of US$5 for 40 students.

Two benefits of Glogster over PowerPoint are:

• Glogster does not allow for large amounts of text. Therefore, students are unable to copy and paste swathes of information from the Internet. They are forced to summarise their research in order to make it fit.
• Glogster is one page only, so it does not have the range of slide transitions available in PowerPoint. This saves students spending unnecessary time on the presentation, rather than the content.

There have been a number of studies into the effectiveness of Glogster as a learning tool. Awada (2015), concluded that "the Glogstertool may enhance students motivation and interest in project presentations as well as increase their oral proficiency".

Having used Glogster over the last few years, I have found it to be highly engaging for students. It is not uncommon for students to continue to create more Glogs in their own time, on topics of interest. The Glog below was created by a Year 3 student.

References

Awada, Ghada. (2015). Effect of using the Glogster Technological Model on Enhancing the Perceptions and Speaking Proficiency of Communication Skills Students. International Journal of Global Education, 4(1) Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276358249_EFFECT_OF_USING_THE_GLOGSTER_TECHNOLOGICAL_MODEL_ON_ENHANCING_THE_PERCEPTIONS_AND_SPEAKING_PROFICIENCY_OF_COMMUNICATION_SKILLS_STUDENTS

Bower, M. (2008). Affordance analysis - matching learning tasks with learning technologies. Educational Media International, 45(1) 3-15.

Week 2: Technology in schools

You would think as an educator passionate about technology, who is also a student studying a Masters of ICT in Education, I would be advocating the introduction of technology into all areas of the curriculum, for all ages. However, this is not the case. When I first read Prensky's 'Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants' (Prensky, 2001) earlier in my studies, I could not help but disagree with some of his assertions. In particular, Prensky's idea that today's students "have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, video games, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age" (Prensky, 2001, p. 1), does not ring true with my experience as a teacher.

I remember teaching a Year 3 class a few years ago. Whenever I asked the students to grab a computer, one of my students hid under the desk and started crying. I had to start warning her early each day if we were going to use computers and promise to help her, to avert her hysteria. At home, this student did not have access to any technology at all. While she was the only student to have a panic attack at the prospect of using computers, she was not the only one from a technology-free home. A digital native? I don't think so.

The following year I moved to Year 4 where, for the first time, students were provided with their own laptop. You would think, as digital natives, this would be exciting, yet fairly straight-forward for the students. Definitely exciting, however, not straight-forward. It took all the patience I could muster to get them to all log on correctly. As stated by Smith, Skrbis and Western (2013), "[a]s scholars increasingly critique the Digital Native myth, a key lesson is that young people do not speak the digital language until, like preceding generations, they learn how to do so" (p. 115).

I have found that using technology in the classroom provides added interest and motivation for students to learn. I have also found that it provides students with more opportunities to avoid learning. The ability to switch between programs and Internet browser tabs takes nearly no time at all, and so using technology in the classroom brings with it a whole gamut of additional considerations for the teacher.

Given that today's students are not necessarily digital natives (Bennet, Maton & Kervin, 2008) (Smith, Skribis & Western, 2013), it is therefore not necessary to completely change our curriculum and way of teaching (Kennedy, Judd, Dalgarno, & Waycott, 2010).  If the use of technology improves educational outcomes? Of course. If not? Well, there might be a better way.

References:

Bennett, S., Maton, K., & Kervin, L. (2008). The 'digital natives' debate: A critical review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), 775-786. 

Kennedy, G., Judd, T., Dalgarno, B., & Waycott, J. (2010). Beyond natives and immigrants: exploring types of net generation students. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(5), 332-343. 

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–2.

Smith, J., Skrbis, Z., & Western, M. (2013). Beneath the ‘Digital Native’ myth Understanding young Australians’ online time use. Journal of Sociology, 49(1), 97-118. 

Week 1: Podcast and Video Reflection

The podcast and video both resonated with me in more than one way. Firstly, I agree wholeheartedly with Antony Funnell when he said early in the podcast that " in short, technology doesn't educate people, people educate people" (Davies, 2012). As a primary classroom teacher, I definitely do not want to hand over the reins of education to a device. I love teaching too much for that.

However, as a passionate user and believer in technology, I am still not going to use it in my classroom unless it achieves better learning outcomes for my students than more traditional methods. This opinion is seconded by Greg Whitby, who stated that "if we just focus on the technology we'll miss the main game, which is the learning and a contemporary learning in today's world".

When Punya Mishra talked about the 'Technocentric Frame', where technology is placed front and centre in education, and everything magically works around it. Technology cannot be the centre. Students and student learning must always be at the centre of our pedagogy (Mishra, 2013).

Another quote from Punya Mishra that resonated with me was that "only repurposing makes technology an educational technology" (Mishra, 2013). This is so true! There is so much technology out there that has not been designed specifically for education. However, creative educators are using all kinds of technology to improve student outcomes. As teachers have become trailblazers in this area, some technology has embraced education and adjusted to suit educators. Many Web.2 technologies have added or included 'edu' features to cater to the education market. This has helped educators enormously.

My takeaway? Start with the curriculum and the students. Then add the technology layer.

References:

Davies, A. (2012, August 19). 21st Century Education. Future Tense [Audio Podcast]. A. Funnell, ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved from https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/rn/podcast/2012/08/fte_20120819_1130.mp3

Mishra, P. [Clases24H]. (2013, May 30). Punya Mishra Keynote Speaker @ 21st Century Learning Conference Hong Kong 2012 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/4TtBubdpzxE

Welcome to my blog!

Hello fellow ESC515-ers, and welcome to my blog.

I work at a K-12 Anglican school in Brisbane. I am currently teaching Year 4 three days each week, and on the remaining two days I am the STEM Coordinator for the Primary Campus. This is my seventh out of eight subjects for my Masters of ICT in Education. I can nearly see the light at the end of the tunnel...

Technology has become a passion of mine. I like using it, teaching with it, and teaching others to use and create with it. The problem with technology, however, is that it is always changing, so I always have something to learn. This year I have explored using and teaching a variety of technologies:

• I have been learning to code using the LEGO Mindstorm robots. My Year 5/6 Robotics and Coding Club entered the Qld State RoboCup Jr competition for the first time this year. None of the teams placed in their divisions, however, we all learned a lot.
  
• I have taught coding using Minecraft Education Edition for the first time this year. The students LOVE it, however, it requires quite a lot of managing as it is so popular.
  
• My Year 6 students experimented with a green screen and Photoshop this year. There was a lot of laughter in the room as students placed images of themselves in all sorts of interesting scenarios!
  
• My school has recently let me purchase a humanoid robot. This is my next challenge - learning how to code it. 
  

For many teachers, using technology in the classroom is akin to teaching a different language - one they don't know! Some of my colleagues were actually terrified when the new Digital Technologies Curriculum was introduced. This is where I come in. I decided that a passion for technology in education, and for digital technologies in particular, was where I wanted to head in my teaching career. I was also interested in further study, so decided to combine the two. The key for me is the difference between using technology for the sake of it or using technology to authentically improve learning and teaching. I'm hoping this subject will help me achieve the latter.

Good luck everyone!

Laurie