When beginning this course I came in very optimistic and overconfident on my abilities of incorporating ITD into the classroom. I quickly realised that my level of confidence would not remain at this level for long. When I looked through the different types of ITD that we had to learn I was overwhelmed with the technical skills we would have to develop. Although I failed to comprehend these aspects at first I made it a personal goal to strive for further achievement as I now know by undergoing this course just how many positive outcomes can be produced from incorporating ITD into the classroom.
Within the first few weeks the amount of personal growth was amazing. I went from knowing hardly anything to being able to use websites such as blogger and wikispaces along with editing videos, resizing images and adding hyperlinks to my work.
In our first task the De Bono’s Hats/Mobile phone wikispaces activity it made me realise the importance of higher order thinking along with blooms taxonomy. The De Bono’s Hats/Mobile phone wikispaces activity allowed me to identify the main six categories into human thinking.
Knowledge: remembering or recalling appropriate, previously learned information to draw out factual (usually right or wrong) answers. Use words and phrases such as: how many, when, where, list, define, tell, describe, identify, etc., to draw out factual answers, testing students' recall and recognition.
Comprehension: grasping or understanding the meaning of informational materials. Use words such as: describe, explain, estimate, predict, identify, differentiate, etc., to encourage students to translate, interpret, and extrapolate.
Application: applying previously learned information (or knowledge) to new and unfamiliar situations. Use words such as: demonstrate, apply, illustrate, show, solve, examine, classify, experiment, etc., to encourage students to apply knowledge to situations that are new and unfamiliar.
Analysis: breaking down information into parts, or examining (and trying to understand the organizational structure of) information. Use words and phrases such as: what are the differences, analyse, explain, compare, separate, classify, arrange, etc., to encourage students to break information down into parts.
Synthesis: applying prior knowledge and skills to combine elements into a pattern not clearly there before. Use words and phrases such as: combine, rearrange, substitute, create, design, invent, what if, etc., to encourage students to combine elements into a pattern that's new.
Evaluation: judging or deciding according to some set of criteria, without real right or wrong answers. Use words such as: assess, decide, measure, select, explain, conclude, compare, summarize, etc., to encourage students to make judgements according to a set of criteria.
By evaluating and learning these six categories I believe I can successfully apply it to my classroom whilst using ICT programs.
I found using the SAMR model was a very valuable tool I could use and refer to whilst teaching. When first being introduced to the concept of the SAMR model I found the concept difficult to understand and relate back to how I would use it in my classroom. Thinking back to my schooling days there were limited or no technology used in a manual arts class. So completing the SAMR model each week really challenged me when trying to incorporate it into classroom. The SAMR model opened my eyes and gave me insight on just how much more knowledge and achievement could be gained by substituting traditional methods for technology.
Although my involvement was very limited I found given the opportunity to collaborate with other students throughout the CQU universe a very good concept. I only managed to leave a limited amount of comments on people’s blogs. And although I did comment they were limited to my own classmates throughout the course. I believe I could have tried harder to construct more comments amongst other people. I also liked the fact that so many people commented on my blogs. It really reinsured what I was writing in my blog was valuable to others.
An important aspect I gained knowledge on throughout this course was the importance of legal issues surrounding technology. Before this course I was aware of these issues but had no idea of how in depth they are. This is an area I believe that will have to be further investigated to be sure that I follow the law and legislation at all times. This information will also need to be explained to the students so they also have sufficient knowledge of the law and legislation.
Overall this course has given me an insight of the importance of using higher order thinking, blooms taxonomy, the SAMR model and the importance of collaboration. I am also looking forward to implementing what I have learnt into my next placement and seeing how the students will respond to me using a numerous range of ICT strategies that I have learnt throughout this course.
