Vanessa's Story

Friday 11 March 2011

A thought from Vanessa

As I was reading Heidi's latest blog I was smiling and nodding thinking to myself that yes it is great to reflect on what this little family 'flex' network has achieved. We have all gone through many emotions and experienced the roller coater ride of embracing new found ideas and information. I too would like to take this opportunity to say that yes it has been very exciting but oh my goodness it has been very overwhelming and has led me to constantly use my internal dialogue focusing on remembering all the motivational readings I have read in past. It is taking all my energies and my focus not only because it is such new information to process but because it is set at such a rapid pace and it is easy to feel left behind. I think my biggest problem is having the time to give 100% to all of my subjects.

On a positive note the learning has been amazing and so empowering so we all must remember to take a deep breathe, sit back and commend ourselves on the effort we have displayed. It has really helped reading everybody's blogs and I look forward to embracing the next part of E Learning and embarking on this journey with you all. I would like to leave you all with a quote that sits on my desk and I read it all the time.

"Often the tasks will be many, and more than you think you can do.
Often the road will be rugged and the hills insurmountable too.
But always remember, the hills ahead are never as steep as they seem.
And with faith in your heart, start upward and climb till you reach your dream."
(Sorry I don't know who wrote this quote.)

Vanessa
xx

Sunday 6 March 2011

21st Century Learners

“Our students have changed radically. Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach” (Marc Prensky 2001)

21^st Century learners are catergorised as tech savey. They have been born in a complex world and have been subjected to technology from birth. This generation is a complex generation only knowing computers, I phones, I pads, video games and other digital media which makes their experiences and environment completely different to what a lot of educators are currently subjected to.

Prensky (2001) categorises people into 2 categories - Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants. I personally am a digital immigrant, generation X born in 1974. I was taught by teachers who wrote on blackboards and read out of books, the more traditional style of learning compared to what the future holds for our generation Y and New Millennial students. It is exciting to see where technology takes us as long as students can still write, read and do maths I say let’s embrace the learning journey. As a learning facilitator it is our obligation to make learning interesting and technology is just that. The amount of learning using digital technology is phenomenal. Students are able to embrace their learning concentrating on the pace which suits them which can be adapted by their learning styles. However as learning facilitators we still need to remember that all children are different and we have to educate and teach to their individual needs and ability levels.

My response to the article “engage or enrage” is a thumbs up response. I completely agree with Mark Prensky (2005) . I believe children respond to being engrossed on their learning journey. They need to be excited about learning and be able to express their creativity and ICT knowledge. We as educators need to make learning in the 21^st century a success and focus on captivating and guiding the next generation into a world full of excitement and digital evolution.

REFERENCES:

http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

An insightful u tube video about children's ideas regarding 21st century learning. Some really great ideas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l72UFXqa8ZU&feature=related

Multiple Intelligence Test

I found the Birmingham grid for learning interesting and informative. Yet another ICT tool to help identify and collaborate a person's strengths and weaknesses. It is so wonderful to go on the 'E - Learning' journey and experience technology at it's best. My results were astonishingly quit accurate. I received high results in kinaesthetic (body smart), linguistic (word smart), interpersonal (people smart) and intrapersonal (myself smart). I do really enjoy sports. I like to communicate effectively and be involved with groups and apart of team experiences. I am social and enjoy sharing ideas and lessons of life with whom I engage. I know myself and constantly embrace critical reflection by identifying with my strengths and weaknesses.

My lowest ranking scores were for visual/spatia (picture smart) which actually made me laugh because my husband tells me all the time that I can't read maps and my 4 year old daughter informs me regularly that my drawing ability is like a kindy child (I personally love stick men). Music has never been dominant and my ability in playing a musical instrument stops at the recorder but I do love to listen to it. So all in all the intelligence test concludes my 'intelligence' quite accurately.

Another fantastic resource.

http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/ict/multiple_int/what.cfm

Friday 4 March 2011

My reflection on Learning Stlyes quiz.

My interpretation of Felder and Soloman: Learning Styles and Strategies after taking the quiz were relatively correct about the way in which I learn. My score of 11 showed a remarkable dominance to cementing the fact that I am an active learner. I love group work and relish in discussing topics and my views of opinions with other people and bouncing ideas around to understand the complete content of the topic.

My moderate preference with a score of 5 was a sensing learner. I do really like factual information and like solving problems and being prepared with content in my brain before exams or assessments but I also feel I have some intuitive learning traits as well .

The next category visual and verbal learners really surprised me as I have always believed myself to be a very visual learner. My results showed a score of 1 in favour of being a verbal learner but I do understand that this means I have a balance of both learning styles. When I actually read about verbal learners I identified with some of the traits of being a verbal learner. I certainly like working in a group and I thrive on classmate discussions – this make my understanding of content even more positive.

My last learning style was sequential or global learners. My results showed that I am a global leaner with a score of 3. Again I am well balanced between both learning styles but I can identify more with being a global learner. I like to absorb all the information, sometimes not understanding it at first and then suddenly it all makes sense. A bit like this course.....

I really enjoyed participating in the quiz. I found it to be beneficial in understanding more about the way in which I learn and it now helps me identify some of my strengths and weaknesses regarding the way in which I learn effectively. This questionnaire is a great tool for students as I feel when you are analysing yourself critical reflection in very important on any journey.

For more information about learning styles or to take the test, click on:Learning Style Page. http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

The sorts of learning experiences which would best suit my learning ability would be group discussion and forums. I am very hands on so I learn by participating both verbally and physically. I like to be involved in discussions and I remember the information shared by involvement and relating the text to life situations.

Teaching students correctly is a very complex tool. By researching all the different learning styles I now know to teach children positively and successfully you need to be aware of each child's learning style. I would use a variety of techniques for all types of learners. Each lesson plan would have a variety of ways in which to funnel the information to the students. I would concentrate on visual stimuli such as maps, diagrams, props and demonstrations for the visual learners as well as preparing the reflective learners by giving them enough time to digest the content before engaging with the class. I would encourage active participation and incorporate group discussions as well as time to participate individually for the active and reflective learners. To cater for both sensing and intuitive I would state the facts and link it to real life but would also allow participation to discover connections and solutions for ones self. Global learners need an overview which I can relate to. I like to know the content and then emerge my self so that my understanding is complete whereas sequential learners tend to learn step by step in order.

My design and digital pedagogy could support my students by allowing the same information to be given but by using different techniques. I would be teaching by speaking, using visual aid and different ways of engaging students with factual data, group discussions and independent learning. In order to understand my students I would develop a series of questions which would help me identify with my students learning styles. Depending on the age of the students I would definitely ask them to participate in the quiz for further learning style development. My person questions would be:

Do you learn by reading, listening, watching or participating?
What is your favourite subject?
Do you like Maths or English or both?
What do you like to do in your spare time?
How would your best friend describe you?
Are you shy or very social?
Do you like reading or watching TV?
Are you very routine or easy going?
Do you like fact or fiction?
How do you absorb information?
Do you like to work by yourself or in a group?

Learning for children is all about engaging them and finding a link which makes them excited to be involved in the learning process. ICT is now that link for children because it is based on the 21st century learning and children respond to technology. ICT supports all levels and abilities of learning styles by allowing the learner to work at their own pace, be flexible, be supported, work independently or work utilising group forums and networks. It is now up to all teachers to focus on successfully identifying what works for their students and focusing on the traits of their learning style and supporting their learning journey.

Reference:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Learning_Styles.html

Wednesday 2 March 2011

My 3rd post

How exciting....Karen and I are now partners for the assignment and we have chosen our topic....21st century learning. I look forward to working with you Karen - here's to a great learning journey.

Cheers