Transforming children's learning across the curriculum
Introduction and Summary of Week 1:
This MOOC is a suitable first approach to technology in the curriculum, digital tools and resources, teacher development, and developing the digital infrastructure. It explains why we should consider using ICT in the 21st century primary school and it is meant to be a way of enabling the community of teachers to learn from each other. Technology changes all the time and teachers all over the world are constantly discovering new ways of using technology to improve their student's learning.
Summary of Week 2:
Last week we have seen how we can make the difference in our curriculums with the help of ICT.
This week we will explore the different contexts, stages, and challenges that schools face when introducing technology in their practices. From the teachers point of view, some expected and unexpected changes appeared. The expected were that not all staff embraced new technology. On the other hand, many teachers upgraded their teaching by learning more.
Students became independent self learners. This motivation for exploring new tools, has triggered new skills. They feel that they have moved away from routine learning methods.
There is nothing new about technology beaking boundaries. Teaches have found that implementing ICT within the classroom enables children to participate into national and international projects. Students virtually scape the school building. This is a boost for collavotative tasks, their way of bounding with teachers has also been a great benefit of ICT.
Although some teachers are not ready for the technologies, the students are. Pupils feel more motivated to learn and work with peers. We are not the owners of knowledge, we will discover information and content along our students.
Summary of Week 3:
In this week, ideas are suggested to teachers to design a proper planning of learning activities for their students, to select rubrics that suit learning object and pedagogy.
Technologies offer a great variety of options, so teachers have the responsibility of choosing proper tools and methodologies, understanding the difference between learners, their needs, and the modes of assessment.
Different activities have been presented to demonstrate how ICT can contribute to the depth of learning. Different taxonomies have been introduced just like to make sure that all possible types of learning are covered.
Digital materials, activities and other resources have been proposed. These materials can also be accessed from home, too, which is highly beneficial for children.
ICT goes throughout the curriculum. Technologies are involved in every subject and each one of them take their own advantage of the resources.
This week comes up with meaningful engaging activities given to children. They are faced with their own similar tasks to transfer their learned knowledge into solving alternative problems. Children take notes during classroom activities within their digital copybooks, which they upload to the file storage system and drop it into their own blogs by the end of each class. Geography, for instance, uses as tools digital maps, street view. Results of experiments can be copied and recorded into digital copybooks for later use. Also, lots of stand-alone apps exist for subjects like chemistry. In addition, interactive white boards, as well as access later on at home to analyse further are available. Maths is probably the subject that has the greatest number of learning apps developed, including those which are developed by teachers themselves.
On the other hand, the MOOC points a reflection not all classrooms have technology come-at-able. That means teachers need to develop their classes according to their attainable resources.
Summary of Week 4:
Introduction and Summary of Week 1:
This MOOC is a suitable first approach to technology in the curriculum, digital tools and resources, teacher development, and developing the digital infrastructure. It explains why we should consider using ICT in the 21st century primary school and it is meant to be a way of enabling the community of teachers to learn from each other. Technology changes all the time and teachers all over the world are constantly discovering new ways of using technology to improve their student's learning.
This course shows many different ways in which ICT can be used, and the different kinds of tools and resources which are now available on the web for use in any curriculum area, as well as in the computing curriculum for primary schools. Those free digital tools make teaching and learning so much more interesting and rewarding for teachers and children.
The purpose of this MOOC is also to demonstrate how different kinds of ICT could be used to support all types of learning in one project on that topic for children. That is why teacher must raise awareness of the important role they play in thinking about how best to design the use of technology in different contexts.
All types of ICT could be integrated with conventional primary classroom methods. The MOOC compares how diverse types of learning (acquisition, collaboration, discussion, investigation, practice, production) can be transformed from conventional to digital technology.
According to the specialists, technology can enhance each different type of learning. Digital technologies are now making classroom learning more varied and challenging, and also, therefore, much more challenging for the teacher.
The role of the teacher is absolutely crucial in those processes. As students are learning about media and ICT tools, teachers must be careful to give the children access only to safe websites.
Access at school is important because many children do not have access to ICT at home and school is their only chance. On the other hand, the use of technological tools is beneficial for teachers: it gives them excellent support in the classrooms. That’s why they must work on their confidence in using digital skills.
Teachers can do a lot, even with quite small and cheap mobile devices which can be connected to the internet. Even though, technical quality is essential.
We need what is called e-maturity. They defined it in terms of three main topics, infrastructure and resources, organizational coordination, and engaging the learner.
This course promotes the exchange of practice and ideas with other teachers. Mainly because technology has changed so fast that a training course is good for basics, but not for the latest interesting tools and resources. They highlight that more important than training courses, are communities of professional practice.
Summary of Week 2:
Last week we have seen how we can make the difference in our curriculums with the help of ICT.
This week we will explore the different contexts, stages, and challenges that schools face when introducing technology in their practices. From the teachers point of view, some expected and unexpected changes appeared. The expected were that not all staff embraced new technology. On the other hand, many teachers upgraded their teaching by learning more.
Students became independent self learners. This motivation for exploring new tools, has triggered new skills. They feel that they have moved away from routine learning methods.
There is nothing new about technology beaking boundaries. Teaches have found that implementing ICT within the classroom enables children to participate into national and international projects. Students virtually scape the school building. This is a boost for collavotative tasks, their way of bounding with teachers has also been a great benefit of ICT.
Although some teachers are not ready for the technologies, the students are. Pupils feel more motivated to learn and work with peers. We are not the owners of knowledge, we will discover information and content along our students.
Summary of Week 3:
In this week, ideas are suggested to teachers to design a proper planning of learning activities for their students, to select rubrics that suit learning object and pedagogy.
Technologies offer a great variety of options, so teachers have the responsibility of choosing proper tools and methodologies, understanding the difference between learners, their needs, and the modes of assessment.
Different activities have been presented to demonstrate how ICT can contribute to the depth of learning. Different taxonomies have been introduced just like to make sure that all possible types of learning are covered.
Digital materials, activities and other resources have been proposed. These materials can also be accessed from home, too, which is highly beneficial for children.
ICT goes throughout the curriculum. Technologies are involved in every subject and each one of them take their own advantage of the resources.
This week comes up with meaningful engaging activities given to children. They are faced with their own similar tasks to transfer their learned knowledge into solving alternative problems. Children take notes during classroom activities within their digital copybooks, which they upload to the file storage system and drop it into their own blogs by the end of each class. Geography, for instance, uses as tools digital maps, street view. Results of experiments can be copied and recorded into digital copybooks for later use. Also, lots of stand-alone apps exist for subjects like chemistry. In addition, interactive white boards, as well as access later on at home to analyse further are available. Maths is probably the subject that has the greatest number of learning apps developed, including those which are developed by teachers themselves.
On the other hand, the MOOC points a reflection not all classrooms have technology come-at-able. That means teachers need to develop their classes according to their attainable resources.
Summary of Week 4:
How is ICT and new technologies chosen in schools? The criteria should be studied to consider the appropriateness of an ICT tool, and discuss what we need in our classrooms. School leader or ICT specialis or coordinator has to be the one who decides which tools and which digital content we will use. They are the ones who have the knowledge of what is or is not appropiated for students.
Before choosig the technology the school will be using there are some topics to bear in mind. 1- Where do the school wants to go? Which is the standar they want to archieve?
2-Everyones thoughts. From teachers to students and parents.
If (at least) this two topics are not taken into consideration, it will be useless to attempt to use ICT.
When ICT is implemented as a separate subject, it usually focuses on using ICT to create presentations, video, drawings, animations, to look for information or to communicate. In some countries, this ICT approach has transformed or is being transformed and extended into more systematic computing or informatics or computer science subject. (our country). This shouldnt happen, ICT should be a tool for children to explore software and hardware of their devices, for them to build their knowledge into the 21st century.
Summary of Week 6:
This week starts with a video of an Australian primary school ICT coordinator and she tells what she has done to make mobile technologies work in her school and how she sustained and scaled up the efforts with the support of the school.
Then, the Mooc recaps the key competencies required for teachers to use ICT effectively for teaching and learning, and how professional learning develops this set of competencies among teachers.
The role of the teachers is crucial in ICT-enhanced learning environments and this role can be supported by different stakeholders, and the larger sociocultural contexts of these environments.
Sarah Hill -the ICT coordinator- says that she has started using iPads in Kindergarten and has also worked with teachers for some weeks to ensure that they were confident with using them.
The coordinator remarks they have developed individual programs for their students with autism, so that they have an iPad that caters to their specialist needs to help them fit in within the classroom.
She highlights iPads increase the skills of our students. Kids are really engaged when they are using them, and focused on the activity and “they love using them because they're really hands on”.
IPads offer a different learning style for students. “They can learn at their own pace, and get instant reward”.
Finally, at the end of the course, it is mentioned they learned a lot from participants' discussions and contributions, and they have also been very impressed with the quality of this community of teachers and learning technologists.
Before choosig the technology the school will be using there are some topics to bear in mind. 1- Where do the school wants to go? Which is the standar they want to archieve?
2-Everyones thoughts. From teachers to students and parents.
If (at least) this two topics are not taken into consideration, it will be useless to attempt to use ICT.
When ICT is implemented as a separate subject, it usually focuses on using ICT to create presentations, video, drawings, animations, to look for information or to communicate. In some countries, this ICT approach has transformed or is being transformed and extended into more systematic computing or informatics or computer science subject. (our country). This shouldnt happen, ICT should be a tool for children to explore software and hardware of their devices, for them to build their knowledge into the 21st century.
Summary of Week 6:
This week starts with a video of an Australian primary school ICT coordinator and she tells what she has done to make mobile technologies work in her school and how she sustained and scaled up the efforts with the support of the school.
Then, the Mooc recaps the key competencies required for teachers to use ICT effectively for teaching and learning, and how professional learning develops this set of competencies among teachers.
The role of the teachers is crucial in ICT-enhanced learning environments and this role can be supported by different stakeholders, and the larger sociocultural contexts of these environments.
Sarah Hill -the ICT coordinator- says that she has started using iPads in Kindergarten and has also worked with teachers for some weeks to ensure that they were confident with using them.
The coordinator remarks they have developed individual programs for their students with autism, so that they have an iPad that caters to their specialist needs to help them fit in within the classroom.
She highlights iPads increase the skills of our students. Kids are really engaged when they are using them, and focused on the activity and “they love using them because they're really hands on”.
IPads offer a different learning style for students. “They can learn at their own pace, and get instant reward”.
Finally, at the end of the course, it is mentioned they learned a lot from participants' discussions and contributions, and they have also been very impressed with the quality of this community of teachers and learning technologists.
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