EDWARD'S 👨‍💻🖨️ CCTI PROJECT

We have been trying to find common ground while  doing a kind of cost benefit analysis of each of the two directions we should be considering i.e. Technology and innovative learning visavis Construction of new learning spaces. It is important to reach a consensus now  considering that both options have their pros and cons. Technology having to by-pass costs of construction and construction by pass those of technology and innovation. The costs here, of course, analysed looking at both the money that has to sink into each of the projects and the  adaptability to current and future relevant pedagogical trends. Agreeing on  a plausible approach can be a very daunting experience because in pursuing one end you have to be willing to part with the benefits of the other. But this should not be the way to look at it because you can actually experience both as you carefully lay down a plan that gradually integrates technology into the current 'four walls', virtually break...

The classroom walls have been up for long. They have been up with those who support the walls in position sticking to the traditional way of teaching and not embracing new trends in educational technologies which would have otherwise opened up learners to beyond the classroom. In attempt to integrate technology into the teaching learning process, attempts have been made in using old things in old ways (dedicated technology venues) where specific areas referred to as learning labs, collaboration rooms or media labs are used; use of old things in new ways were one device is used to facilitate technology integration in the classroom; use of new things and old ways which integrates technology using mobile devices; and finally the new things in new ways which monitors trends of different technologies and their applicability in the context we are addressing. My case was a mix of the traditional four walls and the use of dedicated technology venues with a slight bias towards the four...

Building knowledge together is a very fulfilling experience. As you embark on this hilarious task you get to know that the proverbial two heads are actually better than one! What your eyes could have missed can be captured by one of those many eyes that are working with you to bring the wiki (that is if you are using a wiki) to its final glorious state. It is important, though, that you know your role in the activity; more as an inspiration than a sole source for ideas and knowledge. Your content could have been written with 'careful consideration' and may appear to be 'without flaw' until someone actually comes and, probably, erases it or 'edits' it for the 'better'. Inasmuch as it may seem a blow to your ego, it is worth considering this new view point as fresh insight, with new perspectives and matter, that could be valuable and relevant; before jumping to unrealistic conclusions of doing uncalled for 'edits'. Many at times, after reading t...

Building knowledge together is a very fulfilling experience. As you embark on this hilarious task, you get to know that the proverbial two heads are actually better than one! What your eyes could have missed, can be captured by one of those many eyes that are working with you to bring the wiki (that is if you are using a wiki) to its final glorious state. It is important, though, that you know your role in the activity; more as an inspiration than a sole source for ideas and knowledge. Your content could have been written with 'careful consideration' and may appear to be 'without flaw' until someone actually comes and, probably, erases it or 'edits' it for the 'better'. Inasmuch as it may seem a blow to your ego, it is worth considering this new view point as fresh insight, with new perspectives and matter, that could be valuable and relevant; before jumping to unrealistic conclusions of doing uncalled for 'edits'. Many at times, after reading t...

Breaking the traditional classroom wall is like tearing down a large building. It requires proper planning, high will power, a passion to see them down and yes; the right alternative technological tools to do the job. Technology has proven to be literally limitless when it comes to facilitating the teaching learning process both in and out of the classroom setting and is the only alternative to this long enduring model – traditional four walled classrooms. The traditional four walled classroom model portrays itself in a number of ‘glorified’ ways but still maintains a somewhat common paradigm that learning – despite the use of technology – should take place within four walls of the classroom. Use of technology is more of a separate activity with little or no relevance to the usual ‘very important’ lessons within the allocated and fixed lesson periods. All learning that takes place outside our traditional classroom walls (in this paradigm) is considered to be accidental and not d...

My web quest was on communication (English) although it integrated elements of taxonomy (biology) and Primary Health Science. Along the way, I have gathered  so much to feed and grow my lesson design and management abilities. The web quest project prompted me to apply lessons learnt in other course sections in the CCTI course e.g. emphasis on application of learner centred technologies looked at during the innovative approaches to learning with technology course. This was used when learners were tasked to come up with an original communication model using the internet to browse and find out criteria used in selecting effective communication media. While at this, the learners would also get actively into using digital media skills to decipher the different graphics their colleagues came up with and vet them as accurate ways of communicating the health information that needed to be communicated. Contrary to the usual Lecture Method I and a number of my colleagues have used on se...

To start with, I do not think a summative assessment of my learners is necessary after I have employed an all comprehensive rubric. Largely because the analytical rubric I designed seems to cover all of the relevant areas from which information about learners level of achievement can be got. In my experience in this lesson, a new dimension of assessment has been gradually unlocked. I have for long leaned on summative assessment; looking forward every now and again to literally ambushing - if you may - my learners with tests, exams, and spot exercises at scheduled and at impromptu events. These assessments, nevertheless, have on a number of occasions failed to hit their mark; leaving a lot of effort put in place for very little benefit at the end of it all. Little did I know that the process of learning itself could be gauged during the time the tasks are being carried out. We can assess learners while they are : acting, answering, assessing, calculating, collecting, composing, computi...

As a teacher, my view of the learning process is further moving away from teacher centred. Of course this does not mean I have been 100% teacher centred; on the contrary I had in me the feeling that my teaching was actually learner centred until I met with Project Based Learning (PBL) which is as learner centred as it can be. Comparing this method with those I have been using, made me fall short of the paradigm I thought I had. The methodology of PBL, using webquest in this case, draws the learner from a classroom environment and plants her/him into real situations; enabling her/him to engage with real life scenarios that prompt a learner to apply and stretch abilities s/he and go on to appreciate what classroom learning has done to prepare them for the "outside world".  In engaging learners in these real life situations, they are placed in appropriate groups that go on to allow them create and build their own knowledge in new and engaging ways - making the learner more ...

It is now more evident that teachers have begun to use the Internet as an instructional tool. When considering the pro’s and con’s of doing a Webquest in your classroom, many things come to mind. While there is a wide variety of benefits, there are also some quite substantial downfalls. Benefits may include among others that: This technique helps introduce students to units by presenting necessary background and determining students' prior knowledge. WebQuests create opportunities to provide this background. This type of activity motivates students to learn concepts in the unit as it provides a point of reference for their understanding. Students can learn from one another, and by interacting solidify the concepts of the lesson. A WebQuest is a way to develop cooperative learning opportunities and allows for interaction among the students. To complete the quest, students must work together and can use each other as resources to accomplish the objectives of the WebQuest. Th...

It is in this lesson of the course that I have eventually come to fully comprehend what Project Based Learning is all about. Its about applying all the skills the teacher has learnt to ensure that there is full engagement of the learner during the teaching-learning process.  In order to engage learners we have to be creative, imaginative, and innovative. We strive to: Draw in the students' interest to the topic,Capture their imagination in the real-life scenario of the task, Engage them cognitively through real-life responsibilities and role playing. This is a very exciting teaching - learning experience in which both the learner and teacher are highly enthused in the process. It is needless to mention that the entire project will give the learner an early exposure into applying the skills, so far built in their school life, in real "work-like" experiences. For instance, a learner may get engaged in a real debate to pass a controversial law; participate in a human rights...

I have kind of dragged in this phase; not getting the idea at first but as always, I have not given up. I need to do more reading, consultation and more practice - even when I am done with this section of the course/lesson. Coming up  with a clear introduction and task that captivates learners from the word go seems to be much more challenging that I imagined it would be. Despite the fact that I have put in a lot to come up with a world class WQ (that is webquest), the picture I envisaged doesn't seem to be coming. I push on and surely hope that I will be in position to see this section added to the list of those I have comprehended and am becoming more proficient in. Watch this space for more updates!!!!!

WebQuests are an exciting and valuable teaching tool. A well-planned WebQuest has guidance for students, a creative end project with room for flexibility, and links that help answer questions and positively add to the project. A strong WebQuest is designed for students to work independently, allowing the teacher to be a facilitator in students' learning rather than the sole dispenser of knowledge.  WebQuests also have the the adaptive dimension, the ability to make adjustments in educational programs to accommodate students' diverse learning needs. They are the therefore a wonderful way of capturing students' imagination and allowing them to explore in a guided, meaningful manner.  Communication, group work, problem solving, and critical and creative thinking skills are becoming far more important in today's world than having students memorize predetermined content. This is an emphasis of the 21st century skills which are designed to effectively integrate our ...

In an attempt to state the curriculum objectives of the project with specific 21st Century skills and higher-order skills, I have written down the following: Objectives: Identify aquatic organisms in a water sample. (curriculum) Use sampling and counting techniques to estimate population size. (curriculum) Collaborate in groups to agree, with substantial reasoning, on the most appropriate sampling method to apply for each of the different water samples to be taken.(21st Century skill) Critically examine data on numbers of micro-organisms in the different samples and, considering other environmental factors observed, draw a conclusion about the patterns. (21st Century skill) Create a blog with content compiled by all learners, containing details of the story of the entire project, the observations made and the conclusions/hypothesis deduced.  (higher order thinking) Together influence the community to implement workable solutions which either guarantee the safe use of drink...

It is not news that too often we hear from pupils that school is boring and that they cannot relate to nor understand the material that is presented to them each day in class.   Project Based Learning: accommodates different approaches to learning; makes content more meaningful; develops higher-order cognitive skills, life skills, technological skills and self-management skills; Students are excited, engaged, enthusiastic and empowered about their learning dig more deeply into a topic and expand their interests; retain what they learn; make connections between different subject areas and other aspects of their life; gain confidence and improve social and collaborative skills. Project Based Learning To those of us who teach and love our subjects, it seems incomprehensible that students are not passionate about them.  Rather than feel disheartened, we need to understand that we have before us both a challenge and an opportunity.  Project-based learning experiences ...

Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson's study showed that, if teachers were led to expect enhanced performance from children, then the children's performance was enhanced. This study supported the hypothesis that reality can be positively or negatively influenced by the expectations of others, called the observer-expectancy effect. Rosenthal argued that biased expectancies could affect reality and create self-fulfilling prophecies. All students in a single California elementary school were given a disguised IQ test at the beginning of the study. These scores were not disclosed to teachers. Teachers were told that some of their students (about 20% of the school chosen at random) could be expected to be "intellectual bloomers" that year, doing better than expected in comparison to their classmates. The bloomers' names were made known to the teachers. At the end of the study, all students were again tested with the same IQ-test used at the beginning of the study....

Perhaps the greatest lesson I have learnt in this course is that I now have a call to transform our school learning environment (its systems and infrastructure; its teaching - approaches, methods, techniques) to adjust to innovations that bring about effective learning. The centre word here being innovation which, if I am not mistaken, is the them of this course. Much as we strive to use technology as and when it comes, it is important to note that innovation is very key in the use of technology effectively. Innovation geared at using technology in a way that enhances learner engagement is very important because at the end of the day it leads to formulation of a school wide approach which is focused at student centred learning. Teachers in the groups or as individuals need to arrange their teaching learning activities in a way that enhances learner collaboration and engagement. They as teachers need to collaborate among each other to come up with joint knowledge on best practices...

Coursera - Free Online Courses From Top Universities tags: storytelling digital digitalstorytelling coursera Digital Storytelling in the Classroom - YouTube tags: digital storytelling storytelling classroom The power of digital storytelling | Emily Bailin | TEDxSoleburySchool - YouTube tags: power digital storytelling storytelling Posted from Diigo . The rest of my favorite links are here .

Good podcast guide for teachers tags: podcasting Podcasting in the Classroom | Teachers TV Find out ways of using podcasting to enhance teaching and learning at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3, as well as tips and resources, in this pedagogical ICT resource for those less confident with technology. Using Technology To Help Teach Poetry To Young Students tags: podcasting Using Technology To Provide Student Feedback tags: podcasts writing technology audio feedback collaboration Pos...

The proverb "Work without play makes John a dull boy" just got a new meaning for me after this lesson. I think it should be rephrased to say something like: "Work is best with play to make John make the most out of his potential." This is because it is now clearer that learning through play is the solution for our generation which seems to have a very short attention span for things which are not "fun". Teachers are now coming with methods of not only integrating game play in learning but also of bringing about learning through game play. This is because game play:  Increases a child’s memory capacity by multitasking, boosts computer & simulation fluency in a technology filled world, helps with fast strategic thinking & problem-solving since learners are faced with a diverse number of tasks, is beneficial specifically for children with attention disorders, causes overall skill building, to mention but a few. these benefits address curriculum deman...

Following a lot of research, it has been concluded that the choice to implement any classroom technology should be based on sound learning theory and should support a specific aspect of the curriculum. Teachers should have the backing and support of school leadership and have received prior training in use of technology tools to facilitate student learning. In addition, they should gather data to ensure that use of the technology is having the intended positive effects on students. Social media has been debated in a number of education circles but it is becoming clearer everyday that social media platforms are doing a splendid job in furthering lesson effectiveness. I have personally taken interest in Facebook and in a recent activity engaged my learners (who, ideally, identified Facebook as the platform of their choice - mainly for the fact that it is easily accessible); and in this engagement had them explain the significance of using social media as a classroom tool. The following ...

I can now distinguish between  two things: collaboration and effective collaboration. In principle, I have known and practiced collaboration but rarely taken into account that the activities that comprise the collaboration could have either been replaced with better ones - more effective in realising  lesson objectives - or refined to make them more effective. Several lessons tend to put the cart before the horse by asking the wrong questions like "How can I make my lesson more collaborative?", "What technology can I use to make this lesson 'better'? etc. Instead, it would have been important to ask questions like: "How can I make collaboration make me realise my lesson objectives?" and the like. Collaboration should not be seen as an element of a lesson but as the defining theme of the lesson. The whole lesson or set of lessons is one collaborative process or set of collaborative processes harmonised by the teacher to cultivate the desired experien...

In this section of my learning, I have broadly realised - building from my background knowledge as an educator - that there are no proven methods of educating people to be producers of knowledge. Knowledge creators of the past have been too few and too exceptional in their talents to provide much basis for educational planning. In what is coming to be called the “knowledge age,” the health and wealth of societies depends increasingly on their capacity to innovate. People in general, not just a specialized elite, need to work creatively with knowledge.  Knowledge is socially constructed, and best supported through collaborations designed so that participants share knowledge and tackle projects that incorporate features of adult teamwork, real-world content, and use of varied information sources. This is the most widely supported approach at present, especially with regard to the use of information technology. Knowledge building provides an alternative that more directly add...

Learner engagement is key for effective learning to take place. Learners are engaged not only when we see participation, activity, use of a piece of technology here and there but when, after evaluation of the engagement process, we are able to note without reason to doubt that there is: Creativity; critical thinking which generates new ideas and opinions/questions; application of knowledge to solve real problems in the local and global communities; collaboration between learners to create new and relevant content using a series of platforms e.g. google docs; ability of the learner to evaluate themselves in a series of tasks that the teacher gives from time to time. To mention but afew. These and a lot more can be used gauge effectiveness of learner engagement. Much as presence of technology in a lesson in itself is not proof of learner engagement, the role of technology in ensuring learner engagement cannot be down played. Phones have been used by teachers to engage learners throu...

ENGAGEMENT

My view about innovative teaching is revolutionizing and very quickly. The exposure I got from the first part of course 5 was one that gave me a glimpse of what was in store as regards teaching with innovation and now that I have completed 5.2.3, I consider myself to be, to  a greater extent, ready for my next innovative lesson. In talking about innovation, I now see that it is about allowing the learners to freely learn in social groups created either virtual or physical and facilitating them with guidelines that enable them to create knowledge on their own as they go about with pre-designed tasks. This kind of collaboration exploits learners creativity abilities and has lead to results we had never imagined would ever be realised. In engaging learners in these tasks they are prompted to critically think - another skill - and come with solutions to the challenges before them. The role of the teacher in this regard is narrowed to seeing to it that a lesson is designed in a way tha...

I teach in a school not very far from the urban municipal centre -- 6 km away actually. We therefore have very good internet and we make use of it. The school is integrated with Nursery, Primary and Secondary campuses not very far from each other and with seamless collaboration among the campuses possible. The learners hail from a variety of backgrounds - Ugandan and non-Ugandan and have been exposed to Digital Technology (prior to their coming to our school) in varying degrees. The teachers have basic knowledge about Digital Technology; mostly acquired as a result of the school emphasis (in its different policies), on need for knowledge in ICT as a prerequisite for employment in any of the campuses. There is a growing use, however, of application of Digital Technology in learning. The learners study ICT as a subject and are able to use the knowledge they acquire to use the different Digital Technologies in place. These technologies include, but is not limited to smart phones, lap...