Interacting with IWB

A friend and I were chatting at a party about studies and his journey of becoming a teacher. One particular part which stood out was his time at an underprivileged school, which he had just began to teach at. The school was donated four interactive white boards a year prior to his arrival, as well as projectors and laptops which sat in the store room the entire time. When media training was offered on how to use this new technology, he was the only teacher willing to take the course. What is most surprising in this scenario is that the school would not been able to afford to purchase these white boards by themselves, yet only one teacher took the initiative to learn. A lot of technology centers around learning – how to use it, how to facilitate learning in students and about teachers learning how to connect to students who are so ‘digital’.

How would I use this new technology to encourage learning in my classroom? I think life sciences is one of the most versatile subjects to do this in. IWB facilitate group work and group discussion, and can be used quite effectively to save notes and answers students may have for reference later on. Teachers can drop and drag and also allow students to do it when labelling or matching words or columns. The IWB can also be combined with tablets, where students can interact with it from their desks. An interesting topic using these features could be cell physiology. Students would be able to match functions and organelles, label from a picture or compare differences between different cell types. Short quizzes could also be set up on the white board to test student knowledge, where answers are given using the audience response system (if available). There are many different models and features so it’s all about making the best of what is available.

It is obvious that these resources are not available at every school, but absence of technology does not mean that learning cannot take place. It is important to become creative as a teacher – the simplest everyday items can be used to teach a much more complicated topic in an interesting way. That being said, we should also not be afraid of using new technology or resources to enhance the teaching and learning experience.

Teachers and students working together in the classroom

I think this weeks topic is an important one because it shows that teachers and students are not separate entities. The word classroom (talking about the building itself) does not bring about many good memories. We were taught mostly in prefab units, which are made from rhinoboard (I think) and not bricks. They had no air-conditioners, no real way of keeping out the harsh conditions, and very little modern resources found in some schools today. I'm pretty sure my mom was taught in some of those classrooms. The classroom itself was not the greatest, but if I think 'school', the thing that stands out the most are those few teachers who managed to impact me beyond the uncomfortability of the classroom. The ones who made me feel like I belonged.

Those teachers are also part of the reason I decided to pursue a career in education. That kind of inspiring teaching is needed to both enjoy school and assist in learners learning. But how do teachers be that inspiration? I think it has a lot to do with involving students in a meaningful way.

I emphasize meaningful because some teachers think that by handing out notes and teaching students by throwing knowledge at them is the way it's done, without any need to get learner involvement or feedback. Those are extreme cases, but if I've experienced a teacher like that I assume its not as extreme as it may seem.

We as teachers need to look after our learners' wellbeing, which goes past each one getting a desk and a chair and a place to put their bag. It means that the school atmosphere is one where students are excited and look forward to go to school, while teachers feel empowered to make a difference in their lives. Teachers can do this by allowing feedback and being open to communication. An effective teacher is one who impacts the child on a personal level, and that can not occur if learner-to-teacher communication is not encouraged.

Effective teaching stretches beyond academic involvement (although that is important!). We learnt about the concept of in loco parentis, which is how teachers take the place of the parent in the school and thus have to look after them as if each one of them were one of their own. This means that teaching students about professional and respectful ways to communicate are as important as teaching them the format of a letter. We teach for lifelong learning and lessons which change their lives forever, and we need to interact with learners in order to do so.

The teacher and student battle

Our school system is not supportive of creativity. It does not really facilitate learning in such a way that students are able to deal and tackle real problems or questions they have. We are given a problem, taught a method to solve that problem, and if each step is not followed correctly you've done it 'wrong'. It sounds really sad when you're actually honest about how we were taught in school.

As a teacher we are expected to force feed knowledge as if that is 'preparation' for university which I don't think it is at all. Most of learning in my opinion happens through experience, experimentation and interaction which doesn't really have a place in school, especially in maths and science.  What should be done to inspire students an help them enjoy school is a very difficult problem considering the various different pedagogies around.

In the article entitled The Standards of Critical Digital Pedagogy (Hamilton, 2014), the author describes the standards created by organisations such as ISTE, P21 etc. are promoting ICT (Information and Communications Technology) literacy standards which are "limited, and therefore limiting". This means that although it is possible that technology could be used in innovative ways in the classroom, teachers are influenced negatively by these standards, where ideas and creativity are shut down by confined standards.

The independent project is something that comes to mind when thinking about what learners actually want to learn about. Students at Monument Regional High School involved in this project were allowed to choose their own curriculums, ask questions which were not addressed in class (or part of the general  subject curriculum) and learn from each by being taught by one another. They ended up working harder, learning more, presenting what they found in a variety of ways and enjoyed their schooling much more. I am not saying that this will work as a global standard for school curriculum, but it does open our eyes to the limiting factor mentioned above.

Can self-directed learning across classrooms become a viable option to students on a global scale? I don't think enough has been done to say that with a definite 'yes', but a start to that is experimenting outside of the traditional 'teacher as the be all and end all authority' mentality of our schooling system (including how some learners and teachers think as well). This outdated way of thinking can be changed by our approach to learning - teachers have much to learn from their students, it is a two way street. It also allows us to think critically and creatively about the possibilities of schooling in the future and the position we as teachers will hold.

Allegiance to the #Hashtag

Every time I read these articles on using social media in the classroom, all I can think is “damn I'm old”. I matriculated in 2010, from a school which rarely stepped outside traditional teaching methods – chalkboard and textbooks. That being said, there were many opportunities to explore and experiment with social media during my school life, both knowingly and unknowingly.

 A good example would be that of the Global Classroom Conference I had the privilege of attending in 2009. The networking and interaction with students globally is so invaluable an experience and one I certainly cherish. Times have certainly changed, where social media has not only become a prevalent but also relevant incorporation into our education and teaching methods.

In my own field (science), social media can be used quite creatively to facilitate learning. Science has always been seen as quite robust and structured in my opinion, but I don’t see why it can’t be fun at the same time. Both Provenzano (2015) and Davis (2014) make examples of how teachers around the world are using popular social media such as Instagram, Twitter and Blogging to their advantage.

Instagram for instance can be used in conjunction with specific topics or sections such as “The effect of pollution” or “Life and Living” which is slightly broader. Students will be given a hashtag to post pictures on instagram so that everybody is connected and able to see each others’ work. This is a great lesson because it also gives them the opportunity to really think about what they are hashtagging and how easy your information is accessible being part of an online network. It also means that students’ work and ideas can be shared in a fun but constructive way.

Another popular option would be that of blogging. Students are able to share their ideas and opinions and also engage and discuss with one another, just as I am doing now. If students are not allowed to (according to law) or it is possibly frowned upon in the university, the teacher can then share their inside opinion publicly on the topics covered in class. The teacher can then ask questions to students who are then required to answer them in the following lesson. This can be used as a deeper learning tool as students are required to evaluate the teachers opinion and then form their own opinion on the matter.

What makes social media a somewhat ‘darkhorse’ is all the negative hype concerning safety and security of the learners. The amount of spam and people prowling on naive children is not conducive to an effective learning environment, and doesn’t allow students to openly express themselves out of fear. Thus it is extremely important for teachers to find unique ways to mix students and social media while still having their safety as first priority.

Ever-changing Education

This past week has been one of discovery. About myself, about the lecturers and their teaching styles and the modules and what they entail. One question stood out and it's a very important one at that - "what kind of teacher would you like to be?" Part of my answer is that I'd like to be a pedagogue.

That may sound a bit corny considering last week I was blogging about how I'd just discovered the word. But the concept of being a pedagogue is intriguing to say the least. Sean Michael Morris writes in Decoding Digital Pedagogy that pedagogy experiments relentlessly and encourages lifelong learning. As students we most times don't consider whether we've learnt anything, or whether we take something from the class that will impact us for a long time. Being a future teacher is even more nerve wrecking, as we now have to be the ones encouraging learning from in front of the class. And by future I mean tomorrow - "Glaskas" here we go!

That is only one aspect of pedagogy. Being so broadly defined, digital pedagogy is all about change. It's about not falling into habits and pushing the boundaries of education. It's about innovation and interaction and a word I quite liked from the article - Community. Community from my perspective implies learning both ways (between teacher and student and vise versa), an interaction beyond just names and student numbers and a relationship built on the foundation of learning.

Community also spans beyond just the traditional classroom. In order for us to be effective pedagogues online, we need to develop online communities which promote learning through interaction and discussion. This is why some online courses come under bad light for the lack of lifelong learning they cultivate.

While innovation and change can be wonderful, the teaching and learning interaction is still the most important. I spoke a lot about teachers using their tools effectively in my previous blog (so I wont get into that now) except to comment on the following quote by Jesse Stommel: "None of these tools have what we value most about education coded into them in advance. The best digital tools inspire us, often to use them in ways the designer couldn’t anticipate'." After reading it, I found myself excited to take the challenge of being an innovative teacher. One who is not afraid of trying new things for the benefit of learning.

Teaching and it's tools

It is amazing how much I've learnt about teaching in my first two weeks of doing PGCE. The meaning of pedagogy is one of those things. Used in every lecture (more than once) it involves both the practice and theory of teaching. Fyfe states that "Digital pedagogy is often presumed to be just something that uses electronic tools or computers. This is unsatisfying as it often limits the teaching to the extent of its tools" That statement is what I believe relates the essence of teaching to us - the relationship and interaction between the student and teacher.

It's all well and good to have exciting tools to work with, but the effectiveness of teaching is minimized when they are not used effectively. I can remember listening to a teacher of mine and thinking "I can read off slides too, teaching is easy". But in order to become a dynamic teacher, engagement is the key, regardless of the resources available in the school.

With the progress of technology and its use in education, the tools we use can easily become a crutch when the essence of teaching is forgotten. Digital pedagogy is supposed to assist in teaching, not take the place of it. While digital may not only refer to electronic devices, books and notes and also be highly ineffective when the teaching element is removed. "If you try to cut a steak with a spoon you're going to have a very hard time". Its all about how you use your tools.

Another thing technology does is feed on our need for instant gratification. We want what we want, without having to wait or work too hard for it. This may be destructive to learning in a sense that learning requires us to engage and grapple with the content, not just instantly discover the answer. This is reiterated in Fyfe (2011), which speaks of how easy it is to search of needed terms while reading, without understanding the context thereof.

This blog shouldn't scare us away from technology in the classroom, but rather make us think about the most effective ways of using it. Let us not forget the ultimate goal of teaching is learning, both for teachers and students.