Assignment hand-in

The day has arrived where my second assignment hand in is due!!

 

After blogging my ICT experience over the past few months, I have learned and gained a greater understanding of different ICT applications available for me to use in the classroom. I still feel that I will use PowerPoint presentations to lead my sessions, but I will embed this into the smart board application which will allow me to write any key information and also allow me to create different quizzes to test knowledge. One application I will not be using again in the future is socrative. I feel that whilst the idea is good, in practice the process is time consuming and could lead to other distractions.

Looking at my daily tasks within a working environment and also preparation for teaching hours, I heavily rely on ICT. Although I have a good subject knowledge on sport, whilst preparing for different modules I use many websites to help increase my current knowledge. I also use different Microsoft applications such as word, PowerPoint and publisher to create different resources for my lessons.
 

Pembrokeshire College provide ICT in every classroom which gives the opportunities to use ICT within lessons. This is beneficial to both teachers and students. There are also constant opportunities for staff development through sessions and workshops run for teachers to enhance and refresh their knowledge. The college currently use different systems such as EBS and Moodle. EBS is a system used to register the students in every lessons. Although I have used this I still feel I need further training. Moodle is a system where teachers and learners can interact to help aid learning. Teachers are able to upload any relevant teaching resources for the students to view and download. This is beneficial for learners who are absent from lessons and also for revision purposes. Therefore, with technology always improving and changing it is vital that I keep improving my knowledge and confidence using ICT to ensure I provide the best possible teaching available.

Review of a helpful blog

'Using ICT in your PE Lessons'

The blog I have decided to review is by Ben Solly he is vice-principal at Long Field Academy in Melton Mowbray.  The blog evaluates different technology tools used in Physical Education lessons effectively.

The blog states that for many years PE teachers have been the most proactive educators to enhance learning experiences for students through ICT. In particular, video analysis of performance has been a vital part of ICT use in PE. Performance Analysis is a topic I have been teaching on my placement in Pembrokeshire College. Although I did not record the learners performance, I used video clips of elite athletes and from this the learners where able to analyse performance and identify strengths and weaknesses.

 

Below are some strengths for recording performance.

• Correct form - In order to improve movement technique, video analysis is a successful coaching method used by many coaches. Repeatedly showing the athlete the correct sporting movement, enhances the athletes learning. Also, the ability to have the correct movement on video, saves the coach from repeating the motion perfectly many times to show the athlete.
• Performance improvement - By watching a video clip of their own performance, this allows athletes to analyse themselves and identify and strengths and weaknesses. 

Video analysis could be incorporated in many sporting modules within the curriculum, including  biomechanics, physiology, skills assessments and practical lessons. With the ability to replay movements or performance, this enhances the experience of visual learning.

 

 From my experience, using video recordings of sporting movements and performance, helped increase learners knowledge and understanding on how to perform these correctly.

 

 

 

http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/best-practice/using-ict-in-your-pe-lessons/

Room for improvment

Smart board vs. White board

I have recently completed a teaching observation for my PGCE. I have been teaching weekly now for the past few months and one skill I cant seem to grasp is writing neatly on a whiteboard with a dry wipe pen. For some reason the writing is either too small, too big or not straight. This was an area for improvement and the observer suggested moving to using the smart board within my lessons. Therefore I have decided to research into the different ways of using as smart board.

 

 

Different ways of using Smart boards

 

• Can be used as a note making tool. Students can come out and write on the board. The teacher can write on the board. Anything could be displayed on the board and there is the ability to write notes on it.
• Brainstorming in the classroom has become a valuable revision tool. Not only can you write on the board, but you can add images, videos and sounds. This method accommodates all learning styles.
• Classroom games. Smart board allows different games to be played such as quizzes, word searches and pairs. The variety of games can help enhance learning.
• Videos, photos, graphs, maps, pictures, sounds, games, etc. There are so many different forms of media which can be displayed on the board which makes it dynamic.

 

From looking into the different activities and applications smart boards can do, my opinion has changed. Before this I would have chosen to use a PowerPoint, then use a white board to write any important information. But following research, I now will be incorporating the smart board within my lessons to help enhance student learning.

How technology has changed the way we learn.

Technology has changed dramatically over the past few years and is changing the way we communicate and the way we go about living our lives. This has also changed the way educators are teaching and enhancing the learning process. Lepi (2014), suggests that if there was a discussion about ICT changing the way we learn, the discussion would be never ending.

 

Edudemic connecting technology & education suggest that ICT has changed the way we learn in 4 different ways.

1. We are moving from individual learning to more collaborative learning
2. We are moving from passive learning to active learning
3. Differentiated instruction and personalised learning are more popular
4. Becoming multi-taskers.

 

 

To expand on the above diagram the way in which we demonstrate the points within the classroom is as follows.

 

1. Collaborative learning where leaners use software such as AnyMeeting or GoToMeeting facilitate group work without learners physically coming together. This can bring a wider audience together then would have previously been possible.
2.  Through the use of ICT in the classroom, the learning style predominantly being used is kinaesthetic. Schools and colleges have ICT such as I pads or tablets to use within lessons. This allows students to be more active and involved whilst learning and moves away from the more traditional visual learning style that would be used within a classroom.
3. Times have changed from teaching using chalk boards to present information. These days teachers can provide information through various application on a smart board. This is beneficial as it provides a wider scope of information within the classroom and provides the same group of learners with differentiation within their lessons which will aid all learners no matter what their learning preference and provide a more personalised experience.
4. Traditionally learning would see learners writing in work books or on note paper. But today learners have a variety of ICT tools at their disposal and it allows for multi tasking to take place within the lesson.  Talking from experience while completing assignments. I would be typing on my laptop, researching on my I Pad and social networking on my I phone. Todays future are becoming multi-taskers.

 

In my opinion the use of technology in education has helped increase student learning. But, I do believe that teachers need to keep their own ICT qualifications and knowledge up to date to ensure they can provide a variety of different ICT applications to help enhance student learning. I aim to attempt different ICT applications through out my teaching experience in order to vary my teaching styles and to keep it interesting and different.

Reference
Lepi, K. (2014). 4 Ways Technology is Changing How People Learn. Available: http://www.edudemic.com/technology-is-changing-how-people-learn/. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

Quick update on my blogging experience

Just a quick update on my thoughts of blogging. Before completing the assignment I have never considered blogging. After a few months of completing blogs on my experience in ICT I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts and feelings and decided to allow my blog to go public for any users to view.

 

Although the hand in date for this assignment is the 22nd of January 2015, I have decided I will carry on blogging my experiences in teaching until finishing my first year of the PGCE course.  

Youtube in the Classroom

www.youtube.com

As part of my teaching placement, I was lucky enough given a module which was linked to Technology. The module is 'Analysis of a Sports Performer'. This is linked heavily with performance analysis which requires ICT to analyse performance. To allow the students to see different sporting examples, YouTube has a bank full of video clips. This has allowed me to embed videos into my presentations which shows students examples of sporting movements or activities. This is beneficial as it gives the learners a image of the sporting example and helps them gain a greater understanding.

Example of YouTube within a recent lesson I taught.

Mobile Technology

Mobile technology has had a lot of attention recently. Quinn (2000), defined mobile technology as the intersection of mobile computing and e-learning.  With technology always improving, most students today have a smartphone or android. According to Ferriman (2013), mobile approach can encourage learners engagement. For example learners using online questionnaire applications such as Socrative, researching the answer or even tweeting questions.

Today there are many different applications on smart phones which can measure cardiovascular fitness levels. Below are examples of the applications available on smart phones.

1. My Fitness Pal - This app can monitor weight progress, by tracking your daily exercise and diet. This could be used for learners completing GCSE or BTEC to help aid the learning in nutrition, balanced diet, training and lifestyle.
2. Adidas MiCoach - Cardiovascular Endurance can be logged on this app. The negative for this app is it needs a device to go inside you trainers in order to track the distance covered. This could potentially be a barrier to some learners due to the cost.
3. Run keeper  - This app allows you to input any cardiovascular or strength activities you have completed. It then places this on a timeline and calculates calorie and energy expenditure. This could be useful in modules where designing exercise or fitness programmes, or for assessing your own fitness levels.
4. Endomondo - This is my preferred application to measure cardiovascular activity.  Activity is logged either manually or through a mobiles GPS.  This also could be used in modules which concentrate on exercise levels or cardiovascular endurance.

From research into each of these applications and personal use,  I have come to conclusion that

that these applications and mobile technology could be incorporated into Physical Education lessons in order to enhance the learning experience.

 

References

Ferriman, J. (2013). Benefits of Mobile Devices in the Classroom. Available: http://www.learndash.com/benefits-of-mobile-devices-in-the-classroom/. Last accessed 02/01/2015.

 

Quinn, C. 2000. mLearning: Mobile, Wireless, In-Your-Pocket Learning. LiNE Zine.

http://www.linezine.com/2.1/features/cqmmwiyp.htm