The most appropriate applications to support my teaching.

I am here, my last post so to speak, a blogger nearly blogged out. Here, I will briefly discuss the few applications that I use in my lectures and tutorials on a regular basis. The first and most obvious is the use of that magic invisible network the internet. Without it I would not be able to access my choice of software applications and I would not be able to use them. I must admit that my favourite application has to be PowerPoint. The use of PowerPoint in the classroom has dramatically increased in the last ten years, not always successfully though (Abernethy, 2012). Just by using PowerPoint alone has made me more confident about using ICT in my teaching. I no longer fear ICT in the way that I used to, and just by constructing this blog I have learned how to embed a Ted Talk into it, so if I can learn at my age anyone can. Whilst PowerPoint will not replace traditional teaching methods, it is a modern tool which can be called upon to deliver subjects which are appropriate to its audience and presentation delivery method.

I feel more confident in moving forward using new technology in my lectures and tutorials, however I do think that the applications must be appropriate for the students age and also the content must be suitable and delivered according to the teachers technological capability. I would also consider using Prezi instead of, or as well as PowerPoint, however it is a more time consuming application, so for the time being it has to be PowerPoint. 

The second application that I would use to support my teaching has got to be Microsoft Word. It is a versatile application which the students need to get to grip with as soon as possible. They will need it to complete assignments and design reports, it is therefore a forgone conclusion that I will use it within my teaching Portfolio. Within my own limited teaching I have already had to direct a class of students how to use Word and shown them how to access the Office 365 software on their Moodle at their place of learning.  As it stands, in my next semester I have already been notified that I will be teaching my students how to construct letters of application for employment and cv's so I am going to see quite a lot of Microsoft Word in the future.

Hang on ? I have fibbed, There is one more piece of technology that I have forgotten to mention which I use every time I venture into the classroom and the lecture room and its right in front of me ! The SMARTBOARD ... my new best friend. At first I struggled to use it, I am still a novice, but I am getting there with it. It is my new best friend when used in conjunction with the internet connection on the resident class computer and overhead projector. Together they all make a formidable team which enables me to have easy access to numerous ways of delivering a lecture or tutorial. Its early days, but the signs are good, its user friendly once you know how to work out its secrets. It does have one or two problems when you try to use a clicker in PowerPoint to move the slides, but I am sure that will be sorted out with practice. It enables me to roam around the room and still deliver a presentation. A very useful tool together with the smart pens and the smart board rubber. As a result I have found it to be a versatile tool when delivering a presentation to my students or going native and using chalk and talk.   

Overall, in this age of advancing technology there will be applications which become compulsory and those that are never going to be used and those which fall between the two. This will be down to the individual attributes of the teacher concerned and how capable they are and what they want to achieve with their students. In a 'time of change'  higher education is in a position of having to change and adapt to outside conditions created by the adoption of new popular technologies such as mobile services, social media and social networking services (Kukulska-Hume, 2012), we must be technologically inclusive if we are to meet that challenge.

Abernethy, M., 2012. Reducing 'Death by Powerpoint'. Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, 1 (1), p. 63.  

Kukulska-Hulme, A., 2012. How should the higher education workforce adapt to advancements in technology for teaching and learning? Internet and Higher Education, 15, pp. 247-254.

Barriers to the effective use of technology in education

The barriers to using technology in the classroom for learning are many. To enable the students to access the subject matter via technology is the first hurdle, every student has to have a piece of mobile hardware in their possession or have access to hardware to which they can gain access to the software delivering the learning. According to Keengwe, Onchwari and Wachira (2008) teachers committed to using and integrating computer technology into the classroom may find it a challenging process due to the barriers that exist. These include resistance to change, lack of professional development and teachers attitudes, suggest El Semary (2011). The most serious being the lack of development. Many teachers still feel unprepared for the digital tools that they have access to and many are not trained to use them correctly, in order to use them efficiently in delivering learning packages. In addition to this are the physical barriers of a lack of technical support, too few computers and inadequate professional development of teachers in the field of new technology.

It appears to me that the strategy of learning via the use of new technology needs to be reviewed from top to bottom. Whilst in University at least software like Moodle has been introduced which enables students to access lectures and timetables and an online library from everywhere, not every classroom has computers to access the facilities that it has to offer. To enable access you have to attend specifically constructed computer rooms. As these rooms are a very expensive luxury the education establishment rely on the students having their own technology terminals in which to access the software. Teachers must be fully trained in the new methods in order to utilise the new methods and dispense learning via the new technologies. At the same time educational establishments must increase their spending on hardware and software to enable these technologies to be used successfully by their students. Students who cannot afford the new hardware should not have to be penalised because they are too poor to afford to purchase them for themselves.    

I, myself use new technology in my classroom, however I am a 'digital immigrant' (Prensky, 2001) and basically I get by. I learn by asking and doing. I have had no formal training in the field of new technology and I have the feeling that most teachers are in the same position. It has to change, for the sake of the teachers and more importantly for the sake of the students. 

El Semary, H., 2011. Barriers to the effective use of technology in education: Case study of UAE. Asian Transactions on Science and Technology, 1 (5), pp. 22-32.

Keengwe, J., Onchwari, G. and Wachira, P., 2008. Computer Technology Integration and Student Learning: Barriers and Promise. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 17, pp. 560-565. 

Prensky, M., 2001. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, 9 (5), pp. 1-6.

How technology has changed the way we learn.

'Once not so very long ago, students gathered information by listening to face-to-face lectures, searching the stacks of libraries and reading books. Quaint as it seems , papers were written in longhand or typed on typewriters. Today, learning involves technology unheard of only a decade or so ago' (Technology, n.d.). 

As I sit here and write this blog I am in deep thought about how technology has changed the way we learn. Just by writing this blog I am actively engaging and learning via the use of mobile technology. As a mature student I will use this blog to reflect upon this subject as it is indeed a history lesson in itself on how learning has changed over the last 50 years. My first taste of technology in the classroom was a radio which the teacher used infrequently for us to listen to children's programmes on the BBC, usually because she had had a bad day and wanted a rest. Rolling through the years and nothing much changed until the advent of televisions and video players in the classrooms during the 1970's. I vaguely remember some in my Grammar school but when they abolished Grammar schools in 1972, I was sent to a Comprehensive School where there was virtually a television in every room and on the advent of video recorders, a video recorder in every classroom. 

From there I went to a Technical College, where everything was hands on practical learning and theory, not a lot of tv, but as I went through my various career paths I remember technology creeping more into what I would call 'ordinary' life through the introduction of supermarket bar codes for
consumers and receiving training in the police via distance learning packages on basic desktop computers. This enabled the training to be designed, and delivered from Scotland Yard at a touch of a button for us all to do within a set time period. It also enabled us to be evaluated and have delivered updated e-learning packages every month and if we did not complete them an e-mail was sent to our Inspector or local training dept and we would have our backsides kicked to get it done. This meant that we could learn in quiet periods on a night duty, rather than be in a classroom 9 to 5 during busy periods of duty.

Technology has sprinted ahead since the introduction of the iphone. According to Burke (2013) 'There's no doubt that the iPad and its multiple applications , along with other mobile devices and online learning, could bring amazing resources into the very foundations of the educative process'. We are now in an age of self-learning and distance learning. We do not have to attend a school or a college at all if our courses are validated and accessible online. We can study part time for degrees at home, we can virtually learn anything from our living room. Learning can be fun, interactive and to the point, but at the same time it can be de-personalised, lacking that personal touch, that intimacy of discussion with a living human being, instead of interacting via a plastic computer terminal and a liquid crystal screen.

Burke, L., 2013. Educational and online technologies and the way we learn. International Schools Journal, Vol XXXII (2), pp. 57-65.

Technology., n.d. Wikipedia, blogs and podcasts: Does technology change the way we learn? Technology, [online] Available at: http://www-e.openu.ac.il/geninfor/openletter/ol19/download/page-20-21.pdf

The Value of Mobile Technology in Teaching and Learning.

From the start of this blog I have looked at different software, all of which can be used in education, whether they be stand alone software, or part of a software package. They are all available on mobile technology, and they can all add to the students learning environment and experience. The use of new technology in education is a new and growing field, however a question which needs to be asked is does it actually add to our learning experience ?  

According to Montrieux, Vanderlinde, Schellens and Marez (2015) a study of students and teachers perceptions on the impact of using mobile tablet technology for learning and teaching purposes in the classroom found that it does have an impact. However, they suggest that the results indicate that teachers can be separated into two distinct categories. One category being innovative teachers and the second categories being instrumental teachers. The innovative teachers move away from a teaching centered approach to a learning centered one. They have altered their teaching style by adapting their lessons in accordance to the perceived advantages that mobile tablet devices offer. Whereas instrumental teachers use mobile technology as a 'book behind glass'. This separation between the two has consequences for the way in which courses are delivered and in the way that students experience them. It also shifts the way in which students learn as modern devices present students with media-rich and interactive environments. 

It is fine to introduce new technology into the classroom as far as I am concerned, however using computer technology to learn with is replete with disappointments and promises (Rosenberg, 2001). Whereas according to Kozma (2005) 'Information and communication technology is a principal driver in our Information Society'. I do find it difficult to find a balance, especially as the teaching value is only as good as the teacher delivering. If the teacher is no good at mobile technology then you are simply not going to gain any benefit from it. However the reverse is also true, if the teacher is a technological geek and everything is geared towards learning by technology you have to ask yourself where is the personalisation of the input from the teacher ? otherwise it will be a completely sterile environment in which to learn. 

Kozoma, R. B., 2005. National policies that connect ICT-based education reform to economic and social development. Human Technology: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Humans in ICT Environments, 1 (20), pp. 117-56. 

Rosenberg, M., 2001. E-learning : Strategies for delivering knowledge in the digital age. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. 

Montrieux, H., Vanderlinde, R., Schellens, T. and De Marez., 2015. Teaching and learning with mobile technology: A qualitative explorative study about the introduction of tablet devices in secondary education. PLoS ONE, [online] Available at: http://www.plosone.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0144008&representation=PDF [accessed 17 January 2015]    

Ted Talk - We are all cyborgs now.

As you may be aware from my blog I like new technology, I love the simplicity of some applications but I hate those which are complicated just for the sake of being complicated. I am also a big fan of Transhuman. I firmly believe that we as humans will not exist in our present form in the future. It is inevitable at the present rate of technology advancement and the additions of technology to the human body in the form of new knee joints, new prosthetic fully functioning limbs and microchip implants into humans brains and spines that we will become what Star Trek refers to as a type of 'Borg', a half human, half machine. In this Ted Talk by Amber Case she puts forward her theory that as we create technology, technology itself is causing us to evolve. She refers to us as a new version of 'button-clicking' homo sapiens, where instead of using our own brains we now rely on 'external brains'' such as computers and mobile phones in order to communicate with others. Even to the extent of using mobile technology as our memories and using the same technology to live out a secondary life through the invisible network of the internet and mobile phone network. As a result of this Amber discusses whether through this evolution and advancement in new technology will homo sapiens actually remain in control of the technology. 

Amber tells us that 'we are all cyborgs', not in the Robocop way, but every time we use our computer or mobile phone. Amber states that a cyborg is an organism 'to which exogeneous components have been added for the purpose of adapting to new environments'. Traditionally, humans have made tools to use as an extension to our physical self, such as cars, aeroplanes, tools. However, what we are producing now is an extension of our mental self. How much information does our mobile technology hold ? if it was printed off on paper it would weigh a lot, too much to carry, and we add to it every day. All of us online now have secondary selves, they exist even when we are not using the technology once they have been created. They also need attention in order for them to function properly and maintenance. people also interact with these second selves when you are not there. You have to keep your presentation in your analogue life AND your digital life. Amber then puts forward the case that people now go through two adolescences, once in your analogue life and again in your digital life. 

Amber discusses the fact that a mobile phone is a wormhole, we do not physically transport ourselves around our world, but we mentally transport ourselves instead. We can now stand on one side of our planet and be heard on the other side. The downside of all this contact and invisible networking is that we are all in continuous contact with everyone. Whether it is active or not, it does not allow us to have mental self-reflection. Amber has quite rightly concerns about this. If you have no mental self reflection how can you figure out yourself who you really are. Once you can figure out who you are you can then go forward and present your second self to the world instead of just dealing with all the e-mails and information that floods into your technological devices. It is concerning that children are now getting used to using their devices and being addicted to their devices whilst ignoring their true selves and having no time for self reflection. We live in a digital world, Amber suggests that technology is not taking over, but that we as humans are communicating in a different way. She suggests that it is making us more human. On one level I get it, but on others I have my reservations. It is an interesting talk coming from the view of an anthropologist into the new species of Homo Sapiens.

Evaluation of applications used, and their possible use in my subject area. Part 6.

Welcome to Part 6.

In this review I will be looking at my two favourite applications. The first is Word, this I consider to be a must for any student. With this universally used, versatile piece of software you can create any document for any scenario from handouts, to lesson plans and handbooks to novels, reports, critical assessments and assignments to note keeping. Since having being forced to use it in my previous

occupation as a police officer (and hating it) I have grown to love it. It is a must for all new students and I would wholly recommend it to them. A word (excuse the pun) however of caution, always remember to save it in multiple areas such as a memory stick or an external hard drive or in the cloud on for example OneDrive. It does have a tendency to have a mind of its own and work can be lost.

PowerPoint ! Where do I start ? It is simply the best and easiest presentation tool as far as I am concerned. It does what it says on the tin. I am new to the Presentation game but as a novice even I with my digital technological adolescence phase can create a professional looking presentation. It is easy to create a simple presentation and I am now even creating sentences that 'fly in' and 'appear' out of thin air on screen. I am having fun in finding and using these tools which are completely new to me. This is one I am already using with my students and as part of my assessments in my PCET. However, I do like Prezi but I think for creating a quick presentation it has to be PowerPoint.

Where would we be without YouTube ? It is a teachers font of information. Almost any subject has an educational video or presentation or documentary that can be found on this amazing piece of technology. This is one I have used myself in class in my micro teach, where I found a clip of a television news show which had a report on a public disorder situation at which I was present in my capacity as a police officer at that time in the 1990's. It is very useful in the classroom either as a gap filler, or to deliver an informative documentary or as an explanation of the subject matter you are teaching. It is also one I have used with my placement students to refresh their memory on Harvard Referencing, where University students in England produced a basic Harvard referencing guide and placed it on YouTube, and it is definitely an application that I will be using with my students again due to its ease of use and it free availability as long as there is an internet connection and a facility to use it in the classroom.  

Evaluation of applications used, and their possible use in my subject area. Part 5.

Welcome to Part 5.

This review will cover Prezi. Prezi itself is a cloud based application which opens up a new world of creativity between PowerPoint presentations and the whiteboard. With the zoomable canvas you can create and explore connections between ideas that you have.This enables you to create and discover new, visual, audience grabbing presentations, bringing your students a new aspect to learning by making your presentations visually entertaining. It is a piece of software that I would use with my students, however, one has to be careful not to go overboard on the visuals, otherwise that is all they will remember, instead of the subject matter on display. The only problem with Prezi is the time it takes to create a presentation, it has so many fantastic looking templates. it is easy to access anywhere there is an internet connection and it can access digital media seamlessly. However, it is difficult to modify templates and time consuming. But, depending on the subject you wish to teach I personally think that sometimes its worth it. Personally, I would use this with my students.