Walking the e-Learning Talk

Way back in November I wrote a very brief post about why I began this course of study.  In that post, I identified two main rationale for doing this:  To expose myself to a wider range of eLearning strategies; particularly the chance to apply those skills consistently. To expose myself to more Academic theory around eLearning, and the effectiveness of it to specifically improve student achievement.  Now that I am at the end of a 32 week Professional Development experience, it is time to honestly reflect on my achievements , and leanings  resulting from the efforts I have put in. The first point to make is that the course has kept my interest pretty  consistently. I'm pretty stoked with this, as 32 weeks is a pretty big effort, by everyone involved.  What have I gained from Study?  Upon reflecting on the two aims above, I think the second has been much more successful than the first. In the first digital course particularly there were time...

Really? How interdisciplinary can a Year 13 subject be? What is driving what we do? Why do we let competition for students and competition for assessment grades dictate how we structure our schools, and ultimately how we teach? Convincing a Skeptic  We all know that Geography is the most important subject to study. If you don't believe me read this and this as a starter. As a Year 13 Geography teacher, I initially default to a skeptical view of Interdisciplinary studies. Thoughts like "oh, that's something we could try at Y9; perhaps after exams in December when it doesn't really matter if it works" immediately permeate my mind. I wish they didn't. Increasingly I have been reading , reflecting and talking to teachers who are fostering a far more interdisciplinary approach to their teaching. Is that something I want? What about my assessment results? In my experience, the higher level a class, the more protective a teacher becomes. I am the same, I am h...

In a previous blog  I described some of the issues that I am currently perceiving when reflecting on the use of Social Media in Teaching. In this second post, I will concentrate and reflect a little more deliberately on my own use of social media, and how it helps we to gain access to information that I would potentially otherwise struggle to engage in.    Social media has huge potential in teaching. As noted in Sharples et al article, " Where the pedagogy is successful, social media can give learners reliable and interesting content, as well as opportunities to access expert advice, to encounter challenges, to defend their views and to amend their ideas in the face of criticism". This I clearly agree with, although I think the first 5 words of that though need to be bolded , italicised , CAPITALISED, and whatever else we can do to emphasize their importance! Limited Use in my Own Teaching My own experience is less in using Social Media in my teachin...

I would like to think that I am a relatively ethical individual. I think about ethics; and there are certain sectors in our society about whom I am happy to articulate my views regarding their ethical redundancy (property speculators, neo-liberalists, many politicians; the list goes on!)  But what about teachers?    As noted by Hall, even in the nearly 15 years I have been teaching I have perceived a blurring of the socialization roles of families and schools. Schools, and ultimately classroom teachers, are increasing been held responsible for addressing societies ills, be they physical health, relationship based, mental health, road safety et al. With these responsibility come inevitable ethical considerations.  The Social Media in School's Dilemma There is one area with the profession where there is clearly blurred ethical expectations; Social Media. The explosion of social media over the last decade has led to its integration and normalisation within ...

I have spent part of the week reading about Cultural Responsiveness and thinking really carefully about the relevance of these ideas for me, and my pedagogy. Reading the interesting paper entitled " Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student" there  was one phrase that really  got me thinking about my own school: "Schools that reflect  a dominant  culture represent invisible  cultures that can effectively  privilege students who share that dominant  cultural identity while simultaneously disadvantaging students whose cultures are different." What if the dominant  culture ofyour school, is in fact not the  dominant culture of its students ?  Thistles, boys in kilts, bagpipes and haggis play a massive role in the culture of our school - but is it our culture. Is there a a clear dichotomy  between the traditions, dress, symbols, religion and ceremonies of the culture that the school defines as being domin...

In last weeks' blog post I discussed the socioeconomic status of the vast majority of my College's students. This post will analyse one of the effects of this that I see in my classroom - as a discussion around the negative impact of globalisation. Geography is a Globalised Subject Right? As a Geography teacher, Globalisation is a concept that has always had a place in my classroom. In the past it has been a course of study at different levels, through slightly cliched studies like McDonaldisation, global studies of fashion et al. Students in my classes should be fascinated by their world and I should be able to develop this fascination and develop their critical analysis of what they see and experience. I am, in fact, seeing the opposite. Students are increasingly blase about the mindblowing variation in their world. With Globalisation named as one of the Trends Shaping Education in 2016   it seems an appropriate for me to articulate my developing concerns about the i...

As a teacher, it is important to have a clear understanding of the context in which you teach. The Socio-Economic context of a school's community will impact all aspects of a schools culture - in my experience in both positive and negative ways. The Influence of Status in a School My current school is a large, urban - and for this conversation most importantly- private Y1-13 school. It is accurate to conclude that the students I teach come from the least economically deprived conditions in NZ, and many will come from families with well above normal financial capabilities. We are obviously a decile 10 school, but in contrast to state decile 10 schools I feel that we have even less variation in economic circumstances. There are certainly some families in our community who are making huge sacrifices for their children to attend are school - but I don't feel as though that is the norm.  The effect of this on the context of the school is profound. Resourcing levels are e...

Teaching is inherently a social occupation. Effective teaching involves effective communication; however often that communication can be restricted to the student-teacher relationships. Communities of Practice  I idealise a situation where the communication between teachers is considered equally as paramount. A teacher who recently left our College after over 40 years service noted "there are many great teachers here - I tried to be a good colleague." In order to develop collegiality, and thus effectiveness, it is important to consciously acknowledge what communities of learning I have a responsibility to play an active role in a number of communities of practice. Wenger (2000) notes that  "Participating in these communities of practice is essential to our learning. It is at the very core of what makes us human beings capable of meaningful knowing".  There are two communities of practice which dominate my professional interactions. The first is obviously t...

My 2017 Year 13 Geography class is a mixed ability group of 20 students; 13 boys and 7 girls. The students have entered Y13 Geography from a number of different pathways; ranging from a student who gained a NZQA Scholarship in Geography in 2016 as a Year 12, to students who have no experience of studying Geography at any level. My school runs a 1:1 laptop programme where every student is expected to have a laptop. The predominant software used within the classroom is OneNote. This platform gives the class the basic online structure to aid the delivery of academic content. This teacher inquiry will seek to redress a concern that I have about the social atmosphere of my classroom; specifically the fact that increased, and perhaps poorly executed, technology integration into the classroom has led to a lack of deeper knowledge construction.   Stakeholders: Students: Teacher inquiry must be student-centred, and I have concerns about the social direction of t...

Just Google It: The role of knowledge Construction in a Modern, Technology-Rich Classroom As formalised education evolved in the post-industrial era, an emphasis on knowledge recall verses skill development began to emerge. Several new education and psychology theories became increasingly popular. One such theory is Constructivism. Originally attributed to the work of the French academic Jean Piaget; his interpretation of the concepts has since been dubbed cognitive constructivism (Powell & Kalina 2009). Since Piaget’s original writings, mid last century, the theory has continued to evolve into a wide range of sub-theories; most famously around the socio constructivist work of Lev Vygotsky and, more recently, the radical constructivist interpretations popularized by, among other, Ernst von Glaserfeld. There is little doubt that the theory of constructivism has evolved; but has the previously well received theory of Constructivism kept pace with pedagogy changes brought abo...