Week 1

INTRODUCTION TO ICT in EDUCATION

My high school education was ending just as the internet was being introduced in a serious way in the world and in education. I remember in grade 10 onwards we had 'computer' classes where we learnt how to use the internet but it was SO painfully slow it wasn't really that appealing at the time. We had always had computers at my house so I could always use one but the internet was a whole new revolution. I feel like I'm one of those people who's stuck inbetween pre and post ICT in education. I know how to use computers quite well but I found it difficult on placement to find ways to use it in the classroom for some reason. I use computers every single day. I spend long periods of time every day with my laptop on facebook, emailing or skyping with people. Yet when it comes to using computers in education, I found it quite difficult on my first placement. I think the main challenge is how slow the computers are in schools and I have little patience for webpages taking 5 minutes to load and feel that this can be a total waste of time for students. I conducted one class on weather in which students were to use the internet to find a weather report. It took them forever and the computers were so slow, I just ended up feeling like it was a waste of an hour.

However, this semester ICT and Integrated have shown me how brilliantly ICT can be used in the classroom. I am absolutely loving creating the WebQuest for Integrated and am 100% sure that I will use this in the classroom when I start teaching. I realise also that getting students to use ICT during class needs to be structured more and shouldn't just simply involve students looking something up on google or typing up their stories.

INSPIRATION 8.0I

Mind Map

The creation of the Mind Map through the Inspiration program was fantastic! Mind maps allow for creative and critical thinking to develop. I used the Mind Map to further develop some ideas for my WebQuest which is on the Millennium Development Goals. I jotted down some notes for each of the 8 goals and found a few different areas I can base my activities on for the WebQuest. I could definitely use this in the classroom, perhaps as a whole class on an interactive whiteboard. Students could brainstorm and call out different ideas about the main topic and each branch's sub topic, further and further developing ideas. There are of course, many other programs that can be used for mindmapping, including imindmap which allows you to put the software on your mobile phone so you can mind map whenever the urge comes over you!

Concept Map

I enjoyed creating the concept map on my travel experiences. Students can use concept maps as a beginning point in story writing, research papers, etc. Younger students could even create concept maps as an activity for reading comprehension. Another concept map software program I came across was Cmaps which can be used to construct, share and critically analyse concept maps. There are fantastic programs out there for use in the classroom and I'm understanding more and more the importance of integrating ICT into the classroom on a daily basis.

ICT and Special Education

As I plan on working in Special Needs education, ICT is so important. I have been volunteering this year at a special needs school and found that they use great amounts of ICT, particularly through the interactive whiteboard. Therefore, I am keen to learn as much as I can during this semester in ICT!

Early in the year when I was volunteering at a special needs school, I came across a fantastic program called Clicker 5. Clicker 5 is an online reading and writing tool that students of all different abilities can use to strengthen literacy skills. At the school I was volunteering at, the teacher was using the program to document a recent school camp her class had been on. As the students were physically unable to create this program themselves, they did it as a whole class. They added photos, comments and sound effects. The program would then read the text out loud to them as it turned the pages. The students absolutely loved it and I felt it really helped them communicate their camp experiences.