I think I've found my new favourite pastime...

I have probably spent more hours than I should this week playing around with my shiny new website. I had way too much fun getting the right pictures for the headers, playing with buttons, writing my About Me and even creating the mock 'English assignment' pages as evidence for this week's task. I was so excited to play around with the capabilities of the Weebly site I set up, and particularly happy at how easy it was.

Weebly allows you to set up a standard website, but also gives you great add-on features such as a blog and a store. It has the ability to add multiple editors with varying levels of permissions; Admin allows full viewing and editing, Author can view and edit selected pages, and Dashboard Only allows only the viewing and managing of stats, forms and comments (although the latter two are only available on the Pro upgrade of Weebly). This could be an advantage in the classroom if setting up a class website. Weebly also gives the option to add members and allow people to register with your site. This gives you flexibility to create protected areas (including optional password protection) for different groups of viewers; I could imagine this feature working well for a teacher if they had their own website with different access areas for each of their classes.

Weebly sidebar

Weebly itself is very simple to use, working on an almost fool-proof 'drag'n'drop' interface that allows even a beginner to create a very professional looking site, but still gives advanced users the opportunity to use their own coding if they want to. It has a huge number of customisable tools to insert in the page, including embedding YouTube clips, Google Maps, buttons, slide shows, polls, forums and more.

A website can be as limited or as versatile as you make it. In terms of learning outcomes, learners can work their way up through Bloom's Taxonomy, from remembering and understanding (reading
content on a website), to evaluating and creating (collaborating with users and experts from around the world to create a new project which is then shared with the world). Students can be asked to research, identify, assess, evaluate, compare, critique, design and construct websites, and these can be applied to any subject or class, and almost every year level. There are so many activities that could be created around websites due to the large number of customisable tools that can be created and embedded in a site. For example, if a class started a website on a topic like Ancient Rome, they could not only create a central source of relevant information, but also embed a short edutainment clip from Youtube to get readers hooked (or alternately, create one themselves!), pin points of interest in a Google Map, create a slideshow of Roman monuments, take a poll on the most influential Roman Emperor, start a forum for those who would like to discuss different aspects of Roman life, and even create artworks or costumes which could be sold on the store! As a website is live and public, it encourages students to check things like spelling and punctuation to present the best possible source of information to the world.

A screenshot from the website.

I created a mock English assignment website, showing a number of tasks based around the book series Anne of Green Gables, to show the website working in another context, and at a number of levels in the SAMR model.
In this English task at a substitution level, students could read information about the author L.M. Montgomery on a website rather than a handout given by the teacher. This would use the remembering and (possibly) understanding levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
At the augmentation level, students could be given a list of focus questions, and they would research online for the answer, using correct research methodology, which would ask students to remember, understand, apply and evaluate.
At the modification level, students could make a website as a portfolio of work that incorporated activities such as a book review (with links to other book reviews on the net), biography of the author (which could be presented by a Voki animation), character profile, embed a movie trailer, and a discussion of themes. This would require students to remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate and create.
Finally at the redefinition level, students could take a virtual tour of the Green Gables house, and then contact and Skype interview experts at the L.M. Montgomery Literary Society, recording and embedding the video file and a public forum on the same page to allow further exploration and collaboration between students, experts and the rest of the world! Again these activities guide students through all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.

This week's task was great in two ways; firstly, having to look at different levels of the SAMR model made me really think hard about whether I was simply substituting or augmenting, or if I was reaching the upper levels of modifying and redefining; and secondly, I loved 'providing evidence' in the form of my website, it's another outlet for creativity! I will definitely be using a website in my prac this year, even if it's just to provide a central source of information and activities for classes I'm teaching, but I feel that with some careful consideration and planning it can be so much more. I'm loving the learning that this course is bringing me, and which can be summarised so beautifully in the words of Anne of Green Gables...

Put on your Thinking Hat(s)…

The only theory I like in my life.

While I love learning, I’ve always avoided the ‘theory’ of learning. It’s not just educational and learning theory that this applies to, but also recipes, music theory, sewing patterns, manuals, and literary theory (the current bane of my existence). I tend to avoid things that requires me to sit down and battle strange vocabulary, concepts and logic. I think I do a lot of things instinctively and at a very fast pace, so anything that slows me down to a grinding halt frustrates me, and I avoid it. While I had heard of Bloom’s Taxonomy and de Bono’s Hat’s from other courses, I of course had probably skim read some course material at some point and moved on. When I realised that this was part of an assessment, I sighed, got into a comfortable position on the couch and began to read about Bloom’s Taxonomy again from the beginning. Now I understand what all the fuss is about.

When I reflected on my prac experience last year, I thought a lot about higher order thinking. For a first year prac I think I did a pretty good job, and I incorporated a respectable number of activities and discussions in each class that were designed to stimulate higher order thinking. But as a first prac, my main focus was on knowing enough information to be able to teach, and just getting through it all! After I finished my prac last year I made a promise to myself that I would think more deeply about the learning design of my lessons, and would look more into scaffolding and higher order thinking.

So this activity found me slightly conflicted, with my frustrated, fast-paced, theory-avoidance self, facing off against my determined-to-be-better, slightly intrigued, wiser, teacher self. Obviously teacher self won.

When I first looked at the deBono Thinking Hat exercise, I thought it was a little bit primary school-ish in design with its coloured hats (which I’m sure I do remember using in my younger years). When I started the exercise though, I really began to see its value. The mobile phone question is one that I would say most educators have a strong opinion on, and seems to inspire a very quickly judged yes or (mostly) no answer. I myself would have said no if asked on the spot, and I’m sure I could have easily written a quick justification if required. But the Thinking Hats demanded you to slow down and think from different perspectives, and in doing so, encouraged a much more complex and higher order of thinking.

I really liked that the different perspectives stimulate thinking at a number of levels from Bloom’s Taxonomy. The first things that came out, probably in most of the sections, pros and cons of technology that I remembered from other discussions. But to put this down required understanding, I had to write my interpretation of these things, and apply them specifically to the school arena. I had to take the questions under each hat (eg. What is wrong with this? Why will this not work?) and answer them in relation to the specific mobile phone question, applying a context to the concept. The hats require you to analyse the information available, and evaluate the benefits and disadvantages (judgements) of the mobile phone argument. The hats even asked me to create a new solution for the problem using the ideas and information I had gathered within the exercise. In short, instead of allowing me to give a short answer on a seemingly simple discussion, this exercise led me through a deeper thinking process not just on the subject of mobile phones in the classroom, but on the entire learning process. I just took a brief journey through Bloom’s taxonomy.

As for the design of the technological side of the activity, Wiki Spaces is a great space that supports learners at all stages of the scaffolding ladder. For the learners who are ready to dive in, they are able to go in early (as seen in the first groups) and provide a point of reference for those who come to the party a little later. The ability to see other contributions provides a feeling of security for learners who might be apprehensive about sharing ideas. The ability to edit what is written at a later date, or to contribute more than once, also supports learners at all levels of the scaffolding. Allowing collaboration from contributors from all over Australia (and indeed the world) really opens up the learners to a diverse range of perspectives and ideas that they might not get in a classroom that may only represent a small range of backgrounds. 

Extra features like discussion posts, the ability to embed widgets ranging from videos to calendars, to polls and maps, has the ability to transform this activity from a basic response to an interactive and higher order thinking activity. While we may have only done the Hats activity at the augmentation level (using added features like embedded photos and videos, collaborating with students from around Australia etc.), it would be possible to open the activity to start a poll about the issue, invite people to vote through the social media widget, record data and upload/edit in the spreadsheet widget, include a map that showed the location of voters to see whether answers were affected by economic areas, and an RSS feed to let you know when something new had been posted! In fact, the facility to take what could have been a simple classroom discussion about the deBono hats all the way through (if we wanted) to a worldwide survey and analysis of opinions, means that Wiki Spaces can operate at the redefinition level of the SAMR model if the learners choose to take it further.

I can definitely see myself using the Wiki Spaces Hats exercise in my classroom this year during prac. I would be able to start a discussion and group work in a history class for example, then use the forums to add increasingly complex discussions for homework/class work each lesson. The students could vote on opposing ideas and form new teams to research and work on different points of view of events like wars or revolutions, throwing out the poll to other students they know. Requiring students to participate, but giving them the opportunity to view the contributions of others will help to support students who struggle with certain areas, and will encourage other students to form more complex and original ideas to add to the discussion.

Overall, this whole task has made me critically evaluate and analyse myself. I like that a uni course doesn’t just require academic development, but also personal development. I love that I am being made to look at myself in the mirror and not just be digitally transformative, but personally transformative. I like wearing my Thinking Hat(s). 

I'm ready to level up.

When I first read the brief for Digital Pedagogies, I had to admit that I was a little worried that the course would simply be teaching us how to use things like Wordle and encourage us to be more tech savvy. While I'm a Millenial (a new word for my vocabulary thanks to the course materials) who knows her way around technology, I know that I sometimes often get comfortable in my current digital knowledge, and resist the call to 'level up' because it's just an effort. I figured that my use of PowerPoint presentations and collaborative research projects in classes during my last prac scored me pretty decently compared to many of the teachers and classes I saw in the school. I honestly didn't think that as a reasonably tech-savvy Gen Y I would have too much to learn. I know, I can be a little conceited sometimes.

I was thrilled (yes, I do get thrilled about uni because I'm a study nerd) to find the course materials drawing on the likes of Sir Ken Robinson (who is my ideal man; he's intellectual, inspirational, creative and British), and neuroscientists (I'm really interested in neuroplasticity even though I only understand about 1 in 3 of the scientific words they use). Even better, the materials offered great practical resources and websites for teaching on a silver platter, which makes the thought of my next prac so much more delightful.

One of the things that kept coming back to me as I watched these videos, was that that the onus is on the teacher to engage students. It's a daunting thought to be honest. I don't think that we, as educators, can sit back anymore and say "well, if they don't want to learn then what else can I do?" The old adage, 'you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink' seems to be one applied to students quite frequently from what I've seen, but have they thought about why the horse won't drink? Maybe the horse has issues getting it's head down to the water. Maybe the water is dirty and undrinkable. Maybe the horse doesn't like water but prefers cordial.

Although I'm only starting my second year in education, I love teaching, I really do. It's like I've found my hidden talent, and realised my full potential. Sometimes though I think about all the effort, all the energy required to become the incredible teacher that I envisage in my head, and I get absolutely exhausted just thinking about all the work I have ahead of me (I have a pretty powerful imagination, so this actually does happen). I then think, is this what I really want to do? But it absolutely is. I had seen Sir Ken's video many times before, but watching it again brought new inspiration to me, rekindled the passion I have for imparting knowledge.

I think the mindset shift I have to make though is from teaching to facilitating, something that Judy Willis and many others have started discussing. Gen Z will not learn from your lectures at the front of the classroom, nor will that style of teaching set them up for 21st century life. They need to learn skills such as researching, critical thinking and reasoning, collaboration, creativity and innovation, and this all has to be done through technology. As the Digital Futures text said, we need to dispense with the 'E'-learning, and just have naturally occurring learning in a digital world.

If I want to become the incredible teacher that I envisage in my head, then I need to change my mindset from that of teacher in a Gen X and Y world, to that of a facilitator in a Gen Z digital world. Thanks to a little kick in the butt from Sir Ken and the rest of the course materials, I've decided that I'm ready to level up.