It's all Fun and Games

During my teaching placement I have found interactive games and quizzes a great way to engage my students and re aliterate the learning taken place. I have found Quizlet a great website to create effective quizzes simply for free. The quizzes could take form in several forms from;

• Flashcards
• Test
• Scatter
• Speed Race 
• Speller.

Example of FlashCards:

I have the main advantages of using interactive games and quizzes is that is a fun way of learning for the students who can come incorporate the interactive whiteboard within their games and also create their own games from loads of websites. 

Creating a VLE

When first tasked with creating a VLE from scratch, I was filled with blind fear and didn't know where to start. However, once I started building my site on Google Sites I found it an enjoyable, stress-free (ish) experience.

I was able to create many headings, with subheadings for individual modules where I could store presentations, lesson materials and useful links for the subject. I was able to embed quizzes, a forum and video and podcasts for lots of interactive learning for my students. I have found Google Sites a great tool for teaching with many benefits from interactive forums to spark debate, revision quizzes and visual and audio multi media to help cement learning and give information about future employment.

Living in a VLE World

If someone would of told be a year ago that I would be creating my own VLE in a years time I would of laughed at them followed by asking them what's a VLE?????? However through my ICT studies at Uni I have developed skills I never thought I would process, such as embedding code, creating hyperlinks and even adding code to add a forum to my VLE. I have found these new found skills unavailable as I venture into the education world.

I will continue to develop and broaden my ICT knowledge within my teaching career and get look at new ways to engage my students and try to keep up with modern technology in an ever changing world. Although the ability to present and the teacher should be the main priority, technology can play a major part of supporting and assisting the teacher to provide an effective learning environment.

Google Groups

While creating my VLE, I came across Google Groups and found it an easy, user friendly website to create a forum for my students (Below).

 

The forum enabled me to pose questions to my learners to encourage deeper thought from the learners and create discussion between peers for ideas for activities and assignments. Reece and Walker (2007) explains the benefits of forums stating they provide an opportunity for both real time on going  learning and accessible anytime and an opportunity for an both a structured and unstructured conversations between students and teachers and students.

Forums can be created for the whole class or specifically for groups to complete tasks and activities, proving fuller and development of answers.

Overall, I found Google Groups a very valuable resource and a good tool both for teaching and learning and will try and continue to develop my knowledge and gadgets of the site.

Bibliography  

Reece and Walker (2007) Teaching, training & learning A practical guide, Business Education Publishers Limited, Tyne and Wear.

Ted Talks does E-Learning

Interesting TED Video by Daphne Koller and online education. The talk starts by explaining the state of education in poor countries such as South Africa and how there was a shortage of University placements within the country and how recently a mother was trampled to her death while queuing for a place in a university.

Koller continuos with the introduction of Coursera which is a FREEEEEEEEE online education provider who's goal is provide the best course from to best universities to EVERYONE Worldwide.

Coursera is currently in over 190 countries around the world with over 640k students, providing world class university courses and reaching people who previously would not have the opportunity of an education.


The online course moves away from the traditional hour long lectures and broken down into small bite size modules which are easier to digest and to maximise learners attention spans, with the option of additional modules and pre lesson information.

Through the online learning questions are frequently asked to all students to access learning, the benefit asking questions in an eLearning environment compared to a traditional lecture is that all students have to participate and answers instead of the usual one "SWOT" at the front of the class, with the rest of the class not interested or on Facebook.

Another benefit highlighted from the video is that there is always someone around the world to answer your questions, no matter where you are and whatever time. All learning can also be recorded for the benefit of both the student and the teacher, so assignments can be tracked and students participation   monitored.

Overall, a good video highlight many benefits of eLearning and online education and how this may be the way forward within education.

Interactive Whiteboards and me

Since starting my PCET, eLearning as become a major part of my teaching and plays a part in most of my lessons. Within my teaching, interaction whiteboards are involved in the majority of my lessons both to present the lesson, with easy clicks to video links and websites and for the students to complete activities and games on the board. A big advantage I have found with using a Interactive white board compared to a standard white board is that text may be added to a working document for students to see on the board and interactive pens can be used on the board which can be saved and printed of as a hand out as evidence of the students work.

Although I couldn't live without my interactive whiteboard, I have come into a few difficulties along the way, and caused me to think on my feet when technology which in a strange back to front way has improved me as a teacher, as had to be prepared and alter my teaching strategies and lessons. All in all interactive whiteboards has played a major part of my teaching and supporting me to create an effective working environment, with the ability to engage students on a number of levels through videos, games, quizzes and PowerPoints. 

How technology has helped my learning

In school I use technology very little really even thou I passed my GCSE in IT, most my work was handwritten and taken from textbook. In my current studies this has all changed with technology being the cornerstone of my research, presentations and assignments and can't imagine learning in any other way now.

I find Moodle a great tool for learning and on there a lot, just checking out assignment briefs and PowerPoints and refreshing my memory of what we went over in class. The ability to use Moodle really helps in the classroom too as gives you the freedom to listen to the teacher and take in what there saying, instead of scribbling down loads of notes ten to the dozen.

Even social media is a great learning tool and have found our PCET Facebook page really useful, with people always sharing tips and experiences and just a place where can express any concerns you may have about assignments and anything your unsure of, with classmates quickly coming back to you to ease those concerns.

Technology I believe has really helped my learning and development and didn't think I would be back in Uni now without it, just makes research and learning more enjoyable and more accessible which is great but being as busy a a PCET student is.