The use of ICT and technology in the primary school is very prevalent in primary schools today, making Donald Normans research very relevent in todays society. What Normans research suggests is that it is not about the childs physical capabilities which may affect them in other subjects but what they want to do, what they plan or the teacher plans for them to do, what their personal values and beliefs are and that of the school and, finally, their own personal experience of using the computer and learning in the classroom.

What does Gibson suggest about perceptual learning?

Gibson’s optical flow, which is the pattern of motion of objects, surfaces and edges. This is between an observer of the pattern, which can be either a person or a camera in a particular scene, as you can see from the link above.

He also studied the term ‘affordance’ which is the opportunities for someone to do an action because of an object or environment. This concept was researced in collaboration with Donald Norman. Gibson became strongly in favor of direct perception and realism, where, he termed a new approach; ecological psychology (psychology in the environment). This is a big part of psychology in the real world including schools as opposed to artifical environments including labatories.

How does his research relate to ICT?

ICT can rlate to affordance in numerous ways as the use of technology such as portable devices like the tablet allows consumers/users to have increased opportunities for actions towards a problem in a particulat environment, as Gibbson suggests. Although, he rejected the information processing veiw of psychology which describes the processing of information in any detachable manner by an observer. Does technology not help us do that? And help us put it into our Working Memory.

Gibson and primary education

In my opinion, this, as Gestalt theory, makes teachers consider what resources they use and how the children react to it. This can be discussed for Physical, Social, Health Education (PSHE) and assessment of the way, us as teachers or prospect teachers, are delivering lessons. Although, this discussion can be a big part of any lesson as long as it does not divert attention away from the main topic or theme of the lesson.

Recall is used in education for a variety of reasons: to assess the children have meet the learning objectives, for tests and for assessing children’s previous knowledge when starting a new topic. There are three types of recalls which we may use in education include free, cued and serial recall. So children are given a list of items to remember and then are tested by being recalled in any order (free recall); they could also be given cues in order to recall the information (cued recall); finally, they are taught to recall events or steps in order (serial recall). These are important in education it gives children ways of accessing information when they want. Although, it can be seen as not useful as it may not work on all information and it is not in a real life context.

There are a many ways in which people can improve memory, including memory aids for children in education. These include chunking, cramming and external aids. Chunking is particularly useful for children because it breaks down larger bits of information into smaller chunks. It is the most common way to improve memory in education. Cramming is less likely to be used in education as it is seen to go into your long-term memory as well but is used for exams such as SATs. Finally, external aids includes things like diary’s or calendars to remind us of things; not as commonly used in education but in everyday life by everyone. You need to find out what works for you and what works for the children you are teaching.

What is Gestalt theory?Gestalt Theory is a psychology term which means unified whole. It is the study of visual perceptions, which describes how to organise these visual elements into groups. There are five defined principles which are similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure and ground.

Similarity: This occurs when objects look similar and can often be perceived as a group or pattern. Anomally can occur within similarity. Anomally is where an object is emphasised because it is dissimilar to the others.

Continuation: This is when the eye is compelled to move through one object and continue to another object.

Closure: This occurs when an object is incomplete or a space is not completely enclosed. If enough of the shape is indicated, people perceive the hole by filling in the missing information.

Proximity: Proximity occurs when elements are placed close together. They tend to be perceived as a group. When the squares are given close proximity, unity occurs. While they continue to be separate shapes, they are now perceived as one group.

Figure and Ground is where the eye differences an object from its surrounding area. A shape or object is naturally perceived as a figure, where the surrounding area is perceived as the ground or background.

How does this relate to education and children’s learning?This makes teachers think about how they are teaching children within the resources they used. Children can get many misconceptions from pictures; what you did not want or realise they were getting from it. It would be important to talk and get discussions going about what children see to get them more aware and more visually perceptive. This could be completed in a cross-curricular way or as part of PSHE or speaking and listening. Teachers may already be doing it without realising it already! The interpretations could tell you a lot about the children’s thinking, thoughts, understanding and psychology which could help you support their learning.

References
The Gestalt Principles (Date Unknown)
http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm (accessed 25/02/2013)

We are told what we need to achieve, come up with a plan to do it and then go off and do it. Last lecture, we just experimented with technology for our lesson plans that we have to take into school and I had a blast coming up with my own ideas. My question is if a ‘newbie’ at this type of learning can do it, why cant children in primary and secondary schools? It allows them to work out their own problems and then solve them and, to me, that is what life is about. This is what jobs want; children can become management, leaders and freethinkers. I believe that flexible teaching and independent learning is becoming more common in todays society.

I hope this will get people talking and would love to hear your thoughts.

This essay focuses on the role of technology in the primary classroom and what this will look like in the future. It will focus on children from Foundation Stage to Year six. The future, for the purposes of the essay, can be defined as 20 years’ time. This essay will discuss the technology that allows schools to become a more flexible working environment through the following technologies and practices: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), enhanced WiFi, hand-held devices, games-based learning and interactive and gesture gaming. It will also discuss the ability for children to access work at anywhere, at any time, through a variety of devices such as the cloud, games based and interactive learning. Finally, the essay will discuss the limitations of both headings including issues with E-saftey.

Firstly, I am going to detail Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) effect on education. I found that there are certain words associated with VLEs from reading @ethinking’s blog on it. These words include: permission, access, and limited access, rights for guests (or visitors), system, control and identification. What does this mean for education? It seems that VLEs are trying to ‘protect’ children from the outside online world, so their children can’t get into contact with ‘strangers’ online. It could restrict their learning and collaboration and make them feel ‘walled in’ to the school community. This does not prepare them for later life after school because they are being protected not taught about e-safety. If they were taught about e-safety they would be able to collaborate online safely, help younger pupils, increase learning capacity and social skills. On the other hand, VLEs do not have any filtering issues.

The government certify pacific VLE providers, these include, Uniservity, Frog, Kalidos, Moodle, Starz and Frounter. The Management Information systems (MIS), for example the Sims register system interacts with the VLE and will interact with each other, pull all student information out and create logins from it. These designers of VLEs do not design out the need for training. It does not address the Moodle experience.

Secondly, I am going to discuss Online Learning Environments (OLEs) effect on education. OLEs such as blogs and social networking allow professionals and friends communicate online. Surely, once children have been taught about e-safety and understand it fully they can write entries on a class blog about something they have done well, work they have done or something they have learnt. This way they can get constructive feedback from other educators, schools and pupils alike. They can also learn from other schools and other pupils work and learn how to constructively criticise in an informal way. This is a very high level skill for a child to have and would be very beneficial in later life. They will learn how to build a PLN, which they can use before they go into the workplace. Finally, all this collaboration and learning is instant. The children are able to evaluate their learning strategies and think about if it is the outcomes they want. It makes them think about how and want to improve their learning. Finally, it is supporting evidence of their achievements. (Norhtedge, 2005: 18)

A limitation of the OLE is that filtration systems may have to be in place.  

They could be used in conjunction with each other. The children when on the own could use the VLE to be protected online, whilst the children could upload, with supervision, work to the OLE. It is important, however, that the teacher does not take over and upload it themselves, as the children would not learn anything at all due to lack of involvement.

In conclusion, VLEs and OLEs can be used in conjunction with each other. Although, in my opinion, OLEs show more potential benefits as the children can monitor their progress as a learner. The learner is enabled to get feedback, understand what they are learning and how and monitor and reflect on it. On VLEs this is harder, therefore it makes it harder for the children to adapt to improve their learning and learning active.

References

Northedge, A. (2005) The Good Study Guide, Milton Keynes: The Open University

OLE – http://halfanhour.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/online-learning-environment-1999.html

VLE Image http://yacapaca.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/why-have-vles-not-succeeded/

Technology is taking over most of our lives today as we become more and more dependent on it. Years ago most people didn’t even have a house phone; now, we have high-technology mobiles which not only make calls but text and connect to the internet. In terms of the general public, this technology is going much more to the younger generation, who tend to be more ‘computer zavy’ (according to Prenzy). On the other hand, technology is used every day in professions such as health, education and government. This means in this sense it will be used by a variety of more ‘mature’ people using it for a less general purpose, for example, treating people for an illness, or even now, if you go to the GP surgery checking yourself in for your appointment. Technology is also used in jobs because most, if not all, workplaces have computers, telephones, faxes, scanners and printers etc. So is technology really taking over? Is it a good thing, or are we becoming over-reliant on technology?

If we didn’t use the technology use in jobs and be trained for it then we wouldn’t have the access to the amount of technology we have today, we probably wouldn’t have as good as health care and wouldn’t have the ease at other office jobs. On the other hand, people disagree with this. Some people suggest that technology is taking over too much and is actually taking over jobs instead of creating and is making us ‘lazy’. These people who seem to be ‘anti-technology’ may also suggest if we didn’t need it previously, why do we need it now? Is there much point in allowing it to take over our lives? I believe there is point in having increasing technology because:

1. Health benefits: increasing our life expectancy and our quality of life.
2. Research benefits: increasing our understanding of many different subjects.
3. Communication benefits: allowing us to communicate ideas with people all around the world (which, arguably, is one of the most debated subjects in technology). Meeting new people on date sites, talking to an audience interested in your field through blogs and talking to other professionals and friends through twitter and facebook.
4. Educational benefits: allowing children to learn how to use it safely for many types of purposes (also is argued)
5. Political benefits: allowing politicians from different countries come together through Skype or in person to debate ideas/policies that could affect our whole lives.
6. Ease and quickness: It makes jobs that were hard and monotonous quick and easy.

There is also disadvantages of technology in our lives, which include:

1. E-safety
2. Misuse of technology
3. Lack of knowledge of the use technology in education and in the general public.
4. Lack of opportunities for training.
5. Not sufficient funding
6. Parental worries
7. Hacking
8. Viruses
9. Malfunctions

10. Too much ease.

In conclusion, education is taking over our lives because we are depending on it more and more. We use it in many aspects of our lives but along with the advantages of advanced technology in the fields of education, government, health and other jobs, there comes disadvantages. But I believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, as long as appropriate training is given in schools and colleges from primary to secondary.  Also in training for jobs, education and health care.

Firstly, labelling in the classroom is important. The labels teachers give to pupils in their classroom may not always be right and should not be based on a negative idea of what people will become because they only have one parent, they’re in care, have suffered a trauma or have English as an Additional Language (EAL). If you give children a positive label they will meet their potential and be whatever they want to be. See the potential in your pupils and keep your expectations high.

Secondly, I learnt that there are programmes to help children who may not have the highest confidence and children who have SEN. One of these programmes is incredibox/isle of tune, which can be used from children in Key Stage 2 (KS2) and upwards, although, it cannot be used with tone death children. With this programme you can make music through a fictional city. What is also good about this software is that it can be used with gifted and talented children. I believe this programme can be used across the curriculum to help support children.

Next, there was a presentation by Oliver Quinlan (@OliverQuinlan), a lecturer at Plymouth University, who talked about his experiences with PGCE students. He did a workshop where he asked “what kind of teacher do you want to be?”. This got me thinking how important it is to figure out what kind of teacher you want to be at an early stage so the children will get the best experience of learning that they possibly can. I decided that, looking back at when I was in primary school, I wanted to be the kind of teacher that was entertaining, committed, took risks and have a love for learning. By ‘having a love for learning’ I mean not only updating my knowledge and experience outside teaching but not being afraid of getting things wrong some of the time.

I learnt a lot from the next presentation because of the extent it emphasised that adults have on their children’s use of technology. To me, this means that if teachers are not confident in their use of technology, then the next generation won’t be, and this is already happening. Not as many people are going into computer programming university degrees because the knowledge they gain at school is mainly software based.

I experienced this myself. I am an ICT specialist at the University of Plymouth, and to get on the course I did GCSE and A level ICT. In GCSE, it was all software based. I remember making things such as animation, which was the good bit of the course and was the closest we got to programming. Although, I remember doing a lesson long traffic-lights activity which is simple programming. Then we did spread sheets, word etc, the ‘business’ part, which will apparently make you more employable if you are able to use these. For a level we did the same. We did one exam which was based on a business scenario and then went on to do a series of other scenarios and practical’s on ‘how to search the internet’ and how to create a header for a business document.

When did my first placement in November, this was present as well and ICT wasn’t really being used in a cross curricular way, maybe because of the lack of computers at the school at the time. This is because of lack of space and money to spend on it. I believe that there should be money spent in schools on technology made fun and money spent on teachers training to increase confidence. I am a strong believer in that if the teacher is confident teaching that the children will be confident learning.

Research is currently being taken out by a third year on my course (@kelsto07) on teachers attitudes towards Interactive White Boards (IWB). After a questionnaire being completed by teachers and students in the UK and around the world, she found exactly what I have mentioned above that there is not sufficient training on how to use IWB. Most of the knowledge that teachers had were ‘self-taught’. She also found that if the teachers give the children a positive experience to technology it could contribute to increased confidence. Schools and teachers may not know about the training that is available to them and their staff and may be worried about different variants such as cost, time and availability. She also found that the IWB is good when used properly. Also, schools may have different IWB software and therefore when starting at a new school children need to start all over again.

With this, the teacher could teach in a ‘flipped classroom’, as Steve Wheeler (@timbuckteeth) suggested. The flipped classroom is where learners teach. This way they have to learn and understand it to teach it. This isn’t only technology based but can be used in any subject in the primary curriculum. A good way of doing this is through Pecha Kutcha, which has been written about by Hannah Shelton (@HannahSheltonTT).

But the only problem with using this is that it reinforces the stereotype that only young people use technology like you see in programmes such as ‘Waterloo Road’. This was developed more by Prensky suggesting the ‘Digital Natives and Immigrants’, and then criticised by many writers including David White and himself. Some that criticised Prensky suggested that teachers need role models in ICT to inspire and share technology with them in order to develop their skills. Teaching word processing etc is boring. I believe that if you think its boring teaching it, then its going to be boring learning it.

Terry Freedman (@TerryFreedman) has made a project book called “The amazing 2.0 web project book” which is a free resource that has been collaboratively made by teachers to give anyone in education practical ideas for using web 2.0 and “cutting-edge” technology. This was really useful to me in how I plan my lessons for my coming up placement and how I go about finishing off and thinking about my assignment on the implications of web 2.0.

The next presentation suggested that change is invertible and this is progress in the opinion of the CEO of general electrics. But with this we need to consider certain factors, such as behavioural factors, technical skill, communication, adaptability, cross generalisation and that it is expertise in more older people vs seniorities in more young people. Younger people want to work individually where older people would rather work in teams.

Another presentation suggested that empathy was the missing link in teacher education and that more on the job training was to come and that this would lead to development through study. But the question is, is this training or education and do universities use too much abstract theory. As well as this there is also a business model map which suggests what do they think, say and do.

Finally, the last presentation talked about why is a blog useful for us? Or our primary skills? It may reflect on our learning, fill in blanks or give you more avenues, give you access to audience of professionals or get help with something that you don’t know about. It can also be a fact of self-promotion. Your thoughts can be more concentrated and you can swap things around to help your self-reflection. On the other hand, the purpose of a blog may not be needed to be emphasised because it is what you make of it.  In the end the power of sharing is really important…the more you share the more you know.

Stephen Carrick-Davies did a study into e-saftey and found showcasing how tools can put the learner in the centre and be come  co-researchers and participants in the delivery of learning. The children want identity (reputation, status compulsion, peer-pressure and memebership), relationships (fun, romance, flirting, sexuality, sharing, family, teachers), conflict (suspision, hidden rules, assumed norms and values, emotions) and coping (resiliance, reporting, teachers parents, peer group).