First assignment-week 1-
Activity Design
Having
little knowledge of the prior discourse of those undertaking this course would
have made it somewhat difficult to choose a topic that all could relate to.
However mobile phones in the classroom is a subject that most people, young or
old, can find plenty to talk about therefore I felt this activity was a
thoughtful and engaging hook. I felt very comfortable discussing this subject
as I do feel strongly about this issue. It is strange to note that my very bias
views (I did not agree at all with these in the classroom) has changed somewhat
just from this exercise.
The
wiki however, is not something I am extremely comfortable with and I did not
know how to add a comment without deleting someone else’s. I would not have
been worried about this because I did not know that this was possible until I
read the warning at the top of the wiki ‘page’. So I found an unused ‘page’ (I
am not too sure of the language to use with all these things so will call it a
page) and I wrote my comments and answers on this page. It was not until later
that I found there was a word limit which I had exceeded. (Sorry about that).
Doing
this flex is, for me, rather terrifying so I was pleasantly surprised that it
was not as daunting as I first thought, though I am still not a great lover of
wikis. I am sure as I learn how to use this tool, things will become easier and
I can value it as an interactive learning experience. Being able to read each
other’s ideas and viewpoints and then comment is a proactive way of learning,
if you know how to confidently use a wiki. As I commented above, I was too
scared to comment on peers statements just in case I did something wrong.
The Theory-Vygotsky’s
Social Constructivism
As the activity asked students to take a viewpoint about a
topic then interact with others about their opinions I feel this task reflected
Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism theory. When students work both cooperatively
and collaboratively in any group situation they learn from each other as ideas
are bounced back and forth. This theory based on ‘social learning’ promotes
higher order thinking and challenges students to take another look as they
learn from others perspectives.
However as some, like myself, were unsure of how to interact
on this wiki these positive aspects were somewhat lessened.
The Value of
scaffolding and Learning outcomes-de Bono Thinking Hats
Utilising de Bono Thinking Hats to sort our ideas and
opinions was for me a very ‘neat’ way to focus on the various angles this
subject can be looked at and I quite enjoyed the whole task. I have always
valued this thinking tool as a way to promote higher order thinking and as a
method that challenges thought processes. I started this intending to just
focus on two hats however I found that the more I ‘dug’ into this activity the
more I became interested on commenting on each hat. I am not sure if I lost my
way a little as I do tend to become passionate about something that does
interest me. I particularly liked the challenge of thinking about how I could
use a mobile phone productively to promote learning within a class and found
myself dreaming up all sorts of practical and impractical ideas. Surprisingly
by the time I had finished this activity many of my views had changed dramatically
and I found I would actually consider using mobile phones as a learning tool if
it were possible.
All activities in a class situation should contribute to learning
and not just be ‘busy stuff’ to fill in time. They should challenge and stimulate
thoughts and ideas. They should also make people feel passionate enough about a
relevant subject to entice them to share their feelings and respectful enough
to listen/read and consider their peers alternate viewpoints. But ultimately the
student undertaking any activity should learn something.
I did, therefore overall this whole activity was a valuable
way to spend my precious learning time.
No comments:
Post a Comment