Blogging Experience 1

During these last few months, there have been many ups and downs with the blogging experience.
Initially, during the first session, we created a blog.  This was a hastle as some of the others and myself were all having trouble creating the blog. Either the emails did not work or we simply did not know what to do, as everyone was progressing at different speeds. When we eventually created the blogging account we had to then create the first blog.   I did not find this part difficult.  We then moved onto adding people, so they could veiw our blogs.  This was and still is a chore.  To make this process easier we were all given everyones blogging address, where we could then copy them over and give them access.  Some worked and some did not. I have recently made my accound public so anyone can read them.  Initially I did not want my blogs to be public as I only wanted the people on my course to view the blogs, but now I dont mind and it can make other peoples lives a little easier. 

 Once I had got my head around setting the account up and how to blog, now I dont feel like it is chore. 

Mind maps

Mind mapping is a useful way to write down and arrange information either electronically or by hand.  It usually starts with a key topic placed in the centre of the page and allows further related information to be added.  It allows ideas to be visualised, structured and helps people when studying and organising information.  It can also aid in decision-making and problem solving. 

I have experimented with various electronic mind-mapping tools and have seen the benefits and disadvantages of them.  The main two examples that I will be discussing is Text2Mindmap and bubbl.us.      

Text2Mindmap is an easy way to create a simple mind map.  It has a basic layout that allows quick input of information and the colours of the text boxes can also be changed to suit design and flow of the information.  This short video gives a simple explination of how to use Text2mindmap.  Below is my mind map that I have created in Text2mind map that identifies the drawbacks of mindmaps. 

Bubble.us is another mind mapping tool that I have used to create mind maps.  I was able to create a small mind map stating the benefits of mind maps, easily and quickly (below).  It allows you to change the different branches and individual boxes to any colour. Although, if you are wanting to save this mind map you have to create an account.  Here is another video that gives a tutorial on how to use bubble.us. 

I have tried using mind maps as a form of note taking and within the classroom delivering information, both hand written and electronic, and I find them beneficial if I only need to take small amounts of notes, otherwise it gets too messy and confusing.  I have found that they are also useful for people with visual learning preferences as it allows them to see the information as a picture.

Bring your own device

Bring your own device is a scheme that has been brought into practice, where the students bring their own electronic device to their sessions, such as a laptop or a tablet. This has been put into practice in a number of courses in Pembrokeshire College. 

There are many benefits and disadvantages to the, bring your own device scheme. 

Advantages	Disadvantages
Students will always have access to a device to work on, instead of relying on free devices in the library of the college	Have to rely on the students bringing the devices to class
Students will have access to the internet at all times, when in the college	They all have to tested to make sure that they are safe to use, which can take a considerable amount of time out of sessions
It allows different teaching strategies to take place	Some students may not have enough money to buy these electronic devices, or will have to wait and receive them as presents
Teachers can use a variety of different teaching tools that can benefit the different learning styles of the students	There may not be enough plugs in the room to charge the laptops when in use
The devices have to be checked for safety.  Will know if they are safe.	Some teachers may not understand how to teach sufficiently with the devices
The work that students have to complete can be saved on various devices, such as laptops, tablets and memory sticks	If the students are using their smartphones for a task then they may not put them away when asked to when the task is finished
The different devices have different applications on them to aid in their learning	All technology has the possibility to break and malfunction

More advantages and disadvantages of technology in the classroom.

 

This scheme has been put into practice with the first years of the Level 3 Animal Care students.  Here are some of the thoughts from them of the, bring your own device.

‘I think this is a good idea as it’s useful to always have a source of research and having a laptop is easier to type up notes as it is quicker and more accurate.’

‘I don’t think bringing in your own laptop was a good idea for this type of course.  Some people didn’t have laptops and so had to buy one specifically for this course.  Most lessons the laptops are not needed.  I go to the library to type and print off my work.  I prefer to do this because I concentrate better.  I still do not have a laptop because I cannot yet afford to get one for myself.’

‘I think the bring your own device course is a good idea because it helps students to be more organised and helps them not lose their work.  However, it is a bad idea because the students have to carry their laptops around with them every day.  Also the laptops run out of battery meaning everyone wants to plug their laptops in and there aren’t enough sockets.’

I believe in the future, this will be standard teaching and learning, but at present it is not efficient as most students cannot afford them or will forget to bring them in.  Also, some teachers have not got the skills to teach using technology like this, although, if more training sessions are put into place, and it is encouraged, the teachers will be more confident around it to use in lessons.   

References
Teacher Radar.pro. 'Laptops vs Tablets: which is best for a small business?'. 2013.
http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/laptops/laptops-vs-tablets-for-a-small-business-1172801 [Accessed: 5th December 2014

Bilingual Learning

Most people in Wales speak English, and 19% of Welsh people are fluent in Welsh, (Wales, Cymru, 2014). 
The Welsh Language Act 1993, Government of Wales Act 1998, and The National Assembly for Wales (Official Languages) Act 2012 ensure that the Welsh and English languages are treated equally. 
They also give freedom to speak Welsh in Wales and they have given the Welsh language an official status.  The Welsh Language commissioner has the power to fine up to £5000 if the standards of the above acts are broken.



It is important to be able to integrate the Welsh language into as many things as possible within the teaching role.  This can be done in many different ways that will not take up too much time from the tutor or the translator.  The people who are able to speak Welsh within Pembrokeshire College wear a pin (right) that shows people that they can speak Welsh.

Simple things such as putting a heading of a PowerPoint in both Welsh and English, and just saying a Welsh greeting at the start of the session, are both simple ways to integrate the Welsh language into the sessions.
It is also important to include different Welsh culture within the classroom. This can be done simply by using a local Welsh place name or a Welsh name in an example.

Pembrokeshire College and other colleges in Wales offer opportunities for the students to complete their assessments in Welsh, whether that is just one question.  Also, the tutorials and feedback can also be completed in Welsh if chosen.   Workbooks and PowerPoint’s provide other opportunities, as they can be created bilingually. 



When teaching I will be using as many Welsh terms where possible.  As I am not a Welsh speaker I personally cannot assess people in Welsh but colleagues in my department can, along with a department of Welsh translators, therefore I can ask for their aid.  Saying this, I will be able to put simple feedback on work in Welsh, such as ‘Very good / da iawn’, and also words such as ‘amcanion / objectives’ in my PowerPoint’s.

Some other terms and words that will be useful within my teaching are:
- Great - Bendigedig
- Thanks - Diolch
- Please - Os Gwelwch un dda
- Good - Da
- Welcome - Croeso
- Good morning - Bore da
- Good afternoon - Prynhawn da
- Good evening - Noswaith da
- How are you? - Sut mae?

  

There are many websites avaliable online that can give trustworthy translations of words or phrases. Below are just a few websites:

- Term Cymru

- Termiadur

- Gweiadur

 

References

Wales Cymru. ‘Welsh language (Cymraeg)’. 2014
http://www.wales.com/en/content/cms/english/about_wales/language/language.aspx [Accessed: 22nd October 2014].

 

 

Socrative

Socrative
Socrative is a free online resource that allows teachers to further engage and assess the activities the students undertake on laptops, tablets and Smartphone’s. 
This resource allows for real time questioning, gives visualisations to the questions and answers and allows the teacher to gauge the student’s current understanding of the topic. 
Socrative can also save the teachers time allowing them to engage with the students more. 

There are a number of ways to ask different questions using this tool, such as ‘quick questions’ that include multiple choice, true or false and a short answer question, picture to the right. These allow for quick and easy questioning. 
 You can also create a quiz that the students can complete on their device that has to be pre made.

The results of the sudent will show up on the teachers screen when the students submit answers to Multiple Choice, True/False, Graded Short Answer or Open-Response questions.

The teacher can also review the students understanding in a variety of ways: whole class overview, student specific results or question by question breakdown. All the reports can be downloaded, emailed at any time.

 I believe that Socrative can be a useful tool to use within the classroom, as mentioned above you can see the results of a question in real time, which can be beneficial as the students will need to know the answer.  Otherwise, if the question was given in an assignment or as homework then the students will have time to look the answer up, or may just copy and paste the answer, for example. 
It is also a good tool to use if you are teaching a class where the students are in different places, e.g. in a different country as all you need is an internet connection and the room number. 

Although, I feel that Socrative has some drawbacks.  For example, to use the resource you will need to be connected to the internet, which can cause some issues, e.g. the internet connection may be lost.
Also, if you are in a classroom with no computers and are relying on the students to have a Smartphone to use it, they may not have their phone or be able to access the internet on it.   

To summarise, Socrative has many benefits that can aid in teaching but cannot be relied on completely. 

I will be using Socrative in one of my future classes and I will post the results.

Socrative website.
Further information on Socrative.
A video that further explains Socrative and its features.

Learning Styles

In a previous session, I learnt about the different ways that people learn.

People learn in many ways, and it is our job as teachers to teach in a way that suits all the students and get the student to understand what learning style they are.  If the students know how they learn, they can enhance their learning. 

There are two main tests that can help someone to determine what type of learner they are:

1. The Honey and Mumford test (1986)
2. The V.A.R.K test

Honey and Mumford
Peter Honey and Alan Mumford created the Honey and Mumford test and identified four learning styles:

1. Activist
2. Reflectors
3. Theorists
4. Pragmatists

Activist
People who are activists learn by doing and they like to get their hands dirty by involving themselves fully into activities.  Activists are also open-minded to learning. 
To engage the students during my sessions I could include activates such as:

• Brainstorming,
• Group discussions,
• Problem solving, and,
• Role playing.

Reflectors
Reflectors are leaner’s that like to observe and think about what has happened and will prefer to watch from the sidelines. 
The activities that I could do during my sessions to engage these learners are:

• Paired discussions, and,
• Observation activities.

Theorists
Theorists like to understand the theory behind the activity or actions, and they like to have models, facts and different concepts to aid their learning.
I could use various activities during my sessions to aid the theorists:

• Stories,
• Quotes,
• Statistics, and,
• Models.

Pragmatists
These learners are a mixture of the one above.  They like it when they can see how to put their learning into the real world. 
I could use the following activities in my classes for these learners:

• Discussions,
• Case studies, and,
• Problem solving.

V.A.R.K

VARK is an online questionnaire created by Neil Fleming that allows people to identify what their leaning preference is.

V = Visual - Visual learners like to use images, maps and graphs to gain and understand new information.

A = Auditory – Learners that fall under this learning preference will understand information by listening and speaking.  They like to repeat information to fully understand it. 

R = Read/write – The learners that have the read/writing preference will learn best using words.  They may like to take notes in sessions or will like to read. 

K = Kinesthetic – These learners are hand-on people and learn best through figuring things out by hand/making things.

More information on V.A.R.K and Honey and Mumford. 

In all my sessions it is important that I make sure, I am teaching to all of the different types of learners by using lots of different techniques. 

 

 

Pros and cons of technology

In the first IT session, we discussed how technology can be a great asset in the classroom, as long as it works correctly and the teacher and the learners know how to use it and utilise it properly.  

There are many good and bad points of technology:

Good points

- Technology limits the needs for people to be in one location. For example, if there is a meeting or lesson where people are in different locations, they can use technology such as web cams or TED talks, where they can still participate in the sessions and not miss anything.

- Technology also aids with spelling and grammar as software such as Microsoft Word has auto correction within the document or selected text.    

- Another benefit to technology is that it makes information portable.  Pembrokeshire College and other educational establishments, use a recourse is called ‘MOODLE’.  MOODLE allows lecturers to upload various types of information and other useful resources onto it, which then can be accessed through any computer or portable device that has an internet connection, whether in the College or at home.

- As there are many different types of technology, it can accommodate the different learning styles of the learners. 

- Learners or teachers can also modify work easily, without wasting paper.

- The behaviour and attendance records of all learners can be tracked easily, with the use of online registers and a resource that Pembrokeshire College use on NEXUS called the e-ILP, where different information such as the behaviour concerns can be noted. 

Bad points

Although technology has many benefits, it also has some bad points.

- With all the different components and software’s that computers rely on, there is always a possibility that it will malfunction or break. 

- Technology can also be unreliable, for example, it may disconnect from the Wi-Fi internet, as mentioned above it may malfunction or break or some software’s may not work.    

- All the different technology that is used in Colleges and other establishments can be expensive.  With nearly all classrooms and workshops within Pembrokeshire College have electronic whiteboards that cost a few hundred pounds each, those alone are expensive.  If any of the technology needs repairs then more money will have to be spent to fix the issues. 

- In recent years technology has greatly developed and most schools and colleges are adapting in the way they are teaching, although many teachers are not computer literate and may be intimidated by all the technology, which may cause the lecture to not utilise it, or simply they cannot use it. 

- If there is a classroom task that involves smart phones, this may cause the students to get distracted and will make it hard to get them to put their phones away when that task is complete. 

- Another bad point about technology is that the work that is used may be outdated if the work is shared between staff. 

- Technology in the classroom can be a good thing, but it has to be used in the correct ways to ensure that we are getting the most out of it.

There is more information about the use of technology in the classrooms on the following site.    

 

 

 

References

YUPPEE Mag. 'Could you live without technology?' 2013.

http://www.yuppee.com/2014/06/04/could-you-live-without-technology/

[Accessed: 21st October 2014]  (Picture)

Tasha's Post 9/10/2014

Trying to get started.

Hi my name is Natasha, I am currently on a PGCE/PCE course, and I am going to be blogging about the different technology resources that can aid in teaching, for my IT module. 
I will also  post some blogs about my experiences at teaching and blogging. 

A new blogger here

Hi, I am new to all this blogging. 
I work in the Animal care sector at Pembrokeshire College and I am also a technician in the Animal Care Unit at the College.