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‘A Vision of Students Today’ http:// uk.youtube.com/watch?v =dGCJ46vyR9o

‘A Vision of Students Today’ GCJ46vyR9o

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‘A Vision of Students Today’

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

Pumping up the volume of learner voices –

Using ‘new’ technologies to amplify the voices of trainee

teachers

Kathy WrightDirector of Secondary ITE

Cass School of Education, UEL

E-learning and the challenges for (teacher) education

Educators have slid into the 21st century – and into the digital age – still doing a great many things the old way. It’s time for education leaders to raise their heads above the daily grind and observe the new landscape that’s emerging. Recognizing and analysing its characteristics will help to define the education leadership with which we should be providing our students, both now and in the coming decades. Times have changed. So, too, have the students, the tools and the requisite skills and knowledge’. (Prensky 2005: 21)

The potential of technology in developing learning ‘is fully exploited by only 20 per cent of schools and colleges’

(BECTA 2008)

The problem with ‘big’ sessions..

Large numbers…tiered teaching rooms….fixed seating and benches…students sitting with same subject/same age peers…..narrow teaching styles…GPS less important than subject…..minimal interactivity & feedback…..

The idea! A way forward?

Creation of ‘space’ for learners to develop through the ‘virtual schools’ project. Use ‘new’ technologies, in particular Web 2.0, in an attempt to transform engagement with key professional issues..

Research Question:

• Can participation in ‘virtual schools’ as communities of practice promote the creation of individual and communal professional knowledge on the course?

The Technologies used

• Wiki and VLE (for VS Project)

• ‘Private’ Blogs and Podcasts and Twitter (on course)

Key features of the ‘Virtual Schools’ initiative

• Blended learning project (f2f plus e-learning platforms)• Web 2.0 technology (wiki) plus institutional VLE• Cross curricular learning sets i.e. Virtual Schools• Trainees ‘in role’ or ‘playing’ as teachers/school

management/school web site designers/content authors

• Developing critical perspective on schools and educational initiatives

• PBL (Problem-based learning)• ‘Expert’ input and feedback at the end of each activity

Advantages of Wikis

Collaborative working - ‘The structure of wikis is shaped from within, not imposed from above….Users can allow their practice to define the structure’ (Lamb 2004)

Role of play

‘The word ‘school’ throws you into, it has an impact. I think it’s very clever. It’s not just a forum. It’s a school.’

(Focus interview 2: student 2)

‘……. through our childhood play we are partners with our future.” (Erikson cited by Bruce 2005: 255)

EAL Activity

Prompt: First programme ‘My New Home’ (Channel 4)Consideration of support and teaching strategies for EAL pupils.

The Virtual Schools and communal professional learning

‘……it just introduces you to how real sort of work environment is about and you have to be an effective team member to get on with everybody else. I personally think it was a very effective induction before we were sent on our placement because we learnt. I mean I wasn’t educated here. I didn’t know what schools were like in this country, so for me it was an overall picture of what schools functioned like.’

‘An emphasis on collaborative working right from the outset. And be part of that…’

(Focus interview 3: students 2&3)

Safety and accelerated induction in

the Virtual Schools?

We hadn’t gone into our placements at that point and we were in Uni for quite a long time before we went into our placement and I think, like you say, it’s like role play and it’s a safe place to do that and you own your subject or your area or whatever in that school so you can basically say ‘This is how I would do it’ because we all know when you are in your placement you don’t always, ….., it’s not the same because it’s not your class. They’re not your class, they’re not your groups but on that (the Virtual Schools) they were and I think you can just do right ok ‘this is what I would do’ and it’s safe. It doesn’t matter if you mess it up or you say something that is ridiculously stupid . You’re just putting your ideas out there and like you said, you own it you feel as though you are part of that group.

For that activity (EAL) we found that each, when we actually sat down all together and kind of went through what each of our subjects would need to accommodate that person, a lot of them linked in together and, that's something that I had, that hadn't crossed my mind, originally and when we all put we actually put down on paper I saw it in black and white thought, ok so …… it kind of opened my eyes to that, and I didn't realise that, so that was really good for me. I think a few people on our … in our ‘school’ as well thought that.’Focus Group Interview 1: Student 1

When we did the work on transition I had no idea there was so much work put in to ensuring that there was an effective transition between primary and secondary school. And that was from my own reading so I was working in a virtual school but from the comfort of my own home I was able to do my own research, read about it and then contribute so I was tricked into discovering about aspects.Focus Group Interview 3: Student 2

‘It's helped me, practically, because I'm in a school where there's 75% um EAL and like, literally every class has got at least one person, with who, who's either, can understand spoken English but can't read or write very well and it's just like gave me a lot of ideas to use in my lessons. Obviously in PE it's a bit easier cos you can cos you can use demonstrations and things but I found that getting them (pupils) involved in after school activities has really helped because it means their social lives ….. and they’re picking up all the language and things like that and that's something I got from the virtual schools.’

Student 1: Focus Group Interview 1

Extracts from Blogs: Starting to think about Professional Identity:‘I am now attached to 9E. The form teacher has a very different mode of teaching to Mr D. This is very laid back and based far more on mutual respect and empathy than setting tight guidelines or rules. That is not to say that Mr D doesn’t have anything other than an excellent rapport with his students, but inevitable transgressions are met with more enforced discipline, whereas Mrs C will respond with disappointment and more of an appeal to the students’ better nature. It’s difficult to say which strategy is the most effective and furthermore, which I will adopt. My nature is quite playful and friendly and yet I would generally not see myself a mug either. How can I reconcile this with my behaviour management strategy? On the face of it one contradicts the other and without doubt there will be times when I get it wrong. Obviously I’m also aware that teaching is an act. The real ‘me’ will never teach RE – I’d probably get one or two complaints – but it would be nice and certainly less strenuous to be able to have a professional persona that very much reflects the person that I am.

Early days for making such a decision and, moreover, it’s likely to be an aspect of the profession I’m constantly negotiating. It’s certainly interesting to see how a teacher’s professional persona differs to when they’re in ‘civvies’.’

:

Edited extract from blog about imminent assignment on KS3 Curriculum: ‘….Despite the amount of time I had a read journal articles, it produced nothing in my head. I read, read, and read again but it made no sense to me. This did not help with most journals being biased in what they thought about the national framework for RE. These biased view points cloud my judgments and I am ending up agreeing with them. After that I found it hard to counter that argument.’

[Tutor – ‘Reading a comment like that certainly helped me in preparing him for the assignment.’]

Private Podcasting:

And finally as may be recommended by the Rose

Review:

Twitter!

Our Challenge…..

Educators have slid into the 21st century – and into the digital age – still doing a great many things the old way. It’s time for education leaders to raise their heads above the daily grind and observe the new landscape that’s emerging. Recognizing and analysing its characteristics will help to define the education leadership with which we should be providing our students, both now and in the coming decades. Times have changed. So, too, have the students, the tools and the requisite skills and knowledge’. (Prensky 2005: 21)