EDED20491 Reflection 2.1Pedagogy - the word tangles on my tongue! What does it mean in everyday words? Put simply, it is the way we teach. How was I taught? How am I going to teach? What experience do I already have? Although I have presented many workshops over the last few years and have been a mentor to student interns, I have not taught in a school setting. I am a visual and kinaesthetic learner - I like hands-on participation. How does that happen when there is a need to impart a truck-load of information? My methods in the past have included the use of ICT in the form of PowerPoint, images and video. I might begin my classes by standing out the front, talking, but I actually prefer sitting. If people are comfortable with me, then they respond better and participate more. I have found that the type of audiences I address prefer a less formal presentation - they seem to be more comfortable asking questions that way. This might not be possible when teaching in schools, where I will need to take a more authoritative position in the class. I usually hand out extra information in either paper or electronic form, such as a disc or USB, to accompany the workshop and that people can read at their own pace. I'm sure that students would LOVE that and be dedicated to hours of reading after class (not). This week, course participants were asked to complete a table and take the categories as headings and apply them to our blog. The information from the table has been transferred to the categories listed below. Even though my responses to the way I have done things in the past read quite positively, I now understand just how much I need to learn and how far I have yet to go. Deep knowledge and higher order thinking
Collaborative and social learning
Knowledge as complex and linked to interests and experience
Problems that are real and relevant to students
Student direction
Explicit quality performance criteria
Cultural knowledges & Active citizenship
Blooming TaxesEDED20491 Reflection 2.2Oh me oh my - why? Why am I doing this?? It is because I want to become a good educator! I must confess this task really did my head in. I have spent many late nights trying to grasp the whole meaning of taxonomy, models and pedagogy. One thing I do understand is that students learn in a myriad of ways. It is important for educators to understand the theories of learning to develop our own methods of teaching. Two models of teaching and learning prevalent in the modern education system are Blooms Taxonomy and SAMR. Understanding these two models and how they embrace the use of ICT's in the classroom is important for development as teachers in order to help students achieve high order thinking skills. Without the effective use of ICT, students have a lower chance of applying acquired knowledge to the real world. One student from the Graduate Diploma of Learning and Teaching course, makes some excellent points on the use of ICT in the classroom (carlyrobbins.weebly.com/weekly-reflections): The use of ICT to merely present content or to have students undertake quizzes or programmed learning does not represent high level pedagogy. Activities such as these do not encourage a deeper understanding of the material, present the students with problem based activities or enable the students to own and manage their learning. Let's examine the first model... In 1956, Dr Benjamin Bloom developed a taxonomy for teaching and learning that has evolved over time. The original formula unfolded during a collaborative process involving a group of educational psychologists. They used a series of levels to define what educators want students to know: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation (Huitt, W., 2011). Bloom's Cognitive Taxonomy was revised in 2001: Knowledge became Remembering; Comprehension became Understanding; Application became Applying; and Analysis became Analyzing (Huitt, W., 2011). The two bottom levels depict remembering, understanding and applying, signifying lower order thinking skills. These skills are important for building the foundation of the pyramid. Basic understanding, including background knowledge, is required before you can progress up the levels. Technology may be used an an aid in laying this foundation. Analyzing, evaluating and creating are associated with high order thinking skills. Skills learnt here develop from information learnt in the the lower levels. Learners understand how to analyse information and apply it to the real world. Technology used can progress skills and lead to a deeper level of understanding. Collaborative use of technology helps to develop knowledge at this level. According to Robyn Collins (2014), higher order thinking involves:
The SAMR Model for integrating technology into teaching, was developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura. Understanding the critical need to use ICT in the classroom, the model has four levels: Substitution and Augmentation are in the lower Enhancement levels; and Modification and Redefinition make up the higher Tansformation levels. Depending on their skills, teachers might start at the Augmentation level. Students are so much more tech-savy than many educators and will sometimes expect more advanced uses of technology in the classroom. The types of technology available can often be restricted by budget.
A fabulous resource which explains how SAMR and Bloom's Taxonomy work together is Dr Rueben Puentedura's Weblog (Ruben R. Puentedura's WeblogOngoing thoughts on education and technology). There are links to pdf's created by Dr Puentedura which give example of how SAMR can be used in the classroom. One particular document helped me understand how the two correlate by blocking levels together and placing the models side-by-side (www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/12/11/SAMRandTPCK_HandsOnApproachClassroomPractice.pdf). I have created the diagram below, explaining the correlation between the two using colour-coding for each model. Arrows show how Dr Puentedura categorises the relationships. As educators, our pedagogy will be largely shaped by SAMR and Bloom's Taxonomy. When applying these models at the lower levels, we need to employ ICT in the classroom to enhance learning. At the higher levels, we need to find ways to allow students to engage with technology in more meaningful ways. Please view the following YouTube clips which show how Bloom's Taxonomy can be adapted to the digital world and how ICT is relevant in the SAMR model. For me, everything became clearer... References
Collins, R. (2014) Skills for the 21st Century: teaching higher-order thinking’, Retrieved from: www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/teaching_higher_order_thinking,37431.html?issueID=12910 Huitt, W. (2011). Bloom et al.'s taxonomy of the cognitive domain. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved from: www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/1025/bloomtax.pdf.
6 Comments
jo gardiner
19/3/2017 05:36:40
Gorgeous blog Amanda, it's obvious you bring an artist's eye to this whole adventure. I'm sure your sense of humour will help you in the classroom, though I'm guessing the first couple of times will be tough. I've struggled a little as well this week, trying to think about how these models and the ways they link to my own pedagogy.
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Amanda
19/3/2017 15:34:13
Thank you for the compliment Jo. The next round of blogs might help gel our thoughts. Well, at least I hope so!
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Loved reading your blogs Amanda - very entertaining and educational!
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Amanda
21/3/2017 11:36:24
Thanks for the collaboration Belinda!
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Wow, Amanda! You are really killing the blogging game, girl!
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Amanda
23/4/2017 23:39:36
Sorry it's taken me song long to reply Rhi. Thank you for your lovely comments.
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AuthorAmanda is a museum curator and pre-service teacher, learning how to integrate technology with education to design creative learning tools for secondary school students. Archives
May 2017
Topic 6: Growing your pedagogy
Embedded Task 3 Embedded Task 2 Reflections 4.1-4.3 Embedded Task 1 Reflections 3.1-3.3 Reflections 2.1-2.2 Refelections 1.1-1.3 Categories |