electronic portfolio… what’s it all about?

We often here the term e-portfolio but do we really understand what people are saying? But what is an e-portfolio you say? Simply put it is a collection of completed or work in progress files that are electronically based. This includes any printed files that may be primarily created or save digitally.

In this article we discover what exactly an e-portfolio is and how they are used in society today. 

Looking at the idea of the e-portfolio and looking at my KLA (Visual Arts) I think that one way that I as a teacher can engage students in their learning is by taking on this idea of the e-portfolio and using it as a way to document student’s work. This would take the place of a VAPD and would work particularly good with students who have chosen to embrace technology and are using computers to create art.

I think that it is important that art teachers find new ways of encouraging students to document their works. Often students avoid this process as they find it boring. I think that by simply changing the format of the journal you can entice students to complete work that they otherwise would not be interested in doing.

21st century students…

I found this clip on teachertube… I think that it is so interesting that today students spend so much time on the computer and they know so much about technology yet some teachers are so far behind and some are afraid to even try out these new tools that are available.

I believe that by embracing technology and introducing it into some parts of the class you are generating interest by the students not only that but you are also opening up yourself to learn more about this technology by the students who spend hours and hours using it everyday!

response to renata’s post: a vision of students today…

I was reading and watching the post that Renata posted and I found it so interesting… not only because I felt like those students could relate to me but because just like Renata said, we are about to become teachers and so many students believe that what they are learning in class is not relevant to what they are interested in. It does not surprise me that so many students are more interested other things during lectures then what they should be focused on, I have been there and at times, I feel like what I am being lectured about is so not relevant to what I will be teaching or how I will be teaching

So the question is, as a teacher, what can I do to create interest for my students? How can I engage them in what I am teaching and how can I get them so involved in my KLA that facebook and emails fall a few places down the list?! What can I do to be that teacher that makes a difference?

The learning power of Webquests….

Anyone can think that they can create a webquest but the truth is that the creation of a webquest involves alot more then throwing websites together and students copy and pasting information from one page to another. In this article Tom March goes into detail about the purpose of a webquest and what students should gain from participating in that activity.

To set the records straight, a webquest is NOT simply students jumping from one site to another copy and pasting answers to their questions. There is no real learning taking place here and students are simply not interested in what the task is. So, WHAT is it then? Webquests are activities that are all about scaffolded learning. Building up students knowledge slowly in order for them to fully understand what the answers should be. Pushing students to transform information into  more in depth answers for their open ended questions.

Real webquests use real educational sites that direct students to ‘real’ resources none of this wikipedia stuff.. real answers for real students.

Webquests can also be a great beginning for group work, engaging every student in a different way and providing each student with something to participate in.

Webquests are a great student centred activity that can be moulded to fit just about any KLA. A quest in the Visual Arts could possible explore the development and creation of an art movement followed by a guided tour through a well known gallery where students are the tour guides and educating visitors about the art that they are viewing.

Will new teachers be ready?

This is a response to a national survey on information technology in teacher education.

 It amazes me that in just one year we have just about completed our bachelor of teaching and we are about to take on the classroom and teach all these little kids. In one short year we have been moulded into what we can only hope to be good teachers. And although the educational aspect of the course stays pretty much the same, I am worried about the technological part that we aren’t taught in detail and that is one of the points that this report is making. 

Teachers are being equipped with all this information about classroom managements and theories but what about the technology that is out there? Yes we are told about it and yes there are a few opportunities to touch it but when do we really get to play with it and become familiar with it? How are new teachers suppose to teach effectively with these new tools if their is not enough training in the universities? 

iMovie…

So technology is a pretty interesting tool to use with students of all ages. Today in my KLA class we had a workshop about video art and how students can make their own video art by simply using and camera and iMovie.  Here is something that I put together in class. I call it “Around the bend”. It is simple but the combination of the music and the images makes it interesting and sometimes funny. I think that if we as teachers take time to learn all of these new technologies we can create a more interesting, fun and interactive learning environment for our students.

Enjoy!

Blaming Something…response to Alex

Alex makes some good points in his reading Blame something so it makes it easier. I am finding way too often that parents, schools and society in general are blaming the Internet for the deaths and suicide of teens all over the world when I believe they should be looking for answers in their own backyard.

Gone are the days where families would talk to each other and when relationships used to be face to face. Today relationships are scattered all over the globe and we often have no control over who are children meet online.

It is to this reason that parents, teachers and friends need to stay aware of what is out there in the digital world, yes we have not definite control over who our students meet and what they get up to but I believe that by educating them about the dangers that are out there online and by developing personal relationships with the students in real life rather than online we have a better chance of preventing these things from happening.

The Internet is not a person, nor does it have a mind that controls itself. People control it and people have the power to navigate their way through it.

The Story about Stuff…response to Nat’s blog

Nat has found a great site that we could all benefit from not just art teachers and students! As I was watching the movie on the site I was thinking about how exactly this could fit into the syllabus and how I could relate it to visual arts. Yes I could use it in lines with the unit of pop art as Nat has mentioned but I believe that we could possibly take it a little bit further. Maybe introducing it into the Visual Design course and looking at the production of mass produced items such as the ipods etc and how all the commercialism has created a need for a continue reproduction of these items. Don’t get me wrong I Love the ipods, they are the greatest invention in history but I do believe that if we are not careful about the ways that these items are made we will drop this earth 6 feet under sooner then we think.

This site is great not only for the facts that it is educating us about “stuff” but by using it as a teaching tool in class. It is simply another way that students can view an ‘educational’ movie in an interesting way. Using technology and the simplicity of cartoons to convey an important issue.

The 6 C’s of Motivation…

How can we increase classroom motivation? Ames (1992), Lepper and Hodell (1989) have suggested some strategies for students They have been labelled as the 6 C’s of Motivation. They are as follow: Choice, Challenge, Control, Collaboration, Constructing Meaning and Consequences. When all these are applied we tend to see that a student’s motivation increases.

There is a great example of how these 6 C’s are used in the classroom here. Here is a quick rundown of the 6 C’s.

CHOICE: when a student is given the opportunity to choose which assignment they are to complete or how they intend on completing it there is a higher level of motivation then if the task is already set for them.

CHALLENGE: all students need a challenge and by setting tasks just above a students ability will ensure that the student is pushed to their limits. If they are not pushed then a student will be bored and not complete tasks that are required.

CONROL: Students take on more responsibility in the class therefore creating a feeling of ownership in the classroom.

COLLABORATION: this includes group work and the opportunity for students to share their work with others. This results in students being inspired or motivated by one another.

CONSTRUCTING MEANING: by simply identifying what the most important and meaningful part of the lesson and focusing on that it will help students stay interested in the topic.

CONSEQUENCES: This is like positive reinforcement and rewards. By rewarding students by displaying their work or being given awards the students are inclined to continue producing good work.

By thinking about the 6 C’s when we teach we are working with a strategy that can help students stay interested in what we are saying. I think this can work really well especially in Visual Arts as it can sometimes be challenging when students need to focus on the theory side of the subject. 

Stuffing technology into the Curriculum…

A very interesting and easy to read article about how the government has put a push on getting technology into the curriculum and pushing it onto the teachers without really investigating how it will affect the students. At the moment their belief is that by including technology into the curriculum that they are helping students prepare for a job in the future that will be dependent on technology… but it seems like it is more a move to push “burst technology bubble, its inflated expectations and the profit motives associated with extraordinary sales and the once lavish political contributions from vendors to legislators.”

Seems that politicians are making choices for us teachers instead of asking teachers/educators what they believe will work in regards to technology. Yes there are benefits to using computers and what have you in the classroom but let teachers decide how they can be used and not the other way around. After all, teachers are the ones that are teaching the citizens of the future!

Teacher’s should be allowed to pick which tools they are going to use just like a builder picks their tools the same should go for teachers. Government members should stop implementing rules and ideas without serious consideration and discussions with ‘real teachers’ and ICT empires and founders should just relax and not push governmental figures to push technology into the classroom and trust that teachers will introduce technology to the students when needed.