Embedded Task 1

Weebly editor toolbox.

Wow wee. What an avalanche of knowledge has hit me in the past three weeks, it is akin to drinking from a fire hose.

In Week 1, we explored the world of blogs by creating a platform through
Blogger, Weebly and Wikispaces. The blog was a sanctuary of thoughts, struggles and research recorded in reflections on the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that we are in the process of mastering. Surprisingly, I learnt Blogger and Weebly were very user friendly. 
Wikispaces I did not enjoy as much (personal preference) and was more attracted to the former two which is where my focus will be even though I used blogger more for the simple reason it is specifically design to blog. Each platform has its own unique abilities and challenges.

Week 3 of our ICT course reflected on the importance of incorporating higher cognitive learning into our classrooms using an understanding of the previous weeks lessons on  digital pedagogy and understanding the current needs of todays students. The focus was presented as a balanced incorporation of SAMR model with Blooms taxonomy into the ICT teaching strategies of the classroom.

Blogs, Blooms Taxonomy and SAMR

The blog is now the structural platform for this course and I am able to clearly visualise the practical implications and the importance of the mastering of such a tool in a classroom. I was only recently made aware of the ICT platforms, though I had actually seen a promethean activpanel being used for the last 3 months at my  daughters Early Learning Centre.

Developing strategies to utilise the ICT's available today directly relate to Blooms taxonomy

Image Source

The learner today needs and wants the ability to understand the technologies that are available in the ICT platforms. I am convinced the way I learnt at school, the teacher talks and student listens is being left behind, like the horse and cart.

 Although the platforms I have been using are user friendly I have struggled at times especially with the embedding. I learnt embedding is able to be applied to anything with an embed code be it youtube, infographics, google docs, TED Talks, volcano and PDF documents. Very handy and valuable to students for their learning and keeping them interested. Here are a couple more examples.

Townsville. Home of the Supreme teacher.

Create your own infographics

 It is getting easier but I know I need to continue using it regularly to not forget how it is done. I also had to repeat the table creation for week 3 several times in Google Drive as it is not directly part of blogger. Learning these tools has built confidence in the technologies and sets the mind ablaze with possibilities. The applications are simple and easily able to be passed on to others as Wendy has show in the tutorials.
I found that the SAMR model can be clothed by blogger, it substitutes blackboards and paper hand outs. Blogger is like a market square to which any produce cart of value could be parked on. The Blog can be used as an online, real time website for communication. While the modification aspect is met by the ability to use Blogger for peer connection on the super highway of networks, and hyperlinking that allows for the student to feel like a citizen of the digital world being opened up to them via this fantastic tool. Finally the redefinition is in the refining of this repository of banked knowledge that over time becomes history of the learning experience and a hub for the hive of minds that can access and communicate to one another guiding and adding to it as a record of the academic journey undertaken

Higher cognitive learning is organically weaved into the top three levels of Blooms taxonomy and in combination with blogging and SAMR enables the teacher and students to create and present dynamic interactive, next generation lessons that can be revisited and tracked through its digital footprint. I really enjoy this subject and look forward to really playing with these applications in the future.