Shirley Warren Primary School

This Tuesday we went to Shirley Warren Primary School to do two lessons of our own planned teaching. we are doing two pages in a multi modal book about article 19 in the Children’s Rights about keeping children safe. We had made a plan before we went to school and started out presenting what we wanted them to learn today so that there was clear goals for them. If we had had the time we would have let them set their own personal goal as research shows that children are better motivated when they have impact on their own learning. (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2013)

We chose to do an animation with them and had a little conversation about what it was. In the beginning they did not know what it was, but as we came up with examples they all knew animation films. We showed the children an animation that we made ourselves and then showed them how to do it. We saw examples of what could happen when you move the camera. Every child tried to write a letter and took pictures. The animation they made was writing article 19. On a white board letter by letter and taking still pictures so in the end it would look like a movie. The children did great on this task even though it was their very first time doing animation. Animation is supporting storytelling, visual communication and problem solving (Move Forward, 2013).

What was a problem with the project was the time frame, we and the teachers new that already. But unfortunately it did have impact on the structure of the teaching.

After finishing our lessons we sat down in a circle with the children and all had to say what the best thing from today was and most importantly why!

The interesting thing was that every child liked the animation session best. They were a bit troubled with explaining why but after some time they all agreed that it was because they have never tried it before and they liked learning new things. This is a great base I think. This lesson clearly brought joy and innovative learning for those children (Halsey, 2007) Those 5 year old children are motivated and are working engagingly with new things and that I think is promising for their future.

The children were extremely well behaved an easy to work with. To compare with a Danish kindergarten class this would be the same level. They would be much more ‘wild’ and it would be a hard job to get them to listen. I know we had a small group of only 5, but that did not change the fact that they were very well behaved.

Bibliography

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (2013) Personal Learning Goals [Online] Available at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/pages/goals.aspx [Accessed 30 March 2014]

Move Forward (2013) Animation as a learning Tool [Online] Available at http://www.viauc.com/schools-faculties/faculty-of-education-and-social-studies/exchange-programmes/Pages/animation-as-a-learning-tool.aspx [Accessed 30 March 2014]

Halsey, S. (2007)   ‘Embracing emergent technologies and envisioning new ways of using them for literacy learning in the primary classroom’ English Teaching; Practice and Critique 6 (2) pp 99-107 

Week 7 - Rethinking Literacy: Multimodal Texts

This blog post will critically reflect on the implications of teachers using multimodal texts in the primary classroom.  This blog will consider multimodal literacy; how processes of literacy (reading, writing, talking, listening and viewing) occur within and around new communication media (Pahl and Rowsell, 2005 and Walsh, 2010).

Walsh (2010) proposed that teachers need to prepare their pupils for the new literacy practices; it has become apparent that technology in education can be integrated with other curriculum subjects, other than ICT/Computing, to create seamless lessons that can engage and inspire the children able to use, develop ideas and express themselves at a level suitable for the future workplace and as active participants in a digital world (DfE, 2013).  There is argument that ‘a multimodal approach to learning starts from a theoretical position that treats all modes as equally significant for meaning and communication’ (Jewitt and Kress, 2003).

‘New literacies, whether intentionally or unintentionally impact literacy instruction in classrooms’ (Leu, Kinzer, Coiro, and Cammack, 2004: 1).  For many children in the primary classroom, technological advancements in their short lives has made it possible  for them to be able to use their imagination and creativity to combine print, visual and digital modes to create multimodal texts; that can be and should be applied in classroom writing.  As Edwards-Groves (2011) argues technologisation and globalisation have advanced the need for children to design, produce and present multimodal texts as representations of learning.  This has led to technology, innovation and creativity being viewed as important goals to develop through current educational agendas (DfE, 2013, Dickenson, 2010 and Lewis, 2005).

However, creativity and innovation in some classrooms can be restricted due to less confident teachers’ poor subject knowledge (Ofsted, 2011).  In these classrooms the new reality is that teachers’ personal familiarity, capacity and facility with technology determines what is taught and how it is taught.  Children’s opportunities to design and produce multimodal texts as representations of learning and activity, for example, are consequently bound and possibly restricted by this (Edwards-Groves, 2011).  Jewitt (2008) claims it is crucial how knowledge is represented; ‘making the form of representation integral to meaning and learning’ (Jewitt, 2008: 241).  Therefore it is essential for teachers to explore the ways in which representations in all modes that feature in the classroom so that they can better understand learning and teaching in the multimodal environment of the contemporary classroom.

As mentioned earlier, teachers who are beginning to work with multimodal texts often associate them with technology, and may be reluctant to engage with them if they lack confidence with ICT.  Teachers who begin to engage with multimodal texts and more sophisticated technologies will find that their concepts about literacy, definitions of literacy and their literacy-related pedagogies are challenged; which can be daunting (Antsy and Bull, 2010).   However, as with all outstanding teaching, if teachers are able to use practical and relevant contexts; use questioning to deepen understanding and effective use of peer and self-assessment is used to help structure their lessons (Ofsted, 2011); teachers can develop their pedagogy whilst incorporating multimodal texts with new communication media to ensure children receive top quality lessons.

As discussed, the government has placed an emphasis on learning with innovation and creativity

which can be achieved through the use of technology.  The use of multimodal texts within schools can represent a reflection of pupils’ own inherently multimodal and digital socialisation experiences.  Here we see teaching changing to reflect the changing world of digital literacy, encouraged by the government (DfE, 2013) to embed the use of technology and texts throughout the curriculum.

References

Antsy, M. and Bull, G. (2010) Helping teachers to explore multimodal texts. Curriculum and Leadership Journal, Vol. 8 (16) [online] http://www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/helping_teachers_to_explore_multimodal_texts,31522.html?issueID=12141 (accessed 15/03/2014)

BECTA. (2008). Harnessing Technology: Next generation learning 2008-14 [online] http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/8287/1/download.cfm%3FresID%3D37348 (accessed 15/03/2014)

DfE. (2013) The National Curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document. London: DfE

Dickenson, P. (2010) ‘Developments in English: Text2txt’ in Clarke, S. and Dickenson, P. (eds) Becoming an English teacher. London: Sage

Edwards-Groves, C. (2011) ‘The multimodal writing process: changing practices in contemporary classrooms’. Language and Education, Vol. 25 (1), pp. 49-64.

Jewitt, C. (2008) ‘Multimodality and Literacy in School Classrooms’.  Review of Research in Education, Vol. 32 (1), pp. 241-267

Jewitt, C. and Kress, G. (2003) Multimodal literacy. New York: Peter Lang.

Leu, D., Kinzer, C., Coiro, J., & Cammack, D. (2004). ‘Toward a theory of new literacies emerging from the Internet and other information and communication technologies’. Reading Online [online] http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=/newliteracies/leu (accessed 15/03/2014)

Lewis, T. (2005) ‘Creativity – A framework for the design/problem solving discourse in technology education’. Journal of Technology Education, Vol. 17 (1), pp. 35–52

Ofsted. (2011) ICT in Schools 2008-2011

Pahl, K., and Rowsell, J. (2005) Literacy and Education: Understanding the New Literacy Studies in the Classroom. London: Paul Chapman Publishing

Walsh, M. (2010) ‘Multimodal Literacy’. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, Vol. 33 (3), pp.211-239

Internet Safety

As today’s society progresses there is an increase in the uses of technology both at home and in schools. Although there are definitely benefits with using these different technologies in the classroom, there are indeed issues as well. The main being issues with E-safety, which is highlighted by Palmer (2006), Papadopoulos (2010) and Palfrey and Gasser (2008) who all demonstrate issues with children being exposed to inappropriate content on the internet. Therefore, as teachers it is vital to understand the importance of children’s E-safety and educate them accordingly. This idea is enhanced by Palfrey and Gasser (2008) who claim that the children of today are ‘digital natives’ as they are surrounded by and have access to technology from a young age as well as being confident in the use of these technologies.

The Byron Review (2008) illustrates that children need to be made explicitly aware of the dangers of the internet and ensure they develop the confidence and skills to surf the internet safely. This links to the idea of schools using programmes to restrict the sites children access on the internet.  Although Papadopoulos (2010) conveys the idea of this and demonstrates that it is the role of both teachers and parents to educate children and provide opportunities or children to ask questions about the things the witness and access, it is completely impossible to restrict and control everything children witness online and in the media. Nevertheless, Arthur (2004) argues that children can be exposed to inappropriate content inadvertently. In addition to this, Male and Burden (2013) claim that by restricting things children see at school through the use of different restriction programmes, can restrict learning experiences as well as limiting opportunities for children to ask questions about the content they have witnessed in a safe environment. In my opinion, I feel that schools need to use these restriction programmes, while still providing opportunities for children to ask questions and talk in a safe and supportive environment, as it is suggested by Palfrey and Gasser (2008) who develop this idea by claiming that there is a high risk of psychological harm for children, who are exposed to things they are not ready to witness. Nevertheless, the Byron Review (2008) states that children should be empowered to identify when content is inappropriate and make these decisions for themselves. Therefore it is essential that children are supported and educated in their internet surfing and understand how to be safe online.

There are many different organisations to support children’s understanding of E-safety and how to protect themselves online. The website Childnet International is an excellent website for supporting the teaching of E-safety for both teachers and parents. I found this website very useful as it provided many different resources which could be used within the classroom in many different ways. I particularly like the different scenarios resource, which really gets the children thinking. In addition to this, there is a more formal website known as the online protection centre called the ‘Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre’ which not only provides information, about grooming, being safety on the internet, inappropriate content etc., for teachers and children about e-safety but also enables teachers and children to report issues with regard to their E-safety. 

In conclusion, it is the role of bot teachers and parents to educate children about being safe on the internet and to understand issues when surfing the net. Children need to be made aware that if they need to ask questions they can and that although they may not intentionally seek inappropriate content it is there. In an ideal world, we would be able to ensure children are only viewing content which is appropriate to them, however, is clear we cannot control and restrict everything children see, which is why teachers need to take the responsibility in educating children about this and the importance of their safety on the internet.

-          Arthur, L. (2004) Popular Culture, New Media and Digital Literacy in Modern Childhood Oxon: Routledge Falmer
-          http://www.childnet.com/resources/kia/ (Accessed: 21/03/2014)
-          DfES (2008) The Byron Review: E- Safety. DfES Publications: London.
-          Male, T. and Burden, K. (2013) ‘Access denied?  Twenty-first-century technology in schools’ Technology, Pedagogy and Education
-          Palfrey, J. and Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital: understanding the first generation of digital natives. Basics Books. New York
-           Papadopoulos , L. (2010) Sexualisation of Young People Review Home Office (Executive Summary – link on LN)http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100418065544/http://homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Sexualisation-young-people2835.pdf?view=Binary -          Palmer, S. (2006) Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About It London: Orien 

A Visit to Shirley Warren 2

In my opinion, I found this week’s visit to Shirley Warren really useful for my own teaching practice as it enabled me to really think about different ways to incorporate the use of technology in the classroom and using different technologies with younger children.

Initially, from the discussions during last week’s visit, I was under the impression that the children use the different technologies during most of their lessons and would be well equip to carry out the task. On the other hand, I was a bit concerned when I realised the children we would be working with would be in Year One, as I felt they would be too young to use these different technologies appropriately. Therefore, I felt that, although this task would be challenging, I wouldn’t know how challenging until I met the children. I was pleasantly surprised when I met the children and during the task as they seemed very confident in using the apps and we comfortable in using the iPads and recording. Dean (2010) demonstrates this by conveying that the society children live in today is surrounded by technology that they need to develop these skills at school in order to function in their future society. In addition to this, the task of creating a talking book engaged the children thoroughly as they all had lots of ideas and were able to access their learning. For example, instead of writing sentences children are able to record themselves speaking, therefore, the children who have difficulty writing are able to take an active role in their education. This is conveyed by Evans (2004) who highlights the importance of supporting children in their learning this way in order to develop a positive attitude towards their education.  

There are a few concerns that I do have from this visit and working with the children. I found that although the children had lots of ideas, we were unable to incorporate many of them due to time limitations. This relates to my other concern, that although we had clear learning goals for the children, there wasn’t enough time to ensure that they all made progress and to actually assess the learning which had taken place. In addition to this, although the children were confident in using the apps, there were times when they needed help and extra support or only had a vague knowledge of what they were doing. Therefore, in order to combat this, assuming I had more time, I would ensure that the children had lessons beforehand to practice and develop their skills to move their learning forward and enhance their confidence.

Overall, I learnt that the children were confident in using the different apps and were thoroughly engaged in the learning process. I feel that I would definitely use this type of task and these different technologies in the classroom. However, I would ensure that the children have had some lessons beforehand to practice and develop their ideas.

-          Dean, G. (2010) ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms. London: Sage

-          Evans, J. (2004) Literacy moves on: Using popular culture, new technologies and critical literacy in the primary classroom. David Fulton Publishing LTD.

A visit to Shirley Warren 1

From our visit to Shirley Warren Primary school, it is clear to see that they provide a wide range of opportunities which promote and engage children in the different technologies available to them. In my opinion, this is a very important part of children’s education today as technology is seen as a vital part of everyday life. This idea is demonstrated by Arthur (2004) who claims that children are inspired by technology, which greatly impacts on their learning as children relate their learning to the technologies they use at home, such as iPads, computers, radios etc.. This is then further by Dean (2010) who conveys the importance of children using and understanding new technologies in school in order to function in and remain an active member of society.

From my own experience in schools, Shirley Warren has many facilities, such as their radio station/wii station etc., which are not available in other schools. Nevertheless, I believe that the way they are teaching and the push for the use of the different technologies available to children is a positive one, which is highlighted by Dean (2010). Although Palmer (2006) illustrates issues with the increased use of technologies in the classroom, I believe that the use of these technologies is definitely a step in the right direction, as it is the way society is moving forward. In addition to this, I have also observed all children being thoroughly engaged in their learning and taking an active role in their education through the use of technologies, such as iPads during Literacy and Numeracy lessons. Evans (2004) demonstrates this by arguing how all children are able to access the curriculum and their learning through technology as it is not seen as work.

The different apps we were introduced to were very useful and have given me a good background knowledge for not only my own classroom practice but for using them with the children next week. I also feel that the task the children have been set is very relevant and is a great way of tying literacy and technology together. All in all, I feel very enthusiastic and confident about using the apps with the children next week.

-          Arthur, L. (2004) Popular Culture, New Media and Digital Literacy in Modern Childhood Oxon: Routledge Falmer

-          Dean, G. (2010) ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms. London: Sage

-          Evans, J. (2004) Literacy moves on: Using popular culture, new technologies and critical literacy in the primary classroom. David Fulton Publishing LTD.

-          Palmer, S. (2006) Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About It London: Orien 

Week 6 - Why should teachers care about digital literacy and childhood in the digital age?

For this blog task I am discussing my own thoughts in view of the seminars given so far and my own experiences and observations; whilst specifically drawing on the introduction from Palfrey and Gasser (2008) Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives in responding to the following question ‘Why should teachers care about digital literacy and childhood in the digital age?’.


As a ‘Digital Native’, defined by Palfrey and Gasser as someone born after 1980 (2008: 1), I have been exposed to a world that has become increasingly saturated with digital technology in both social and academic aspects.  From using Microsoft Encarta, a now defunct digital multimedia encyclopaedia (Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, online), to accessing research journals online; my own journey in accessing and seeking information has dramatically changed over the years.  Now we are living in a world where children need to be prepared in using digital technologies to achieve a successful adulthood; by developing digital literacy in young children, teachers can help children to access subject knowledge at a time when digital technologies are changing the way knowledge is created and communicated (FutureLab, 2010).


Digital Natives are living much of their lives online and do not distinguish between their online and offline personas; at the same time they are coming to solely depend upon this connected space when it comes to seeking and digesting information (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008).  It is this concept that Palfrey and Gasser are concerned with; that Digital Natives are in danger of over exposing themselves online in ways that could danger or embarrass them in the future.  By leaving ever increasing traces of themselves online their ideas of privacy and ethics are distorted and differ greatly as to those views held by their parents and grandparents (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008).  Palfrey and Gasser describe us as being at a crossroads, with two paths on offer, ‘one in which we destroy what is great about the Internet and about how young people use it, and one in which we make smart choices and head toward a bright future in a digital age’ (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008: 7).  It is how teachers and educators make connections and integrate how young people learn in informal settings and be able to transfer that to the formal setting of the classroom that can lead to a bright future in a digital age.


Teachers have their own concerns regarding the digital environment in which most children spend an increasing amount of time and they have their own concerns with digital literacy in education within their classroom.  There are concerns with not only their own capabilities, or lack of, which may hinder the quality of lessons but also if the pedagogy of our education system is able to keep up with the on-going changes in the digital landscape (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008).  Therefore, teachers need opportunities to explore and should be allowed to discover digital literacies for themselves in order to build the required confidence to use them in the classroom (Dean, 2010; Marsh, Brooks, Hughes, Ritchie, Roberts and Wright, 2005).


From the research into digital literacy it is agreed that young people need to learn digital literacy (Dean, 2010, Marsh et al., 2005, Palfrey and Gasser, 2008) and by using these new digital literacies in the classroom it can allow them to take more control of their learning process (BECTA, 2006; 2007).  Although there is and always will be a ‘lag time’ (Carrington and Robinson, 2009: 166) between the emergence of new digital technologies and their implementation in the classroom; teachers need to engage meaningfully with these new mainstream forms of textual practice.  If teachers are able to engage with the emergence of new digital technologies and digital literacy effectively in contemporary classrooms, by being capable of adapting the learning to the technology being used, this aids the process of preparing the teachers to become expert learners and users (Carrington and Robinson, 2009).  Here we would be seeing teachers immersed in digital environments and this could lead to new pedagogical techniques that would unlock the potential of digital affordances in the classroom.


References


BECTA (2006) Emerging Technologies for Learning: Volume 1. [online] http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1501/1/becta_2006_emergingtechnologies_vol1_report.pdf (accessed 24/03/2014)


BECTA (2007) Emerging Technologies for Learning: Volume 2. [online] http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/1502/2/becta_2007_emergingtechnologies_vol2_report.pdf (accessed 24/03/2014)


Carrington, V. and Robinson, M. (2009) Digital literacies: social learning and classroom practices. London: Sage


Dean, G. (2010) ‘Rethinking Literacy’ in Bazalgette, C. (ed) (2010) Teaching Media in Primary Classrooms. London: Sage


Marsh, J., Brooks, G., Hughes, J., Ritchie, L., Roberts, S. and Wright, K (2005) Digital Beginnings: Young Children’s Use of Popular Culture, Media and New technologies


Encyclopædia Britannica Online (online) Encarta [online] http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186436/Encarta (accessed 25/03/2014)


FutureLab (2010) Digital Literacy Across the Curriculum [online] http://www2.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/handbooks/digital_literacy.pdf (accessed 25/03/2014)


Palfrey, J. and Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital: Understanding The First Generation of Digital Natives. New York: Basic Books

Shirley Warren Week 2

After working with children in school, share your observations and reflections. What surprises you? What were the challenges and how might you overcome these? What have you learnt? Make links to relevant readings.

Working with the children in school was challenging but rewarding. My initial surprise was how co-operative and eager the children were, considering this was the first time we had met. I was aware that it may be difficult to work well with the children because we do not have a professional relationship however, my wariness was immediately removed once we started working together. The children wanted to please us and would answer our questions with a eagerness to learn.

The biggest challenge I faced was handing over the responsibility to the children to produce and design the double page spread for the book. Before we arrived, I had a set idea of how I wanted it to look so it was challenging to teach the children the skills and allow them to do the work. I knew that simply doing the work for the children may accomplish the short term goal to create a double page spread, however OECD (2008) argue that by completing the work for the children will not aid them in the long run when they have to repeat the taught skill but cannot remember how to do it because the teacher did it for them the previous time. Therefore, I wanted to teach the skill and give the children a opportunity to practise the skill. I was pleasantly supposed at the fantastic ideas the children had and the pages looked better than I could have imagined. To overcome this, next time I will not have such a set idea in mind but more of an outline so the children can create their own work with the skills I've taught them. 

Another challenge was teaching children about the rights we were learning about. Our right was "the government should protect children from work that is dangerous or might hurt their health or their education". The children were only in year 1 so it was challenging to explain what the right meant and how it affected them. After explaining some of the words, such as government and dangerous, the children eventually understood what we were going to be learning about. By the end of the session, the children could successfully explain their right to another children so we all had a sense of achievement. However, to overcome this type of problem next time I would think ahead and produce a child friendly sheet with images that explain the right in a simple but effective way. 

I learnt that the children were more knowledgable with using an ipad than I previously thought. I'm aware that the children would have used an ipad before but they knew about many of the apps we were using, such as 'tellsgami, and 'explain everything', as they had watched their teacher using it. When we first visited the school, the teacher explained that children were allowed the play and learn about the iPads from a young age and Beauchamp (2012) suggests that play can form a secure basis for learning and technology aids the depth and effectiveness of play. As the children already had a basis knowledge, it created opportunities for a deeper level of learning as we could teach the children more complex skills. 

Bibliography

Beauchamp, G (2012) ICT in the Primary School, From Pedagogy to Practise. Essex: Pearsons Education Ltd

OECD (2008) Innovating to Learn, Learning to Innovate. United Kingdom: OECD Publishing