Reflective Synopsis

E-learning is the use of electronic sources such as programs, websites, phones and tablets, adobe documents and many more in the classroom to teach students in the classroom in an interactive and enjoyable fashion.  The strategy is about engaging the digital generation, improving individualised learning opportunities, sparking innovation in learning, enhancing teachers’ digital pedagogy and getting the best from schools’ ICT investment (Queensland Government: Department of Education, Training and the Arts, 2008). E-learning allows students to receive information in a way in which they understand and process the information. When Digital media can be observed and controlled it makes for a great tool to teach students but when incorrectly monitored can develop into a problem. Teachers must display ongoing commitment to lifelong learning to stay current with technologies and interactive media which can be used in the classroom.

It is important when using digital media to ensure students are only accessing safe sites where a learner can feel safe and operate freely within the law. Teachers must always monitor the students to ensure they are searching or posting information which is essential for the task and not becoming distracted from the task or searching inappropriate sources where the students may become endangered or endanger others in the classroom.  The ethical considerations of e-learning relate to social and cultural diversity, bias, geographical diversity, learner diversity, information accessibility, etiquette, and the legal issues (e.g., policy and guidelines, privacy, plagiarism, copyright) (Khan, 2001). Mobile phones can be hard to monitor due to privacy rights because the students may have private information recorded on these devices. Computers can be easily provided by a school which a student can use safely and can be monitored wirelessly from a computer. 

Many online spaces such as blogs allow students to add information on the site collaboratively and create an information database which all students in the class and around the world can access while being maintained by a teacher to ensure security, correctness of information and students’ information is relevant. Blogs can also be used for a teacher to follow a student’s progression through a subject when the student uploads segments of an assignment and provide feedback to the student. The students can collaborate and correlate information in a space which can be accessed anywhere in the world to help each other and provide feedback on each other’s work to attain the best possible marks.

Digital Pedagogy is defined as the convergence of technical skills, pedagogical practices and understanding curriculum design appropriate for digital learners. Digital Pedagogy used effectively supports, enhances and transforms teaching and learning to provide rich, diverse and flexible learning opportunities for a digital generation (Queensland Government: Department of Education, Training and the Arts, 2008). Pedagogy constructs a starting point in which a teacher can engage students in learning a vast basis of knowledge in an extremely purposeful and significant way. When using media like blogs, Google Earth, Wikispaces, images, movies and audio students  can collaborate and create their own learning spaces which can be edited by students and teachers and viewed by parents and the school and help each other learn new information in a way which they can relate to.

In an effort to use E-learning teachers must become life-long learners and keep updating their knowledge of different media devices and online tools to relay information to their students in a safe, unbiased and ethical manner. Lifelong learning is a process which is used outside of the classroom and is usually self-motivated and allows someone to attain more information and expand their memory bank to help teach others or use it in their field of work. In a modern society lifelong learning is essential for all professions no matter their field. Teachers must constantly research changing digital devices as to how safe they are for students and whether or not the students can use these devices in a safe manner without exposing themselves to danger outside and within the classroom and will not create an online space for students to bully each other and if it does can it be monitored to ensure that this doesn’t happen. 

I conclusion by using E-learning and staying up to date with current practices and technologies a teacher can help a student broaden their education in a enjoyable and relevant fashion. Students find it easier to study when they are in an interactive and easy to understand especially when the student comes from a digital generation. These skills will not only show in the classroom but outside the classroom in a social aspect with a more diverse range of subject which the student will be able to talk about. This will ensure students can reach their full potential and achieve in life to their maximum ability.

Retrieved from Queensland Government: Department of Education, Training and the Arts

Retrieved from A Framework for E-Learning

References

Khan, B. H. (2001, December 18). A Framework for E-learning. Retrieved from e-learning: Content, Teachnology & Services for Corporate, Government & Higher Education: http://lomo.kyberia.net/diplomovka/webdownload/partial/elearningmag.com/E-Learning%20-%20A%20Framework%20for%20E-learning.pdf

Queensland Government: Department of Education, Training and the Arts. (2008, August). Smart Classroom BYTES. Retrieved from Education Queensland: http://education.qld.gov.au/smartclassrooms/documents/strategy/pdf/scbyte-elearning.pdf

Reflection 5

By using new technologies a student can expand their knowledge with a variety of informative websites, browsing tools, mapping tools and interactive devices. These technologies are ‘open ended’ and are infinite as every day new devices are being invented with new purposes. Some can help the student learn information through informative and educational games and some are through real life images which would normally not be able to be accessed by a student due to its location and can be viewed in three dimensional models. I find the most useful of these tools to be Google Earth. Google Earth allows a student to select a particular destination and view it in a three dimensional format. Students can also access views of not only Earth but images of Mars, the Moon and also views of the known universe using collated images which have been taken by the Hubble Telescope.

If a student is in a classroom in which they need to study landmarks around the world they can use Google Earth to view these in a three dimensional space and examine the landmarks and features around them. This is a very useful tool to educate students while being fun and interactive so students will maintain focus. Google Earth will also give links to websites and photos of the landmarks when clicked on. This allows the student to easily gather information about a topic including the history, dimensions and whether it is a natural or manmade occurrence. 

Google Earth can also be accessed through other devices such as phones and tablets so students can take their findings home with them. This technology is not only used by students but professionals worldwide. Using this tool many organisations have made outstanding discoveries such as new rainforests not known previously to modern civilization with various new life forms and plants, Giant Mammal fossils found in a desert in Egypt believed to be an ancient whale, Ancient fishing techniques used to catch whales and sharks off the west coast of Wales, Ancient caves which led to the discovery of a humanoid skeleton which is believe to be a missing link in the human evolution chain, Remains of an ancient civilization in Italy and the world’s most perfectly preserved crater found in the Sahara.

By using these tools students can observe and collate information to better understand certain landmarks and cities. This tool can not only be used by student worldwide but also professionals to find new formations and discoveries with high scholarly value.

Mt Mabu, Mozambique. Previously undiscovered rainforest with various new species of plant and animal photo taken with Google Earth

Stonehenge photo taken in Google Earth

The Louvre Museum photo taken in Google Earth

Washington Monument photo taken in Google Earth

The White House photo taken in Google Earth

Reflection 4

With new technologies becoming available every day teachers can broadcast large amounts of information with ease. The use of tools allows teachers to gather, collate and convey information from multiple sources easily. Having the internet so readily available allows for easy gathering of reliable information from multiple sources and with programs such as windows movie maker and Microsoft power point we can easily collate this information into an easy to understand format. These sources can usually be accessed by students remotely and created and edited by students easily making them great multimedia tools for students to use in presentations. There are also many online tools such as Google Maps and Google Earth which can be used for students to get an up close view of certain landmarks with Google Street view and satellite imaging.

In programs like PowerPoint you can create screens that effectively incorporate colourful text and photographs, illustrations, drawings, tables, graphs, and movies and transition from one to another like a slide show. This allows for interesting and captivating slideshows which effectively convey information with the use of images and video and appeals to most of the intelligences described by Howard Gardener. Having more resources available to the student through site sound reading and video it allows the student to retain the highest amount of information possible and achieve their full potential.

Using online resources such as Google Earth, Google Maps, online concept mapping and online timelines can be an interactive and exciting way for students to learn while giving them a chance to interact with technology. Using Google Earth can be interesting for students to observe particular landmarks which they may be learning about in class and can be used both on computers and mobile devices such as phones and tablets. Students can even access Google Earth to observe sites which are not in this world such as the moon or mars as well as constellations and galaxies. 

By using these tools one can gather and collate information into a reliable format which is easy to create and understand while make it interactive to allow students to emerge themselves into the information and activity and enable them to reach their full potential.

Eiffel Tower photo taken in Google Earth

Empire State Building photo taken in Google Earth

Mt.Everest photo taken in Google Earth

Sydney Opera House photo taken in Google Earth