Legally Shareable Music - Free Music Archives

Find at least one website that provides teachers with digital materials for your discpline area that are copyright free and able to be legally shared. You might like to check out www.copyright.org.au, or the Creative Commons licensing system to help you be sure.

------

As an Education Technology Coach, I support a lot of my students in making films using iMovie. iMovie comes with a set bunch of songs, sounds and jingles that can be used within the film. However, after a few films, students seem to continue to choose the same song, making it a little bit repetitive as a teacher.

One of my favourite resources is Free Music Archive. It has thousands of songs that can be legally downloaded and are Creative Commons licensed. Students can search songs by artists and genres but also by mood to help the music best fit the theme of the film.  This also allows me the opportunity to teach students how to properly credit the artists of the songs at the end of their films.

Available at: http://freemusicarchive.org/

Image from: http://www.actsofsilence.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/photo.jpg

Potential Problems

Post to your blog: From the five potential problems listed on pp 214-216 in Roblyer, which may have the most impact on your classroom and students and why? How will you ensure you address these concerns in your lesson planning in your assignment and in the future?

---------
Potential Problems:
1. Accessing Sites with Inappropriate Material 
2. Safety and Privacy Issues for students 
3. Fraud on the Internet
4. Computer viruses and hacking
5. Copyright and Plagiarism 

Image from: https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-inline-half/public/blogs/51514/2012/08/103406-100895.jpg?itok=-1_I230A

Out of the 5 potential problems, 3 of the hit home most for me. Digital citizenship is something that our school needs to address more explicitly and we are currently looking at a whole school approach and developing a curriculum to meet our community needs that we hope to roll out next academic school year. This is going to take a lot of conversations and perspectives before we get it the way we want.

There is so much content online that at some point students are likely to access sites with inappropriate material on them. As teachers, we should be directing our students towards sites we approve of through web quests or other online activities. It would be good as a class to generate some good sites for searching for information on instead of just typing into Google. Students also need to learn what sites have valid information and which ones should not be there starting point for research (ie. Wikipedia). Students also need to be taught how to search. This means how to use keywords and use advanced search functions to narrow their search to get the information they actually want to find.

The safety of students is always a high priority for any school. It is more difficult to keep students safe online in a digital world that is difficult to navigate at times. Students need to learn how to use the internet safely and keep their information private. Students should be taught what information is appropriate to give online, how to create and keep safe passwords, what environments are safe to communicate with other people online and what to do if cyberbullying takes place (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 215). Again, education is important.

There are so many instances when students plagiarise others' work unknowingly. Students need to be taught from an early age that you can't just copy someone else' s work. This starts with learning how to take notes, how to reference others' work and also how to check that you haven't accidentally copied someone's work using sites that prevent plagiarism (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 216).

I think with all three of the issues bolded, it is important to take a proactive approach and be open and honest with students by opening the lines of communication. Students need to be taught how to navigate their digital presence online in a safe manner. Teachers should also use teachable moments as they arrive. Therefore teachers should not just get mad and scold a student for finding something inappropriate online but rather, use it to show how the situation could have been avoided and what steps could be taken in the future.

References

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2014). Integrating educational technology into teaching [Sixth Edition].

Another issue - restricted internet access

Another issue related to Internet use – particularly in schools – is the restricted nature of Internet access. We have seen why this would be considered necessary, but it also stifles the ability of both teachers and students to access the resources they need. What are you able to access at your school or institution – or not? Does this work? What does this mean for an educational institution where many students have internet capable smart phones? Does this mean restrictions should be relaxed and better supervision should be utilise

---------

Image from: http://rlhb.wp.lexblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/111/2012/03/Social-media-banned-law-firms-490x2791.png 

We are able to access most websites that I would need as a teacher. However, social media sites are blocked including Twitter and FaceBook. While I don't mind FaceBook being blocked, I use Twitter quite a bit for educational purposes. I often am reading articles or sharing my own work with other educators. However, there is a way around it - mobile devices. If I have my iPhone on me and I don't connect to the school wifi, I can still access Twitter and use it on campus. This is not ideal because I would rather be able to read things from my laptop more easily with larger font but it is a work around.

Image from: http://www4.pcmag.com/media/images/332686-twitter-censored.jpg?thumb=y

This mimics what are students are doing too. With the rise of mobile devices and unlimited data, students don't need the school network to connect to the internet. Does this mean we should abandon it? I don't think so. For our younger students especially, it is important that we have firewalls,  security and safety measures in place until they understand the internet better and have more knowledge about being a digital citizenship. We don't allow cell phones in the classroom, so students shouldn't be viewing things from their mobile devices during the school day (specifically at the primary school). However, as students become older they are going to make their own choices and have more non-class time in their day that they can access social media sites from their mobile devices. The important thing is that we as educators have done our do diligence to educate students so they are prepared to make appropriate choices and act in a mature manner online.

Distance Education: Does it have a place in schools?

Ae there elements of distance education approaches that could be incorporated into your assignment? Which students and in what context would the lesson be suitable for? What about a blended model?
----- 

Distance education is often approached with mixed feelings with it being a good solution for some students to access learning from anywhere at anytime or an excuse for procrastination. As someone who is taking a distance education Masters degree, I see the value in distance education and am making it work for me living in Singapore and working full time.

There are also instances where distance education is useful for our students. Some students travel for competitive sports and take online classes or are homeschooled. But is there a place for distance education in a typical school with classes every day? 

I believe the answer is yes - if students have access to resources at home and if planned out appropriately. Flipped classroom learning or blended learning environments allows students to learn content at home while using class time to explore problems and answer questions, taking the learning deeper. It uses a combination of online learning and in-person experiences (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 207). 

Image from: http://www.greeleyschools.org/cms/lib2/CO01001723/Centricity/Domain/47/blended%20learning%20header-01-01-01.png

This type of learning is something we are currently trialling for professional development with teachers. We have created a 10 week course where teachers are exposed to different technologies each week with tasks to complete. The weekly tasks are posted on a blog and class discussions take place through Edmodo. Teachers also have a blog of their own to share their learning and reflect on their practice. The course can be done completely online but there are 2 drop in sessions where participants can work through the course or use the time to ask questions of the two technology coaches leading the sessions and plan for how to integrate these tools into their classroom.

References

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2014). Integrating educational technology into teaching [Sixth Edition].

Instructional Tools for Teaching

Post to the forum an example of each of the five different instructional software functions using examples from your teaching discipline area. The five areas are outlined in this chapter, and on pg 82 there are some links provided where you might find examples. Include a sentence or two about why the example you have listed is a good example of each type of software.

--------

For the purpose of this blog post, I will choose teaching software for a Primary Junior Years classroom. 

Drill and Practice 

A drill and practice software allows students to have rapid fire of questions with instant feedback if they are correct or not (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 81). This could include things like flashcards and multiplication practice. One website that is good for this is IXL. For example IXL for Primary 5 mathematics focuses on developing math facts and skills. Immediately after students submit their answer, they get the feedback of whether the answer is correct or incorrect. If it is correct, they are able to move on to the next question immediately. If it is incorrect, the students has the opportunity to review the question and their answer as well as view the explanation of how to solve the problem before moving on. Students can complete a great deal of questions in a short amount of time to build their basic math facts and skills.

IXL is available at: https://ixl.com/

Image from: https://www.graphite.org/sites/default/files/experience-media-file/ixl3.jpg

Tutorial 

A tutorial provides students with instructions on how to do a specific task or skill. The students learns independently form the teacher(Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 81).. Khan Academy is a good example of tutorials. There are so many online courses and resources for students to work through at their own pace to develop their understanding of a concept or explore a new topic of interest. Students progress individually based on their understanding of the lessons.

Khan Academy is available at: https://www.khanacademy.org/ 

Image from: http://pilnetwork.blob.core.windows.net/public/0cc1bfdd-976d-43e6-b929-7390ed653f39/khan-academy.png

Simulation 

A simulation teaches students the process of how something is done in a way that mimics how the experience would be life in reality (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 90). In Year 5, students learn about ancient civilisations, specifically Egypt. The Mummy Maker simulation walks students through how the mummification process works. As students go through it, students are required to do the different steps, experiencing what it would be like to mummify a body in the times of ancient civilisations.

Mummy Maker Simulation is available at: http://discoverykids.com/games/mummy-maker/

Image from: http://games.talkingpyramids.com/wp-content/uploads/MummyB.png

Instructional Game 

An instructional game is a game that uses game features and rules for educational purposes (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 93). There is the challenge of game elements such as points, leaderboards and badges that are highly engaging for students. An example of instructional games is typing.com. Students learn to type through a game situation where they are awarded badges for completing levels and their is a scoreboard. Students learn the proper finger placement for typing while engaging in fun, levelled game that continues to challenge students by building on skills from previous levels.

Typing.com is available at: www.typing.com

Image from: http://cdn.ilovefreesoftware.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Typing.png

Problem Solving 
Problem solving technology resources are challenging and help to develop specific skills. These skills do not always have to be content based but could also be thinking skills (Roblyer & Doering, 2014, p. 100). An example of problem solving is Portal. Portal is a game where a character has two portals to make it through to the end of the level. The player needs to strategise how to use the two portals and where to place them in order to complete the level. The game is based on logic and reasoning to be successful in completing each level. While not made specifically for a content area, it can be linked to mathematics and physics with angles and is highly engaging for students.

Portal is available at: http://portal.wecreatestuff.com/portal.php 

Image from: http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/29300000/Portal-Images-portal-the-game-29379422-1920-1080.jpg

References

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2014). Integrating educational technology into teaching [Sixth Edition].

Lesson Planning with Technology

Post to your blog your thoughts about lesson planning with technology. For those of you who have been teaching (either as a teacher or as a student on Prac) post your thoughts about what is the most difficult about planning a lesson and if there are any resources you might like to share (don't forget to pop them in the wiki!). If you haven't taught before, post your thoughts about what concerns you the most at this point - as a beginner. This post will be a good one for sharing ideas, collaborating and helping each other. Lesson planning takes a little while to get used to when you are starting out on your teaching career.
---------

There are so many things to consider when creating a lesson plan. Everything from classroom management, learning spaces, resources, questioning, prior knowledge, various abilities in a class  and more need to be considered in order to conduct an effective lesson for students. It can be challenging as a new teacher as how you teach will not be the same as your teaching partner often. Thus, you may need to take a different spin on things.

When I'm planning a lesson or learning engagement, I use backwards by design so I know where I want my students to know by the end. From there I think of how I'm going to grab their attention at the beginning and provoke their ideas about a topic.

As I begin to plan the lesson, I only use technology if it makes sense in a lesson. Sometimes it's better to use paper and pencil, drama or hands on building and that's okay too. As I plan the lesson and think of integrating a technology tool I think about how it would change the learning experience for the students. Does it enhance the learning engagement? Does it make the teaching more effective? Doe sit make the learning more engaging and effective? Are there

The most challenging part about lesson planning is finding the best tools to use to teach the curriculum. There are so many resources available to teachers but it can be very time consuming to look at each one before choosing. There are also so many ways to teach the same lesson so it's about choosing the right tools for the job that will best support your students. It is very important to me that when I do integrate a technology tool that I have tried it out before I allow my students to use it. It is important that I have some knowledge about it so I can problem solve with my students as they use it. I also feel it is important to vet it to make sure it truly fits the need of a lesson.

One of the ways I decide on if the technology integration of a resource would be effective is by looking at the SAMR model.

image from: http://cdno2.gettingsmart.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SAMR_model.png

While some technology tools enhance the experience, the goal of technology integration in a lesson is to transform the learning. For me, when I'm using technology in the classroom, I am for modification or redefinition of the learning experience.

Resources for lessoning planning in general:
- For IB teachers, the Online Curriculum Community (OCC) provides lots of work samples, unit plans and lessons.
- The Teacher's Corner
- ReadWriteThink
- TES lesson plans
- Lucy Caukin's Readers and Writers Workshop books
- Edutopia

ICT in the Curriculum

Post to your blog your ideas about your software choices in relation to your discipline area and which part of the curriculum you will focus on. This might be a little tricky for those of you who have not spent a lot of time in the classroom yet, but if you spend some time looking at the curriculum document, you should be able to find an area of the curriculum that will be appropriate for you to use in this assignment.

----------

As the Education Technology Coach at my school, technology is my discipline. It is my role to support teachers and students in using technology in authentic and meaningful ways. Thus, for this course, I will focus on the transdisiplinary learning in a primary classroom using the International Baccelaureate programme. 

With the IB, there is no set curriculum, rather it is a framework of learning. Within our school we have a scope and sequence for the various subjects that is integrated into the units of inquiry. Our school has no specific ICT curriculum. Rather, the units integrate technology where appropriate. 

From this perspective, the curriculum is often taught using technology for teaching and learning. My focus though, is teaching transferable skills using technology. For example, communication skills like viewing and presenting are taught through the use of technology. Students construct visuals using technology tools such as Google Drawing, Pixlr or Paper 53 that convey meaning to an audience. Students need to use design elements and principles as they create their visuals. Another example is having students choose the most appropriate technology tool to show their understanding and demonstrate their knowledge. Sometimes that might be a Google Document, other times it might be using iMovie to create a video or Piktochart to demonstrate their statistics in a visual. 

With the IB, there are 6 overarching elements of ICT in the Primary Years Programme: Creating, Collaborating, Organizing, Becoming Digital Citizens, Investigating and Communicating. Through these, students develop their skills to become digital learners using technology tools as one of many resources in their learning journey. 

Image from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSiYdjvnjG9H2VSm6yso8huoEiWoSdRT9NIBgXldh4iYOdpnn4K_j92211af77_zepeBfTepNbb26-R_1V8ARtamremnGGqwiGdH49-gzfcuIzc6EbF3oRGG_3r4H-eWP_-kEMu1rkfpj/s1600/Slide1.jpg