Week 4 - Learning Federation Learning Objects (LO) & Inspiration Task

I continue to get blown away by the amount of ICT resources that are available for teachers to integrate into their classrooms! This week’s lecture was a brief introduction to the Learning Federation website (http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/default.asp). It is an amazing resource for teachers to integrate technology in their classrooms. The website contains a wealth of resources; interactive multimedia, interactive assessment, collections of digital curriculum resources and an array of teaching ideas in which highlight how teachers can integrate ICT resources into their learning programs. The digital curriculum resources are carefully designed which cater for the needs of all students which address priority curriculum areas such as literacy and numeracy , science, environmental studies, Australian history, LOTE, Business and Indigenous studies (Warning: Digital content on this page may contain references to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may have passed away). Have a look at some examples of these below:

Dice Duels Bike Race

This game allows Students explore even and uneven distribution and bias  using interactive tools in a range of dice-based tutorials, activities and games (MATHS)

http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/for_teachers/sample_learning_materials/tm_-_maths.html?showcaseObjectID=2204

Radical Hunt – Island Hunt

This game enables students to go on a treasure hunt by discovering the related meaning to each set of Kunji (Japanese) (LOTE)

http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/for_teachers/sample_curriculum_content/tm_-_languages.html

In the Workshop we were given the opportunity to experience integrating technology in learning curriculums of literacy and numeracy.We viewed an animated dreamtime story from Dust Echoes which is a series of twelve animated dreamtime story from Central Arnhem Land in Northern Australia (http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/dustEchoesFlash.htm) (Warning: Digital content on this page may contain references to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may have passed away). We then used the Inspiration program (as introduced in week one) via story mapping, as a means to re-tell the story by cutting and pasting images from the story (I have included my example below). I can see how this enables students to understand concepts, processes and further develop their skills and knowledge in a much more interactive way .

Microsoft excel (http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/), was also explored as a tool for teaching mathematics. Initially we counted the amount of colours in an m&ms packet and recorded it on a tally chart manually, using the following:

We then transferred the data using MS Excel to create a graph using this program (see my attempts below). I found this a much more powerful way to conceptualise and engage in an activity as opposed to just using a maunual tally or via completing a worksheet. I have come to understand that learning objects via a digital means is not replacing concepts that are taught in a learning environment through hands on experiences, but rather as an integrated method into these curriculums to enhance the learning experience of students.



First attempt



Second attempt



What is becoming evident throughout this unit is that the use of technology in the classroom is not only a useful, engaging and an interactive tool, but an essential one. We are now in a world where children are born into technology and depriving them of this in the classroom in the 21^st Century, we are robbing their readiness for the outside world.  If we teach the way we were taught we will undoubtedly contribute to student’s unwillingness and dislike towards learning. This is one of my favourite clips from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day off, which shows the traditional way in which I was taught many years ago – What not to do!

Uloaded from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-S54bbX6eA

In contrast here are some inspirational clips that demonstrate the 21^st Century Learner – The Digital Learner:

Uploaded from  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2j9qw-A0NM

Uploaded from  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l72UFXqa8ZU