Bog Synopsis

The tools we have investigated are only some of what is available for use in a classroom or learning situation. All of these tools and more would be valuable in different situations to help engage the students and be beneficial for their learning. I have investigated using some of these tools within my own disciplines of business and manual arts. The tools that I feel would be of most use, but not limited to, would be YouTube, Google Earth, Wiki’s and Power Point presentations. Texts such as McInerney and McInerney (2006) and Snowman et al. (2009) discuss the use of technology to engage your students and to extend and refine their knowledge by utilising resources other than just textbooks.

YouTube can be utilised in a number of ways within the learning experience of the students within a manual arts or engineering class. It can be utilised as a tool to display the various practices involved in iron ore mining and metal production or show a tour of a vehicle manufacturing plant such as Ford’s Rouge plant. The ability for the students to see these practices and tours is something that would not be possible without the aid of technology. Also by seeing these video’s students are able to visualise, where the material they are using comes from, and the number of processes it has gone through, before they use it. The old saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” (Frederick R Barnard) is definitely true when you compare the engagement shown by students when just a text is utilised within a lesson or you combine or split a lesson between text and video or YouTube.

Combined with YouTube, Google Earth is another tool that can be utilised by the same class. The class could view a video clip from the Pilbara iron ore mining area and then go to Google Earth, and locate the area and view it from the satellite imagery. The students, could then be asked, to give distances to various smelters and the directions to get there from the mines. The same combination could be utilised with the tour of the ford plant. In a business class, the ability to utilise Google Earth would come into travel costing, where students can define a travel destination and calculate the number of kilometres by road to that destination from a given point. With this information and further research into fuel costs and vehicle consumption rates, the amount of money to be spent, on fuel and other expenses, could be calculated. This scenario could be presented to the students as if they were the manager of a company and they had to explore the most cost effective way, to send a company representative, to a business conference. Incorporated with the information on fuel and expenses could be a comparison to other forms of travel apart from a car.

After the representative of the company in the previous scenario had reached the conference the students could be challenged with designing a power point presentation to be shown at the conference. The students can make the presentation to promote the company or product the company my produce and want to advertise. The various ways power points can be designed allows the students a wide range of options to develop a fantastic presentation. The use of photo’s, animations, movies as well as static slides could be incorporated into one power point presentation.

The use of the audiovisual tools can also be of benefit to students with learning impairments and can cater for their individual learning styles and needs. The use of audio to transfer the requirements of an assignment task or any other form of written communication can be a way for students with reading impairments to both receive information and transmit information to others. The audio can be recorded by the teacher to pod cast or audio file, which can be accessed through a class Wiki site. The student can then place a reply to this onto a flash stick with a media file for the teacher to assess. The use of the videos, photo’s and animations can be beneficial for the visual learners to absorb the required information effectively. This acceptance to use various delivery media and techniques is shown in McInerney and McInerney (2006) and Snowman et al. (2009) as a way of engaging students who may be at risk of not participating in tasks due to their inability to effectively comprehend what is required.

Another tool I have looked at using within my unit delivery for an assignment is a teleconference between my class and a manufacturer of a product we are investigating for the unit. This teleconference would be used to allow the live interaction between the students and the representative for the company. The reason for the teleconference is due to the distance the manufacturer is away from the learning centre and the cost that would be incurred if an industry visit were organised. Another fact is the ability for the students to relate the unit to real life situations and receive the required information directly from the manufacturer. The students are also able to see the importance of making contacts, within real life situations, with industry representatives. With this contact they are able to utilise it to receive required information and make further contact to reciave clarification, rather than just compiling facts from the internet.
As I stated at the start of this entry there are numerous tools available for use throughout a learning experience. The way in which these tools are utilised is to be explored and decided, as I go through my course to be a teacher and once I enter the teaching field with qualifications, on what has worked, what has not and what may work if used in a different way. This exploring process will not stop as the technology expands it will continue as new tools become available so that the students are able to relate to the technologies that are involved in the work environment and the learning environment.



Appendix A: Posted replies

References:

McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (2006). Educational psychology: Constructing learning (4th ed.) Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education
Snowman, J., Dobozy, E., Scevak, J., Bryer, F., Barlett, B., Biehler, R. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching. Milton, QLD, Australia: John Wiley & Sons