Design+Rationale

When designing any unit of work for the classroom, a teacher must consider many elements. These include what do my learners already know, where do they need to be by the end of the unit and how will they best learn. In addition to these factors, there is the pedagogy to be used, the content of the unit and how and why to include information and communication technology (ICT) to get my students from merely absorbing information to using higher order thinking. It is the rationale for the inclusion of the ICT that will be discussed here.

With so much to consider when constructing a unit, why consider ICT? Because, research show us that it improves knowledge retention. The Metiri Group Report on the use of interactive multimodal learning, shows that a student’s higher-order thinking increases significantly over what it would be if only traditional instructional methods were used (Stansbury, 2008, ¶ Multimedia and learning). This, coupled with Prensky’s notion that today’s children are ‘digital natives’ and as such, require the inclusion of ICT to keep them engaged, make the TPACK (Appendix 1) approach to instruction indispensable (Prensky, 2001, p. 3).

When designing this unit of work, I first looked at my students. For the duration of my Embedded Professional Learning (EPL) experience I have been creating a profile of my students. This has been achieved by observation, consultation with the class teacher and my own investigations as described in my wiki profile page(Appendix 2). As a result of this process I could see that I have students with a variety of learning styles and abilities. To accommodate such a broad scope of learning styles, I have included a variety of learning tools such as video, audio and hands on activities to accommodate visual, audio and kinaesthetic learners. As my learners also include a variety of learning levels, abilities and an ESL student, sufficient scaffolding has been added to each lesson, with the inclusion of images and videos as well as text. While the unit is designed to be undertaken independently by students, it is anticipated that most will be completed during class time, so students requiring support can get assistance from either teacher or peers. By conferencing with the students as to which tools they might like to use, greater engagement and ownership of the unit by the students will be effectively gained (Fasso, 2013, ¶ e-Learning and Digital Pedagogy). . It is important in the design of an online space for learning engagement to resist the temptation to add too many ‘bells and whistles’. While it is desirable to include multimodal forms of instruction, as convergence aids knowledge retention, but one also needs to know what to omit to avoid cognitive overload (Stansbury, 2008, p. How Students Learn). It is through the use of appropriate productive pedagogies that allow for the successful inclusion of ICT in a unit of work (Fasso, 2013, ¶ e-Learning and Digital Pedagogy).

As I wish to take my students through the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Appendix 3) to create higher order thinking, I thought that by using Churches revised Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy, (Appendix 4) I could ICT to its fullest advantage. Churches has re-examined Bloom’s Taxonomy and transposed various digital technologies into each level (Churches, 2009).

In the creation of any unit using ICT it is essential that the correct, ethical use of these tools is constantly stressed with students. For example, citing work, student online safety and appropriate online behavior should be reiterated throughout.

At the outset of the unit, students could add to their knowledge of a new topic by brainstorming ideas using Lino and Popplet. By doing this, students can also use the ideas of others to help make sense of their own thoughts and build upon them to create new knowledge (Mergel, 1998, p. Constructivism). This has the added security of saving online and the ability to be embedded into other tools, thus giving it flexibility and durability as opposed to traditional brainstorming on paper or a whiteboard. Knowledge can be readily shared in this stage of our process using the wiki, our blog and booking marking tools such as Sitehoover (Appendix 5). These forms of collaboration are particularly valuable in the early part of a unit, where students are beginning to build knowledge as they take in what they are learning and start to understand it.

When moving to the next stages of learning, applying and analysing, ICT again offers a variety of tools. To extend their knowledge and increase understanding, I have used interviews via Skype with experts in particular areas in our unit. Students can use our wiki to help formulate the questions they will put to the experts. Our online spaces such as this wiki, our class blog and our OneNote notebooks can then be used to record, analyse, critique and reflect on our expert interviews.

Opportunities for collaborative learning, such as the groups in the Week 4 wiki, not only offer support for learners, but supports the creation of new ideas as defined by social constructivist theory, as we are giving students the opportunity to share, elaborate and consolidate learning (Mergel, 1998, ¶ Constructivism). By allowing student to create their own sound and video files, we are encouraging student engagement as they contextualize previously learned information in a way that gives it relevance and meaning. Such activities not only help activate prior knowledge, but helps anchor new knowledge for the learner (Schwartz & Hartman, p. p.10).

With the inclusion of extension activities such as the Fake Book page, all sorts of new learning opportunities can arise. While not all students may attempt these activities, by allowing students to share their findings, new knowledge can still be shared in the classroom, either through discussion or blogging. Further learning opportunities can also arise with this type of activity as it offers the opportunities of discussing what can and should not be shared in social networking mediums.

For the final stage of our unit, I looked to create an open-ended assessment task that would encourage autonomy through an authentic real-life activity. By getting the students to document their own community using their own vision and words, one expects that not only would student be using higher-order thinking, but would take ownership of their learning. Research has shown that audio-visual projects can allow students’ personalities to shine through while encouraging creativity and opportunities for peer driven critical thinking (Schuck & Kearney, 2006, p. 18).

While assessment for this unit has been primarily based on evidence of students having attained the required levels as stated in the unit rubric, both self and peer assessment have been integrated into student work. This has been accomplished through reflective practices involving the wiki, Microsoft OneNote (Appendix 6) and our class blog as this is known to increase student motivation and autonomy (Schuck & Kearney, 2006, pp. 18-19). In addition to this process, teacher observation and feedback have been used to both give additional scaffolding to the unit, and aid in assessing student progress. By both students and teacher using ICT tools such as our wiki, blogs and OneNote, we have had a channel for continuous feedback by all parties and a secure way of recording and archiving student work and results.

If teachers are to meet the needs of todays ‘digital natives’ we need to harness the power of ICT, in order to engage, educate and help release the creativity that is inherent in each of us. While it must be used purposefully and in context, by using the TPACK approach productive pedagogies will be created and student educated to become 21st century life-long learners.

Appendix:
1. TPACK

2. Wiki profile page

3. Bloom’s Taxonomy

4. Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy

5. Sitehoover

6. Microsoft OneNote