REFLECTIVE SYNOPSIS

Introduction

The ICT tools taught in this e-Learning course play a vital part in educating future teachers by providing them with ideas and new ways to teach students. This synopsis will cover using ICT tools within Early Childhood, working legally, safely and ethically, and the importance of pedagogy.

Using ICT tools within Early Childhood

“Most of the literature on the integration of ICT in education is related to a secondary…level” (Campbell et al., 2013). Early Childhood educators have a disadvantage in comparison to Secondary teachers, when it comes to using ICT tools, as young learners will not always be able use the tools to their full potential.

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As discussed in my Week 6 blog entry, early childhood teachers can still use the tools to educate their students, but the interaction might not be as significant as it is in upper primary or secondary teaching.

Young learners live in a world where, much to their enjoyment, they have access to devices such as iPads and computers. Educators would be silly not to encourage students to use these devices to further their learning in the classroom. 

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With teachers and students having a broad access to different ICT tools, the teachers need to ensure that they are working legally, safely and ethically at all times.

Working legally, safely and ethically

Education should be fun and exciting for both the teacher and students, however, teachers need to be very cautious when it comes to working legally, safely and ethically. What may not seem as a big deal or problem to a teacher, it might be a massive issue to the principal, colleagues, the student/s and parent/s.  

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I believe that teachers need to wear those five hats (teacher, colleague, parent, student and principal) when they assess a situation and make a risk assessment. If an issue arises within the classroom or outside the school, teachers will not have support from any of those bodies. The best thing for a teacher to do is protect themselves and avoid any issues from the beginning. 

Technology is developing as the days go by, raising the risk to the entire school body. Teachers need to ensure that everybody is protected, and most importantly themselves.

Importance of Pedagogy 

Although my pedagogy is different to the next teacher's, I believe that no matter what pedagogy you have it should always be positive and supportive to all students, at all times. When I was at school, teachers were the backbone of education and supported you all the way through school. 

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They helped you in any way they could with your school work and with any personal issues that effected your learning or your life in general. It was obvious which teachers didn't do anything and everything to help you succeed, they were the teachers that nobody seemed to enjoy their class. 

Conclusion 

For my future teaching, I believe that I will endeavour to incorporate ICT tools into my early childhood teaching as much as possible. Throughout the term, the ICT tools we have been taught could assist me to educate my future learners. 

References

Campbell, A., and Scotellaro, G., Early Childhood Australia, “Learning with technology for pre-service early childhood teachers,” http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/australian_journal_of_early_childhood/ajec_index_abstracts/learning_with_technology_for_pre_service_early_childhood_teachers.html, published on July 18, 2013. Accessed on August 22, 2013.

WEEK SIX REFLECTION

REFLECTION
In class this week we spoke about Whiteboard Illuminate, Education Gateway, e-Learning ethics and our synopsis. 

READINGS

iPads in Education
iPads in the classroom can be very encouraging for young students to engage in learning. In today's society, many children either have their own iPad, have access to one or have used one before. 

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iPads are nothing new to young learners and with many common ICT tools being too advanced or suitable for higher education, using an iPad is more convenient and exciting. 

As a teacher, I would love to use iPads within my classroom. Apple has a lot of educational applications available for every learner, including early childhood.

iPods in Education
Like iPads, iPods encourage young students to learn. The only downside to an early learner using an iPod touch would be the size of the device. 

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The iPod touch is the same size as an iPhone 4, which is increasingly smaller than an iPad, and even the iPad Mini. However, they can still be very useful within the classroom.
 
Mobile Phones in Education
Although not all children aged five to eight own a mobile phone, most know how to use one. I do not believe that mobile phones within the classroom are a good idea.

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POSITIVE	MINUS	INTERESTING
·    the internet can be accessed wherever, whenever	·    added distractions such as text messaging, Facebook	·    wide range of applications available
·    schools do not necessarily need to pay for the device	·    children could use inappropriate sites as their phones would not have any blocks on sites	·    portability of a small device
	·    not all early learners would own a mobile phone or be allowed a mobile phone	·    multimedia capabilities – videos, voice recordings and photos
	·    photos being taken in class without consent

WEEK FIVE RELECTION

REFLECTION

This week we went into a lot of detail on our assignment tasks for the term. We also spent a great deal of time exploring other ICT tools such as Scribble Maps, Bubbl.us and Fakebook which appear to be quite effective tools for educating learners.
 
READINGS

Creative Ways to use PowerPoint

There are many creative ways to use PowerPoint, some include:

• a presentation tool;
• students can create narrated presentations (record, listen, edit);
• allows embedding of texts, audio, video, images and hyperlinks;
• manipulation of images; and 
• most importantly they help the class interact with each other.

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 It is my belief that PowerPoint is a great tool to use in the classroom, especially for lower primary learners. I love that you don't need a lot of skill to use PowerPoint, but the more advanced you are with it the more effective your presentation will be. 

I found the tutorial "PowerPoint in the Classroom" (http://www.actden.com/pp/index.htm) very informative and it gave me quite a few tips on how to improve my PowerPoint skills.

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Prezi





Glogster

Glogster is a great tool for online scrapbooking. It is a fun learning experience and improves the relationships between teachers and students. One of my favourite things about Glogster is that it has unlimited shelf life and can be accessed whenever, wherever you like!