Images in Early Childhood

Images provide a myriad of teaching opportunities, they can inspire, spark interest, initiate debate, develop understanding, provide understanding, engage learner,  enhance visual communication skills and so much more.    

In an Early Childhood context having images or pictorial representations allows the opportunity learners to engage in the topic as their emergence into language continues to grow. A learning structure such as ‘see, think, and wonder’ allows for children to express their ideas about the picture allowing the Learning manager as well as stakeholders to develop an idea of the child’s though pattern.

When exploring  Tom March's page which also take a look into thinking routines I was delighted to discover a range of image sites which could be used in an early childhood setting. Below are links to pages displayed on the page as well as my personal ideas as to how they could be implement as well as any concerns I had.

• Tag Galaxy – This page is simple to use, just click on the link and type any initials or word which you desire. It then places a range of different pictures on a sphere; the sphere can then be moved in all different directions to display the picture. My personal favourite was ‘Autumn’ which displayed different images of autumn from around the world. This website would be great in a Early childhood situation as how the pictures are displayed are very appeasing and can be used when talking about common topics such as seasons, countries, elements etc.

*Concern:  The only concern about this site is some of the potentially harmful images which could be displayed therefore Learning Managers will need to monitor students when using this tool.    

• Pictures of the Week – picture taken from Time Magazine could be used to develop as sense of wonder as well as look at current events.   

*Concern: a Time Magazine often deals with controversial issues some of the images could be inappropriate for young child, therefore learning managers will need to view the images beforehand.   

Courtesy of:  Pictures of the Week.

Flikr : Another tool which I have investigated and developed skills for is Flikr. After creating my own account I uploaded my photo and began to explore the possibilities that this tool provides. One aspect which I found very interesting on Flikr was ‘Picnik mode’ which allowed me to edit the photo by rotating, cropping, resizing also by changing exposure, colours, and red-eye. Another tool in ‘Picnic mode’ in the create tab which allowed me to apply features which are not commonly available on other photo editors such as adding effects such as frames, using ‘heat map’ mode with distorts the colours of the picture, add stickers to picture and much, much more. This tool also allowed me to pixelate the image which I can see multiple uses to be able to display photo’s as a teaching tool or to record a particular play situations for analyses while protecting the identity of the child.    

Concern: I believe that students in an early childhood context might have difficulties using this tool, however Learning Managers could use Flikr to incorporate photo’s into a Blog to use as a teaching tool or act as a digital portfolio.

Below are a few samples of my work on Flickr.

Reference:Choice – Effort – Quality – Attitude – Labor of Love, Learning to look. Accessed from:http://tommarch.com/ceqall/learning-to-look/

Reference: Visible Thinking, See Think Wonder.  Accessed from: http://www.pz.harvard.edu/vt/visibleThinking_html_files/03_ThinkingRoutines/03c_Core_routines/SeeThinkWonder/SeeThinkWonder_Routine.html

Befits of static websites within a learning context:

With educational facilitators looking to incorporate more technology into learning context static websites such as weebly websites, wiki websites and blogs provide an excellent opportunity to actively engage the technologically savvy generation.  

Websites such as weebly websites, which I have just recently created, are easy to make, are free, and are simple to use. They potentially provide a huge rang of learning directions such as students created sights as well as teacher created sights. These sites can lend themselves to cross-curricular work such as English, SOSE and ICT as well as can be used to focus predominantly on one subject. As well as the academic possibilities schools could also use these sites to keep stakeholders informed of the learning as well as get them actively involved in the learning process.

By allowing students to create static websites Learning Managers are letting students display their work in a meaningful way as well as providing students with a sense of ownership which is a very important concept in the learning process.

I believe that these static websites pose exceptional and unbelievable opportunities for educators and students alike and am very excited to continue delving into the rest of this course to discover  other potential learning tools to be able to incorporate in classroom situations.

The Big 6 and Bloom's Taxonomy

Hello Everyone,

The Big 6 and Bloom's Taxonomy

When reading about The Big 6 teaching approach developed by Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz, I was ecstatic to see they had made a point to recognise the need for students to be given the tools and skills to be able to ‘think smarter’ instead of overloading them with information. This recognises and supports the notion that students of today need more than the ability to parrot information feed to them, they need to develop the ability to be resilient lifelong learners with extensive skills to understand, find, process and use information as well as actively problem solve and utilise higher order thinking skills.  This is similar to Bloom’s Taxonomy in the regards it leads learners through a process to complete tasks to a high level and encourages student to confirm their understanding through questioning.

Bellow are two brief diagrams which overview the steps involved in The Big 6 and Bloom’s Taxonomy:

Courtesy of: big6.com

Courtesy of:  imteachingfrench.com

As you can see both frameworks have students acknowledge what topic or subject they are learning and slowly move through a process to have students actively engage in the learning and extend and refine their understanding of the topic to produce an high quality of work.  

The possible ways to apply these two frameworks in an learning environment is infinite, with them lending themselves to almost any topic or subject imaginable. In regards to ICT or eLearning these frameworks are ideal for helping students develop skills to use different technologies and also provide them with a process to be able to develop skills in future studies, helping them to move and adapt with the advances in technology.

Warm Regards,

Jess Esmond

<廼ડ> ATHERTON J S (2010) Learning and Teaching; Bloom's taxonomy [On-line] UK: Available: http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm Accessed: 10 November 2010

 Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz 2001 "Big6 Skills Overview". Accessed: http://www.big6.com/2001/11/19/a-big6™-skills-overview/ on the 10/11/10. References and Acknowledgments:

Online Concept Maps

Bubbl.us

text2mindmap.

SWOT Analysis of online concept maps:

Strengths:

•      Concept maps a great way for students to brainstorm ideas.
•      These tools could be incorporated by teacher in classroom situations via interactive whiteboard.
•      All learner types can be involved in making an on-line concept map, therefore catering for all types of learners in a classroom situation.

Weaknesses:

•      Students may struggle using these concept maps as they are very fiddley.
•      Browser may close down, causing students to lose work and wasting time.
•      Work may be lost or corroded.

Threats:

•      Being hooked up to the internet via these sights could lead to viruses or other detrimental occurrences.
•        ICT resources are limited within schools.

Opportunities:

•      Poses opportunities for students to build their ICT skill and develop reliance in the technological word.
•      Teachers could set brainstorming activities for homework and have students upload their work onto a Homework Blog or other student/teacher interactive sight.  

Framework link:

Concept maps are often used by teachers and students in a classroom setting to provide learners with a written or graphic representations. Marzano & Pickering (1997) state in the Dimensions of learning teacher’s manual that students need graphic tools such as concept map to help them “construct a clear, accurate model for themselves” when acquiring and integrating knowledge.



My 1st Blog

Hi everyone,

This is my first Blog, as I have never created a blog before I was initially daunted by the process but would like to thank Bridie Wills for coaching me through the process, which turned out to not be as complicated as I first imagined. I have also developed the skill of uploading pictures which I will use to help make my Blog a more enjoyable space to visit. As I develop my skills for using this Blog I have come to realise the fantastic opportunities it can provide as a teaching tool, especially in the older grades.  

In a world which is becoming more and more technologically advanced, learning managers have to source technology to help engage learners and a Blog is an ideal way to do so.  A Blog can be incorporated into ICT lessons both in school time and as part of homework or assessment work.  Blogs can also be used as a facility to support learners in extension work for or for those who are absent from class for a period of time and need to be kept up to date on school work.

Under supervision and with clear and concise guidelines Blogs are a way for students to actively engage in modern technologies to submit work, ideas, questions or suggestions and is a great way for them to develop technologically socially acceptable etiquette known as  ‘Netiquette’.

Warm Regards

Jess

Image Courtesy of :canonpalmermediastudies.blogspot.com