Throughout
this process I have learnt that in today’s environment technology is changing
the way we interact with the world (Anazagasty, 2010). From the beginning, I felt
encouraged and excited by the opportunities for technology to provide teachers
and students with the ability to teach, learn, create and express ideas in a
revolutionary way.
Throughout completing my design challenge I have
acquired a wealth of knowledge about the practical and pedagogical issues emerging from
this task. Design challenges are a great way to educate students
about technology. I have learnt that by incorporating a range of activities
throughout the design process helps to cater for diverse learners. And by
utilizing a variety of visual literacies and teaching strategies has been shown
to improved education outcomes (Younie, Leask, & Burden 2015). I am now
aware that modern classroom
practices in technology help connect the students with the real world (Lewis,
2009). In this way, I feel my design project enabled students to realize
learning can be practical, inventive and lead to a greater independence.
Throughout this process and
through the course readings it has become evident it is beneficial to use
variety of pedagogical approaches (Younie, Leask, & Burden 2015). I feel by
taking a student centered approach to teaching has assisted to engage students
and facilitated understanding of the design process. What is more, it was
interesting to discover that the lesson approaches, objectives and outcomes may
change as the lessons evolve.
I know appreciate the
benefits of planning and feel you can never plan enough. It is agreed, the more
details considered the smoother and effective the other components work (Australian Government
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations 2014). I have
learnt to ensure activities are age appropriate and at the same time deliver an
enjoyable engaging experience for all stakeholders. For myself, creating a blue print and other
activities of the design cycle from start to finish really helped target the
required learning outcomes and scaffold student learning in a productive way.
Receiving and giving peer
feedback has been extremely beneficial by giving
me confidence in my design project and by providing additional
useful ideas to improve my own thinking process and design. In addition by
giving feedback on others designs has provided me with a wealth of additional
ideas and inspiration. I have found using the wiki to communicate and
express ideas has been beneficial despite losing a group members in
the middle of the course. By completing a risk assessment also aided
my thinking and reflective process by analysing every detail ensuring every
step is safe and appropriate. Most of all I have realized the importance of an
ongoing reflective process in the interest of ongoing deeper understanding and
refinement
(Australian
Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations 2014).
The main challenges I experienced
included time management and considering student prior knowledge and personal
attitudes towards what is considered healthy ingredients. Although through
guided group discussions and research and other planning tasks, students were
able to acquire a good understanding of what are healthy ingredients. In
addition, sourcing and keeping fresh ingredient and keeping costs down was also
a factor.
As stated in (The Australian Curriculum Assessment
and Reporting Authority, ACARA, 2014) our ever changing and complex world is
becoming increasingly technological. It is imperative to develop knowledge to
respond to the challenges and realize that the use of technologies has a huge
impact in the education environment. Throughout
each step, my thinking and understanding evolved by considering every detail
and reflecting on the practical side of the tasks. By incorporating and embedding curriculum
links throughout the design process has assisted me as an educator to
target required content and learning outcomes. It has also helped me
to acquire a deeper understanding of the students ability’s, needs
and challenges (Lewis, 2009). I feel that throughout this design process
I have made numerous links to the Foundation to Year 2 Content Descriptions and
achievement standards (see wiki links to curriculum doc.) Furthermore, I have been encouraged by the opportunities to extend
and embed learning to a
variety of other subject areas.
As stated in (ACARA), technologies enrich and impact on the
lives of people and societies globally. Furthermore, Australia needs
enterprising individuals who can make decisions and independently and
collaboratively develop solutions to complex challenges. I feel my project will
help contribute to this desired outcome. I feel the activities engaged students
in critical and creative thinking and instilled in students and myself the
value of planning and the reviewing processes to realize ideas. As an educator, by incorporating
what I have learnt and by taking students through the design process has been beneficial
to the student’s ongoing education.
References
Anazagasty, J. (2010).
What is technology? A learning module.
Retrieved from.
http://cnx.org/resources/77b0af39b23bb25e9a8706aba3c20b34/Technology%20definition2.pdf
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014). The Australian curriculum. Retrieved
from. http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/
Australian Government
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. (2014). Educators My Time, Our Place. Retrieved
from. files.acecqa.gov.au/...Framework.../educators_my_time_our_place.pdf
Lewis, T. (2009). Creativity in technology education: providing
children with glimpses of their inventive potential. International Journal of Technology &
Design,19(3), 255–268. doi: 10.1007/s10798-008-9051-y
Mind tools, (2015). Decision Matrix Analysis. Retrieved from.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_03.htm
Younie, S., Leask, M.,
& Burden, K. (2015). Teaching and learning with ICT in the primary school
(2nd ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
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