Websites - EDED20491 Week 3 Post #3

Engagement Activities 4 & 5: Creating a Website and reflecting on it

The third tool we had to explore this week was websites. The web has a huge range of free sites that will allow you to create your own web content, and upload it to the web. The site we will use this week is Weebly.

We had to create your website following these instructions and http://weeblyforums.com/2011/10/how-to-add-youtube-video-to-weebly/ 

This video was helpful...


(Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UMBknOSR0CA)

My Weebly is located at http://teachingresourcesitmathematics.weebly.com/. I have decided to use my Weebly as a place to store the e-resources that I collect in my teaching areas of IT and Mathematics. I plan to expand it to use for lessons when I am prac teaching. Similar to what two of my colleagues have done with their Weebly sites:

• Anna Sluggets's Weebly http://annasictweb.weebly.com/
• Gail Tucker's Weebly http://mrstuckersgrade8scienceclass.weebly.com/

Critical reflection on using websites

Pluses	Minuses	Interesting/Implications
Free tools are available. Weebly is a free tool that provides a very professional looking website.	It was a bit difficult to work out how to do the editing. The Weebly site has changed since Wendy wrote her manual and since the video tutorial were made.   Can't embed video unless you pay money.	Incorporation of many multi media forms ie, links to web pages, other blogs, wikis, etc Limited only by your imagination
Easy to create and edit. Students can use it to write assessment that is accessible from anywhere. Could be used by even very young children.	I had trouble placing things on the website where I wanted them to be. The editor was a bit unforgiving.	Informal learning is happening when they engage with the website and learn how to use it. The skills they develop are transferable to other technologies.
Students can work individually on a task or to create a resources in the website.	Teacher needs to scaffold the tasks so that the students are guided in their learning.	I like the idea of using a website as a place to hold resources and materials for use in teaching. Just let the students know the URL and they can access material for themselves.
The student has total control of their website. No-one can overwrite or delete their work.	To keep the level of interest to the website other people need to look at it and send comments to the author.
Available for others to view (external to the group) and from anywhere in the world.	Doesn't support collaborative learning on its own. Could be used as tool to link to/from another technology.
Ability to add multimedia to the website.	Can become static unless regularly updated.

Personal reflection on creating a website and how to utilise it in my praxis.
I have been using websites for my teaching since 1998. I was one of the first CQU staff to use the 'homegrown' Course Management System called Webfuse. This system would generate an outline of a website for your courses and you uploaded course materials and assignments. It also supported the online marking of assignments. Students uploaded their assignments, I marked them online and returned them online. Since 2010 I have been using Moodle as a Course Management System. So I felt quite comfortable in setting up a website this week.

I found it relatively straightforward to set up and use the Weebly. There were just a few confusing sections as the instructions we were given were not up-to-date. Also when it came to publishing the website I got confused because it asked me to pay just less than $50 to publish it. It took me a little while to work out it was giving me the option to create a brand new domain name. When Ignored that message I was VERY happy to see that the Weebly I created was available and it was free to create it.

Wendy wrote that the difference between a website and the blogs and wikis we have explored is that YOU decide on the content and structure alone, and nobody else is able to edit, or add to it. This to me is very attractive. It makes the creation of websites an ideal medium for students to present their work, or for me as a teacher to upload activities for students to complete or a list of resources for them to access. It could also be used to provide guided instructions on how to complete a task.

Wendy cautioned us to use websites to make use of the features of the web. It should not be used purely as a repository for uploading questions or worksheets for students to complete. Instead we must think about how to use websites to link our students to the world, and various experts in their fields. She challenged us to think about how to use websites to transform the way our students learn. An example she suggested was to use a website as a MASHUP tool to amalgamate a range of artefacts, images, video, podcasts, and text from a variety of sites. It was this suggestion that inspired me to make my Weebly into a repository of teaching resources.

While studying and as we move into schools for prac teaching we are exposed to rich array of teaching resources. By using the Weebly to keep track of these resources I will easily be able to incorporate them into my lessons. I can also write a page within the Weebly that scaffolds the learning that I would like the students to accomplish. I just need to ensure that the school where I am teaching allows its students access to Weebly.

In the past you needed to be a web programmer (webmaster/mistress) to create a coded web page. In the 21st Century most online spaces have WYSIWYG editors (what you see is what you get). This makes the creation of webpages much easier as it is similar to using programs like Word, or PowerPoint. You upload your content and the program application writes the HTML code for you. This means that almost anyone can create a web page. When using Weebly it allowed the insertion of place-holders into which I could add my own content.

Though, just as it was with blogs and wikis, I found that I still needed some knowledge of HTML code so that I could get the site to have the look and feel that I desired.

Wendy has encouraged us to make use of our websites as repositories of teaching materials so that we only need to upload one of everything in a range of spaces custom built for each type of artefact. For example, using SlideShare for Powerpoints, Flickr for images (and video), of YouTube for videos. The website allows use, through use code to embed artefacts into our webpages. Of course when we do so we must always practice legal, safe and ethical principles.

Wendy's final suggestions was that Websites, blogs and wikis are only a few of the types of spaces available online for us and our students to work in. She has encouraged us to explore other spaces...if only I could find the time.

Using websites in my teaching
My teaching context is to teach year 8 & 9 students in the subject areas of IT and Mathematics. The school is an all girls school. I can think of two ways to utilise the Weebly website. Firstly, I can use it as a static website to support student learning by being a resource for them to access and the creation of lessons that are scaffolded to promote higher order thinking to accomplish. The students also could be asked to create a website for them to use to express their creativity in topics that I set for them. For example in IT I could ask them to research a topic such as bullying on Facebook and ask them to create a page to support the victims of bullying. Alternatively the students could use the website to present materials they have created. The students when they are ready can invite their colleagues to view their websites and provide feedback.

Gary Holmes suggested in the EDED20491 forum that we can hang other tools off the website where students can be interactive. For example, we could set up a wiki for interaction on a task and provide a hyperlink to the wiki from the main website

The ideal teaching environment will use a number of tools. I just need to find the right tool to support what I want the students to achieve. Each tool has advantages and disadvantages and different affordances. I am attracted to the use of a website as the 'hub' of my lesson planning and that I have other tools that hang off that website. An ideal way for me to control the 'messiness' of the web and the plethora of tools and resources that are available to use.

Wikis - EDED20491 Week 3 Post #2

Engagement Activities 2 & 3: Creating a Wiki and reflecting on it

The ICTs in Education wiki I created is in CQUniversity school of education dedicated wikispace.
My reflection on the use of Wiki's in the classroom is in my wiki.

EDED20491 - Week 2 Just when I thought I was finished...

Synthesis of Bloom's Taxonomy and Engagement Theory

I thought that I had finished week 2 (at long last as it has taken me two weeks and week 4 has finished) and I check back over Wendy's Week 2 Checklist and find this: "Recommended: Synthesis of Bloom's Taxonomy and Engagement Theory". Engagement Theory? we didn't cover that in the course materials but a quick Google search reveals Engagement Theory  by Greg Kearsley & Ben Shneiderman. Where they state that

"Engagement theory has emerged from the authors' experiences teaching in electronic and distance education environments (see Shneiderman, 1994,1998; Shneiderman et al, 1995; Kearsley, 1997). The fundamental idea underlying engagement theory is that students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks. While in principle, such engagement could occur without the use of technology, we believe that technology can facilitate engagement in ways which are difficult to achieve otherwise. So engagement theory is intended to be a conceptual framework for technology-based learning and teaching."

Okay this sounds interesting but I really don't have time to engage (pun intended) with this now as I am already two weeks behind and the assessment deadlines are looming fast.

I would have thought that it would have been more appropriate given the readings for week 2 that we synthesise the TPACK framework and Blooms Taxonomy. 

I find both these conceptual frameworks useful but to synthesis them means engaging in higher order thinking skills and to do that I need a context. As yet I haven't started the prac teaching so don't understand the context. Best to list the resources and helpful links and come back to synthesise the TPACK framework and Blooms Taxonomy later.

Bloom's Taxonomy:
Bloom's Taxonomy (From EDED20491)

Andrew Churches website where he has created significant links between use of ICT and Blooms Taxonomy (From EDED20491) I really liked this document. I think it will be very useful to me when creating  learning materials.
CISCO Multi-modal Learning Design (From EDED20491) About using multi-modal resources to support learning.

Another resource is the blog post by David Jones on a Framework for e-learning design.

TPACK:
I covered TPACK in a previous blog post.

Legal, Safe & Ethical Practice - EDED20491 Week 2 #6

Legal, Safe and Ethical Practice. Reflection on my Context.

While this wasn't listed as an engagement activity for Week 2 I do think it important that I blog about the Legal, Safe and Ethical practice of using ICTs in the classroom. It is imperative that the students are able to learn and work in a safe environment. My chosen teaching areas are Mathematics and Information Technology. As I don't yet know the context of my first placement so I will list here some resources and readings and come back to this post after I have had a chance to understand the teaching environment a little better than I do now.

Wendy has urged us to read and understand the implications of "Working legally, safely and ethically online". As teachers in training we need to read and thoroughly understand the implications of uploading and using materials online. In all my work online and offline I am aware of copyright guidelines for all materials and always acknowledge other peoples' work. I think that the best way to teach this to my students is to model this ethical and legal behaviour in all the materials that I produce by ensuring that all materials that are used are appropriately referenced unless they belong to me.

For copyright, Fair Dealing is 10% of a work. That is, that one chapter of a book, or 10% of another person's work may be copied for educational use. Wendy has suggested that this rule also applies in the digital environment. That we should use the 10% rule to inform decisions about copying materials when working online. There are some explicit guidelines however and the use of copyright images and materials may be restricted according to the owner's wishes. If in doubt then contact the owner of the materials and ask for permission.

Wendy suggested the following sites as a resource to provide information on the basics of copyright and fair use.
http://education.qld.gov.au/web/schools/riskman.html
http://education.qld.gov.au/strategic/eppr/national-copyright.pdf
http://education.qld.gov.au/strategic/eppr/legal/lgspr001/
http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/scw/go/pid/946 - some very useful scenarios are presented in this site, that allows you greater insight into online practice.
http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/scw/go/pid/944
Of course each school may have their own policies that should be adhered to as well.

THINK strategy
A simple strategy to use in the classroom comes from the Australian Government's Cybersmart website. It encourages students to THINK about what they are doing and how they behave online.

Tell Mum or Dad if something online upsets you
Hide your password
Interesting sites can be fun. Check first with a responsible adult
Name calling is mean - be nice
Keep your personal information safe
(Source: http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/young%20kids/online-safety/Think.aspx)

Child safety
One thing that has struck me in my transition from teaching adults to teaching children is the implications of my students being minors. While lecturing I treat all my students as adults because they all are. So one major aspect of moving into the school environment is that I am more responsible for the well-being of my students and if I am to use technologies to support my teaching I cannot just 'lock out' their interaction with the world outside the classroom. I want to encourage them to interact with the world but need to be aware of the potential risks and have strategies in place to avoid or control the risks.

Wendy has suggested the national industry body for the Internet in Australia, Internet Industry Australia (IIA) the has been active in identifying and responding to consumer and small business concerns as well as providing regulatory compliance. They have developed codes of practice. This part of the IIA website contains information on IIA industry codes which are currently in force as well as codes which are in development (EDED20491 Moodle Website, 2013).

Of course dangers may not come from strangers. Online media is also abused by people who like to harass and bully others. Cyberbullying can be carried out through Internet services (email, chatrooms, discussion groups, and instant messages), social media (Facebook and Twitter), mobile phones (SMS).

Students should be discouraged from providing personal information online if it is accessible to the whole world. They also need to be educated to tell an adult if something online is upsetting them. In addition, technologies should be removed f can result in being targeted for spam.


Some tools to assist:
Cyberbullying: Program created in North America
Cybersmart: Australian Government site that has many resources and good advice.
Media Smarts: Canada's centre for digital and media literacy.
NetAlert: Cybersafe schools have developed a teacher's guide to Internet safety has been developed specifically for classroom teachers, school librarians, and school leaders in primary and secondary schools. 
NetSafe Kids: provides some resources to help keep children safe.

***Added 27/06/2013
Queensland Government Cybersafety in Schools
http://education.qld.gov.au/studentservices/behaviour/qsaav/cybersafety.html

***Added 27/4/13
Safe Schools hub (Federal Government)
http://safeschoolshub.edu.au/

***Added 2/4/2013
Digital Pedagogy framework guidelines (Education Queensland)

Some excellent information provided by Education Queensland in their recently released Digital Pedagogy framework sent to me via Gary Holmes.

School leaders who ensure safe, supportive, connected and inclusive learning environments:

•lead and support the school community in developing and consistently implementing an evidence-based, whole-school approach to encouraging and maintaining positive behaviour
•ensure systems of support are in place to foster a culture in which students' rights and responsibilities are paramount and all students are invited to learn
•ensure professional learning opportunities assist staff to adopt and develop behaviour support strategies and pedagogical practices that accommodate diversity and engage every student in challenging, supported and contemporary learning
•facilitate activities that involve parents and the community in supporting students' learning and promote and support students' social and emotional wellbeing
•ensure the provision of staff training and ensure adherence to legislative, departmental and school requirements for student learning, wellbeing and safe work practices.

Teachers who create environments conducive to learning:
•recognise, actively accommodate and value diversity when planning and implementing teaching and learning experiences and when organising spaces
•explicitly teach and consistently maintain clear expectations and routines for student learning, self-management and behaviour
•build relationships and create a sense of belonging for all students by demonstrating interest, understanding and respect
•create innovative, engaging and interactive learning environments that enable all students to access the curriculum and participate fully in learning
•facilitate access to learning beyond traditional boundaries of school education
•model and explicitly teach ethical, safe and legal use of digital resources, tools and environments, in accordance with departmental policies.

Collaboration - EDED20491 Week 2 Post #5

Engagement Activity 5: Optional Forum activity (for the duration of this course)

Finally, you may wish to engage in discussions (optional) with others about eLearning design - share ideas, pose questions, identify problems and issues you wish to talk through. If you read about, and understood, social constructivism, you will identify the value in working collaboratively, and of the perspectives of others. The discussion forum for these conversations is the eLearning Design Forum. In this way, you work with the entire FAHE11001 EDED20491 community. Alternatively, of course, you can work with others on an individual basis in their blogs. How do the two methods of collaboration compare? Which suits your learning preferences better? Do you think either a whole-group or an individual collaboration approach would suit for every single activity in the duration of this course? Would you select one or the other based on your learning requirements at any given time?

I would love to engage more with the other students in the forums within the GDLT but I am struggling to keep up with the readings and completing the engagement activities every week. I think one of the problems that I have with the way that the forums are set up is that ALL 100 students are writing to them and I get overwhelmed every time I log onto my email and/or enter the forums. There is so much to read and I don't know where to begin and feel reluctant to comment knowing that each post send out 100+ emails to other people in the class. On reflection I wonder if it would be better to break us into tutorial-size groups (~ 20 people) for some of the forum activities. That way I would get to know the ideas and engage with the train of thought of 19 other people. To me that would be much more manageable.

Of course some forums need the whole class to be enrolled in them. But if you want to encourage the students to really engage with others I personally would like to work in groups of 20 people or less.

One way I have implemented that type of engagement with my blog was the idea of having Blog Buddies.

Post Script:
A book I read recently that discussed was Clay Shirky's book Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations. In it he discusses the power of groups and how the formation and use of groups has changed as a result of the Internet. He discusses the power of groups in Education.

Debbie Morrison's blog about Open and Online Education online learning insights has recently posted about Clay Shirky and Online Education and discussed it in the context of Higher Education.

Blogs - EDED20491 Week 3 Post #1

Engagement Activity 1: Creating a Blog - Reflection

You have already created your first blog, and are going to continue to use this Blog in your construction of Assignment Task 2. This activity asks you to reflect on your learning about blogs.
In your blog, create a new posting, and examine the potential of blogs in your teaching context. Use an analytical tool/thinking routine such as a SWOT analysis or PMI to ensure that your focus is analytical rather than merely descriptive. If you are unsure about these thinking routines/scaffolds, please return to the Learning Materials to review them.
You are invited to use both the course readings, other research and sites, and your own ideas, and to be as creative as possible when considering your teaching ideas. Be sure also to consider the way your own students will be using Blogs. Learning with technology should be learner-centred, and it is anticipated that by far your students will be most busy in the online environments, with you in the role of facilitator. If you use any research or ideas from other sites, please BE SURE to reference them.

In this reflection I will evaluate using blogs as a tool to support pedagogy and my Personal Learning Network (PLN). I will frame my analysis using the PMI tool. Then I will provide a  personal reflection on how blogs have supported my PLN in this course and how blogs could be used to inform my teaching practice.

Critical reflection on using blogs

Pluses	Minuses	Interesting/Implications
Free tools are available.	The editing tool in Blogger is a bit cludgy and idiosyncratic eg, changing the font size when the post is published.	Incorporation of many multi media forms ie,links to web pages, other blogs, wikis, etc Limited only by your imagination
Easy to create and edit.	There is no facility to create  tables in the Blogger editor. I had to go to an online tutorial and cut'n'paste some HTML to create this table.	Informal learning is happening when they engage with the blog and learn how to use it. The skills they develop are transferable to other technologies.
Students can work individually on a task or to create a resource.	Teacher needs to scaffold the tasks so that the students are guided in their learning.
Supports collaboration as students can comment on and link to each others' blogs.	To keep the level of interest to the blog, authors need to provide regular posts and provide feedback on comments.
Available for others to comment (external to the group) and from anywhere in the world.	Short posts are better than long posts.
Ability to add multimedia to the blog.
The student has total control of their blog. No-one can overwrite or delete their work. The blog owner can delete comments if they choose.

My personal reflection on blogging, my PLN and how to utilise it in my praxis.

I have enjoyed working with the blog and find that I am using it for more than just addressing the engagement tasks that Wendy sets for us each week. It is like it is an extension of my brain, only with a better search function.

My blog has become a place where I can keep track of my learning and because it is public it also allows others to contribute through their comments. A big advantage is that because it is on the web I can access the materials on my blog from home, from work and even when I travel. 

The only thing that has really daunted me with the blogs is the expectation that we will all comment on each others' blogs. The problem is that there are 100 students in the course - too many blogs to read each week let alone write 100 comments. That is why I initiated the concept of having Blog Buddies. It is early days but so far 4 of  the people I contacted are keen on the idea and we have commented on each others' work and offered support to each other. If I were to use blogs in a teaching environment I think I would start off with the idea of encouraging them to form Buddy Groups and when they were comfortable with that level of sharing I would encourage them to enlarge their groups and start to form larger networks.
  
I am looking forward to the opportunity to use blogs in my teaching. It will be tool that I can use by writing blog posts relevant to the students but also supporting them to use their own blog to write posts about their engagement with the learning materials. 

A post from Michael Hyatt (former Chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers) on the use of a blogging template to write posts faster has some sensible advice that could be adapted to the secondary teaching environment. 

Gary Holmes gave the Rockhampton students a copy of an EQ newsletter entitled "Motivate, Innovate and Create" which has some sensible guidelines for using blogs in the classroom. EQ supports the use of blogging within the student space on the learning place. Unfortunately I cannot locate a copy of the newsletter on the web so I will repeat the main points here.

Why use Blogs?

• Provides an authentic audience: students can see posts from their classmates or from their peers in the state.

• Add and receive feedback: blogs offer a comments section at the end of the post.

• Learn appropriate online behaviour.

• Builds confidence and ownership.

• Provides a reflection tool.

• Can be accessed anywhere, anytime.

• Builds a sense of community.

• Provides a tool for students to demonstrate their learning.

When to use Blogs?

• Respond to a question.

• Add to a discussion.

• Reflect on a topic.

• Use as a reflective journal: choose the same time each week for students to reflect on their learning and plan for the next week.

• Use as a digital portfolio.

• Share information.

• Use as a presentation tool: an alternative for presenting a research task for example.

• To demonstrate understanding.

The art of commentingOne of the most powerful aspects of blogs is the commenting function. For many students this is a new process. To avoid one word or social comments, it may be helpful to offer comments starters, such as:

• This made me think about...

• I also wonder if...

• I discovered...

• I can relate to this because...

• I agree because..

(Education Queensland, 2012, p. 2)

I think that I can use these simple strategies for using blogs to engage my students in Mathematics and IT and to encourage them to reflect and record their learning. The blog is a tool that they can use for all of their education. It will be interesting for them to look back on earlier posts when they graduate from school. A wonderful tool for promoting HOTS, recording your learning and extending your PLN.


A suggestion from Wendy on constructing assignments: 

A blog is an ideal place for students to construct assignments. Start them with a brainstorm about what they need to know. Ask them to then link to and retrieve information. Then to organise and categorise, select and refine information required through the lens of the task description. Ask them to analyse, evaluate the information. And finally ask them to present information. They can attach their presentations to the blog as a movie, presentation, or other type of product. The comments feature can be used to give students feedback, and track the changes they make in response. They can also be used for students to make constructive comments on the quality of each others' work.

A safe blogging site for P-12: Kidblog

Useful Blogs 
George Siemens e-learning spaces.

Stephen Downes educational blogging

Reference:
Education Queensland, (2012, 19 June), Student Space Blogs, Motivate, Innovate and Create, Iss 1.

Williams, J.B. & Jacobs, J. (2004) Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 20(2), pp. 232-247. Retrieved from http://ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet20/williams.html

Working With Wikis - EDED20491 Week 2 Post #4

Engagement Activity 4: Blog reflection on wiki activity

This (essential) activity is to post a reflection about the learning that was facilitated in the Mobile Phones wiki, analysing it within the context of the learning theories you are starting to consolidate. Is this forum reflective of Behaviourism, constructivism, cognitivism, connectivism? One, or all of the above? What are the characteristics of the wiki design that lead you to that understanding? Reflect on your own personal participation in the wiki. What are the benefits, issues, drawbacks of participating in a wiki like this? How would it contribute to the learning of your students? How did the scaffold support the collection of a range of perspectives? Whilst you may have learned more about mobile phones in the classroom, the purpose is more about the design and participation experience in this activity. This reflection is compulsory, it forms the first part of Assessment task 2.

I have chosen to use the PMI tool to frame my reflections because the PMI tool provides a simple technique to examine the task using three different perspectives. The reflections on use of the wiki will be broken up into two sub-sections: analysis of the task of using the wiki; and analysis of using De Bono's Six Thinking Hats to scaffold the group reflections on the task. The third and final sub-section is a personal reflection on the task and how wikis and De Bono's Six Thinking Hats could be used to inform my teaching practice.

Critical reflection on the task of using a wiki

Pluses	Minuses	Interesting/Implications
Free tools are available	Requires clear instructions so as not to confuse the students.	Incorporation of many multi media forms ie,links to web pages, other wikis, blogs, etc Limited only by your imagination
Easy to create and edit	If no controls in place have to educate students about what is an inappropriate post	Informal learning is happening when they collaborate with the colleagues and learning to use technology
Students can work together on a task or to create a resource	Material can be deleted or accidentally overwritten. Retrieval is possible but difficult.
Supports collaboration as students can edit others contributions to improve them	Teacher needs to scaffold the tasks so that the students are guided in their learning
Available for others to comment (external to the group)	To keep the level of interest in the wiki, authors need to provide feedback on comments regularly.
Ability to add multimedia to the wiki	Teacher needs to ensure that every student gets an opportunity to contribute. Very easy to hide when the task is online.
Students could set up new pages in the wiki on topics that interest them	The editor in the wiki was 'cludgy' and not very easy to use

Critical reflection on the use of De Bono's Six Thinking Hats to scaffold group reflections on a task.

Pluses	Minuses	Interesting/Implications
A simple but powerful framework to ensure that the students critically evaluated the technology (mobile phones)	Requires clear instructions so as not to confuse the students.	Forced me to move outside of my normal (entrenched) thinking style.
Prompts each student to look at the technology from multiple perspectives	Very time-consuming if every student is to provide their 6 perspectives on the tool	More rounded view of the mobile phone in the classroom because of the number of people each writing from their own perspective
Students were able to build on and reflect on what other students had written	Would not work well for students who don't like to work in groups. Perhaps those that work best on their own should write out their answers on their own and then when they feel comfortable they can share with the rest of the group.	Allows the group a mechanism to learn how to understand that people each have differing perspectives of the same situation.
Easy to implement using technology or in a written format	Teacher needs to ensure that every student gets an opportunity to contribute. Don't let some students dominate.	A life tool NOT just a classroom tool
Promotes systematic thinking to evaluate a technology	Smaller groups (<=10) work better than larger groups.
Makes you move outside of your 'comfort zone'

My personal reflection on the specific tasks we were asked to complete.
When I went to complete this engagement activity I was confused by the instructions:

1. Instructions were not clear. Hard to understand.

2. Asked me to link to a webpage that was using a different course code "fahe11001" kept wondering if I was in the right place.

3. The activity said to look at details in the course materials - not sure where they were. Assuming now she meant engagement activity no 3 for Week 2.

4. Instructions on how to edit the wiki were confusing.

5. Took me a while to understand that there were two separate activities: evaluating the mobile phones; and commenting on the sample quiz questions.
6. The broken link to De Bono's Six Thinking Hats added to the confusion. 

I liked the simple way Wendy broke us into groups for the activity. For the first task we self-selected into a group based on surname. That was clear and easy to understand and meant that instead of reading through 100 peoples' comments we only read about 30 peoples' comments. The second task on analysing the sample quiz questions was even better as there were 20 sets of sample questions and so each group had 4-6 people. I liked the second activity and I think that was because there was less 'busyness' on the page as only 3 other people had left comments.

I really enjoyed using De Bono's Six Thinking Hats as a framework of analysis. I was lucky enough in the past to have seen De Bono do a live presentation at the Gladstone campus on his Six Thinking Hats framework and was glad to have the opportunity again to refresh my knowledge of this simple but effective tool to scaffold student activities and promote HOTS. The value of using a thinking routine such as the Six Thinking Hats was demonstrated through the learning outcomes achieved in the mobile phone wiki activity.

There was only a week to complete this activity. There were some students who jumped in first and wrote their ideas. There were others, like myself, who wrote our contributions later. In my case this was due to being behind in my study and also I am a reflective worker so I wanted to read what others had contributed before I contributed my perspectives. In a face to face classroom, people jumping in and answering questions often silences quieter, more reflective students. They may feel that their answers or perspectives are not as good as those that have already spoken. This means that the class don't get to hear their contributions. In addition, some students are uncertain about presenting comments in a face-to-face discussion if they feel their ideas may be contentious. Using a wiki has the potential to create a situation were everyone could feel able to contribute to the discussion. 

When using wikis in the classroom I would break the students up into small groups (3-5). That would help to prevent the feeling of being overwhelmed by the whole classes' comments. Also each group would be asked to develop a set of protocols to ensure that they don't accidentally overwrite each others' comments. I would also talk to them about expectations with respect to supportive and appropriate comments on other peoples' work. 

PMI and de Bono's hats are techniques that I could employ in my teaching of Mathematics and IT in the secondary school environment to promote HOTS in the students. I believe that the use of thinking routines to scaffold online spaces is essential to the development of complex reasoning processes in my students. Scaffolding using a thinking routine allows easy organisation of ideas that are highly analytical and can support learning that moves the students into their zone of proximal development. 


Summary of De Bono's Six Thinking Hats (Source: De Bono Thinking Systems)

The Six Thinking Hats (or modes)

The White Hat

The White Hat calls for information known or needed.

The Red Hat

The Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition.

The Black Hat

The Black Hat is judgment -- the devil's advocate or why something may not work.

The Yellow Hat

The Yellow Hat symbolizes brightness and optimism.

The Green Hat

The Green Hat focuses on creativity: the possibilities, alternatives and new ideas.

The Blue Hat

The Blue Hat is used to manage the thinking process.