Week Two Reflection

How will what I have learnt this week benefit me as a future educator of mathematics and English?

Wikis: This week I've learnt more about wikis. I've considered their use as an education (or educator's) tool further. I believe that wikis are a great way of communicating and collaborating.
I'd like to consider some of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and treats/risks.
Some of the positive aspects (or strengths) of wikis is the ease of using them. With the click of a button you can contribute text, photos, links and html. Others can add to what you've added or simply enjoy the wiki's content. One of the most famous wikis is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia built on wiki technology and can be edited by anyone. It is a wealth of information. However, the reliability of this information is doubtful at times. While Wikipedia functions to ensure reliability the best it can it is subject to falsification from its anonymous users. This brings me to the weaknesses/risks of wikis. They can be edited to say whatever a user desires and therefore can be subject to inaccuracies. Useful information can be deleted (although this is retrievable) by users as well. Despite this, I believe that their are opportunities for wikis to be Incorporated into education. For example a group of Learning Managers could create a wiki then share their creative ideas, ideas about how to teach something, lesson plans and behavioural strategies. Students could use them in a similar way; using wikis to share their knowledge and build on others knowledge. They could also be used to present assessment tasks but the learning manager must keep in mind how easy it is to delete other's work or take credit for it! Because of this wikis may not be an ideal online space to present assessment tasks, perhaps blogs or other websites may be more suited for tasks when taking credit for certain work or ideas (either as a group or an individual) is important. They are a great place to compile and share information and I believe that their greatest potential lies in whole class discussion/collaboration. It is important to consider the safety of learners and the legal and ethical obligations of the learning manager in this process. They need to be educated and aware of how online information is easily viewed and shared by other users and for this reason they should be wary of revealing their full names and never elude in detail to where they live or what school they attend. Posting photographs of themselves or others needs to be carefully considered and closely monitored. Indecent photographs and/or photographs with school logos, mottoes or uniforms should not be posted on such online spaces. The learning manager should be aware of adjustments made on Wikis to help ensure the safety of learners. Students (and learning managers) should also avoid giving details of future events to avoid potential confrontation from unwanted strangers. Past events can be discussed, however. Pictures, videos, etc sourced from external sources should always be acknowledged as belonging to another and learners should understand, to some extend, the importance of copyright laws and ramifications. Some material or text, such as explicit videos, photographs, texts and/or rude language including swearing or put downs are inappropriote and students need to understand this. Learning managers need devise appropriote rules that encompas safety and legality and explain these to students to ensure safe, ethical and legal online practises.

Mobile Phones: While I have considered a lot of interesting and creative ways to use phones in a classroom this week I still believe they are more of a novelty than an essential learning tool (although the same could be said about most ITC and therefore I should try to be more open minded). I think that using mobile phone use as a rewards system may be an achievable way of using them in educational circumstances. Though some of the available applications accessible by smart phone could be extremely useful as a learning tool - but for a lower grade level as they often seem to target simple concepts.

Thinking Hats: In English it is common to have to consider things (poems, novels, short stories, newspaper articles, etc) from different points of view. So this tool could be very useful to me! However it would probably not help me a great deal when teaching mathematics: "Alright children, put on your red hat! How do you feel about long division?"