Come on!

We have been having some misunderstood in the group with our task, time and role, so trying to improve the spirit of the group, I have made bookmarks with the Care Bears for the girls. Care bears always help to each other and to other people, and are almost superheroes. I hope this bookmarks remember us, what we have to do in the worst moment.

Working on Friday's presentation...

Yesterday we were working on Friday's presentation. We used twenty pieces of paper as if they were slides in order to organize our information and adjust the presentation. 

At the begining it was a mess because we are not used to do presentations and nobody has told us before how to do a good one so now it is a new thing.

The stars have been working today too. They are preparing what they are going to say because twenty seconds for each slide is not the amount of time it sounds to be.

New roles

Hi there!
The roles for this week are:
Paloma - journalist
Pilar - star
Ana - helper
Dinka - facilitator
Laura - analist
See you on mondey girls!

Sunday´s work

Today is Sunday and the girls and I have met to work on our task for this week. As it is Sunday and it is a little bit harder to work I´m trying, as a facilitator, to encourage them and make this day a little bit sweeter.

Besides everybody knows that sugar and chololate give energy to our brain!

Analist's reflexion

This week we have had lectures and not a lot of activities but the truth is that the lectures have not been as we are used them to be. Why? There was a teacher using the slides and not a teacher depending on the slides. The slides were very simple and schematic. It was a teacher who came with slides but not slides who came with a teacher. 

 

The amount of examples that we have heard in class this week have helped a lot for understanding the topics. For me, and I think that maybe for the rest of my group, it has been a week in which we have discovered a new (or different) way of teaching. 

Perhaps the worse moment during the lectures was when everything was going into our minds and we had to order the chaos.

 It could be said that the best moments of the week while we were working were those in which we were laughing because a simple or stupid thing had occurred. 

The worse moment of the week was maybe when we were feeling overwhelmed by all the tasks we had to do and each member of the group was thinking about the solution without breathing and counting to 100 before. 

From my point of view we have learnt this week a lot of things. But maybe we could say that the most important has been the fact that nobody see the world the same way. While we were talking about curriculum we discovered that there is not only one way to plan.  If you do it coherently, you can start planning in the part of the curriculum you want. One important thing is taking everything in account. We have realised too that we need to think what we are going to say in order to use the words that make it easy to understand for other people. Sometimes we want to say something that we see as a simple thing in our mind but when we transmit that thing to the people they do not understand it at all.

 I think that one of the most important things that a group has to have in order to work without having a lot of problems is patience. Until now we have had a lot of it with our group mates and  as is very difficult sometimes to understand a different point of view or simply don't panic when we have a lot of work to do I find it indispensable. 

As a group we have to improve a lot of things. Working in group is really difficult and that is what makes us need to improve such amount of things. From my point of view we have to learn to organise better because when we have a new task to do we start thinking that it is impossible for us to do all of that. The truth is that at the end we have everything done but we are nervous all the time until it is finished. Maybe we have also to start seeing things in an easier way. Not everything is so complicated and even the most complicated things can be simpler if we try to think in them in a simple way. I think this could save us a lot of time. Doing things complicated not always means doing them perfect. We also have to remember that perfect things doesn't exist so we have to do our best but not dying looking for perfection.

MEDIA FOR TEACHING AND CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION (SECOND PART)

In today's class Linda has finished the explanation about media for teaching and curriculum implementation and in the end of class she has explained our weekly task.

We have discussed the second variable which influences the curriculum implementation: the design. About the design, it was very interesting the explanation talking about the fact that there is not a compulsory part you have to start working from. For example, you can start to design from the assessment and then you can put the other things around it, but always taking into account every element: teacher, student, time ... The basis point to implement something is to coherence between the different elements. For example, it does not have any sense to evaluate using a test if you have based your design on processes. In our case, Linda says that she normally plans around activities and then she puts the other things around it. Also she said that she gives us difference roles to make sure that all of us have responsibilities.

Finally, she talked about the last variable that you have to take into account to implement curriculum: media technologies. This is the final part of the process. First of all you have to think in subjects, institutions and design. You could think in the use of media- technologies only when the other elements are clear. Even sometimes it is more important not to follow the design of the curriculum and trying to solve the situation of students and the institutions. This is happening nowadays in Valencia. When you are going to work with media technologies there are some characteristics that need to be analyzed to use one or another.

- Efficiency: means achieving your goals with the least possible effort. You must think not only about the cost but the time needed for learning to use them, if they are easy to handle, your students, the class... For example: blogs are very efficient because they can be used for different things.

- Affordances: technology has its own affordances. For example: the big affordance of a blog is the chronological thing.

- Flexibility: depends on the topic, on the age of students... Sometimes you can’t be flexible. For example, when you are teaching how to read and first you have to explain vowels and then some consonants.

- Availability: it is essential. If most of your students don’t have certain means it does not make sense to work with them. For example, we can not ask our students to perform the classes using computers if they don’t have them.

- Code and cognitive strategies. For example, if I usually use slides in my class I can not ask my students in the evaluation to do a practical exercise if they have not done it before.

- Motivation (Novelty Factor): the final thing you must take into account is motivation. Clarks, in 1983 proved by experiments that the novelty factor is a good factor of motivation. There is a graphic which shows how motivation changes when I introduce something new in a class. First, it increases; then, it decreases below its original; and then it establishes. The research about “the white horse” of the teacher Antonio Bartolomé shows as well the influence of novelty factor.

Task

The weekly task consists on finding information online about the work done by teachers who are innovating in the field of education. These works must be analyzed from the two perspectives from which technologies can be included in our classes: TPACK and Curriculum implementation. Then we have to make an oral presentation in class. On Monday Linda will explain how to make a good oral presentation because making an oral presentation is easy but it is not so easy to do a good one. Besides, she has uploaded some videos in the virtual classroom to introduce us to this topic. On Monday, after this explanation we will begin to work and will prepare a pechakucha of 20 slides of 20 seconds each one. The pechakucha will be explained by the star of the previous and the following week. The presentation will be broadcast live. There were eight projects to choose from and we chose the SOS Gymkhana de animales en peligro de extinción, about which we started looking for information that same day when classes end. First, we briefly review the objectives of the task and you can see our faces in the image.

We finally decided that each one will search information individually. On Monday we will talk about it and start to work after Linda’s explanation. We will see how next week goes.

MEDIA FOR TEACHING AND CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION

This week has begun quietly on Monday as Linda was explaining in general the media use in the educational process. With no explanation of the subject completed, we have not yet been assigned the task, but all of us suspect that on Friday we will have a wide surprise judging by all the videos and materials left in the virtual classroom.

The contents that were discussed during the class were several. First we talked about the definition of "media for teaching" as curricular elements that help the understanding of information by students and that are developed in one context and at any given time. She continued talking about the main features that should have a good media for teaching, which should be: to integrate the curriculum, aim to improve student learning (developing skills and facilitate learning) and dependent and influence the context in which it develops. There was talk of the context as not neutral but who decides what type of media needs to be used and at the same time the communication process depends on the context. There were also examples to differentiate the two main parts of a media: physical instrumental part (hardware) and the code structure information. As an example, spoke of a possible explanation in class with the use of projections in which the physics would be the computer, projector, screen ... while the projections would be coded as such. Another example that was brought up was that of an explanation by the teacher without relying on any materials where the physical part would be the body of the teacher and the symbolic would be the voice or language.

Later we continue to review the concept of curriculum and its three main approaches:- All the guidelines included in the law: contents, basic competent, maximum of student per class…- It is everything that happens in the classroom. All types of relationships established between individuals involved in the educational process.- It is everything that influences the educational process: law, rules in my school, the different levels of relationship.

According to this last approach, when we want to implement a media in the curriculum, everything needs to be taken into account (technology, pedagogy and content knowledge). Thus we review TPAK theory that we had studied last week.

At the end of the class it was explained which are the 3 main categories that can be included in the curriculum elements (people and institutions, design and media technologies) and what we find in each of them. We only had time to talk about the first category, people and Institutions, on which it was said that in class must be taken into account evolutionary variables, being the mental and chronological age the main things that are going to define individuals.

In addition, we must also take into account the psychological variables and possible disabilities, as well as cultural variables and socio-economic characteristics of each individual. In terms of educational institutions we should take into account the infrastructure, teaching training, teacher and students attitude...


To be continued…

"Boring with a physics class is a crime"

Surfing on the web I have found an article about Walter Lewin, a physics professor at MIT. His classes are a spectacle. About 1,000 people download his videos each day. His book "For the love of physics" was edited in Spanish two weeks ago. He has started a revolution in the way of teaching. So listening people like Walter Lewin, we realized that with profesors and teachers like him, the number of students who enjoy learning increase and only one person can change the future of many students.

New roles

Hi there!
This week I´m going to be the facilitator and my first task is to inform about the new roles. Here they are:
Paloma: Analist
Pilar: Journalist
Ana: Star
Dinka: Helper
Laura: Facilitator

My best wishes to all these great girls! I hope we enjoy and learn a lot this week :)

Analist reflections

This week wehave made an exposition to explain the TPCK theory. The best part of theactivity was the exposition of our classmates and our star’s one too, becausethis way we can observe the positive and negative points, and learn from them.The exposition with the own group was the easiest.

And the worstpart of the activity was the first time that our star explains the diagram andthe time when Linda was attending her explanation, because she felt morenervous and forgot some point of the presentation.

The best momentof the week was listening our star’s presentation, because is the moment whenwe saw finished all our work, and it was pretty good, we felt fulfilled.

The worst momentof the week was the beginning, because we weren’t sure of what exactly involvedeach role, it’s difficult to do something, if you don´t understand in what yourwork consists of. One of us felt a little bit frustrated, because she hasn’t anspecific task, but she wanted to help to everyone else.

This week wehave two main objectives: learn how to represent an idea en a clear way, usingdiagrams and learn the TPCK theory too. The “fast date” way was really useful,because listening the all groups’ presentations we could analyze them, andlearn how can make it better. Our star has realized that doing 6 consecutive expositions,there were all different experiences, because even if you know very well whatyou have to say, you always forgot something and you have to improvise. Isquite difficult to explain other people’s diagram using your ownone and it takes a lot of time doing it in a simple and clear way, because youhave already a view of that model and is very complicated imagine another one,which works as well as the original.

The technologydoesn’t consist in laptops and computers only. There is a big range of devices,which the teacher must adapt before using them. A good teacher must have skillsin order to adapt him/herself to technology which is changing continuously. Theteacher must considerate the age, the maturity and the knowledge of thestudents, the devises that he/she has, and choose the most proper for theconcrete task. A good teacher has tomake a reflection before choosing one system or another and also must think interms of TPCK to combine content, technology and pedagogy, because teaching andlearning must be the more effective as possible. It isn’t logical to use asimple pen to draw a rainbow, when we have crayons. Technology can be fun, but itwon´t be always, it’s not necessary. The main goal isn’t the fun, it’s toimprove the process of teaching and learning, make it easier to comprehend andvisualize it.

When we aredoing an exposition we have to use teacher’s voice, speak slowly, use thediaphragm and breathe properly. This is very important, because the childrenaren’t still and quiet, they talk, laugh, make noise, and if they don’t do it,probably they are bored or sick.

Our star set veryhigh standards, while she was presenting the diagram, so we must conserve thefluency, the introduction using greetings as a way of interacting with theaudience, keeping eye contact and be as clear and brief as possible, finish ontime, and try don’t bore the receivers, because they will listen several times theTPCK theory, and all of them must have something different and interesting.

We need toimprove our imagination. It’s very difficult imagine another diagram that explainsthe TPCK theory as well as the original, which is the perfect one, which havechosen the authors Mishra and Koehler. That’s way our poster looks like apicture and not as a proper diagram. We will work with children and knowledgeis important, but imagination, flexibility and improvisation are very importantbecause children are one step ahead, and we will need more than knowledge to solvesome problems.

TPCK activity

As the journalist of my group I will transmit to you what has been going on in class and in our group along this week. 

The week started when Linda introduced us the TPCK theory and asked us to explain and represent it in a new way. The first reaction of the whole group was kind of “what are we going to do?” But there wasn´t time to be overwhelmed and we had to start the creative process, or at least, try to do it. The beginning of the process was like a mess of ideas and it wasn´t clear what it was going to happen at the end. After the searching of different kind of conceptual maps and not being able to find the way to represent the theory in a way we all like, we thought about a three D possibility. One of us had the idea of representing the theory in a Rubik cube. As there was consensus on the idea, the first step was already done. Later on we just had to improve the way we wanted to fix it and color it in order to our idea was understood by everyone or at least, in a way it represented what we wanted to explain. As our facilitator Paloma got in charge of translating our idea into a poster.

     

        The last part of our task has taken place today and the main role of our group today has been our star, Laura. The class has been an interchange of ideas representing the same concept or theory. Stars have done today almost the most important work of the group and the rest of the group have been going round the classroom listening to the explanation of the other groups´ stars and taking notes of their representations. It has been really interesting and dynamic experience and we have learnt by acting in our own learning process.

I must say that the environment in the classroom has been very positive. In spite of the nerves of our stars I can say that all of them have done a great work and effort explaining us the same thing once and once again (well, although it is not the same, we have had to listen it once and once again too).

The ending of the class has been a conclusion of what we have been doing, pointing the best and worse things we had seen in ours and our colleges´ works.

But to really put a final stop to our task for this week our group has met at 12:00 in order to put our points of view in common to include our last thoughts in our blog. Things haven´t been easy by moments but finally everything has had a “happy end”.

TPCK expositions

Positive points about the expositions:

• One specific exposition has been very well organized in terms of content.
• The fluency of some of our classmates.
• Some of them have been very clear and natural.
• One of the stars has introduced herself and has used greetings as a way of interacting with the audience.
• Some have used different examples to clarify the explanation.
• Some of the schemes were clear and easy to understand.

Negative points about the expositions:

• The volume of the voice has been hardly heard. A real teacher has to use a teacher voice.
• The majority of the groups have forgotten the historical evolution of the relation between content, pedagogy and technology.
• One part of the representations has been very schematic and the other part  hasn’t followed the rules about the number of characters.
• There were a lot of posters which were difficult to understand without the star’s explanation.
• You shouldn’t read when you do an exposition.
•   Some of our classmates didn’t look at us while they were explaining their posters.

The easiest part:

• Understanding the TPCK theory has been the easiest part of the task.

The most difficult part:

• Representing the theory using another type of diagram and also the star’s task, overall when Linda was attending her explanation.

Our TPCK poster.

Today...

We're still working, so sit down, relax and enjoy this video. 

Helper´s reflexions

This week I am the helper and definitely I could not wait to upload something. Yes I know, I have envy of my classmates and I like plagiarism,jiji. The truth is they're pretty self-sufficient.
I hope to be useful girls

Star's reflexions

This week I´m going to be the star, and my performance will be next Fridayyyyy, wow! I´m so excited! :-)

Facilitator's idea

I'm Paloma, the facilitator during this week. I have been thinking a lot about what I can do in order to encourage my group's members because we have such amount of things to do together that we could spend almost the full week working without doing anything else. The idea I have had is to make a kind of timetable and plan when we will do all this things that are overwhelming us. If we try to do all the tasks a bit by bit I think we won't feel so stressed.

What have we learnt?

We have been doing our first activity which has consisted of illustrating some concepts and giving them to another group in order to guess what they mean.

As a result of not being able to find a word connected to one of the drawings we had to guess, it comes to our mind several questions.

One of them is the fact that for us is easier to find out a word from a picture once we have a list and we just have to identify or connect this picture to one of the words from the list. Otherwise, it would have been really difficult to guess any of them. On the other hand, there are some really difficult words in order to illustrate them such as those that imply emotions or actions.

Our illustrations

Another thing we have realized is the different meanings we can guess from a single picture and the fact that it depends on the point of view of the person who is looking at it. The meanings of a picture can differ from what the author wanted to express, as the viewer interprets them from his or her point of view. If the drawing is not clear enough it can give place to ambiguity and therefore not play the role that it was made for.



Our suggest for BGB´s illustrations

The BGB´s illustrations

One important thing we have also learnt is that taking into account that our receivers will be children, we must be clear in our illustrations as they don´t misunderstand what we are trying to clarify for them with those illustrations.

Would it have been easier for children to guess what a picture illustrates?

On one hand it would, as children have a broad imagination but they don´t really know the meaning of most of the concepts we have had to illustrate and it´s difficult to guess something that you don´t know.

Communication system

As messengers or transmitters we must take into account some points in relation with our audience as first of all, the fact that they are children and we must adapt everything to their age. Next, we must consider that a different culture can be an important factor for not being able to understand some of the pictures. At the same time, we must take into account that the channel of our communication doesn´t have any “noise”, it can be received by every pupil, in other words, we must consider if there is a case of disability in our class and include in our program activities which can be made by everyone.

As actors in a special context (school) we interact with our pupils and we are at the same time transmitters and receivers. Since new technologies exist, our pupils receive information not only from us or from their parents but also from the media, what can give place to a broad field of interchanging knowledge.

In that point we must distinguish between formal, informal and non-formal education. Formal education refers to the structured educational system provided by the state for children and it can be private or public and leads to a formal certification. Non-formal education takes place outside of the formalize organized school and takes place lifelong and informal education refers to the knowledge that you obtain from your community or the people that surround you.

Here we are again!

Next week, and the first one, the roles will be:

Facilitator: Paloma.
Analist: Dinka.
Helper: Pilar.
Journalist: Ana.
Star: Laura.

That is all for the moment, next week we will write some interesting things.

Hello world!

Here we are and yes we can!
We are five students of the University of Murcia. And this is the blog for School Organization and Educational Resources subject in which we will write interesting things that we learn. Our names are:

Dinka Zheleva Cherkezova
María del Pilar Lasheras Velasco
Paloma López Ciller
Ana María González Herrero
Laura Rodríguez Ortín

We hope you enjoy!