Meaningful+Reflections


 * What changes do we need to make to the school/classroom environment at CIS which will assist the engaged learner? **

I think we need to keep our classrooms places where kids have to learn to get on with others and teachers have to teach this, for decent learning to occur. || I also like Islay’s idea of a research/work station with a few laptops that could be hired as booking the ICT room is very difficult and it is not ideal sending kids to other classes but it is what we have to do. Obviously cost is an issue though. ||
 * Technology classes all engage the learner as they are hands on rooms and students respond well to this as they get instant success. Technology is problem solving which translates into students everyday lives. If we want to use more ICT to engage the learner there needs to be better access in the classroom. Whether this is achieved by more PC’s in the room or pods of laptops that can be booked by classes. ||
 * This reading sounds as if it has come straight from the Technology curriculum! All learning opportunities must be authentic and relevant to the students if they are to be successful. Cater to different learning styles by offering a variety of tools and a range of outcomes. Let the students reflect on their learning and work out strategies for improvement next time – often a problem timewise. Ensure students see the relevance of their learning. ||
 * We need to keep a balance between ICT informing and teacher, pupil interaction informing. Good relating between real people is most important
 * I believe it would be a great asset to the school if we had a set of laptops that could be booked in and used by a class when required. I know we have a computer room but there is not a lot of opportunity to use that with our own classes as it is heavily booked for flexi. ||
 * Continue to integrate it into students learning and keep staff developing their own understanding of technology as well as looking at purchasing at least one pod of laptops or creating another computer lab. ||
 * Active whiteboard and laptops for every student would be a blessing (costs) … I believe the topics that children relate to, will make it a more beneficial process in their learning. ||
 * We need to continue to develop more integrated learning in a context which is meaningful to our students and directly relates to the community they live in. Greater access to technology is an effective engagement tool, which also provides opportunities for students to personalise their learning and development. ||
 * With our kids being ‘digital kids’ technology is crucial to engaging our students. I think we need to utilise the web and it’s millions…trillions of resources. But to find relevant meaningful resources that relate to our kids is the time consuming part. I think we need to work together (which we do to a certain degree) and when we find such sites, videos, resources, we share them with other staff. Kids switch off so quickly these days if what, we are talking about is not interesting, captivating but most likely if it is not moving, animated or on a data projector with sound etc they are less likely to be engaged. Working together is key!
 * ICT is the way of the future so it is essential we continue to expand and develop the way we use it in the classroom. Our students live a life that increasingly revolves around new technology and they choose for it to be this way. Why not use this innate love for all things gadgety to actively engage them in the classroom, after all isn’t this one of our biggest hurdles. ICT makes our job easier and their education better, so bring on the evening up of the student to computer ratio. ||
 * Having a room that engages children is always going to be challenging, especially with an age group who are hard to please! However, I believe that for a student to engage at school, they need to be able to connect with the teacher on various levels, they need to be able to connect with each other in fun and interesting ways. Finally, to have a class/ space that invites the students to want to learn and where they can immerse themselves in authentic learning opportunities provided by the teacher. The students need to want to be there, have pride and be excited about what is going to happen in that classroom every day of the week. Having access to technology that students love to use is essential to developing this. ||
 * Each class having access to more computers or laptops would be a bonus but of course it all comes down to cost. More focus could then be used to engage all types of learners in all subject areas. ||
 * Having a classroom that invites learning is essential for children to be engaged, that is things such as their work displayed, fresh air and access to a wide range of stimulating ideas and activities. There needs to be a variety of group work/individual work/class work so it does not become repetitive to allow the children to tune out. The children should be able to relate to the situations and topics in class easily and have an authentic context. ||
 * Learning must be authentic to the student and we they must be engaging in topics that are ‘real life’ and have meaning to them in out local environment. We need to have topics that use out local environment and city that problems associated with those environments and cities that the students are ‘actually experiencing’ themselves. Curriculum area should be having lots of field trips to stimulate students to be engaged in the classroonm e.g. the estuary etc. ||
 * Having more newer technologies that can provide meaningful learning experiences especially in a school our size. We need to capitalize on the relationship between technology and traditional teaching so students can function in the world beyond the classroom. ||
 * Engaging student’s interest and stimulating their learning is part of a successful classroom learning environment. It is important for students to use goal setting and self evaluation. I agree that teachers should be facilitators and that ICT is a useful tool to help students interact with the ‘real’ world and integrate it into the classroom. ||
 * Each classroom to be equipped with an active whiteboard; however, I imagine the cost of implementing this would be huge so perhaps this may be a little unrealistic for now. ||
 * What’s up ||
 * Students become more engaged when the activities are meaningful to them and they can see the purpose to their learning so this needs to be at the heart of any lesson. Technology will help keep the interest high but the activities will also need to be varied to cater for the differing learning styles. ||
 * It comes down to individual teachers. Having just done a course on something similar, we need to be aware of trying to engage all types of learners ||
 * Having the active whiteboard in my class has really engaged my learners seeing them taking over the discovery using both tools and the internet – so this would be a great for any classroom. More research stations made up of lap tops would also be cool these could be booked for sessions the computer room is so difficult to book out. A set of 5 camera/video camcorder would also assist with small group movie making. ||