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Hey everybody!
Can’t believe it is the end of Course 1 already what a whirl wind! Have taken so much on board and made some interesting changes to my teaching practice already. I say interesting, cause I don’t know if they will work yet but that is why I am enjoying the course because it is making me try new things and take some risks again.
For my unit planner I decided to look at the unit that we are just finishing off in school now which was on the human body and how I could improve it for next year by using more technology. Some aspects of the plan I already did this time around such as sharing research on Padlet and using Edmodo for commenting but apps that I didn’t use this time around such as Thinglink.Voki and Prezi have been added in.
I think that the main thing that I can personally take from this unit planner is that I am embracing the idea that I took from Jeff’s Learning2 talk that children these days learn through chaos and discovery. As I said, some of the apps in the plan I have never used before but I know from talking to the children that they have used them, so I know there will be no major issues that they won’t be able to help each other with.And even if they haven’t, it won’t take them long to figure it out while working together! I am also trying my best to give them control of their own final project by allowing them to express their understanding in whatever way suits them.
My goals for the unit are for children to emerge with a strong understanding of the different systems of the human body and that they are able to express this understanding in various ways. Thinglink is a great app that I was introduced to by an ICT teacher in my school this week. I think that the fact that I am instantly throwing it in as a central part of my unit shows how my attitude to trying things out has changed since starting COETAIL. I am hoping that by giving my children the chance to show their learning in this way they will all by able to express themselves in the way that suits them. For example those who would have like to do the more traditional poster and present method still have that option by designing their “poster” on thinglink and adding videos of them presenting to the tags. Other children who may not have liked this method have other ways of expressing their knowledge by making Prezi’s, Voki’s, drawing diagrams, creating images, using web links or typing explanations etc.
Also, I am hoping that by allowing them to share their final project on Edmodo and twitter it will allow for a greater reflection and discussion to commence on what they have learned over the unit. This takes the discussion outside the walls of the classroom which is probably the great advantage of technology. This way the children can share theirs and other’s projects with peers in other classes, family members, other teachers and a larger online community. Children will be encourage to comment on each other’s projects in an understanding manner as well as reflecting on their own work in a post using the rubric for the final project.
As I said, this unit planner will be implemented next year in full so I can reflect on it then. However one element that is in the plan on using Padlet for sharing research that we did this year I have already reflected on in a previous blog post. Although it is too late to use this unit planner for this year, I am very excited about next year and am thinking about how I can use elements of this plan in future units. Also I will be giving my class the Thinglink project as an extra homework project if they wish to do it and will update this post with any completed work when I get it.
Roll on Course 2!!
Cheers,
Paul