Ordinary To Extraordinary

Reflective Synopsis

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow” John Dewey

INTRODUCTION

The emotional stages of my journey in the last six weeks of this Program could be described with the use of the following words: intriguing, challenging, frustrating and fascinating. As a Digital Native, I initially took the ICTs for Learning Design for granted, thinking to myself: “I know everything about technologies, what else do I need to learn?” The answer to this question appeared relatively quickly while working on my first engagement activity about learning methods in class and Multiple Intelligences (See Appendix A).

Modern Storytelling

Using media to tell a story, source: Kathie Melocco; accessed on 11 April 2013

Digital Storytelling is a “modern expression of the ancient art of storytelling”, just like its traditional alternative, used “to share knowledge, wisdom and values” (DSAWEB, 2013). The difference between the interactive and standard storytelling lies in the level of engagement. Telling a story digitally means delivering a short narrative with the use of multimedia tools. The access to the new technologies online allows a global collaboration (connectivism), which builds a better educational experience.

Online Concept Mapping

Learning Theories, source: Text2Mindmap, accessed on 10 April 2013

Google Maps

View Where I've been in a larger map

Google Earth

Google Earth animation, source: Climate History; accessed on 10 April 2013

There are many ways to enhance student learning with the use of new technologies. This course gave me an opportunity to explore several interactive tools to support educational experience. The Google Earth program goes a step further in aiding teachers to deliver engaging material to a diverse range of students in classrooms.

Presentation Week

Source: Denver Library; accessed on 9 April 2013

This week's activities have introduced us to the world of presentation-making. We were asked to look at the basics of PowerPoint, design presentation slides in Prezi and construct an online scrapbook in Glogster. It took a while, but I have managed to experience each one of these tools, develop initial feelings and form final opinions.