PERSONAL REFLECTION

In modern society, technology plays a vital role in everyday life. It is

therefore important that the next generation are given the full opportunity to

develop their skills in a wide-ranging variety of technological devices. As

argued by erveansk (2013), technology in Education is extremely

important because it impacts on all curriculum areas, providing easy access to

a range of not only information but also skills in technology that is vital in

modern society. This reflection will address how the ICT resource developed

by my group for Assignment 2 addressed literacy learning, our chosen student

learning need of the three different learning types, and assessment data. I will

also discuss the influences ICT has on the designing of teaching practices,

analysing the possible ethical issues and dilemmas.

For our group assignment, the ICT resource we created was a

PowerPoint presentation for a year 9 Science class based on a lesson plan

about photosynthesis. Within our PowerPoint presentation we included many

factors to ensure literacy learning, assessment data and our chosen student

learning needs of the three different learning types were met. Literacy learning

is when teachers use all aspects of literacy within their teaching, irrespective

of their content area, to ensure that throughout a students entire schooling

their literacy level continues to be improved (Victoria State Government

Education and Training, 2014). Furthermore, Draper (2002) says that every

content-area teacher should also be a teacher of reading and writing. To

ensure that these needs were met within our ICT resource, we included a high

amount of reading and writing activities that promotes the students critical

thinking.
 Assessment data is an important tool when planning lessons, as well

as for improving teaching practise. According to Marsh, Clarke and Pittaway

(2014), assessment data is the information collected from activities used by

teachers to obtain data about students knowledge, skills and attitudes. It can

also provide valuable diagnostic information for teachers, including reasons

why lessons may have succeeded or failed (Marsh et al, 2014). Our ICT

resource collected information about students knowledge through activities

such as completing worksheets and homework. When collected, this

information can be used by the teachers to assess the effectiveness of the

lesson. Teachers can then use this assessment data to analyse whether or

not any improvements can be made to the lesson or to their own teaching

practise.

The student learning need covered in our ICT resource is the VAK

model on different student learning styles. VAK stands for visual, auditory and

kinaesthetic. These are the three different types of learning styles. Visual

learners learn through seeing, auditory learners learn through hearing and

kinaesthetic learners learn through moving, doing and touching (James Cook

University, 2014). To ensure that each of these unique learning styles were

met in our ICT resource, we used activities throughout our PowerPoint

presentation that addressed the specific needs of each learning style. For

visual learners, items such as video links and note taking address their

learning style. Auditory learners learning style is met through discussions, the

teacher explaining various aspects of the lesson and video links which are

accompanied by speech explanations. Kinaesthetic learners have their

learning style needs addressed through an experiment that provides the

experience and activity they require, as well as note taking throughout the

lesson. The first activity also meets their learning style, as it involves student

movement to organise pictures of organisms held by themselves into a food

chain.

Technology within the classroom can provide many benefits for

students. It can be used to meet the individual abilities or needs of each

student, provide students with a rich and wide ranging access to resources

from around the world, enable students to feel comfortable with technology in

the Information Age and enable teachers to move from information provider to

facilitators of learning (Marsh, Clarke, Pittaway, 2014). Teachers can select

technologies to support new kinds of student learning, improving the content

of their lessons and advancing their own classroom practice (Cavanagh &

Prescott, 2015). ICT can have a significant influence on the designing of

teaching practises. Different software and devices can provide teachers with

an endless amount of resources to use when lesson planning or designing

teaching. ICT can be used through something as simple as giving students

access to the internet to research a chosen topic, through to advanced design

software that enable students to find their own voice and creativity. This can

help students to advance their critical thinking and evaluation skills, as well as

providing them with a technological skill set that is invaluable in modern

society (Marsh, Clarke, Pittaway, 2014).

However, it is important that teachers know and are capable of utilising

technologies in order to maximise the opportunities provided by new

technologies for the classroom (Cavanagh & Prescott, 2015, p.124). Issues
such as insufficient school budget for technologies, students not having

access to technology outside of school, cyber-cheating, cyber-bullying and

health risks associated with technologies and their use must be considered

when implementing or planning to implement technologies into classroom

practise (Marsh, Clarke, Pittaway, 2015).

An ethical concern relating to the use of technology within schools is

cyber-bullying. One in five students will face cyber-bullying, and it can impact

on adolescents mental health, academic achievement and relationships (Kids

Helpline, 2014). Wong et al (2011) believe that education is a highly effective

avenue to discourage cyber-bullying among students. It is imperative that

teachers properly educate their students about the correct use of ICT in and

outside of school to ensure that all students enjoy a fair and inclusive

schooling.

When utilising ICT resources, teachers must also ensure that they

arent ostracising students due to socioeconomic status. When any tasks are

set that may use ICT, teachers must ensure students have the ability to utilise

the technologies, as well as access in and out of school if the activity requires.

Du et al (2002) state, uneven availability and access exist among public

schools with different socioeconomic student populations (p. 275). Teachers

must design and plan their lessons to ensure that this uneven availability and

access does not negatively affect the diverse range of students they will be

teaching.

In conclusion, this individual reflection has looked at the ways in which

my groups ICT resource addressed literacy learning, our chosen student

learning need of the three different learning types, and assessment data. The

influences ICT has on the designing of teaching practices, analysing the

possible ethical issues and dilemmas were also discussed.

 References

Cavanagh, M., & Prescott, A. (2015). Your Professional Experience Handbook: A

guide to preservice teachers. Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson

Australia.

Draper, R. J. (2002). Every Teacher a Literacy Teacher? An Analysis of the

Literacy-related Messages in Secondary Methods Textbooks. Journal of

Literacy Research, 34(3). Retrieved from http://jlr.sagepub.com/

James Cook University. (2014, August 14). Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic

(VAK) learning style model - JCU. Retrieved September 21, 2015, from

http://www.jcu.edu.au/wiledpack/modules/fsl/JCU_090460.html

Kids Helpline. (2014, July). Kids Helpline - Cyberbullying.

Retrieved September 23, 2015, from

http://www.kidshelp.com.au/grownups/news-research/hot-

topics/cyber-bullying.php

Marsh, C., Clarke, M., & Pittaway, S. (2014). Marsh's Becoming a

Teacher (6th ed.). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Australia.

Victoria State Government Education and training. (2014, December 29).

Overview of Literacy Learning. Retrieved September 20, 2015, from

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/di

scipline/english/proflearn/pages/litoview.aspx#1

erveansk, M. (n.d.). Technology of Education. Professional Journal on

Education, 1.

Wong-Lo, M., Bullock, L., & Gable, R.A. (2011). Cyberbullying: practices to face
digital aggression. Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties, 16(3), 317-325.