The Growth of Enterprise Pedagogy

Dr Mark Brown’s article “The growth of enterprise pedagogy” is critical from the outset of the way that ICT is implemented in modern pedagogical systems, he sees ICT, as it is now, as being infected by neo-liberalist ideologies that promote profiteering and fear mongering. Brown suggests that in order to counter this trend within ICT we must ask five important considerations. 

Who is telling the ICT story and why? 

How are they telling the ICT story? 

What is it they are telling/promoting about ICT? 

What is missing? Whose voice is not being heard? Whose story is not being told?

How are different people understanding and responding to the ICT message?

These questions are aimed at forcing us to reexamine the default attitude towards ICT that has been popularised in recent years. Brown notes in his conclusion that teaching is an inherently political activity, thus these questions aid us in recognising the role that popular and political discourse play in constructing the basis and aims of our educational system. 

A bridge too far? Explaining beginning teachers’ use of ICT in Australian schools

Frank Bates in his article, "A bridge too far?", explains that Information Communication Technologies (ICT) is not being fully utilized in the current Australian educational context, despite teachers and regulators best intentions towards equipping children with a skillset to live in a digital society. Frank investigates a number of case studies within WA, he does note that the relatively small number of participants in his study undermines it somewhat, and argues that the current state of the incorporation of ICT in the educational system is thoroughly lacking. He refers to a framework explored by Mishra and Koehler, who developed the concept to combine technological knowledge along with pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK Framework). Frank’s findings are reinforced are by my own experiences within education systems within primary, secondary and tertiary levels where teachers consistently demonstrate high levels of pedagogical and content knowledge but very low ICT competencies. 

More information about Frank Bates

Digital Natives

Bennett and Maton suggest, within their article "Beyond the ‘digital natives’ debate", that typical methods of conceptualising the role of technology within education is mistaken. They posit that a new way of conceptualising the debate can be developed from a more skeptical position, where educational researchers approach technology with a more objective outlook. Such that technological and educational innovations are evaluated on their merits and not preemptively incorporated into the curriculum before we are more informed regarding the efficacy of new methods in relation to more established pedagogical methodologies. Bennett and Maton highlight the “sense of urgency” which often surrounds this debate, they sagely suggest that educational researchers approach the topic with an “agnostic” position, thus avoiding being caught up within technology worship that is very real and potentially dangerous aspect of our society which underscores debate about education within developed nations. This kind of outlook prevents people taking advantage of “the urgency”, a phenomenon that we can already see occurring within Australia where self appointed technological-education gurus are touting Ipads and mobile devices as the most important development to the syllabus in the last 50 years.    

Surveys

Obsurvey is just one website dedicated to collecting information through surveys. It's simple and easy to use. It's a great tool for teachers as it allows them to gather data quickly and efficiently. It can be used in a variety of ways. One example, is getting to know how the students like to learn best and how they feel about particular topics.


Getting To Know You

Google Archives

 

 

Google News Archives: A great way of getting students to work on their research skills whilst drawing conclusions and comparisons to their lives and the past. There are numerous topics which can be covered. It's simple to do, just search 'news archives' in Google and type in a subject.

 

 

Skype: A classroom application

 

 

Skype is no longer just a tool to communicate with relatives and friends; its use has expanded to include educational purposes, too.

Teachers are discovering that Skype is a great way to break down the walls of the classroom. One such way is by bringing language learning to life. Students use Skype to make international links with native speakers. Students gain access to authentic language learning by cultural immersion.

 



PhotoFunia


PhotoFunia

PhotoFunia is an online photo editing tool that is both easy and fun to use.

Five ways PhotoFunia can be used in a classroom:

1) Students can create personalised cards to give out to family or friends.

2) The class could create a funny classroom montage that could be displayed on the interactive whiteboard.

3) Can be used as a introductory activity into photo editing.

4) It's a great tool for teaching children about online safety and uploading photos and personal information.

5) The class could create a story board using their pictures. Each student could take a turn writing a short sentence to make a funny story.