Week 1: The Importance of Voice

Week 1: Activity 2

After listening to a recording on Julia Gillard’s voice it was depicted from voice coach Lucy Cornell that Julia Gillard had a strong and powerful voice range that lacked a feminine side and or tone (Cornell, L. 2010). My view on this representation of Gillard’s voice was strongly impacted by her Misogyny Speech presented in 2012. After listening to her Misogyny Speech I agree with Cornell that Julia Gillard does in fact lack a feminine tone in her voice, however I believe that is this due to the content in which she delivered in this speech. Her speech which is directed to the leader of opposition (Tony Abbott), discusses his sexist and prejudiced view to not only Julia Gillard but also the women of the 21^st century. She states and raises some clear points towards how Abbott has disrespectfully portrayed women and their role in society. Therefore I believe that due to this view the leader of opposition has on women of the 21^st century, Gillard doesn’t show a feminine side or tone in her voice in fear that it would not be heard or accepted in parliament.

Based on Julia Gillard’s Misogyny Speech, my reaction as a female is that I’m strongly influenced by the content of the speech opposed to the delivery of the speech. This can be depicted as the content of the speech is something that I as a female have seen or have been a part of that influences my reaction to focus more on content. It was asked that if Julia Gillard had a different voice (like the actress Cate Blanchett for example) would my views be changed or differently influenced. My view towards the content on the speech would be the same as seen by Gillard’s normal voice, however my view towards the delivery of the speech would be more relatable as Cate Blanchett has that feminie quality within her voice that would better represent the women of the 21^st century.   

Reference List (Week 1):

Cornell, L. (2010). Julia Gillard's Voice. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEybGzg1Nxs. . Last accessed 8th of March 2016.


 

Just a Little Bit About Me

Hello,

My name is Rebecca Wade and I'm currently a third year student studying a bachelor of Secondary Education. I'm majoring in Home Economics and English at the CQU Noosa Campus.

I'm 20 years old and live in Gympie (but most the time I just tell people I'm from the Sunshine Coast area). I was inspired to become a teacher from one of my own teachers during my high school years. It was through their passion, flare and knowledge of their subject area that intrigued and inspired me to enrol in my degree. I quite often get reminded that I'm only 20 years old and some people still only see me as a kid myself, however I see my age as something I can relate with the students of today (as I have recently been through what they are going through).

This degree has been challenging and overwhelming at times, although the friendships and support of people who were once strangers to me are now the reason and motivation I strive to achieve more from this degree.

I'm excited to see what this Speech and Script Course has to offer and all the opportunity that lie ahead throughout this course.

Home Economics Task Reflection

Hospitality Function

Culture Function

After receiving the necessary and vital help from my following classmates I was able to come up with an activity that supported the curriculum of home economics and also incorporated the fundamental contribution towards technology. This task can be seen by the following description and also the mind map below.  

Task:

o   Getting students to choose at least three different cultures that interested them or appealed to them. From here students need to research their style of cuisine, methods of preparation, equipment used and forms or ways of presenting foods. Via a blog the students need to record their findings on each of the three cultures discussing the positives and negatives of all three cuisines.

o   Then as a class students will to divide themselves into two groups need to pick two different cuisines and developed and create a three course menu that will be presented to the other group.

o   Students will need to think about, budget, availability of foods, presentation, menu choices, the nutrition available within each meal (throughout the application my fitness) and how hard their menu is to prepare. All these aspects will need to be recorded within a process journal (either via their blog or a wiki page).

o   Students will also be required to make a website as a group which will have their overall menu, fundamental research of their chose cuisine, images and examples of their trial cooks and a reflection of their function.

o   To assess their final menus, each group will be asked to create an instant restaurant that related to their chosen culture. Once they have decorated and produced their three course menu students of the other group will get to taste their finally foods (Just for a little bit of fun).

o   Based on their own reflection, students will also need to record (either throughout their blog or website) a score in which they believe the other team has achieved. Their score will need to be justified.

The digital technologies involved within this task can and should include Skype or YouTube (to see how other countries prepare, cook and present foods and how it is different from Australia), blogger (to recorded their process journal), Weebly (to show to the class their findings and final products, my fitness (to count the calories and nutrition available within their chosen foods) and wiki (another option for their process journal).  

Reflective Synopsis

EDSE12024

Assessment Task 1

Reflective Synopsis

After participating within the weekly embedded tasks, with relation to my own blog posts there is so much that I believe I have learnt, with regards to the vast range of digital technologies that can improve learning and offer good pedagogies. After discovering and learning about Bloom’s Taxonomy, the SAMR Model and the Dimensions of learning, I believe that throughout my blog posts I have gained a deeper and stronger understanding of how technology can be used within the classroom and how it benefits student learning, whether it may be individual learning or collaborative learning. This understanding and evidence of my own learning towards digital technologies will be depicted from my own contribution towards my blog posts, how effective and useful each technology could be within a classroom (with relation to the SAMR Model), evidence of how I have used each technology and my own contribution to other class members blogs within the online environment and face to face interactions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Throughout the duration of this digital pedagogies course so far, I have not only managed to contribute my understanding of each of the chosen technologies in all five embedded tasks, I have also managed to understand that a pedagogy is simply the art of teaching which defines student learning. At the beginning of this course I wasn’t confident in completing the embedded tasks, due to the fact that my prior knowledge towards digital technologies was very limited. However throughout my weekly blogs it can be seen that each week I became more and more confident and efficient towards understanding and using the nominated technology for the given week and also how technologies can be used to portray good pedagogies. This can be seen throughout my blog when comparing my embedded task one response to my embedded task five response. Overall throughout my blog posts I covered and developed a range of digital technology skills including, contributions to my blog, how to edit images, what Thinglink is and how to used sky view. After using the information provided within the course materials and my prior knowledge of these digital technologies I was able to clearly establish what the technology was capable of, the technical aspects of it, the learning outcomes it provided for student learning, how the particular technology could be used within a classroom based on the SAMR Model and evidence that showed my improved digital skills. Throughout my blog posts it can be clearly seen that all of these aspects and elements required were highlight and outlined throughout my blog posts.

One example of this can be seen throughout my interpretation of weeks 4 embedded task. During this particular week task I decided to focus on images. Throughout this week I had overcome a huge step in my attitude towards digital technologies, as I was more confident in completing the task due to the fact that I had a lot of prior knowledge and experience with incorporating images within learning. I believe that I was effectively able to include the technical aspects of images, the learning outcomes that they could offer to improve student learning and a suitable range of activities that could be used to incorporate images within the classroom. I also believe that I was able include the SAMR Model’s four stages of substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition and showed an effective example of how I had used the digital technology of images by changing the desired editing of an image. This blog post can be further viewed under week four’s embedded task.

However while I believe that I had effectively meet the criteria that was required for my own individual blog, I don’t believe that I managed to maintain this same outcome for the participation and contribution in the online learning community. This can be seen as during the first two to three weeks I didn’t comment or post anything about anyone’s blog. However during the fourth and fifth week of completing the embedded tasks, I was able to figure out how to respond and comment on other class members blogs. Therefore with relation to the criteria expect within the online learning community I do not believe that I have fully met the criteria as I only starting contributing within this online learning well into week four.

Another reason to why I believe that I have not met the criteria expected within the online learning community is due to the fact that my comments were not in-depth and did not offer constructive feedback. One of the reasons for this can be seen that within our group to was difficult to criticise blogs of my class members. Therefore with relation to this section of the task and the requirements expected I could have better extended my comments with constructive feedback to form more formative and engaging responses. However having said this, my participation within the course with relation to class member or face to face discussion, whether it was about the embedded task or discussions related with the course materials, I strongly believe that my participation within this was much more in-depth and constructive. This can be seen as when in class I shared my opinion when it was required and also worked in collaboration with other class members on certain aspects of given tasks.

Overall after reflecting on my own participation with the weekly embedded tasks it can be seen that I have effectively completed the tasks and engaged within the digital technology of a blog. By using my blog as a source of communication it can also be seen that I have used and developed of range of different digital skills throughout research conducted and by navigating my way around certain digital tools. With relation to the SAMR Model, Bloom’s Taxonomy and the dimensions of learning it can be seen that I have weekly highlighted learning outcomes and learning theories that could be achieved by using technology. Based on my own blog the main recommendation I need to improve on would be my ability to interact within the online learning community and offer constructive feedback.

Task 5: Sky View

For this week’s embedded task I have decided to talk about the technology and use of the application ‘Sky View’.

Technical Aspects

o   Allows you to use your phone, notebook computer or IPad or IPod as essential a scanner for identifying stars and planets within our solar system.

o   Easy to use and control

o   It is free to download from any app store.

o   No prior experience is needed to work this application as it is as simple as pointing your device at the sky or ground and seeing what stars and planets are where.

o   Also is an app that can be used within the day time and not just at night.

Learning Outcomes

o   Self-guided or individual learning.

o   Enhances technology skills.

o   Enhances knowledge and understanding of our solar system.

o   Could be used to offer collaborative learning. For example starting a blog or group discussion of what stars or planets each student is able to locate.

SAMR Model

This particular technology could be used with relation to the SAMR Model. This could be seen throughout the different levels of substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition.

Substitution

Instead of asking students to find where stars and planets are located within our solar system in a text book, get them to use sky view to find them.

Augmentation

Students are then asked to share their findings by contributing their finding to class blog or class folder which show what stars or planets they have found.

Modification

From here students are asked to find internet links which further research what stars and planets they have found and embed these link within their class blog or class folder.

Redefinition

From here students need to use their findings and the findings from other class member to build a mini solar system.

Unfortunately I wasn’t sure how to show evidence of these particular technology of sky view so instead I decided to share a link which allows anyone to download sky view and start finding out what stars are where https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/skyview-free-explore-universe/id413936865?mt=8

Also I have uploads two picture of the stars and planets in which I have found using this application. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 5: Class Reflection

Digital Pedagogies in Secondary Schools

Week 5: Class Reflection

Throughout this week’s lesson of Digital Pedagogies in Secondary Schools there were a number of learning outcomes that I was able to reach that I originally thought were impossible, the opportunity to work in a group in which I normally wouldn’t and I was also given the opportunity to see how other students interpreted and understood the same task I was given. The learning outcomes that I personally was able to achieve were:

o   The ability to improve my digital skills. This was achieve by creating my own account on Thinglink and actually being able to navigate my way around the site.

o   Interactive learning. This was achieved by working within my group as I was able to share ideas and questions I had about the given task. Also by sharing our interpretation of a Thinglink to the rest of our class as the end of our lesson.

o   Also I believe I was able to achieve a little bit of self-guided learning. This was due to the fact that I originally had no idea what a Thinglink was or how to access it, however by the end of the lesson I was able to explain to others what a Thinglink was and how to use its setting.

Throughout this lesson we were divided into group of two. Being that I was partnered with someone I wouldn’t usually do much group work with, I believe that I was given the opportunity to see how they understood certain task or also more about them in general. For example not only did I get to see the learning style of my partner and how she undertook certain tasks I was also able to understand why she come up with answers and question based on our group research.

Lastly towards the end of our lesson, I was able to see how other students not within my group understood and interpreted the same task my group was given. This was very interesting and fun as it made me see how others can understand certain ideas different to me, however also made me understand how they got to the conclusion that they proving. I rather enjoy this lesson as it was a good example of the different way students can learn and all the different digital tools that are available for students to be using within the classroom rather than just using a book and pen!

I was also able to figure out (with some help) how to comment on other peoples blogs!!! Yay!! 

 

Week 4: Reflection on Images

For this weeks Embedded Task I have decided to focus on what the technical aspects of images are, the learning outcomes that images offer, how images can benefit student learning and how images can be used with regards to the SAMR Model.

Technical Aspects of Images:

o   Images are a visual representation of things. Words can be used however images or picture are generally used.

o   They offer a visual learning style to students.  

o   Images can be customised or edited (This can included changing the brightness of the image, changing the shading of an image and adding or removing aspects of the picture).

o   Images can be made smaller or larger depending on the desired size.

Learning outcomes:

The learning outcomes offered by images include:

o   Visual learning. Visual learning is used but instead of using words, pictures are used for students to gather and interpret the information based on their understanding of an image.

o   Images can be used as online materials to engage thinking within learners. This can be through knowledge, understanding, evaluation and analysing.

Student learning:

 

Images can play a large part in student learning. For students that understand visual images better then oral discussion or visual written topics, will achieve make better if a visual image is present. For example as seen within the course materials provided a simple task might be allowing students to take a digital camera with them on a field trip to document important factors rather than writing them down. This would not only save time, it would make their task much more interesting and incorporate digital technology into their learning.

 

SAMR Model

As mentioned in last week’s blog, the SAMR Model is a scale which rates how technology can be used and what level it is used at. This may be Substitution, Argumentation, Modification and Redefinition level. Based on these four levels images will be discussed in how they could meet all four level.

Substitution: Instead of writing down important factors from a school field trip, students have been asked to use a digital camera to photograph the important factors.

Argumentation: When back in class students are then asked to upload there images into folders based on the categories in which they belong.

Modification: Using editing programs students must now edit their photos, this could be changing the desired background (seeing photos in a different light, shape or angle).

Redefinition: Students must now use these edited images and make a collage that presents them as an individual (showing their ability to add and delete certain parts of images).

Original Image

 

Edited Image