ANALYSTS

During this week, the analysts were told to assess everyone's work and write their marks down into a rubric. Furthermore, there were several questions that had to be answered in order to review the group's progress and organization. Thus, today, we'll be explaining what we have been doing lately. We are Carlos and Alicia, and without further ado, let us begin.

a. What was the best part of the activity?

We think that the best part was the satisfaction of finishing the project. We wanted to make an original project, but sticking to the requirements given by our teacher. It was a heavy and difficult task to do, but thanks to the help of the ones who attended the meeting, it came out nicely. And also, we cannot forget the wonderful job our stars did in the speed learning session with our project. They did their best at doing a pleasant presentation, facing to the classroom as we kept walking and listening to our colleagues.

b.What was the worst?

Honestly getting everything established and everyone coordinated was the worst part. Alex did a magnificent job being the facilitator, giving each and every one of us some work to do, but issues started to pop up. Some people didn’t come to the meetings and the project sessions, which difficult the work for the others because we had to take more roles and responsibilities meanwhile they DID merely nothing. We understand that is the first group task, and that we are not very used to this dynamic, but some partners felt a burnout due to lack of commitment. Our first real meeting was last Friday, and we said that we were going to be working on the project, in order to finish it before the weekend because we have other tasks from other subjects. From the nine members of the group, only five appeared, even though we had already spoken in our WhatsApp group about meeting up, and then Alex had to leave us for some time due to her job. So basically four of us spent most of the time working on the project, which came nicely but with a lot of effort. We were brainstorming about how to design our information map in an original way and was difficult which one to choose, also coming up with the main points we wanted to present.

c.What was the best moment of the week (in the work of the group)?

Were we to highlight a specific moment of the week, we would probably choose last Friday’s afternoon, as we decided to meet to get most of our work done, thinking about the main ideas that should be taken into account and portraying them in a creative way. We are certain that it was because of the fact that most of us had not worked with one another yet, that we also took this opportunity to have lunch together that day, and we believe that this caused our bonds to grow stronger. Moreover, we are positive this was what let us kept moving forward towards our goal, and it has also served as a chance to discover which improvements could be done in our future works, thus creating a clear picture of our position right now, regarding our weakest, but also strongest parts so we know what do we exactly have to work on in order to fully show what we are capable of. However, not only did we enjoy the lunch part of the day, but also the whole afternoon itself, as everyone who met did their best and worked very hard to accomplish the task they were assigned.

Moving onto the practical part itself, the best part of it was how we began to portray our ideas and conclusions onto the poster’s design. It took a large amount of work, as we hoped to acquire an original perspective without restricting ourselves to the most commonly used information maps.

d. What was the worst?

The worst part of the activity was the lack of commitment that some members showed, not attending the meeting and barely completing their tasks, leaving the remaining members hanging without getting to know how would the task be taking place, as after several brainstorms we had yet to find an idea that convinced all of the members who attended that meeting. Thus, for us, the meeting did not suppose a problem at all, as we managed to put our schedules in common and be efficient with the time we had. Its difficulty arose due to the issues we came across when determining how to combine both TPACK and ACAD’s main elements, as well as their interactions with one another. Nevertheless, it was exactly due to these complexities that we were able to achieve a deeper knowledge about the subject matter. There is not much to point out, really, besides the fact that if we had been more people, we had probably ended the project sooner.

e. What have you learnt?

As a result of the project, we have comprehended the main characteristics of both understanding framework, TPACK, and ACAD, regarding what should and should not an effective teacher do and know to generate meaningful learning in their students. Whereas TPACK focuses more on the relevance of its main three elements: technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge, ACAD’s main points are set, social and epistemic elements, focusing on the way teachers create lessons instead of the tools that are used, as it happens with TPACK. Nonetheless, it is possible to work with both, as they optimize the way that students can take advantage of the classroom by having an innovative and holistic work experience which includes both the necessary tools and resources and the compulsory content, curriculum, teaching styles, and methodology.

Nevertheless, not only have we got to know and understand useful structures we were unaware of and that will help us for sure in the future, but we have also had the opportunity to work with new people and have a first impression regarding how will the group’s development be.

f. What do you need to conserve –as a group– for the next weeks?

We should definitely make a lot of improvements and changes, but something to conserve is the determination some of our group members have. They feel passionate about working hard in all the challenges that will come and caring about the outcome of each project and each member of the group, feeling part of it instead of caring about their own work and the result for themselves.

g.What do you need to improve –as a group– for the next weeks?

In order to exploit our potential to make use of all opportunities for improving and designing quality tasks, we believe it would be essential to work the cooperative part of the work. In other words, the members should keep getting involved with the task, and whose who did not must improve that aspect, as it is crucial for working in groups. Perhaps, it would be great to establish what is each one of us supposed to do and have all the individual research and investigation work done beforehand, by a specific moment, so if any changes need to be made we can get to them sooner and finish them faster. It was due to this that we came across some issues when reaching out to one another, as some roles could not be completely fulfilled without another member’s previous work.

Therefore, we believe it is important to be diligent and coherent with our work, letting others know when we are having problems with our own, smaller parts, knowing that as a group, it is our duty to give each other a hand as not only would we achieve a better outcome, but everyone would also acquire a better understanding of the matter, filling the remaining gaps they previously had with their team members’ help. This very same concept of a “team” shall also be taken into account more frequently because this time, most likely because it has been our first time working on a task which has been designed using the following this methodology, we stuck ourselves to our roles instead of seeking a more holistic view of the project.

After all, there are a couple of elements of the utmost importance when working on teams, these being trust, conflict management, commitment, accountability, and focus on the result. The roles we had been assigned did cover the basis of the organization we had to follow to present a well-suited work; however, it was vital to develop these attitudes so we could work at ease along with everyone else. For instance, the trust might be the most important one, bearing in mind that it has a direct impact on how well are the members getting along, noticing whether there some arguments going around and knowing how to solve them if there actually are some; although I am glad to add that this has not been our personal experience, yet. It is worth mentioning the huge role commitment plays here, as your team is always relying on you, and knowing how to link newer knowledge to the practical and previous one, as well as traditional knowledge with ITC and innovative ideas. And of course, having fun is always great, but not if it is getting in the way and taking away time that could be invested into actual working time, as it is counterproductive. This is something that we should definitely work on.

h.How is THIS content related to other contents in the course and your degree?

Last semester, in Educational Planning we have already talked about different strategies and methodologies that teachers should use in the classroom to optimize their teaching experience, such as Problem-Based Learning, Game-Based Learning, etc. It is related to TPACK because it is related to the teacher and the knowledge of their contents.

i.Is there any evident social connection of this content (news, politics, etc.)?

There certainly is, as nowadays we cannot simply ignore the huge impact that technology has had and keeps having on all levels, and especially in the field of education, where children must acquire a set of basic knowledge about these innovative resources in order to keep track of this globalized world we live in. As a result, educators must get familiar with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) that will be used within the classroom. For instance, there might be problems when the teachers lack of base knowledge; perhaps when they do not know how to portray their knowledge or the content itself. This makes us realize that it is also important to learn how to use them right and that you are never done studying teaching, as it shall be conceived as continuous, lifelong learning, as students change just as we do, and as the world, we live in does.

Furthermore, there is a strong connection between this topic and politics, as well as how much it is said by the news tells us about it, and the rate of authenticity. The lack of veracity arises because of the large amount of fake news that is spread around the globe. For instance, not going further than Murcia in order to set an example, if an educator designs an amazing lesson in which they will be discussing “x”, then they will have to ask the parents or legal tutor for permission because of the “Parental PIN” measurement that has already been established here.

Thank you so much for your time, see you soon!