I'd like to begin by explaining how we managed to put our ideas together in order to be collaborative as a group throughout the whole process. Knowing we'd have an extra week to complete the task, we felt like this could be a great opportunity to share how we feel about the course and ourselves as a team. This was mainly fueled by the meeting we had with our Resources and ICT teacher, Linda, who gave us feedback regarding what our main potentials and weaknesses are in order to improve our work, and honestly, I think that's great because of having some sort of guidance and fix those details that we began to lose at some point.
Thus, I'm presenting to you what we decided to do to start improving our work:
Firstly, we chatted for a bit on our WhatsApp group so we could share our ideas and discuss what we had been told.
However, we felt like it'd be easier to put our ideas together if we talked about it on a call, so we started a Zoom meeting. In the end, we decided that it'd be better to go through each individual post together and give our opinion about them so we saw which ones had to be modified, if slight or heavy changes would be needed, or if some posts were alright. So that's what we did! I shared my screen and we read through our posts, deciding which changes were needed. Allow me to expose ourselves:
We checked minor grammar mistakes, we added 'cute stuff' to the post that were the most dull-looking ones, and most importantly, we paid attention to the key part of the information tools we were missing: conceptual maps. Although we've already worked on this, we'll keep improving throughout these weeks that are left.
Now, moving onto Task 9, we felt like it'd be great to meet on a call again so we could discuss everything in detail. Molly was kind enough to summarize everything for those who couldn't attend the meeting:
~ And so, our journey through this task began! ~
The task consisted of creating an infographic, and in order to portray it in a more original way, we decided that we'd be presenting it in a magazine quiz format. As explained above, we decided on creating a Google document so, once we had all read the document, we could each add a question regarding its content and its justification, but the final infographic would just include the questions, which should be answered with 'yes'. For instance, the first question is "are you a teacher?" and the individual is allowed to continue the quiz if their answer's 'yes'.
Alex was the one who put everything together into an infographic, and we honestly loved the design! It greatly surpassed how I expected it to be. She used both Piktochart and Sketchbook, and this is how our infographic used to look:
These are some of the key parts we extracted from the text (Holistic Teaching Competence for a Digital World, by Linda Castañeda, Francesc Esteve & Jordi Adell - 2018) in order to formulate the questions:
1. It is important that the teacher uses technology, but does not substitute it for their own teaching. (relating to the ethical and social aspects).
a) “Technology is neutral, we humans control it, and therefore technology in education is "just a tool" in the service of teachers, who can use it as they wish or in the service of the purposes of education they decide”.
2. There are many different ways to be a good teacher, it all depends on one’s intersectionality, in this article, it is mainly focused on the differences between ages and time frames. We still need to define what a good teacher is. We can use TPACK.
a) It is important to understand that teaching is “constantly being shaped and reshaped according to changing historical contexts, political demands, media representations, business interests and research evidence”
b) (a) an expert in content, (b) an expert in methodology, (c) capable of learning from his/her own practice, (d) part of his/her learning community, (e) able to establish a positive relationship with the family and the environment of students; and (f) sensitive to the social and ethical imperatives of his/her practice.
c) “a power of action that presupposes the achievement of knowledge and skills”.
3. A good teacher is a generator and manager of emerging educational practices, an expert in digital educational content, reflective professional or researcher, an expert in enhanced organizational or personal learning contexts, sensitive to the use of technology from the social commitment perspective, and able to use technology to expand his or her relationship with the student’s family and environment.
4. The technology allows us to create “communication networks” with students, family, and colleagues. As a result, we can also communicate outside of the educational setting.
a) Our task as teachers is not only academic but also political and social (we must create a digital society that is more humane than the current one).
5. It is essential to keep into account that the DTC frameworks are centered on a teacher who is focused just on their profession in the school environment and as an individual who has great knowledge about technology, even though they use them as a mere tool. Sadly, this offers an insight into professional competence that lacks interest.
6. When making decisions regarding DTC, three key questions can be identified: the educational model or teaching action it proposes, which kind of competence it defends, and last but not least, the technological perspective it assumes.
7. There is no right definition of what a good teacher consists of, but their key features should be the ones to follow: an individual who has a deep understanding of the subject-matter; someone who is familiar with methodology; someone who is able of learning from their own practice; a subject who belongs to their learning community; someone who can establish a positive relationship with the students’ families and environment; and finally, a person who is sensitive to the social and ethical aspects of their practice.
8. It is essential to keep into account that the usefulness developments are not the same for all models, which raises the idea about how important would it be for a new teaching model that takes the context into account and acts according to it in which technology is used frequently within education, but also as a type of knowledge. A competent teacher is aware that neither them or the student masters this technology.
9. The dimensions that belong to the holistic teacher competences are the following: expert in Digital pedagogical contents, creator and manager of Emergent pedagogical practices, able to use ICT to expand its relations with families and learners’ surrounding, augmented reflective practicer, an expert in enriched learning environments, and they must be sensitive to the use of technology from Social Engagement perspective.
10. In order to adopt a technologized dimension, two perspectives must be taken into consideration. Firstly, the teacher must be an individual who understands digital technologies as tools of the culture-creating dimension of media competence, who is familiar with most of them, and who understands the relevance they have on their immediate social environment. Furthermore, they must know how to make the most out of them. Then, secondly, the teacher must be able to add models of the critical pedagogy of representation, also known as critical literacy; which consists of understanding technologies and the cultures surrounding them.
Nevertheless, despite us being supposed to present on Tuesday, we were told that our infographic was missing more information related to the actual contents, so we modified it and this is how the outcome looked like, even though it'd certainly be improved by adding some graphs:
These are the questions with their justifications:
1. Are you familiar with the educational model? Do you learn from your own practice, while being aware of its social and ethical aspects?
'Yes.' The educational model, the kind of competence, and the technological perspective must be taken into account. Among the main features a teacher should have, it's important to highlight that they're sensitive to the social and ethical aspects of their practice. Do you do this?
2. A teacher has to change their educational skills and their procedures in the classroom in order to adapt them to historical contexts and political demands. Do you do this?
'Yes.' According to Williamson, the teaching profession is always changing, adapting to historical contexts and political demands.
In addition to mastering content, it is important to develop the necessary educational skills and to know the usual procedures in the classroom.
3. Teachers should be able to use technology to communicate with not only colleagues and class parents, but also people outside of the educational setting in a way that makes the world online a better place. Do you do this?
'Yes.' It is important that we as teachers are able to use technology to its full potential. Because of this, we also need to look at the bigger picture. We must hone and shape the digital world “into something more humane than the current one”. By doing this, we make the world a better place for everyone, not just people in our immediate circle. If you are able to do so, then you are a good teacher!
4. The best way to use technology in the classroom is to relate it with the content, and a teacher must know many different kinds to pick which one will enhance learning instead of overshadowing it. Do you do this?
'Yes.' When using technology in the classroom, which is necessary and inevitable in this day and age, it’s important to do so in a way that enhances and supports learning, rather than overshadows or hinders it. The best way to achieve this is by relating the technologies with the content, which of course means the teacher has to know and deal with many different technologies in order to choose the most appropriate one for each specific activity.
5. A teacher has to enact an evolution in the ICTs used in the classroom. Do you do this?
'Yes.' ICT tools have increased and diversified the possibilities of communication between teachers, families, and the community. More and more schools are using these digital media to communicate with families and student environments.
6. Do consider teaching as something malleable and flexible through all your experience?
'Yes.' A teacher should consider that teaching involves mastering your content and learning skills but also be able to change our work in order to satisfy society’s needs. Do you do this?
7. Using ICTs tools has improved the communication between teachers and the students’ environments, so teachers should foster the use of these, in an increasingly diverse manner. Do you do this?
'Yes.' ICT tools have increased and diversified the possibilities of communication between teachers, families, and the community. And using these tools is one of those tasks for which we should also be prepared. More and more schools and teachers are using these digital media to communicate with families and student environments, and the methods of communication employed are increasingly diverse.
8. A good teacher learns and adapts by observing not only scientific sources but also other teachers to develop their capacity to face the scientific and social learning process. Do you do this?
'Yes.' A major source of the teacher's development is based upon their ability to learn, from both scientific sources and from other teacher’s actions. As a result, they develop their capacity to face the scientific and social learning process.
9. Do I have a range of practical knowledge on how to incorporate technology into my teaching?
'Yes.' A teacher should, on the one hand, be aware of theories based on incorporating technology in the classroom and on the other hand he or she should develop practical knowledge based on the teaching experience, in order to be able to use technology to aid current teaching methodology ad to fully incorporate technology into his or her teaching practice to improve and advance the existing methodology in ways that were not previously possible. He or she should make sure that these advancements are accessible to others in the educational field in order to enrich educational resources and practices on the whole.
~ And that'd be it for this post, thank you so much! Have a lovely weekend and as always... ~
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