Reflection 1 - Web spaces and blogs

Developing and evaluating differentiation strategies

With more than one web address for every five people in the world (Websitesetup, 2021; Worldometer, 2022) and 86% of people in Australia using the internet (ABS, 2018), the effect of the internet and the data created is enormous. These web spaces are, by nature, highly technical. Multiple formats of online sites exist including blogs, websites and wikis. These each consist of their own unique language, construct (some more intuitive than others), settings (including privacy settings, which are discussed at the end of this reflection), data storage location (and by proxy, jurisdictional laws on privacy) and purpose.

So, why do we have web spaces? Privacy International identifies these as a free expression of our individual and unique personalities and an opportunity to impart and receive social benefit (2013). In education, this benefit might be access to alternative resources, teacher becoming more of a meddler-in-the-middle or guide-on-the-side rather than the sage on the stage, learner-centricity, digital literacy, multiliteracies and student agency and efficacy (CQUniversity, 2022).

Two key elements shape how these web spaces function: inputs and outputs (Sturtz, n.d.; wfass1, 2019). Media forms the foundation in inputs for most of these platforms. Media usually exists in the formats of text, numbers, images, music and video. These inputs come together to shape the output, the raison d'être justifying the existence of the web and providing benefit to the observer; whether as press release, humour or demonstration. Importantly, these two key elements work hand-in-glove to create functional tools that challenge users in the classroom to learn, especially though creation.

Creation is the highest order of thinking according to developmental theorists Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) as shown in figure 1 below. Marzano corroborates this by positing “create” in four out of nine high-yield strategies, notably number five: ‘the utilisation of knowledge to create non-linguistic representations’, which yields a 27% gain in student achievement (Liebhardt, 2020). Creation of web spaces allows for student’s unique expression as well as opportunity to assimilate knowledge through evaluative activity, the highest level of thinking skills. While websites offer a greater degree of customisation, wiki's and blogs offer a more defined method of digitally mobilising this thinking via mathematics curricula and assessment (ACARA, 2018; Scootle, 2022; UNSW, 2021); blogging is currently my preferred method between these as it offers students a good balance of creation and evaluation. 

Figure 1:

Anderson and Krathwohl’s levels of cognition

 

By Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001. Adapted by Carranza: https://blogs.flinders.edu.au/cilt/2020/04/08/can-i-design-higher-order-online-learning-activities/

One way I have experienced this was in my own studies. During this unit, I have been actively engaging in activities and posting on Blogger (Johnsen, 2022). I was interested in exploring these tools having tried some travel and mechanical blogging and vlogging (Travels of a Tin Tepee, 2017; Tin Tepee, 2017). Through my unit activity and subsequent Blogger post, I engaged in the enactment of creation, the highest order of thinking under Anderson and Krathwohl’s taxonomy (Figure 1.); my metacognitions and self-system thinking gave me the chance to explore and explain my deep feelings and beliefs leading into this unit (Marzano & Kendall, 2008, p. 4). I was also able to document these by creating this online, reflective journal and sharing it for my community and others to see and comment on. 

Mobilising HOTS (higher-order thinking skills), blogging facilitates learning through a more meddler-in-the-middle teaching style involving rapid discussion between scholars globally on concepts, current events, literature, data analysis or the sharing of other tools (The Centre for Practical Wisdom, 2008). Multiple digital literacies like this can significantly enhance the learning in all subjects by putting the learner at the centre of education and moving higher up the order of thinking skills (Cazden et al., 1996; Education Queensland, 2002, p. 2). Direct instruction (Acher & Hughes, 2011), a popular pedagogy for mathematics teachers in Queensland schools, offers a more sage-on-the-stage approach. This type of approach allows transfer of knowledge through reading, worksheets, lectures and other traditional methods (Education Queensland, 2002, p. 2). These strategies typically involve lower order thinking skills, beneficial for accessing and making sense of existing, surface knowledge (Marzano & Kendall, 2008). 

 

Design and create learning in which learner engagement is transformed by the use of ICT

Figure 2:

Substitution, Augmentation, Modification Redefinition (SAMR) Model

By Puentedura, 2013. http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/000095.html

Adopting SAMR, a model developed Puentedura (2013) shown in figure 2 above and discussed at length in the pages section at the top of this blog, teachers can leverage blogging technology in the implementation of mathematics curriculum (such as that offered by QCAA (2019a) at the senior level) to enhance and transform learning and teaching. Through the use of text input functionality, students can substitute the creation of a writing task by submitting typed answers to an assignment question on Word (Microsoft, 2022) which could then be uploaded as a PDF for greater data protection (Mizpee, 2021). Augmentation can be facilitated in this example with the option to annotate comments as with PDF-X (NG PDF Lab, 2022) using a speech-to-text program such as Speechtexter (2022), promoting greater inclusivity through adjustment. The task can be modified to allow submission of assessment in a format of choice: orally or written; if submitted as an oral presentation, this can be included this as a video recording, which could be undertaken in Screencast-O-Matic (2022) and edited to a suitable format in VLC media player (Video LAN Organization, n.d.). 

At the highest level, the task could be redefined as group task rather than a typical individual assignment, giving students the flexibility to create a vlog documenting their chronological journey through the material for a unit as a resource for reciprocal teaching to other students in this class, with each student having the opportunity to present one vlog post across the unit to feature as an open educational resource (OER) for other students to give peer-feedback along with the teacher's assistance. 

Students who are undertaking this blogging task should be encouraged to engage in HOT skills including consolidation of learning to form a functional whole and reorganisation of learning into a structure through planning (Wilson, 2016) as well as creation. Students who are evaluating with comments want to be guided on engaging in collaborative, constructive criticism though the stages of reflection, inquiry, suggestion and elevation (Wray, 2011) while observing the balance of positive to constructive (AISTL, n.d) and responding to the three questions of "Where am I going?", "How am I going?" and "Where to next?" (QCAA, 2019b, p. 1). Also the global nature of the web means that students could receive comments from people who are going through similar material across Australia and further (#StudentsTeachingStudents, 2017). This leads to the need for teachers to model and support safe, legal and ethical practice.

Modelling and supporting protective practice

In sharing information in the above task, clear issues arise around ethics, safety and legality. Wordpress, the leading blog host and Blogger both restrict usage to people over the age of 13. However, Edublogs, a blogging platform based on Wordpress allow the creation of a class set of sites which are only viewable by those in the class and creates an opportunity for all learners to engage with this technology. Ethical practice comes into play as children share information with others, potentially globally. All schools in Queensland should include rules on ICT in their Student Code of Conduct; this may be agreed by the student and guardian before starting at the school and outlines how students access or share information, particularly on social media (Education Queensland, 2022). It should also be made explicit that inappropriate or sensitive material will be taken down by the blog website as well as the teacher reviewing the material and that the appropriate consequence for such behaviour will be followed as per the Code of Conduct. Alongside making these consequences explicit, teachers should model appropriate digital ethics such as de-identifying private information, using appropriate language, explaining appropriate password selection, demonstrating good password management and considering technology-free time to ensure greater safety.

It is important to realise that as a pre-service teacher in the final semester before entering the Graduate Career Stage, my 'selection of use of a range of resources including ICT' and the 'use of ICT safely, responsibly and ethically' are standards within the domain of Professional Practice under APST 3.4 & 4.5 (AITSL, 2011) and as such are not just part of the curriculum but are a responsibility of workers in this profession.

References

#StudentsTeachingStudents. (2017). Distance Word Problems [Video]. St Andrew's School. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2pYOOb0iYI

ACARA. (n.d.). Learning Continuum of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability (Version 8.4). https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/information-and-communication-technology-ict-capability/learning-continuum/

AITSL. (n.d.). How can I support effective peer feedback in my school? https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/9-how-can-i-support-effective-peer-feedback-in-my-schoolb6069991b1e86477b58fff00006709da.pdf?sfvrsn=67afec3c_4

AITSL. (2011). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Extract): Graduate Career Stage. https://cdn.qct.edu.au/pdf/APST_GraduateStage.pdf

Archer, A., & Hughes, C. (2011). Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. The Guilford Press

Anderson, L. & Krathwohl, D. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Pearson Education Group

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2018). Household use of information technology. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/technology-and-innovation/household-use-information-technology/latest-release

Cazden, C., Cope, B., Kalantzis, M., Luke, A., Luke, C., & Nakata, M. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60-92.

CQUniversity. (2022). Topic 3: Digital Tools 1- Web spaces [Lecture notes]. https://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=2413844

Education Queensland. (2002). Productive Pedagogies: Classroom Reflection Manual. https://rest.neptune-prod.its.unimelb.edu.au/server/api/core/bitstreams/c8f97e94-44cf-55cc-9043-629ca32615fd/content

Education Queensland. (2022). Student Code of Conduct. https://behaviour.education.qld.gov.au/procedures-guidelines-and-forms/student-code-of-conduct

Johnsen, G. (2022). Digital teaching and learning - EDED20016: A challenge to your preconceptions. https://garetharthur.blogspot.com/2022/03/digital-teaching-and-learning-eded20016.html

Liebhardt, M. (2020). Contextualizing approaches to learning in shared language for student outcomes. Inflexion. https://www.inflexion.org/download/37903/

Marzano, R., & Kendall, J. (2008). Designing & assessing educational objectives. Corwin Press.

Microsoft. (2022). Word. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/word

Mizpee. (2021). Are PDFs more secure than Word documents? https://www.mizpee.com/are-pdfs-more-secure-than-word-documents/

NG PDF Lab. (2019). PDF X: Free PDF editor & PDF reader. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/pdf-x-free-pdf-editor-pdf-reader/9p3cp9g025rm?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Puentedura, R. (2013). SAMR: Moving from enhancement to transformation. http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/000095.html

Privacy International. (2013). Two sides of the same coin – the right to privacy and freedom of expression. https://privacyinternational.org/blog/1111/two-sides-same-coin-right-privacy-and-freedom-expression

QCAA. (2019a). Essential Mathematics 2019 v1.1: Applied Senior Syllabus. https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/senior-qce/syllabuses/snr_ess_maths_19_app_syll.pdf

QCAA. (2019b). Feedback: Prep–Year 10. https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/aciq/general-resources/assessment/ac_p-10_feedback.pdf

Scootle. (2022). Discover learning resources: Scootle - a national repository that provides Australian schools with digital resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum. Education Services Australia. https://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home 

Screencast-O-Matic. (2022). Capture, create, share. https://screencast-o-matic.com/

Speechtexter. (2022). Type with your voice! https://www.speechtexter.com/

Sturtz, J. (n.d.). Basic Input, Output, and String Formatting in Python. https://realpython.com/python-input-output/

Tin Tepee. (2017). Motorhoming 101 - Repairing Corner Seal - Part 1 (vlog). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m15IKA9w0RA

The Centre for Practical Wisdom. (2008). Can Academic Blogging Advance Wisdom Research? The University of Chicago. https://wisdomcenter.uchicago.edu/news/discussions/can-academic-blogging-advance-wisdom-research

Travels of a Tin Tepee. (2017). West Germany (blog). Wordpress. https://wordpress.com/post/travelsofatintepee.wordpress.com/146

UNSW. (2021). Blog, Wiki or Forum - which should you use? The Teaching Gateway. https://www.teaching.unsw.edu.au/assessment-blog-wiki-or-forum-which-should-you-use

Video LAN Organization. (n.d.). VLC media player. https://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Websitesetup. (2022). How Many Websites Are There? https://websitesetup.org/news/how-many-websites-are-there/

wfass1. (2019). Systems (Video). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--oOyVruZ08

Wilson, L. (2016). Anderson and Krathwohl – Bloom’s Taxonomy Revised: Understanding the New Version of Bloom’s Taxonomy. https://intranet.ecu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/772867/Understanding-the-New-Blooms-Taxonomy-Wilson-2016.pdf

Worldometer. (2022). Current World Population. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/

Wray, E. (2020). Rise model. https://www.risemodel.com/