ICT in Primary Education - Week Three Reflection

Whoa!  Good thing the weather was rotten this weekend because I spent a lot of time learning about teacher-y stuff so that I could understand how to do my first assessment (creating a 'Learning Object using ICT') for my ICT in Primary Education MOOC.  It was time to learn about Bloom's Extended Digital Taxonomy, assessment rubrics and even a bit more about the New Zealand Curriculum.  It was definitely more outside my comfort zone than previous weeks but I stuck at it and I've just submitted it - Yay!

Week Three was all about 'Pedagogical changes achievable through ICT'.  Here is a quick look at what was covered this week:

• Learning styles and how to cater to different styles by using a variety of teaching methods from each of the categories.
• I read pages 40-46 from another really useful UNESCO report.
• I did a personality quiz and one on my type of intelligence - what fun!
• I read an interesting article on how to deepen student learning.
• I thought this UNESCO book on 'How Children Learn' was fascinating.
• It was nice to see a link to a report by a New Zealander on Bloom's Digital Taxonomy.  I was a proud Kiwi!
• This site has over 2,000 learning and performance tools.  There is also this Learning Technologies Pearltree.  Both are useful sites if you want a range of tools that can perform a particular function.
• We covered 21st century skills.  I think it is worth keeping these in mind when creating any learning activities.  As well as being useful for surviving in the job market I also think they are skills that engage students in their learning.
• I found Kathy Schrock's site which links Bloom's to iPad apps (and other tools).
• We looked at some examples of teaching with ICT, including this Canadian government information, and this series of videos from a Hungarian school using tablets.
• I also enjoyed this video on "How Youth Learn: Ned's GR8 8":

There was actually lots more really useful information but I need to get on with my learning for next week!  I am sure Coursera will run this free course again and I highly recommend it.