Microsoft and Me

This should read Microsoft or Me as my email was .mac, then .me now it's .icloud. All of these are Mac addresses. I am a child of the Apple Mac, which brings its own rewards and frustrations. 

I have no option other than to use Microsoft  products because Office ( in the person of Bill Gates) began its world domination in 1988 with the first release of the Office Suite of  Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint. in fairness it has proved successful, over a billion users were record in July 2012.

The reason I have no option is that the Office dominance means that even though I am a staunch supporter and early adopter of Apple products; I have to use Office and in particular Word constantly to allow communication between myself and students and fellow staff. 

This is the biggest headache for me as a Mac user as the later versions of PC based Word are incompatible with the older versions released for Mac leading to desperate searches for conversion software to allow me to open documents and read them. Then the fun really starts as Office does not read operational shortcuts from a Mac document in the PC version, you can spend hours finding, resizing and positioning art objects in a document only for the PC version to contain just spaces and no images!

So in summary I Hate that I have to use Microsoft but put up with it until another option presents itself or the versions on Mac and PC are finally and wholly compatible.  

The Value of Mobile technology in Teaching and Learning

mobile learning makes a difference

The above are two examples espousing the positive benefits of mobile learning, one video and the other a link to an article about a study of the benefits of mobile technology. The article describes a wireless project that is sponsored by qualcomm that provided android tablets and wireless access to children in two year groups at two public schools who previously had limited access to this technology. The impact was demonstrable and measurable.

The above video is looking at the benefits of technology in Turkey, where mobile learning lorries (called fireflies) tour schools who do not have the resources to access traditional ict equipment. the second part of the video discusses certain reticence amongst teachers who feel a little usurped in their role as the Holder of Knowledge that is the traditional Gatekeeper  idea of teaching. this is mirrored by one of the students in the top video who puts this into his own words.

Mobile technology and teaching.

Mobile technology is a double edged sword when it comes to teaching. In a positive way you can use mobile technology to access internet learning when in a space without conventional internet access
 (assuming smartphone and tablet access and also  a 3G signal).
I have used a personal laptop to show students a powerpoint on the various sculptors and techniques that we will be studying through the course and several students took notes on their mobile phones, one even photographed a screenshot of a particular artwork.  Where the prerequisites apply you can use the internet as a teaching/ learning tool in the middle of a field.

 An example of this is a piece of sculpture at the top of a hillside that has a QR code next to it. The code and a reader on a smartphone allow access to whatever  information that the artist has put online relating to the sculpture.
I often use my iPhone to look at reviews of books to decide if they meet my needs, I have also used my iPhone to buy a text book seen at a museum or galley for a better price online once I determine it to be useful.

The other side of mobile technology is that their ubiquity and usefulness as a means of accessing the internet can lead to students using them inappropriately during lessons. This can cause disruption and lead to problem behaviour that makes classroom management more difficult.
The speed and guile with which students can use the camera on phones or type into a search engine  can be challenging to control. The fact that many phones are small makes it difficult to police their use during lessons where they are a distraction at best and a complete nuisance and point of contention at worst. The current generation of  16-18 year olds use their phones and tablets as an extension of themselves and checking their status updates on Facebook is more important to many than the lesson you are trying to teach.  The students are very adept at using the technology to appear to be on task when in reality they are messaging friends and watching videos that are irrelevant to the task set in a learning environment.

Musings on the applications used during this ICT Module

I was quite resistant at first, I am comfortable using Computers, in particular Apple products for what it is I need to do; basic work involving word processing, writing schemes of works and lesson plans assessment and unit briefs. I have dabbled with photoshop and been sucked into the world of Farmville ( 18 months now without so much as a single chicken or present- Taking each day as it comes) but I really did not see the need for all of this social media for my teaching or my role teaching students.

I also have access to just a blackboard in my classroom with little or no wifi and intermittent 3G signal 

( I know what it is just doesn't work in the room).

As the Module went on I found aspects that were relevant and even dare I say it inspiring, I know it's all about Mandy but still some of what Mandy taught us has stayed with me. If i prepare a powerpoint now i have a useful set of tips and tricks to not make it a snoozefest. I can embed videos, I am able to at least to try and use the limited Internet access I have in a creative way with my creative students. If we ever get iPads (unlikely, but you never know) I will be able to use the apps shown to set up teaching sessions that work like magic and really engage my learners, who really will benefit from the creative aspects we have been taught.

I feel I would have benefitted more in a teaching environment where the technology is available or better fully embedded and I intend to look at my local primary school and discuss the ICT uses there as they are far ahead of FE in the use of ICT.

Overall I have learned that ICT is a really staggeringly engaging tool for the communication of ideas if used properly by an enthusiastic and knowledgable teacher- it's all about Mandy again!

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