EDU80010 - Week 7 - Collaboration - Google Document

Matthew Kirkright Kristy Adams - kirstyaadams@gmail.com

Elinor Zetlin - elinor@kidexpress.com.au
Charisse Garcia- charisse.garcia.cg@gmail.com,
100615433@student.swin.edu.au

To present an argument for why you might encourage your students to

collaborate.
You can achieve and learn more when you work as a team (MK)
In challenging subjects such as Science, collaboration or group work is one of the good
teaching strategies in learning difficult concepts. It can be used when the teacher applies
Problem-based learning approach in presenting a topic (CG)
Collaboration is a general workplace requirement and by teaching students the benefits
early in their schooling they will get the opportunity to practice collaboration skills
throughout their schooling (MK).
Provides scaffolding opportunities amongst students (EZ)
Develops creative and problem solving skills (EZ)
- Teaching the students to develop their creative and solving skills are two
important aspects in their future particularly in practical application (e.g. employment,
financial issues) (CG)
Creates an environment of mutual respect for one anothers strengths and weaknesses,
individual differences, backgrounds and experiences (Killen, 2012). (KA)
Promotes cross-cultural understanding (KA)
Students learn to appreciate one anothers differing points of view (KA)
Encourages students to verbalise and compare their ideas and understandings (KA)
Students less reliant on teacher and more reliant on their own ability to think and learn
from other students (Drake & Mucci, 1993) (KA)
Can teach students to communicate with others (KA)
Promotes sense of shared responsibility (KA)
Collaborative group works assist the learners in developing different identities such as
being a leader, reporter, scribe etc (CG)
Through collaboration, the students are given different opportunities to debate,
brainstorm and discuss old and new ideas in a group (CG)
Creating more collaborative experiences helps the learners get to know themselves more
and evaluate how they react in spontaneous moments especially during stressful times.
The teacher can assist the students reflect on those points help them improve for future
activities (CG)

To create a list of technologies that, as teachers, you can use to enable your
students to collaborate.

Trello
Dropbox
Padlet
Google Docs
Weebly

Versal
https://versal.com/

Doctopus, Meeting Words, Titanpad

Its like Google Docs

Showme Interactive Whiteboard

(CG)

Below suggestions taken from; http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/08/the-top27-free-tools-to-collaborate.html

http://mind42.com/public/5a7b6722-7728-4bf1-abf7-791110d98c46 (great
collaborative mid mapping tool- easy to use and good layout options- insert images, text
and easy to read)
http://searchteam.com/ (students can search the web together, from different
computers)
https://wiggio.com/#tpl=home_0 (another awesome looking tool for online
collaboration- seriously there are just too many to choose from !)
https://education.skype.com/ (skype- specificlly to connect students and teachers)

To apply one of those technologies to a range of classroom activities of the

teams devising. This week the focus of the classroom activity should be on
collaboration.

 I like the idea of Padlet as it is easy for students to be able to add and share work/ideas
without having to worry too much about formatting. Let me know what you all think
(MK).
I also liked using padlet- so am happy to focus on this tool (EZ)
I agree. Padlet is user friendly for primary students. Can focus on the collaborative
aspect without getting too bogged down learning the aspects of a new or complex
technology (KA)
Agree. Students wont feel overwhelmed the same way as when Trello was first
introduced to us =) (CG)
(MK)
So an example that I actually used for another subject assessment in which I had to
prepare a lesson plan and I happened to utilise Padlet in order to share their work.
The lesson was a History lesson for Year 3 students in which they were learning about
celebrations both within Australia and overseas (ACHHK064) and (ACHHK063).
The 25 students worked in groups of 3-4 and selected different celebrations to
investigate.
They had to prepare a paragraph which answered a why or how question that they
formulated. So for example, Why does the USA celebrate Independence Day? or How
is does Thailand celebrate Songkran?
They then share their paragraph to a Padlet page that the teacher has created and they
can see and learn about other celebrations that the class has been working on. They can
paste a picture in there also etc.
A more collaborative approach (the above lesson was not all about collaboration) would
be to have the students all utilise iPads etc and add to their padlet post on their
celebration as opposed to just using it as a sharing tool. It comes down group goals with
individual accountability i.e. give each student in the group some form of responsibility.
(Sounds like an engaging lesson.. thanks for sharing E.Z.). Have you seen any tools like
Padlet being implemented in the classroom ?
I have not seen much use of ICT in the classroom to be honest. The Grade 3-4 I was in
for Prac A used a set of computers which were shared between two classes. They mainly
used them to watch BTN and do their inquiry project. I am in Preps for Prac B and it is
hard to utilise ICT as you want to build their motor skills and there is a lot of cut-paste
activities. We do use class iPads for reading rotations. (MK)

I am guessing apps like Padlet are probably for use in (and dont quote me) Year 2
onwards. (MK)

I did see an interesting use of an iPad app amongst the art teachers called iDoceo
(http://www.idoceo.net/index.php/en/) which was used to mark their role but more
importantly, the take a photo of the student holding their work, and log it against each
student for that date for their anecdotal records. (MK)
I have not been in any practicum yet but I do agree to your discussions. I think before
the children learn how to use padlet they must first get the concept of summarising
information based on their group findings. So I guess its more of a Year 2 and above.
Although, a parent from my work (I work in an early learning centre), shes a teacher,
Year 2 students have started using blogs (CG)
I ran an I.C.T class for preps yesterday on how to copy an image from explorer/google
and past into a word doc. A handful of students were confident with the process and
obviously have had a lot more experience (at the age of 5!) with using computers and
understanding the terminology) while others were very dependable on my help, not able
to work out simple steps on their own. At this age I do not expect too much, and at the
same time after spending just a short lesson on this- they catch on and get-it.
Running this I.C.T session made me realise how I take for granted my fluency in using
computers, the language I (and my family/friends/peers) use on a daily basis and the
expectations I have in being able to quickly access online information and to digitally
communicate- whether in text, email, facebook or skype. teaching the basics to five year
olds really puts things into perspective. I actually can not remember first learning these
processes, but I certainly could not go a day without using these skills.
I realise the value in how I.C.T is first taught to students, and that using the correct
language, using simple instructions, repeating the steps and giving their learning
purpose is essential. When the students get-it and can action the steps independently
they feel success in their abilities and are eventually able to apply their new skills to
more complex and in-depth learning opportunities (EZ).
To identify other tools you found that you can use to collaborate?
Check out the list from the http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/08/the-top-27free-tools-to-collaborate.html website- Ill spend some time exploring these over the
week (EZ) (the cooltools for schools programs were not good.. but the ones here are
fantastic!)
I will also take a look over the weekend and review the list (KA)
I will do the same. Maybe we use the weekend to have a look and come back and
add/discussion on Monday.
Did anyone have a chance to look through any of these? What do you think? (EZ)

You might want to set up expectations and norms for your team as a starting
point (keeping Curtis criteria in mind, as well as Tuckmans stages of team
development, and Wiliams two conditions). You may also want to discuss
accountabilities.

Just some suggestions so please feel free to add/change/edit:

Everyone participates and contributes as best they can (we all have varying workloads and nonuniversity commitments) (MK) Great point- Im sure we all will, but we should also make sure we
nominate members for specific responsibilities to ensure our goals are met and work is
uploaded each week (EZ)
Decisions are made by majority (this is applicable to selecting the collaborative tool) (MK) I
agree with this too (EZ)
team members to log on and keep updated regularly (can we ask for daily?) (EZ)- after my week
I realise that daily is not feasible- Can we aim for twice a week- ?? Having just been hit hard
with the flu while on prac and trying to claw my way through that I agree daily would be a bit of a
struggle!! Twice a week is realistic (KA)
(http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm) Tuckmans stages info :)

I will upload our document to the DB this week. Would MK like to upload our doc week 8 and KA
the final week? (EZ)
Yes that is fine. I will upload at the end of this week and I will also have a look at it tonight (MK 31/8) Thanks MK
Yes, i can do that :) Confirming, I am uploading at the end of week 9? (KA)

EDU80010 - Week 8 - Communication - Google Document

Matthew Kirkright - Hey Matthew & Kristy- would you like to give your text
a colour so its easier to identify? Thanks Charisse for doing this :)
Kristy Adams - kirstyaadams@gmail.com
Elinor Zetlin - elinor@kidexpress.com.au
Charisse Garcia- charisse.garcia.cg@gmail.com,
100615433@student.swin.edu.au

To present an argument for why you might encourage your students to

communicate.

Communication is necessary for our existence. Everyday we communicate with people

physically (talking, body language) and non-physically (email, phone, messenger, online
(google docs within schools), letters, post-it notes) Therefore as teachers we must ensure
our students realise the effects that communicating in different forms can have and how
to minimise negative, misinterpreted and conflicting meaning (EZ).
If you cannot communicate effectively it is very difficult to contribute effectively within
your environment.
Community, school, classroom, sporting team
Communication is how you express yourself and your wants and needs
Effective communication skills enable and empower students to voice their opinions,
ask questions, clarify instructions and essentially creates a more capable learner (KA)
We interact with each other via communication. It is embedded within the curriculum
and is a requirement of all jobs.
Communicating effectively helps the students to understand verbal and nonverbal
meanings of a message (CG)
To avoid conflict, discrimination, stress and misunderstanding between peers (CG)
Encouraging the children to communicate can help the teachers gauge the students
prior knowledge before starting a new topic (CG) By supporting group work, student
lead tasks and class discussions, the teacher will be able to actively assess their student's
communication skills, areas of concern (such as not listening, talking over others,
criticising or not participating) and students strengths (EZ). Communication skills
enable students to effectively engage in the aforementioned classroom
strategies/learning scenarios (KA)
Communicating well can help the students make an unclear topic from a lesson be
discussed among the class -any further questions, unsure ideas (CG)

 As part of assisting the childs critical thinking skills, effective communication is one of
the aspects a learner should develop to apply the different stages of thinking (CG) By
challenging students to communicate an idea in a variety of different modes will help
develop their understandings and critical thinking skills even more, while allowing them
to experience other perspectives and concepts (EZ) This point is also relevant to the
correlation between communication and problem solving (KA)
(great points here MK & CG)
To create a list of technologies that, as teachers, you can use to enable your
students to communicate.
Scribblar
Channel Me
https://versal.com/market/gadgets (check out this site- I signed up for free.. and it
looks really interesting! You create your own online course.. very relevant for inspiring
communication in the digital age. Looks awesome! Once i get my head around it a bit
more i think it could have a lot of potential (KA)
Powtoon
Blogging - e.g. weebly
Imovie, Imotion
Radio (as per weekly reading)
Toontastic
Pic collage
To apply one of those technologies to a range of classroom activities of the
teams devising. This week the focus of the classroom activity should be on
communication.

Ok, so what do you think about this idea..

Communication has many forms, methods, expressions and can result in being
understood, misunderstood or taken for granted. Our students of the digital age will no
doubt be communicating and receiving a vast array of messages and information from,
meaningful, fun, serious, life-changing and inappropriate through to inspiring so it is
vital they realise its potential for good and bad.
The goal:
1) enable students to personally understand what it is like to communicate with limited
sensors.
2) understand how messages and meaning can be misinterpreted by different
people/receivers

Lesson run-down:
Students create a group (6 students per group) on https://channel.me and
https://scribblar.com
Students 1 & 2 search online for a description of something concrete and specific, e.g an
eye, a specific breed of cat, a specific type of shoe.
students 1 & 2 record themselves saying the description.
Student 3 listens to the recording and using scribblar draws what has been described.
Student 4 listens and reads the description and using scribbler draws what has been
described.
The next two students look at the drawings and conduct a google search to find what
they think the image is.
All students document their findings on the scribblar program and present to the class.
Content descriptions:
Science Inquiry Skills- Communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways,
including multi-modal texts (ACSIS110)

Literacy- Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing
content from a variety of textual sources including media and digital texts (ACELY1713)

Creating texts- Use a range of software, including word processing programs, learning new functions
as required to create texts (ACELY1717)

Sounds excellent (MK).Thanks! I have just emailed you an invite to scribblar to check
out could certainly be a good tool to use (EZ)
Hi MK and EZ, scribblar looks interesting (CG) I emailed you an invite to the
communicating room I set-up theres nothing in it but just good to have a play and see
what you could potentially do with students (EZ). Brilliant lesson idea! (KA)
To identify other tools you found that you can use to communicate?

You really have to think about this as a lot of the tools that we (teachers/adults) use are not
going to be suggested for students i.e. Facebook, FB Messenger, Discussion Boards, SMS
Email is something students can be encouraged to use
Also some of the tools we suggested last week can double up for communication
You could use a Padlet type app BUT it does not exactly prompt and/or let someone know that
someone is trying to communicate with them. Similar to this Google Doc. We have to keep
checking to see what has been added.Just like our Swinburne DB- not being able to do a
search on a topic or word to locate past conversations, no notifications when someone has
responded to you are definite weaknesses in this as a constructive tool for collaboration.
Collaborative tools should be easy to use, where communicating to your group is streamlined,
keeps you up to date and on task with the most relevant information and topic (EZ).

The students at my placement school have a TV program that they run once a week live around
the school. It has some pre-recorded segments but it is like a new service and all the classes
tune into it.
Blogging is also one of the good ways the teachers could use to share additional info fro their
subjects. The students could also respond on a weekly basis. Great idea for middle-upper year
levels- connecting literacy, social capabilities and I.C.T skills (EZ).

EDU80010 - Week 9 - Creativity - Google Document

Matthew Kirkright - mkirkright@gmail.com
Kirsty Adams - kirstyaadams@gmail.com
Elinor Zetlin Charisse Garcia

NOTE TO ALL - lets really try and be critically constructive (as the eLA
suggested) this week in order to fulfill the LO3 as well as help demonstrate
how we have helped others learn for the A2. I have added some info below
and I will come back tomorrow and add some more feedback. - MK

To present an argument for why you might encourage your students to be

creative and innovative.
Helps students find a pattern within known information (KA)
Develops imagination, enabling students with the opportunity to bring into
existence something was not before (KA)

 Useful in helping students reimagine something; improving and bettering

existing things (KA)
i.e. Engineering - taking a process/object/system and making it better (MK)
Creativity is innate, not a learned behaviour (Land & Jarman, 1993). Foster
what already exists within our students. (KA)
The creative process encourages and fosters other skills such as
questioning, observing, and experimenting. (KA)
Creativity and innovation are driven by critical thinking. Ideas need to be
generated and this is where critical thinking and creativity is required.
(MK)
Creativity is a General Capability in The Australian Curriculum. It is a skill
that is cross-curriculum and can be utilized in any learning area. (KA)
Creativity and Innovation are critical part of STEM (science, technology,
engineering and maths).
Teachers need to allow students the freedom to be creative with technology and
allow lessons to flow and evolve in a direction that allows for unique learning
experiences. This allows for more engaging lessons and in theory, deeper learning.

To create a list of technologies that, as teachers, you can use to enable your
students to be creative and innovative.

Book Creator
Popplet
Toontastic
Pic collage
Garage Band
Book Creator
Coggle
Comic Maker
Telestory
Edmodo
Soundcloud
Audacity
I think students can use any technology to be creativite. I think the
important part is that teachers allow students to have freedom with the
task.
For example, I could ask my Grade 3 students to record a SoundCloud file
and record their learning goals for literacy.
Alternatively, I could ask them to simply use technology. Some might use
SoundCloud, others might create a blog, others might record a video of
themselves via a video camera or iPad.
My point is...teachers need to think creatively and innovatively when it
comes to lesson and task design. Sometimes it might be a case of not

overthinking the task and letting students have the opportunity to come up
with ideas. Great point - there is no real planning for creativity. As teachers
it is about allowing the students the freedom to express ideas, answers and
solutions with a range of resources. Their interpretation and expression is
where the creativity lies. (KA)

To apply one of those technologies to a range of classroom activities of the

teams devising. This week the focus of the classroom activity should be on
creativity and innovation.
Just a thought for a lesson. I am currently on prac with stage 2/grade 4 who
are learning about the discovery of Australia. At one point they were given
ipads to research early Australian Explorers (pre-James Cook) and then
they wrote up the information in their theme book. I would have liked to
re-jig that lesson and had the students present their information as they
saw fit. The ipads were there so the students had access to a voice recording
on soundcloud, a comic strip on toontastic, a picture collage on the collage
apps etc. Thoughts? (KA)
To identify other tools you found that you can use to be creative and
innovative?
Smartboard (to incorporate videos, images, activities into lesson more
creative and innovative than chalk and talk)
Soundcloud/Audacity (recorded lessons as opposed to live)