Topic 1

Comment posted on Sunday 25th August 2019 on Julia Gale’s Blog

“Thank you for your insightful post – I will definitely be checking STILE out!
Your focus for this post was about the STILE applications personalisation capabilities – does STILE allow for any modifications in regards to accessibility? For example, some differently-abled students might benefit from different text sizes or audio read-aloud of content – although I see there is an option to add audio content, so perhaps this could be added by the teacher if needed.

You mentioned the ISTE standards- perhaps STILE would fulfil more of these standards if it had the capacity for peers to collaborate. I have not used the app so I am unsure if this exists already, but if this was included then it may help to fulfil ISTE standards 6 and 7 for students, that requires students to be creative communicators and global collaborators (ITSE, 2016).

References:
ISTE. (2016). 2016 ISTE Standards for students. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students”

Comment Posted on Sunday 25th August on Diving Bell Education.

“Thanks for sharing your thoughts on TPACK. I have worked with the SAMR model previously and found that when experiencing pressure to be moving towards “redefinition”, some teachers can fall into the trap of prioritising the technology used at the expense of content or pedagogy – aspects which take equal standing when looking at TPACK. An example that comes to mind is teachers experimenting with virtual reality without having a pedagogical or content basis for it. I will say that my experiences in primary schools have been promising in regards to technology implementation. However, I acknowledge that am probably in the minority. The teachers and administration I work with put a lot of time and funding towards being skilled, knowledgeable and well-resourced with technology. I do agree with your observation that the ICT budget seems to be growing exponentially. If it’s not purchasing new equipment, it’s maintaining the old equipment!”