The Glorious place

What is the best way to learn and more importantly for this subject, what is the best way to learn using ICT’s.

So far we have examined three main frameworks. Engagement Theory (1999) Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) and Tpack (2006). After carefully considering all three frameworks I have decided that it is probably best if you take little bits from each framework to create, a framework that you can cater towards both your subject area (mine being PDHPE and business) and students needs.

Whilst reading about the Engagement Theory (1999) I found that alot of what is discussed, is what we as teachers must embrace for our students full engagement in the classroom. The use of technology is so widespread in today's society, so we must adapt and create as many technologically based learning opportunities as possible. The basic principles of the Learning Engagement Theory (Greg Kearsley & Ben Schneiderman) is that students must be engaged in tasks that are meaningful while also working together in a group context to achieve worthwhile outcomes. This can be important when working with students who are lazy or have poor motivation levels I have seen so many times in my previous job as a teachers aide students that had no motivation during a Maths lesson but come time for woodwork or P.E their motivation levels were through the roof. The students need to see a reasoning behind why they are completing a task, in order to feel that it is worthwhile and something that could be useful in the future.

Blooms Taxonomy (1956) Pinpoints three types of learning. Cognitive - mental skills/knowledge. Affective - feelings/attitudes and lastly the Psychomotor - manual/physical skills. Then one of bloom's student's in Lorin Anderson (2001) revised Bloom’s original Taxonomy. She used words like Creating, Evaluating, Analyzing, Applying, Understanding and Remembering. These words range from lower order thinking skills such understanding and remembering all the way up to creating which is a higher order skill.For example an sports science student in his first year at university will at first remember important facts and theories about health and nutrition and overtime will evolve into someone who can create his own theories and exercise programs.

The TPack framework talks about the glorious place, where pedagogy, content and technology come together to meet. This "place" is where effective learning can now take place. As a teacher we must have content knowledge  and know how to deliver this content effectively to his students.

So after reviewing all three frameworks I would start by creating lesson plans that engage students, implementing the use of technology where possible. Back up these lesson plans with Bloom's taking students from lower order thinking up to high order thinking and deliver the knock out blow by visiting this "glorious place" using the TPack framework.