The importance of becoming a reflective practitioner - Rewrite

Becoming a reflective practitioner is in many ways an extremely useful tool to enable us, as humans to reflect on life experiences. Every day is a new experience, and with each new experience comes an opportunity to critically evaluate past events. Tanti (2015) argues that through education it is essential that learning is based on life experiences. Through critically reflecting on experiences, we as humans are able to understand the meaning of such experiences, enabling us to make connections with daily events, whilst also understanding the consequences (Tanti, 2015).

One very valuable experience through education is the idea of teachers and pupils realising and valuing their connection with the outside world. In order to achieve this, one must also realise that education is so much more than just topics and set experiences and must include the learner's life experiences wholly (Tanti, 2015).

Experience and thought are not the same. All experiences are not necessarily educative and only can be meaningful when value is applied. The idea that humans learn through knowledge alone is seen as a false psychology. Along with knowledge, there must be meaning applied to education, through thought (Tanti, 2015).

In my limited experience with blogging, I am starting to see the benefits of reflecting on my practice, allowing me to carefully evaluate past experiences to continuously improve what I was doing and find better ways in which to present my findings. Having received feedback from my peers I have been able to apply that to my posts and improve upon my skills which will enable me to build upon my critical thinking skills when teaching students in the classroom.

References:

Tanti, MHM. (2015). Applying Slow to ICT-rich education: A vision for the ‘long now’. University of Sydney, Australia. (pg 138 - 149). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2123/14329

Feedback from original post:

Original Blog post:

Blog post 1: Why do I need to become a reflective practitioner?

There are many attributes and tools required to become a reflective practitioner. In order to be able to reflect on a particular scenario or set of events that I may be faced with in my future studies and career, involves me having the ability to think critically, effectively interpret and evaluate what really happened and then implement changes to better myself. Davis (2006) explains that blogging can be a very effective tool to strengthen student’s capabilities by providing improvement in strategising and enabling stronger technical approaches with reflective writing. I will use this blog to reflect on my practice and to help with my professional development. Duffy and Bruns (2006) describe that educational technology extends far more than just a means of feeding students data. He believes that the digital language allows for the exploration of technological advances, which enable students to share and reflect critically and collaboratively.

In my limited experience with blogging I am starting to see the benefits of reflecting on my practice, allowing me to carefully evaluate past experiences to continuously improve what I was doing and evaluate better ways in which to present my findings. There is also an amazing ability to connect with others through comments and appraisals of my posts, receiving feedback is not only empowering but also helps me understand how important collaboration is for learning, as well as teaching me the need to be flexible in the classroom while working on my critical thinking skills to master teaching a large group of students with different learning capabilities.

References:

Duffy, P. & Bruns, A. (2006). The use of Blogs, Wikis and Rss in Education. A conversation of possibilities. In Proceedings Online Learning and Teaching Conference (pp. 31-38). Brisbane. 

Davis, A (2006). Blogs and Pedagogy. Edublog Insights. Retrieved from http://anne.teachesme.com/2006/05/31/blogs-and-pedagogy/

Blog Post 3: An understanding of how changes in technology impact on the way humans communicate and the ethical issues that surround these changes

                                                                Fiore (2017)

Changes in technology have impacted the way in which we as humans communicate, creating ethical issues and being a major cause of disconnection amongst human beings. There has been a large decline in intimate human contact since the development of social media and portable communication devices. Previously communication was much more meaningful between people and conversations were a great way to connect. Since the implementation of social media, a simple birthday post seems to suffice rather than making the effort to call a friend or loved one.

Tardanico (2012) argues that amidst technology individuals can easily hide behind text and varies other sources of digital communication. This is due to the fact that the written word does not present tone therefore quite often vulnerable individuals will fall through the cracks potentially creating a situation where the individual could be vulnerable to self-harm instead of receiving much-needed help which can easily be obtained when an audience can see the warning signs that someone is not ok.

Social media has also become a way to hide the fact from fiction, when unhappy with their lives or situations; it is very easy to create a pleasant scenario to hide the real problem that they may be faced with. By doing this they are creating a situation where they feel better about themselves without ever dealing with their circumstances, these individuals are becoming vulnerable to various ethical issues. Social human contact can be very important for creating strong and lasting relationships which help people to be satisfied and happy, in turn, feeling better about a situation or themselves.

Reference:

Fiore, M. (2017). KQED - Facebook. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/07/492871024/facebook-and-mortality-why-your-incessant-joy-gives-me-the-blues

Tardanico, S. (2012). Is Social Medica Sabotaging Real Communication? Forbes.com. Retrieved 22 September 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/susantardanico/2012/04/30/is-social-media-sabotaging-real-communication/#4f730a672b62 

Blog post 2: Is there more to online games than fun?

Online games can be so much more than just fun; they have become a great learning tool to use for engaging children in educational but fun activities. This can be seen in gaming programs designed to supplement classroom learning through the inclusion of fun activities. Some of these games include Reading Eggs, which is a literacy supplement full of fun activities and games enhancing literacy skills as well as Mathletics providing numeracy support in a fun way. Ong (2013) suggests that children are more receptive to complex ideas when they are taught in a fun and engaging way using creative strategies. He also believes that learning does not always need to be purposeful and that children absorb more valuable information during fun gaming experiences. With this information, gaming in and outside of the classroom would be an effective tool to implement into the current curriculum, as all children respond to different learning methods this would be an ideal tool to supplement learning.

Children thrive in positive learning experiences, which is enabled in the use of online gaming. These games can prove children with engagement in activities that reward and progress through levels providing instant gratification. By providing instant gratification children are praised for constantly doing well in a particular task and encouraged to continue gaming. When children receive this gratification they feel happy and are ready to face the next challenge with a positive attitude.

Reference

Ong, A. (2013). What are the benefits of playing online games for children? Positive Parenting Connection. Retrieved 21 September 2017, from http://www.positiveparentingconnection.net/what-are-the-benefits-of-playing-online-games-for-children/