Future Learning Space (FLS) explorations and content

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-My first idea for my future learning space. This has been changed and the final idea can be viewed on the next FLS page.

Mission Statement

The importance of pre-service teacher training through online resources is very significant in today’s society.

My personal mission is to create an online learning page that allows pre-service teachers to discuss and investigate the refugee crisis and how to bring about social change in the future of their teaching, and also to motivate them to focus on the prospect of liminal spaces. This will involve resources and materials online that will assist teachers in the most effective teaching strategies for refugee students in Australia.

Self Direction

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Week seven was all about being a self-directed learner and teacher. I learned that it is beneficial to have a personal taxonomy of learning. The main idea that emerged for me personally was the importance of evaluation and reflection on the work that one carries out. This is essential, as with evaluation you have the opportunity to reconsider the choices you make with your teaching preferences and it also enables you to see your strengths. As I posted on the EDFD459 forum: “ I believe my personal learning space will improve a lot more over time, if I regularly set different aims and goals, consistently monitor my progress and evaluate my strengths and weaknesses. These reflections will allow me to focus on what needs to be altered and what components I am happy with that I could possibly even enhance”.

Electronic Learning Spaces

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Week five’s content was on creating electronic learning spaces as a teacher, which is something I am hoping to be able to succeed in (eventually). I learned just how important technology is in the classroom, and with its expanding nature, it is essential to have the ability to teach with it in the classroom. I was surprised that even social media is now becoming an educational aspect of teaching these days, for example the use of “Twitter”. The use of iPads in the classroom is becoming more apparent also, which I personally think might be crossing the line in terms of providing students with extra distractions, as I have seen this happen on Placement before (children getting distracted and playing games on the iPads etc.). However, I look forward to see what alternatives there are for the learning benefits of iPads.

Learning Space Design

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Week three enabled me to understand that the planning and design of how teachers create effective learning spaces in the classroom goes far beyond the teacher’s preferences. I learned that students benefit from contributing to the design, as they are the ones who learn from the visual aspects of the layout. This enabled me to question just how I would go about receiving this kind of information from the students when I become a teacher. Would I brainstorm their ideas as a class? Would I allow them to set the plan up with me? Who would have the last say in the final touches? I also learned that there are so many elements to creating the perfect learning space, such as vertical lines, window placement, material storage, along with seating each student appropriately. It has allowed me to start thinking about the direction I’d take that ultimately generates a collaborative learning environment for the students.

PLN understanding

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Week two was a very interactive week for me. Creating my first PLN and gaining a better idea of what a blog is, was very rewarding. In addition learning about Web 2.0 (See post “Web 2.0-tags week 2, category-online) allowed me to create a vision for how I would like my PLN to be set out to in order for it to be an appropriate learning space for myself and others. This in turn would create a “positive digital footprint” as a beginning teacher (Hewson, 2013). In other words, it would allow me to have the knowledge and skills to teach students ITC in the future and employ an effective learning space due to the available shared resources and support through the web.

Group Learning Space

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Week Six

I have learned a lot in this unit already about the group learning space. It is important to allow children to work together in an interactive, engaging environment. This enables them to learn from each other and assist each other where necessary.  Children with high abilities can aid children that struggle, which is effective for both those students when learning. Cooperative learning spaces involves children being assigned particular roles, therefore all students in each group can actively participate. Collaborative learning spaces are also important as they provide students with the opportunity to discuss ideas and feed off each other’s suggestions to work together as a whole.

Community of Practice

On By harrietocIn Classroom Spaces, Weekly ResponsesLeave a comment

Week four learning allowed me to learn about the importance of incursions and excursions, being that children have the opportunity to view different ideas, (or social issues for example) through a different perspective (other than the usual classroom routine and teacher).

Community of practice is significant in the way that it allows social interactions to build and relationships between students form to be able to help each other with different issues associated with the topic being studied.

Full participation in these communities of practice programs eventually result in the students becoming situated learners. Whether it be incursions or excursions, the students learn in depth about a specific program and topic, reflecting on the experiences on these excursions/incursions that relate to the understanding the community of practice.