Where to start?

Well where to start?

This journal is primarily to write down my thoughts, reactions and insights as I travel through the world of a post graduate student. I'm currently studying for my Graduate Diploma in Learning and Teaching and so far the course is fascinating. Lots of hard work! But fascinating. To start with, I'm just going to write down a few ideas and thoughts that have been floating around my head in the last few weeks.

About me.

Just to start though, I thought I'd share a little bit about me.

I am an Aussie, even if my strange mix of an accent doesn't always suggest so. My parents moved my family when I was younger and consequently I spent 13 years in England, so unlike most people on the GDLT course I didn't go to school in Australia, instead I completed all 13 years within the English system (GCSE's and 'A' levels for me). As soon as I finished school I spent 3 months in Fiji on a volunteer conservation expedition before moving back to Australia to start my undergraduate degree in Marine Biology and Aquaculture at JCU in Townsville. I completed my degree in 2007 and began working as an Aquaculturalist on prawn farms around North Queensland. After 2 and 1/2 years, and a location change, I decided my heart wasn't in the job itself but in teaching people about it, and that I really wanted to get back into education, but from the educators point of view! And thats what brings me here.

Anyway, enough of that.

The ideas of ICT use in classroom is one that intrigues me. Ever since the residential school I have been constantly thinking about ways that I would attempt to integrate technology into the classroom within the subject of Science. My own education was aided greatly by the use of technology, and I am a technology junkie, as most Gen Y kids are.

Being dyslexic, I was granted the use of computers in the last 2 years of my schooling in England and I relied on them greatly during my first undergraduate degree too. I do feel that computers (and technology in general) allow students a greater sense of autonomy and ownership of their learning. Just for example, to be able to utilise Google to search for answers instead of feeling stupid for asking a question was something that I leapt on during my time at school.

When I think back over my schooling its really interesting to me to see now how teaching and educating has changed in the few years since I have been out of the classroom. The idea of LMQ's and DOL's are something that I'm sure most of my teachers had never thought of!

Rote learning and teacher centered approaches are all I can really remember from my time at school. Thinking back on it now, I can understand why this is so. The English system runs off one curriculum with one standardised assessment which is carried out across the country. Our teachers would have been informed of what we needed to know and when we needed to know it by, so I can understand that they did not have much leeway as far as content and unit planning was concerned.

Those are just my thoughts on the day. Turning off now as I'm participating in Earth Hour that starts in 8 minutes.

Those of you that aren't aware of what I'm talking about should check it out http://www.earthhour.org/

Those that are.... hope your hour is full of fun!!