Blog Prompt!! #1

To be honest, I class myself as a geek/nerd. I become very involved (obsessed) with certain fandoms (books, movies, television shows). It was because of this “personality quirk” that I became involved in video making. I have made probably about 100 videos of my favourite fandoms in the last five or so years. I first started with Windows Movie Maker, as I had used that in high school. I saw online though, that Sony Vegas was a much better program, as it had so many more options. About three years ago I finally bought Sony Vegas 9 (I think). Oh my god…. that was very new!!!! I got frustrated so many times. Instead of just cutting and arranging clips to music, I also had the opportunity to add effects, change audio and the whole aspect of rendering was frustrating. I now have Sony Vegas Pro 11, and have started making my own colourings too, and I still get annoyed when the entire program shuts down (too many clips from different sources at one time) or the rendering takes hours….. However, I must say I’m proud of (most of) my videos, I get excited when it gets one view!

My Mindset

My results from the Mindset Test says “you agreed with 0 of Fixed Mindset statements and 8 of Growth Mindset Statements.You have mostly a Growth Mindset.” I’d like to think that was true! I do think that nearly everything is adaptable, that you change your learning and understanding of certain things. I’d also like to think that I have a growth mindset when it comes to ICTs. I often tell my Mum that I just play around with new technologies (phone, computer etc.) and can pick it up quickly through exploration when she asks me for help in learning something new. Exploration is key!

Critically reflect on my theories

In my first year of studies, I completed a birth to 8 course. In this course I came across the Piaget’ Cognitive Development Theory. This theory states that there are four stages of development that children go through – sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Although I haven’t personally worked with infants, I do agree that from my observations, that younger children do have different thinking to older children. If these stages are understood, then the teacher (i.e. me) will be able to adequately create learning activities and assessments that are appropriate. However, I don’t think that all people go through these stages in the same timeframe. If we look at students that are intellectually disable, for example, they may not reach the stages at the same time as another child with no intellectual disabilities, or even an extremely gifted child. There is also the trouble of clearly identifying which stage the child is in – are all stages easy to identify and therefore classify the children in.

Reflection – Can you think of examples of courses you’ve taken in your university study where ICTs have been used to transform (to think differently) your learning experience?

There have definitely been some courses where the ICTs used were vital to the learning, however, this semester I am also taking two Mathematics-based courses, one of which uses MyMathLab Global. This site is completely different to any other course I’ve done in terms of delivery. Each week, I have to complete practice questions and then quizzes to gain Mastery Points. Usually in my courses, I simply view the lectures and readings and then write an essay or something similar. I absolutely enjoy the variation (it makes it feel like a video game!).