Technology Reflection and
Integration Net (TRAIN)[1]
The
TRAIN (or NET) is a tool for reflecting on ICT Integration. It comprises 4
focus areas that together create rich digital learning opportunities for
students.
The TRAIN thinking
What does TRAIN look like?
|
What makes a good learning
experience? All
good lessons have purpose, clarified through:
This
will be the same for a unit plan or program of work; a single lesson; or a
sequence of connected lessons. Setting tasks using the language of Bloom or
similar leads to activities that promote better learning and engagement. |
Focus area 3: What are the best pedagogies to
use? You
will make decisions about appropriate pedagogies for your students: this
might be based around collaborative and group activity (cooperative) where
students support each other in completing a tasks/s; it might be built around
cognitive (thinking) strategies; or a range of pedagogical practices that
you, the teacher, know works best with your students. |
|
Focus area 2: What are appropriate technologies
and can I access them readily? If
you choose to use ICT to enhance units, programs or lessons, you will need to
make an ‘appropriate’ selection of one or more technologies. Your decision
might be based on access and availability or because it/they contribute to
student learning better than some other tools. |
Focus area 4: How do my choices of pedagogy and
technology provide advantage for students? You
should always be using strategies, tools and pedagogies that work to
advantage for students: this might be elaborated on by referencing the Productive
Pedagogies. If there is no advantage, why proceed with
the task! Other
notions of advantage include: making information accessible, making thinking
visible, creating collaborative and cooperative practices and developing a
love of learning (lifelong!). TRAIN does this for teachers also. I guess this
is why this could be described as the ‘concrete
version of the TPACK Game’. |
The
logic behind TRAIN is all about making teacher thinking and practice explicit
and visible, but not burdensome. It is ultimately a succinct statement about
why an ICT activity is good for students.
|
The
task, the content and the context. If these are written with cognitive and
cooperative strategies in mind, they will engage more students. Using the
language of Thinking is a good idea: Bloom, Garner, de Bono, Tony Ryan, Eric Frangenheim
etc. |
|
What
are the technologies available? Which are best suited to the task I have
asked my students to complete? |
|
What
are the most appropriate pedagogical approaches to use? How will the activity
be organized? |
|
What
are the advantages these decisions bring for my students? Refer to the
Productive Pedagogies for answers to this. |
|
Content/Contexts |
Task: Prepare a news report
on the impact of Global warming and the SOSE
emphasis and literacy
integration |
|
Technological enabler/s |
Computer
and Internet access Video
camera (or web cam as last resort) Windows
MovieMaker or GarageBand Audacity
or similar if video not used. (create a podcast instead) NOTE: Safety around Internet access necessary |
|
Pedagogical perspective/s |
Learners
work in groups of
4 to become ‘instant
experts’ on the issue. A
1:4:P:C:R strategy (cooperative) will be
used. Internet
research and critical analysis of
research data |
|
Pedagogical advantages |
Collaborative and cooperative emphasis with peer review at the
C:R section. |
The
highlighted text shows the key words/ideas that show the key ideas of good
pedagogy in conjunction with ICT.
If
you like this, enjoy. Play with it, change it! It’s yours. And thank you to
Punya and Matt for the inspiration behind
this idea.
The 1:4:P:C:R strategy
An original idea by Eric Frangenheim
(http://www.rodineducation.com.au/)
Use the 1:4:P:C:R to generate
and develop ideas and produce solutions
1 Brainstorm and write individual ideas 4 Discuss these individual ideas in groups
of 4, establishing the merit of each P Publish a consensus from the group of four: this could be on
paper or in a Blog. C Circle the room (if on paper) and discuss ideas/products of
other groups. Collate feedback for next step. R Return, reflect, refine and re-publish based on feedback |
John Hunt is an Adjunct Senior
Lecturer at the University of the
[1] These materials
have been developed using ideas that grew from reading the works of Punya
Mishra and Matt Koehler. It’s a sort of TPACK Game V2.