ICT+Justification

__ Justification of ICTs embedded within the unit of work __


 * Wiki **

Wikis promote social constructivism and connectivism between students. Social constructivism involves learners constructing meaning in a social context through peer collaboration that extends their learning further than would have been individually (Snowman, Dobozy, Scevak, Brer, Bartlett & Biehler, 2009). Connectivism is the extension of knowledge through seeing and reflecting on peers work, having access to a wider range of resources and understanding concepts and content as a result of personal interaction (Siemens, 2004).

According to Vygotsky (1978), the process of exchanging ideas will not only encourage engagement with material but promotes critical thought. Students are guided through the process of various higher order thinking skills such as Bloom’s Taxonomy and Edward DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats, before refining the final product through a SWOT analysis to eliminate the less relevant or non-functional ideas and consolidate the considered final product. Through incorporating collaboration and cooperative learning intrinsically into the learning sequence, it extends student’s knowledge as well as allowing learners to feel ownership over their work and learning (Fragenheim, 2010).


 * YouTube Clips **

YouTube clips were used to enhance student’s connection with curriculum content (Dreon, Kerper & Landis, 2011). The ICTs functionality in this case was to expose students to the formats of a variety of playgrounds and to enable a refinement to suit the design brief. It allowed learners to individually and cooperatively analyse information and evaluate the real life implications delivered via the use of this ICT.


 * Prezi **

The purpose for utilizing a Prezi was to allow students to reflect on the Technology Practice Cycle and to document the stages of their 3D playground design to illustrate their enhanced collaborative knowledge regarding playgrounds. Prezi promotes the use of multimodal tools to enhance organisation, presentation and visual documentation of learning.


 * Voki **

Students’ developmental needs are met in an engaging way with this tool enabling information to be delivered without the use of text or direct teacher communication (Snowman et al, 2009). It was mainly used to provide essential information and as a scaffolding tool to guide students sequentially through the task.


 * Bubbl.us **


 * Online Documents **

Online documents were used to provide relevant, informative and safe documentation to enhance student knowledge regarding style, complexity and range of possibilities available for safe and creative playground construction. Information is provided in a concise manner to eliminate the need for indiscriminate searching and to utilize the available class time constructively.


 * Word Documents **

The word documents were employed to analyse the key features of local playgrounds and to refine their selection of components in their group designs. They also provided information regarding the twelve types of play to be considered when designing their final product.