Wiki Phone Exercise

This exercise is from Week 2 and what you are seeing is only the reflection section of the assignment. Prior to writing this blog I participated in a Wiki debate using Bono's six thinking hats. As I am still in the 'I hate you technology' phase of learning about ICT ( remember the days when it use to just be IT), I chose the black hats side of the argument.  This half of the assignment has two components. The first is the reflection of this exercise as a learning tool, and the second is how does this exercise relate to the main learning theories, behaviourism, constructivism, cognivism and connectivisim. 

Section One

 The reoccurring themes within the black hats section of the Wiki 'phone use in classrooms' debate included viewing inappropriate material during class time, potential for bullying, cheating, and possible discrimination against students without personal mobile phones. Something else to think about is the risk that mobile phone use in classrooms will reflect a reoccurring trend found outside of the classroom where phones interference and sometimes remove normal face to face verbal interaction. 

One issue I hadn't though about before it was brought up was the issue of privacy when personal phones are used as a teaching tool within classrooms. Does a teacher have the 'right' to review a students personal phone? So how about if the phones are school property instead of personal? My take on this is that there is already better technological options available that school could purchase for classroom use that would work better, likely be cheaper in the long run and are much more controllable.

In summary the black hat side of the debate is concerned with the limit means of control inherent with the use of personal mobile phones within classrooms.

In regards to the use of the Wiki forum as a teaching exercise, my personal experiences was not positive. This was the first time I have tried to use Wiki and it keep freezing before I could finish writing. I also discovered when I returned to the forum that my comments had not actually saved.

 I have done a similar exercise in a classroom which was effective in presenting the different perspectives in a fun and informative way. It worked best with only a few participants in each group as this allowed everyone time to present their ideas  within the group and them compare the group ideas with the other groups within the allocated time. With larger groups the internal group discussions often went overtime. This time issue is something that the use of Wiki reduces as the activity can go other a longer period and to be fare, it does allow the use of group activities for distant students.

For me personally, Wiki is still in my personal 'I hate you category' reserved solely for technological gadgets and tools that annoy me.

Section Two

I believe this activity is more cognitive and constructive more than behaviourists as it is more learner based than teacher based and focuses on first presenting internal thoughts, comparing these thoughts against other people's thoughts and then evolving into a joint consensus but still acknowledging other view points.