Week 7 Reflection

This week we started with an overview of computational thinking which involves a set of problem-solving skills and techniques that software engineers use to write programs that underlie the computer applications you use such as search, email, and maps. The digital learning challenges this week were to construct ideas to use generic software such as Word to teach abstraction, study ideas to teach coding at the Learn Code website and to interactive activities to learn about the components of a computer, and a network.

Next we went on to the Digital Learning Challenge: Algorithms - Abstraction and completed the interactive activity on Abstraction at the Thinking Myself site. The curriculum links for this activity relate to what sort of a learner the student is they may be Sociological, Auditory, Visual or Tactile learners. It is well know that people have different leaning styles that work best for them. The best approach for an instructor to take is to address a variety of learning styles with their teaching plan. In my opinion, for the younger grades this activity would work more effectively if the game was played in groups of four. In this way, all of the students could contribute their own ideas and knowledge. To successfully use Computational Thinking within a Digital Technologies classroom, I would introduce the four categories that computational thinking comprises of; decomposition, patterns, abstractions and algorithm before participating in the 'Thinking Myself' Activity.

Digital learning resources support information processing by helping students to develop mental representations through the mix of media elements presented to them. They combine multimedia elements including text, image, video and audio to present information. Research on multimedia learning have demonstrated more positive outcomes for students who learn from resources that effectively combine words and pictures, rather than those that include words alone (Mayer, 2008).

In summary, this week has exposed various aspects to take into consideration teaching within the Digital Technology classroom and interpret the fundamental skills for teaching in the 21st century.

Reference - Mayer, R. E. (2008). Applying the science of learning: Evidence-based principles for the design of multimedia instruction. American Psychologist, 63(8), 760–9.