This is my first 'official' blog entry. During the course of the ICT elective we are required to keep a weekly blog on each input. This blog will review and reflect on what we have learned through the weeks.
During yesterdays ICT input we looked at and discussed social media tools and how we all used these. We discussed which of these tools were asynchronous or synchronous. Asynchronous tools can be used by multiple participants giving a common area and source of contact at any point in time. An example of this is google docs. There are however disadvantages to this as response times may be slow and you are not necessarily notified when someone uses the space. I can see how this could be used for a variety of purposes in the primary classroom. For example, to display children's work, for peer assessment, collaborative projects. It could also allow parents access to their children's work which in some cases may show how their child is progressing. Synchronous social media tools are useful in a different way to asynchronous tools. With synchronous tools it is possible to respond to another communicator instantaneously. This means that you can acquire the information you need in a fast, efficient way. Examples of synchronous social media would be Facebook Chat, Skype or FaceTime. A messaging system such as these may be a useful tool in the classroom as pupils could communicate with the teacher or their peers without having to wait in queues or shouting across the classroom. Another way in which it could be used is to share photos, videos or ideas with other class members.
We also discussed Communities of Practice. A community of practice is "formed by people who engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain of human endeavor: a tribe learning to survive, a band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of pupils defining their identity in the school." Wenger (2006, no page) If this is the case, then I believe that a classroom is a community of practice as well, where pupils are working towards common goals and often working together to achieve these. Within schools there may also be a community of practice with regards to pupil welfare. There may be a social worker, a community learning development worker, the schools child protection officer and the class teacher all working together to work out the best course of action for a child that is having problems at home and at school. This collaboration between different professionals working towards a common cause is a community of practice and something that we looked at in depth in 1CM3.
This short interview with Etienne Wenger describes briefly what a community of practice is and how social media tools such as blogs and wiki's can aid a community of practice, however the tools in themselves are not communities of practice.
Another important part of yesterdays input was Belbins Team Roles, It was interesting to see how this could be implemented in our ICT Elective group "iCan". I often find myself co-ordinating a group and implementing ideas, wondering if I am being bossy. I also like to motivate a group and make sure people are 'on task'! I, for this reason believe I would have an 'Action' role! According to Belbin (no date) this role is for someone who We thought about this within the group, each identifying which role we thought we would adopt throughout the elective, it will be interesting to see if we feel we chose the right role at the end of this elective.
This is a table that shows Dr Meredith Belbin and his 9 Team Roles. The table shows the strengths you would need to fill each role.
This input has made me think about how I could use social media tools in the classroom, how and when I may be part of a community of practice and how the roles people take on can influence how a team/group will work together. I hope that throughout the first part of this elective i will learn more about social media tools and gain ideas about how to implement them within the classroom. I will also look into it more myself through professional reading.
References
Belbin, M (no date given). Belbin Team Role Theory. Available at http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/dmg/tools/process/belbin.html (Accessed 17.01.12)
Wenger, E. (2006). Communities of Practice. Available at http://www.ewenger.com/theory/ (accessed 17.01.12)
