Discussions
Two types of affordances and their benefits to learners?
I have read about the affordance of learning from the experience of others. This is beneficial to learners as the experience of others can open the teacher up to many new experiences, ways of thinking, learning and teaching which can be passed on to the students. Another affordance is the social construction perspective which reveals both real and apparent qualities of many facets used to establish communication between students and their peers as well as teachers and their students. Collaborations can now happen countries apart with the use of technology to bridge the distance between the educators and student body as a whole through the use of Skype, Zoom, BBC collaborations, WhatsApp and many other technological advancements (Conole & Dyke, 2004).
Two Forms of convergence
Technical Convergence is when many different technological creations, all with different functions, are combined within one product giving you the flexibility of having many technologies in one place. One example of this is a Computer Tablet which features email, calculator, camera, internet, music, tv shows & movies just to name a few (Roland, 2017).
Service Convergence is when a single network is used to provide many different forms of communication services combined into one package. An example of this is the company Digicel offering Cable, Phone and Internet within their spectrum of services available to customers which are nicely combined into packages (EDTK 2030 Unit 1, 2020).
References
EDTK 2030. (2020). Unit1. Development and Characteristics of ICT. Retrieved from https://2020.tle.courses.open.uwi.edu/pluginfile.php/37548/mod_resource/content/3/EDTK2030_Un
Conole, G., & Dyke, M. (2004). What are the affordances of information and communication technologies? Association for Learning Technology, 12(2), 113-124. doi: 10.1080/0968776042000216183
Roland, C. (2017). The complete and modern guide to technological convergence. Retrieved fromhttps://shape.att.com/blog/technology-convergence#:~:text=An%20example%20of%20technology%20convergence,another%20example%20of%20technology%20convergence.
Here are some guiding questions for you; address at least two; then converse on the topic with your peers:
What types of affordances have you read about?
What are their benefits to learners?
Explain at least two forms of convergence, using real world examples that you have encountered.
Discussion - Unit 1
Discussion - Unit 5
What are higher order thinking skills?
Provide an example.
What are the readily accessible ICT tools in the Caribbean today that can assist with the development of higher order skills among your learners?
According to research by Lee & Lai (2017), they believe that "higher-order thinking is a perplexing concept and could be defined as the use of critical and creative thinking, which enables one to solve complex problems." A great example of encouraging students to use higher order thinking skills comes to mind which I recently used with my Infant year 1 group. These are four and five year olds. We have been discussing hygiene in Science and were discussing why washing our hands is so important. After they gave answers such as "it gets the germs off our hands" and "it washes the dirt away", I asked them why we should wash our hands before eating. This helped them to think about germs entering our bodies and what can happen if they do. This encouraged higher order thinking skills to be used as they thought about the additional effects on our bodies and health if we do not wash our hands.
ICT tools in the Caribbean today that are readily accessible and that can assist with the development of higher order skills among learners are tablets, computers and cell phones (EDTK2030: Unit 1, 2020). These are all tools that children easily operate and students use them to play educational games, do research, complete online work and navigate through online guidance provided by the teacher. All of these help students to make meaningful connections in the subjects they are participating in.
References
EDTK2030: Information and Communication Technology in Education (2020). Unit 1: Attributes and Affordances of ICT Tools and Devices. [Essential reading]. UWI Open Campus
Lee, K., & Lai, Y. (2017). Facilitating higher-order thinking with the flipped classroom model: a student teacher’s experience in a Hong Kong secondary school. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning 12(8). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41039-017-0048-6