Presentations... ✓

Before leaving behind Practical Work Nº2, we would like to point out how  much we learnt from the class presentations .The great variety of works that our classmates designed presented a lot of tools and resources to use when working with Powerpoint and Prezi. (Thank you girls!)

Another important aspect worth highlighting is how we relate our productions to the TPACK and SAMR models. But first, let us define both models! In SAMR, created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, Ph.D., each letter stands for a level of technology integration (Substitution - Augmentation - Modification - Redefinition). While TPACK, represents the interaction between the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge in a technology learning environment as explained in the website developed by Dr. Matthew J. Koehler.

On the one hand, reflecting on TPACK we have realized that functions (talking about students future holiday plans/socializing their production), vocabulary (verbs related to the activities) and grammar (be going to) were part of the content knowledge we use for this presentation. Pedagogical knowledge was also included along the lesson plan (creating a Powerpoint presentation, brainstorm ideas, watching a video, using online dictionaries, group discussion).

And finally, technological knowledge was especially used to select the tools that will make the students profit more from the content. In this case, the main aim was that the students created a Powerpoint presentation while using internet connection to choose pictures or use online dictionaries.

On the other hand, we have SAMR model, which is divided into Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition. In class, we substituted the typical paper posters for a final presentation with the Powerpoint or Prezi presentation, and by keeping up with technology, we basically motivated students to learn. Internet nowadays helps us to access information around the world, which fosters the students’ intercultural reflection, and it becomes fundamental to the students’ design of the presentations. Technology, then,  is used to recreate part of the task and transform the students’ learning; namely starting a process of creating new tasks, once unimaginable. In our case, students were able to socialize their presentations using the LCD projector, which would not be possible using paper and pen. Plus! Students also had to select images from places around the world, which is another task modified and redefined from that of cutting and pasting pictures from magazines.

To conclude, we can say that both models are very useful indeed when designing and creating tasks and activities. Nevertheless, we found TPACK a bit more interesting. Why? Because using that model you can see more clearly whether the three factors involved are well balanced for a particular teaching topic.