Hello fellow bloggers,
For those of you who have been following my blog a Reflective Synopsis has been written to provide an understanding of the technologies investigated and how I would use them to enhance student learning and make my teaching more effective.
Please click on the following link to access this reflective synopsis.
The Document includes:
: Reflective Synopsis
: Appendix 1 - Technologies Investigated
: Appendix 2 - Online Conversations
: Reference List
My Curious Dangerous Mind (S0154213)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wikipedia and Classmaker
Wikipedia is the first thing that pops up when you search for something on google. This site provides information on almost any topic and it updated all the time. I have to say that I do use this site from time to time but not without using my other research at the same time. As this information can be updated by anyone in the public the user has to be weary of its contents. Wikipedia can be used in the classroom while students themselves are researching a topic. Although students will need to be made aware that this information can be updated at any time by anyone so there will need to be scaffolding to show the students that the information they get from this site will have to be critically analyses (Blooms) with the other information they have researched.
Classmaker is a site where you can create online quizzes on any topic. This site I had never heard of before but think it is a fantastic site and can be utilised in the classroom. This site allows the learning manager to turn boring quizzes/test into an exciting online experience. Weather it be to find out what students already know about a topic of to test them at the end of a unit. This allows students to take a quiz/test in a format that they are interested and engaged in. The learning manager can also provide all the resources that they students need to complete the test and add them to a folder. This can also be used in the classroom for students to create their own quizzes weather for maths, science or SOSE lessons or for gathering information for an assignment. This site, when used by the students, can facilitate critical and self regulated thinking (Marzano & Pickering, 1997), they are posing questions and engaging in collaboration and authentic tasks.
When effectively scaffolded and utilised in the classroom both of these sites can effectively engage students in the teaching and learning that is taking place.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
Classmaker is a site where you can create online quizzes on any topic. This site I had never heard of before but think it is a fantastic site and can be utilised in the classroom. This site allows the learning manager to turn boring quizzes/test into an exciting online experience. Weather it be to find out what students already know about a topic of to test them at the end of a unit. This allows students to take a quiz/test in a format that they are interested and engaged in. The learning manager can also provide all the resources that they students need to complete the test and add them to a folder. This can also be used in the classroom for students to create their own quizzes weather for maths, science or SOSE lessons or for gathering information for an assignment. This site, when used by the students, can facilitate critical and self regulated thinking (Marzano & Pickering, 1997), they are posing questions and engaging in collaboration and authentic tasks.
When effectively scaffolded and utilised in the classroom both of these sites can effectively engage students in the teaching and learning that is taking place.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
- Blooms (2007)
- Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved August 4, 2009. from: http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
- Marzano, R. J, & Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: Teachers Manual. Aurora, Colorado, United States of America: Mid-continent Educational Laboratory.
- McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (2002). Educational psychology: Constructing learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.
- Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education 20(2), p.240-254
- Ten Principles to Active Learning (http://www.idecorp.com/teacher/documents/dowling_002.pdf)
- The State of Queensland (Department of Education). (2002). Productive Pedagogies: Classroom reflection manual. Retrieved July 8, 2009, from: http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports curriculum-framework/productive-pedagogies/
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
E-portfolios and Legal Safe and Ethical Practise
- E-Portfolios can be used for many reason from a collection of academic achievement of a students throughout a unit to a complex professional portfolio. E-Portfolios are managed by the user and can contain various types of "evidence" such as photos, voice recordings, videos, documents, PowerPoints and hyperlinks just to name a few. E-Portfolios are "An E-Portfolio is a purposeful collection of work and information that: represents an individuals efforts, progress and achievements over time, is goal-driven, performance-based and indicates evidence of the attainment of knowledge, skills and attitudes, includes self-reflection, and is a tool for facilitating life-long learning and career development" (Miers, 2005). E-Portfolios allow their user to compile information that they believe is important for the purpose of the folio. E-Portfolios sites, such as Mahara, are an excellent resource that learning managers can use in the classroom in many ways. They can be used to compile evidence on a students learning journey throughout a unit, they can be used to compile evidence on how a students is progressing over the school year, they can be used by the students for assignment purposes, and they can be used for moderation purposes in the classroom. This would be a great way to store students work and ensure that nothing gets lost as it is all kept online, also reducing the amount of paper that is wasted in schools. When used for assessment purposes E-Portfolios fit into many learning design frameworks such as the Engagement Theory (Keirsley & Schneidermen), Oliver's Learning Design Framework (1999), and the Active Learning Framework.
Legal, safe and ethical practise online is a major issue that teachers need to be aware of if they are going to use ICT's in their classroom and this knowledge also needs to be passed onto their students. Teacher are now liable for anything that may happen online that causes harm, discomfort or distress to their students. Therefore it is paramount that teacher stay up to date with the laws of operating online. Some of the main points to remember while operating online is the 10% rule: for most sites and CD-Roms 10% can be copied, printed, downloaded, published or shown (in the classroom and on computers). Educational Purposes rule: if you are using something for educational purposes then it is ok. Reference: everything that is taken from somewhere else and is not original must be referenced. Consent: if you are using students work or pictures online then a consent form must be signed by the parent or guardian. Netiquette: students and teachers must be aware of boundaries. Quality Assured: Ed QLD has sites that are quality assured so that no unwanted content is accessed by the students. This is just a broad overview of some of the laws that teachers must know to get a better outlook click here.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
- Australian Copyright Council. (2009). Australian Copyright Council's Online Information Centre. Retrieved August 12, 2009. from: http://www.copyright.org.au/
- Blooms (2007)
- Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved August 4, 2009. from: http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
- Marzano, R. J, & Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: Teachers Manual. Aurora, Colorado, United States of America: Mid-continent Educational Laboratory.
- McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (2002). Educational psychology: Constructing learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.
- Miers, J. (2005). Professional eportfolios in Education: A definition. Retrieved August 12, 2009. from: http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jmresources/ePortfolio.htm
- Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education 20(2), p.240-254
- Ten Principles to Active Learning (http://www.idecorp.com/teacher/documents/dowling_002.pdf)
- The State of Queensland (Department of Education). (2002). Productive Pedagogies: Classroom reflection manual. Retrieved July 8, 2009, from: http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports curriculum-framework/productive-pedagogies/
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Week 5 and we are on the home stretch to Assessment Task 1
This week as usual I was perplexed with the amount of content, although it was less than previous weeks. It just seems like there is no time to cover the amount of content that we have to but somehow we get through it all with time to spare and have a further play around. The main focus for this week, apart from the applications and websites, was on Legal, Safe and Ethical Operations Online and on the Learning Theories that are incorporated through this course. So I guess the best thing to do is to just start evaluating the applications and sites visited from this weeks tute.
Interactive whiteboards were the first ICT that we looked at. These I am already familiar with and think that they are an amazing invention. Unfortunately not every school is equipped with them and the schools that are are not provided with information or development days about how to use them. As a result of this they are very much underestimated in the education system. With an interactive whiteboard you have endless opportunities to enhance the teaching and learning that is taking place in your classroom. It provides opportunities for collaborative learning from small groups to whole class activities (Active Learning/Oliver, 1999). Interactive whiteboards can be used to work on interactive learning activities that can be located on the internet for any curriculum area, to show students images, slideshows, power points, videos and audio clips to use in learning experiences, it can be used for click and drag activities, and as they are connected to a PC or laptop they can be used to record students ideas and information from brainstorms or concepts maps by either typing into the PC or writing directly on the board and saving the document (Oliver, 1999). The board also comes with software of activities that can be displayed and played on the board. Interactive whiteboards are a great resource to have in the classroom as they also cater for all learning styles (Marzano & Pickering, 1997)This is just a brief snapshot of what is possible on an interactive whiteboard and what can be done is expanding everyday as new software is developed and it is further explored. I believe that the government should be providing all schools with interactive whiteboards, in every classroom, so that teaching and learning can be enhanced.
The next object discussed was a digital pen, which I had never heard of before. This little device is a fantastic invention. Any ideas that are written onto paper the pen records and then that can be attached to a computer (like a USB) and the data can be uploaded and then transferred into a word doc. This is great for those students who are not so tech savvy, who do not have computer at home, or who cannot simply comprehend how to use a computer or who cannot type. By having one of these pens it enables all students to be involved in the use of ICT's in the classroom (The State of Queensland (Department of Education) 2002).
Ning was the next site that we visited. Ning is a site that has multiple communication tools and is like a "project room" in the learning place (http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/). Ning is, like many of the sites we have incounted in this course, and can be utilised in the classroom in many effective ways. In Ning you have a Home Page and any other pages that you want to include, you have a chat room, a forum room, a blog page, a members page, a page for your pictures and videos, and discussion rooms just to name a few. Ning would be a great site to use within your classroom as every student in the class could be a member and then no one from the public and it would be password protected and quality assured as you and you students can control what is included. This can be used as a class site where students can upload their work and creations of any sort, as a class newsletter to inform students on what is happening in the classroom, for students to work on their assignments and then the teacher can watch their progress (formative assessment), it can be used to set up a web quest for a unit of work that is taking place in the classroom, it can be used to host all the information provided in a new unit of work (for example: putting up information sites, learning experiences etc), and for a page that parents can access to view the progress of their child (Keirsley, 1999). This site can also be used within the whole school context also with each teacher having access and sharing their resources and ideas. This site you would have to have password protected so that it is quality insured and no one form that public can post anything that is unsuitable.
The next site visited was flickr again but this time with the emphasis on "creative commons" (http://creativecommons.org/). Creative Commons is a way to provide safe and legal sharing online. "Creative Commons is a non-profit that offers an alternative to full copyright" (creativecommons.org). It consists of symbols that the owner of the content can chose to allow certain types of access to their uploaded content. Flickr describes each symbol as "Briefly...
Attribution means:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work - and derivative works based upon it - but only if they give you credit.
Noncommercial means:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work - and derivative works based upon it - but for noncommercial purposes only.
No Derivative Works means:
You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
Share Alike means:
You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work" (http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/).
This was something that I had never heard of but I believe is a fantastic way to ensure that teachers, students and anyone online is operating safe and legally.
Briefly visited from the extensions of flickr was Tag Galaxy. This site enables you to refine a search and from that search view all the pictures that are available through an interactive 'global' view of the pictures. When you have spotted the picture that you would like to use to simple click on it and take the link to the picture on flickr (which has been protected by creative commons). This can be used in the classroom to take time out of a search as it refines that search and shows all the options available.
VoiceThread was the next site that we visited and with exploration of this site it became much more than I thought it was. With voice thread you and your class can create an in-depth discussion around an image or images through a number of ways of communication. Your comments can be uploaded in multiple ways such as by microphone, telephone, by typing it in (text), by uploading what you have written in a word doc or pre-recorded, and by webcam. You can also preview and edit what you have said if you are not happy (Oliver, 1999). You can also draw on the image if you want to bring attention to a certain point/part. This can also be used to share student’s ideas with people and experts from around the world which can add exceptional learning for students when they are listening to a experts opinion on the topic (Kerisley, 1999). There is also a section on the site specifically dedicated to K-12 learning. "Ed.VoiceThread is a web-based communications network for K-12 students and educators. Simple, powerful and safe, Ed.VoiceThread is a place for creating and collaborating on digital stories and documentaries, practicing and documenting language skills, exploring geography and culture, solving math problems, or simply finding and honing student voices. Watch an overview, visit our K-12 Pricing page, or download our K-12 brochure. An accountable environment where all users on the network are known users, responsible for their content and behaviour. Restricted to K-12 educators, students and administrators, all content is created or vetted by registered members of the community. There are no Free accounts, students may only participate after being added by their teacher or school, and student email addresses are not required" (http://voicethread.com/about/k12/). This site enables students to pose questions (Bloom, 2007), solve problems (Oliver, 1999), work collaboratively (Active Learning) and most importantly participate in an authentic activity (Kerisely, 1999). For more information on VoiceThread click here and take the virtual introduction.
Incompetech was the next site that was visited and I had never heard of. This site enables music downloads that are safe, legal and ethical. It is a search engine that can be used in the classroom for students to add music and sounds to their learning, projects, slideshows, power points etc. This is a great site to use in the classroom as you know that it is legal for the students to download music or sounds. This is a main site that can be used in the classroom to ensure that students are not downloading illegal music or sounds.
Online file storage was the next application explored. This I use on my laptop every week. I have an account with Dell Data Safe Online. Every Thursday night all the files that are on my computer get uploaded and saved online. This is a great application as it enables the safe storage of any documents, pictures, videos etc online in case something happens to your computer, which let’s face it is likely to happen. Now if my computer breaks down or decides to delete everything all my files are stored in my online account. This account I can access whenever I want and can easily get those files. The site that we visited in the tute was Media Fire which is also provides online file storage. This site should be utilised in the classroom to ensure that all students work is safe and will not be lost. This can be used on a weekly or daily basis and be added into the class routine that at a certain time on a certain day the students back up their files. This also ensures that the students can access their files where ever they are. So if they create something at school it can then be accessed at home through their online storage. This site can also be used in a whole school context in the same way. I think that teachers and schools needs to jump on the bandwagon of online file storage because it is all too common for computers to break down and files are then lost, thus hindering the student’s enthusiasm in their work.
All of the above sites and applications that were visited can be effectively used in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning and ensure that students are involved in collaboration, authentic learning, problem solving and pose questions. It can be seen that Keirsley's Engagement Theory, Oliver’s Learning Design Framework, and the Active Learning Framework is and can be incorporated throughout the learning that is and can be taking place through these sites and applications. Constructivism (McInerney & McInerney, 2002) is the main theme that is involved in the learning that can take place through these sites with evidence of Blooms Taxonomy, Dimensions of Learning (Marzano & Pickering, 1997) and the Productive Pedagogies.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
- Blooms (2007)
- Creativecommons.org. (2009) Creative Commons. Retrieved August 3, 2009, from http://creativecommons.org/
- Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved August 4, 2009. from: http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
- Marzano, R. J, & Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: Teachers Manual. Aurora, Colorado, United States of America: Mid-continent Educational Laboratory.
- McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (2002). Educational psychology: Constructing learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.
- Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education 20(2), p.240-254
- Ten Principles to Active Learning (http://www.idecorp.com/teacher/documents/dowling_002.pdf)
- The State of Queensland (Department of Education). (2002). Productive Pedagogies: Classroom reflection manual. Retrieved July 8, 2009, from: http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports curriculum-framework/productive-pedagogies/
- The State of Queensland (Department of Education and Training) (2009). The Learning Place. Retrieved August 3, 2009, from http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/
- VoiceThread. (2009). K-12 Solutions. Retrieved August 3, 2009, from http://voicethread.com/about/k12/
- Yahoo!7 Pty Limited. (2009). Flickr: Creative Commons. Retrieved August 3, 2009, from http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Too many to cover...
It is currently week four and I went into this week’s tute excited and ready to go. Little did I know the amount of content that was about to be covered was going to cause my head to explode! So I walked out of the tute feeling frazzled and overwhelmed. Now the only thing left to do was further exploration of the content covered and to write my blog; so here goes.
The first thing that was covered in this week’s tute was Google earth and maps. This was a program that I knew about but had not used before. After having a play around with these applications I soon began to see their potential within the classroom and believe that these would be a math, SOSE, science and geography teachers dream come true. This application can be used in so many different ways and in different curriculum areas that it is something that I will definitely be using within my classroom. These applications can be used for many things such as; measuring distance, checking the weather in different places, SOSE and science lessons for looking at different locations and looking at specific monuments etc, for showing a class pen pal where you live, and for mapping in geography; just ot name a few (Keirsley, 1999). This application can be used anywhere within a unit of work and can be used in conjunction with many other applications (Oliver, 1999). After just a few minutes I created my own map of uni, which can be seen on the previous blog entry. Anyone anywhere in the world can create these maps and add pictures and voice to them to make them more interactive (Active Learning), these maps can then be viewed by anyone if they are made public.
The next site that we visited was the learning place, at which we now all have a membership for the curriculum exchange resources. This was another site that I had heard of a lot throughout my course but had yet to access. This site provides teachers with endless resources of learning activities, units and lessons on virtually any subject for any grade level (1-12). When you first enter the site you are greeted with "Learn, Share, Create, Join, Discover
Welcome to Education Queensland's eLearning environment supporting 21st century learning" (Education Queensland, 2009), which is the motto for the learning place. The learning place is a site where these four action verbs come alive. "The Curriculum Exchange provides Learning Place members with access to the best available resources for learning through its digital repository - the Curriculum Exchange resource centre which contains: EduSites: evaluated websites relevant to teachers and students, TIPS: teaching ideas, practices and strategies provided by Queensland teachers, EQ learning objects: interactive learning activities, The Le@rning Federation (TLF) learning objects, TLF digital resources: video, image and audio resources from cultural institutions, Media bank: video and audio resources from EQ, and Image bank: a collection of images that can be used for educational purposes" (Education Queensland, 2009). This is a great site that teachers can use to gain access to all of these resources but also upload and share their own units, activities, learning experiences and resources. The learning place is also quality assured so a teacher does not need to worry about inappropriate and unwanted content.
The next site that we visited, although quickly, was Ed heads which is a flash interactive/simulation site. Ed head motto of "activate your mind" (Ed Heads, 2009) encapsulates exactly what this site does. At present there are only a few interactive activities (OLiver, 1999) on this site but the extent at which they teache higher order thinking skills (Bloom, 2007) is amazing. The interactive activities that are available on this site are a great resource that teachers can use in the classroom on an interactive whiteboard or simply in the computer room where each student is able to access the activities themselves. These activities use a number of techniques that help to cater for most learning styles, for example: visual, audio and kinaesthetic (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). With further exploration of this site I’m sure that I will be able to underpin more learning outcomes and uses from/for the activities.
The next things looked at was WebQuests which I had learnt about in a previous course. WebQuests are "an inquiry-orientated activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation" (http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/overview.htm). WebQuests can be accessed and shared by teachers; a teacher can use a previously made WebQuest or simply create their own for use in the classroom and then share it (which is what I was required to do). WebQuests are designed to provide students with learning that requires them to think in the top three levels of Blooms (Bloom, 2007). They are also designed so that there is little teacher input and maximum student engagement requirement (Keirsley, 1999). While interacting in WebQuests students are usually required to work in pairs or groups thus working on their interpersonal skills (Productive Pedagogies). During the tute we created our own WebQuest on Weebly.com, which does not have any activities but explains what needs to be completed in each section.
To access my WebQuest information on Weebly.com click here. WebQuests are a fantastic learning resource that any teacher can use in any curriculum area at any time during a unit. WebQuests are also great to use at an end of unit assignment (Active Learning). If I can find the WebQuest that I have previously created I will hyperlink it or add it in another blog.
That brings me to Weebly.com. This is a fantastic free site that enables teachers, students and anyone to create their own websites or, as previously mentioned, WebQuests. This is a great site that can be used in the classroom for many reasons. (These uses are mentioned in a previous blog where wiki's were discussed) I see Weebly.com as having many of the same advantages and uses as a wiki but with noticeable differences. Unlike a wiki a weebly website cannot be changed by its uses and or added to. You start with blogs then move to wiki's and the next step up is weebly.com. Each of these applications build on from one another, adding and extending what is possible on these sites. I can see weebly being used in the classroom in any curriculum area for any purpose, whether that be at the introduction of a unit, in the middle, at the end, or all the way through. It can also be used as a simple class website, a teachers site for students to access, a student’s site for teachers to access and for WebQuests, just to name a few. The site can be created in many templates and styles and used to cater for any learner (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Weebly.com can also be used in conjunction with other ICT's to enhance and maximise students learning (Oliver, 1999). To access my weebly site click here. Weebly.com is a site that I can see having a lot of potential and uses within the classroom and I would definitely use it within my classroom, along with other ICT's.
YouTube was the next site discussed, although not accessed I am already familiar with this site and its uses. YouTube is a site where anyone from around the world can access videos or upload videos for others to access. This is a great site that can be used in the classroom to show students videos of certain criteria to enhance their learning. Although the problem with this site is that as anyone can put anything up there may be content that the learning manager does not want the students to access. To get around this the learning manager should provide students with the direct link to the video that they want to access or simply present it on an interactive whiteboard where she/he can directly access the video. This site is also great for students to upload their own videos (Keirsley, 1999). The teacher can create a class account and students can upload there videos for assignments or simply progress in their learning (as slideshows can also be uploaded). Although it would probably be best for the teacher to have access over the students are undesirable content could be accessed. Click here for the funniest video on YouTube.
Bubbl.us was the next site that was accessed and they only use that I discovered with this site was the fact that you can create concept/mind maps. Therefore this can be successfully used in the classroom on a daily basis. It adds another depth to the simple concept/mind map but making it interactive and therefore more interesting. This site can be accessed by all students in the class to create their own maps, by the teacher to use in front of the class to create a class map, and by groups of students to create maps for projects/tasks/assignments. Although a great application this, as yet, is the only use I can see for this site.
Quickly accessed next was MyEbook. On this site you can "create, publish and share" (MyEbook, 2008) your creations that could be as simple as a brochure to as complex as a novel. It is completely free to register and use this site, to which once you have registered you have unlimited access to anything that has been created by fellow users from around the world. I have never heard of this site before but believe that it has great potential for use within the education system and in particular the classroom. The categories which can be searched are very wide and the eBooks cover a wide range of genres also. In the classroom a teacher can create her own eBook to present information to the students. It can also be used by the students to create their own eBook on topic that they are interested in, in a genre that they are interested in the format that they chose (Oliver, 1999). This gives the students a sense of ownership over their learning, which research shows, engages students. This can also be used as an assessment template in which students can present their learning (Keirsley, 1999). I’m sure that I have only scratched the surface of the learning and teaching capabilities of this site.
Picasa is another site that can be used within the classroom but has limited possibilities. Picasa can be used to "organise, edit, create and share" (Google, 2009) pictures and photos. There are a number of these sites on the internet that can be access and used in the same way. This site can be used in the classroom for arts lessons and for students to edit pictures for assignments. This site can also be used to host class photos that have been taken throughout the year so that students, teachers and parents can access them at any time and view what have been talking place in the classroom. This site could also be accessed through blog, wiki's and weebly sites through hyperlinks (Oliver, 1999).
Flickr is a similar site to Picasa but takes it a step further by allowing its users to explore pictures from around the world and make items from their images, such as cards and calendars etc. This site can be used in the same way as mentioned in Picasa, with the extension of being able to create certain items.
Learning Management systems are sites that I am in regular use with as they are part of the course that I am currently engaged in. These sites, such as Blackboard and Moodle, are used by course coordinators, tutors and teachers to upload course content and any resources or activities that they want their students to access. Although this is what I know the sites are used for I can also see them being used by classroom teachers in the same way. They can be set up for students to access unit content, project content, and WebQuests and their uses do not stop there. These are a great resource that teachers can use in the classroom for any purpose. On these sties a teacher can also upload Voki's and other interactive activities that can create further engagement and excitement in the learning (Oliver, 1999). Like a lot of other sites mentioned in this and pervious blogs learning management systems can be used endlessly in the classroom by both teachers and students.
All of the ICT's that have been mentioned in this blog can be used to promote students higher order thinking skills (Bloom,2007), engage them in their learning, and enable them to take responsibility of their own learning. The use of ICT's within the classroom is a never ending and always expanding topic. Although this is the case there is one fact that will always stay constant: ICT's provide teachers with engaging and interesting ways to present content to students which enhances their learning capabilities and caters for all learning styles.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
The first thing that was covered in this week’s tute was Google earth and maps. This was a program that I knew about but had not used before. After having a play around with these applications I soon began to see their potential within the classroom and believe that these would be a math, SOSE, science and geography teachers dream come true. This application can be used in so many different ways and in different curriculum areas that it is something that I will definitely be using within my classroom. These applications can be used for many things such as; measuring distance, checking the weather in different places, SOSE and science lessons for looking at different locations and looking at specific monuments etc, for showing a class pen pal where you live, and for mapping in geography; just ot name a few (Keirsley, 1999). This application can be used anywhere within a unit of work and can be used in conjunction with many other applications (Oliver, 1999). After just a few minutes I created my own map of uni, which can be seen on the previous blog entry. Anyone anywhere in the world can create these maps and add pictures and voice to them to make them more interactive (Active Learning), these maps can then be viewed by anyone if they are made public.
The next site that we visited was the learning place, at which we now all have a membership for the curriculum exchange resources. This was another site that I had heard of a lot throughout my course but had yet to access. This site provides teachers with endless resources of learning activities, units and lessons on virtually any subject for any grade level (1-12). When you first enter the site you are greeted with "Learn, Share, Create, Join, Discover
Welcome to Education Queensland's eLearning environment supporting 21st century learning" (Education Queensland, 2009), which is the motto for the learning place. The learning place is a site where these four action verbs come alive. "The Curriculum Exchange provides Learning Place members with access to the best available resources for learning through its digital repository - the Curriculum Exchange resource centre which contains: EduSites: evaluated websites relevant to teachers and students, TIPS: teaching ideas, practices and strategies provided by Queensland teachers, EQ learning objects: interactive learning activities, The Le@rning Federation (TLF) learning objects, TLF digital resources: video, image and audio resources from cultural institutions, Media bank: video and audio resources from EQ, and Image bank: a collection of images that can be used for educational purposes" (Education Queensland, 2009). This is a great site that teachers can use to gain access to all of these resources but also upload and share their own units, activities, learning experiences and resources. The learning place is also quality assured so a teacher does not need to worry about inappropriate and unwanted content.
The next site that we visited, although quickly, was Ed heads which is a flash interactive/simulation site. Ed head motto of "activate your mind" (Ed Heads, 2009) encapsulates exactly what this site does. At present there are only a few interactive activities (OLiver, 1999) on this site but the extent at which they teache higher order thinking skills (Bloom, 2007) is amazing. The interactive activities that are available on this site are a great resource that teachers can use in the classroom on an interactive whiteboard or simply in the computer room where each student is able to access the activities themselves. These activities use a number of techniques that help to cater for most learning styles, for example: visual, audio and kinaesthetic (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). With further exploration of this site I’m sure that I will be able to underpin more learning outcomes and uses from/for the activities.
The next things looked at was WebQuests which I had learnt about in a previous course. WebQuests are "an inquiry-orientated activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation" (http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/overview.htm). WebQuests can be accessed and shared by teachers; a teacher can use a previously made WebQuest or simply create their own for use in the classroom and then share it (which is what I was required to do). WebQuests are designed to provide students with learning that requires them to think in the top three levels of Blooms (Bloom, 2007). They are also designed so that there is little teacher input and maximum student engagement requirement (Keirsley, 1999). While interacting in WebQuests students are usually required to work in pairs or groups thus working on their interpersonal skills (Productive Pedagogies). During the tute we created our own WebQuest on Weebly.com, which does not have any activities but explains what needs to be completed in each section.
To access my WebQuest information on Weebly.com click here. WebQuests are a fantastic learning resource that any teacher can use in any curriculum area at any time during a unit. WebQuests are also great to use at an end of unit assignment (Active Learning). If I can find the WebQuest that I have previously created I will hyperlink it or add it in another blog.
That brings me to Weebly.com. This is a fantastic free site that enables teachers, students and anyone to create their own websites or, as previously mentioned, WebQuests. This is a great site that can be used in the classroom for many reasons. (These uses are mentioned in a previous blog where wiki's were discussed) I see Weebly.com as having many of the same advantages and uses as a wiki but with noticeable differences. Unlike a wiki a weebly website cannot be changed by its uses and or added to. You start with blogs then move to wiki's and the next step up is weebly.com. Each of these applications build on from one another, adding and extending what is possible on these sites. I can see weebly being used in the classroom in any curriculum area for any purpose, whether that be at the introduction of a unit, in the middle, at the end, or all the way through. It can also be used as a simple class website, a teachers site for students to access, a student’s site for teachers to access and for WebQuests, just to name a few. The site can be created in many templates and styles and used to cater for any learner (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Weebly.com can also be used in conjunction with other ICT's to enhance and maximise students learning (Oliver, 1999). To access my weebly site click here. Weebly.com is a site that I can see having a lot of potential and uses within the classroom and I would definitely use it within my classroom, along with other ICT's.
YouTube was the next site discussed, although not accessed I am already familiar with this site and its uses. YouTube is a site where anyone from around the world can access videos or upload videos for others to access. This is a great site that can be used in the classroom to show students videos of certain criteria to enhance their learning. Although the problem with this site is that as anyone can put anything up there may be content that the learning manager does not want the students to access. To get around this the learning manager should provide students with the direct link to the video that they want to access or simply present it on an interactive whiteboard where she/he can directly access the video. This site is also great for students to upload their own videos (Keirsley, 1999). The teacher can create a class account and students can upload there videos for assignments or simply progress in their learning (as slideshows can also be uploaded). Although it would probably be best for the teacher to have access over the students are undesirable content could be accessed. Click here for the funniest video on YouTube.
Bubbl.us was the next site that was accessed and they only use that I discovered with this site was the fact that you can create concept/mind maps. Therefore this can be successfully used in the classroom on a daily basis. It adds another depth to the simple concept/mind map but making it interactive and therefore more interesting. This site can be accessed by all students in the class to create their own maps, by the teacher to use in front of the class to create a class map, and by groups of students to create maps for projects/tasks/assignments. Although a great application this, as yet, is the only use I can see for this site.
Quickly accessed next was MyEbook. On this site you can "create, publish and share" (MyEbook, 2008) your creations that could be as simple as a brochure to as complex as a novel. It is completely free to register and use this site, to which once you have registered you have unlimited access to anything that has been created by fellow users from around the world. I have never heard of this site before but believe that it has great potential for use within the education system and in particular the classroom. The categories which can be searched are very wide and the eBooks cover a wide range of genres also. In the classroom a teacher can create her own eBook to present information to the students. It can also be used by the students to create their own eBook on topic that they are interested in, in a genre that they are interested in the format that they chose (Oliver, 1999). This gives the students a sense of ownership over their learning, which research shows, engages students. This can also be used as an assessment template in which students can present their learning (Keirsley, 1999). I’m sure that I have only scratched the surface of the learning and teaching capabilities of this site.
Picasa is another site that can be used within the classroom but has limited possibilities. Picasa can be used to "organise, edit, create and share" (Google, 2009) pictures and photos. There are a number of these sites on the internet that can be access and used in the same way. This site can be used in the classroom for arts lessons and for students to edit pictures for assignments. This site can also be used to host class photos that have been taken throughout the year so that students, teachers and parents can access them at any time and view what have been talking place in the classroom. This site could also be accessed through blog, wiki's and weebly sites through hyperlinks (Oliver, 1999).
Flickr is a similar site to Picasa but takes it a step further by allowing its users to explore pictures from around the world and make items from their images, such as cards and calendars etc. This site can be used in the same way as mentioned in Picasa, with the extension of being able to create certain items.
Learning Management systems are sites that I am in regular use with as they are part of the course that I am currently engaged in. These sites, such as Blackboard and Moodle, are used by course coordinators, tutors and teachers to upload course content and any resources or activities that they want their students to access. Although this is what I know the sites are used for I can also see them being used by classroom teachers in the same way. They can be set up for students to access unit content, project content, and WebQuests and their uses do not stop there. These are a great resource that teachers can use in the classroom for any purpose. On these sties a teacher can also upload Voki's and other interactive activities that can create further engagement and excitement in the learning (Oliver, 1999). Like a lot of other sites mentioned in this and pervious blogs learning management systems can be used endlessly in the classroom by both teachers and students.
All of the ICT's that have been mentioned in this blog can be used to promote students higher order thinking skills (Bloom,2007), engage them in their learning, and enable them to take responsibility of their own learning. The use of ICT's within the classroom is a never ending and always expanding topic. Although this is the case there is one fact that will always stay constant: ICT's provide teachers with engaging and interesting ways to present content to students which enhances their learning capabilities and caters for all learning styles.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
- Blooms (2007)
- Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education 20(2), p.240-254
- Ten Principles to Active Learning (http://www.idecorp.com/teacher/documents/dowling_002.pdf)
- Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved August 4, 2009. from: http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
- McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (2002). Educational psychology: Constructing learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.
- Marzano, R. J, & Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: Teachers Manual. Aurora, Colorado, United States of America: Mid-continent Educational Laboratory.
- The State of Queensland (Department of Education). (2002). Productive Pedagogies: Classroom reflection manual. Retrieved July 8, 2009, from: http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports curriculum-framework/productive-pedagogies/
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Week three already.....
In Managing E-Learning this week there were a number of applications, ITC'c and websites explored. Some really got me confused and frustrated but after a little playing around I managed to work them out. I’m sure with some more time I could discover many more uses on these ICT's.
The first things we looked at were podcasts and videocasts. Both these applications are very useful for use in the classroom. A podcast is a recording of someone or something that it then hosted on a site (your own podcast or someone else’s) and it available to download or listen to at any time. The beautiful thing about podcast is that you can record anything that you want or access lectures, lessons etc from anyone that you want. You can easily subscribe to certain people’s podcasts and download them through i-tunes as soon as they have been uploaded by that person. Videocasts on the other hand are exactly the same thing but in video format where podcasts are just recording (voice). Video and podcast may well in fact be the future of education. I am not saying that there is no future for the traditional classroom with the students and teacher but rather video and podcast can enhance the learning environment. The soon may come when there are video or podcast recording taking place in the classroom every day. If so this can cater for most learning styles within the classroom (The State of Queensland (Department of Education 2002). They can be used to present new information to the students in a different and interesting way. They can be used to ensure that all students are receiving all the information from learning experiences, even if they are away sick. If these ICT's become a regular part of the classroom then each teacher in the school would have their own hosting site which the students could subscribe to and there for not miss anything that takes place, take responsibility for their own learning, if they did not quite understanding something they can access that lesson/information at any other time and they can also be used for students to create their own for learning and assessment purposes (Oliver, 1999). These ICT's also help teachers cater for those students in their class with learning disabilities. For example a student who is visually impaired or in fact blind would greatly benefit from the use of podcasts with the classroom. Every lesson could be recorded and then given to that student to listen to again after the lesson so that the maximum learning can take place. These are also great for teachers to access a lecture from a professional in a field of study that might be the focus of the students’ science unit for example. The teacher could find a video or podcast on specific information and then present that in class to the students. This is a new and exciting way for the students to hear/see this information being presented from someone other than their teacher. I believe that video and podcasts are the new and exciting future to education, although some may not see the benefits of this I definitely do.
The next application that was looked at was picnik. This is a great site for editing and manipulating pictures or images. There are many editing tools that you can use on this site to edit/manipulate your images. It was really fun to play around on this site as I myself love photo manipulation and photography in general. For use within the classroom though I believe that picnik has limited uses. This site would be great for Arts lesson but apart from that I am struggling to think of interesting ways to use this site. Your students could also use it to edit/manipulate images to use on or in their assignments or projects but apart from that I do see it having any other use. This site could be used on an interactive whiteboard to show students how simple it is to manipulate images and this could be used within a SOSE unit on how the media edits/manipulates images to try and get us to buy their product or influence how we feel about a certain issue (Keirsley, 1999). Picnik is a great site to edit or manipulate picture or images but unfortunately its uses within the classroom are limited.
Feedburner was the next site/application/ICT that was used. At first I really had no idea what this could be used for but after playing around for a bit I had a better understanding. In my opinion a feedburner is just acting like a 'back up' site where you can store all your information that you have on other sites such as blogger. When you look at the site from this point of view you can see the uses for the classroom. If a teacher sets up a 'class feedburner' then everything that the class puts on their blogs, wiki's etc can be stored on the feedburner. This can be great if students are saving their assignments on their blog then this information gets backed up on the feedburner site. As my understanding of feedburn, as yet, is as limited as this I am unaware of any other way that a feedburner can be used in the classroom. I would greatly appreciate my blog followers who are more familiar with this application to leave me comments on how this can be used within the classroom and what else it can do but backup information.
The next application we looked at was Windows Movie Maker. This application I love as I have it at home and have been using it a lot lately. Although I do have this application at home the version that I have must be a later version then the one accessed at university as there were more tools to use. I believe that movie maker can be used with the classroom to enhance students learning and getting students engaged in their learning. Movie maker can be used for students in assignment situations. This is much more exciting than a powerpoint and with the creation of their own movie (which can then be hosted on various sites for the world to see) students take the initiative, get involved, and want to engage in learning (Keirsley, 1999). Movie maker can also be used by the teacher to present new information to the students in an interesting and exciting way. By seeing not only themselves but their teacher in a 'movie' will engage the students in learning as movies are what students are already so familiar with (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Movie maker also caters for most learning styles by being able to use visual and verbal tools (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Movie Maker can also be used as an everyday classroom activity to capture what is happening in the classroom. Not using the program everyday per say but using other ICT's such as cameras and voice records (Oliver, 1999) to capture what is happening and then this can be put into a movie for the whole class to access. Used this way students are able always have a copy of their progress and work that can be accessed at any time. This would also enable teachers to make observations of work that has already taken place. I really like movie maker and I'm sure with more thought I could think of many more way in which it can be used in the classroom. If you, my followers, have ideas that I have not mentioned please let me know.
Wordle and Tagcrowd were the next sites looked at in the tute. I am reflecting on these two sites together as I don't see how they are any different. This may be because I just need to explore them a bit more, so if anyone know how they can be used differently please let me know. With these site you can type in any words or information that you want and they then produce images of these words all scrambled and in different fonts and or sizes. The words that are bigger in the image produced are the words that appear most often in the text. I can see this site will have limited uses within the classroom but that may be due to the fact that I have little knowledge of the site. First of all I can see this being used by students to find the main point/idea in information. They can take a text that they are studying and enter it into this site and when the image is produced the words that appear most often, therefore the main points or ideas in the text, would appear in the largest font. This could make it easier for students to interpret or comprehend the information they are using. This site can also be used by students to express how they are feeling in some situations or what they are confused about in new information that is being presented. Students could create these images and then present them to their teachers. Therefore the teacher would know how they are feeling or what else needs to be re-touched on in their learning. The only other use I can see in this site (but probably not the last) is the use for spelling (idea from Dean Pickup). Dean stated that these sites are being used within his placement classroom for students to learn their spelling words. Each week they type in their spelling words, the ones they got wrong more often, and this image is then printed out and the students can see the ones they got wrong more predominantly. (Dean if I have gotten this wrong please inform me of how this is exactly used) Other then what has been stated above I cannot see anymore uses for this within the classroom.
Last but not least we looked at Voki's. These on the other hand, I believe, are a great application that can be utilised by teachers. Voki's create a new and very exciting way of presenting information to students on any subject at all. The teacher can create their own character to use in the classroom and could create a character for each subject. After the character has been created the teacher then chooses the voice of the character (or your own voice can be recorded) and then what he/she wants the character to say. I can just see this application being used in every facet of teaching and learning. It can be used to present new information, to co-teach with the classroom teachers, and even for students to use to present information that they have discovered or to present their assignments (Keirsley, 1999). Students can also create their own character which gives them the opportunity to express themselves through that character (Oliver, 1999). This is also great for those students who may have a speech impairment. They can create their character, chose a voice and get the character to say what every they want it to say, therefore expressing themselves, showing their understanding, and being able to ask questions. I believe that I am just scraping the surface of how voki's can be used in the classroom to enhance the teaching and learning taking place. I would love to hear everyone else’s ideas of how this application can be used.
The above applications are a great way of getting the students to work collaboratively (constructivism) McInerney & McInerney, 2002. They are also a great way to integrate the Dimensions of Learning into the classroom (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). ICT's can easily enhancing learning and teachings as the students are already familiar with ICT’s and this is what they are interested in so why not use them in the classroom. The Dimensions of Learning (Marzano & Pickering, 1997) are a fantastic framework for planning and implementing learning in the classroom. ICT's are a great way for create positive 'attitudes and perceptions' (Marzano & Pickering, 1997, p.13) in your classroom to enable students to 'acquire and integrate knowledge' (Marzano & Pickering, 1997, p. 43) and to 'extend and refine their knowledge' (Marzano & Pickering, 1997, p. 113). By using ICT's it creates an interesting classroom that students want to be engaged in.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
The first things we looked at were podcasts and videocasts. Both these applications are very useful for use in the classroom. A podcast is a recording of someone or something that it then hosted on a site (your own podcast or someone else’s) and it available to download or listen to at any time. The beautiful thing about podcast is that you can record anything that you want or access lectures, lessons etc from anyone that you want. You can easily subscribe to certain people’s podcasts and download them through i-tunes as soon as they have been uploaded by that person. Videocasts on the other hand are exactly the same thing but in video format where podcasts are just recording (voice). Video and podcast may well in fact be the future of education. I am not saying that there is no future for the traditional classroom with the students and teacher but rather video and podcast can enhance the learning environment. The soon may come when there are video or podcast recording taking place in the classroom every day. If so this can cater for most learning styles within the classroom (The State of Queensland (Department of Education 2002). They can be used to present new information to the students in a different and interesting way. They can be used to ensure that all students are receiving all the information from learning experiences, even if they are away sick. If these ICT's become a regular part of the classroom then each teacher in the school would have their own hosting site which the students could subscribe to and there for not miss anything that takes place, take responsibility for their own learning, if they did not quite understanding something they can access that lesson/information at any other time and they can also be used for students to create their own for learning and assessment purposes (Oliver, 1999). These ICT's also help teachers cater for those students in their class with learning disabilities. For example a student who is visually impaired or in fact blind would greatly benefit from the use of podcasts with the classroom. Every lesson could be recorded and then given to that student to listen to again after the lesson so that the maximum learning can take place. These are also great for teachers to access a lecture from a professional in a field of study that might be the focus of the students’ science unit for example. The teacher could find a video or podcast on specific information and then present that in class to the students. This is a new and exciting way for the students to hear/see this information being presented from someone other than their teacher. I believe that video and podcasts are the new and exciting future to education, although some may not see the benefits of this I definitely do.
The next application that was looked at was picnik. This is a great site for editing and manipulating pictures or images. There are many editing tools that you can use on this site to edit/manipulate your images. It was really fun to play around on this site as I myself love photo manipulation and photography in general. For use within the classroom though I believe that picnik has limited uses. This site would be great for Arts lesson but apart from that I am struggling to think of interesting ways to use this site. Your students could also use it to edit/manipulate images to use on or in their assignments or projects but apart from that I do see it having any other use. This site could be used on an interactive whiteboard to show students how simple it is to manipulate images and this could be used within a SOSE unit on how the media edits/manipulates images to try and get us to buy their product or influence how we feel about a certain issue (Keirsley, 1999). Picnik is a great site to edit or manipulate picture or images but unfortunately its uses within the classroom are limited.
Feedburner was the next site/application/ICT that was used. At first I really had no idea what this could be used for but after playing around for a bit I had a better understanding. In my opinion a feedburner is just acting like a 'back up' site where you can store all your information that you have on other sites such as blogger. When you look at the site from this point of view you can see the uses for the classroom. If a teacher sets up a 'class feedburner' then everything that the class puts on their blogs, wiki's etc can be stored on the feedburner. This can be great if students are saving their assignments on their blog then this information gets backed up on the feedburner site. As my understanding of feedburn, as yet, is as limited as this I am unaware of any other way that a feedburner can be used in the classroom. I would greatly appreciate my blog followers who are more familiar with this application to leave me comments on how this can be used within the classroom and what else it can do but backup information.
The next application we looked at was Windows Movie Maker. This application I love as I have it at home and have been using it a lot lately. Although I do have this application at home the version that I have must be a later version then the one accessed at university as there were more tools to use. I believe that movie maker can be used with the classroom to enhance students learning and getting students engaged in their learning. Movie maker can be used for students in assignment situations. This is much more exciting than a powerpoint and with the creation of their own movie (which can then be hosted on various sites for the world to see) students take the initiative, get involved, and want to engage in learning (Keirsley, 1999). Movie maker can also be used by the teacher to present new information to the students in an interesting and exciting way. By seeing not only themselves but their teacher in a 'movie' will engage the students in learning as movies are what students are already so familiar with (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Movie maker also caters for most learning styles by being able to use visual and verbal tools (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). Movie Maker can also be used as an everyday classroom activity to capture what is happening in the classroom. Not using the program everyday per say but using other ICT's such as cameras and voice records (Oliver, 1999) to capture what is happening and then this can be put into a movie for the whole class to access. Used this way students are able always have a copy of their progress and work that can be accessed at any time. This would also enable teachers to make observations of work that has already taken place. I really like movie maker and I'm sure with more thought I could think of many more way in which it can be used in the classroom. If you, my followers, have ideas that I have not mentioned please let me know.
Wordle and Tagcrowd were the next sites looked at in the tute. I am reflecting on these two sites together as I don't see how they are any different. This may be because I just need to explore them a bit more, so if anyone know how they can be used differently please let me know. With these site you can type in any words or information that you want and they then produce images of these words all scrambled and in different fonts and or sizes. The words that are bigger in the image produced are the words that appear most often in the text. I can see this site will have limited uses within the classroom but that may be due to the fact that I have little knowledge of the site. First of all I can see this being used by students to find the main point/idea in information. They can take a text that they are studying and enter it into this site and when the image is produced the words that appear most often, therefore the main points or ideas in the text, would appear in the largest font. This could make it easier for students to interpret or comprehend the information they are using. This site can also be used by students to express how they are feeling in some situations or what they are confused about in new information that is being presented. Students could create these images and then present them to their teachers. Therefore the teacher would know how they are feeling or what else needs to be re-touched on in their learning. The only other use I can see in this site (but probably not the last) is the use for spelling (idea from Dean Pickup). Dean stated that these sites are being used within his placement classroom for students to learn their spelling words. Each week they type in their spelling words, the ones they got wrong more often, and this image is then printed out and the students can see the ones they got wrong more predominantly. (Dean if I have gotten this wrong please inform me of how this is exactly used) Other then what has been stated above I cannot see anymore uses for this within the classroom.
Last but not least we looked at Voki's. These on the other hand, I believe, are a great application that can be utilised by teachers. Voki's create a new and very exciting way of presenting information to students on any subject at all. The teacher can create their own character to use in the classroom and could create a character for each subject. After the character has been created the teacher then chooses the voice of the character (or your own voice can be recorded) and then what he/she wants the character to say. I can just see this application being used in every facet of teaching and learning. It can be used to present new information, to co-teach with the classroom teachers, and even for students to use to present information that they have discovered or to present their assignments (Keirsley, 1999). Students can also create their own character which gives them the opportunity to express themselves through that character (Oliver, 1999). This is also great for those students who may have a speech impairment. They can create their character, chose a voice and get the character to say what every they want it to say, therefore expressing themselves, showing their understanding, and being able to ask questions. I believe that I am just scraping the surface of how voki's can be used in the classroom to enhance the teaching and learning taking place. I would love to hear everyone else’s ideas of how this application can be used.
The above applications are a great way of getting the students to work collaboratively (constructivism) McInerney & McInerney, 2002. They are also a great way to integrate the Dimensions of Learning into the classroom (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). ICT's can easily enhancing learning and teachings as the students are already familiar with ICT’s and this is what they are interested in so why not use them in the classroom. The Dimensions of Learning (Marzano & Pickering, 1997) are a fantastic framework for planning and implementing learning in the classroom. ICT's are a great way for create positive 'attitudes and perceptions' (Marzano & Pickering, 1997, p.13) in your classroom to enable students to 'acquire and integrate knowledge' (Marzano & Pickering, 1997, p. 43) and to 'extend and refine their knowledge' (Marzano & Pickering, 1997, p. 113). By using ICT's it creates an interesting classroom that students want to be engaged in.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
- Blooms (2007)
- Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education 20(2), p.240-254
- Ten Principles to Active Learning (http://www.idecorp.com/teacher/documents/dowling_002.pdf)
- Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved August 4, 2009. from: http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
- McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (2002). Educational psychology: Constructing learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.
- Marzano, R. J, & Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: Teachers Manual. Aurora, Colorado, United States of America: Mid-continent Educational Laboratory.
- The State of Queensland (Department of Education). (2002). Productive Pedagogies: Classroom reflection manual. Retrieved July 8, 2009, from: http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports curriculum-framework/productive-pedagogies/
Monday, July 20, 2009
Our little movie from the tute.
This is the little movie that we created in 2 minutes. To create this we used a variety of ICT's such as cameras, recorders and movie maker.
Commentator - Dean Pickup
Location Scout - Leticha Hoopert
Camera operator - Laura Coutts
Thursday, July 16, 2009
My Continuing Journey...
Welcome to the second week of my learning journey.
In today's tute we explored a variety of sites and applications. Once again, some I was familiar with and some were a brand new experience for me. We looked at powerpoints (a commonly known application), wiki's, online personality tests and slideshare.
First we will start with powerpoint.
Powerpoint is an application that has been around for as long as I can remember. Fortunately it has grown and developed, like myself, over the years and has now become an advanced and technical application. To be honest I hadn't really looked at powerpoint for many years, probably since I was in year 7 and when I had looked at it because it had developed so much since then 'shoved it aside' so to speak and didn't really want to look at it. My knowledge didn't really extend any further then knowing how to put information and pictures into my slides and adding a new 'blank' slide into my powerpoint. I have now learnt that you can add music or sounds, edit the pictures that you add into your slides, that you can make your slides 'read only' applications and that there are various new things that you can do to make your slide more interesting and effective. Now you may ask 'how is she going to incorporate powerpoint into her classroom then the norm?' and this is a question that I have also been asking myself. Apart form the usual, reports and presentations etc, I have been struggling to figure out how and where to use powerpoints within my classroom. So I have come to this.....powerpoints can be used as an interesting and engaging way to introduce new information about a topic or unit to my students (Active Learning). It is a great way to present final findings to my students about a whole class investigation that has been conducted (Keirley, 1999). It can also be used to access students progress and learning for both summative and formative assessment processes. With powerpoint students can also make the powerpoint 'their own' there are so many different things that they can use to make the powerpoint to their own interests and understandings (Oliver, 1999/Marzano & Pickering, 1997). When using powerpoint in the classroom you can also engage most of the students within your class regardless of their learning style as you can use images, sounds, text etc (The State of Queendland (Department of Education) 2002).
Second we will look at wiki's.
Before this weeks tute, I thought that a wiki was just like a blog and nothing more, I have now found out the wiki is like an extended blog and in fact so much more. Wiki is your own website, blog, forum etc that can be accessed by 'followers'. This was the best and most exciting website of the day for me. Even though I had never seen an actual wiki form the 10 mins exploration of the site, after creating my own wiki, I could see the never ending possibilities of use within the classroom. Every day I find myself thinking of how I can use wiki within my classroom to engage my students, foster and enhance their learning, and involve them in the learning journey (McInerney & McInerney 2002). Firstly wiki's can be used as a whole class website (Oliver, 1999). When used in this way there are multiple ways in which it can enhance the learning that is taking place weather it be for every day use of assignments. As a class website each students can have their 'OWN' page, which always excites that students because you are believing in their ability (Keirsley, 1999). These pages can be used to personal reflections, assignment submissions and assignment editing, group assignments, personal blogs on anything that the students want to share, and learning just to name a few (Authentic Tasks - Marzano & Pickering, 1997). There can also be pages added for group assignments, learning pages that are focused on new material that the class is learning, or even a class newsletter (idea received from Tiff). On these pages not only can one put up information but picture, music to enhance what is on the page and cater for all learners (Active Leanring). What has been stated above is just the tip of the iceberg in what is capable when using a wiki to enhance learning. I find my self thinking of new and exciting ways of using this application everyday and I excited to start using in when I have my own classroom. My excitement will overflow into my teaching and effect my students in making a positive learning environment that students feel comfortable in (Dimensions of learning) Marzano & Pickering, 1997. The only down fall that I can see in this application is the fact that anyone who is involved in the wiki can delete everything on there. This may cause frustration and take up extra time for the other members of the wiki, although every can be restored it is an inconvenience.
Next we looked at online personality tests.
This is a great way to get to know your students initially before the new year starts. By doing these test with a new class you are able to see their learning styles and personality styles and this can greatly help your planning, organisation and management of the class (The State of Queensland (Department of Education) 2002). It can also help create a warm and accepting environment that the class feels accepted in (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). It was also great to see my own learning and personality styles as this can greatly affect the way in which I teach and organise my learning environment (see previous blogs for this information).
Last but not least is slideshare.
This is a site where anyone can 'share' their powerpoints with the rest of the world. On that concept it will engage students. If they can share their thoughts and work with not only the class or you but the WHOLE WORLD they are instantly interested (in most cases). Like Dean has said, slideshare is a bit like YouTube. A place where you can share something that you have created, in this case it is powerpoints. For use within the classroom it is good for accessing scholarly or authoritative powerpoints to show to the class on particular topics. It can also be used for students to publish their own powerpoint creations to the rest of the world. Through this site you can access those powerpoint and access their progression of learning or as a final assessment item assess their powerpiont for a project (Active Learning). The problem is that ANYONE can add ANYTHING they want to slideshare and this may cause your students to access content that you do not believe suitable. This application I would use sparingly in my classroom, I would use it more so to find powerpoints to use rather then for students to upload their own.
The above discussed websites and applications all have various ways to enhance and foster students learning and to successfully engage them within the classroom rather then the boring old 'chalk and talk' method of teaching. Technologies are not a new but an exciting way for students to learn and for us to teach. They not only engage but incorporate aspects of Dimensions of learning (Marzano & Pickering, 1997) and Constructivism (McInerney & McInerney, 2002) into the everyday environment of the classroom. Thus as a result enhances students learning and makes it easier to work within the frameworks of problem based learning (Fass, 2009) and active learning.
Thank you once again for taking the time to read about my learning journey and I hope that it has also got you thinking of new and exciting ways of using these applications in your own classrooms. Until next time, take care.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
In today's tute we explored a variety of sites and applications. Once again, some I was familiar with and some were a brand new experience for me. We looked at powerpoints (a commonly known application), wiki's, online personality tests and slideshare.
First we will start with powerpoint.
Powerpoint is an application that has been around for as long as I can remember. Fortunately it has grown and developed, like myself, over the years and has now become an advanced and technical application. To be honest I hadn't really looked at powerpoint for many years, probably since I was in year 7 and when I had looked at it because it had developed so much since then 'shoved it aside' so to speak and didn't really want to look at it. My knowledge didn't really extend any further then knowing how to put information and pictures into my slides and adding a new 'blank' slide into my powerpoint. I have now learnt that you can add music or sounds, edit the pictures that you add into your slides, that you can make your slides 'read only' applications and that there are various new things that you can do to make your slide more interesting and effective. Now you may ask 'how is she going to incorporate powerpoint into her classroom then the norm?' and this is a question that I have also been asking myself. Apart form the usual, reports and presentations etc, I have been struggling to figure out how and where to use powerpoints within my classroom. So I have come to this.....powerpoints can be used as an interesting and engaging way to introduce new information about a topic or unit to my students (Active Learning). It is a great way to present final findings to my students about a whole class investigation that has been conducted (Keirley, 1999). It can also be used to access students progress and learning for both summative and formative assessment processes. With powerpoint students can also make the powerpoint 'their own' there are so many different things that they can use to make the powerpoint to their own interests and understandings (Oliver, 1999/Marzano & Pickering, 1997). When using powerpoint in the classroom you can also engage most of the students within your class regardless of their learning style as you can use images, sounds, text etc (The State of Queendland (Department of Education) 2002).
Second we will look at wiki's.
Before this weeks tute, I thought that a wiki was just like a blog and nothing more, I have now found out the wiki is like an extended blog and in fact so much more. Wiki is your own website, blog, forum etc that can be accessed by 'followers'. This was the best and most exciting website of the day for me. Even though I had never seen an actual wiki form the 10 mins exploration of the site, after creating my own wiki, I could see the never ending possibilities of use within the classroom. Every day I find myself thinking of how I can use wiki within my classroom to engage my students, foster and enhance their learning, and involve them in the learning journey (McInerney & McInerney 2002). Firstly wiki's can be used as a whole class website (Oliver, 1999). When used in this way there are multiple ways in which it can enhance the learning that is taking place weather it be for every day use of assignments. As a class website each students can have their 'OWN' page, which always excites that students because you are believing in their ability (Keirsley, 1999). These pages can be used to personal reflections, assignment submissions and assignment editing, group assignments, personal blogs on anything that the students want to share, and learning just to name a few (Authentic Tasks - Marzano & Pickering, 1997). There can also be pages added for group assignments, learning pages that are focused on new material that the class is learning, or even a class newsletter (idea received from Tiff). On these pages not only can one put up information but picture, music to enhance what is on the page and cater for all learners (Active Leanring). What has been stated above is just the tip of the iceberg in what is capable when using a wiki to enhance learning. I find my self thinking of new and exciting ways of using this application everyday and I excited to start using in when I have my own classroom. My excitement will overflow into my teaching and effect my students in making a positive learning environment that students feel comfortable in (Dimensions of learning) Marzano & Pickering, 1997. The only down fall that I can see in this application is the fact that anyone who is involved in the wiki can delete everything on there. This may cause frustration and take up extra time for the other members of the wiki, although every can be restored it is an inconvenience.
Next we looked at online personality tests.
This is a great way to get to know your students initially before the new year starts. By doing these test with a new class you are able to see their learning styles and personality styles and this can greatly help your planning, organisation and management of the class (The State of Queensland (Department of Education) 2002). It can also help create a warm and accepting environment that the class feels accepted in (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). It was also great to see my own learning and personality styles as this can greatly affect the way in which I teach and organise my learning environment (see previous blogs for this information).
Last but not least is slideshare.
This is a site where anyone can 'share' their powerpoints with the rest of the world. On that concept it will engage students. If they can share their thoughts and work with not only the class or you but the WHOLE WORLD they are instantly interested (in most cases). Like Dean has said, slideshare is a bit like YouTube. A place where you can share something that you have created, in this case it is powerpoints. For use within the classroom it is good for accessing scholarly or authoritative powerpoints to show to the class on particular topics. It can also be used for students to publish their own powerpoint creations to the rest of the world. Through this site you can access those powerpoint and access their progression of learning or as a final assessment item assess their powerpiont for a project (Active Learning). The problem is that ANYONE can add ANYTHING they want to slideshare and this may cause your students to access content that you do not believe suitable. This application I would use sparingly in my classroom, I would use it more so to find powerpoints to use rather then for students to upload their own.
The above discussed websites and applications all have various ways to enhance and foster students learning and to successfully engage them within the classroom rather then the boring old 'chalk and talk' method of teaching. Technologies are not a new but an exciting way for students to learn and for us to teach. They not only engage but incorporate aspects of Dimensions of learning (Marzano & Pickering, 1997) and Constructivism (McInerney & McInerney, 2002) into the everyday environment of the classroom. Thus as a result enhances students learning and makes it easier to work within the frameworks of problem based learning (Fass, 2009) and active learning.
Thank you once again for taking the time to read about my learning journey and I hope that it has also got you thinking of new and exciting ways of using these applications in your own classrooms. Until next time, take care.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
- Blooms (2007)
- Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education 20(2), p.240-254
- Ten Principles to Active Learning (http://www.idecorp.com/teacher/documents/dowling_002.pdf)
- Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved August 4, 2009. from: http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
- McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (2002). Educational psychology: Constructing learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.
- Marzano, R. J, & Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: Teachers Manual. Aurora, Colorado, United States of America: Mid-continent Educational Laboratory.
- The State of Queensland (Department of Education). (2002). Productive Pedagogies: Classroom reflection manual. Retrieved July 8, 2009, from: http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports curriculum-framework/productive-pedagogies/
Monday, July 13, 2009
My Temprement
All Idealists (NFs) share the following core characteristics:
- Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom.
- Idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic.
- Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials.
- Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders.
My Learning Style
The scores are out of 20 for each style. A score of 20 indicates you use that style often.
Style Scores...
Visual
13
Social
17
Physical
13
Aural
13
Verbal
14
Solitary
10
Logical
11
Just a little story...
Recently on my two week block I conducted a com puter lesson on tessellations where my students visited and used a number of educational sites. At the end of the lesson I had a number of students ask me for those sites so that they could access them at home and in their own time. Unfortunatly, even though these students were given the sites, most of them would lose the piece of paper that they has written them down on or even simple forgotten about them once they got home. If I had a delcious acount at the time I could have gotten the students to sign up and simple book mark these sites so that the students could access them at any time and continue their learning.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
My Curious Dangerous Mind
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
New Course, New Understandings, New Concepts and ICT's
ICT's are the real world. They are all around us in every facet of life and living.
I for one and very excited to learn about these new technologies.
Today we looked at blogs and although this is not my first encounter with blogging it is my first journey shared on blogger.com. (For anyone who wants to check out my VERY OLD blog go to -http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendId=34727934) I have realised that blogging is a very useful tool that anyone can use for any purpose. Weather it simply for a personal diary that no one can access, a place for writing down scholarly articles that will be picked apart, or for keeping in touch with family or friends overseas; blogging is a fantastic tool. Blogging can be successfully used in the classroom in many ways from assessing student learning to enhancing student learning. Through this course I am looking forward to leaning the vast variety of ways that I can use blogging within my own classroom.
We also looked at reader and delicious, both sites I have never heard of before but can see how they can be used to enhance student learning. Reader is a site connected to Google that allows people to collaborate, share and work together. Delicious on the other hand is a site where individuals can 'bookmark' certain sites and tag them so that others can access the sites also. Delicious is a fantastic websites that can be used by learning managers on a day to day basis. It can house unlimited resources (sites) that a learning manager and their students can access at any time. These sites can then also be shared with fellow teachers so that collaboration can occur.
I have just entered into this amazing journey of ICT's and I am looking forward to learning all that I can. The rule to success is simple...DON'T GIVE UP.
My Curious Dangerous Mind
References:
- Blooms (2007)
- Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education 20(2), p.240-254
- Ten Principles to Active Learning (http://www.idecorp.com/teacher/documents/dowling_002.pdf)
- Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved August 4, 2009. from: http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
- McInerney, D., & McInerney, V. (2002). Educational psychology: Constructing learning. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education.
- Marzano, R. J, & Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning: Teachers Manual. Aurora, Colorado, United States of America: Mid-continent Educational Laboratory.
- The State of Queensland (Department of Education). (2002). Productive Pedagogies: Classroom reflection manual. Retrieved July 8, 2009, from: http://education.qld.gov.au/public_media/reports curriculum-framework/productive-pedagogies/
Monday, July 6, 2009
There is a first time for everything.
Hello fellow bloggers,
As the title suggests this is my first blog on blogger. So far so good but I fear, as we get deeper and deper into the world of ICT's, I will get very lost and confused and as a result probably very stressed.
Keep coming back to my blog to read about my adventures.
Take care,
Curious, Dangerous Mind
As the title suggests this is my first blog on blogger. So far so good but I fear, as we get deeper and deper into the world of ICT's, I will get very lost and confused and as a result probably very stressed.
Keep coming back to my blog to read about my adventures.
Take care,
Curious, Dangerous Mind
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