Synopsis

Synopsis

Links To Comments and conversations

July 19 - Concept mapping
August 2 - Concept mapping
August 12 - Images
August 19 - Concept mapping
August 19 - Mind mapping

You Tube

Is the above clip from you tube being used as a time filler, for engagement or interest, or is it for learning? Depending on the context this clip could be used for the all above.

However I believe in a primary classroom where the learning manager is about to introduce a new topic on pollution and climate change, these clips would be used for learning. Many of us have seen both of these clips before. I know when I first watched this clip it stirred up a lot of emotion, not just for me but others in the lecture. This was then followed by an in depth discussion about the climate change and pollution.

Youtube clips if chosen appropriately can be used as hooks, to draw students in, giving them something to think about, a discussion starter and many many more possibilities.

Digital Video

I have seen movie maker used in a year one classroom, it was scaffolded very well and as a result was very successful. Teachers organised for an incubator to be placed in the classroom with eggs that were about to hatch. Students took photos each day of the eggs then of the chicks once they were hatched. Students then uploaded their photos to movie maker. Once the photos were up loaded students recorded their voices explaining what was happening in each of the photos and explaining the development stages of the Chic's.



I have prepared a quick example.

I found using movie maker was a bit difficult at first, however like most things once I moved along it got easier to use. I can see many uses for this tool in the classroom, however I will myself have to use this tool more to get more confident with it before teaching students how to use it.

Movie maker is great for showing how things change over time, such as the life cycle of a chicken. I also think the content has to be something the students can connect with. For example if students were asked to find pictures of the Internet at different stages of the life cycle it wouldn't mean as much to the students. However the fact that the students had the chicken in the classroom and had their pictures taken with the chickens made it real.

Movie maker, like many of the other tool we are learning has a focus on visual literacy as students are required to understand how images, colour, line etc work together to create meaning.

As mentioned in the reading by Kearney & Shuck, 2006 digital video supports higher order thinking, organisation and team work. However for this to occur much thought and organisation on the learning managers part needs to go into the scaffolding.

Podcast

What is a podcast? I have no idea. I have heard the word used many times but im not sure what they actually are. In this blog I will be finding out what a podcast is, how to make one and if I belive they will be usefull in the classroom and if so how they can be used to maximise student learning.





A podcast is:

• audio or video
• radio style show, that people can download to mp3 players
• listen to what interest you, choose what you want to listen to
• raw and real content
• many podcasts are made by people who are passionate about a subject
• A vodcast is the same as a podcast with the online delivery of a vidoe or clip

The above information was summarised from the following reading suggested in the course. How to Podcast

During reading and article titled, Its not about the tools. Its about the skills. The author pointed out that students are engaged by ICT's and we as educators can use this to our advantage to teach literacy, numeracy, reading, writing. Ask youself by using this tool what skills and literacies are am I addressing?



After listening to a Podcast titled The Sounds of China Im starting to see the benifits of using these in the classroom. Podcasts would especially be good in the earlier years as students are still learning to read and write, for visually impaired students and for those students that learn best from listening.



The Sounds of China Podcast could be used whean studying different cultures and belifes. The podcast talks about what music means to the chinese and you can also hear chinese music. Instead of having the teacher talk about the music students can listen to the music for themselves and hear someone else (a chinese music expert) talk.



A vodcast is the same as a podcast except it is the online delivery of a video or clip. This would also benifit those in the younger years and those students that are visual learners.



Vodcasts and podcasts have many uses are the opportunities are endless. Its also great that they can be used time and time again, for example if a student is away or wants to listen/watch again the teacher could upload to a virtual classroom or blog that students can access.

Images

I have never really tried up loading images online as I have always found it really hard. After downloading MobaPhoto I can not believe how easy it is to use. I can see many purposes for this in the class room including making photo disc of the students to take home to remember their year, taking and using photos to use in learning, for example taking photos of a plants or animals development over time.

After reading Mrs Daisy's blog on images, I couldn't agree more with her about the importance of images in the classroom. I also have just completed a an assessment on visual literacy within the same group and can now see that visuals are all around us. Children see before they speak.

Reading through some other blogs that I'm following I noticed some people were using Picnik. After using this I found this was easier to use for editing and changing images. For example I changed the colour of this image and asked a child I knew how this picture made her feel.

The child responded with the following:

-Warm sunny morning

-Dew

-Autumn or warm summer

-Could be sticky steamy day

Images courtesy of Picnik.

I then changed the picture using picnik to the one below and asked the child how this picture then made her feel.

-Cold

-Winter

-Raining and miserable

-Early morning

This type of exercise can be used to teach students how easily images can be changed to make people feel different emotions when looking at them. This can then lead to how the media portray things.

Another effective activity I have seen used in the classroom is putting up an interesting photo such as the one below and asking students to write a story around that image. It is amazing the imagination that students have, and for some students its much easier to write a story this way rather than think of something themselves.

Image courtesy of free digital photos.net

Using images in the classroom also caters for those visual learners, I myself learn best when I can see how thing work visually.

Now I have the tools to use images effectively in the classroom I will be using them a lot more. Not just the images but also teaching students how to use the tools to change the look and meaning of images.

Powerpoint and Prezi

When I think of powerpoint I think boring, overused, time wasting, especially when used in the classroom. However when I looked throught the practical activities of creating an interactive powerpoint and creating animated movies it gave me other idea of how powerpoint could be utilised in the classroom.

From a Learning Managers perspective:

• Organised - The LM can hyperlink to anything needed rather than clicking through files and searching on the internet.
• Easy to use
• Caters for visual and auditory learners
• Can be used to scaffold lessons including times for showing examples or including activites
• If used correctly can be interesting and interactive
• Can be saved and changed or used again.

From a students perspective:

• Teaches students to plan their work first
• Makes students look at the bigger picture of their presentation first
• There is more focus on the information first rather than the pictures and text style
• Interesting and interactive

Powerpoint is a great tool for students to use to present information however I also think it a great tool to teach students how to manipulate elements. Once students have learnt how to construct a powerpoint using images, colour and text in the earlier years, I think they could move on to use Prezi.

Looking at the Prezi titled 'Why should we Move Beyond Slides?' by Adam Somlai-Fischer I found the prezi a definate option to powerpoint. Its interactive and appealing and something that I have not seen used in the classroom. Im sure it is used however not as much as powerpoint, and because of this I think teachers and students would embrace the use of something new.

Weebly

This is a great tool that I have always thought about but didn't know how to get it. I would defiantly use this in the classroom especially in the younger years. When doing a research project I would make up a web page with all the information I wanted the students to access, then give them the address. This way I know students are finding the information I want them to find and its all in one place.

Students could even make an online recipe journal where they each add a page to the website, up load photos and add different techniques. I am very excited about this tool, the possibilities are endless.

Its easy to use and the set out is simple. I have set my web page up around week 3 and plan to put all my notes and research into sections of the web page.

My web page

Wiki

My wiki

After playing around with wiki and creating one of my own, I can see how this online tool could be used in the classroom. It would be great for group work, students could communicate about their topic in the one place and post all of their finding. Findings could then be edited moved around, categorised and added to.

I also like the idea about peer editing. Part of an assessment might be to get the students to put their work into a wiki and get other people to comment on their work, editing is also a great skill for students to learn and practise.

One down side I can see with using this tool is that things can easily be removed from a page, this could cause conflict between students. However if monitored closely by the classroom teacher this problem could be eliminated.

The difference Between Wikis and Blogs

Wiki

• Collaborative
• Can be edited by anyone that has access
• Grows fast
• Can have more than one opinion as more than one author
• Subject is constantly being changed and updated

Blogs

• Individual
• One author/one opinion
• One post at a time
• Become old

I found this Clip funny and informative

Harvard Style. (2010). Everything Wiki. Retrieved July, 20, 2010 from:

http://wiki.wetpaint.com/page/wiki+vs+blog

The Big Six

I've decided to use the Bix 6 framework as I like how the Big 6 framework is set out in steps and it's easy to understand. I also like that the focus is on working smarter rather than faster.

This framework could be used in the classroom for research or any other task that requires finding out information. Students can spend hours 'researching' on the internet, however the big 6 helps students work smater rather than faster and focuses onthe process of researching as well as the content.

After some discussion in the Tutorial on Thursday the following features were noted about the Big 6 framework :

• Can be used by individuals or groups
• structured
• focused
• easy to understand
• intrinsic and intuative
• can be transfered into life skills
• futures approach
• decision making
• probelm solving

3rd August 2010

After researching The Big Six framework some more I found that Mike Eisendberg and Bob Berkowits highly recommend this model for problem based learning. They belive that ICT's maximise student learning and have identified ITC's that can be used in each of the six stages of the framework.

There is now a big push to use technology in meaningful ways to organise, communicate, research and problem solve rather than be taught as an isolated subject such as computer class.

concept map

This is my concept map about week one. At first I didn't really like the idea of mind mapping as I didnt really think I had learnt much in week one. I was very surprised as I went through my notes to what I had infact learnt and remembered. I found it really usefull for pulling out key words and important phrases.

Concept mapping could be used in the classroom at the beginning and end of a unit. I would firstly get the students to map out what they already knew about a topic. At the end of the unit I would again ask them to map out what they now know. I would then ask them to compare what they knew, with what they now know, to show to them what they have learnt from studying that particular topic.

Functionality of a blog

After reading Educationa Blogging by Stephen Downes it has opened my eyes to how I could utilising this tool in my own classroom in the future. I especially think the virtual extension of the classroom set up by principal Mario Asselin is a great idea.

Benifits of blogging:

• common intrests shared
• announcements displayed
• if students are away they can see what they have missed out on
• exchange points of view
• everyone in equity
• students can reflect on findings
• everyone else can see it so people will tend to take more care in what they are writing eg punctuation and making sure they have the right facts.
• it gets students writing

I think making blogs part of learning, as this course E-Learning has done, makes students engage in their learning more as they have to continually prove they are engagin with the required course content. Its also reassuring to look at other peoples bloggs to make sure you are on the right track.

This online tool would suite those students that are constructivist as social learning has a large influence on them.

3rd August 2010

After reading Kates blog on the functionality of a blog I like how she explained that allowing students to blog in the classroom will also be teaching them important computer skills. This made me think about a point that was mentioned in our English assignment on visual literacy, about how students knew how to use a programme but didn't understand how elements such as colour and pictures worked together to create meaning. The use of blogs and allowing students to personalise their own blogs with back grounds, inserting pictures etc could be a great way to explain and show how these elements could work together.

Introduction

Hi my name is Justine Watson and I am currently studying Learning Management at CQUniversity. I am currently enrolled in a course called e-learning, which requires the research of different internet tools that can be utilised in the classroom to maximise student engagement.



My blog will consist of reflections into these tools and their effectivness within a classroom context.



I am looking forward to this challenge as I have felt in the past, that some lessons I have taught were not as engaging for the learners as they could have been, had I have known about some of the many tools out on the wid web.