Blog Blunder # 3 - Creating and sharing with free online applications.

Module 3 - Creating and sharing with free online applications.

SORRY - I REALISED THAT I MISSED A MODULE - HERE IT IS!

Google Docs - the possible saviour to St Kevin's report writing dilemmas!

• Continual manipulating documents already opened on another computer.
• Having to save newer versions with different names.
• Did we save the information properly?

Too many problems which could be solved with an online google document - have had the opportunity to see our Year 4 teachers use Google Docs to share possible grades and comments with little issue. Could be the way to go!

Also like the possible record keeping - students completing work - time and dates... Big Brother is really watching at all times! As I say to my students - people are always watching and keeping track!

Final Blog Blunder - Reflection and Feedback

Final Blog Blunder - Reflection and Feedback

Upon reflection, i believe the my final blog blunder should have been my first - understanding what
e-learning is:

e - ENGAGEMENT
L - LEARNING
E - ENVIRONMENTS
A - ANYTHING, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
R - REFLECTIVE, RESPONSIBLE LEARNERS
N - NETWORKING
I - INTERNATIONALLY
N - NO BOUNDARIES
G - GLOBAL & LOCAL COMMUNITIES

I-Learn - I am responsible for my own learning:

1. How do i learn best?
2. What skills do i need?
3. How do i contribute to 21st Century learning communities?

I learn best when i am engaged, and challenged to learn - with the necessary resources needed to complete and compete in learning. Having just completed a Mathematics 5-8 Project, the students involved made it fully aware to me that they wished to be:

1. Motivated
2. Challenged
3. Use technology
4. Be risk takers

Being an ilearner in an elearning world is the education of the future - we as teachers need to meet the needs and wants of our students in the classroom. We cannot use the excuse:

Blog Blunder # 10 - Learning Communities, Constructing Knowledge Together in Wikis

Module 10 - Learning Communities, Constructing Knowledge Together in Wikis

Wikis, Blogs, Nings... what i believe to be the most effective Web 2.0 tool to enhance student learning and outcomes by far. Best of all - can be set up, monitored, managed in a safe, yet creative environment.

The meaningful communication facilitated on a blog, wiki... makes these particular web 2.0 tools more than just a pretty presentation tool. 

I myself believe that we have been providing our students with a type of online learning environment in a simplified version using the Editure "myclasses" facilities - available to all students and teachers. Teachers have been providing similar tools for students using this platform. The good thing about this platform, is that it is private, enabling students to converse, research, comment... on particular units of work.

Web 2.0 tools using a wiki/blog/Ning... all enable one thing - a monitored, managed in a safe, yet creative environment.

Blog Blunder # 9 - Networks On The Web - Professional and Social

Module 9 - Networks On The Web - Professional and Social 

Scootle is a collection of digital curriculum resources including interactive multimedia learning objects and individual digitised items sourced from Australian and New Zealand cultural and scientific organisations.

These digital resources have been available in different formats, and been shared over a long period of time. 

Now that the access to the resources has been resolved, the use of these resources is endless. With most classrooms now being equipped well with technology, there is no excuse not to grab the attention of the students using interactive resources - some even being differentiated.

Still need to resolve/find answers to the following questions:

1. Access for teachers/students - can schools get whole school access - how is this done?
2. Setting up individualised learning pathways - can this be done easily and effectively?

All i can think of when i hear SOCIAL NETWORKING - is ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES!

With the rise of Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites, schools are in an unenviable position - do we get with the times and embrace social networking and incorporate into the classroom, or block our minds and hope it will go away.

Questions to be posed:

1. Embrace online learning communities, with the focus being somewhat guided and supported by the teacher.
2. Are the tools improving learning outcomes - or are they being used as a gimmick?

IF IT SUPPORTS LEARNING AND LEARNING OUTCOME - EMBRACE IT!

Blog Blunder # 8 - Managing Your Flow Of Information On The Internet

Module 8 - Managing Your Flow Of Information On The Internet

Is it just me, or is Google the manager of everything on the net.

• Managing web addresses (became aware of this when trying to subscribe to different sites)
• Managing mail
• Managing changing content with Google Reader,

We need to move with the time, be up-to-date instantaneously - depending on the subscription, will determine how meaningful the content update is!

RSS Feed, or Rich Site Summary, allows for the delivery of changing web content. It allows the reader to easily stayed informed in the changing of web content.

Google Reader is a useful tool in the organisation of changing content. Still getting the hang of determining what sites are able to be subscribed to, or which sites are just added to the bookmarking section of Google.

I feel that the options that Google provides, not just Google Reader, in the organisation of web-based content, is a better option than using other web-based management systems, such as "delicious." 

GOOGLE PROVIDES A ONE STOP SHOP FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF MOST INTERNET CONTENT IN A CENTRALISED SITE.

Blog Blunder # 7 - Building Online Communities

Module 7 - Social Bookmarking Using Delicious and Sharing Blogs

According to wikipedia, delicious is:

"is a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks. The site was founded by Joshua Schachter in 2003 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. By the end of 2008, the service claimed more than 5.3 million users and 180 million unique bookmarked URLs."


It is a great organising tool that allows you to:

• KEEP your internet links/favourites in an online format...
• SHARE these links with friends...
• ORGANISE your links/favourites according to specific tags...

I can understand the idea of keeping things organised in an online format - this makes sense to me - but I am a creature of habit - find interesting sites I like, add them to favourites or place them on my bookmarks toolbar. I find this a much easier way to make instantaneous connections to these sites than placing them into delicious. This works for me - I am not a huge browser of sites - if I was social bookmarking may be of more relevance to me.

However, I feel the greatest attraction, is adding friends, using social bookmarking. Using their collective knowledge to surf worthwhile sites - they have done the scavenging of sites for us. Sharing, not recreating things or searching for things that have already been found is most handy!

Blog Blunder # 6 - Creating and Communicating Online

Module 6 - The Year 2010 - the era of creating mind-blowing presentations using a variety of media and tools. 

Any creative way to enthuse and interest students in the completion of tasks, especially for Stage 3, is now a necessity. If students realise that there are ways to present things in a yet to be discovered/experienced format, you have created a level of interest like no other. 

Mention the following terms, and watch the creative juices fly:

• ONLINE
• FREE
• PRESENTATION TOOL
• MEMBERSHIP 
• AUDIO/VIDEO/IMAGE
• COLOUR

Two popular online creative presentation tools are:

"bubble.us" - a free online mind-mapping tool. Very similar to:

• Free - "IHMC Cmap Tools" - http://cmap.ihmc.us/
• Licence - "Kidspiration & Inspiration" - http://www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration

A simple yet affective program to present information. Easy to create. The ability to see the whole page allows the user to manipulate the information with ease, using the space effectively.  

Glogster is a social network that allows users to create free interactive posters, or glogs. The ease with which you can create an interactive poster with:

• Import sound/image/video
• Decorative graphics - backgrounds - glog wall & page wall

There are really no limits to what can be completed using this program. The ability to so creative can be an issue - getting the task completed in an appropriate time limit!

http://anolsey.glogster.com/mary-mackillop/

Blog Blunders # 5 - Digital Storytelling Pod, Vods, Videos and Web 2.0

Module 5 - Digital Storytelling Pod, Vods, Videos and Web 2.0

Using digital media to create different formats of broadcast can be of great use in the classroom.

• Podcasts - audio file you listen to or watch. 
• POD = Portable, On-Demand file
• Cast = sent out over the internet, published
• Vodcasts - audio + video file or content

Before creating a digital presentation, it is great to follow a scaffold:

1. Outline story idea
2. Find/create media to use
3. Pick a tool to build your story

The importance of VISUAL, DYNAMIC, SOUND... create the perfect learning environment. Children demand to be motivated and challenged in their learning. The use of Podcast/Vodcasts/Digital Storytelling enable for this challenge to be met.

Are you meeting the challenge? Or am i meeting the challenge? Trying!

Blog Blunders # 4 - Holiday Web 2.0ing - What's Happening To Me?

Module 4 - Exploring Photos and Videos on the Web

Time: 9:43am
Date: 1/10/2010
Venue: Home - 1 child @ Day Care, 2 children in front of Scooby Doo, 1 wife at work!

I cannot believe that i am @ home Web 2.0ing! If only people from my past could see me doing this now. I used to pride myself on having two weeks of down time - NO WORK!

MODULE 4 - Flickr
Flickr is a great tool for creative common's. We need to indoctrinate children in the use of royalty free material, understanding copyright issues, even at such a seemingly young age! Suitable royalty free images can be found on almost any topic - should be the first port of cal for an person publishing content.

It is a great way of also creating an online photo storage facility - i'm assuming however that there is a max. storage load however (i think i did see that somewhere!) Once again need to indoctrinate the children on acceptable use - uploading appropriate content, sharing issues...

Personally, i don't upload photos of anything, especially of my family, onto any site - over cautious maybe. Do want to have some sort of anonymity - not everyone needs to know/see/hear about oneself!

Blog Blunder # 2

Having spent time in the quietness of my own mind (and home -  three little angels asleep and my lovely @ work), have finally completed module 1 and module 2.

MODULE 1
Have managed to add a variety of gadgets to my igoogle account - Fox Sports, Google Maps, Soccer results... All the important information i need @ the opening of a page. Could be interesting to create a educational igoogle account - gadgets specific to learning! Might try this!

Blog Blunder # 1

Interesting - i thought i was technology savvy - THINK AGAIN!
Blogs, g-somethings, igoogle or megoogle - it is all a tad confusing.
I will not let this break me - i will solve blog blunder #1.