Module Ten

How can Web 2.0 assist in improving outcomes for all students?

What are Nings and Wiki's?

These sites have evolved for people wishing to create  social networks of their own.  They allow you to design your own visuals and features on particular topics or needs.  They allow you to share your work, your ideas, and your thoughts.  They also promote discussion and the sharing of information is a variety of formats through sources such as videos, mind maps and pictures. I checked out the Book leads link and thought it offered great links to book sites. I also noted that the Creative Commons licence was issued so that I could access and use other people’s ideas- giving credit for other people’s work.

The Classroom2.0 discussion forum also allows teachers to ask for help and ideas- the responses given appear supportive as well, so it opens up another way to communicate and ask questions/ share ideas with other teachers internationally.

Our ESL teacher has invited us to join the Ning that she belongs to in her role. It is up to date, has a variety of formats and celebrates the work of these teachers too.

Wikis and Nings allow for individuality and give children opportunities to use their imaginations to present their own pages on their Wiki's.  Children become motivated, have fun, and are totally immersed and engaged in their own learning.  They are in charge of their own learning and they can become critical writers and learners who are motivated in sharing their best work. It can be frustrating for students if their work is “sabotaged” which can occur, but it also shows them that ownership of their work is different using this medium.

Wikis not only encourage communication and collaboration between class members, it also gives a platform for the quieter and/or less confident students to observe their peers and “speak” to class members. 

I know that I will need support in setting up a class wiki, but the facility is there and I know I can call on the “Super Louise” who is so patient and helpful in facilitating us “oldies” is completing the Web2 course. I have checked out a couple of wikis and I think that some of the things I do on Myclasses can be easily adapted to wikis-here’s hoping!!

Bye for now- ALMOST THERE!! I am reallyt looking forward to just getting reports done!! What a looser!!

Ramble on I say.

Module 9

 I have never been a user of online social networking- I guess it could be disinterest, as well as having kids who keep me up with the latest gossip!! It has opened up new avenues for my family as I now keep up with family overseas and know what is happening. It has also reconnected me with overseas cousins I haven’t seen for years- funny how relatives catch up with you!!  I think Scootle from the Learning Federation is a great website to use in the classroom, especially with a Smart Board. I have not used it much in my classroom but I definitely think I will start using it more.

I had not heard of Second Life before, so I was unsure of the education benefits of it. It reminded me of Sketchup- maybe because of the graphics and colours. The videos showed how Second Life can be used for a variety of things such as a modern way of role playing and visiting places from the past.  I can really see the benefit of using it in High School for creating a “virtual world” for Visual Art and  for drama (just imagine creating design sets, costumes, etc). It could also be great to use in an upper primary classroom and I think the students would really respond well for themed work.

This year Facebook has come up as a concern at IEU meetings as some teachers share experiences of others accessing their “private” space.. Although according to Facebook’s privacy policies, it seems that a lot of information can be accessed. I find that my kids share lots of gossip with me about people we know- for example, who has split up with whom, status of someone etc. This is quite scary due to the public nature of the site and it is obvious that the media has found it a great source of information and pictures of suspects and people who have died. Apparently because a  picture is on Facebook, it in the public domain and therefore can be used without gaining permission.

Twitter is fun and appears very frivolous to me and perhaps a source of light relief. I signed up to follow Danny Devito’s twits!! Ha, ha. It seems good for a laugh, although politicians seems to take it quite seriously with Barry O’Farrell being a constant user I am told. I will reserve my options as to its use at this stage (hey, I sound like a politican!!).

 secondlife_1.jpg (JPEG Image, 320×341 pixels)

Module 8 Reflection

Prior to completing this module I was not familiar with the term "RSS feed"- Rich Site Summary. Through trawling through this module, I have found that RSS is as vibrant as the web itself- it allows me to be constantly informed- from news to blogs using a very time-efficient method of accessing websites that are regularly visited. I had no trouble in setting up Google Reader, but I still need to play around with the RSS feeds to make sure that I have linked then properly to Google Reader. I also want to have a go at using the image generator- but I will save that until I have some more time. How can I use these with my students in the classroom? Firstly, I have access to Google Reader and heaps of blogs with an educational perspective and feedback as well with some good Australian content as well and secondly, the blogs give me a way of communicating with others to share ideas and opinions.  Students could use Google Reader for tracking the blogs/wikis that they are a part of as well as news updates. Google Reader could be used to subscribe to a number of different news websites and allow the students to sift through these and perhaps find articles relevant to a range of  topics, as well as weather information for the Science unit we are doing called Monster Storms which is based on the Jason Project. I now know what that little orange icon means too!

Go Bart

Module Seven Reflections

 I have known about Delicious as an online central book marking tool through discussion with other people, but I had not investigated it to use personally. Previously I have used ‘Favourites’ to save my favourite websites and have created a monster to navigate through! After watching the video clip and exploring on my own I don’t think I’ll ever use ‘favourites’ again to mark sites. Delicious allows me to save all useful websites in the same bank and it is sooo easy to check other people’s preferences, which is usually an indicator of a worthwhile site. I can access my favourite websites from any computer that I log into NOT just the computer I was using the time- this is especially frustrating when checking sites on release time at another computer at school, or at home although I have used MyClasses to book mark and categorise links in the past. Now I can access sites easily at home and at school on any computer.  The feedback on pages and sites is also useful as it allows me to gauge a site and save time- trash and treasure I guess. I have used tags from other people to access sites and have tried to import links from my favourites, without success as yet- I always find I need to “play” with these. I think that just copying and pasting the web address is where I am going wrong, but I don’t know what to do yet. I enjoy reading other peoples’ blogs and to see the great way others share their ideas and insights. It is good to read some of the ideas that people have on integrating Web 2.0 technology into their classroom simply yet effectively. I thought I would include a Dire Straits link for you- great music of the past!!

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/all/watch/yapi-ObzXL0p7t1E

Module 6 Reflections

I was really excited about Glogster- it has so many applications that I think could be applied in a very creative way in the classroom. I has loads of fun playing with the different profiles, colours, backgrounds, videos and sounds and styles of writing. I think that using Glogster would allow creativity in a different way for students. They are used to creating avatars and personal profiles on Smartkiddies and other sites, so I think it will lend itself to creative poetry writing, personal response activities and IT art tasks. I'm sure that is only the tip of the iceberg- I always  find that through discussion with others, you come away with  new ideas and that someone else can open your eyes to fantastic learning opportunities.
I have already tried bubbl.us with mind mapping for a new unit of work  using Jason Project  "Monster Storms" and programmed it into the next RE unit too. It is easy to use and the  visual structure is predictable for students to use. I intend to use bubbl.us for group tasks and as an easy visual display model for differentiated activities- it will allow the groups to organuise ideas and to keep focussing on these, rather than going off on tangents, which can happen!!
More to learn and lots to use in creative ways- all suggestions gratefully  received from those who happen to read my ramblings!!

Module 5

This module introduced me to some totally new language, such as vodcast and iTunesU. Of course, I have heard about and used iTunes and podcasts, but these extensions to my vocabulary were a bit daunting, until I realised that it was just another attempt to confuse, bewilder and perplex me (not hard to do on any day!!). After all that, I think I have my head around some of the concepts and can identify some of the uses. I hope that if I do narrate a story, I can use my “broadcast voice” and make a professional job of it. Some of the stories narrated on Storynory were a bit exaggerated and sounds gratuitous to me.
Anyway, I am the beginner, so it is easy to hold the big stick- I will eat humble pie later and let you know what else is on the menu!! I loved the Greek Myths section on this site and also the other range of stories from around the world- a really broad selection. Greek myths has been one of my favourite text types to teach in Year 3. The kids really love the whole concept of Greek mythology as it related to DS games and they also love the blood and guts too. This site was one that I have not seen before. I thought I would share part of the Greek "culcha" with you- enjoy!!




I will definitely have a go at developing digital storytelling as I think it is something the kids would really benefit from as another tool for presenting their work and displaying their creativity. I have not used movie maker at all, so this is one area I can definitely develop to use for descriptions in Monster Storms as part of Jason Project work.

Module 4 Reflection

To access Flickr, I needed to open a Yahoo account- this was really easy and I then had fun choosing photos to upload. I am concerned about who has access to these as even though I have selected not limit the audience that can view my photos. I ticked the boxes that limited the audience, but checked after I had selected them and then found that somehow, my selection was unticked!! Maybe it happens in between opening the Flickr page and the final selection of photos.
I decided to use my own photos after viewing the copyright videos. I agree that it is often the request for permission to use another person's work that is the main requirement, but with the availability of images, artworks, music etc and the enormous creativity that people bring to their work, it is a difficult to fulfil all the ethical requrements. The Creative Commons really makes "common sense"! It acknowledges the intellectual and creative ownership of material, but acknowledges that co-authorship can exist, so that some rights and uses of another person's work is permissible.
I looked at some of the images available on Flickr - there are some fantastic photos there and they will be good to access, especially to show the kids digital artworks and some of the "do's and don'ts" of digital photography. The ideas and uses for photos is amazing- I think that the coffee table book would be a great idea for persoal photos of trips, holidays etc. The calendar could be easily used by kids as a gift idea for Father's/ Mother's Day, Christmas, Easter using their work- very personal as a family gift. If you would like to check out a couple of photos, I have added the link here to a fun photo. Happy blogging and Flickr-ing. http://www.flickr.com/photos/macbeth_on_film/4919179757/