Glogster - Week 4 Activity Reflection

Check out my Glogster I made. I'm pretty darn impressed with myself, with much thanks to the technology available to me. I will mention here that I have also made a short (incomplete) video using Windows Movie Maker and added it to my Glogster. It is called Rainforest Destruction. It is short, because I am already spending way too much time on this subject. You might also notice, if you press play on the media player, there is rainforest sounds; this is from a podcast.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF GLOGSTER (EDU version)

Strengths

• Very easy to use interface (caters for beginners to experts) that allows to you to upload all different sorts of media from YouTube videos, to mp3's to pictures and even files
• Colourful, engaging interface
• Ability to customise the wall in endless ways
• There is no set rigid structure (unlike Wiki's and Weeblies), it is just like cutting and pasting items on a wall
• Students whilst using EDU Glogster, do not have access to the mainstream Glogster site which prevents them from seeing unsuitable content.
• Glogs can be embedded onto a wiki or a blog
• Glogs can be made private and password protected

Weaknesses

• Students may get distracted by the endless amount of possibilities

Opportunities

• Glogs can be shared among teachers, providing inspiration and ideas for lesson planning
• Students can use them for portfolio's, assignments or for uploading onto their wiki's or blogs

Threats

• If Glogs aren't made private, there may be privacy issues

As you can see with Glogs, the strengths and opportunities far outweigh the weaknesses and threats, and are an excellent resource for teaching with ICT. They can be both static (teacher controlled) or collaborative (student controlled). They support a range of learning theories/behaviours including; Social Constructivism, Cognitivism and Connectivism.


How would you apply these to your teaching context?

The possibilities are endless, they are in a sense a digital scrapbook. I would use a Glogster in my classrom by two means; firstly to engage students on a new topic by means of exploration of video, sound and imagery and secondly; as a group activity where students and the teacher would collaborate together to create a poster on a given learning activity to encourage scaffolding and reflecting as a class. Here are just a few examples :

• As the example above, a scrapbook resource on the rainforest
• Teachers can use them to create audio/visual interest on any given topic; such as Papau New Guinea or Ancient Egypt. They are interactive, and create an interesting starting point for a topic.
• Teachers can use them to give instructions on an assignment in a more interesting format by linking videos or examples for assessment. An example of Glogster used for assessment can be found here: http://bdyck.edu.glogster.com/Assignment-Sheets-1
• As a class (teacher and students), creating a scrapbook page of an excursion for peers, parents  and community members to enjoy and reflect upon
• Students could also use it to create interactive assignments, encouraging creativity.

Other examples of Glogsters used in education can be found here:
http://nnorris.edu.glogster.com/ReadingPractice
http://cybrarian.edu.glogster.com/Decisions-Decisions
http://justintoney.glogster.com/Research-Project-1


Learning Theories Underpinned:

Using Glogsters encourages both cognitive (engaging with materials) and constructivist learning styles (by building on previous knowledge by designated activites). They also encourage social constructivism when used as a class activity.

References:

bdcyk. (2009). Assignment sheets - 1. Retrieved from http://bdyck.edu.glogster.com/Assignment-Sheets-1


cybrarian. (2008). Decisions, decisions. Retrieved from http://cybrarian.edu.glogster.com/Decisions-Decisions


justintoney. (2009). Reasearch project 1. Retrieved from http://justintoney.glogster.com/Research-Project-1


nnorris. (2011). Reading practise. Retrieved from http://nnorris.edu.glogster.com/ReadingPractice

Wordle

This is my wordle I created, inspired by this term's English course. You can click on the picture to take you to the wordle.

Web 2.0 Technologies - Awesome Resource

Hi Everyone,

Check out this page: http://teachweb2.wikispaces.com/Artsonia for a list of Web 2.0 Tools.

Voki - Week 4 Activity

Success at last. You can see my Voki in the top right corner of my blog! It took longer than expected to create. This is because I had created a voice recording on my iPhone to use for my Voki but getting it from the iPhone to the Voki was a whole other kettle of fish (pun intended here, you may laugh :P If you don't get it, never mind haha).

For starters, a voice recording on a iPhone is a M4A file. I know, you are probably thinking what is that, so was I. Anyway, long story short, you need an MP3 file to add to a Voki. Here's how to convert it, head to this site: http://www.nch.com.au/switch/mp3.html?gclid=CJW2ha3anqoCFcYNHAod4Dp25Q and download the 'Switch MP3 Converter Software'. It is a sinch to use.

Voki's in education, I can see their purpose and I can also foresee their terrible overuse. Kids may get distracted by the novelty of it all, and lose focus in the task at hand as well as the negative of only having 60 seconds however I think the benefits in this case outweigh the negative. They are a wonderful tool for which you can lend your voice or audio too. They are user friendly, visually exciting, and can distract the child from what may have seen as an instruction, to see it more as an exciting cue to learn.

I was also interested in Oddball, Voki's creator and they have any novel technologies available on their website http://www.oddcast.com. Many however require a webcam.

Picnik - Week 4 Activity

Above are the before and after photos from using the online editing software Piknik.

I believe this tool could be a valuable resource for students as it will give them a creative license to edit their images. In today's society, creative ability is valued, as you need to stick out from the crowd.

 It's fast, there is no sign up fees, and most importanty it is VERY user friendly. Anybody can use it!

Tag Galaxy - Week 4 Activity

What a fascinating image search device. You type in a 'tag' or several 'tags' and Tag Galaxy will select a domain of images that contain these tags. Have a look at my screenshot below. I used the tags Garden + Macro + Flower + Pink + Nature and it has selected 10,431 images that contain those features. This could be a really great tool for students to use, to narrow down on those long strenuous google image searches looking for the perfect picture. Tag Galaxy does it all for you. Another plus is that it finds images from Flickr, images that are available for creative commons.

Flickr - Week 4 Activity

Flickr is a great website, hosting many creative common images that the public can use, particularly useful for educators. Below are two images I have taken off Flickr.

Flickr: key lime pie yumyum

Flikr: Ryk Neethling

Mobaphoto - Week 4 Activity

This is a photo I took, resized using the free easy-to-use software, Mobaphoto

This is a PrintScreen of a picture gallery that you can also create using Mobaphoto. The pictures can also operate in a slideshow. You do however have to have the photos saved on your drive for this feature to work.

Week 3 - Dangers & Benefits of Using Blogs in Schools

The following is a PMI Analysis on the dangers and benefits of using blogs in schools;

Positive

• Posting of resources, lessons and homework
• Keeping parents up-to-date on class happenings
• Sharing of schoolwork with peers, parents and the community
• Students' can collaborate on projects and get feedback from others
• Students' can keep a reflective journal
• Students' can use a blog for assignment construction (i.e. post a new blog entry when new information is found, or complete their assignment in sections (per blog posting for example), similar to the style that is being conducted for FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning.
• Can be password protected to ensure privacy
• Provides a platform for higher order thinking using critical analysis tools such as SWOT, de Bono's Six Thinking Hats & PMI

Minus

• If not password protected, there is a risk of privacy breaches
• If a student or teacher has used third party material, and it is uploaded without adding password protectoin and restricting access to teachers, students and parents, they are breaching 'Fair' use copyright laws.
• Potential for cyber bullying

Interesting

• EduBlogs provide a blogging platform purely for education. http://edublogs.org/why-edublogs/ - Have a look at this video for more information.

Resources:

Copyright Advisory Group. (2008). Smartcopying: the official guide to copyright issues for Australian schools and TAFE. Retrieved from http://www.smartcopying.edu.au/scw/go/pid/1

Edublogs. (2011). Edublogs. Retrieved from http://edublogs.org/

infinite thinking. (n.d.). Blogger ® in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.infinitethinkingmachine.org/stuff/Blogger.pdf

Week 3 - Weebly Reflection

Hi Everyone,

Wow, I have created my first ever weebly, and I just have to say I absolutely love it. What a wonderful tool and interface to use. I will be analysing the use of a Weebly using a SWOT Analysis (by the way, this will be my first SWOT analysis, so please feel more than free to pick me up on where I get things wrong).

First of all, the link to my weebly can be found through my wiki or you can click straight through to my weebly here. You can see snapshots of my weebly below. I'm pretty proud of it :-)

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths

• Easy to use drag-and-drop interface (suitable for beginners to experts)
• Content is easily customisable
• Easy to create links between pages
• Layout can be changed (e.g. a picture and a paragraph next to a YouTube video), making the information more readily accessible/easier to navigate
• Much more visually exciting than a Wiki
• Creation of forms (for parents or students to utilise)
• Blogging function
• Password protection
• Easy upload of files such as PDF's, videos, sound files
• The ability to create a picture slideshow without having to use Slide, Flickr etc
• Moderator controls the website
• No advertising

Weaknesses

• Need to pay for membership to use many of the features, such as video, sound etc
• Need to pay for membership to password protect
• Only the moderator can control content
• Limited interaction is provided compared to a Wiki or a Blog

Opportunities

• Could be an excellent interface for which upper primary students could utilise for their assignments to express their creativity
• Could be a great resource/starting point for a subject supporting student learning
• Appeals to the visual/auditory learners

Threats

• Costs involved with membership 
• Without password protection, information is open to the public (minimised with membership)
• Risk of bullying through the blogging pages (however this is minimised if the moderator sets prior-approval of comments)

How could Weebly be applied to your teaching context?

Weebly, I like to think of as a tool that utilises the benefits and features of both a wiki and a blog. It allows users to post comments (similar to a blog), whilst being easily customisable (by adding pages, forms etc like a wiki). It is interesting in that it provides the benefits of a Web 1.0 technology, with main features/layout only being able to be edited by the webmaster, with the benefits of a Web 2.0 technology, with visitors or users like students posting comments under the blogging page.

Here are just a few ways that weeblys can be applied to the teaching context:

• Creating class/home group websites. These can be a main domain that the class can refer to as a group.
• Creating indivdual student pages. Of course these can be password protected. The teacher can maintain these pages for the invidual student and their parents. Grades and remarks can be uploaded and students or their parents can communicate with the teacher confidentially about their grades.

Learning theories underpinned:

A weebly constructed by the educator does not necessarily encourage a constructivist or connectivism approach. It more encourages cognitivism as the information is static. Learners are encouraged to utilise the static material presented and learn. The links in a weebly may however link to sources that encourage other learning styles. The weebly can be social constructivist in the blogging format; where students blog their thoughts or reflections, adding onto one another's previous posts, building knowledge as a social group.

If the weebly is constructed by the individual or as a group it can encourage constructivism and connectivism, as information or layouts may be constructed together (social constructivism) or individually (constructivism) and from a wide array of sources (connectivism).

References:

TechCrunch. (2009, September 30). Weebly launches new managed site builder for educators and students [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/30/weebly-launches-new-managed-product-for-educators-and-students/

Weebly, Inc. (2011). Weebly for education: Our features. Retrieved from http://education.weebly.com/ed-features.php

Mobile Phones & de Bono's Six Thinking Hats - Week 2 Wiki Activity Reflection

This week in class, we had to again use an online Wiki to deconstruct various issues revolving around using Mobile Phones in the Classroom. The issue was deconstructed using de Bono's six thinking hats.

Using de Bono's six thinking hats combined with a wiki was very similar to Week 1's PMI/Wiki approach as both support higher order thinking & collaboration under a Constructivist approach. The characteristics of the wiki that led me to thinking it was a Constructivist exercise was that as a group we were each given one thinking hat, on which to add information. As a whole we were each constructing on each other's ideas, hence a constructivist approach.


I personally (so far) do not like Wikis or should I say my experience with Wikis. My major complaint with wikis is that as a classroom, so far we have not been able to edit the same wiki page simultaneously without chaos. This is because one person's edits overwrite the other or in other words, you can't have 2 people working on the same page at once. So this is definitely a drawback. However, if a wiki is properly utilised/organised, then I think this issue can be minimised.

To me (or should I say, what I like), a wiki so far is more effective/holds more benefits as an online resources page, and there could better alternative avenues on which to hold class discussions or work collaboratively online. However, I am yet to become aware of these avenues but hope to throughout this course.


I feel a wiki could contribute to the learning of my students by acting as an online resources page, kind of like a central home to where they can find any information, links, powerpoints etc that they need to access. There could maybe be a section where students' leave a personal reflection on certain topics (because the students aren't simultaneously adding to the page all at once, this can work), or where they collaborate in groups to add information to group pages.

Also, for anyone that's interested, below is a website that has many examples of educational wikis that were constructed for use in the classroom;
http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis

Last but not least, my reflection on de Bono's Six Thinking Hats;

Personally I do not like them. To me, they are alien, difficult and partly silly (partly because I am extremely comfortable with the old trusty Positive vs Negative approach practised by the PMI Analysis), however being 'mature about it', I can appreciate their use in a classroom and that I must learn to like them, as I will be using them, however at the moment I am a teensy bit resentful towards them. This is when I knew, that for me to feel comfortable with de Bono's approach, I will have to conduct extra research on the utilisation of these six hats. I am hoping that de Bono will be discussed further upon in class because at the moment I find these hats difficult; particularly the red hat and the blue hat. The red hat; feelings; my first thought is how do you analyse a text with the red hat? How are students to break down a text under 'intution, hunches and gut instinct'. To me, it just doesn't make sense. The blue hat - thinking about thinking; my first thought; 'Aaagh! Get me out of here, what do I do with this hat?!!!"

That aside, I do think the Six Thinking Hats supported the collection of a range of perspectives on the use of mobiles in the classroom (more so than the traditional positive vs. negative). This is because it offered alternative ways of thinking, such as the green creative hat and the blue thinking hat (it's also a shame the text that was added to the Mobile Phones Wiki has since disappeared). As a whole, the thinking hats produce a higher order thinking approach and a deeper analysis of a topic or text, and I can see how they would be valuable in the classroom.

References:
CQUniversity. (2011). Readings: active learning, learning diversity and the theory (pp. 6). Retrieved from CQUniversity Course Resources Online FAHE11001
http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=186311

CQUniversity (2011). fahe11001Mackay. Retrieved July 13, 2011, from http://fahe11001mackay.wikispaces.com/Mobile+Phones+Wiki

Mindwerx Pty Ltd. (2011). Dr Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats [Image]. Retrieved from   http://www.mindwerx.com/mind-tools/5970/six-thinking-hats

Tangient LLC. (2011). Educational wikis. Retrieved July 13, 2011, from http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis

Bloom's Taxonomy

Ok, this Bloom guy I have heard of before, but understood his Taxonomy or even read it, nope, don't know anything about it. So this week having to read about Bloom's Taxonomy I can do, but understand it I am finding a little bit difficult. Hopefully over the next few weeks Bloom is elaborated and discussed so that I can gain a deeper understanding and hopefully apply it to Assessment 3.

I have posted some videos about Bloom's Taxonomy in this blog, mostly for my future reflection, but also for anybody else who may prefer a visual/audio explaination (I do acknowledge here that some of the key words such as 'knowledge' & 'comprehension' in the video have since been revised to 'remebering' and 'understanding' respectively)

I am finding myself regularly 'YouTubing' terminology in this class to gain further understanding, which only highlights to myself how much more successful I learn through audio and visual means.

I hope some of you may find these videos from Kaizer1110 (2008) useful like I did;

References:

Kaizer1110. (2008, Sep 5). Intro to assessment and Bloom [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZARe2_HQcA&feature=player_embedded

Kaizer1110. (2008, Sep 8). Intro to assessment and Bloom part 2: the words to use [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q2_PlmRq80&feature=player_embedded

Kaizer 1110. (2008), Sep 8). Intro to assessment and Bloom part 3: Assessment Techniques [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwyZCv_rs2s&feature=player_embedded

Blogger Templates

Hi Everyone,

I have recently discovered Blogger Templates and I think they are wonderful. There are so many different varieties available to customise your blog and give it a more upbeat vibe.

I got mine from http://www.bloggerthemes.net/. The reason why I am sharing with you all, is because I think templates would be a valuable resource to blogging in the classroom. If you had a class blog that students used as part of their assessment, having the blog themed would make it more visually exciting, therefore hopefully encouraging/enticing the students to use it.

Only problem is, you may spend a little bit too much time browsing through all the different templates. I know I did :-)

References:

Blogger Themes & Blogger Templates. Retrieved from http://www.bloggerthemes.net/

TPACK Round Table - Week 2 Activity

Task: Design a class activity on a given content, choosing ICT technologies that will support effective pedagogy.
Content: Ancient Egypt
Technologies: Ancient Egypt is a topic that really fascinates me, and I would be more than happy to share with my students my eagerness and excitement combined with knowledge on the content. I would do this through several technologies including;

An excerpt from the children's film Prince of Egypt;
The film is based on Moses in Ancient Egypt. Yes, it is biblical based,  however I loved the film for it's egyptian references, and I think showing just an excerpt or two from the film would be an interesting way to introduce children to the Egyptian way of life.

My second technology would be a presentation made in movie maker with all sorts of Egyptian information and pictures, such as the amazing pyramids (making size comparisons to the children, so they can understand just how remarkable these pyramids really were), the process of mummification, hieroglyphics, Tutankhamen's tomb etc. This presentation would be upbeat and interesting, therefore (hopefully) inspiring similar interest/awe in the children.
This would be followed by an interactive game; 'Mummy Maker' on the mummification process found on BBC's website;

(Screenshot from Mummy Maker)

This online game guides the learner through the mummifcation process (you have to remove the organs in order with the right tools etc) combined with interesting factual knowledge. This exercise would be done as a whole class, so that as a group they can cheer for what 'move' should be made next in order not to lose the three lives you have in the game (keeping mind this game, although not gruesome does make reference to pouring brains out through the nostrils etc. so would be suited to an older grade) Students can bounce ideas off each other, whilst concreting their knowledge of mummification. They are doing revision on the topic through a game, and not even realising they are learning.

I think the combination of activities support good pedagogy through;
Assessment integral to
learning. Reflection, self and
peer assessment. Feedback.

References:

BBC. (2011). History: mummy maker. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/games/mummy_maker/index_embed.shtml

Chapman, B., Hickner, S & Wells, S. (Directors), & Cox, P. & Rabins, S. (Producers). (1998). The prince of egypt [Motion picture]. USA: DreamWorks SKG.

CQUniversity. (2011). Readings: effective e.learning design (pp. 1-5). Retrieved from CQUniversity Course Resources Online FAHE11001
http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=186314

hometheatre07. (2009, Mar 4). The prince of egypt - part 2/11 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HElPNIlg4T8&feature=player_embedded

Digital Natives & Immigrants (Marc Prensky) & PMI - Week 1 Wiki Activity Reflection

Yesterday, Shannon and I had to collaborate together on a Wiki activity, which required us to read an article written by Marc Prensky, 'Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants' (for those of you who don't yet know, a digital native is someone born into our digital frenzy world with the operation of mobiles, laptops etc. second nature and a digital immigrant is someone who is foreign or immigrant to technology). From this article we were asked to further examine under the PMI approach; positive, minus and interesting.

On a side note, I found the below YouTube video to be a nice introduction to what is a wiki?

This week's wiki exercise could be seen as similar to the Jigsaw approach (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigsaw_(teaching_technique) for further information & see diagram below; http://www.maryborougheducationcentre.vic.edu.au/successforboys/resources/pdf/planning_core/planning_activity5.pdf)

Jigsaw Approach

The differences however, were that Shannon and I were given a segment (in this case 'Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants'), we were to dissect the information, and to report back to the class online by adding our information to the Learning Theories Wiki. So instead of having both home groups and expert groups, we only had a home group.

This strategy could be useful in our own teaching context, if utilised correctly, as it relies on the student's ability to be an active constructivist in their learning. Of course a student's ability to be a constructive learner is influenced by the teacher's enabling of the student. Teachers can equip their student's with the right scaffolding tools and mediums in which to use them, to support collaborative social understanding and interaction with others.

The act of reading and presenting back information online can be better than in a classroom if the activity is designed properly and the task given to them is clear. That way students are able to utilise scaffolding tools combined with social interaction to collaborate with each other and share ideas, to eventually interalise the new knowledge.

A constructivist approach does support individuals with different learning needs, as the students are learning together in a collaborative approach. The knowledge can be documented collaboratively online in forums, wikis, blogs etc. so that each student can build upon the other's learning. Each student is also given the chance to contribute, opportunities that are sometimes lost in a classroom context.

As mentioned earlier, knowledge from this task was scaffolded using the PMI Analysis tool. It was used to dissect the article and seperate it into the following categories; plus, minus & interesting. This technique supports greater analysis as it asks the reader to think about/analyse the text on a deeper level, by triggering the reader to examine all options before making any decisions.  You can also use the PMI tool to grade a text. For example, if every plus was graded +5, every minus -5, at the end of analysis, the text would have a grade that could support or reject a decision. This technique could be a useful strategy with my own learners as it encourages students to analyse on a deeper level as well as being a useful scaffolding tool for collaborative learning. A PMI tool could also be particularly effective in a Wiki as it allows each student to contribute to the list.


References:

Commonwealth of Australia. (2006). Planning guide: Activity sheet 5: Expert jigsaw. Retrieved from http://www.maryborougheducationcentre.vic.edu.au/successforboys/resources/pdf/planning_core/planning_activity5.pdf


ramitsethi. (2007, Mar 2). Pb wiki - What is a wiki? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmByB0sIPog&feature=player_embedded


Wikipedia. (2011). Jigsaw: Teaching technique. Retrieved July 7, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigsaw_(teaching_technique)

Multiple Intelligences - Week 1 Moodle Acitivity

So I took the Multiple Intelligence test and I have to say I am very surprised. I knew I wasn't Body Smart, Musical or Interpersonal, but I would have guessed myself to be more logical, particularly because Math & Problem Solving are one of my strengths. However, the test only had 40 questions, so if it was more comprehensive, it may have shown different results.

What I did learn from this exercise however, was there ARE different intelligence styles out there, and our teaching should cater to these different styles, so that a student's individual strengths are nourished. I look forward to learning more on how this is capable.

Also, I would like to add that I found Sir Ken Robinson's conference delightful and humorous and I recommend fellow students to watch the video in Moodle.

Learning Styles - Week 1 Moodle Activity

I just finished the Felder & Solomon Questionnaire that reveals your own individual learning style and here are my results:

I swing far towards the Intuitive learner and not the Sensing.
I am more Reflective but also Active.
I am far more a Visual Learner than a Verbal one &
I prefer Sequential learning than Global.

I think the test was fairly accurate, but it fails to mention that my learning style changes with the topic I am learning. For example with math, I like straightforward no-nonsense learning, with procedures and solutions that make clear sense, however with science I love the bigger picture, ideas and theories and the facts are not so important to me.

As far as my reflection on the implication for online learning design, I think it is clear that learning styles vary greatly between students, (and there is only more information coming to the surface proving this is true) so it is important to use a range of teaching techniques and stimuli to engage ALL students and not just the ones lucky enough to absorb only written lessons well.

Technology in the Classroom

Hi Everyone,

Seeing I had to learn eventually to upload a video,  I thought I would find one relevant to what we learnt this week, and what I learnt this week, was like it or not, technology is going to play a major part in classrooms now and in the future. This video I thought was interesting as it highlights the importance of not shunning technology in the classrooms.



First Class for E-Learning

Ok, well first class feels very rushed. Created a WikiSpace and a Blog, both of which I've never had. So welcome to my blog and my first post. If you can see this, I did something right :-)