http://s0173579.podomatic.com/entry/2010-07-27T03_35_41-07_00
This was the most tedious process that I have yet encountered in e-learning. The host asks for your name but does not inform you that this will be posted as the name of the podcast. The process of recording my voice and uploading it was relatively easy. The process of uploading it to the podcast required a large amount of time. I don't know if this is because of my hardware or broadband connection speed. Which leads me to wonder if it took me over 20minutes to upload in an educational setting this would mean lost hours of lunch breaks or weekends spent uploading podcast. Even though this tool may have a variety of applications such as a school broadcasting system and small movie production I'm yet to be convinced of the benefits.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Podcasts
http://cache.mypodcast.com/cached/group4storyelements1_20091009_1817-513389-246438-3.mp3
This address above is a podcast of 'Where the wild things are" .This podcast is accompanied by the sounds of the story along with the readers voice.
In the classroom this could be used to introduce the genre of story writing or as a spring board for sequencing the events of the story as learners raise their hand to indicate when an event has occurred. It could be used for comprehension tests to assess if learners are picking up the finer detail that comes from listening and not viewing the story.
It would be interesting to note how many descriptive words the students could identify listening to this story.
http://c1.libsyn.com/media/17954/Three_Pigs.mp3?nvb=20100725043806&nva=20100726044806&sid=2d01f5d49dc57f4776a02bbe5c0d7b8a&t=01bcdff10dab851ddd282
This recording is very expressive and the increase and decrease in pitch and pace of the readers voice led me to think that this could be one way that children recognise the difference it makes in an oral presentation and when they read a story. This may encourage young readers to use expression in their reading if they could listen to their own voice.
The voice of the reader allows the listener to recreate the characteristics of the participants in the story by using pitch, power and pace. It would be interesting to see what illustrations they would draw to illustrate the minor characters without seeing them first.
Both of these pod casts could be used as hooks into a unit on fairy tales or story writing. They both encourage the student to use their listening skills and recreate the images for themselves.
They may provide an activity for early finishers, good behaviour or to assist students with vision impairment.
One idea for a unit may require the students to examine a particular genre such as fairy tales then scaffold the learning to have the students write their own fairy tale and record it as a podcast to share with friends and family. This may also serve to improve oral presentations as the shy students may find their voice without an immediate audience watching them perform.
This address above is a podcast of 'Where the wild things are" .This podcast is accompanied by the sounds of the story along with the readers voice.
In the classroom this could be used to introduce the genre of story writing or as a spring board for sequencing the events of the story as learners raise their hand to indicate when an event has occurred. It could be used for comprehension tests to assess if learners are picking up the finer detail that comes from listening and not viewing the story.
It would be interesting to note how many descriptive words the students could identify listening to this story.
http://c1.libsyn.com/media/17954/Three_Pigs.mp3?nvb=20100725043806&nva=20100726044806&sid=2d01f5d49dc57f4776a02bbe5c0d7b8a&t=01bcdff10dab851ddd282
This recording is very expressive and the increase and decrease in pitch and pace of the readers voice led me to think that this could be one way that children recognise the difference it makes in an oral presentation and when they read a story. This may encourage young readers to use expression in their reading if they could listen to their own voice.
The voice of the reader allows the listener to recreate the characteristics of the participants in the story by using pitch, power and pace. It would be interesting to see what illustrations they would draw to illustrate the minor characters without seeing them first.
Both of these pod casts could be used as hooks into a unit on fairy tales or story writing. They both encourage the student to use their listening skills and recreate the images for themselves.
They may provide an activity for early finishers, good behaviour or to assist students with vision impairment.
One idea for a unit may require the students to examine a particular genre such as fairy tales then scaffold the learning to have the students write their own fairy tale and record it as a podcast to share with friends and family. This may also serve to improve oral presentations as the shy students may find their voice without an immediate audience watching them perform.
Inspire Me
I have chosen to upload this photo that was taken when my daughter was diving on the H.M.A.S Brisbane. This photo reminds me of the Titanic movie and when I look at the scene the inspirations are limitless. I can see this photo being used to inspire students to write in a creative genre such as a short story. Students may also wish to record a sound track that may accompany the story. The music could be composed of musical instruments or with the aid of a computer based programme like acid studio.Students may wish to write a movie script of their own or change the course of events on the Titanic and rewrite the script. Alternately they could consider the environmental impact that the sinking of the H.M.A.S Brisbane has had on the local forna and flora. This could lead to numerous science investigations and further exploration of study into similar cases in other parts of the world thereby promoting global citizenship. Students could set up a wiki to share findings, pictures and culminate a paper on future recommendations. What do we want our ocean to look like in 20 years?
This may also lead to the discovery of ocean life forms as students study what animals need to exist in the environment - students could create a picture of a life form that could exist in the picture taken. Once the animal was created they could use photostory to complete a pictorial representation of the various life stages.
I believe photos are cost effective, easy to upload and use for a variety of functions in an educational setting.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Powerpoint Presentations
I have just completed the tutorials for using Microsoft PowerPoint and found them to be easy once I recognised the toolbar. This has assisted me to learn about the possibilities for using this tool in an educational setting. I never knew they could be interactive and can see that the side bar within the PowerPoint would allow younger students to navigate around the PowerPoint by clicking on symbols or pictures used as icons. Having previously constructed a Web Quest it was difficult to arrange in an easy to use navigation for young learners such as prep students.
The interactive PowerPoint could be used in an investigation or inquiry learning unit, where children could at their own pace navigate through an investigation or inquiry. This self paced learning style could accommodate various levels of students abilities as extension pages could be included to cater for early or advanced learners. The many learning styles could also be included for with pages that may be linked to kinaesthetic or verbal activities.
Teacher created quizes could be added to the powerpoint but allow the students to navigate around the site and maybe through hyperlinks investigate to find the answers.
The interactive PowerPoint could be used in an investigation or inquiry learning unit, where children could at their own pace navigate through an investigation or inquiry. This self paced learning style could accommodate various levels of students abilities as extension pages could be included to cater for early or advanced learners. The many learning styles could also be included for with pages that may be linked to kinaesthetic or verbal activities.
Teacher created quizes could be added to the powerpoint but allow the students to navigate around the site and maybe through hyperlinks investigate to find the answers.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Benefits of the Wiki
- Up to 100 students can be added to a teacher created wiki.
- The privacy setting allows you to adjust the setting so only the members of the wiki can see the work.
- All wiki members have the same level of access.
- Logo's can be added along with customised appearance.
- A widget can be added to embed spreadsheets and calendars.
- The messaging system can be set to private or disabled.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Digital tools 1: Blogs, Aggregators and Wikis
To be literate in the 21st century students will require 'the flexible and sustainable mastery of a repertoire of practices with the texts of traditional and new communications technologies via spoken language, print, and multimedia, and the ability to use these practices in various social contexts' (Literate Futures: Report, 2002, p.9) In the classroom setting students will require the ability to use technologies and an ability to critically analyse texts. No one can deny that we live in a diverse society and students need to know the social responsibilities as they become active citizens in an ever changing world. Active citizenship is a focus in the New National Curriculum (ACARA, 2009) one way to promote this is the implantation of digital tools.
A blog for example used in conjunction with Bloom's Taxonomy and purposeful pedagogy (Frangenheim, 2006) is a good way of encouraging higher order thinking as the students make reflective entries and journal their learning. This not only allows the student to view evidence of their learning journey but also teachers and parents. The instant reward of having their writing published requires the learner to actively participate in the responsibilities of publishing and the assessing of reliability and ethics of other Web assets (CQU .http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=91800). This could assist some students with the motivation to write as they recognise the authentic educational experience.
Blogs allow collaborative learning as other students can make postings and add to the learning of other students while unknowingly add to their own learning by justifying responses and expressing their understanding.
The blog allows the safety setting to be altered in the navigation bar increasing the protection for students. Collaborative learning situations can be created through the Internet as the teacher can invite comments from other schools around the globe thereby increasing the students knowledge of the world and the global society that they are part of.
The weakness of blogs is that it does not allow for students to work simultaneously as 'ether pad' does.
A blog for example used in conjunction with Bloom's Taxonomy and purposeful pedagogy (Frangenheim, 2006) is a good way of encouraging higher order thinking as the students make reflective entries and journal their learning. This not only allows the student to view evidence of their learning journey but also teachers and parents. The instant reward of having their writing published requires the learner to actively participate in the responsibilities of publishing and the assessing of reliability and ethics of other Web assets (CQU .http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=91800). This could assist some students with the motivation to write as they recognise the authentic educational experience.
Blogs allow collaborative learning as other students can make postings and add to the learning of other students while unknowingly add to their own learning by justifying responses and expressing their understanding.
The blog allows the safety setting to be altered in the navigation bar increasing the protection for students. Collaborative learning situations can be created through the Internet as the teacher can invite comments from other schools around the globe thereby increasing the students knowledge of the world and the global society that they are part of.
The weakness of blogs is that it does not allow for students to work simultaneously as 'ether pad' does.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Voki
Voki.com is a site that allows the user to sign in for free and create an avatar from a selection of male, female and random faces. Colours, eyes, mouth, noses, clothing and accessories can be altered and changed to suit the requirements of the user. It allows selection of voice sounds or import of a personal recording. It does not allow import of a picture from another site to be altered. The site is easy to navigate and follow through to the importing of the image to another site or sharing with a friend.
The possible education applications include
- a pre recording of a poem
- a pre recording of behaviour management (positive praise)
- a voice application for students or adults with disabilities
- an expert in the classroom
- an alias for shy students to share their thoughts and ideas
- a class mascot
While I enjoyed making the avatar I did waste a lot of time playing with the variety of voices and the available selections to choose from. It would be important to monitor students to ensure they were on task and had time to play with the avatar before being time restricted.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Concept Mapping
Organising declarative knowledge can assist students to recognise patterns in information and the environment. It can also aid to cope with large amounts of information or abstract concepts (Marzano & Pickering, 2006)by arranging the information in small easy to understand descriptors. Graphic organisers can be used to engage students in the process of problem solving by clearly identifying constraints and limitations however the organiser alone does not instantly impart the knowledge or understanding to our students. Providing an example or demonstration (teacher structured task) along with the necessary resources and information to generate ways of solving the problem (Marzano & Pickering, 2006) is one way of teaching students to effectively use graphic organisers to solve problems.Problem solving is a vital skill in a world that requires unique solutions to the ever changing situations and technology applications. The Knowledge -Economy requires that the learner develops the ability to solve problems in varying formats. The use of this site (bubbl.us) maybe one way of beginning to brainstorm solutions to problems that we as digital immigrants (Prensky, 2001)may never have experienced.
Monday, July 12, 2010
My Website
http://redzebra.weebly.com/
I feel like I have made it into the 21st Century this is amazing! I feel like a kid in a toy shop. Just imagine how empowering this could be for students with special needs. Not only could this give them a voice but allow freedom of expression and allow their creative juices to flow.
The following SWOT is conducted from a teaching point of view
S- Level of enthusiasm
- Cater for diversity
- Available in many locations
- Publish worksheets
- Publish students work
W- broadband availability
- Could be a time waster
- Monitor to ensure quality not quantity
- Not a two way form of communication
- No human contact
O- To publish work
- To improve digital literacy
- To make income from advertisements or sponsors
- Able to upload video, files and pictures
T- Enough professional development to keep up with the technology
-
I feel like I have made it into the 21st Century this is amazing! I feel like a kid in a toy shop. Just imagine how empowering this could be for students with special needs. Not only could this give them a voice but allow freedom of expression and allow their creative juices to flow.
The following SWOT is conducted from a teaching point of view
S- Level of enthusiasm
- Cater for diversity
- Available in many locations
- Publish worksheets
- Publish students work
W- broadband availability
- Could be a time waster
- Monitor to ensure quality not quantity
- Not a two way form of communication
- No human contact
O- To publish work
- To improve digital literacy
- To make income from advertisements or sponsors
- Able to upload video, files and pictures
T- Enough professional development to keep up with the technology
-
My Wiki
http://red-zebra.wikispaces.com/
This is the link to my wiki, this scares me so much. I find I'm typing one letter at a time very anxiously and waiting for it to disappear into space.
Next I will attempt to explain the difference between a wiki and a blog.
A Blog is an online journal or diary that only the author can alter. Other people may post comments but the author maintains the flow of information along with the direction of the blog.
A wiki is an online working document that is shared by a multiple amount of users who can contribute information, edit and change the working document.
In an educational context a wiki can be used best as a collaborative tool to aid understanding and the sharing of ideas that not only promotes team work but allows the flow of ideas across a broad range of authors. Input may come from any corner of the world but the teacher has the ultimate power to block any unsavoury comments or interests.
This is the link to my wiki, this scares me so much. I find I'm typing one letter at a time very anxiously and waiting for it to disappear into space.
Next I will attempt to explain the difference between a wiki and a blog.
A Blog is an online journal or diary that only the author can alter. Other people may post comments but the author maintains the flow of information along with the direction of the blog.
A wiki is an online working document that is shared by a multiple amount of users who can contribute information, edit and change the working document.
In an educational context a wiki can be used best as a collaborative tool to aid understanding and the sharing of ideas that not only promotes team work but allows the flow of ideas across a broad range of authors. Input may come from any corner of the world but the teacher has the ultimate power to block any unsavoury comments or interests.
Learning Engagement Theory
Having just read the various frameworks by Kearsley and Shneiderman (1998)and Eisenberg and Berkowitz (1987) and understand how both could be applied to real world settings. However rather then just apply to small teams as Kearsley and Shneiderman (1998) assert I can see more benefit of 'The Big6 Skills' approach to information and problem solving as the process and be related to many situations in anyone life span.
As we now consider our learning to be life long and technology to be more at a pace faster then my fingers can type, I think this framework sets up the individual with an ability to problem solve whether it is a collaborative endeavour or personal situation. I also believe that authentic education applies not only inside an educational setting but within the social, business and physical areas of ones life.
As we now consider our learning to be life long and technology to be more at a pace faster then my fingers can type, I think this framework sets up the individual with an ability to problem solve whether it is a collaborative endeavour or personal situation. I also believe that authentic education applies not only inside an educational setting but within the social, business and physical areas of ones life.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Blogging in an educational setting.
Being a digital immigrant I am rather naive when it comes to technology. My children are my first resource when it comes to understanding how to use technology and its applications. It wasn't until I had watched a movie (Julia and Julia) during my holidays that I realised what a blog is actually used for. The purpose of the blog in the movie was to share with the world her personal culinary journey. Just as great chiefs are not born but develop their skills throughout their life, teachers like wise need to learn new strategies and methods to keep up with the digital natives. Blogging is new to my growing technology abilites and is a method of learning not used widely in education.
Applying blogging to an educational setting could allow students in Australia to communicate with students in other countries and replace the pen pal system of years gone by. Not only could blogging allow comparison of thinking and perspectives it could also break down the many barriers facing today's society such as cultural differences. It may be one way to build friendships,understanding , publish work and promote collaborative learning. Through topics that interest students blogs may engage those students who lack motivation in the mainstream methods of learning.
Blogging may improve the reading, writing and thinking skills of learners in the digital age.
Applying blogging to an educational setting could allow students in Australia to communicate with students in other countries and replace the pen pal system of years gone by. Not only could blogging allow comparison of thinking and perspectives it could also break down the many barriers facing today's society such as cultural differences. It may be one way to build friendships,understanding , publish work and promote collaborative learning. Through topics that interest students blogs may engage those students who lack motivation in the mainstream methods of learning.
Blogging may improve the reading, writing and thinking skills of learners in the digital age.
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