Blogging

I've given myself several weeks to explore Blogger as a tool and come to understand its limitations and possibilities as an online space.
It is one of my favoured online spaces (group 1 technology); probably because I have become familiar with its layout and options. I have always found it user friendly and engaging. It has been a great way for me to keep track of my progress throughout the course of E-learning. It has been a stable platform for me to record my learning and emotions. It has allowed me to engage in ITC and helped me become comfortable with the potential of online spaces and my own online identity.

Blogging is beginning to enter education (an example is this course itself) and I believe that is for numerous reasons. Blogs are personal and allow ownership of work. They can be updated on campus, in an online cafe or in the comfort of ones own home. They can be shared and have feedback provided to them. Conversations can be had using the comment feature. Links, audio, videos, html for other technologies such as Voki and Dipity Timelines and pictures can be embedded into blogs. They can be customized with free templates, layouts or html (believe me I tried a lot!) and the adjustment of text font, size and colour. Gadgets can be added to the side of Bloggers; I've added a poll, a Voki, a picture and a slide show to mine. They encourage collaboration and reflective and critical thinking in learners (and I speak from personal experience).

They are an extremely personal web space and I can see them working well as a learning tool to promote creative and critical thinking in learners. I can also see them working well as an assessment tool - perhaps students could blog from the perspective of a character from a book, movie or history to demonstrate a complex understanding of perspectives. Or they could blog from their own perspective about their learning or document their progress. They could explore themes through their blog or reflect on experiences.

There are weaknesses in blogging, however. They do tend to encourage individual thought processes without allowing for much collaboration on projects outside of the comment feature. They are also a very visual orientated tool and because of that content may be sacrificed at times. They rely on Internet connectivity and because of this some students may be disadvantaged if they cannot access a reliable source of Internet outside of school time.

At all times learners and learning managers are required to consider safe, legal and ethical guidelines. Blogger establishes an online identity and learners need to understand and be aware of this. Creating unprofessional and inappropriate online identities can have ramifications in the future - employers searching possible employees on microblogs such as Facebook provides examples of this. Users of Blogger need to carefully consider postings and be disinclined to post negative personal comments online as such "venting" can have legal consequences. Learners should be educated about copyright laws and online obligations such as acknowledging sources of pictures and videos. Privacy laws need to be considered as well and a set of class rules regarding blogging may help to educate learners and protect them from breaking laws if rules are adhered to.

Reflective Synopsis

Information and communication technologies (ITC) are fast becoming essentials in everyday life. In fact most people now consider it normal to be able to find information, take photographs, record and communicate with others using only one device (Naismith et al., 2004, p.1). With ITC playing such a vital role in workplaces and everyday life educators need to take into account the needs of 'digital natives' (Prensky, 2001) and, importantly, consider how we can best use the available resources to support learning (Naismith et al., 2004, p.1). Some claim that web-based learning tools support the diverse range of learners' needs through the use of various technologies (Phillips, Maczewski & Wang, 2002, p.1). If this is so, the importance of utilizing e-learning technologies in the classrooms is paramount, not just to ensure that students are prepared for the future but also to aid in achieving learning outcomes in all learners, which is the ultimate goal of any learning manager (Marzano & Pickering, 1997).

Managing E-Learning introduces student learning managers to the different types of technology available and helps us to explore its potential in a classroom setting. Throughout this course we have been encouraged to think about tools in depth with the use of careful scaffolding such as Edward de Bono's thinking hats, PMI tables and SWOT analyses.
The technologies I explored are divided into four distinct groups: group 1 is inclusive of online spaces, group 2 consists of multi-media technologies, group 3 contains interactive, multi modal presentational tools and group 4 includes simulations and animations. While these technologies are becoming an important component in many learners' lives it is critical that they are used in to reinforce learning with individual learners and learning preferences in mind. Koehler (2011) recommends that educators combine technological knowldege, pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge to truely intergrate technology into classrooms. I have grappled with this concept over the past six weeks and have attempted to increase my understanding of all three of these components. I have seen my opinions change and my knowledge grow and I hope one day that I can help my learners have the same experience.

Group 1
Group 1 technologies (online spaces) consisted of wikis, websites, blogs and microblogs.
To better understand online spaces I contributed to a a campus wiki and even created my own wiki page. I understand the many risks of wikis in the classroom and have reflected on them accordingly in my Week Two Reflection. However it is important to understand their possible benefits too. An example of such benefits can be seen in Polymath. Polymath was coined by Timothy Gowers, a mathematician of the University of Cambridge, when he considered it in a blog entry in 2009. This idea snowballed into a wiki-style online space where mathematicians discussed and contributed to the solution of a previously unsolved mathematical problem. The problem was solved through online collaboration thanks to ITC (Aron, 2011). Although wikis have existed for years the idea of professional mathematicians collaborating through them is revolutionary and demonstrates that their full potential in problem solving and education is still being developed. I have considered their possible uses within my classroom in Week Two Reflection, as well as explored my safe, legal and ethical guidelines.
Another technology belonging to group 1 is Weebly. I reflect on my own experiences in Weebly as a Tool as well as considering their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Through my experience I gained a valuable insight into how websites could be used to direct student learning and furthermore I began to consider other possible uses for websites, which can also be seen in Weebly as a Tool.
The third and final tool I've explore in group 1 is Blogger. My own personal blog was an adventure! I've learnt so much and have begun to see its value as an educational tool. Please see my recent post on Blogging to understand my opinions on how it could be used in the classroom.
Group 2
Group 2 technologies include of images, audio tools and videos. Such multimedia tools are available through sites such as YouTube; please refer to More on YouTube for an explanation on the technology. More on YouTube also discusses the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities that exist for YouTube as a potential tool for classroom learning. I also explore an incident that shocked the Internet community and considers the risks of YouTube being a user generated database. In my post YouTube I collaborate with another E-learning student to present rough video footage of a discussion about YouTube's potential. In this post I have also considered safe, legal and ethical guidelines and the potential uses of YouTube in a classroom, but there are undoubtedly many more uses for YouTube as a learning tool and I am continuing to research its potential.
Further possibilities of multi-media include combining pictures/photographs with sound clips. While I didn't create audio files I am familiar with most audio files, downloading pod casts for personal use and recording my own voice onto my mobile phone. I can be self-conscious about the sound of my voice when it is unsupported by other media such as video or a picture stream. I believe that it is likely that some students share my concern and because of this I focused on editing photographs to explore group 2 further. To see my results please view my posts Flickr and Picnik and Photobucket. I have also included postings of the original images, available to view at Flickr, Photobucket and Picnik, which also considers the safe, ethical and legal guidelines of posting photographs online.
Group 3
Group 3 technologies are presentational tools which can include Powerpoints, Prezis and Glogsters. I found that group 3 technologies provided the opportunity to bring group 1 and group 2 technologies together: online spaces could be linked to through Powerpoint presentations, videos, images and sounds could be embedded into Powerpoint presentations or Glogsters. To broaden my knowledge on presentational tools I chose to explore Glogster by viewing other Glogsters and creating my own. My discoveries and my creation along with two of my favourite Glogsters for an educational context can be viewed in my posting Glogster. This post also considers possible uses of Glogster in my classroom and the safe, legal and ethical guidelines. I also created several Powerpoints for my own benefit to further familiarize myself with the technology. I used new techniques I was discovering through my E-learning. To see my brief reflection and a screenshot of part of a presentation see my posting Powerpoint.
Group 4
Group 4 technologies are quite open ended (CQU, 2011) but are inclusive of animations and simulations which I explored by creating my own Dipity Timeline and a Go Animate clip. These can be viewed in my postings Dipity Timelines and Go Animate Animations. Both I considered to have academic merit due to their clean, professional presentation and simplicity.

Concluding

After broadening my understanding of many different types of technologies through this course I need to consider how I can apply my new found knowledge to my classroom in conjunction with the Dimensions of Learning in order to achieve learning outcomes. I believe that successful incorporation of E-learning technologies into a 21st century classroom could enhance the attitudes and perceptions of learners. Marzano and Pickering (1997) state that attitudes and perceptions affect the students' abilities to learn. Technology can be used to create positive attitudes and perceptions about tasks for students hold positive views about ITC in an educational context (Haywood, Macleod, Haywood & Mogey, n.d., p.4). Students believe that well designed tools are convenient, accessible, flexible and supportive of learning (Phillips, Maczewski & Wand, 2002, p.3). Furthermore, the comment feature that is found on (or if necessary can be added to) group 1 technologies allows for learning managers to provide appropriate feedback where needed. These features can also be used to allow peers to critically evaluate others work, which can assist in ensuring students understand what a set tasks requires them to do (Marzano & Pickering, 1997).

Technology can also allow learners to practise desired habits of mind which can enhance students' ability to learn. With careful guidance students can be shown how to restrain impulsivity and how to plan appropriately, two habits of mind that Marzano and Pickering consider important (Marzano & Pickering, 1997). This can be done by encouraging learners to think carefully about what they post on the Internet and ensuring that as their learning manager you have educated these learners about safe, legal and ethical behaviours online.

When educators apply their knowledge of content, technology and pedagogy as recomended by Koehler (2011), I believe that technology can reinforce learning. It has the potential to allow learners to acquire and integrate knowledge because it gives students the chance to construct meaning, organize and store knowledge. This can be done in conjunction with the theory of constructivism (Naismith et al., 2004, p.3). ITC can help to create opportunities for students to discover or figure out new information for themselves by being a source of accessible information or an interactive learning program aimed at developing knowledge in learners' minds. ITC also has the potential to help students to extend and refine knowledge. ITC can provide students with graphic organisers (such as Dipity Timelines) and also allows for student structured tasks, both of which are recomended by Marzano and Pickering (1997). However, in my opinion, outside of establishing positive attitudes and perceptions, ITC finds its greatest potential in allowing learners to use knowledge meaningfully. Being digital natives 21st century learners could genuinly benefit from being set tasks that will allow them to use knowledge in a way that is meaningful to them. By setting learners a task that they can relate to their technology rich life a learning manager can give them the oppertunity and freedom to become enthusiastic about that task and practise skills that they believe are relevent to them. The world is changing. Our methods of teaching and the learning tools we use need to keep up to ensure the best possible learning outcomes can be achieved for all our learners.

References

Aron, J. (2011, May). Maths can be better together. NewScientist, pp. 10-11.

Central Queensland University. (2011). Group 4 technologies. Retrieved August 2, 2011 from http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=186326

Department of Education and Training (DET). (2002). Productive Pedagogies. Retrieved from http://education.qld.gov.au/

Haywood, J., Macleod, H., Haywood, D., & Mogney, N. (n.d.). The student view of ITC in education at the university of Edinburgh: Skills, attitudes & expectations.
Retrived 16 August 2011
http://homepages.ed.ac.uk/jhaywood/papers/studentviews.pdf

Koehler, M. (2011). TPACK: technological pedagogical and content knowledge: what is TPACK?. Retrieved from http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/tpack/what-is-tpack/

Marzano, R. J., & Pickering, D. J. (with Arrendondo, D.E., Paynter, D. E., Blackburn, G. J., Brandt, R. S., ... Whistler, J. S.). (1997). Dimensions of learning teacher's manual (2nd ed.). Alexandra, VA: ASCD.

Naismith, L., Lonsdale, P., Vavoula, G., & Sharples, M. (2004). Literature review in mobile technologies and learning. Birmingham, UK: Nesta Futurelab.

Phillips, B., Maczewski, M., & Wang, M. (2002). Evaluating the usability of web-based learning tools. Retrived from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.15.9246&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Retrieved August 15, 2001 from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/prensky%20-%20digital%20natives,%20digital%20immigrants%20-%20part1.pdf

Prezi

I created a Prezi today, hopefully you can view it below:
http://prezi.com/p_nistacbna_/my-first-prezi/
But maybe not - I found it so hard to navigate that the above link could be redundant. I disliked the experience immensely and was resenting it by the time I finished creating my Prezi. I couldn't even figure out how to log out so I can't provide you with a link to Prezi's home site. I usually can use web based technologies quickly and efficiently but this one just confused me. I wouldn't consider it user friendly and I don't believe that it really consolidates learning. I can think of better ways to present information.

Dipity Timelines

Blogs in Time on Dipity.

Today I'll be discussing timelines as an educational tool; I have explored two types - the traditional hand drawn timeline and the elearning timeline created on Dipity. Dipity allows users to create timelines with added features such as pictures, links and videos. Its educational merit is, in my eyes, quite apparent. Timelines are a staple of my education, I've even seen them used in lectures. They are a simple graphical organiser which displays information and events in relation to each other and time. The advantages of using timelines to display events (as opposed to a page full of text and dates) is their visual appeal and simplicity, they are easy to read and draw information from and visual learners will be more engaged and quite likely find information easier to recall. They can be used in humanities subjects to portray important events in history, in science to display cosmological events and the Earth's development or in biology to show the evolution of humans (or plants and animals) or even in English/literary studies to explore how certain events shaped literature or in units about biographies (important events in a persons life) or mathematics to show important mathematical discoveries or help learners understand the concept of time. Timelines could also be used in sciences to track the growth of something or a chemical reaction.

Unfortunately traditional timelines can be too simplistic for some subject matters and may not allow enough insight into an issue or cultural event that occurred, especially if it occurred during a "busy" section of the timeline. Furthermore they can be messy, hard to read and prone to spelling errors. The picture of my hand drawn timeline above highlights some of the limitations of a hand drawn timeline - errors were irreversible, it was messy, handwriting was not as neat as typed text would have been, important events were skipped because of space limitations and details were left out for the same reason. The timeline doesn't include any pictures because I'm not good at drawing and adding others would have meant finding relevant pictures, printing/cutting them out then gluing them on and that just would have been too much effort.

So what advantages do Dipity timelines offer over the humble handdrawn timeline? Firstly Dipity timelines may appear as simplistic as a traditional timeline but in actual fact they allow for a lot more detail. They have a clean, neat layout and time periods can be zoomed in on or out of. Pictures and videos can be added and links can be embedded. This means that a lot more information can be provided through these timelines. Errors can be rectified in Dipity timelines and further events can added later. Unlike traditional timelines they can be saved and shared, they can be emailed to others and added to later. They can be embedded into websites. Creating them is easy, as is adding additional features such links, descriptions, pictures and videos. I certainly prefer this way of presenting timelines over the traditional method and can see their merit in an educational context.

Pictures and videos require awknowledgement if included in Dipity timelines, unless original/user owned as are those in mine. In a classroom childrens safety can be ensured by gaurding their privace. Future events relating to learners should not be included in case an unwanted stranger takes an interest and decides to attend such an event. Personal details of students should be avoided, as should publishing photographs without permission (maybe only first name and hand drawn portraits should be used to represent them/their achievements).

Go Animate Animations

GoAnimate.com: Technology at Work by catnei

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Today I created a short digital clip using GoAnimate. This simple and easy to use ITC has set templates and characters to choose from to create a visual component. The user is then able to convert text to speech or record and upload dialogue; the video above utilizes the former option. It took me about five minutes to create this video so I consider that this to be a very quick and easy technology to use. I would certainly consider using a GoAnimate clip to introduce a topic to a class. They are personalized and therefore can be made relevant to curriculum matters. The basic version is free and there are a variety of story lines, characters and scenes to choose from as well as different "genres" to pick from. The site itself encourages people to share stories and has been created to make creating digital videos easy. In my opinion this is achieved however in the future I will upload my own voice to a video instead of using the text to speech feature because I'd like to use vocal expression in a clip to make it more realistic.
Links to GoAnimate from a created clip should not be removed if the clip is embedded into a web space. Learners should not create derogatory scenes about others or use inappropriate language in these simple digital clips. Instructions on making these should be given in clear, explicit ways to ensure understanding.

Powerpoint

For so long I've considered Microsoft Powerpoint to be dependent on a presenter. This week it was time to break those old beliefs down and rebuild my understanding. Sure, Powerpoint can be used as an accompaniment to a presentation or converted into a flipchart and displayed on a Magic Whiteboard (it can then be edited during the presentation!). But it can, with the right expertise, be a presentation independent of a presenter. It can be used as a slide show accompanied by music or narration, it can tell a story or present topics/concepts. Videos (and even Vokis but this is really really tricky!) and links can even be embedded into Powerpoint. They have a lot of potential and, better yet, are a very realistic way of using technology in classroom. They are customised and can serve the purpose of the educator. They can be shared between educators and edited to suit individual purposes.

Above is a screenshot of part of the Powerpoint I compiled as part of Kingsley (see his blog) and my SWOT analysis on YouTube. Its full impact could not be shared.

Weeks Four and Five Reflection

The past two weeks have been very busy and do blur together. I've explored so many different applications available on the Internet. I've created a Wordle, I've edited photos using Photobucket, Picnik and Flickr, I experimented with Powerpoint (but sadly couldn't figure out how to share this with you!), I made a video clip about YouTube in collaboration with Kingsley (see his elearning blog) and I discovered Glogster.
Many of these online tools were new to me and I really enjoyed fiddling with them. While that it is, it's a downfall to - some of these things were just so addictive! I can definitely see students becoming as excited by them as I was. Glogster was probably my personal favourite, but they all served different purposes and functions so it's really hard to compare them.
But there is still so much to explore and learn about technology and its potential uses in the classroom. There are so many ways to use and explore the Internet. One idea that caught my eye was Pottermore. This site enables enthusiastic fans to explore the Harry Potter phenomenon in depth. As a future English teacher I believe encouraging children/students to be enthusiastic about reading is extremely important. Finding quality reading material doesn't have to be restricted to wondering around the library though. I believe that by allowing people to access reading material online this material has the opportunity to reach a wider audience including those who do not read traditional books. The concept of Pottermore could also be applied to other things such as curriculum activities which would be of great relevance to the classroom.

Glogster

http://catnei.edu.glogster.com/glog-of-tech/

This week I made a Glogster. Previously I'd never explored the tool and the only time I'd ever seen one was when I looked at another elearner's Blog: http://heidislearningspace.blogspot.com/
What is Glogster? And does it have a place in the classroom?
Glogster is a website which enables you to create multimedia posters online. Pictures, videos, text, graphics and music can be added with a surprisingly large amount of flexibility. The posters can be kept private or shared with a global audience. I was so excited! I could see so much opportunity for this site in education! It even has an EDU section especially for educators.
It's free, it's possibilities are vast, it enables creators to be creative, it could be used as a way of presenting information or as an assessment task. My Glogster is above, I created mine to be about technology and education, because I thought that would be appropriate. But to see the potential of Glogster I've included some Glogsters made by others and found on the Glogster data base (see below).



While it does have a lot of good points, there are some cons. Another elearner was frustrated by it and believed it didn't suit his learning style (see http://hamishbowden1.blogspot.com/2011/08/glogster.html) but also pointed out that it is very easy to spend a lot of time on the aesthetics without much regard to creating content. For this reason I believe that their use should be limited and not a regular activity to be done in every lesson. It could be an activity reserved for those who are early finishes or as a motivating tool or reward (eg. "If we get all this work done today, next lesson we will spend creating Glogsters about the novel we are studying"). It could be used as an assignment task for art, IT or even English. For English units that feature poetry, films or novels a Glogster could be created about a theme central to the literature to help consolidate learning as to what a theme is and also to begin analysing texts.
Presenting Glogster about topics to the class could also be a way of incoparating Glogsters into learning. In some instances Glogster could replace OHT sheets, Powerpoints or whiteboard use and accompany a learning manager as the main presenational tool.
When creating a Glogster it is still important to consider copyright issues and privacy issues. All works should be correctly attributed to their creators/owners and text should not be copied en mass. Privacy is an important issue as once these Glogsters have been shared they are public access and can be re shared through other sites by random people: as have two of the Glogsters on this Blog. Names, addresses, schools, photos and even birthdays should not be shared publicly on applications such as Glogster and this needs to be considered when creating public Glogsters.

Photobucket

The advantage of using Photobucket is that it is so easy to convert photos in whatever you want. Html? Check. Direct link? Check. Want to email it? Sure!
It's so easy to share what you've created using Photobucket. But it is not faultless. It was noticeably slower to load than Picnik and in comparison to Picnik there did seem to be less editing options. Realistically, both sites could support learning in similar ways - they are very similar. I did like Picnik's privacy options though. Using them both in conjunction to get the desired effect is plausible, but complicated and would take a lot of effort. I did find Photobucket user friendly and as it was the second of the two editors that I tried I believe that the over all result was better on Photobucket.

Flickr and Picnik

As you can see, these images are very different to the originals! And the options on Picnik were vast! Unfortunately a lot were restricted to those who paid, but it was a reasonable membership fee ( I even considered joining). What you get for free, however, is a quality website that allows you to upload photos and edit them using extremely simplistic and easy to operate tools. It was so user friendly that I was even creating using the "advanced" option by the end. You could probably even guess what order I edited these photos in - I was certainly a lot more confident by the third!

The site was fast to load and offered some great options. But was it educational? Or could it be used in a way that was? I see its potential existing for lower grade levels and high school English, art and even drama. Photographs can convey many messages, sometimes hidden. If students wanted to create something relating to a theme I think this would be a great place to start. I really surprised myself by seeing value in this activity, especially seeing how damn time consuming it was!

Flickr, Photobucket and Picnik

Today I explored online photo editing. It's great because it is free (or at least has free versions) and a fun way to engage visually with a topic. I've actually used Photobucket before when I was a lot younger, but either I've forgot what I used to know or it's changed quite a bit because it seemed nearly as unfamiliar as Picnik and Flickr. Either way I used all in an attempt to convey different emotions using the same photo as a base. I'm not hugely artistic, so I just tried to use different effects and experiment. I picked three photos. One of a church that I took in New Caledonia, one of an Emu in A.C.T and one of two toys from home. The originals can be seen above. I'm going to upload those edited on Picnik through Flickr on a separate post and those edited on PhotoBucket on a separate post.

More on YouTube: SWOT

YouTube is an online video clip data base, with content that is largely user generated. Clips can be searched for, found and/or uploaded by a user. But is it appropriate to use as a learning tool in Australian classrooms? Well, I approached this question with my vision blurred by negativity (I had my black hat on).
Many schools filter access to websites and YouTube is on the "no viewing list" at some schools. Though it could be argued that it is counterproductive to restrict students' access to YouTube. I myself wonder why schools block some websites that students most probably have free access to at home - shouldn't schools be educating youth about the Internet instead of dictating its usage? I'm beginning to realize just how complex the topic of elearning is. The safety of learners is a primary concern for a lot of schools and no one wants to risk exposing them to inappropriate material - which can be done with the click of a button on the Internet. Not to mention the possibility of allowing "bad guys" contact with students - which could pose a significant risk in some situations and is every parents worst nightmare. Lawful practises also need to be considered and I'm exploring the legal ramifications (and loopholes) that the Internet presents.
One case that caught my attention was "Porn Day". Because YouTube relies on user generated content it can be susceptible to abuse. On the 20th of May 2009 a large, organised group of users uploaded a very large amount of pornographic and explicit material without declaring it and attaching tags such as "Jonas Brothers". See http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/05/4chan-ebaumsworld-carpet-bombing-youtube-with-porn-videos.ars
YouTube users as young as 12 accessed explicit material by pure accident.
This was just one incident and possibly represents a worse case scenario. To get a wider view of YouTube's potential as a learning tool I conducted a SWOT analysis (with help), seen below.

Strengths
User friendly
Students can watch critical points several times
Videos can be paused for note taking
Cheap, easy access to media
Access to videos from all around the world
Videos can be re watched as many times as necessary
Searing for clips is fast and easy
Clips can be creative
Weaknesses
Not all information on YouTube is reliable
YouTube is dependent on Internet connectivity
Slow downloading can be frustrating
Clips are not interactive
Not all videos to appear in a search are relevant to topic
Clips can be bias
Opportunities
Watching clips could be given as homework/revision
Helps students to become global citizens
Students could use YouTube as a way of presenting assessment
Clips could be watched as a class then discussed
Talent can be recognised through YouTube
Collaboration of information and ideas
Networking through YouTube
Students can contribute to online database
Threats
Copyright issue
Can be issues with privacy invasion
Not all videos are child friendly
Government censorship means that it isn't always accessible to learners

There are a lot of great opportunities to use YouTube constructively as a learning tool. I believe that using it as a homework or a revision task has great potential, so long as URL is given so that there are no mix ups with students watching the wrong videos. Clips would have to be reviewed by the teacher prior to showing the students or recommended to them to ensure all material was appropriate. Realistically I believe that asking students to create films is a possibility although I don't believe that YouTube has to be involved in the process - the films can simply be made and never shared. YouTube could be used for ideas and inspiration in this instance. I also think that setting clips as homework is a possibility but certain circumstances need to be considered for that to work - do all students have access to the Internet with enough downloading capacity to utilize YouTube, etc. Watching clips in class could be used as a "hook" or introduction to a topic or an interesting way to consider alternate opinions on subjects.
After considering all aspects of YouTube I certainly can see it as a valuable learning tool when used successfully and my attitudes toward it have certainly become more positive!

Wordle

Just a few thoughts on Wordles (presented in a Wordle!). It's an interesting way of displaying opinions and thoughts. In Wordles more common words appear larger than the less common words, so they display the information in an almost graph like manner with an emphasis on more common words or dominant ideologies and themes.

They're also so easy to use! I can imagine asking students to create them as an activity to express dominant themes in texts that we read in English classes or even in a statistical class in mathematics to display data collection. Alternatively I could create one to display to the class, although that is less personalized and interactive. They do require access to the internet and computors though, which may be unjustifiable to a school with limited resources. Also I doubt Wordle really encourages critical thinking, or thinking at a deep level. Certainly creating a Wordle does not require the analysis, synthesis or evaluation of its content especially considering that all that is required to create them is the copying and pasting of words.

There is certainly a place for Wordles and they are a fun, light hearted way of considering text but whether they are a valuable learning tool, well, how about making one and seeing for yourself? Available at http://www.wordle.net/

YouTube

This week I collaborated with a range of other university students, particularly "BLMers" and e-learning students, to create a YouTube clip/video about YouTube. Kingsley and I considered how visual media could be used in a classroom with a focus on YouTube.
Some of our recordings wouldn't convert to the format we needed them to be in and neither of us had video editing software so we had to have a back up plan and improvise a little when we put it all together using a Microsoft Powerpoint. Unfortunately, YouTube doesn't except any file that Powerpoints can be saved as or converted to, so while we learnt a lot from our project I can't share it with you.
I can (or should be able to) however, share a brief part of unedited video from our evaluation, as seen below:




As seen above, Kingsley and I can see merit in YouTube as an educational tool. However, it is blocked from student access by Queensland Education and therefore its practical applications in the classroom are restricted.
Some uses for YouTube in an educational context without allowing students direct access from their student accounts include:
+ Showing a clip to the whole class as a hook
+ Showing a clip to the whole class then discussing
+ Embedding YouTube into presentations (eg. PowerPoint)
+ Setting specific URL as homework/revision for students to view at their leisure
It is extremely important to understand safe, legal and ethical practises when using YouTube as an educational tool. I believe that all clips should be viewed by the learning manager before being shown to the learners. YouTube is an online data base of clips, but videos exist outside of YouTube as well. I think having learners create video presentations is a great way to get learners enthusiastic about a topic and enable them to feel empowered by the ITC. This would allow them to benefit from a multi-media tool without exposing them to some of the risks that exist through YouTube. Teachers have to understand privacy laws and seek permission if they wish to share such videos with the wider community and understand that videos (or pictures) should not be shot using privately owned cameras without prior permission. They should also be stored on EQ owned property in accordance with law.

Week Three Review

This week I explored some e-learning tools. I created a wiki and a website. I didn't really like the wiki, I found that the lack of free visual options was really restricting and deterring. I like to personalise the look of things I create!
I really am exploring different technologies as this course goes on. It's not really structured - which is unfamiliar and strange to me. Usually I would prefer everything to be organised into categories and to just be told what to do. The freedom of my learning is so overwhelming that at times it works against me - paralysing me, inundating me with the vastness of what is out there to learn. I'm learning to break up what I learn into manageable pieces.

Weebly as a Tool

Today I created a website through weebly:

http://compulsorywebsite.weebly.com/

I set up mine to be about mathematics - because I'm planning to be a math/English teacher and wanted to begin looking at exactly how e-learning tools could be used in my classroom.
I've been spending a lot of time today constructing it and I would like to reflect on the some good points and bad points of creating a website for learning and also consider how and when they would be useful in the classroom. I'll do this through a SWOT analysis:

Strengths
Available to everyone
Can include interactive components eg. games, calculators, etc.
Learning Manager can know what the site is about
Learning Manager can create a site to suit their needs
Learning Manager can model good online behaviour through the site eg. acknowledging sou res, abiding by copyright laws, appropriate language
Weebly is user friendly
Students can work on it individually or in pairs or groups
Allows students to be creative

Weaknesses

Restricted by limitations of technology

Personalizing the Weebly can be expensive - the better layouts aren't free

There is limited opportunity for students to interact (online - feedback options are limited) with others or engage in critical thinking

Can be bias and unreliable

Students can get caught up in the athetics as apposed to the content (I certainly did!)

Need access to computers and Internet

Oppertunities & Possible Uses in a Classroom Setting

Blogger could be used as a way to pressent assignment tasks. Students could link to information, critic each others work and embed numerous technologies (Weebly can incoperate other components). Weebly could be used to share information: a class or school Weebly could be set up as a way of comunicating with parents and/or students. A topic Weebly could be created (by the learning manager or school) and the Weebly address given to learners to allow them to construct the meaning of their learning online. Web quests are another oppertunity with Weebly.

Threats
Students may fore go learning other skills in favour of web learning

All content needs to be considered before being posted

Learners need to stay on task, distractions threaten Weebly as a tool

Safe, Legal & Ethical Practises

The safe and legal ethical practises when using a Weebly are simular to other online spaces, such as Blogger and Wiki. Pictures, videos, text, etc need to be refferenced if unoriginal. Sites need to be monitored for appropriote behaviour. Rules need to be established within classes to regulate the usage of Weebly. Learners should remember that once uploaded things can be very hard, if not impossible, to recall entirely. Learning Managers need to educate students on safe practises. Personal information should not be shared on public online spaces.

Week Two Reflection

How will what I have learnt this week benefit me as a future educator of mathematics and English?

Wikis: This week I've learnt more about wikis. I've considered their use as an education (or educator's) tool further. I believe that wikis are a great way of communicating and collaborating.
I'd like to consider some of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and treats/risks.
Some of the positive aspects (or strengths) of wikis is the ease of using them. With the click of a button you can contribute text, photos, links and html. Others can add to what you've added or simply enjoy the wiki's content. One of the most famous wikis is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia built on wiki technology and can be edited by anyone. It is a wealth of information. However, the reliability of this information is doubtful at times. While Wikipedia functions to ensure reliability the best it can it is subject to falsification from its anonymous users. This brings me to the weaknesses/risks of wikis. They can be edited to say whatever a user desires and therefore can be subject to inaccuracies. Useful information can be deleted (although this is retrievable) by users as well. Despite this, I believe that their are opportunities for wikis to be Incorporated into education. For example a group of Learning Managers could create a wiki then share their creative ideas, ideas about how to teach something, lesson plans and behavioural strategies. Students could use them in a similar way; using wikis to share their knowledge and build on others knowledge. They could also be used to present assessment tasks but the learning manager must keep in mind how easy it is to delete other's work or take credit for it! Because of this wikis may not be an ideal online space to present assessment tasks, perhaps blogs or other websites may be more suited for tasks when taking credit for certain work or ideas (either as a group or an individual) is important. They are a great place to compile and share information and I believe that their greatest potential lies in whole class discussion/collaboration. It is important to consider the safety of learners and the legal and ethical obligations of the learning manager in this process. They need to be educated and aware of how online information is easily viewed and shared by other users and for this reason they should be wary of revealing their full names and never elude in detail to where they live or what school they attend. Posting photographs of themselves or others needs to be carefully considered and closely monitored. Indecent photographs and/or photographs with school logos, mottoes or uniforms should not be posted on such online spaces. The learning manager should be aware of adjustments made on Wikis to help ensure the safety of learners. Students (and learning managers) should also avoid giving details of future events to avoid potential confrontation from unwanted strangers. Past events can be discussed, however. Pictures, videos, etc sourced from external sources should always be acknowledged as belonging to another and learners should understand, to some extend, the importance of copyright laws and ramifications. Some material or text, such as explicit videos, photographs, texts and/or rude language including swearing or put downs are inappropriote and students need to understand this. Learning managers need devise appropriote rules that encompas safety and legality and explain these to students to ensure safe, ethical and legal online practises.

Mobile Phones: While I have considered a lot of interesting and creative ways to use phones in a classroom this week I still believe they are more of a novelty than an essential learning tool (although the same could be said about most ITC and therefore I should try to be more open minded). I think that using mobile phone use as a rewards system may be an achievable way of using them in educational circumstances. Though some of the available applications accessible by smart phone could be extremely useful as a learning tool - but for a lower grade level as they often seem to target simple concepts.

Thinking Hats: In English it is common to have to consider things (poems, novels, short stories, newspaper articles, etc) from different points of view. So this tool could be very useful to me! However it would probably not help me a great deal when teaching mathematics: "Alright children, put on your red hat! How do you feel about long division?"

Mobile Phones in the Classroom - Yes or No?

Should mobile phones be allowed in school? Could they be used as tools in the classroom?

To fully understand the issues and complexities of this problem we examined the issue through six different perspectives using Edward deBono's thinking hats. For those who are unfamiliar with the thinking hats http://www.kurwongbss.eq.edu.au/thinking/Hats/hats.htm explains them.

We were encouraged to research the issue before editing the relevant wiki. I decided to research for the black (negative perspective) hat and the white (information) hat. My research introduced me to a wide range of evidence regarding mobile phones and was not limited to two perspectives. One particularly interesting website I found was https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AclS3lrlFkCIZGhuMnZjdjVfODgzZnNucW5zZGM&hl=en_GB&pli=1
This site featured 30 different ways of using phones constructively in the classroom; my favourite included participating in polls, creating a photographic scavenger hunt and using smartphone applications to partake in interactive learning games.

But because of our campus wiki, my research wasn't all I had access to by the end of the day. Many people had added different perspectives to the wiki. Overall (blue hat thinking?) researching this topic independently before collaborating to create one source of information was an interesting way to learn. It was a way to construct our own knowledge and meaning through our experiences (constructivism!).

So should mobile phones be allowed in the classroom? Well, my personal opinion is no. While they're novel maybe we shouldn't force students to be even more dependent on their phones! I think there are plenty of other ITC tools that would perform to the desired standard while having less negatives. But maybe one day they'll be a place for phones in the classroom...

Multiple Personality Test

I know that this activity was from last week but I thought I'd go back and complete it.
Online quizzes appeal to me for several reasons:

• They don't waste paper


• You don't have to circle things, colour in dots: the computer remembers your answers!


• Computer marks the data


• They can be accessed online from anywhere


• They can be secured or public access


• There are many online quizzes with different functions and characteristics


• Time restrictions can be easily reinforced


• You have access to Internet while doing quizzes
  

However there are downside:

• They can be time consuming


• Long quizzes can be frustrating and/or boring


• Not all can be saved to come back to later


• Power outings can ruin assessment quizzes


• Assessment quizzes have to be structured in a way that anticipates the participant to Google answers


• It can be easy to accidentally click the wrong thing or scroll down and change your answer unintentionally.
  

Online quizzes could have many useful applications to an educator. Profiling learners through such online quizzes (where there's no opportunity to cheat) would be a useful. The learners may be excited about interacting with digital technology whilst at the same time the teacher would collect valuable information about the learner and the ways they best learn. As a future mathematics teacher I would also like to note that online multiple choice mathematics quizzes would be a great tool for advanced students as an extension of their learning.

Reflecting on Week One

My fist week of E-Learning meant a big learning curve for me (and I'm sure it was for a lot of my peers as well!). I was introduced to wikis and blogs but more importantly I have begun to consider how information and communication technology can be implemented into learning environments.

Another thing I've been thinking about is copywright laws (this was prompted by the email we all recieved through moodle). I copy and paste images into my assignments all the time as do my peers. However my knowledge of the legal implications of such actions is extremely limited. Surely people breach these laws frequently; half of my friends' facebook pictures have been taken from somewhere else. the internet really does open up opportunities to steal others hard work or get products for free - downloading music and pirated videos, plagerizing people's research and so on. So should there be a larger emphasis on educating students at school about the legal ramifications of their online actions? After all, while ITC has great potential to make life easier and more convienient it also makes commiting crimes easier too.

Well I'm sure we're going to be considering technology from all perspectives in week two using thinking hats to evaluate cell/smart phone usage.

My Mind Map

I decided to create a mind map online about my current knowledge of E-Learning tools. Hopefully I can add to it my the end of the course! Already I've added "Blogger" to my knowledge since starting the course, so I'm on the right track!


This was a simple process once I got the hang of it and I can certainly see how this technology could be useful to me as a future learning manager. I love graphic organisers and this is so much neater than what I could have achieved by hand! Mind mapping in itself is an excellent tool to use in classrooms for brainstorming and adding onto others ideas.

Reflection on Wiki Activity

Learning in the 21st Century: Wiki Activity

Yesterday , Kingsley Caldwell and I took part in a wiki activity which required us to view two YouTube clips and summarise the positive, negative and interesting points of these clips in a PMI chart. There were different components to this task and today I wish to discuss three of these components.

Firstly the use of YouTube; an online system of sharing video clips with any one on the Internet or a select group of Internet users. Many people are aware of YouTube, its purpose and how to navigate it at a basic level. But today I wish to contemplate how YouTube can be used as an effective learning tool.

In a classroom setting YouTube can provide near immediate access to stimulus relevent to curriculum based subjects; for example when teaching students about cyclones the footage of a cyclone can be quickly retrieved from the Internet through YouTube. This clip can be shown to the class as a whole and possibly dissected collaboratively by this class. It also can be viewed by individuals in their own time (given they all have access to computers and Internet) enabling them to re-watch critical points, pause the video to take notes or fast forward through irrelevant parts of the clip. Furthermore, clips available publicly can be viewed at leisure outside of the classroom as homework or revision. YouTube provides students with the opportunity to engage visually and audibly. There are negatives, of course, to YouTube including the impracticality of ensuring all clips are "child friendly", the massive amount of available clips means that finding relative footage can be tedious and YouTube clips alone fail to give students a chance for interaction. Hopefully I will discuss YouTube further at a later date, for now I wish to move on to working collaboratively.

For this task it was advised that students form pairs to create the PMI chart. Kingsley and I worked together on this after collaboratively viewing the required YouTube clips and this was of benefit to the both of us. The opportunity to share ideas and to discuss 21st Century Learning meant that we got to consider more aspects than we would have if we'd been working alone. We have had very different life experiences and therefore our viewpoints on issues also differ. It was interesting and beneficial to consider his opinions on past, present and future education after viewing the clips and not just my own points of view. I believe that together we constructed a PMI chart that was of higher quality than what I could have produced on my own.

Lastly, I would like to reflect on the process of editing a wiki page. This was a new experience for us both. We were the first of the Gladstone cohort to edit our PMI chart onto the page and being the first it was very daunting having nothing to compare our work to - I'm the type of learner who likes to see a clear example of the completed task that I've been asked to do. It will be interesting to view others PMI charts and gauge whether this quick graphic organiser of information provides the same quality of learning experience as watching YouTube clips, reflecting on them and summarising important points into positives, negatives and interesting perspectives did. Either way I very much look forward to viewing others PMI charts along with their reflective blog entries!

Introducty Post

Hi my name is Courtney. I'm a student enrolled in Central Queensland University's BLM (secondary schooling) program.
I look forward to learning about technology and how technology can be used as a teaching and learning tool.

To start learning about technology I completed the learning style test, an optional activity for this week with results as follow:

ACT <--> REF : ACT 5
SEN <-->INT : INT 9
VIS <-->VRB: VRB 3
SEQ <-->GLO: GLO 1

Interpreted this indicates that I have a mild preference for verbal and global learning and a strong preference for active and intuitive learning.
As I have previously completed this test I was unsurprised by the results. this year many fellow students and myself have become very consciously aware of our learning preferences as well as their importance and impact on learning through this and similar tests.

The variation between my learning style and that of those around me was noticeable in not only our test results, but in our behaviours and methods of study. As a future learning manager myself it is crucial that I am aware of such differences in preferences and am able to cater for all my learners needs.

I believe information and communications technology can be extremely useful when implemented correctly in today's classroom. Furthermore I believe that as professionals we all have an obligation to our learners and to society to adequately prepare students for their future. To best do this I believe we should utilize available technology to not only aid in preparing students for the digital world but to meet their individual learning preferences in a way that would be impractical without the assistance of digital technology. With the information and communications technology currently available we are better equipped than ever before; why not use this to our and our learners' advantage to achieve better results more effectively?