Hello!
I am a big fan of using Bloom’s taxonomy and often employ a simplified version of the technique in classrooms to different the curriculum. The revised bloom’s taxonomy is generally useful in planning work for the web. The various tasks that can be complete on the web range from remembering to creating. Most applications I can see be used in the classroom would sit at the middle of the taxonomy, for instance flickr and second life would be an ‘applying’ task as students are editing and operating systems for learning. Mind mapping would be an ‘understanding’ task as it requires students to categorise. Obviously the aim in any computer based application is to set tasks where students are creating projects and critiquing (ie blogging). I believe this is my next stage of development in the classroom. Only issue is in finding time for students to complete these types of tasks!
Wiki’s are something that I am fairly familiar with. I was fortunate enough to complete an ICT course about 2 years ago whereby the challenge for myself was to create a wiki for my year 12 economics students. The program began well, the students were enthusiastic. However, I found that as the course went on, the students began to use it less. It got to the point where I had to chase students to complete their parts! After reviewing some other wikis on the web using this course I think I tried to create something that was far too large. I expected the students to completely conduct their course on the web by adding notes, completing activities, posting questions about the exam and assessments tasks and review updated news feeds. The students were not in the habit of entirely using the web for their study so it was asking them to make a big leap from traditional study techniques. I think when I have another go at creating a wiki I would preferably like to streamline the application. I think I would purely focus on current economic news, or in the case of business studies, updated business news. Using this application as a way to extend students and encourage them to review each other’s work would be a better way to go.
Wiki’s in general, have much to offer in the way of education. They provide an opportunity for teachers to discuss ideas much in the same way that this course has been conducted. Whilst I am able to think critically I highly valued reading other blogs as a way to learn. The old adage is true – two heads are better than one! Currently teachers rely on meeting face to face to discuss ideas and often we fall short of the mark because of time. However, providing the opportunity to interact with others in our own time would serve as solution to this problem. Now an avenue just has to be created whereby teachers get into the habit of using the application.
Overall I have found this course valuable and enjoyable. I must admit that I was sceptical at first because I feel I can use the computer and the web fairly well. But what I found is that there are a range of applications that I had no knowledge of that are highly useful for schools. I look forward to completing further courses on web2.0 and the future developments that will be seen in schools as a result.
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Module 9
Hello all
This was an interesting and eye opening course.
Scottle is an incredible application. I was fortunate enough to have been given a sneak peak of this program at school. We spent a few hours learning how to search and create learning paths. So I reviewed all the course documents to brush up on my search techniques and reviewed some learning paths already created. This is a fantastic resource of which I'm sure will only grow as more teachers begin to use it. The thing I like most is that it does not just focus on videos and pictures but it also has learning objects and interactive games that you would not normally find in other places on the web OR have to pay a fortune for.
The view portrayed of social networking sites was interesting. My feelings towards such applications is fairly negative despite being a user. I currently use the facebook application but I do not log onto the site for a couple of hours each day. I try to limit it to maybe 2 hours a week. I also only try to use it to email people and organise social gatherings. I feel applications like this, encourage people to sit at computer rather than go out and interact with others. We learn to 'talk' to someone through a computer and forget to assess things such as tone and body language when engaging with other people. Having said that, I'm aware that these applications are only growing in popularity so schools need to learn to sink or swim!
However, I was pleasantly surprised at some of the proposed educational uses of social networking sites. In particular, second life. The uses of such a program could be endless in providing students with a virtual world to learn about the real world. My only concern is using these applications to replace excursions. Nothing can substitute for actually visiting an art gallery or being given a tour of a museum.
Having reservations about the program I reviewed what others had to say about social networking sites. One colleague in particular mentioned that Second Life was created for entertainment purposes and students might inevitably revert to using it for entertainment purpose despite being instructed to use it appropriately in the classroom. There was also a concern about the level of literacy and numeracy of students as a result of reverting to ICT applications in the classroom. I suppose teachers and schools will have to think hard about how they use technology – should it be a support system or should schools completely revert to computers?
This was an interesting and eye opening course.
Scottle is an incredible application. I was fortunate enough to have been given a sneak peak of this program at school. We spent a few hours learning how to search and create learning paths. So I reviewed all the course documents to brush up on my search techniques and reviewed some learning paths already created. This is a fantastic resource of which I'm sure will only grow as more teachers begin to use it. The thing I like most is that it does not just focus on videos and pictures but it also has learning objects and interactive games that you would not normally find in other places on the web OR have to pay a fortune for.
The view portrayed of social networking sites was interesting. My feelings towards such applications is fairly negative despite being a user. I currently use the facebook application but I do not log onto the site for a couple of hours each day. I try to limit it to maybe 2 hours a week. I also only try to use it to email people and organise social gatherings. I feel applications like this, encourage people to sit at computer rather than go out and interact with others. We learn to 'talk' to someone through a computer and forget to assess things such as tone and body language when engaging with other people. Having said that, I'm aware that these applications are only growing in popularity so schools need to learn to sink or swim!
However, I was pleasantly surprised at some of the proposed educational uses of social networking sites. In particular, second life. The uses of such a program could be endless in providing students with a virtual world to learn about the real world. My only concern is using these applications to replace excursions. Nothing can substitute for actually visiting an art gallery or being given a tour of a museum.
Having reservations about the program I reviewed what others had to say about social networking sites. One colleague in particular mentioned that Second Life was created for entertainment purposes and students might inevitably revert to using it for entertainment purpose despite being instructed to use it appropriately in the classroom. There was also a concern about the level of literacy and numeracy of students as a result of reverting to ICT applications in the classroom. I suppose teachers and schools will have to think hard about how they use technology – should it be a support system or should schools completely revert to computers?
Module 8
Good evening!
I've had a nice long break and now I'm back into it!
Well had a look at RSS reader today and I must say I am impressed. I use this function normally over email, whereby you subscribe for updates. However, I do find this problematic as the emails never provide you with a decent summary at the beginning of the updates. You have to open the emails and find out what is in them. Google reader allows you to preview the beginning to see if its worth reading. My only question is, how often do these get deleted?
I can see the usfulness of this program for school for two reasons. Firstly, as a HSIE teacher it is important that I stay abreast of the news to inform students of current developments in my field of study, from latest economic trends to new historical reasearch. RSS feeder on Google Reader will enable me to obtain updates of teacher websites from any computer. Secondly, teachers can use this program to monitor student online work. For instance, if students have created blogs or glogs then a teacher can monitor their contribution to a task.
The benefits of such a program are limitless, however teachers do need to incorporate this into their routine. I can see myself adding this to a homepage to encourage me to look at this page as often as I get on the net.
I've had a nice long break and now I'm back into it!
Well had a look at RSS reader today and I must say I am impressed. I use this function normally over email, whereby you subscribe for updates. However, I do find this problematic as the emails never provide you with a decent summary at the beginning of the updates. You have to open the emails and find out what is in them. Google reader allows you to preview the beginning to see if its worth reading. My only question is, how often do these get deleted?
I can see the usfulness of this program for school for two reasons. Firstly, as a HSIE teacher it is important that I stay abreast of the news to inform students of current developments in my field of study, from latest economic trends to new historical reasearch. RSS feeder on Google Reader will enable me to obtain updates of teacher websites from any computer. Secondly, teachers can use this program to monitor student online work. For instance, if students have created blogs or glogs then a teacher can monitor their contribution to a task.
The benefits of such a program are limitless, however teachers do need to incorporate this into their routine. I can see myself adding this to a homepage to encourage me to look at this page as often as I get on the net.
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