One last thing…

After viewing youtube video Windows Movie Maker Trick Lesson, I was actually quite impressed and thought it be appropriate to share this.

I found this video very useful in terms of helping students create a video from photos. By watching videos such as this, students will more tips and tricks to help them create videos of a superior quality, that they can be even more proud of. I can imagine some students not wanting to share and celebrate their work if they are embarrased by their lack of understanding of how to use the technology, but by finding out little tricks of the trade, they are more likely to be proud of their work and want to share with everyone!!!

Thanks to this flickrCC

My e-learning journey

Here is My e-learning journey, created using Webspiration.

From this e-learning subject I have learnt so much to do with the importance of integrating technology and making it interesting for students. I have also learnt that as creating, sharing and celebrating takes time and unfortunately there are time restraints in a teaching week, there needs to be some reason why you are bothering to use technology (maybe the sharing aspect through blogging). I will keep learning more about the technologies out there and ways to teach with these.

An important ‘ism’

After reading an interesting paper, Online Constructionism and the Future of Teacher Education, I wanted to share some thoughts on this idea of constructionism.

Thanks to this flickrCC

Teaching should involve students learning by creating something they can be proud of and share with other people. As quoted in this paper, Papert (1990) suggests that constructionism reminds us that the best way to do build knowledge in students’ heads is to build something tangible -outside of your head, that is personally meaningful. This makes so much sense to me, because I personally always find that I learn more if I can connect somehow with the material.

Another brilliant idea (in my view) that Papert (1999) put forward in this paper was  that if you can use technology to make things you can make a lot more interesting things, and you can learn a lot more by making them. This shows that technology really is an important tool in students learning, providing new ways for students to create and learn.

Technology allows students to do what?

We know the children of today have grown up using technology on such a regular basis, it often goes by without any thought that they are actually using technology. Mobile phones, computers, the internet… These devices that children use, can be brought into our classrooms, and we as teachers can teach WITH technology.

Thanks to this flickrCC

But what can children actually do with all these technologies? They have so many technological skills already, that they can pick up how to make a movie, their own cartoon, or a podcast, so very quickly.

Have a look (and listen) at what technology allows students to do…

My 2010 Prac. Action Plan

I don’t want to be using ancient technology

Here is my comic on how to keep up to date with technology…

Keeping up to date

How am I going to keep up to date my Technological Knowledge, combined with Pedagogical and Content Knowledge?

Thanks to this flickrCC

I plan to incorporate technology into my teaching wherever possible and appropriate. I will be sure to tie in all the KLA’s, using Photoshop, a camera, podcasts, moviemakers etc. In terms of keeping up to date with all this, I can frequently access TeacherTube, social booking marking and professionals blogs. Another way to keep up with the latest ways of using technology in the classroom is to blog myself, on a regular basis. Talking to friends and students, attending workshops and conferences, as well as reading magazines and journals, can be very useful ways to keep on top of technology. Registering with e-newsletters for teachers, and talking to the school’s computer teacher frequently will also help me keep up to date with the technology available for use.

Such e-newsletters available are

• Edna (national)
• TALE (NSW)
• Tapped In (US)

Discipline Based

• PETA (English)
• S.T.A. (Science)

Webwhat? Reactionary Post

I have been enlightened by reading Alana’s posting on Webquests.

I did not know either what a webquest was. Alana listed some great benefits of using webquests as opposed to giving students a website URL, including:

• being child-friendly,
• easy for teachers to develop their own specific tasks, and
• mostly keeping students on task as there is no distracting content like on other websites

Thanks to this flickrCC

With these benefits in mind, a webquest really is a clever tool and should be used in classrooms and computer labs for students to inquire through using the web. By students participating in an inquiry-oriented lesson, they are questioning and actually wondering about certain content. Now I know what webquests actually are and the benefits of using them, I will be sure to use them in the classroom to facilitate students’ learning.

Can blogs boost self-esteem, for every student? Reactionary Post

By reading Sheree’s posting on ‘Blogs can boost self-esteem?’, I have become curious. Can blogs boost self-esteem? I agree with Sheree, and Sarah Fallon (in her blog titled All the world’s a stage: teaching through online journals), that young children can benefit in terms of self-esteem by having their blogs read and commented by older students.

What I wonder is whether blogs can be a positive learning tool for every student. I know that me as a child would not have wanted to have my work critiqued by someone older who I did not know. I think that for certain students (like me as a child), blogs could be used in this sense together with a ‘buddy’ system, where the younger students get to know the older student, and then implement the blogging and comments. Me as a child, would look up to more and take on board any comments an older student may have (on my blog) if I knew them. In saying this, this thought has come from my personality growing up, and I know everyone is different so this may not work for every child.

Thanks to this flickrCC

unInspirational

Thanks to this flickrcc

After watching the an Inspiration ‘Quick Tour’, I came away with knowledge and a little understanding, but ready for bed. The man’s monotonous voice was very unInspirational for me to use this mindmapping software.

Having used this software before, but not religously, I hoped this Quick Tour Video would help me learn new things about using Inspiration. One thing I did learn is that you choose from over 120 cross-curricula templates. The other key issue was what the software can be used for; it is the ‘essential tool to visualize, think, organise and learn’ -this shown on the opening page in writing. From my own experience with Inspiration I do believe it to help students visualise, think and organise, all part of the learning process.

I do think that on the Inspiration website, the next video should be more engaging if it is going to sell the product. This makes me think back to the importance of student engagement in the classroom, as well as the importance of integrating computers into the curriculum.