Module 11

Web2.0 ….in conclusion

Addressing e-learning

E-learning is about creating an engaging environment for both teachers and students ensuring that the learning process continues to develop and evolve while accessing and utilising emerging technologies and practices. Ultimately as educators it is our role to ensure that we provide a safe and comfortable environment in which our students are supported throughout their learning journey. This takes place in the real and the virtual classroom.
The nature of learning is constantly evolving, and the ways in which we learn now are not the same as those of 5 years ago and these will change even further in the next 5 years. Technology is evolving and allowing us to access information and learning opportunities 24 hours a day 7 days a week. By developing confident and capable e-learners we are generating a generation of responsible and reflective students, who are well equipped to utilise technology when it best suits them.
As a result of me undertaking the Web 2.0 course I have been exposed to new methods that I can use in my day to day teaching, I have been challenged to work beyond my immediate comfort zone and I have been awakened to many new skills that I believe will make me a better teacher, equipped in some way to utilise the technology of the 21st century.

With respect to Bloom's digital taxonomy

Blooms’ Digital Taxonomy places creating as its highest order skill, with this in mind students who use Web 2.0 tools and technology are able to work to this creation goal. The ease which students can create and edit using Web2.0 tools allows them the opportunity to experiment with methods, and to receive feedback from their peers and teachers in an environment of relative intellectual safety. As a result this helps to alleviate to an extent an individuals fear of failure.
This environment of support was identified in Jade’s blog (http://jadesweb20adventure.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html) which I commented on noting the value of her being able to support her students who were struggling to remember to bring work to class,this was overcome by permitting the student to access Google docs to complete work at home and school, although not a higher order skill this process has provided a far more supportive learning environment for the individual.
Throughout the Web 2.0 tools we have been given the opportunity to learn techniques ranging from blogging to generate personal reflection, using Prezi as a simple note taking information technique (or to create much higher scale presentations) through to he creation of podcasts,

Personally

I have found the process of working with the tools presented throughout this course quite interesting.
Will I use all of these applications, probably not!
Have I begun to implement some? Most definitely! I have enjoyed using Google docs as I find this to be a useful method of working on basic documents between locations without having to save to selected drives, this enables me to do work at work or home with great convenience.
I have also used Prezi and can see me using Flickr. in a classroom situation.
I have re-established working with Google Reader (on a personal rather than professional level) but can see the potential for its use also..
Pod-casting is an area that holds great potential however it is something that I know I will need to work on more to gain further confidence ( to create my own).
I also would like to use blogging as a tool for students to respond and reflect on their own learning journey, similar to the ways in which both Monica (http://monicasweb2journey.blogspot.com/2011/11/module-11-web-20-course-reflection.html?showComment=1321441472482#c3574957334604386228)and Jade (http://jadesweb20adventure.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html) have used blogging
It has been encouraging reviewing the blogs of my peers. and I really enjoyed being part of the classroom environment when Tanya used Prezi as a tool for students to create a presentation of their own design work from the past semester (http://ferraromsj.blogspot.com/)

Has the Web 2.0 journey been enjoyable? Yes.
Has it been frustrating? Yes (especially dealing with slow technology)
Am i confident about what I have been taught? No ...But I am confident that I know more as a result of doing the course and I can see enormous potential ahead

Module 10

For our final module we investigated the use of Wikis, in its most basic form a way of creating a file that others can also work on and edit.
As I identified in Module 3 when we looked at Google Documents (which I have begun to use myself) I can see that there is considerable potential for this type of tool as a strategy to be used in the classroom. The benefits in relation to note taking, and group work are considerable, allowing students instant access to each others ideas and reducing the need to copy additional and repetitive information.
I have not personally used Moodle in the classroom, but I am aware that there are a range of staff in our school who are.

Module 9

Using sites on the Web to share information
Through this module we looked at a variety of ways to share information on the Web
We looked at Scootle as a method of sharing resources in the classroom. one of the advantages of Scootle is that you can create learning paths for students to work through at their own pace and you can structure the direction you wish to have the students to follow. I have briefly looked at Scootle to identify resources for Visual Arts (NSW syllabus) and I feel that this may possibly be an area that needs further development, as there were few areas that immediately connected with me based upon units I have taught in the past. Despite this I can see it may be a useful tool to use in the classroom.
We also addressed the use of social networks such as Facebook. The advantage of Facebook is that it is a forum that the students mostly are familiar with. There are many problems with FB and the public nature of the discussions posted. From a professional/educational perspective I don’t personally believe that FB should be used as a classroom tool. I believe that students associate FB with their personal life and incorporating school life can lead to may problems blurring the student/teacher relationship and boundaries.
In my personal opinion I believe that it is much better to use community sites rather than social as a method to communicate/educate between teachers and students.
We also made reference to Second Life an online virtual world, where people generate characters and places. I do not believe that this has any value in my classroom. Youth often have great problems dealing with reality and by implementing such virtual people and relationships I believe will only generate further problems. There are many real options that can be successfully utilised effectively rather than using Second Life.
Twitter was also another format that we investigated. I can see that this area would be a beneficial tool that could be used for the school community, especially to update parents and even the wider community. It is not necessarily a format used by students so I do not see it as being a specific tool that I would consider implementing in the classroom. Having said that I can see how the messaging nature of Twitter could provide useful reminders and updates for students. I can see the ways in which this media could be destructive or time wasting but I also believe that it can be an effective way communicating. Before doing this module I had not really considered using Twitter although I can see the benefit especially if you align yourself with a selection of reliable people to follow.
Lastly we looked at Linkedin, I have not followed any further investigation of this site.

Module 8 Google Reader

Module 8 Google reader
This is something that I had briefly dabbled in previously. Having said that I have set up RSS feeds but I had not done anything in particular to keep up with them or read them regularly.
Like many of the areas we have covered in this course I can see the benefit of keeping data such as this (RSS feeds) in one specific location.
The advantage of covering this in the course has reacquainted me with this form of data gathering. I also see it as a way of collecting excess and at times unnecessary information.
With respect to subscribing to these feeds the process is usually quite simple, any sites that have this type of access/feeds will usually have details at bottom of website. It is a simple process to subscribe using google and adding to google reader and should flow through, this means that RSS feeds can be located at one place.
While experimenting with adding feeds (Board of Studies) we discovered the problem of feeds automatically going to Explorer, this was overcome by copying and pasting the https: address and pasting into Google Reader.

Session 7

Session 7/Module 7 delicious.com
While I did this session a few weeks ago I have struggled to actually post my response to the topic covered. We were introduced to delicious.com as a method of managing links. I can see that this may be a useful way to manage links for a class group and fellow staff/colleagues.
It could be used in the classroom to manage links as suggested by teachers and/or students so that access can be open to all class members/staff on any computer (not just one machine that has bookmarks).
I can see that delicious.com would be an effective way of managing links with tags
To save links, highlight url open up delicious.com save link, links can be saved privately or publicly.
The benefits of this tool in teaching is it provides an opportunity or easy way to access resources or it could be a way of students doing their bibliography.
Since doing this session I have aimed to ‘use’ delicious.com myself in an attempt to manage my own links, I have not yet done so, part of this problem probably stems from the fact that the nature of my teaching role at the moment does not exactly provide the opportunity or rather need to do so.

Session 6 Using Flickr and beyond

Session 6 Using flickr
I had heard of flickr www.flickr.com but had not actually used it myself. It is reasonably easy to create an account and to use as a vehicle for managing photos. It has great potential as a social manner of sharing images and based on this may be a program that is already utilised by students, which can make it an easy tool to incorporate in a learning environment.
From a Creative Art and Technology type of perspective I can see that it has scope to be used in the classroom, it could be an effective way of working with digital images for students who can upload their own images and possibly share images of their peers. Another process could be to have the teacher upload a range of images from their own resources which could also be used.
The techniques of labelling images and incorporating notes or questions that students could investigate. also students could complete activities themselves notating images, developing questions and similar.
www.creativecommons.org

Week 5 Module 5 Creating and Collaborating online

Web 2.0 presentation example on Prezi

Here are two examples of online creations http://www.bubbl.us/ and  http://www.prezi.com/  that we have looked at through this session. I am very interested in the practical applications of each of these in the classroom and can see significant potential for both of them.
I commenced using each of these during our session and had attempted to upload them onto my blog (which I did successfully incidently!) BUT when I tried to look into them later I discovered some problems, which were user errors on my behalf using Blogger!!! I think I have refined my skills somewhat and now I have a greater idea of what I am doing on Blogger...YAY!
I like the way that http://www.bubbl.us/ provides an instant way of creating online brainstorming/mind-maps for a whole class group that may be directed by the teacher, a student, or a group and that can also be linked /saved or printed immediately. From my perspective, working with students of varying needs, it is a way of easily capturing the information for them and ensuring that they get the most from discussions in class.
We also looked at http://www.edu.glogster.com/ as a multi media online presentation tool, while it has many clever features it looks clumsy to use.
Looking at http://www.prezi.com/,  a presentation program, in a sense it is like creating a large piece of butchers paper full  of information that can then be linked with paths to go from one idea to the next. I quite liked this concept and found it relatively easy to use. I would like to experiment further with this application as I feel it would be a useful and easy tool for students to use as apresentation format.
I found this session very useful, full of potential and I look forward to using these tools further.

Session 4/Module 4 Podcasts

This module introduced us to the use of pod-casts, pod-casting. and youTube  Having used these before and downloading podcasts meant I knew what we were doing/looking at so the process was easy
From my perspective I can see the benefits of using existing podcasts and youTube as a tool in the classroom environment. Using them needs to be a well directed concept as the wealth of  information available could provide too much temptation of too many options

Session 3/Module 3 Google Documents

Session 3/Module 3
Google Documents
This is an area that I can see as being quite useful as a classroom tool, especially for group work and activities such as note taking.
Positives are based around the ways in which groups can be allowed to access the information allowing all participants to add their contributions at the same time and be able to read the
Negatives include the simplified tools that are available through the Google docs  as compared to Microsoft Word and Publisher and the related adjustments in formatting that may be presented but using it in its more basic form it has considerable potential

Session 2

So I have made it to Session 2/Module 2  which is a good start!
Using Blogger and setting up our own blog space......
Working through the setting up of our own blog space was a useful activity and I can see how it could be a really handy tool in the classroom.  Most importantly it can provide a secure environment (based upon who has access to the blog) to promote and provide feedback to students , especially seniors who may be working on individual or even group based projects (as discussed by Jade).  The concept of a blog space gives students the opportunity to voice their interests/problems and concerns and while this can also be done in person the use of the blog and general concepts of cyberspace can provide the student to possibly say or respond in a manner that they may not feel able to in a classroom setting (especially in front of peers).  Of course the public nature of posting such material needs to be reinforced to the student
An area of concern I have would  be regarding the  nature of setting up the blog spaces for a full class of students. Primarily because there would be large numbers  trying to create their blog at the one time from the same URL (as we experienced) which put Google into defence mode thus requiring us to provide additional verification to allow us permission to create the blog spaces. This is a difficult situation to try and administer as a general classroom teacher. One way to eliminate this problem would be to spend time prior to the lesson ensuring that each student had their account and blog site set up, this could possibly be done in small group’s using  laptops/class computers over a period of time before the desired lesson time.
As with all IT related issues it would be important for teachers to regularly use and keep themselves up to date with the process of creating blogs to help troubleshooting when working with the students.
There are huge benefits to the portability of this type of work eliminating the need for either students or teachers having to carry large folios especially for Technology and Creative Arts subjects. This currently can only work for class/school based activities due to the page requirements that are presented for HSC Major Projects.

Session 1

My name is Kathy; I am a teacher at Mount St Joseph Milperra. I have decided to enrol in the Web 2 course to further develop my IT skills and to broaden my approach to developing tasks and aiding students with their work.

 I found our first group session to be a positive environment and an ideal situation to encourage myself to work through the course, I look forward to future tutorial sessions.  One of the most rewarding aspects of the tutorial was seeing the videos which identified the changes that are occurring in our ways of delivering education, the importance to meet our students on their grounds or terms to make their learning experiences engaging and real for them.

Using iGoogle was an area that I had previously undertaken and while it was entertaining to use again, I found that it generally does not meet my needs as a classroom teacher, there are too many distractions for me personally and I imagine that would also be the case in my classroom. There are no doubt many useful applications but too many quirky games application.