week FIVE is finally here! :)

WOW! We are nearly half way through the semester already. The weeks are just flying by. Well I'm back blogging for another week, I am beginning to understand this whole 'blogging' thing and am starting to quite enjoy it. :)

This week we have been, yet again, exposed to a heap of digital tools which we could implement into our classrooms to assist learning. I am so stunned at how many digital, or online tools there are which could be used in an educational way. I had no idea of some of the stuff you could do on the internet. I am learning a lot in this course. 

This week I had a look into 'Glogster' and 'ZooBurst'. I'll start off with explaining Glogster and then head into the ZooBurst information. 

I LOVE Glogster! It is so much fun to use. Glogster is an online site where you can create your own account and generate posters from scratch. This program allows you to add your own video, photo's, text, audio and offers graphics and other text type tools for you to make your own poster about anything you wish. I found Glogster to be a very user friendly site (I didn't watch the tutorial on how the operate Glogster, I just figured it out for myself and it was simple). 

http://emmahaack.edu.glogster.com/thailand/

The list could go on and on about how Glogster could be implemented into the classroom. It is such an adaptable program. I had a little play around with Glogster and made my own poster (seen above) with photo's which showed some parts of my holiday to Thailand. Glogster could be used in the classroom for a day-to-day activity, or for an assessment item. The Glogster I made is a very basic poster and would be used more as a day-to-day activity, rather than an assessment piece. When relating Glogster back to the learning theory I found that it scaffolds a very constructivist learning environment and may also relate to the cognitive thinking of the learners. This program is very learner-centered and encourages them to think creatively. The other good thing about Glogster is that you, as a teacher, can make a class account and give the students generated usernames and passwords. You as the teacher can view all of the Glogster's your students make and can monitor their creativity and progress. 

"Glogster goes beyond being just another scrapbbooky" tool -- it introduces students to 3-D communication skills, requiring them to merge the left and right sides of the brain as they seek to communicate and evaluate both information and meaning. The visual, audio, and textual capacity of Glogster not only will appeal to digital learners, it has the potential to support the visual literacy skills that are becoming essential skill sets for 21st century learner."
(Brenda's Blog about Glogster)

Below is another way in which Glogster can be implemented to assist learning. This example shows a Glogster made to inform people about the Tiger. This shows how adaptable this program is. You can have your students create their own Glogster about almost any topic you give them. The bonus to this program is that it is FREE!!!  

(http://wilton113.edu.glogster.com/the-tiger/?=glogpedia-source)
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The other tool I had a little play with this week was ZooBurst. I had never heard of this program before looking at the course material for week 5 and felt the need to explore it more. This tool is also a really fun and interactive way for students to create their own virtual story book.

I found ZooBurst to also be very user friendly and quite simple to use. I found that I enjoyed creating a Glogster more, because there was more animations and tools which I could use to personalize my poster. ZooBurst produces a blank story book for you to create your own story. You can change the colours of the book and add your own pictures and text to tell your story, but this is about it. This program would be a good tool for students to think creatively and produce a finished product which they can take ownership over. ZooBurst, like Glogster, can also be used in many different ways - meaning that you could provide your students with many different topics to create their book on. The complexity of the book could also change as the age of the students increase. This type of activity could be used as a day-to-day activity or could be used as an assessment piece with strict criteria in place. Glogster is my favourite out of the two tools I have explored this week because it is very easy to set up a class account and is the most teacher-friendly tool I have examined so far. 

The ZooBurst I created is a very simple example of how you could ask your students to recall a holiday, or recall something exciting which has happened in their life. 
  

I have also found another example of how the use of ZooBurst could be used in a more informative way, and using a very different topic. 

(http://www.zooburst.com/zb_books-viewer.php?book=zb01_515e4f9bbce57)


I also forgot to add that both tools are very easy to embed in your blog which would allow the students to share their work with others. 

Well that's me done for another week. I hope you enjoyed reading. I RECOMMEND HAVING A PLAY AROUND WITH GLOGSTER, IT IS REALLY FUN!! :)

It's week FOUR!!

The first thing you must do, before reading on, is listen to the audio file below (: 

This week's blog reflection is based around the same aspect as last weeks reflection on 'blogging'. (If you didn't read my post about blogging, and would like too, here is the link: http://emmahaack.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/blog-blog-blog.html). This week I have chosen to analyse and play around with two digital tools, one being audio and the other a visual tool. 

I am absolutely loving all the cool materials we are being shown in our tutorials and how we are able to use these to effectively help us to teach in our classroom. I am one of those people that love to explore and have a 'play' around on things to find out what is going on for myself. This meaning I usually don't read instructions I just jump straight in and try and figure it out. This is why I am enjoying this subject. It is all about exploring the possibilities and testing out the resources available to us. 

This week I have had a look at 'audioboo' and have made a little animated video (which you will see down further). Children of this era learn in all different ways, no individual learns the same. This is why we need to use a wide range of tools, ICT or not, to engage every learner in the class and achieve successful learning for all. 

Audioboo is a fun app which can be downloaded onto any Apple device, through the applications store, which allows you to make audio recordings and upload them to the internet on your personal Audioboo page. You can also access Audioboo on the internet by following the link (http://audioboo.fm/). This audio tool would be a great tool to get your students interacting and engaging with one another. This tool could be used for an assessment task, if say, the student was asked to retell a story (through Audioboo) and then upload it to the class blog page where everyone else's was accessible. This would provide the students with a chance to reflect on their own work and examine the work of others, maybe providing their feedback and thoughts. Yes, I know what you're thinking, but some blogs don't allow your to upload audio files. The great thing about Audioboo is that you can embed the file into your blog post. Audioboo could also be used for teachers to investigate students' speaking abilities. If the students are asked to say a passage and record it on Audioboo, and post it to the teachers blog or their own, then the teacher would be able to listen and critique their recordings and develop an understanding of where that student is at. 

The video below which I have embedded from YouTube provides another way in which Audioboo can be used in the classroom to assist learning.   
  

YPSstorychasers, September 26, 2013

There are many different ways which you can use Audioboo to assist learning, just as there is with video tools. I must admit coming into this week I was a bit skeptical on whether video, or video editing could indeed help learning. I think I felt this way because I hadn't yet been exposed to video tools which could be used in an educational way. Of course I knew that you could download video's off the internet and use them as visual aid in the classroom, but I hadn't seen a way in which a video could be interactive and engaging for students..... until the tute!

This is a quick YouTube video showing Willunga High School staff giving their opinions on using video tools in the classroom.

VEWVideos, March 14 2013

I loved the idea of making animated video's to assist learning. This is such a fun and interactive activity with would make students think creatively. You can upload video, images, use audio and different fonts in your movies to make it creative and interesting. I would definitely use video tools in my classroom. The video I have made below is an example of how this tool could be used to assist learning. My idea was that I would give my students a stimulus, or a story and have them make an animated video which they believed best shows what the story is about. This activity would provide the students with a creative environment and encourage them to come up with their own ideas. The video I made below is just showing that if I was to give my students a few sentences telling them where I went on a holiday and asked them to make an animated movie showing where I had been, that it is very possible to do so. The example is only very basic and could be made more difficult according to competency, and year level. YouTube also enables you to embed the movies so it is simple and easy to upload into a blog to share with your other class mates. This tool could be used in so many different ways and with different stimulus. It is simple and easy to use and allows the students to come out with a finished product, and be proud and take ownership of their work. 

Of course with everything else comes safety, so you would not allow your students to speak about, or add inappropriate materials to their work. Rules and regulations would have to be put into place and security measures taken, as the children would be working online. The great thing about these tools is they are easily accessible through the internet so it could be used as an at-home activity also.

The video I made at youtube.com/editor:

Well I think that's me done for now, I hope you enjoyed reading :)  

blog! blog! blog!

'Our student is genuinely excited to come home and show us what's going on at school. To read his own words and listen to his own voice on the Internet makes it all more real and fascinating for him. This knowledge will help him to better utilize these resources, increase his understanding and awareness of the technologies, and keep us parents in the loop :-)'—Jim, Parent

Retrieved from: http://digitallyspeaking.pbworks.com/w/page/17791566/Blogging

This week in Managing E-Learning we have had to analyse one, out of three digital tools which can be used in the classroom to help learning. Digital tools can be implemented into the classroom to provide students with an interactive and up-to-date learning experience. By ‘up-to-date’ I mean a learning experience which caters for the individual themselves, and not the class as a whole. We are in the knowledge era where technology plays a vital role in almost every person’s life. Teachers in this day and age need to start implementing technological learning tools to keep their students up to date with society and to develop new skills and attributes towards technology that learners of the past weren’t exposed to.

I chose to post my reflection on the tool of ‘blogging’. Before I began this course I thought a blog was just a place to put down your thoughts and ideas for the world to see. I thought it was similar to a diary, just an online copy. What I’ve learnt from this week’s readings and from participating in this blog, is that they can be used for so many more things then just documenting your holiday, or telling us what you do each day. The many ways in which blogs can be used is nearly endless.

A blog is maintained by an individual person (not all of the time) who has control over what is being posted on their page. There are seamless amounts of templates, fonts, designs, colours, and other features which enable you to make your blog individualised. You can embed movies, wiki’s, or other documents, and you can link to almost anything you want to.  A blog could be about anything; a documentation of your holiday, a place to share thoughts and ideas with others, a place to share photos or a place to share resources. A blog can also be used for group collaboration and interaction as Stephen Downes explains in his article ‘Educational Blogging’.

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/educational-blogging

The use of blogging in this article provides a strong argument that using a blog in the classroom can be a very effective tool for students to use. Blogs promote the necessity for collaborative thinking and interactive learning experiences which cater for all learning styles. A blog could incorporate visual aspects through linking videos or interactive games or it could even incorporate resources for those who enjoying reading (rather than seeing) by linking articles or informative documents.

(Shona Chornenki - Top 10 Reason's to Use a Blog in the Classroom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJETK3am1M&list=PLF4D98AE7D4D41B4E)

As the embedded You-tube video shows a blog could be used in many different ways. It would allow students to develop their creative thinking and writing abilities and develop new skills and attributes. The use of blogging, I think, would motivate students to write and reflect on their learning. I believe the use of blogs as a digital tool in the classroom could be a very effective way of engaging students into the topic and giving them power over their own learning. I love the way this tool has been used in the article posted above, as it gives the students a sense of ownership and individualisation. They are in charge of their own blog and need to maintain it. The way blogging is used also encourages students to reflect on their writing, and writing of others, and allows them to better themselves through creative criticism. The way St Josephs has utilised blogging has made the learning experience a very learner-centered environment and has given the teachers and students an effective support tool for their learning.

In my classroom I would most definitely implement the use of blogs to facilitate learning. Rules and regulations would have to be implemented to minimise the risk of inappropriate materials being posted, or commented, but with these in place I think it would be a good environment for the students to have ownership and pride in their work. If I was to implement blogging into my classroom I would not use it on an everyday basis (as resources may not be available) but I would use this in conjunction with assignment work. I think if students had an assignment due where they had to research topics then a blog would be the best place for the students to share their findings. Each student would have to have a different topic to eliminate cheating, however, this would encourage the students to interact with one another about what they have found and compare information. I think this would give the students an environment where they could learn off each other and reflect on their learning.           

Blogging is a wonderful tool which can be implemented to help learning in the classroom, however, when comparing it with a ‘wiki page’ the features on a blog is limited. In a blog you can only embed material which is compatible, this leaving word documents out of the picture. Blogs only allow you to choose out of a selected few fonts and you cannot embed audio files. I think the positives certainly out way the negatives! 

This course has really influenced my opinions about blogs, I never knew they could be such a great education tool (:

Thanks for reading, I’ll keep you posted!

6 different hats for 6 different perspectives

This week I was introduced to 'De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats', a tool used for group discussion and individual thinking. Our job for this activity was to get our thinking caps on and voice our opinions about mobile phones in the classroom.

This is the first time I have ever been exposed to this kind of activity, and at first I was a little confused at what was expected of us. As a first year student I may not have the same amount of knowledge and experiences as some of the second, third and fourth year students, which made me feel that my opinions towards this topic may not be as insightful as some of the students' further along in their programs. 

Once I got into the activity and read through other students' ideas and opinions I soon realised that I wasn't alone when thinking that mobile phones in the classroom is a fantastic idea (with certain precautions of course). This activity encouraged us to think outside the norm and make comments of aspects which we probably wouldn't have taken into consideration. 

Participating in this wiki activity allowed us to work individually, however work off each other and take into account other peoples perspectives. I think this activity would be great in the classroom and would provide a scaffold for collaborative and interactive learning.

I have learnt this week that every person has their own perspectives and it is important to understand and evaluate these perspectives to help your own learning. I have learnt that to have an opinion on something you have to look at it from different perspectives and analyse what you have found. I enjoyed the De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats activity and enjoyed viewing all of your ideas. 

(http://www.mindwerx.com/mind-tools/5970/six-thinking-hats)

This is the link to my 6 perspectives on mobile phones in the classroom: http://debonoshats.wikispaces.com/de+Bono+12


The question is, would mobile phones help, or hinder learning in the classroom?

I went into this activity with a positive attitude towards mobile phones in the classroom and believe that they would help learning. I am a generation Y baby so this may influence my opinions, being bought up in an era where technology has developed significantly. Society has become dependent on technology and I think that we as future teachers have to adapt to this change and facilitate it. Of course restrictions would need to be implemented to learning was achieved, but the tools which mobile phones accommodate would cater for all learning styles. 

Week One!

Welcome to the first week of Term 2!!

The online material which was presented to us this week was information which I had already been exposed to in other courses, however, it was good to refresh my mind and read up on a few different opinions about the topic.

I believe that Learning Styles are one of, if not, the most important concept when achieving successful learning for all learners. To accommodate all learners, a knowledge and understanding of their learning styles is essential. We are supposedly living in the 'knowledge' era, where knowledge plays a vital role in everyday living and assists in job opportunities. Employers want employees with an array of knowledge, not those who just know a specific concept and stick to that.

In the times of the 'industrial' era teaching was considered to be a teacher orientated job with the input from learners being disregarded. Teaching in the industrial era was seen to be the teacher up the front of the class teaching the students out of a text book, with no collaboration, no use of technology and no teaching styles which accommodated each individual learning style. This way of teaching may have been efficient in transferring the information across to the students, but it didn't assist them in understanding and evaluating the information.

Each individual within a class room has their own abilities towards interpreting information. Some may be ahead of others, some may be behind, some may learn more effectively by demonstrations or visual aids, whereas some may learn best from reading an example and doing written activities. NO LEARNER IS THE SAME! 


I am excited to start this course and learning all about digital aid and how it will help us to accommodate the learning styles for all learners. Coming into this course I am ready for the big work load and am looking forward to learning new information which will help me to become the best learning manager I can be (:

I hope you enjoyed week 1 :)

I just has a little play with 'Popplet' and made a mind map of what was learnt this week... so if you're more of a visual learner have a little look (:

     

Welcome to my blog!! :)

I am a first year student at CQU studying a Bachelor Of Learning Management (Primary). I am looking forward to starting this course, learning new material and meeting new people. I have had a little bit of experience with blogs in a previous course so I will try to do my best :)

I hope you all enjoy the course!!

I'll keep you posted :)