Reflective synopsis

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” (Chinese quote, source unknown)

The world is changing at such a fast pace along with the information that is abundant and accessible via the internet; but this information is also fluid and changing.

'Connectivism' applies principles that acknowledge "real-life learning is messy and complex” (Siemens , 2004, p.2). It draws from Vygotsky’s constructivist theory to provide a scaffolded, student-centred and authentic learning context (Brady, 2006). These values successfully support the use of ICT’s in the classroom.

Students today need to learn how to sort and filter the masses of information available to them. In order to do this they need to be able to establish and nurture the networks and partnerships that make this possible. Siemens (2005) stated that the theorists who understood that the process required is more one of coming to realise rather than one of knowing, are closest in alignment with Connectivism. Autonomous learning is not enough as students must know how to how to navigate and find what they need in this new environment as well.

Of the e- tools I have been eagerly exploring, the RSS that gives the best example of supporting learners to wade through and sort information while staying up to speed, as the new data becomes the old with ever increasing speed. By combining the RSS with google reader (or the like), social bookmarking sites such as Diigo along with skills such as tagging; we are readying our students to be able to filter the information. Learners also need to have a good understanding on how to find the information they need as well as pertinent communities and networks in order to be able to work autonomously, using the vast array of information available to them.

During this course it has become apparent to me that frameworks such as Oliver's Design Model and the Engagement theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) when incorporating e-learning tools into the classroom pedagogy, give us an excellent framework to support our students learning as long as they have also been explicitly taught how to learn using web2.0 tools. More than that, they build on it, requiring students to use those tools in conjunction with tasks involving wiki’s, blogs and WebQuests in conjunction with the knowledge they derive from the other online communities they have access to. Allowing students to work in collaboration with these networks is of the utmost importance according to Dieu and Stevens (2007). I believe the collaboration and networking enabled through the use of e-tools, will help students and learning managers to collaborate and share ideas with a broader community.

They allow for others to comment or add to a students work, enabling students to critique themselves and each other throughout the creation phase and giving them the opportunity to view their work from multiple perspectives; therefore gaining deeper understanding of the topic, whatever that may be. Students are also motivated further as they know their work will assist others on the networks they discovered although this is completely dependent on the Learning Manager’s task requirements. Sometimes the donate phase may just involve the school community. peers and parents, especially if the sites have any online safety concerns, or are not EQ approved. The engagement theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) argues the students work must have relevance to the students and be donated back to the community to help others “Online social networks are an excellent environment for developing and sharing idea and promoting creativity” (O'Connell, 2006).

Students of today have vastly different cultural perspectives and require very different skill sets from those taught in the past. While the older learning theories have much to offer they have stood still while our world has changed dramatically. Connectivism rectifies the widening gap, between the past learning theories and our current students needs, in this globally connected world.

Google Earth and other programs that support it, such as Google Sky and Google Sketchup are fantastic tools to make a topic real for the students. They are able to visit the places you are discussing and even check distance, measure and graph, as well look at and study the stars. It would be of great help in science, maths, literacy, geography, history. The nature of these e-tools is such that they engage learners with various learning preferences.

Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia. Unlike a normal encyclopaedia, it can be updated real time. It is a link to clear definitions on every topic and it can also help you locate experts on a topic, relevant groups and links to useful resources. It would be important to scaffold the learning and ensure students were first taught explicitly how to 'evaluate computer mediated information for bias, accuracy, credibility and underlying assumptions' , to ensure they can use the information from wikipedia responsibly and confidently' (Department of Education Queensland, 1995, p.7).

E-portfolios in the classroom, e-portfolios could be used to answer two important questions for teachers. Learning management questions 7 & 8. 'How will I check to see the learner has arrived' and 'how will I inform the learner and others about the learners progress' ( Lynch, 1998, p.62).

In the State school system, Prep is the only grade that have portfolios as their prescribed, take home assessment piece. The Early Years Curriculum Guidelines (Queensland Studies Authority, 2006) suggest that the portfolio should be co-constructed by all involved parties and that it is a dynamic record of examples showing a child's learning and development (Brady & Kennedy, 2009). This enhances student ownership of their learning and connects school experiences with real life by requiring demonstrations of accomplishments (Brady and Kennedy, 2009).

All specific web 2.0 tools examined-

-Encourage students to build knowledge and understanding of the technology developing their skills and confidence to use them effectively and responsibly.
-Develops ICT knowledge and skills to enable pupils to create and present their own ideas and other materials. Involves students in using ICT tools to collect and analyse structured information, as well as the skills and concepts to be able to research topics and search for information on the internet effectively.
-Importantly it also involves students using appropriate tools and techniques to communicate and collaborate with other individuals and groups forming networks and partnerships.
(Thomas & Strachan, 2001)

Through the appropriate application of these e-tools into the curriculum, students gain informed attitudes in relation to ICT, which prepares them for their future positions in a global knowledge society. It is our job as learning managers to ensure students are equipped to use this technology (Department of Education Queensland, 2002).

Teachers also have a duty of care to students. Schools have internet filters in place to prevent students from being confronted with inappropriate material on the internet. The Australian government has developed a site 'NetAlert' (The State of Queensland Department of education and Training, 2009) that provides advice for parents, teachers and the community on Internet safety. There are educational programs for various levels of schooling. These directly link to the 'Professional Standards for Teachers'

“ 4. Construct relevant learning experiences that connect with the world
beyond school
6. Integrate information and communication technologies to enhance
student learning
9. Create safe and supportive learning environments”
(The State of Queensland Department of Education and Training, 2009)

As you can see the range of e-tools available can be of great benefit when teaching as long as we do not use them in a superficial manner. They must become part of rich learning tasks that encourage students to inform themselves and collaborate with others meaningfully exploring topics or tasks that are authentic and have real value to the students. ICT's can empower teachers to engage students in an effective learning environment that breaks free of the traditional boundaries and takes deep learning and higher order thinking outside of the class confines and into our every moment.

References:

Brady, L. (2006). Collaborative Learning in Action. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2009). Celebrating Student Achievement. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

Davis, J. and Grose, S. (2008). Which Way? What happens when embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in schools meets the professional standards for teachers and an accountability matrix? [electronic resource]. Retrieved November 17, 2009 from http://www.strongersmarter.qut.edu.au/docs/papers/Which_Way__by_John_Davis_and_Sharon_Grose_for_Wipce_2008.pdf

Dieu, Barbara, and Vance Stevens. (2007), Pedagogical affordances of syndication, aggregation, and mash-up of content on the Web. TESL-EJ, Vol 11, No. 1 Retrieved December 19, 2009 from
http://tesl-ej.org/ej41/int.html.

Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. [electronic resource].Retrieved November 17, 2009, from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Lynch, D. (1998), The learning design process. In Smith, R. and Lynch, D. (2006), The Rise of the Learning Manager. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

O'Connell, J. (2006). Engaging the Google Generation Through Web 2.0: Part 1. In, Scan, 25 (3), pp. 46-50

Queensland Studies Authority. (2009) Early Years Curriculum Guidelines. Springhill, Qld.: Queenland Studies Authority. In. Queensland Studies Authority. (2009) P-12 Assessment policy. Brisbane, Qld.: Author. Retrieved December 1st, 2009, from
http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/learning/981.html

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. [Electronic Resource] Retrieved December, 2009, from
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm

The Department of Education Queensland. (1995). Guidelines for the use of computers in learning. Brisbane: Department of Education

The Department of Education Queensland. (2002). Literate futures: New times, new literacies. Brisbane: Department of Education

The State of Queensland (Department of education and Training). (2009) The learning place. In. The curriculum exchange resource centre: NetAlert. [Electronic Resource] Brisbane: Author. Retrieved December 1st, 2009 from,
http://learningplace.eq.edu.au/cx/resources/item/website/ed4c3f76-3a11-cbac-ff44-e9904d57bbd6/1/ViewItem.jsp

Thomas, F. & Strachan, M. (2001). Internet projects for primary schools: Finding information. London: A & C Black Publishers Ltd.

Websites

http://www.netalert.gov.au/

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an free online encyclopedia. It is made up of openly edited information and that sometimes raises concerns to do with its accuracy. Wikipedia uses a number of quality control processes to ensure the information is accurate and reliable. Wikipedia is currently among the ten most popular websites and there is a good reason for that.

While I often use wikipedia to check out words or processes I am unsure of, I have never thought to use it to gather resources until now. To test how well it would work if I used a specific lesson type, and developed the lesson using resources from wikipedia, I decided to see what was available for NXT robotics.

I was blown away by what I found. I have always tried to get relevant youtube for the students but wikipedia linked me to youtube videos that were much more practical than any I had located on my own. I learnt many things about the NXT system which I had not previously known. These can be used to help students program their robots with less difficulty while at the same time stretching their perceptions on what is possible. And I was able to find links to groups on Robotics ranging from experts to school run programs to robotic events that students could enter and compete in.

As I like to remind the children, they are not playing with a toy but with the same level of technology NASA used to design the sensors in the space shuttles. The wikipedia page also linked me to other robotic groups with which we can collaborate, compete against and (for those who like programming) share code.

My experiment was a complete success and I was amazed at how long I had considered this resource in the same way I had thought of a paper encyclopedia. Wikipedia is so much more than that.

This made me consider what would happen if I opened wikipedia up as a resource to the students in my class. Would they benefit as much as I did from using wikipedia?

Absolutely! Connectivism learning theory (Siemens , 2004) explains that students must learn to navigate the internet and its masses of information for them to really benefit from it. Accurate, up-to-date knowledge is the intent of all connectivist learning activities and we have firmly established that wikipedia would definitely qualify a learning support for students in that area.

Also important though is that students come to understand the fluid nature of information in the technological age. They must understand that what they learn today as correct may not be tomorrow and wiki is an awesome example of this happening right in front of them. Wiki is getting updated by millions of people on a daily basis so that it has current up to date information and there is nothing to stop our students actually experiencing this process themselves by making their own educated and informed donations to wikipedia.

Imagine the day when your student comes to you and tells you they think they found a mistake in wikipedia. What once was educators excuse for never taking advantage of this e-learning tool has now presented itself as an opportunity for learning and an authentic learning experience in its own right.

Web links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Mindstorms

http://www.educause.edu/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutWikip/161666

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About

Reference:

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. [Electronic Resource] Retrieved December, 2009, from
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm

'incompotech'-free music

Incompetech offers royalty-free music to users. Music can be downloaded in either MP3 or WAV format and be used for anything as long as the composer is credited somewhere.

Students can use this music as a soundtrack or background music or be asked to listen to particular music when developing n understanding of how music can support a theme or a feeling you wish to portray.

The site is easy to use and I particularly like how you can search for music by the feel , mood or style you are after. I can see this option being particularly useful to students. It can be difficult searching for music when you don't know the Bands so to be able to look for 'suspenseful' music for egs. is a real bonus. I downloaded a song called Spider Eyes which was an instrumental song ideal for exploring mood and tempo and would work well as background to a documentary or presentation where you want to create a sense of urgency in your viewers.

References
http://incompetech.com/

Media Fire

With MediaFire (a free file and image hosting web site) you can make unlimited downloads,uploads and receive unlimited storage.

MediaFire is of benefit in a learning context as it enables teachers to direct students to a specific location in order to upload learning materials to assist them. They can access this from the classroom or from elsewhere is that students are able to access relevant learning materials.

The following link will direct you to the files that I have made publicly accessible through mediafire. It includes a Robotics Concept Cartoon Poster I created to initiate class discussion "what are robots are used for?" and it includes the lesson plan I developed to introduce NXT robotics to Yr 4-7 students. Please feel free to download and use these resources if they are any help to you.

Connectivism' applies principles that acknowledge "real-life learning is messy and complex” (Siemens , 2004, p.2). According to Connectivism, the ability to store, filter and gather information is of paramount importance (Siemens , 2004). This tool provides a solid support for students in giving them away to store their data in a manner that is easy to access and use, that can be shared amongst peers and others.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2b71e2ecad02410faf924764f9977b1d5ad3a1b02a4b15b3d8c7c6998cb4ca21


File Storage, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=18307

http://www.mediafire.com

References
Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. [Electronic Resource] Retrieved December, 2009, from
http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm

Voice Threads

Voice threads is an e-tool I unaware of until now. A voice thread can hold an entire a group discussion around media whether it be images, video, documents, presentations, or any combination of them. It is a user friendly interactive environment that enables anyone with the ability to view voice threads to participate in them whether that be by phone, file upload, webcam, microphone or text and a participant can even draw while they are commenting. Students are able to completely control their comments and can delete them at any time.

Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) explained that “an ICT environment, is best suited to providing a meaningful and authentic experience for students, one that can be configured to simulate the kinds of experiences students will face outside of the classroom.”
Teachers have been using images to provoke thoughtful conversations with students 'about the stories behind the picture” (Muth and Papell 2007). This means that conceivably voice threads could be used to integrate literacy and technology as well as promote collaborative group work in an online environment. This new technology allows us to extend on this and enables a continuation of the learning from home as well.
Link to my voice thread.

http://voicethread.com/share/768775/

In this voice thread I have asked people to consider a quote "Teachers rate more attractive pupils as having greater academic potential" (Clifford, 1975) and have used a photo of school seats as a backdrop to both the quote and the context at which we are examining it in. I am eager to hear whether people agree with this statement and what their thoughts are regarding it.


Please come and comment.

Image courtesy of:
http://www.will-lion.com/mindbites & http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephrobertson/112295678/

References

Clifford, M. (1975). Physical attractiveness and academic performance. Child Study Journal, Vol. 5, pp. 201-209.

Kearsley, G, and Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A Framework for Technology-based Teaching and Learning, 1-6. Retrieved 28th November, 2009 from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Muth B. and Papell, B. (2007) VoiceThread FAQ. Retrieved December, 01 2009 from http://voicethread.com/help/faq/

Slideshare of Power Point

Please view this slide show I created, using a power point I made on Water Management, on the e-tool 'slideshare'.

Sose Water Management On Earth

View more presentations from s0133116.

Slideshare is pretty amazing. You can insert MP3 audio into your work or even a youtube video. This tool allows you to choose what type of copyright you would like to place on your work before you share it online. Once this is done the presentation can be embedded into other online resources such as blogs and wikis. It also enables the creator to edit or reuse the presentation.

For instance, I chose with this slide show to have a common-share license meaning that anyone can download and use it without breaking copyright laws. Students can use this resource from home or at school.

Slide share is a powerful e-tool that teachers can use to develop their lessons. Colvin Clarke and Mayer (2008) determine that when a relevant visual was used in addition to the text there was an 89% increase in learning. I believe the most important point they were making though was that the visual must be 'relevant' and not just entertaining. You can use slideshare as a group and stop those who are not in the group from following your work which allows the teacher greater control over the content and the safety of the students using it.

References
Colvin Clarke, R. & Mayer R. E. (2008) E-learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. (2nd edition) San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Slideshare, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=18307

WebQuest

Image courtesy of photobucket.com


"A WebQuest is a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students' investigation of a central, open-ended question, development of individual expertise and participation in a final group process that attempts to transform newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding. The best WebQuests do this in a way that inspires students to see richer thematic relationships, facilitate a contribution to the real world of learning and reflect on their own metacognitive processes." 'WebQuest' as defined by Tom March (2003)

WebQuests motivate the students to learn by asking them to confront an complex (real life) issue by answering a question that is authentic and important. The task requires them to 'assume a role', utilise the internet and it's resources, 'develop expertise' and submit their work for 'feedback and evaluation'(March, 2003). WebQuests include elements of the Engagement Theory, which states that “students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks”(Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999); and social 'constructivism' as students are encouraged to "construct their own meaning which connects with their prior knowledge and experiences" (March, N.D).

They are inquiry based requiring 'higher order thinking skills like error analysis, comparison, and synthesis'(March, N.D)Students to connect on a deeper level to the task and then explore it until they are expert in it.

In a good example of a WebQuest ((link)), students were asked to explore the topic of making schools safer. In one section they were given photos taken the day of the Columbine shooting from the perspective of the students, victims, the law enforcement and the parents. They were given the task of gravitating naturally to a perspective that appealed to them and then given support through the internet to explore that fully. One of the links lead to a very moving page full of people relating stories of losing someone to a death by gunshot.

You couldn't help but be engaged and interested in the topic and that is exactly what a WebQuest should do. Not give students a question then lead them towards a prescribed answer; but give them that question and allow them the freedom of exploring the issues from their own view points.

I did notice though that at no time was their a photo from the perspective of the shooters. Perhaps a very wise move but is that in itself stifling the authenticity of the task? Further into the WebQuest I found that those students who did identify with those students who caused the carnage actually did have an outlet and that was from the perspective of the bullied.
A WebQuest series on creating non-violent schools Link

WebQuests sort of exemplify how the internet and its various tools can be used not just to engage a students attention but to assume a role within a group that mirrors the issue they are exploring and work cooperatively in learning groups to solve problems(March, N.D).

Tom March and Dr. Dodge (the original creators of WebQuest) have each supplied a template for teachers to use in order to help us create our own WebQuests.

Tom March's template
Dr. Dodge's tmeplate
Tom March's page to help designers of WebQuests quickly think through some key elements.

Using WebQuests in the classroom involves making sure that students have sufficient time to access the internet. You would also need to give careful thought to the genre types they are using and whether lessons will be needed to teach the students how to use the WebQuest and how to filter information effectively. Students will need to be scaffolded through the learning experience especially if they are new to the concept. Students must know how to work as part of a group effectively and how to time manage.

I envision collaborative group seating and access to the internet for each child to really get the most out of this task. Some students will have access from home and this is were a WebQuest on a wiki might be ideal. However you do it, one thing is for sure, if it is done properly it will be well worth it.

A good link for anything to do with WebQuests is WebQuest.Org

References:
Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology based teaching and learning. Retrieved July 29, 2009, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

March, T. (n.d.). WebQuests for Learning – What are the benefits of WebQuests? Retrieved on August 8, 2009, from http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/ctl/Handouts/Benefits.htm

March, T. (2002) What WebQuests Are (Really). Retrieved 15th November, 2009 from http://bestwebquests.com/what_webquests_are.asp

A WebQuest series on creating non-violent schools Retrieved 15th November, 2009 from http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/nonviolence/

WebQuest.Org Retrieved 15th November, 2009 from
http://www.webquest.org/index-resources.php

Podcasts/ Vodcasts

I went into Itunes store for the very first time today. I never ventured there before because I thought it was a shop where everything would cost money. I promise I will never laugh at someone struggling with technology again. "Yes Nan I will reset your DVD for you no prob!"

For those of you who are still learning about this world of resources such as 'podcasts an vodcasts' I will explain briefly what they are. A podcast is an audio file that you can listen to on a computer, or MP3 player. But to be a podcast/vodcast it must also be included in an RSS feed. Recently, video has been included and these are called VodCasts.

Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) explained that “an ICT environment, is best suited to providing a meaningful and authentic experience for students, one that can be configured to simulate the kinds of experiences students will face outside of the classroom.” Students entering the classrooms now have grown up with this new technology surrounding them, and most own a mp3 or an ipod.

It would be remiss then not to take advantage of a technology that has the ability to be engaging, relevant and ‘technologically up to date’ for the students we are teaching(Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). Students can upload either your lessons or a topical educational podcast and access them either in class or from their homes. They also have the potential of turning your classroom into a radio station.

It would be important not to disadvantage students who do not have access to the podcasts you set from home. For now, it is incumbent on the teacher to make the necessary adaptions to ensure their students are not disadvantaged and have adequate access and time to use these in class but I imagine a future when students can loan an ipod from the school library as easily as they could loan a book now.

Apple recently introduced a powerful version of Garageband that allows you to record and edit brilliant podcasts easily and then press a button to podcast them. This would be ideal for use in the classroom.

My mission was to find a podcast that would have relevance and be integral to supporting a unit of work with my class.

Thankfully I do not need to plan a unit for them technically until next year but one thing I did know was that we are going to do a literary unit on "Where the wild things are! by Maurice Sendak. Apart from simply being a classic it will be coming out at the movies and like Wall'e it will be sure to have a big impact on our students. It is amazing to watch the younger students work when they are engaged. When Wall'e made its debut students wrote books about it made models of Wall'e talked about it non-stop and I think we tend to under appreciate the length of time they remain interested in them for. (Especially in this age of short attention spans.) With things like this the teachers become sick of it well before the children do and that is a great opportunity for some deep learning.

Aah! but I have become side tracked. I went to I-tunes and found a very exciting podcast that seemed like it was made personally tailored for the unit I had been planning. The podcast is the first in a series of five that has been designed for first and second graders using the text "Where the wild things are". Because it is on podcast I will be able to pause it at strategic points to discuss things further with the students.

References:
Kearsley, G, and Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A Framework for Technology-based Teaching and Learning, 1-6. Retrieved 28th November, 2009 from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Google Earth

Screenshot of Google Earth

Google Earth is one of the most fascinating tools yet. It uses satellite imagery of the earth and enables you to zoom in on any part of the globe that you want. This technology allows students to create virtual tours of an area and then share it with others. They can also learn navigation, map reading and the can measure distances.

Google Earth is a little slow sometimes but it is user friendly and children can create and download layers of information and then view them in geographic context. One of the interesting things with Google Earth is its ability to explore the stars as well. The images are absolutely breathtaking.

Here are some great ideas from the Google for Educators website

I have been familiarising myself with a number of google-tools such as Google Sky and Google Sketchup, while reflecting on how to thoughtfully apply them to my classroom, in ways that engage students in rich and meaningful tasks. The engagement theory explains the need for students to be fully engaged in their learning; and through authentic tasks, both relate, create, and then donate their findings back to the real world (Kearsley and Shneiderman, 1998). By incorporating these tools I can cater to students individual learning styles while scaffolding the learning to support students better ( Brady, 2006).

Here are some other ideas for using Google Earth in your classroom:

• Biology: Track routes of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe Forest. See the Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee blog here.
• Ecology: Create a short quiz like this one.
• Environmental Science: Have students check Alaska's global warming problems. See how the Sierra Club used Google Earth to depict this problem here.
• Geology: Find images, links, and descriptions, with information about thousands of volcanoes around the globe, thanks to organizations like the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.
• Global Awareness: Study the Crisis in Darfur with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's unprecedented project.
• History: Explore Tutankhamun's Tomb.
• Humanities: Have your students scout film shoot locations like this teacher did with The Golden Compass.
  
• Literature: Bring class or contemporary tales to life with Google LitTrips.
• Math: Explore distance, velocity, and wave properties of tsunamis.
  

(Google for Educators, 2009)

Google for Educators Website (2009) Retrieved 28th Novemeber from
http://www.google.com/educators/p_earth.html

References:
Brady, L. (2006). Collaborative Learning in Action. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. [electronic resource].Retrieved November 17, 2009, from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Aggregators

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Aggregators


RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Aggregators collates web content such as news headlines, blogs, podcasts, and vlogs into a single area called a reader (Wikipedia, 2009). This allows for you to be able to go to one page and check for any updates saving time and energy. I opened a Google Reader Image courtesy of Flickr because I already have a Google account but you can use other providers such as Yahoo if you prefer. All you need to do is log on and subscribe in order to be able to view all of the blogs and websites, you follow, on the one page.



RSS would be a useful tool in the classroom, enabling me to have my students connect to course content, news casts and weblinks via blog. Students can link a reader to their MP3 player so that it can synch with any multimedia files they choose to download for later listening. If students find a site or blog that they are interested in they only need to click on the feed button and they are automatically subscribed to it. If they later decide it isn't what they are after they can simply delete the relevant site feed from their reader.

Siemens (2005)stated that students today need to understand how to sort and filter the masses of information available to them. Connectivism presents a model of learning where the process required is one of coming to realise rather than one of knowing(Siemens, 2005). Students must be taught how to navigate the vast array of onformation available to them on the internet, and be shown how to organise and keep track of it.

RSS is an e-tool that supports students in their learning and prepares them for issues they will face in the real world. When combined with other social bookmarking sites students are able to highlight a website or specific detail from a webite and bookmark it with the RSS allowing them the option to get udates where available. Diigo is such a site. According to wikipedia "Diigo is a social bookmarking website which allows signed-up users to bookmark and tag web-pages. Additionally, it allows users to highlight any part of a webpage and attach sticky notes to specific highlights or to a whole page." (Wikipedia, 2009)

Students could use their own blog to reflect on their learnings and be encouraged to subscribe to other class members blogs. This would allow collaboration and engage them in multiple modes of information delivery. The RSS aggregator allow them to keep track of the various content and regularly update them with the greatest amount of ease and efficiency.

For example if you were doing a unit on another town or country you could subscribe to a weather and news channel and be given constant updates. Students could create blogs and reflect on their own and each others work. In fact you could use it in a jigsaw activity so that certain students would research specific topics and then students would refer to each groups blog in order to gather the information until the whole class had all the information they needed to complete the assessment task. That is a very simplistic outline of a unit of work but it certainly is something I will be thinking more about.


Reference

Wikipedia. (2009, November 27). Aggregator. Retrieved November 27, 2009 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggregator">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggregator

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism-A learning theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved December 15th, 2009 from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Wikipedia. (2009). Diigo. Retrieved December 15th, 2009 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diigo

Youtube- Metube- Wealltube together!

Image courtesy of photobucket.com
There probably very few people nowadays who don't know what Youtube is and people everywhere have embraced this tool. Recently Google added speech recognition capability in YouTube videos that enables you to search for text spoken in these videos.
Youtube can be used in so many ways in a classroom. I have used it in Prep classes to introduce the phonic alphabet. The videos offer great animations and there is a Youtube video about nearly any subject you can think of.

I use Youtube when I teach a robotics course at schools as a way to show the children what they can achieve with a little imagination and effort. The children love seeing what other children have made and they inevitably want to make something that is even better so it is a great motivator as well. (If you are interested in viewing the videos I have used in class mentioned above just click on the highlighted link.)

Students in my current class are doing a unit on media literacy and they are creating animations on teamwork to present on assembly.
I found Youtube video that a student of a different school made on teamwork and I can't wait to get a chance to show them it next week.

ClassMarker

Image courtesy of Flickr

I used the resource ClassMarker to develop a quiz for my students and they tried it out for me today. It was a very simple procedure to make the quiz as the instructions were easy to follow and I loved the idea of being able to prepare quizzes that they could access from home or school and chose to use whenever they wanted to test their knowledge. It offers a range of test types which is extremely useful and you can also use it to do surveys and things of that nature.

Test types offered
Multiple choice | Multiple response | True/False | Free text | Punctuation | Essay


I did have some difficulty with ClassMarker, though, being quite new to it. Unfortunately, if you do not use multiple choice answers then students must give the exact answer, that the teacher has entered, or they will be marked wrong. This means that while they may know the answer if they spell a word incorrectly the program will mark them wrong. As long as you explain this to the class before they attempt the quiz it doesn't create any major dramas.

This type of resource enables teachers to be able to track their students progress. If used over a period of time it can offer formative assessment value as you can see how the student is going and easily recognise any areas where they consistently have difficulty. It allows for the development of tests tailored to meet each students individual needs.

I am a huge fan of authentic assessments, but, the reality is that students must also be able to perform well with more traditional assessment type test if they are to be able to succeed when faced with Naplan or the Yr 2 diagnostic net tests (QSA, 2009). Quizzes are made for the individual rather than collaborative assessment, however they need to embed Kearsley's and Shneiderman's(1999) 'authentic focus' is evident. This is definitely a resource that I will be exploring further.

References:
Kearsley, G, and Shneiderman, B. (1999), Engagement Theory: A Framework for Technology-based Teaching and Learning, 1-6. Retrieved November 19, 2009 from
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

ClassMarker website.
Queensland Studies Authority, (2009) Queensland Studies Authority – P-12 Learning
Retrieved November 19, 2009 from
http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/learning.html

Blackboard VS Moodle; It's a fight to the death!

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Moodle is the learning management system (LMS) that I currently use for my e-learning course. This is and open sourced LMS and has been integrated with Mahara which is an open source electronic portfolio (E-Portfolio or digital portfolio) and social networking web application.

This system is currently in the process of replacing Blackboard at the University I attend and is a private source LMS. Blackboard is Education Queensland's LMS which provides eLearning and online communities system for students and staff. Blackboard can be used for delivering online courses or establishing online communities.

I have the advantage of currently doing an online course on each system (as not all courses have been transferred across to Moodle as of yet) and that gives me some insight into which system works better; and whether the change to the cheaper Moodle LMS is really for the better.

Please remember that this is simply from the viewpoint of a student and that I am not privvy to the University's reasoning process behind their decision.


Quite simply Moodle is better although not because it has better features. In fact some of the features are not as good and it is a place you can get lost in. However the feel of the place (yes I said 'the feel' lol!) is more conducive to learning collaboratively and that is very important as students begin to do more and more of their studies online.

Moodle has a similar layout to Facebook in that when you log in you can see who has been online most recently and what's been updated. You feel like you are part of a group and that encourages more group interactions in the form of online discussions with peers and your tutor.

Blackboard is a lot more isolated. You enter your account and are only privvy to what is on your account. I believe that it is this lack of a user friendly interface that explains the huge difference in student discussion I see on the two LMS's.

I beleive that these LMS will become more integral to both primary and highschools and I know that Blackboard is already working on making their LMS available to students simply using a mbile phone. This opens up many opportunities, could you imagine students being allowed to have their mobile in class in fact being encouraged to because through it they keep track of all their studies, homework and projects. I can!

Education Queensland- The Learning Place: Using Blackboard website

The Teddy bears 'Picnik'!

Most of you probably already know what Flickr is and have a Flickr account but just in case you haven't heard of it it is a place that will store your photos online for you. The advantage of this is that you can keep large amounts of photos without using all of your own computers memory up. You can also find photos there that are free for anyone to use in the Flickr commonshare. That is where I found this cute little squirrel.
Image courtesy of Flickr

In the classroom, not only can teachers use Flickr to locate images, they can use Flickr to enhance learning opportunities and engage pupils in their learning. "The fundamental idea underlying engagement theory is that students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks" (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999, P.1).

For example a student might be asked to open a group on Flickr in order to add and catalogue images. Students might need to locate commonshare images or take their own photos that represent the moods they feel are reflected in particular music. So reggae music might be full of bold images that have a lot of red, green, and gold in them and so on.

This could be used as an exercise that helps students to understand the 'abstract reasoning process' (Marzano & Pickering, 1997, p.130), by then showing them how the same types of patterns can be found in moods created by colour or even the layout of a room. This could be done collaboratively in groups or individually. The theoretical framework that supports the exploration of concepts and issues (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). Students might also develop a photo story to explore a topical or current issue. They are also donating the work back to others, in the Flickr community, who can access and use the images for their own purposes.

Today I found Picnik. It allows you to use photos from Flickr or elsewhere and edit them, create collages or apply effects to them, using imaginative and easy-to-use tools.It is a fun feature and could be used in many ways.

My first thought was you could let the students use it to personalize their avatars that they will use in any student forums and wikis throughout the year. It would also be a great tool to help them design posters. It gives their work a very professional yet fun touch and allows even the least talented student to get very creative and artistic.












References:
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Marzano, R.J., & Pickering, D. J. (1997). Dimensions of learning: Teacher's manual. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Helpful Websites
Flickr:- http://www.flickr.com/

Flickr Creative Commons:- http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

Picnik:- http://www.picnik.com/

What does Twitter have to do with the Engagement Theory and interactive whiteboards?

Education Queensland's(EQ's) inclusive education statement declares 'Inclusive education reflects the values, ethos and culture of a public education system committed to excellence by enhancing educational opportunities for all students' (Slee, 2001, p. 1).

The engagement theory is the theory of engaging learners in their learning (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). As I was learning about interactive whiteboards recently, it occurred to me that I had been exploring all these new and wonderful tools available in the classroom, without much thought to the theory integral to their successful use.

Within the framework of the engagement theory, 'real' problems are presented to learners. It involves improved levels of collaboration, interactivity with others and participation. All learners are engaged and responsible for their own learning experiences within their teams. (Kearsley & Shneiderman 1999; Salmon, 2001).Internet tools and interactive boards support and enhance learning based on that theory as they improve on traditional face-to-face teaching pedagogy by complementing it with the internet.

I believe that if we acknowledge the amazing things that have happened with these tools it is hard not to be able to understand how the same kind of growth and relevance can be achieved in the classroom AND make teachers jobs more exciting and effective.

Take Twitter for example, it is a simple tool that connects individuals but it allows for only a short sentence. It starts the sentence for you by saying 'what are you doing?' ….. and allows the user to complete the answer within a limited amount of text space.

Pretty basic huh. BUT this year when Iran held its controversial elections Twitter became soooo much more. Iran blocked journalists and the Iranian people were breaking the law simply by logging into Facebook. Iran also has the dubious honour of being the first country to jail a blogger for blogging. There was an outcry amongst Twitter members and virtually every person on Twitter changed their settings on the internet to make it look as though they were from Iran. By doing this, they were able to clog up the governments attack on fellow Iranian twitterer's and suddenly twitter became the most up to date source for news in Iran.

I personally felt honoured to have been a part of it, and for a service that generally has such mundane purposes as telling your mates what you had for breakfast, when the news came through Twitter that a woman (named Neda Agha-Soltan) had been shot at a protest in Iran, my heart cried out; and I began to really comprehend how these technologies evolve and become much more than they may have been intended for.

If you use Twitter then you should consider having Tweetdeck. It enables you to track real-time what is being said about anything being said. It is easy to use and set up and it even plays you a tune when your name is mentioned! Very important if you are considering using it with your students.


In the same way, I see interactive whiteboards that are connected to the internet (and have a network amongst teachers in which you are able to contribute awesome ideas for teaching) will eventually overrun the slow process of change that we are currently experiencing. An interactive whiteboard is a large, touch-sensitive panel that connects to a to a digital projector and a computer. As the engagement theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) implies, learners must be engaged to learn and the interactive white board appeals to visual, aural and kinaesthetic learners when used in various ways.

While some teachers are still questioning the necessity for interactive whiteboards, those schools that have fully embraced them indicated they engage the students, motivate them and provide opportunities to teach theories and concepts that were previously hard to show a student and created a space online where the virtual world can fill the gap to bring about understanding through virtual yet concrete examples of gravity for just one example. explained it as 'infusing case-based participartory simulations into presentational/ assimilative instruction' (Dede, 2005, p.11).

UPDATE: While doing some follow up research on Interactive whiteboards I came across a fabulous link. We all know that the main reason these whiteboards are not in every classroom is due to their cost. Well I found someone with a solution!!!
I was reading a blog of a Uni lecturer in the moodle training blogspots (click hyperlink to see). He has located a company, called Eclipse Solutions, providing a Virtual Interactive whiteboard for free.

He mentioned that while it was still Beta at this stage (meaning that it doesn't have flash apps. yet it does give the lecturer the ability to use many other functionalities of a whiteboard and he is going to trial using it in his University lectures. Using Virtual-whiteboard you can include text, images, files, notes, freehand drawing, symbols and clipart. Students, can be invited in using their email to authenticate them and chat is also available for remote students. Sessions can be saved, printed or exported as an image .This though because it is a great opportunity for schools lacking funding to still try out some of this technology in the classroom (equity for all hey).

I have been playing with all afternoon and Lynn kindly joined me so we could try it out with two users on different computers and it worked well, I am about to add a screen-shot of one of my whiteboard screens for you to peruse.


http://www.virtual-whiteboard.co.uk/home.asp

I also think that those of you reading this blog today, will one day be proud to have been part of such a revolution.

References:
Dede, C. (2005). Planning for neo-millennial learning styles: Shifts in students’ learning style will prompt a shift to active construction of knowledge through mediated immersion. Educause Quarterly, Nov. 2005, 7-12.

Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. retrieved 27 November, 2009
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Salmon, G. (2001). Introducing E-tivities: The key to engaging students in online learning. Workshop 9 Presentation, Online Educa Berlin. Open University Business School, UK, Retrieved 27 November, 2009
http://www.online-educa.com/workshops/09.htm

Slee, R. (2001). Inclusive Education Statement-2005. Retrieved December 6, 2009, http://education.qld.gov.au/studentservices/learning/docs/inclusedstatement2005.pdf

Neda Agha-Soltan died June 2oth, 2009. She was shot by on her way to protest the outcome of the 2009 Iranian Presidential Election.Image coutesy of wikipedia.com

Getting Personal with Power Point!

Power Points are a software that allows you to create presentations, handle charts, clip art, music and narration and even video clips. Unfortunately it is also one of the most under appreciated of all the Web 2.0 tools while conversely still probably the most used. I say that because power points are often relegated to a presentation display only, and most people never explore the other features that are offered through Power Points.

Power points can be combined with voice over and used to tell a story or developed as part of a project in a student centered collaborative task. I recently used power point with only four slides as a powerful backdrop to a talk on water management. Difficulties can arise with power point when you are trying to transfer one onto a computer that has an older version. They come across all skewed and a lot of the animation can be lost completely.

When I create power points for my class I tend to use a range of media in an effort to cater for the many different learning styles of the students, I use flash which makes the images move and I record music or speech onto parts, graphs and tables, as well as transitioning screens to grab attention. There are a lot of different things you can do and some very good guides around to help you.

As Oliver's Design Theory suggests Power point is a tool that you can be used to support your students learning. As with all learning involving new skills, students need to be explicitly taught how to use each of these technologies before assigning them a task that requires that knowledge.

I have used the engagement theory (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) when considering how I might apply this tool into an authentic, student centered activity; and I really like the idea of having students work in small cooperative learning groups of 3-4. As Christmas is approaching I and students at my school recently had a safety week prior to the holidays I believe that this tool would have been very appropriate to use. Here is a small overview of the unit I have thought of.

Safety Unit:
Relate- Students are given the task of helping the younger members of their school to be safe during the holidays. They are to interview members from a younger grade and find out what sort of activities they will be doing during the holidays then each group will pick one of the topics that interests them.

Create- They will investigate that topic and what safety concerns they might need to tell the younger grade about to make sure they all stay safe for the summer.

Clip art provided by CLIPART FOR FREE














Donate- They will organise their main findings into and informative power point that they will play to the grade 1 students and then allow the Grade one students to ask them questions about their power point. Students would be asked to make their power points engaging and to consider the age group that they will be presenting it to when they present it.

Image provided by photobucket

When I was helping my son make one for the first time I found a very child friendly site that gives them simple to follow instruction with entertaining characters. It also gives useful advise for teaching wanting to teach their students multimedia presentation using power point, Honestly this is a fabulous resource so I suggest you bookmark it.

Power Point Tutorial for students and teachers.

References:
Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A Framework for Technology-based Teaching and Learning. Retrieved December 5, 2009 from http://home.sprynet.com~gkearsley/engage.htm

Voki- the talking avatar!

I have often wondered whether these animated avatars were difficult to create but I honestly did not even need to read the instructions first; it was that simple. The avatars are able to be customised by choosing the character heads, eyes, mouth and even make up.

The first time I saw a 'voki' I thought of the concept cartoons that our Lecturer for Science Pedagogy, Dr. Rosie Thrupp, had taught us about.

The idea was that you could have a poster of four students and little speech bubbles of them talking about their idea on a particular topic. It is a great way to start class discussion and engage the students without enraging them as Prensky (2005) would say.

These concept cartoons are now being tailored to meet the needs of Indigenous, ESL and rural students and I think that it would be very interesting to develop avatars that have the same improvements. In fact one way we could start I think voki's could be adapted to Indigenous needs would be to have an interface that resembled an aboriginal child available and as it is possible to record voices onto the voki it would be easy to have a persona with an aboriginal dialect to do the voice for a few to use in the classrooms. Far to often Indigenous students see no one who looks like them in their school books and now they are facing the same issue with the apps on their pcs. As educators we should be looking to use avatars that represent all our students.

Wouldn't it be terrific to use these voki's on a whiteboard and have them actually animate the conversation. I did a little research to see what other things we could do with voki's in our classroom and have included some of them for you.

Use Voki's in the classroom!


Students can create avatars in their image and record a message about themselves. They can exchange these avatars with e-pals anywhere in the world. Students can generate questions to ask their avatar e-pals. English as a Second Language students can use the speaking avatars to practice and listen to their speech. They may use the computerised voice first then record their own voice when they feel more comfortable. Writing, reading and pronunciation are all practiced. Students can create an avatar that resembles a character from a story, give it speech from the story or a creative point of view from the character on an event.

Helpful web sites:

Picardo J. Get the kids talking - How using Voki might help. Box of Tricks.

Classroom 2.0

Reference:
Prenky, M. (2005) "Engage me or enrage me," What today's learners demand. [Electronic Resource] Retrieved December 15th, 2009 from
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm05

The 'E' Portfolio: 'E' for Excellence

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After spending much time creating my own e-portfolio I can certainly see the benefit for myself but I was still a little lost as to how I could use it in the classroom as my students are in Primary school and will not be needing to develop a resume anytime soon. Yes, I admit to being THIS naive about the true meaning and potential of an e-portfolio but in my defense I had not at that point connected that a digital portfolio and an e-portfolio were one and the same.

Thank goodness I didn't spend too long stumbling around in the dark though before the reality dawned on me. This was the creature that up until now I had thought of purely in assessment terms. (In truth that is all I have ever seen them used for until now.) Engaging digital records of achievement and in some upper primary classes I have actually seen the students contributing to this digital record by creating a clip of their works and achievements throughout the year. I envision that in the not to distant future students will be contributing to their digital portfolios more and more and that its use as an formative assessment tool will expand until every parent and future teacher will be able to access the children's portfolio and examine their progress from prep onwards. This enhances student ownership of their learning and connects school experiences with real life by requiring demonstrations of accomplishments (Brady and Kennedy, 2009).

Digital portfolios can use such technologies such as cd's, dvd's and the world wide web. This allows students to accumulate items in many different formats such as video, voice recording, online tools and more (Brady and Kennedy, 2009). E' portfolios can help create discussion between teachers, students and parents about where the students is at and the progress they are making (Brady and Kennedy, 2009).

Accordingly, e-portfolios also offer specific benefits associated with their development and use in a classroom:
-They increase learning effectiveness.
-Improve information technology skills.
-Enable accreditation beyond the classroom environment.
-Enable connections among formal and informal learning experiences.
-Enable an archive of ones artefacts and reflections.
-Enable the efficient management of students work.
-Increase transparency. (Curyer, Leeson, Mason & Williams, 2007, p.3)

In the classroom, e-portfolios could be used to answer two important questions for teachers. Learning management questions 7 & 8. How will I check to see the learner has arrived and how will I inform the learner and others about the learners progress (Smith & Lynch, 2006).
Presently in the State school system Prep is the only grade that have portfolios as their prescribed, take home assessment piece. The Early Years Curriculum Guidelines (Queensland Studies Authority, 2006) suggest that the portfolio should be co-constructed by all involved parties and that it is a dynamic record of examples showing a child's learning and development.

The EYCG (QSA, 2006) suggests a portfolio might contain notes of conversations with children and other involved parties, anecdotal records, checklists personal to the individual students with personal commenting attached, as well as images, recordings, objects and artifacts the students has made.

References

Brady, L. & Kennedy, K. (2009) Celebrating student achievement: Assessment and reporting. (3rd edition) Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.

Curyer, S., Leeson, J., Mason, J. & Williams, A. (2007) Developing e-portfolios for VET: Policy Issues and interoperablility. Retrieved December 1st, 2009, from
http://e-standards.flexiblelearning.net.au/docs/vet-eportfolio-report-v1-0.pdf

Queensland Studies Authority. (2009) Early Years Curriculum Guidelines. Springhill, Qld.: Queenland Studies Authority. In. Queensland Studies Authority. (2009) P-12 Assessment policy. Brisbane, Qld.: Author. Retrieved December 1st, 2009, from
http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/learning/981.html

Smith, R. & Lynch, D. (2006) The rise of the learning manger: Changing teacher education. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.

'Wiki Wiki' - Very Fast

The next challenge facing me in my e-learning journey goes by a very strange name- the Wiki. I was interested in how it came by its title and found that it is an Hawaiian word that means 'very fast', and indeed, when it comes to collaborating it doesn't get much faster.

A wiki is a type of website that allows both the original author and visitors to add, remove, edit and change the content. This can be controlled through registration or you can open it completely to the public to do as it will. Wikipedia is probably the best known example of a wiki.

Wikis offer real educational value as they encourage group social interaction and collaboration. Users can contribute from anywhere which means students can add to a wiki from their own homes and multiple users can be creating and adding at the same time. Students are involved in the transformation of ideas when “…learning is participative, proactive, collaborative and involves the construction of personal meanings rather than simply involving the teacher transmitting information” (Brady, 2006, p.14). Many students enjoy being involved in the construction of their knowledge and find that they learn more effectively that way. "Students can use wikis to create a set of documents that reflect the shared knowledge of the learning group. Wikis can also be used to facilitate the dissemination of information, to enable the exchange of ideas and to facilitate group interaction" (Augar, Raitman & Zhou, 2004).

Using Kearsley and Shneiderman (1998) engagement theory, students cold easily work collaboratively on a wiki to investigate and gather information on a problem based task. For example a good authentic question might be "How can we solve the schools litter issues" during a recycling unit. They would collaborate and design a wiki that would incorporate their learning ad discoveries that could be shared with the P&C committee for consideration as a real possible solution for the school. Create, relate and donate- using a medium that engages the students instead of enraging them!

I believe, as teachers, we must embrace wiki's as a collaborative group tool. A wiki is not set up so that you can keep track of who wrote what. Instead it is a growing organism and doesn't lend itself to individual marking, unless, as in our class, you ask students to individually create the wiki and assess that. Once the wiki is unleashed onto the web it does not retain its original form and that is part of its beauty and its promise in my mind.

Creating a wiki is extremely simple now with a variety of templates to suit any needs being supplied for free. I wanted to start a wiki, on something that was really close to my heart, in an environment that would allow like minded individuals to contribute. There I hope we will collaborate and turn what is currently one person's views (mine) into a community project that creates its own momentum and might actually create inroads and change to our current teaching practices. Here is my open invitation to you all to visit and contribute to my new wiki.

http://indigenousassessment.wetpaint.com/

Edited to update: There has been lots of work done on the wiki and I had my first contribution today which was very exciting (Thankyou Makiko)

What it is about:- Our Government's mantra for education ‘that no student be left behind’ surely must encompass our Indigenous students, yet, reflection on national benchmarks results of Programs for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows that Australia is under-performing in terms of equity, and data shows that our Indigenous students are scoring badly in comparison to our Non-Indigenous students (Lokan, Ford & Greenwood, 1997).There is very little in-depth research into the problems that our Indigenous student’s face in regards to assessment.

Augar, N., Raitman, R. & Zhou, W. (2004). Teaching and learning online with wikis: Beyond the comfort zone. Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference. Retrieved 26 November, 2009.
http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/augar.html

Brady, L. (2006). Collaborative Learning in Action. Frenchs Forest, NSW, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A Framework for Technology-based Teaching and Learning. Retrieved December 5, 2009 from http://home.sprynet.com~gkearsley/engage.htm

Lokan, J., Ford, P. & Greenwookd, L. (1997) Maths and science on learning: Australian middle primary students' perform in the third international maths and science study. Melbourne, Australia: Australian council for educational research.

Would you like to start a blog?

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A web blog (blog) is a fantastic tool and can be much more than an online diary that you share with your friends. Teachers can use blogs to form networks with others and "has the potential to be a transformational technology for teaching and learning" (Williams & Jacobs,2004).

The nature of a blog is, at first glance, a personal reflection of views; but it also allows for an audience, encouraging comments and social exchange. I have read many blogs where the author has blogged, about one subject or another, and the conversation was continued within the comments section for days after the original blog was published. It is this aspect of the blog that is particularly intriguing when you consider its potential in the classroom.

Blogs can be a great way to motivate your students to do a 'reflective' journal or narrative. Students can easily link their work to websites that support their thinking and research. A blog is also a collaborative tool in that others can contribute and comment providing added insight. Blogging has been shown to aid learners in developing higher order thinking skills and lends itself to authentic, learner centered tasks. (O'Donnell, 2006; Farmer, 2006).

There is a lot of inappropriate content on the web and for that reason Queensland Education provides a safe environment for teachers and students to blog with the 'Learning Place'. An added benefit to this is that your 'duty of care' as a teacher is then ensured as well.

To start a blog first you have to learn the complicated language of HTML...PSYCHE! Sorry I couldn't resist. In truth you need absolutely no technical savvy to start and publish your own blog.

Here is a link to a 'How To' video from youtube that explains the process without any confusing jargon.
Make your own 'BLOG'!

Following Oliver's Design model (1999) I have thought of a student centered activity that we could use in the classroom that incorporates the use of blogs to support the students learning.

Unit on learning styles. Students work out their learning styles in class and investigate what that means for them. To aid in their research it would be useful to locate some experts on the topic that the students could also converse with online. This would help them learn how to access good information though various methods and open up another source of conversation and insight into the topic for them (relates to connectivism). They need to find out how people with their learning style best learn and start a blog. In the blog they are to write a commentary on their findings and what happened when they trialled these techniques for themselves. What worked what didn't work and why. Students are also required as part of the task to comment on other class members blogs offering constructive criticism and support and suggestions for their classmates. The culminating task would have the students sum up their learning journey highlighting any pertinent information they discovered. Students post their blogs online for review by peers and teacher.

This is a very brief idea for a unit that would have the students researching and learning about an issue that will help them throughout their lives. They need to problem solve and find out what works for them and doesn't work, examining why. Because their work is being reviewed by their peers students feel motivated to display quality work and through feedback it is hoped that they would engage in conversation aiding them to reflect and assess their own work and gain deeper insight through collaboration.

For instructions on how to use 'Learning Place' to start a Blog and many other things please use the following link (DETA, 2008)

The Learning Place!

References:

Department of Education, Training and the Arts. (2008) How to create a new blog entry. Brisbane, Qld.: Author. Retrieved 26th November, 2009, from
http://www.aui.ma/VPAA/cads/1203/1203_files/APA_RefFormatsWebDocs.pdf

Farmer, J. (2006). Blogging to basics: How blogs are bringing online education back from the brink. In A. Bruns & J. Jacobs (Eds.), Uses of blogs (pp. 91-103). New York: Peter Lang.

O'Donnell, M. (2006). Blogging as pedagogic practice: Artefact and ecology. Asia Pacific Media Educator, (17), 5-19.

Oliver, R. (1999). Exploring strategies for online teaching and learning. Distance Education , 20(2), 240-254.

Williams, J. B., & Jacobs, J. (2004). Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 20(2), 232-247. Retrieved 26th November, 2009
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet20/williams.html

Digital natives Digital Referees and Digital Voyeurs

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Digital Natives Vs Digital Refugees

If we understand that most teachers are digital immigrants and most students are digital natives then it becomes apparent that Teachers must be provided with education and training in order to help students to use their knowledge productively.


Unfortunately, it is also an image which puts fear into the hearts of teachers, as we begin to feel that our students know more than we know; and in turn question our own ability to manage their learning. I am convinced that teachers still have a pivotal role to play.

Evidence that supports the idea that, digital natives automatically know it all and are proficient in the uses of all web 2.0 technologies, simply is not there. Instead, we find that these students are aware of these technologies and can perhaps even navigate these online terrains but do not necessarily have any experience using them. Instead they tend to gravitate towards just one or two such as the social networking sites, Facebook and Myspace, and may not use the other E-tools much at all.

Wesley Fryer has a Web Blog where he discusses this in great detail Beyond the digital native / immigrant dichotomy and provides a great diagram that opens us up to the idea of the Internet Voyeur. Stephen Abram’s definition of the “Internet Voyeurs:”

An Internet Voyeur is someone who is aware of the tools, sites and concepts of the new ways of web ecology but hasn't really experienced them personally. They've read about blogs, maybe visited a few; they've heard about, for example, MySpace and The Facebook, or del.icio.us and Flickr but only understand what they look like from afar and on an intellectual level.
This is where teachers fit into the picture. Our job then necessitates that we assist learners to recognise the many ways that E-tools can help them with their studies, helping students to network and connect with groups and experienced professionals and enabling them to sort through the masses of data online improving their ability to differentiate fact from fiction and find reliable sources.

Many of the classrooms, I have had the honour of teaching in, are not equipped with the web 2.0 technologies in a way that they can be used in authentic tasks as a matter of course. Fortunately, this seems to be changing.

I hope to also change and continue learning of the potential for web 2.0 tools and the ability to know more than just how to use them but to understand how to keep up with new technologies and changes in the technologically advanced, online environment.