This is the final (reflection) post as part of the Web2 Course that our school in enrolled into. When deciding to participate in this course, it wasn’t for the reason of learning about Web 2.0 tools. Rather, it was the opportunity to learn and lead with colleagues. Particularly as our senior school has embarked on a 1:1 laptop program, this movement forward was vital. As equally important is the capacity of teachers in the years leading up to to the senior years.
Although I didn’t gain a whole lot of new information from undertaking this course, I still enjoyed it for a few reasons.
Firstly, by being familiar with the course content, it allowed me to lead other staff at our school in supporting them to utilise ICT effectively for our collective students. We often held “Techie Brekkie’s” where we could come together informally to discuss and share resources and ideas to support teaching and learnings. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and have been inspired by how some staff have really taken this course in their stride to increase their own understanding of current and emerging web 2.0 tools.
By participating in this course, it reaffirmed my beliefs and knowledge regarding the wide range of tools at our disposal, and the myriad of ways to use them. However, one mainstay for me is that it still comes down how these tools are used…for better or worse; as I believe poor pedagogy and the introduction of ICT can at times only amplify the ineffectiveness of teaching and learning.
Have staff developed their capacity to effectively use ICT to enhance learning? Hard to say.
Did the course build confidence for staff in pursuing ICT tools, and expose them to the reality and necessity to harness technology to its true potential? Probably, yes (hopefully!).
In this module, participants were encouraged to consider tools to design Virtual Learning Environments.
Web based instruction has been a popular educational delivery option in many sectors of society. Given its growing use and potential however, it is important to understand if this delivery option is effective; as well as the contextual, pedagogical, and theoretical approaches that augment its effectiveness. The use of the www in the delivery of education does not necessarily equal effective activities or quality instruction for students. The development and advancement of technologies has brought the increased expectation of technology should be used in education. This is where Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), Learning Management Systems (LMSs) or Content Management Systems (CMSs) have been implemented by educators in a way of responding to the change of trends in education in recent times.
Below are 5 tools that can be used to design online learning:
Wikispaces: A great tool for it’s ability to let users edit, build and comment upon changes to pages and content on a simple structure.
Google Sites: is a lot like wikispaces, although it does have a wider range of widgets…and of course, googly integration into its other services (for eg. Google Groups for setting up discussion forms).
Nings: Nings are a lot more social, and allows spaces to be designed so users can contribute to personal and shared contributions.
Edmodo: Like Nings, interaction is social. Files, assignments and libraries can be shared and accessed easily.
This year I have had great success in using Wikispaces with our students in our 1:1 laptop program. First, let me begin by explain where we have come from.
For teachers in the catholic system here in Victoria, you might be familiar with the online system SINA and MyInternet. Since I graduated 7 years ago, MyInternet was already in schools. It was slow, unintuitive, and handled like a shopping trolley. Nothing much has changed to this day in 2013, and this is what schools are given to use (and we are still waiting for the implementation of ICON, based on the DEECD’s Ultranet system; which promises to be somewhat better than MyInternet).
So, with the introduction of widespread laptop access this year, it was imperative that our VLE be based on something robust, quick, easy to edit and post content, and relatively easy for staff and students to navigate. I would say wikispaces has fulfilled this purpose perfectly. At the moment we are using it in a very transmissive way, in that, teachers upload links, lessons, files, and activities onto the wiki, and then we access them as a class, group, or individual. Having a reliable and easy to use platform has made our teaching and learning with the laptops very effective.
Personally, I have noticed that my teaching has changed in how I design lessons and resources for the IWB. For example, our students have a sequence of lessons to complete in order to earn their “Laptop Learner’s License” as part of our 1:1 program. The lessons are described on a full page, complete with learning intentions, success criteria, and instructions to specific learning activities which sometimes include links to images, media, and external links. The lessons have been designed so that if students are away and miss a lesson, or if the lesson is incomplete, they can complete the lesson at their own pace in their own time. Writing the instructions and designing the lesson so students can independently go through the lesson process with minimal need for adult intervention has been challenging! I think this is a good thing, as it forces us to ensure that lesson’s are clear and they have an explicit purpose, including an objectives and assessment means. Not to mention that it is available for everyone to access in one central location!
In this module, participants were encouraged to consider how social networks could be used for personal and professional (educational) purposes; including Second Life, Facebook, Linked In & Twitter.
Another popular platform which I have seen many educators use for professional purposes is Google +. However, my tool of choice, and the tool which has made the biggest impact in my development as an educator, is Twitter. Here is why:
It allows me to tap into areas of education that are relevant to me. A few years ago I used twitter to research current trends in #BYOT and #mlearning for tertiary study. Being able to find people and resources on this topic was invaluable.
It allows me to connect to other link-minded individuals. Like-minded individuals who care about staying abreast with technology and their own educational development. Twitter has deepened my perspective on education and learning, and has connected me to blogs, nings, webinars and new tools that other tweeters share.
It allows for a richer experience at conferences, teach meets, and other networked educational events. Sitting, listening and engaging with educators in a physical sense is one thing. But this is taken to a whole new level when your engagement with others becomes expanded in a digital sense. Being able to follow conference hashtags that one is not even attending is an experience in itself!
For me, twitter has impacted me as an educator in a major way since I started using it (@anthsperanza). I can honestly say that it changed the way I think about my own classroom, school, and teaching & learning practises. I am a firm believer in a collaborative approach to education. Twitter has given me access to an amazing network of educators, from all different sectors and walks of life.
Hoping to share my enthusiasm with my colleagues at school, I lead a presentation to staff in regards to twitter and it’s usefulness as a Professional Learning Network tool. There has been some take-up, albeit most of the behaviour seems to be sign-up, follow, lurk, and the odd update here and there (this is fine, as we all need to start somewhere and find our feet). I take comfort in the fact that these educators are starting to embrace the truth that our profession is not private, and that we don’t improve as individuals unless we share ideas and thoughts, and reciprocate on these.
After all, isn’t this the type of learning that we expect from our students?
In a previous blog post, I asked the question whether educators that are serious about educational technology are willing to utilise digital tools to connect themselves to online networks, to seek and take control of their own learning and development. For me, Twitter has been the perfect avenue.
Below is a list of resources that I think educators would find beneficial if they are looking to build their PLN on twitter:
My presentation on Twitter – What’s in it for teachers and why should we care?
In this module, participants were encouraged to consider how RSS technology can be used to manage the flow of information from the web. It was suggested that we use Google Reader, which is a tool that I have used in the past. Unfortunately, come July 2013, Google Reader will be no more. Despite all the hysteria, and even protests, I think RSS is here to stay a little while longer even if Google has dropped one of their main tools to utilise the technology.
Earlier in the year when it was first announced that Google Reader would be discontinued, I immediately looked into a tool that would take care of my daily RSS feeds. I had been experimenting with Pulse on my Android tablet for some time, but wasn’t really happy with the experience when using it on the desktop via Chrome. I came across Feedly, which happily offered to take all my current feeds from Google Reader by signing in with my google account. The experience was easy and pain free! I am now enjoying my news on feedly, which works well seamlessly on the desktop and across mobile devices.
In this module, participants were encouraged to consider the benefits of social bookmarking tools such as Delicious and Diigo.
I was first introduced to social bookmarking at a Boys and Technology conference many years ago, when the presenter shared a list of resources via Delicious. Since then, social bookmarking has been a game changer for me in terms of how I save, manage and find resources on the web. Prior to social bookmarks, I would save links locally in Internet Explorer in a massive list that was getting increasingly out of control; not to mention making it a nightmare to backup. Slowly but surely I started to transfer my local links to the cloud and I haven’t looked back since. When I need something that I have saved in the past, I know I will have it at my fingertips in a mater of moments via the search and tag tools.
I have used both Delicious and Diigo. While Diigo offers more advanced features like highlighting and adding notes to links, I prefer the simplistic, clean, no-fuss interface of Delicious. For me, it does exactly what I want to use it for…save bookmarks. The other neat feature of social bookmarking is how you can be recommended other links, based on what other people similar to you have been tagging.
Another tool for bookmarking which I have come across recently is Symbaloo.
As well as another alternative to saving bookmarks, it also appears to replace some of the functions of iGoogle (which is to be discontinued shortly). Symbaloo looks like a good way of visually organising links, or using it as a dashboard for workflow.
In this module, participants were encouraged to investigate Picasa; a tool available on the Google Apps suite. The official video from Google below is a few years old but still explains the features of Picasa really well:
I must admit, historically I haven’t been a big user of Picasa. If I’ve ever needed to host an image, I would get by with other services like Flickr and Imageshack. I really didn’t see the need to upload personal image albums, but would rather back them up on local storage.
The thing that entices me to Picasa now is its obvious advantage of being linked in with google (and my ever increasing reliance on the google ecosystem!). Now that generous storage is offered, internet bandwidth has increased, and cloud apps are more accessible across devices and platforms, I can see a real merit. Now that I am also creating and sharing more digital content for both professional and personal use, it makes sense to have picasa stream-line my content, rather than having bits here and bytes there.
Being available for Google Education accounts is really exciting me. I think Picasa would be a valuable asset to the children’s tool box in terms of capturing evidence of their learning, and having it sync with their google account and keeping everything in one place. Shortly, we are enabling Google Apps for our students as part of our 1:1 laptop program; and I will definitely be giving some thought to how students can be using this tool to their advantage.
In this module, participants were introduced to brainstorming and mind mapping tools. These included Bubbl.us, Prezi, and Glogster:
http://bubbl.us/ – I have been using this for several years, and its functionality and user friendliness has improved over time. They really seem to have smoothed out a lot of the bugs which tended to turn me off Bubbl.us sometimes. If you haven’t used it, it’s essentially a straight forward mind mapping tool with a blank canvas. Ideas can be drawn and connected to each other with relative ease, and there are some options to customise aesthetics in changing the colour of the boxes. It’s useful that users can start mind mapping straight away without the need for an account; but if you want students to retrieve work then it’s best to set up accounts. Simple, no-fuss brainstorming.
http://prezi.com – Now this I have really been enjoying. Unlike Bubbl.us, you can include a wide range of media including images, video, and documents. You can also draw shapes or free hand objects. In a nut shell, it’s a truly creative digital platform! As well as a great way to brainstorm ideas, it is also a powerful presentation tool. One of the drawbacks is that you do need to signup to start using it. Disappointingly, it has been without Android support for some time as well. However, it has a really useful desktop editor that can be used when making larger presentations with richer content (this way it isn’t so picky about having a solid connection to the web).
Below are two presentations that I have given to staff on the Prezi platform:
http://www.glogster.com – I haven’t spent a great deal of time with Glogster, and I have my doubts about using it with a large number of students. On occasions where I have used Glogs as introductions to topics, a lot of time is spent waiting for all of the content to load. Like Prezi, Glogs can also support a wide range of media. However, I feel that Prezi does a better job at compressing and syndicating the content for viewing. In exploring Glogster, I stumbled upon a fantastic article on Read Write Think about teaching with glogster, and is well worth a look.
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As well as the 3 above mentioned tools, there are a few other goodies in the toolbox when it comes to creating and communicating online:
http://www.exploratree.org.uk/ – As well as a blank canvas, exploratree offers templates such as PMI and SWOT organisers.
http://sketchboard.me – A recent favourite of mine, think Google Docs but for sketching! It allows users to simultaneously draw away on a blank canvas. Or you can select from flowchart and schematic symbols from the menu and build diagrams that way. Very cool.
http://www.gliffy.com – Is another powerful platform for drawing diagrams, and has a lot of functions under the hood. Loving the integration with Google Apps.
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So there you have it, 6 awesome tools for creating and communicating online.
And while they are awesome online tools, I don’t think we should give up on paper and pen just yet! You need not look any further than Paul Foreman’s work:
He has a really useful guide to mindmapping which I use with my students all the time. I await the day where an online tool can match the creativity and originality of a hand drawn mind map. Sometimes it’s worth putting the computer away!
Which tools do you find most useful for creating and communicating in your classroom?
In this module, participants were introduced to digital story telling through videos, podcasts, and vodcasts.
Digital story telling has been a pet interest of mine since 2008. Back then, and with a group of educators from Melbourne, we went to South Australia for a mini study tour. One of the visits was to the extraordinary Australian Science & Mathematics School in Adelaide. Here I was introduced to Photostory for the first time, and was instantly hooked. Whilst it is now outdated and no longer officially supported, to date it is still one of the best pieces of software for authoring digital stories for the following reasons:
the digital text is built upon photos or images, which makes creation a breeze.
whilst other tools might make authoring automatic, in photostory you have full control over text, narration, sound, zooms and transitions; and therefore, the meaning of the text can be controlled more effectively, and more efficient at teaching the semiotic systems.
the interface is easy to follow with next and back buttons.
More than ever, digital texts need to be used in the classroom. You only have to consider how much time students spend watching TV, playing digital games or watching YouTube to realise the world in which students consume. I would be a fairly irrelevant teacher if I ignored digital texts and favoured only 2D books. Although, I am not saying we should do without books. We need both traditional texts and digital texts.
Consider the elements inside the book of Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. Other than written text and visual images, there is not much else to it. Consider then a digital version of the same story:
Not only does it have the same written text and visual images, it now also has audio in the form of music and narration, spatial elements of zoom and framing, and images which are moving and animated. Semiotic systems of multimodal texts (see some of Anstey and Bull‘s work) intertwine together to tell the story. This is a lot more complex then just dealing with 1 or 2 systems in a traditional book. Just as we teach students to decode and comprehend 2D books, we should approach multimodal texts in the same way. Moreover, their should be opportunity to view, interpret, create and share them… just as you would with any text students create.
Wasting time on Youtube one evening (as you do!) I came across this intriguingly humorous video:
At the time I thought it would be a great film to show students and have a discussion about the power of story telling through digital mediums. We discussed the language that was used, the camera effects and positioning of the subject, the mood of the music, and how this all told the melancholic story of Henri the cat (Henri is even on twitter!). Using photostory, students took photos of their own pets and told stories of despair and loneliness, in a similarly dramatised and exaggerated way.
Below is an example that was featured on Kidsnews 2012 Episode 18, called Melancholic Max (By Taj, Dion and Khoeby).
Creating fictional texts with students has been great, but we have also used digital texts in the past few years for informative texts eg. like reports, explanations and procedures.
When I first started creating multimodal texts with my students, they were not of great quality. This was because I was so focussed on getting stidents comfortable with the tool that I forgot about what writers need for the writing process… scaffolding! Now when creating digital texts with students, planning and story boarding becomes a critical determinant in the quality of the text. I encourage my students to think about 2 points when planning for a digital story, what the audience will see (image) and what the audience will hear (audio). Asking the students to plan for the image, zooms, transitions, narration, music and effects gives a holistic approach to ensure that the 5 semiotic systems of multimodal texts are used within each other to convey meaning. An example of a simple storyboard planner that I use with my students is below (see http://bit.ly/ZHd2FZ for a soft copy):
As well as digital media, our students produce a weekly vodcast called Kidsnews, a live 10 minute newscast that is streamed across the school. Students design, edit and produce each show in our school multimedia studio. As the hosts sit in the studio on a Thursday morning, they are watched on by students, staff and parents on interactive whiteboards in each learning area of the school. Here is an example of a typical show, which was the last for 2012. Kidsnews in 2013 is due to start when students return in term 2.
One possibility in 2013 may be to utilise a service such as www.ustream.tv. The show is broadcast around the school on Thursday mornings, which allows parents to watch on if they are around. The show is uploaded to www.stmarks56.global2.vic.edu.au during the day which allows members of the community who were not present at school to watch. It also means that members of the wider school, and other blogging communities on our blog roll can view the students’ work. Using http://www.ustream.tv however, would mean that anyone interested could watch on live through the internet as the broadcast continues to be shown throughout the school.
How do you teach with digital media in your class?
In this module, participants were introduced to Google Apps. I have been a “googly user” for some time now and began experimenting with Google Docs several years back when it was still in beta stage. It was slow, clunky and full of bugs. It was picky with some browsers, and didn’t work well on Android (back then version 2.2).
What a difference a few years makes. I was really impressed last year when I started to have a serious play with Google Drive, a cloud storage solution closely integrated with Google Apps. I have found the experience much improved now, across browsers and devices, from PC to mobile.
The advantages for using Google Apps in the classroom are many:
could potentially save money on server hardware, as files are not stored at school.
could potentially save money on software licencing, if going “completely google” and not paying for a microsoft licence.
files are accessible anytime, anywhere.
files are accessible across devices.
While these are all amazing advantages to have, it does come with its caveats:
a reliance on bandwidth to access the cloud,
doesn’t completely replicate the Microsoft Office experience, however most common tasks can be achieved.
Since Google Drive became a much more robust experience, I started to experiment with some uses of Google Apps with my students. Not satisfied, I wished to pursue more development in this area. In 2012, Mike Reading worked with our school to introduce us to the many possibilities of using Google in education (check our his blog here). In January 2013, I attended the Google Apps For Education Summit in Sydney with a fellow colleague and was amazed at the services Google are now offering, and the way in which educators are incorporating them into teaching and learning. It is good to see Google has finally stepped up their game in the field of education; I think they have been relatively quiet for some time on this front.
Below are a few resources that I have found extremely valuable in my professional development in using Google Apps:
With our 1:1 laptop program in year 5/6, there is further potential for Google Apps for teaching & learning. Currently we are linking our school domain with Google to enable access to Google Apps and provide a google education account for our students (any regular account requires users to be 13 years of age). Once this is complete, it would be good to get our teeth stuck into some further advancements with Google Apps:
E-portfolios – using sites to record learning
Calendar – for timetables, events and organisation
In this module, participants were introduced to the concept of blogs. For me, blogs are a great communication tool. I love how Commoncraft explain blogs “In Plain English”, and have used this time and time again with my students when starting our blogging program at the beginning of the year:
We have been using our class blog with our students with great success for the last 2 years, www.stmarks56.global2.vic.edu.au. Whilst it takes a while to set up, there are a lot of anecdotal advantages that I have observed in using blogs with students:
it gives an authentic purpose for writing
it increases communication across students, teachers and parents
flattens classroom walls and connects learning to the world
It’s in the last point that the biggest advantage is, and a crucial reason to blog with students. As I mentioned in a previous post, educators need to skill students in critical skills for the web, but also provide the opportunities for practise. I have found blogging to be a terrific way to incorporate digital citizenship, cyber safety, copyright, writing and typing all in one nifty package.
For anyone wanting to set-up a class blog with students, I would highly recommend Kathleen Morris‘ class blog to see the potential of a well designed blogging program. She also has a personal blog and includes a great guide to educational blogging. I have used Kathleen’s resources for our own program, and she is a true inspiration and leader in educational blogging!
What advantages are there for students to be involved in blogging?
ReconfigurED. 