Reflective synopsis

The Managing E-Learning course has been a huge learning curve for me! Unfortunately, I have not kept pace with the rapid changes in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and was very naive, until undertaking this course, of all the great technology and collaborative tools available for promoting communication and enhancing lesson experiences for students in education.

Throughout the course I have encountered some difficulties, as most of the technology presented has been foreign to me. However, I have found adequate support and encouragement from our lecturer and peers, through my blog, the online forums, Mahara, email and Skype. Skype has been a very useful collaborative tool when it is working, but unfortunately, I have had to reinstal the application after experiencing conflicts with other programs. Conversations with peers through Skype, have also given me valuable information to expand my knowledge and have assisted me when dealing with new applications and resources. Thankfully, I have also been alerted to design faults and mistakes within my blog, such as the inability of one peer to post a comment (see Appendix A), and another peer who notified me through Skype that one of my blog postings was illegible. Wherever possible I have also tried to alert my peers to problems that I have encountered in their blogs (See Appendix B).

Before this course, I was only using ICTs as a source for obtaining information for course topics, emails and use as a word processing tool. I now realise, after studying each topic area, opening links and undertaking activities in the Managing e-learning course, the great potential that ICTs possess for supporting and enhancing learning in all subject areas. Also employing learning engagement theory principles, in conjunction with ICTs in the classroom, can provide and engage students with learning that is creative, meaningful, and authentic (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). Furthermore, ICTs contain a huge amount of great resources for designing interesting and meaningful active learning activities for students to enrich their lesson experiences (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). While I would make use of all of the technologies presented, I envisage using the following technologies more frequently, and have indicated how I would implement them in my students' learning experiences. At the top of my list in Web 2 technologies are blogs, wikis and digital stories.

There are so many endless possibilities for using blogs, wikis and digital storytelling in all subject areas to enhance students’ learning in the classroom (Aldred, 2010). I believe any method teachers can employ to encourage students to read, write and express feelings and ideas is beneficial to students’ learning and growth! Blogs and wikis also provide a great opportunity for teachers to instruct students about “netiquette”, copyright breach issues, the dangers of unsafe usage and reporting of inappropriate material on the internet (Aldred, 2010). I believe students need frequent reminders of these important issues (even though most schools have very strict filtering methods). Fortunately, when students are using blogs and wikis, teachers can address the above concerns, by enabling Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds to students’ blogs and wikis. This practice then allows teachers to monitor both incoming and outgoing edits and posts to students’ blogs and wikis (Richardson, 2004; DETWA, 2010).

I envisage using blogs and wikis regularly in my students’ learning. I would like students to use blogs for reflective journals of their learning, ideally at the end of each day. I believe blogs should also be used in the classroom for endorsing an intercultural exchange of ideas about topics with students from both Australia and the world, thus promoting students’ respect and understanding of diversity. Furthermore, I would utilise blogs for book reviews; homework (Aldred, 2010); showcasing students’ artwork; and keeping parents and the local community informed of their children’s learning as well as encouraging their comments and suggestions (Aldred, 2010). Wikis could also be utilised in these ways, but wikis provide a more suitable platform for students to engage in collaborative groupwork.

I believe wikis can provide a stimulating, creative “active learning” environment where all students can be engaged in collaborative groupwork, and higher order thinking skills of problem solving and critical thinking (Kearsley, & Shneiderman, 1999; Aldred, 2010). Wikis further support “active learning” and “Learning Engagement Theory” as wikis provide an interactive platform where students are able to research and reflect on information published on the wiki by their peers and others, ask questions and publish their own opinions. Such activities can promote students’ ownership of learning and foster deeper learning and understanding of diverse views (Kearsley, & Shneiderman, 1999). Because wikis make student group collaboration an easy task, I envisage my students using wikis for “brainstorming” (Education Queensland, 2010 ), organising information, assembling drama scripts or presentations, and sharing knowledge, information and research on topics. I also posted an idea for a wiki to my blog, to assist teachers in planning active learning activities for students. The idea attracted a comment which further improved my original concept (see Appendix C).

Digital storytelling not only appeals to a wide range of intelligences (Gardner, 1975, as cited in Aldred, 2010 ), but is a powerful tool for engaging students in meaningful and authentic learning experiences. Digital storytelling also supports the basic principles of “active learning” and "engagement theory", as students can be involved in an activity where they can "relate" (collaborating in groups), "create" (stories that are meaningful and authentic to themselves and their community), and donate (share) their stories online to audiences both inside and outside their community (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). I believe an authentic focus to learning is one of the best methods for engaging students in a learning activity. Therefore I would encourage students in my classroom to tell their own stories or stories they believe are important to be told and shared online with the wider community. I would also encourage the use of digital storytelling to facilitate discussions about current issues effecting students' lives such as bullying, race, global warming, conservation and work experience. 

Students can view and upload (being aware of copyright infringement issues), a wide range of multimedia resources on wikis, blogs, and digital stories, including pictures, videos, avatars, audio and video podcasts. I found Picnik (link) a quick and easy way to resize, manipulate and enhance photos ready for downloading. I would reguarly use these resources in learning activities as they promote active learning and engage students’ audio, visual and tactile learning styles (Felder & Solomon, cited in Aldred, 2010). Strict school filtering of websites may prevent students from accessing and uploading resources. However, the Learning Place provides a safe on-line environment for students where they could readily access a bank of images, audio, and videos for enhancing their learning projects. Students can even collaborate with experts in their field of study and receive authentic responses to their questions. The Learning Place also provides a repository full of wonderful e-learning resources for teachers promoting on-line learning and assistance in designing engaging learning experiences for students.

Powerpoint is another great tool for organising and presenting keypoints in topics. I believe in presenting powerpoints that are not only informative, but appealing and engaging to both visual and auditory learners by inserting images, links to videos and music. Because powerpoint is very quick and easy to use my students and I would use this technology frequently in the classroom for presentations in a range of topics. Furthermore students could embed their powerpoint presentations to their blogs or wikis using a program called Slideshare. Slideshare also allows an MP3 narration audio file to be uploaded which can then be synchronised to the powerpoint slides turning the powerpoint into a video file (Aldred, 2010). I have found a user-friendly program called Audacity for narrating an audio file, and in conjunction with another program called Lame, I can convert the audio file to an MP3 file ready for uploading to Slideshare. I believe Slideshare would save teachers valuable time, as they could set up presentations or further explanations of key concepts for topics discussed in class, that students could watch and listen to at their own leisure and review if necessary. Students could even download presentations to their own USB for revision purposes. However, I would only use Slideshare for simple powerpoint presentations as I, along with a couple of my peers, encountered a problems when converting my powerpoint (see Appendix D).


ICTs provide a multitude of resources for supporting students’ learning. For example, there is a multitude of animations and simulations available for supporting and reinforcing students’ understanding and learning in a diverse range of topics. I would use this amazing technology wherever I could in lesson experiences, as I believe the activities appeal to a range of different learning styles by offering a multitude of engaging, hands-on, visual and auditory activities (Gardner, 1975, as cited in Aldred, 2010).

Undertaking the Managing E-learning course has been my greatest challenge to date. This course has opened my eyes to the wonderful technological resources we have available at our fingertips, for enhancing and engaging students in active learning experiences across all subject areas. I now realise how imperative it is for teachers to keep up with the rapid changes in technology as there will always be new and engaging technology that can assist us to provide up-to-date and exciting learning experiences for students. I am very excited by the prospect of integrating ICTs and Web 2 technology into all subject areas of my teaching, as I definitely believe this technology is the key to effective learning and connecting, collaborating and motivating learners of the 21st century.


REFERENCES


Aldred, S. (2010). Active learning: The issues. Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149


Aldred, S. (2010). Internet safety: The issues. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44151


Aldred, S. (2010). Learning style and personality. Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149


Aldred, S. (2010). Multiple Intelligence. Retrieved from CQ University e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning,

http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149 /view.php?id=44149 e Intelligence.


Department of Education and Training, Western Australia (DETWA). (2010). Resourcing the curriculum: Wikis in the classroom. Curriculum Materials Information Service (CMIS). Retrieved from http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/wikis/


Education Queensland. (2010). Interactive learning in the early phase: Brainstorming with ICTs. Retrieved from http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=36073


Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm


Richardson, W. (2004). Blogging and RSS - The "What's It?" and "How To" of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators. In Multimedia & Internet@Schools (vol. 11), http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml

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                                               Appendix A


Zelina said:


Meryl, lets see if I can post this! Last time I got a message that I wasn't able to because I wasn't a member of your blog, I think that the idea you've started here is something to work on once we've graduated. I have heard of quite a few teachers who, once they are told who is going to be in there class send out letters introducing themselves to the children and ask for an introduction in return. In addition to your learning styles quiz you could add in personal questions, interests, hobbies, that kind of thing. So that on that first day of school you can have a reference to work from for conversation starters and you can have the best strategies possible for settling your class in. Gee that was a lot!


Meryl said:


Hi Zelina,

Thanks for reposting your comment. All seems well now thanks to you!:-)

I really like your add-ons. I believe any help the teacher can get in know her students gives teachers a head start both in planning and communicating with students, especially at the beginning of a school year. I believe the students would also be happy knowing that their teacher was interested in them personally, their learning styles, interests etc.


Cheers
Meryl


Sylvia said:

Just seeing if I can comment....looks fine to me.


April 23, 2010 7:46 AM

Meryl said:

Hi Sylvia,

Thanks for checking my blog to see if you could comment. Looks like the problem is fixed.

Cheers
Meryl
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                                                Appendix B


Aussie teacher said:


Hello Meryl,

I also agree that this form of technology can save time for teachers over a term, particularly, as you alluded to, by allowing students the opportunity to review the material at their own time and place. Allowing a student to learn how to learn (higher order of thinking) is essential to their future.

I also experienced the same issues as you. As I previously stated, I agree that this form of technology will be extremely useful; however, believe that this may not be the ideal program to perform the task effectively. Considering the thousands of high quality PowerPoint presentations available on the net, there has to be a better way; although, it may come at a small cost. When I find a suitable source I will post it to my blog and share it with others.

I like your blog and hope you continue to expand upon it.


Kindest regards

Peter Spencer


Meryl said:


Hi Peter,

Thanks for your feedback and encouragement! I will keep my eyes peeled to your blog to see if you discover a better program for uploading powerpoints. I thought the losses of animation, links etc. were just an unavoidable occurrence when the file is being converted. Obviously you don't get nothing for nothing!

I have been enjoying your blog and comments on the forums as well. Your comments always seem to hit the nail right on the head. Were you aware that your blog is only accessible for comments from your team members? I went to post a comment last night and wasn't able to. I just thought I should mention this as my blog was inaccessible to other students too, until I was made aware of the fact, and changed the settings.

Cheers
Meryl


Aussie teacher said:


Hi Meryl,
 Your a champion. Try leaving a comment on my blog if you like. I was not aware that I had restricted comments to only members.

Thank you and kindest regards,

Peter Spencer


Meryl said:

Hi Peter,

You're very welcome! I will go back in and try again.

Thanks
Meryl 
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                                             Appendix C


Monday, March 29, 2010

An idea for a wiki

At the beginning of the school year, when teachers are faced with a classroom of new students, I felt that a wiki would be a most useful way for teachers to determine their students’ personalities and learning styles. Students could undertake personality and learning style quizzes, as we did in the beginning of the Managing E-learning course, (either at home or school) and record their results on a table especially set up in a wiki. The feedback would hopefully assist the teacher when planning further learning activities for the students. Just an idea! What do you think?

Posted by Meryl at 5:37 PM 2 comments Links to this post


Zelina said...

Meryl, lets see if I can post this! Last time I got a message that I wasn't able to because I wasn't a member of your blog, I think that the idea you've started here is something to work on once we've graduated. I have heard of quite a few teachers who, once they are told who is going to be in there class send out letters introducing themselves to the children and ask for an introduction in return. In addition to your learning styles quiz you could add in personal questions, interests, hobbies, that kind of thing. So that on that first day of school you can have a reference to work from for conversation starters and you can have the best strategies possible for settling your class in. Gee that was a lot!

April 22, 2010 11:08 PM


Meryl said...


Hi Zelina,

Thanks for reposting your comment. All seems well now thanks to you!:-)

I really like your add-ons. I believe any help the teacher can get in know her students gives teachers a head start both in planning and communicating with students, especially at the beginning of a school year. I believe the students would also be happy knowing that their teacher was interested in them personally, their learning styles, interests etc.

Cheers
Meryl

April 23, 2010 12:20 AM

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                                         Appendix D            

AussieTeacher said...


Hello Meryl,

I also agree that this form of technology can save time for teachers over a term, particularly, as you alluded to, by allowing students the opportunity to review the material at their own time and place. Allowing a student to learn how to learn (higher order of thinking) is essential to their future. 

I also experienced the same issues as you. As I previously stated, I agree that this form of technology will be extremely useful; however, believe that this may not be the ideal program to perform the task effectively. Considering the thousands of high quality PowerPoint presentations available on the net, there has to be a better way; although, it may come at a small cost. When I find a suitable source I will post it to my blog and share it with others.


I like your blog and hope you continue to expand upon it.


Kindest regards


Peter Spencer


April 27, 2010 6:26 PM


Meryl said...


Hi Peter,


Thanks for your feedback and encouragement! I will keep my eyes peeled to your blog to see if you discover a better program for uploading powerpoints. I thought the losses of animation, links etc. were just an unavoidable occurrence when the file is being converted. Obviously you don't get nothing for nothing!

I have been enjoying your blog and comments on the forums as well. Your comments always seem to hit the nail right on the head. Were you aware that your blog is only accessible for comments from your team members? I went to post a comment last night and wasn't able to. I just thought I should mention this as my blog was inaccessible to other students too, until I was made aware of the fact, and changed the settings.

Cheers

Meryl

April 27, 2010 10:53 PM

April 28, 2010 12:17 AM

Bec said...

Hi Meryl,

With using SlideShare to upload presentations is in some ways useful but I found it's not the best as with all the work that is put into some presentation doesn't seem to show when uploaded through SlideShare. The reason I found this was when I completed my PowerPoint presentation I was trying to find a way to upload it to my Blog and I came across SlideShare. This was before I seen it was in our week 7 of learning. Therefore with using this yes it was quick and easy but I found the most disappointing part was that I had animations and sound effects which just went unnoticed. Therefore not allowing any viewers to experience the full quality of the designed presentation and leaving my presentation looking very plain and boring. But this is only my opion and think that if you are just wanting to upload a ordinary file with know animations ect, then SlideShare is a great program to do so in and children will be able to use this program with ease.

May 2, 2010 6:14 PM


Meryl said...

Hi Bec,

I totally agree with you. Slideshare would be very useful for simple presentations where there are no animations, YouTube links etc.

Another feature Slideshare erased from my powerpoint was colour. One of my slides was very eyecatching and when Slideshare converted my powerpoint file the colours were also erased. It is a shame this happens but the text, was unaffected and therefore the key points of the presentation were still apparent. I am sure we can overcome these obstacles by making other areas of our presentation more appealing. For instance I ran a couple of memory games during my presentation (using a couple of the memory strategies outlined in the presentation), which the other students seem to really enjoy.

If I am using Slideshare in the future, I would make sure that any YouTube video links associated with the uploaded powerpoint were separately noted in a text box so that students could click on the links and still access the videos as well. 
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How to make an interactive whiteboard for under $100.00

I came across a website with a couple of YouTube clips detailing how to make an interactive whiteboard with a projector screen, a wii remote and modified ordinary pen.  It is pretty amazing and just thought I would share it with others.  This could be the answer for schools with limited resources. 

Digital storytelling

Digital storytelling not only appeals to a wide range of intelligences, but is a powerful tool for engaging students in meaningful and authentic learning experiences.  Students are also able to use a wide range of multimedia tools, such as images and voice narration, to enhance their final product.  Digital storytelling also supports the basic principles of "engagement theory", as students can be involved in an activity where they can "relate" (collaborating in groups), "create" (stories that are meaningful and authentic to themselves and their community), and donate (share) their stories online to audiences both inside and outside their community (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999).  "Voices from the Cape" is an excellent example of how digital storytelling can engage and motivate otherwise disengaged students, and at the same time integrate nearly all curriculum subjects into the one learning activity.  

There is no doubt the usage of digital storytelling in the classroom is endless!  However, I believe that using an authentic focus is one of the best methods for engaging students in a learning activity, as it can motivate and give students a sense of meaning, ownership and pride in their work.  Therefore I would encourage students in my classroom to tell their own stories or stories they believe are important to be told and shared online with the wider community.  Digital storytelling could also be used to facilitate discussions about current issues effecting students' lives such as bullying, race, global warming and conservation.

Another digital storytelling activity that I thought would be beneficial for all students, would involve students who were engaged in work experience learning partnerships with businesses outside the school.  I would encourage these students to form small groups and create digital stories of their beneficial experiences and highlights of their learning outside the school.  The stories could then be shared with all students, the community and businesses concerned.      

Ebooks are another great resource for learning.  A really great website that I cannot recommend highly enough, for anyone with children or teaching young students (I enjoy the stories myself), is a website called the Tumblebook Library.  Normally you would need to pay for access to the site, but free access is available for members of several participating local libraries.  I gain access to the site through the Cooloola library website.  There are dozens of well-known on-line animated talking ebooks to choose from, including books in French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Russian.   

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning,
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm  

Incompetech

According to Gardner the earliest intelligence to emerge is musical (Hill-Clarke, 2004). "Learning through music can build listening skills, enhance abstract thinking, improve memory, and encourage the use of compound words, rhymes, and images"(Hill-Clarke, 2004, p.92).

Depending on the mood you wish to create in your classroom, would influence your choice of music.  I hope to use music a lot in the classroom, as not only does it appeal to musical intelligences (Hill-Clarke & Robinson, 2004), but it can create an atmosphere or mood for any subject material.  I would use music as an introduction to a unit of work.  For example David Bowie's "Space Odyssey" for a unit on space exploration.  

I also believe that there is nothing better than a teacher who can play a musical instrument to students.  You don't need to be a maestro either just play familiar tunes, enjoy what you do, and encourage others to join in.  I believe that students should also be encouraged to display any talents they may possess in this area as well.  I have personally witnessed young children and students who love this type of interaction. 

Incompetech has a great variety of music tracks to choose from.  I have downloaded a piece of music by Bach being "prelude in C".  I believe this piece of music is calming and would be particularly useful to play when students have experienced a hectic day.  Students would be encouraged to stop whatever they are doing and place their heads on their desks and just listen to some relaxing, calming music.  Studies and research show that music reduces stress (Willis, 2007).

References

Hill-Clarke, K., & Robinson, N. (2004).  It's as easy as A-B-C and Do-re-mi.  Young Children, 59, 91-95.

Willis, J. (2007).  Cooperative learning is a brain turn-on.  Middle School Journal, 38, 4-13.

SlideShare

Memory presentation

View more presentations from Meryl Doherty.

Well this has been the most challenging activity for me so far!  I had all sorts of dramas in synchronising the narration to the slideshow.  I feel quite embarrassed, as I spent ages last night trying to do a narration without any success, to find that my headphones had been plugged in before, and not after, I uploaded my Audacity program.  Therefore the program did not recognise the microphone.  I was cursing the program and just about to give up, but I am like a dog with a bone and it wasn't going to get the better of me.

Along with downloading the Audacity program for narrating an audio file, I had to download an accompanying program called Lame, which allowed me to convert my audio file to an MP3 file. If anyone is interested, both these programs are free and easy to use, and I have had no great issues with them.

My presentation was initially a forty minute presentation, so I have cut it down to pieces as I didn't want to bore you to tears.  After uploading the presentation to slideshare and converting the file, unfortunately the animations are not working and the slide featuring the roman room has shrunk to half its original size.  Also the YouTube links are not working. 
 
I believe Slideshare would save teachers valuable time, as they could set up presentations or further explanations of key concepts for topics discussed in class, that students could watch and listen to at their own leisure and review if necessary.  Students could even download presentations to their own USB for revision purposes. 

I was speaking to a teacher the other day who uses powerpoint and audio when conducting parent/teacher interviews.  The particular teacher sets up slides with each of her student's photo and accompanying audio of the student reading poems or stories they have written, playing music, or displaying artwork and giving an appraisal of their work.  The teacher then plays the slides for the respective parents at the interview.  I thought this was an interesting use of powerpoint. 

Overall, I found the Slideshare website very user friendly and I will definitely be using it in the future.

WIKIPedia

I use Wikipedia all the time for personal use as it is so quick and easy to find information on just about everything.  Even though use of Wikipedia is discouraged in assessments for Uni, I admit to using this resource many times in doing research for assessments.  All I do is look further into the references list given at the bottom of the particular subject and gain the information direct from reliable sources.  I would be encouraging my students to use this same approach when they are undertaking research inside and outside the classroom.   

Google Earth

Google Earth is an exciting and great interactive tool for everyone!  Being able to travel, without leaving your chair, and zoom in to any part of the world you like, including the ocean floor and space exploration, on the click of a mouse button is truly amazing technology.  Talk about "big brother", you never know who is watching do you?  I went on a tour to my mother's home and after zooming in, here she was, at the time the images were taken, standing bent over at her letter box doing some gardening.  All you can see is her backside as she is bending over :-). 

I then went on a tour to Iceland to see whether there were any updated pictures of the impact from the recent volcanic eruption but unfortunately there were none.  However, there are updated images of the impact from the earthquake in Chile.  Therefore, Google Earth provides important information that would be very useful to students studying natural disasters and their impacts.  Also students could see for themselves first hand the effects of forest and jungle clearing and global warming in different countries.  Furthermore Google Earth gives students a clearer picture of exactly where particular countries, cities and landforms are on earth.  Through Google Earth layers students can also study the economics and demographics of chosen areas and "view tectonic plate-shift evidence by examining whole continents, mountain ranges and areas of volcanic activity" (Google for Educators, 2010) making it a really useful tool for geography and geology. 

There are endless possible applications of Google Earth in the classroom for enhancing and making learning experiences come alive in all subject areas.  Google Earth displays placemarks on important landmarks where students can learn valuable information pertaining to those landmarks and surrounding area.  Students can also set up their own tours by placemarking different areas, and adding their own pictures if desired.  Using this feature, I believe students could work in groups, acting as tour guides, and record their own customised tours to present to other students in their class so they could take the tour.  Furthermore, they could set up their own trivia quiz of "where is" of well-known landmarks in the world or their community, giving a brief description first and then longitude and latitude last.  The first team to correctly answer asks the next question and so on. 

A lot of students may be too young to remember "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego" but Google Earth could put a whole new spin on this game.  Students could place Carmen Sandiego anywhere in the world and have another team discover his whereabouts through clues and descriptions.  Could be a bit of fun.  Anyway these are just my thoughts. 

References

Google.com (2010).  Google Earth.  Retrieved from http://www.google.com/educators/p_earth.html  

YouTube

I absolutely love YouTube!  It can be a great resource if looking for inspirational or interesting footage to enhance most learning experiences.  I recently posted a comment to Zelina's blog agreeing with her on the usage of inspirational videos in education.  I also commented on the video footage in YouTube of Stephen Bradbury winning a gold medal at the winter olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.   I have seen this footage displayed before as an example of how you should never give up even though the odds are against you. 

In Dale's cone, video footage also appeals to a wide audience.  I would use such technology for using as triggers to a learning design or supporting material, as it can provide real life examples for any concepts of a subject in a learning design.  Actually being able to see and hear examples of the message makes videos a powerful learning tool. 

I attach the YouTube of Stephen Bradbury and would love to know of anyone else's favourite YouTube clips that could be used for educational purposes.

Animations & Simulations

Each week I am overwhelmed by the technology presented for viewing, and have been passing on the information to friends and family.

This week, I was absolutely amazed by the variety and abundance of animations and simulations for use in education.  I especially liked the 3D frog.  I felt like you could actually reach over and touch its slippery skin.  I couldn't help thinking how when I was at school studying biology, I actually dissected a real frog in a small group of around four students.  That means there were about six frogs used in each class, and multiply that by four classes of students, that is a lot of dead frogs.  So using this particular animation and simulation tool in science, would be a really great conservation tool as well!  Why we had to dissect frogs and not cane toads, which are an absolute menace, really puzzles me.

Animations and simulations are such a great way of supporting and spicing up a diverse range of topics.  They would also appeal to a range of different learning styles by offering a multitude of engaging, hands-on, visual and auditory activities, which I believe would reinforce students' understanding and learning (Gardner, 1975, as cited in Aldred, 2010). 

References

Aldred, S. (2010).  Multiple Intelligence.  Retrieved from CQ University e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning,  
http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149

Flickr and Picnik

Every frog's home is his castle

I opened up my account with Flickr, and uploaded my first image which was very straightforward. However, the next day I had all sorts of problems logging in, and I found the help page not very helpful. Anyway, I ended up having to change my password and all is well again. I have now posted this blog and photo directly from Flickr.

With help from Picnik I manipulated my photo. This was great fun and you could spend hours playing around. I found picnik a quick and easy way to resize and enhance your photos. This is particularly useful when you have an image that may not be quite in focus. Students who are not budding photographers (like myself) would perhaps feel more confident publishing their photos knowing that they could use a tool like Picnik to enhance otherwise useless photos.

Placing images in texts not only makes text more interesting, but it appeals to visual learning students (Felder, & Solomon, as cited in Aldred, 2010). Images can be very powerful tool, hence the saying "a picture speaks a thousand words". Students can also absorb learning through searching websites (as long as filtering allows), for appropriate photos to enhance their work in the classroom.

I think another interesting small group activity students could be involved in (as long as just one member of a group had access to a digital camera), would be for students to take a small collection of photos of different objects, that they believed were worthy of photographing. I believe this activity would be interesting on school excusions. The images could then be downloaded at school and a wiki created to highlight the students' excursion experience, where all students could post their photos and accompanying text description to the wiki. What do you think?

"Digital art" (2010), could also provide an interesting learning experience for students where they could manipulate images into different artworks. Again they could showcase their art on a class wiki or blog, being careful not to breach any copyright issues.

References
Aldred, S. (2010). Learning style and personality. Retrieved from CQ University e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning,
http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149

Digital Art. (2010). Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia.  Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_art#Examples_of_digital_art

An interesting use of interactive whiteboards for prep students

What an amazing and versatile tool for active learning!  They appeal to all learning senses (Felder, & Solomon, as cited in Aldred, 2010), and have such a multitude of uses in the classroom.  My grandson attends a State school where there are interactive whiteboards in every classroom and from all accounts all teachers rave about them and use them for just about everything.  

I observed an interesting use of the interactive whiteboard in my grandson's prep classroom.  As a way of introducing young students to this technology, the prep teacher draws and divides the whiteboard into two columns.  One column is labelled "not here" and the other column is labelled "here".  In the "not here" column every students' photo is displayed.  Each morning as students arrive they eagerly drag their photo from the "not here" column over to the "here" column.  I believe this is an enjoyable and simple way of introducing this technology to young children.  Please share any other great ideas or uses you have observed.

References
Aldred, S. (2010). Learning style and personality. Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149

Powerpoint

I realised while I was doing the powerpoint tutorial that I must have the old powerpoint system on my computer, as the new powerpoint 2007, has so many more features.  I have since downloaded this superior edition.  Probably because powerpoint is now old technology, I am very comfortable using it for presentations.  You can actually spend hours just fiddling around, but who has time for that!:-)



I created a powerpoint demonstration last year for students in my class to highlight different memory strategies, that may assist them in their classwork.  I have modified the presentation in taking out slides explaining the biological side of memory as I just wanted to illustrate how I used different features of powerpoint.  I also reinstalled a couple of different links to YouTube, as one previous link was unavailable now and another was subject to copyright.  I believe the presentation follows engagement theory philosophy (Kiersley, & Shneiderman, 1999), as it is a meaningful topic relating to our everyday lives.  Furthermore, I have tried to create an appealing presentation that would appeal to visual, auditory, and tactile learners (Felder, & Solomon, as cited in Aldred, 2010), and hopefully assist students to identify a memory strategy that could help them in their studies. 



I have probably broken all the rules relating to colours in the powerpoint, but I wanted to attract attention and not just be another boring powerpoint.  The first slide (outrageously coloured and looks like something from the hippi days) has a link to a YouTube of Barbra Streisand singing 'Memories').  The song was played just as the students were coming into class and getting settled.  Most slides have bullet points, a variety of clip art and customised animations and a couple of short but interesting and funny links to YouTube.  Midway through the presentation I devised a couple of hands-on memory games using a couple of the memory strategies previously outlined.  Towards the end of the presentation there was also a quick quiz. 



I would have uploaded the presentation to the forum but I am having difficulties.  If anyone could help me out I would be happy to put it on the forum as I really appreciate feedback.



References
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999).  Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning.  Retrieved from CQUniversity, 
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm



Aldred, S. (2010).  Learning style and personality.  Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149

Mahara

Mahara  is really a fantastic tool!  It is so easy to navigate around the page and use its many features, making it a really user friendly piece of software.  I really like the drag and drop feature when customising the pages.  I can see myself getting a lot of use from this software.  It would be handy if there was a help feature on the site as well.  I don't want much do I!:-)  However, I read on the internet that Mahara now have a book published called Mahara 1.2 E-Portfolios: Beginner's Guide which is offered in hardback or e-book.  For anyone interested, Amazon sell the book but apparently it is cheaper through Packt Publishing.

What a great tool Mahara would be for high school students in preparing portfolios to showcase their best work, and preparing resumes to assist them in obtaining jobs in the workforce after school.  I believe any assistance students can foster to assist them is a very worthwhile activity and I feel that this would be an 'authentic' and 'meaningful' activity for students as well (Kearsley, & Shneiderman, 1999).  Furthermore, Mahara is particularly suitable for classroom use as it makes groupwork a breeze.  Mahara allows students to set up groups, communicate and collaborate, and publish work with their respective groups when working on activities.

References
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999).  Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning.  Retrieved from Central Queensland University, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, 
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm   

My voki

I had great fun making and customising my voki! I hope you like Miss Scarlet. I imagine that students of all ages would absolutely love creating as well as using these avatars in learning activities!  As stated in Dale's Cone, the most effective learning takes place with hands-on experiences (Dale's Cone, cited in Aldred, 2010).  I believe avatars not only suit tactile learners, but they would also engage visual and audio learners as well (Felder & Solomon, as cited in Aldred, 2010).   

In a previous forum post I thought that avatars could be used by older students in debates. Students teams could put forward their views with their own avatar.  This form of debate may also assist shy students to express their views more clearly without the worry of speaking in front of their peers.  I also believe avatars would be a great asset for special needs students who experience difficulties with speech.

References
Aldred, S. (2010).  Active learning: The issues.  Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning,
http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149
Aldred, S. (2010).  Learning style and personality, Central Queensland University, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149 

An idea for a wiki

At the beginning of the school year, when teachers are faced with a classroom of new students, I felt that a wiki would be a most useful way for teachers to determine their students’ personalities and learning styles. Students could undertake personality and learning style quizzes, as we did in the beginning of the Managing E-learning course, (either at home or school) and record their results on a table especially set up in a wiki. The feedback would hopefully assist the teacher when planning further learning activities for the students. Just an idea! What do you think?

Wikis in the classroom

I have often wondered what a wiki was, and until now, had no idea that the wiki is such a great communication and collaborative tool for use in the classroom! I believe wikis can provide a stimulating, creative ‘active learning’ environment where all students can be engaged in collaborative groupwork, problem solving and critical thinking (Kearsley, & Shneiderman, 1999; Aldred, 2010). Wikis further support ‘active learning’ and ‘Learning Engagement Theory’ as facilitating activities that require problem solving and critical thinking, help exercise students’ higher order thinking skills, as they can do their own research, reflect on information published by their peers and others, ask questions and publish their opinions. Such activities promote deeper learning and understanding of diverse views (Kearsley, & Shneiderman, 1999). Furthermore, wikis make collaboration between teams of students an easy task, perfect for many activities including brainstorming, organising information, assembling scripts for drama or presentations, and sharing information and research on topics with students both inside and outside the classroom.

Students can view and publish a multitude of different resources on wikis, including pictures, videos, vokis, audio and video podcasts, and quizzes (Dale’s Cone, cited in Aldred, 2010). Using these resources in activities, can engage students’ audio, visual, tactile and kinaesthetic learning styles (Felder, & Solomon, cited in Aldred, 2010). Wikis would also suit a wide range of students’ learning abilities, where everyone can contribute to the learning activity, even introverted students may feel more confident using wikis to reflect and publish opinions on different topics and learning activities. Normally in physical group work, these students may feel intimidated by others, and feel uncomfortable expressing views, quickly becoming distracted and unengaged from the activity.

I believe that wikis’ educational value is outlined very well in an old quote by Confucius saying ‘Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand’.

References
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999).  Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning.  Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, 
http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Aldred, S. (2010).  Active learning: The issues.  Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning,
http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149

Aldred, S. (2010).  Learning style and personality.  Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning,  http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149

Why use RSS?

I found setting up Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds very straightforward and easy!  A refreshing change for me!:)
 
I believe RSS is a great tool for promoting 'learning engagement' (Kearsley, & Shneiderman, 1999), as students can easily access, connect and collaborate in groupwork.  Students can also collaborate with their teachers, parents and other experts, who can answer questions and share opinions which enhance students' understanding and learning.   Suitable websites can also forward up to date information increasing students' knowledge base.  Furthermore, through RSS, teachers can keep track of students' postings, making sure that posts are suitable and students are on track with their projects (Richardson, 2004).

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999).  Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning.  Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Richardson, W. (2004).  Blogging and RSS - The "What's It?" and "How To" of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators.  In Multimedia & Internet@Schools (vol. 11), http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml

Blogs in the classroom

I have been having a good look around Education Queensland 'The Learning Place' Website http://education.qld.gov.au/learningplace/stories/archives.html
and have been amazed at some of the great projects, that teachers have facilitated using blogs in the classroom. Some of these projects have given me a lot of food for thought, and they are well worth a look! I did notice however, that while some of the projects display “relate” and “create” concepts, many were missing the “donate” concept which is so important for motivating students and making the learning meaningful (Kearsley, & Shneiderman, 1999). Even so, I imagine it would not be too difficult to apply an ‘authentic focus’ to most of the projects (Kearsley, & Shneiderman, 1999). What is your opinion?

There are so many endless possibilities for using blogs in all subject areas to enhance students’ learning in the classroom (Aldred, 2010). I believe any method teachers can employ to encourage students to read, write and express feelings and ideas has to be beneficial! What do you feel? Blogs also provide a great opportunity for teachers to instruct students about ‘netiquette’ and alert them to the dangers of unsafe usage and reporting of inappropriate material on the internet (Aldred, 2010).

I would like students to use blogs for intercultural exchange of ideas about topics with students from both Australia and the world, promoting students’ respect and understanding of diversity. Furthermore, blogs could be utilised for book reviews; reflective journals; homework (Aldred, 2010); showcasing students’ artwork; creating scripts for drama and presentations; and keeping parents and the local community informed of their children’s learning as well as encouraging their comments and suggestions (Aldred, 2010).

References
Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999).  Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning.  Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Aldred, S. (2010).  Using blogs in education.  Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=53474

Aldred, S. (2010).  Internet safety: The issues.  Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44151

Finally blogging!

What a learning curve this has been!  Help.blogger has received quite a few visits from me which have proved to be very helpful!  I have also received help from Laura on Skype, as we have been generally chatting about the topics in the course and any difficulties we may be experiencing.  I am however, still experiencing difficulty in uploading an image to my text.  The image appears in the image box after uploading but doesn't appear in the text, nor does the window appear giving you options as to where the picture can be placed within the text box.  Does anyone have any ideas?  I currently have Internet Explorer, maybe this is a problem?

Update
My blog images seem to be uploading well now.  I think there must have been a glitch in the system somewhere.  I resaved information in settings and everything seems fine now.

My E-Learning journey

My journey into the Managing E-Learning course has felt a little like the image in my profile, as I feel I am in an foreign place, heading down a road into the misty unknown.  Fortunately the mist is clearing as I study each topic area, opening links and undertaking actiities which have led to a deeper appreciation and understanding of e-learning.  Being a "digital immigrant" (Prensky, 2001), I have not grown up with information and communication technologies (ICTs) but have been fortunate enough to witness their arrival, many changes and rapid expansion.

Unfortunately, I have not kept pace with the rapid changes in ICTs.  The Managing E-Learning course has made me very aware of the wonderful educational websites and collaborative tools I have been missing, such as blogs and wikis, that teachers and students can use to promote communication and enhance lesson experiences.  I am very excited by the prospect of integrating ICTs and Web 2 technology into all subject areas of my teaching, as I definitely believe this technology is the key to effective learning and connecting, collaborating and motivating learners of the 21st century.  Employing Learning Engagement Theory in the classroom illustrates ways that teachers can also achieve these objectives, together with providing students with learning that is "creative, meaningful, and authentic" (Kearsley, & Shneiderman, 1999).

I believe we are all entering into an exciting and transformative time for learning, "so let's embrace it and focus on the amazing opportunities we now have to develop learners for the future" (Jones, 2009).
 
References
Prensky, M. (2001).  Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.  In On the Horizon (vol. 9).  Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Kearsley, G., & Schneiderman, B. (1999).  Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Jones, D. (2009).  What's the point?  Retrieved from Education Queensland, The Learning Place, http://eq2.janison.com/eq/viewarticle.asp?guid={B7663F54-AFBA-4018-B78F-4D9480480D18}