WIKI's Again

Evening all,

WIKI's are a great tool in teaching students about the validity of information found on the internet. Learning about information realiability and the ease in which people can edit information on the internet.

Getting students to populate a WIKI such as Wikipedia to explore the pages that exist and find a page that needs to be written. Students can then write their own page, linking information from their page to other pages, picking mistakes in relating articles. Students will have to research the topic using accredited sources to find information that is valid. They will also have to use appropriate language, follow layout formats and write a correct and full bibliography. This task will not only help students understand how easy it is to change and edit information on sites such as Wikipedia, but also give them a sense of achievement as they will have published a page that is able to be viewed by the entire world.

Students will hopefully enjoy this task as they will be able to work together and choose any topice they like as the lesson is not the subject matter but the process involved.

Thanks,

Jess

PowerPoint - Again

Hey all,

I think that PowerPoint is a wonderful tool for teaching. It not only helps with giving lessons, but also provides students with a visual and audio aid in the lesson.

I have used PowerPoint a lot and the way that I have found the most fun is creating a story quiz. Have you ever read one of those books where you get to choose the outcome of the story? Well I have created a PowerPoint in the past, (and I cannot find where it has gone) where students move their way though the PowerPoint and based upon their answer, they are directed to another slide. This gives students a way to learn that is individually tailored to them, with each student having the possibility to see different slides and different information. The quiz took about 20 minuets to complete and entertained students. Once they had complete the quiz, students discussed the different paths they followed though the lesson and how these paths had helped them understand each concept involved.

What do others think of this idea? How would it fit in with your teaching style?

Jess

References: Brooks, S and Byles, B "Using PowerPoint", Internet4Classrooms, viewed 18/08/2009 http://www.internet4classrooms.com/pp_buttons_show.htm

Voice Thread

Evening

I find this to be a weird tool to use as it has so many parts that you can edit and change. I much prefere to use the tools avaliable with powerpoint when making presentations. I think that the only place that i would use this site woudl be if i didn't have acess to power point.

http://voicethread.com/share/583325/

Thanks,

Jess

Royalty Free Music

Evening,

Finding Royalty Free Music is a great tool to add that finishing touch to a presentation. This site is a great tool to find royalty free music. The hardest part of the site is to find the piece of music that will suit the presentation.

I have found a piece of music that would suit a presentation that is fun and actively involves student participation. Called “Future Cha Cha”, the piece is fun and up beat. I would use it as an introduction or a break piece in a presentation.

Thanks,

Jess

References: Royalty Free Music, 2008, viewed 18/08/2009 http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/index.html?genre=Classical

Digital Storytelling

Evening all,

"Digital kids need learning to be relevant, meaningful, and applicable now." Marco Antonio Torres

Combining audio, visual and multimedia tools, digital storytelling introduces many facets of classical learning. Letting children become the storyteller allows them to explore their imagination. Becoming the storyteller, especially in an interactive digital way, will encourage children to learn and grow as well as keeping them entertained in the material. Creative, writing, personal, speaking and technical skills are all utilized by students when creating a digital story.

Learning life skills though digital storytelling such as planning, production and presentation as well as the effective use of digital media. Digital storytelling can involve test, images, movies, audio, transitions and animation.

Allowing students to express themselves in the form of a digital story is a wonderful way to introduce them to technology and to their own stories. Creating a task in which students will be involved and hands on is essential as it will not only decrease class disruptions but also draw the best out of students as they will be working with a medium that is exciting to them.

Allowing student to discover information on their own and then present their findings to their classmates will not only instill a sense of achievement, but also pride in their work. Also, allowing students to teach other students captures the attention of the students as it is a new teaching experiance for them.

Afterall, the best digital story is passionate, relative, real and entertaining, and who knows what is realtive and entertaining for a class than a student in that class. The passion that one student conveys for a subject will also be conveyed to more students that the passion a teacher may have for that subject.

Skills learnt though being a digital storyteller are essential throughout life. I think that giving students the opportunity to show their creativity and create their own story using a digital media.

Night all,

Jess

References: Digital Storytelling. Retrieved August 17th, 2009, from http://www.lubbockisd.org/sfirenza/storytelling/#top

Media Fire

Evening all,

I found MediaFire very easy to sign up to, easy to use and so useful. This is the file that I have uploaded...

http://www.mediafire.com/?t3m1jmzymz5

Teachers can use this tool to view students assesment rather than emails or school systems. Electronic file marking is a much better and enviromentally friendly than paper marking.

Thanks,

Jess

Web Quest

I think that this would have to be one of the most time consuming and complicated tools I have looked at so far. It takes a large amount of time to try and create a learning objects, that often looks vastly different to how you intended. I don't think that I would ever attempt to use this as a learning tool as the more traditional approach suits my style much better.

The time that it takes to prepare a WebQuest is phenomenal! I don't think that enough of the curriculum could be addressed to make it an effective tool to use. Unless one WebQuest could be used for 5 or 6 classes, or recycled for multiple years, the time imput factor is to great to want to created this learning tool.

I don't like WebQuest, I don't think that I could use it, and I don't think that I ever will.