Pod casts are a great way for teahers and lecturers to keep their students up to date. The pod casts that I have been listening to this week is one created by one of my lecturers. I find them extremely helpful as they are not only audio but also visual podcasts. The lecturer does a step by step on how to navigate some of the new things that we have been learning about.
Many teachers of classes of all age groups can use pod casts for lessons. I as a student teacher, love the idea of having them for students who may be home sick for some reason and for students who need to listen to the lesson again as they didn't quiet understand the first time. A podcast can allow someone to describe something as the person is looking at it.
If I was in a lecture room and my lecturer was showing a diagram on the screen and describing it, I would be more inclined to look at my lecturer rather than the diagram that is holing the information that I need. This is why pod casts in the classroom are great for students. And they are free which is a good thing for schools who may not have the budget for resources that they had hoped for.
A visual/audio podcast is amazing as you can see either a images/videos/diagrams describing what is trying to be taught or a video of the person speaking about what is trying to be taught. Both are ways to help students understand the topic at hand. In the past few years pod casts have become very popular and I predict that they are only going to become more common in classrooms as the years go on.
Editing and Embedding
Monday, 25 March 2013
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
My new WEBSITE!!
Hello again everyone : )
Well what a busy afternoon. Today I made my very own WEBSITE. It was so much fun and I think it is a great creative idea for everyone. When doing all the steps to create my website I started to think in ways that it could be used as a learning tool. I thought of a few ways that I could use creating a website in a classroom.
Personally I would use it from grade 3 and up. For the younger ages it would be a great way for them to look for pictures that they could add to their website but on a specific topic. Getting into the older grades it would be a great assessment task. Creating a website for a specific topic and getting marked on creativity and structure. Creating a small technical manual for the older students will help them with getting it all started but then mark them on their content and creativity.
I found it a great lesson for following steps, finding the right information on the web and my own creativity. Students in the younger years could use it as a group activity, pairing up for the task would make it more enjoyable for them. Using a website as a learning tool could be used for many subjects. English, Maths, Science, S.O.S.E, HPE and Art.
Compared to blogs and wikis, using a website for classroom tasks is a more appropriate idea in my opinion. This is because there aren't as many negative implications that could arise. One being that students don't have a greater opportunity to procrastinate and stray away from the task. In other words, the positives out weight the negatives, which is what is best for the students.
Cheers :)
Well what a busy afternoon. Today I made my very own WEBSITE. It was so much fun and I think it is a great creative idea for everyone. When doing all the steps to create my website I started to think in ways that it could be used as a learning tool. I thought of a few ways that I could use creating a website in a classroom.
Personally I would use it from grade 3 and up. For the younger ages it would be a great way for them to look for pictures that they could add to their website but on a specific topic. Getting into the older grades it would be a great assessment task. Creating a website for a specific topic and getting marked on creativity and structure. Creating a small technical manual for the older students will help them with getting it all started but then mark them on their content and creativity.
I found it a great lesson for following steps, finding the right information on the web and my own creativity. Students in the younger years could use it as a group activity, pairing up for the task would make it more enjoyable for them. Using a website as a learning tool could be used for many subjects. English, Maths, Science, S.O.S.E, HPE and Art.
Compared to blogs and wikis, using a website for classroom tasks is a more appropriate idea in my opinion. This is because there aren't as many negative implications that could arise. One being that students don't have a greater opportunity to procrastinate and stray away from the task. In other words, the positives out weight the negatives, which is what is best for the students.
Cheers :)
Using Wiki's in the Classroom
WIKI'S WIKI'S, WIKI'S!!! This is what is on my mind and I'm sure it is on the minds of my peers. This week I have done a lot of things in terms of wiki's. I read about wiki's, I created my own wiki space and then finally I created my own wiki. My first wiki was only a small one with a few pictures as I wanted to start with something simple. And to anyone saying that creating a wiki space and wiki is easy, I think your wrong. I found this task extremely hard, and had to re-read my technical manual a few times to find what I wanted. However, once it was created I found it easier to navigate and I am glad that I stuck to it and completed the task.
This got me to thinking about how I could use this learning tool in the classroom and in the end I had plenty of thoughts to sift through. In the end I came to the conclusion that once I was confident enough with the whole 'wiki' subject and confident enough in helping my students create their own wiki, that I would deffinatly use it as a learning tool in my future classroom.
Back in week one of this term I participated in a wiki about mobile phones and I thought it was a great learning experience. The way that it was set out made me think that even the younger students in prep would be able to do a task with it. Everything had its place and it was visually appealing which made it easier for me to complete.
Using a wiki in a classroom can be both informative and fun for students as these children are children of technology and this is the way they want to learn. I think doing something fun like a survey/vote to ask students if they want to participate in a wiki for a classroom lesson is a great way as you can see both their reaction to the topic of wiki's and also it means the students are getting the opportunity to decide in how they will learn.
As with all other learning tools, wiki's have to be thought through before being used. The PMI's need to be discussed and then a decision needs to be made if learning though a wiki is what is best for the students. Personally I think it is. Students need a variety of learning tools to gain their information and adding wiki's and blogs to the classroom is a great thing for not only the students but the teacher also.
Until next time... : )
This got me to thinking about how I could use this learning tool in the classroom and in the end I had plenty of thoughts to sift through. In the end I came to the conclusion that once I was confident enough with the whole 'wiki' subject and confident enough in helping my students create their own wiki, that I would deffinatly use it as a learning tool in my future classroom.
Back in week one of this term I participated in a wiki about mobile phones and I thought it was a great learning experience. The way that it was set out made me think that even the younger students in prep would be able to do a task with it. Everything had its place and it was visually appealing which made it easier for me to complete.
Using a wiki in a classroom can be both informative and fun for students as these children are children of technology and this is the way they want to learn. I think doing something fun like a survey/vote to ask students if they want to participate in a wiki for a classroom lesson is a great way as you can see both their reaction to the topic of wiki's and also it means the students are getting the opportunity to decide in how they will learn.
As with all other learning tools, wiki's have to be thought through before being used. The PMI's need to be discussed and then a decision needs to be made if learning though a wiki is what is best for the students. Personally I think it is. Students need a variety of learning tools to gain their information and adding wiki's and blogs to the classroom is a great thing for not only the students but the teacher also.
Until next time... : )
To BLOG or not to BLOG
This week I have been thinking about using a blog system in my classroom. Looking around there are many different views on this topic, and all are great opinions to have. But I think it all comes down to the age of the students who will be using this learning tool. Being a early childhood teacher I do not think that I would use this a lot with my students however, if I was a secondary teacher it would be something that I would use with every class.
There are many positives and negatives to using a blog as a learning tool and each teacher needs to weigh in the facts before deciding if they commit to teaching this way. They also need to think about the implications that will come out of it, both good and bad. Many teenage students will think it is a great idea, but will they all be able to blog successfully and gain the right information? For majority of these students I think they will, but for the remaining few it may be a difficult task. Not only because they may stray from the task at hand but also because they may find it hard to navigate the ways of blogging. I know that I find it hard and I class myself as someone who is very comfortable with computers and technology.
That is another thing that needs to be thought through by the teacher. Will they be comfortable enough with their own technological knowledge to teach their students correctly. Teachers will need to look into ensuring that they are confident using and teaching with this learning tool so that their students are gaining the information that they have set out to learn.
Blogging is a great idea but the PMI's need to be thought through with extreme caution as these are student's educations that are on the line. This is where they will learn things that will get them to where they want to be as well as get them to who they want to be. For me if I was a secondary teacher the answer would be yes. I would use it in my classroom, as long as I was comfortable with they way I am teaching students to use it and that the information I am teaching will be understood by the them.
Until next time : )
There are many positives and negatives to using a blog as a learning tool and each teacher needs to weigh in the facts before deciding if they commit to teaching this way. They also need to think about the implications that will come out of it, both good and bad. Many teenage students will think it is a great idea, but will they all be able to blog successfully and gain the right information? For majority of these students I think they will, but for the remaining few it may be a difficult task. Not only because they may stray from the task at hand but also because they may find it hard to navigate the ways of blogging. I know that I find it hard and I class myself as someone who is very comfortable with computers and technology.
That is another thing that needs to be thought through by the teacher. Will they be comfortable enough with their own technological knowledge to teach their students correctly. Teachers will need to look into ensuring that they are confident using and teaching with this learning tool so that their students are gaining the information that they have set out to learn.
Blogging is a great idea but the PMI's need to be thought through with extreme caution as these are student's educations that are on the line. This is where they will learn things that will get them to where they want to be as well as get them to who they want to be. For me if I was a secondary teacher the answer would be yes. I would use it in my classroom, as long as I was comfortable with they way I am teaching students to use it and that the information I am teaching will be understood by the them.
Until next time : )
Friday, 8 March 2013
Mobile Phone Wiki Reflection
Hello fellow E-Learners. This week we participated in
the wiki titled Mobile Phones; we did this by using the concept of De Bono’s
six thinking hats. I thoroughly enjoyed using this concept to voice my opinion
on the idea of using mobile phones in the classroom. The thing that I liked
most about participating in this wiki was that I felt more comfortable with
letting others know my thoughts on the subject were. As we are only in our
second week of this course I still don’t feel completely comfortable with all
the answers that I give, and the last thing that I want to do is say something
that my fellow peers would laugh at.
I believe that all 4 learning theories were used in
this e-learning activity even if only used in a small way. The reason why I
think this is that I personally participated in each learning theory. Behaviourism
was used the least, my behaviour and thoughts/feelings towards the task were
important. My brain scanned the wiki and sorted out what was important to me
and what was not, meaning that I was using the learning theory of cognitivism.
I then started looking at what ideas my peers had so that I could see if I was
thinking along the same lines as them or if I had ideas that built onto what
was already there. This was learning via constructivism. Last but not least is
connectivism. I believe this was used the most as this activity was done at my
computer with me using various e-learning tools to help me complete the
challenge. I needed to brush up on my knowledge of De Bono so I watched a small
Youtube clip to help me remember what each hat stood for.
The biggest benefit for me with participating in this
wiki was getting to know what some of my peers think. I am someone who is
reserved and that is why I like sitting behind my computer screen and giving my
opinion via a wiki or a blog instead of sitting in a room full of people and
being called upon. I would use this e-learning idea for my students in the
future as it shows many possibilities for various activities. It could be done
in groups, pairs, individually, reflecting on what was in the wiki and even
finding errors for a literacy lesson (grammatical and spelling, this idea
mainly for younger students). The only thing that I can see that could have
been and issue with this particular wiki is that not all of the students in
this course may be computer ‘savy’. Some students may have had problems setting
up their wiki to log in or even knowing how to edit and change font/colour etc.
This being the only issue that could have happend makes participating in a wiki
a great idea.
I think the set up of this wiki made it so much easier
to navigate. With the groups being split into three it meant that the ideas
were not scattered all over the place because the ‘student traffic’ was
minimal. The overall view of it made it very easy to learn and I know this is a
big thing when teaching young students, everything must have a place on the
screen instead of being placed anywhere. This wiki had that, it was well set up
and I am glad that I could participate.
Talk to you all in my next blog : )
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