Over the past weeks I have worked my way through a number of web 2.0 technologies. Some I have found to be very appropriate for the classroom context others not quite so. Before completing this course I had very little knowledge of the various technologies that are available for use in the classroom. This e.learning course has broadened my knowledge and opened my eyes to the extensive range of options available on the wide world web. I have now developed a basic knowledge of a small range of these available online tools that can enhance my classroom instruction and engage my learners with authentic learning experiences.
I have learnt about Kearsley & Shneiderman’s (1999) Engagement Theory and how it can be applied to my classroom. Kearsley & Shneiderman (1999) believe that
“engagement theory represents a new paradigm for learning and teaching in the information age which emphasizes the positive role that technology can play in human interaction and evolution”.
Due to time constraints inside and outside the classroom it makes it very unrealistic to try and use every one of the technologies that were addressed throughout the blog. Therefore after completing my research on each technology I have discovered a number of technologies that I will endeavour to continue to use in my classroom. They are -
• Google Earth - Is a program that allows users to explore planet Earth focusing on any location that they want. Using this would get students excited about exploring the world. One minute you can be exploring your local surroundings and the next minute you can be exploring the other side of the world making it an extremely useful tool for students to use to learn their surrounding environments. They can explore the streets of Paris, the many states of the USA or the coast lines of Thailand, the options are endless.
• Powerpoint – Provides a way of displaying information visually so that a group of people can easily see it. Students can create a powerpoint presentation displaying what they have learnt. Due to the large number of l options i.e. animation, video’s, audio and pictures powerpoint is a useful tool to keep students engaged.
• Picnik – Picnik is a photo editing site that allows you to chop, change and add effects to photos however it is not able to store them. Picnik could be used in the classroom for anything that requires an image, in particular if the image has defects or similar and requires editing. Such projects could include brochures, business cards, posters or reports. Students using this program will have the opportunity to demonstrate and showcase their creative ability with ICTs.
• Blogs – A blog is an online site that is created using information about whatever the creator wants containing links to other useful and interesting information. Blogs allow students to work collaboratively both in school and at home, as well as providing an effective tool for parents to follow their children’s learning. The posting of homework on to the blogs would also be a way to make teaching more efficient. Using this process, parents could monitor what is required of their child.
• Avatars – Are animated characters that enable users to express themselves on the web with a voice. They could be used to aid in instructing those who are more audio/visual learners or even as a means for those shy students who struggle with presenting information to the class.
• YouTube/Video – YouTube is a web site that allows anyone to upload or view a video of a chosen topic. It can make difficult tasks like dissecting a frog become easy just be watching a video of it. They can also make giving instruction to a large group of students faster and easier.
• VoiceThread - Is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to leave comments. VoiceThread can be used as a storytelling tool, a deep thinking tool, a research tool, an expository communication tool, and even an assessment tool.
Although I have looked at a variety of other technologies the above are the ones that I found to be the most collaborative and allow for students to be meaningfully engaged in authentic learning experiences. Throughout this course I have had the opportunity to be a part of a collaborative network of online users that I could use for both support and for general discussions about each of the technologies studied. This support has meant that we could share ideas, thoughts and experiences to better our understandings along our journey.
Through completion of this assessment I have improved my knowledge and skills on a number of technologies and developed a better understanding of how I could use such technologies within a classroom environment. I look forward to continuing my exploration of the available technologies on the wide world web and furthering my understanding. I know that technology is going to continue advancing so as a future learning manger I believe it is necessary for me to keep up to date with as many technologies as possible in order to provide the best learning experiences for my students.
References
Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999), Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning, viewed 4th September 2009, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
VoiceThread
What is VoiceThread?
This clip came from the VoiceThread website - http://voicethread.com/ - explaining what a VoiceThread is.
VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to leave comments in 5 ways – text, phone, microphone, uploading and webcam.
Theory and classroom uses for VoiceThread
"Teachers and students are using VoiceThread as a storytelling tool, a deep thinking tool, a research tool, an expository communication tool, and even an assessment tool" (Dyck,2007).
Students using VoiceThread in the classroom will notice many benefits. The commenting feature is particularly valuable for classes. Students can receive feedback from people around the world on their work. “Teachers can also use VoiceThread as an effective assessment tool to see if students understand key concepts (Dierolf & Frazier, 2008)”. VoiceThread also easily lends itself to group work for class projects on any subject. Educators will also be able to quickly view which students put in the most effort during projects. VoiceThread allows students who may not like to participate in class discussion feel more comfortable with sharing their ideas. It eliminates a lot of the social pressure of the classroom. “VoiceThread is also simple for teachers to manage and maintain the safety of their students by moderating comments (Dierolf & Frazier, 2008)”. Voice Threads are highly compatible with Kearsley & Shneiderman (1999), Engagement Theory as the this web tool is an interactive tool that allows for collaborating, sharing, and commenting.
References
Dierolf, D. & Frazier, M. (2008), VoiceThread in the classroom, viewed 4th September 2009, http://cnx.org/content/m18419/latest/
Dyck , B. (2007), VoiceThread:Capturing and Sharing Student Voice with an Online Twist. EducationWorld.com, viewed 4th September 2009, http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/columnists/dyck/dyck019.shtml
This clip came from the VoiceThread website - http://voicethread.com/ - explaining what a VoiceThread is.
VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to leave comments in 5 ways – text, phone, microphone, uploading and webcam.
Theory and classroom uses for VoiceThread
"Teachers and students are using VoiceThread as a storytelling tool, a deep thinking tool, a research tool, an expository communication tool, and even an assessment tool" (Dyck,2007).
Students using VoiceThread in the classroom will notice many benefits. The commenting feature is particularly valuable for classes. Students can receive feedback from people around the world on their work. “Teachers can also use VoiceThread as an effective assessment tool to see if students understand key concepts (Dierolf & Frazier, 2008)”. VoiceThread also easily lends itself to group work for class projects on any subject. Educators will also be able to quickly view which students put in the most effort during projects. VoiceThread allows students who may not like to participate in class discussion feel more comfortable with sharing their ideas. It eliminates a lot of the social pressure of the classroom. “VoiceThread is also simple for teachers to manage and maintain the safety of their students by moderating comments (Dierolf & Frazier, 2008)”. Voice Threads are highly compatible with Kearsley & Shneiderman (1999), Engagement Theory as the this web tool is an interactive tool that allows for collaborating, sharing, and commenting.
References
Dierolf, D. & Frazier, M. (2008), VoiceThread in the classroom, viewed 4th September 2009, http://cnx.org/content/m18419/latest/
Dyck , B. (2007), VoiceThread:Capturing and Sharing Student Voice with an Online Twist. EducationWorld.com, viewed 4th September 2009, http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/columnists/dyck/dyck019.shtml
Music on the Web - INCOMPETECH
What is INCOMPETECH?
Incompetech is a royalty-free music website which allows you to legally use music without paying the musicians. Downloading is against all copyright laws, although when using Incompetech you will be covered by the Creative Commons Agreement. The Creative Commons Agreement allows music downloaded from Incompetech to be used by everyone (Incompetech, 2009).
Classroom uses for INCOMPETECH
Downloading royalty free music from Incompetech could be useful for students when they are doing presentations. For example they could use music as background music to a presentation. It could also be used as background music when students are working on particular tasks.
References
Incompetech. (2009), Frequently asked Questions, viewed 4th September 2009 http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/faq.html
Incompetech is a royalty-free music website which allows you to legally use music without paying the musicians. Downloading is against all copyright laws, although when using Incompetech you will be covered by the Creative Commons Agreement. The Creative Commons Agreement allows music downloaded from Incompetech to be used by everyone (Incompetech, 2009).
Classroom uses for INCOMPETECH
Downloading royalty free music from Incompetech could be useful for students when they are doing presentations. For example they could use music as background music to a presentation. It could also be used as background music when students are working on particular tasks.
References
Incompetech. (2009), Frequently asked Questions, viewed 4th September 2009 http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/faq.html
File Storage
For this course I created a free account on MediaFire to store my documents. The set-up process was extremely easy and straight forward and uploading documents is a simple step also.
What is File Storage?
MediaFire allows you to store all your files online for easy secure access and enables you to distribute large files to hundreds or thousands of people without clogging inboxes or bogging down your website (MediaFire, 2009). The free version allows a user to store files up to 200MB and paying users can store up to 10GB although both the free and the paid version has an unlimited storage capacity. A URL is provided so that the user can post this link up on blog sites or email it to other people that he wants to access this information. They can then view all the listed files and download these files if and when they want.
The file storage site would make the teachers’ job incredibly easy in the form of handing out worksheets. The teacher could upload all the handouts and extra worksheets and information for each unit of work, semester or even the year. All that the teacher needs to give to the students is the URL and then it is up to the student to access the work (more for older grades).
Students can use this storage site to post assignments on. A whole class could have an account and they could post up reports or information they wish to share with other students either for school or leisure purpose. When students upload projects onto the world wide web they are participating in Kearsley & Shneiderman’s (1999) Engagement Theory framework under the third principle, “Donate”. Students realise that everyone is going to be able to see their work, not just the teacher, so they produce work to the best of their ability.
References
Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999), Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning, viewed 4th September 2009 <http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm>
MediaFire. (2009). What is MediaFire? Citing computer references. Retrieved August 19, 2009, from http://www.mediafire.com/about.php
What is File Storage?
MediaFire allows you to store all your files online for easy secure access and enables you to distribute large files to hundreds or thousands of people without clogging inboxes or bogging down your website (MediaFire, 2009). The free version allows a user to store files up to 200MB and paying users can store up to 10GB although both the free and the paid version has an unlimited storage capacity. A URL is provided so that the user can post this link up on blog sites or email it to other people that he wants to access this information. They can then view all the listed files and download these files if and when they want.
MediaFire is an extremely easy site to navigate around and use. With only just a few clicks you can have numerous documents uploaded onto the file storage site ready for viewing. The site has a number of different uses i.e. personal, for business and school; you can even have different folders in the same account for each type of use.
Theory and classroom uses for File Storage
Theory and classroom uses for File Storage
The file storage site would make the teachers’ job incredibly easy in the form of handing out worksheets. The teacher could upload all the handouts and extra worksheets and information for each unit of work, semester or even the year. All that the teacher needs to give to the students is the URL and then it is up to the student to access the work (more for older grades).
Students can use this storage site to post assignments on. A whole class could have an account and they could post up reports or information they wish to share with other students either for school or leisure purpose. When students upload projects onto the world wide web they are participating in Kearsley & Shneiderman’s (1999) Engagement Theory framework under the third principle, “Donate”. Students realise that everyone is going to be able to see their work, not just the teacher, so they produce work to the best of their ability.
References
Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999), Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning, viewed 4th September 2009 <
MediaFire. (2009). What is MediaFire? Citing computer references. Retrieved August 19, 2009, from http://www.mediafire.com/about.php
SlideShare
What is SlideShare?
SlideShare claims to be the world’s largest online community for sharing presentations (SlideShare Inc, 2009). It is an online storage site where you can upload powerpoint presentations, word documents and it also allows the user to narrate their presentations thus creating a video that can be tagged by another user, linked to a blog site, a web site or even downloaded to a computers database and viewed.
Theory and classroom uses for SlideShare
Slide Share gives students a sense of gratification as they upload their work onto the internet using blogs; they work to the best of their ability as they understand that their work is on display for others to see. Siemens Connectivism Theory (2004) is an advocate for sites connecting people such as SlideShare. It highlights the point that networks function on the simple idea that individuals can be connected in the effort to create an integrated whole.
Resources
Siemens, G. (2004), Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age, viewed 4th September 2009,
SlideShare Inc, (2009), What is Slideshare; Citing computer references. Viewed 4th September 2009, http://www.slideshare.net/about?PHPSESSID=cdcd1c967d45a922f503f2147b6d3902
WIKIPedia
What is WIKIPedia?
Wikipedia Free encyclopedia
Wikiquote Collection of quotations
Wiktionary Dictionary and thesaurus
Wikibooks Free textbooks and manuals
Wikisource Free source documents
Wikinews Free content news source
Commons Shared media repository
Wikispecies Directory of species
Wikiversity Free learning materials
(WIKIPedia, 2009)
Theory and classroom uses for ClassMarker
Siemens’ Connectivism Theory (2004), explains that the cycle of knowledge development allows learners to remain current in their field through connections being made. Wikipedia directly relates to this theory as it allows anyone to edit and add appropriate information to a particular topic and therefore builds on the connections being made.
WIKIPedia is a fast way for a student to get some background information on a topic. A teacher could recommend this site to students so that they can get a start to researching something however I wouldn’t recommend on using just a WIKIPedia page as basis for the knowledge. Each Wiki site is unique in their own way and is a good starting point for researching any particular topic.
References
Siemens, G. (2004), Connectivism: A learning theory for the Digital Age; Citing computer references, viewed 4th August 2009, http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivesm.htm
Wikipedia (2009), Wikipedia, viewed 4th September 2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia
WebQuests
What is a WebQuest?
"A WebQuest is a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students’ investigation of a central, open-ended question, development of individual expertise and participation in a final group process that attempts to transform newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding" (March, 2003).
A WebQuest is broken down into a few sections. A home page which gives a brief description of what the quest is about, a task page which gives you a overview of what you are to do in more detail, a process page which has a number of smaller assignments/requirements that need to be fullfilled in order to complete the quest/report and an evaluation page which has the criteria on which the quest will be marked. An example of one that I discovered was a world cultures WebQuest.
This WebQuest basically asks you to plan a 2 week holiday anywhere you want overseas. It gives you hints and sets tasks that you must achieve in order to fulfil the quest. For example the quest states that students have to play the role of a tour guide, tour promoter and a tourist while using lots of difference references in order to complete the quest.
Theory and classroom uses for WebQuest
The design of WebQuest underpins the engagement theory as a WebQuest’s purpose is to engage the learners in a meaningful learning experience, which relates to them and their friends (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). A WebQuest could be used in the classroom as a more active way to get students involved in what they are learning. Using a WebQuest would get them involved and keep them on track, due to the fact that a WebQuest has already got links and places where they can find information about the topic and has set out task by task what they can research and complete.
A WebQuest can be anything that a teacher desirses from having students create a new park showing where toilets are with play equiptment all drawn up in a detailed map with a grid and coordinates to where everything is, to having students research about a trip to mars, asking them to investigate why people discover unknown places, what they need to survive on an unknow planet and then ask them to present a detailed report showing what they have learnt.
In my opinion a webquest is a good idea for students however i think that they are very time consuming and i think that some students may struggle with the idea of them. Not all students will have the same access to computers that other students do which will severly disadvantage them due to the fact that they are mostly done online. Students may also use the incorrect data if the webquest is interperated incorectly to how it was intended.
Resources
March, T. (2003), WebQuest, viewed 4th Spetember 2009,
Kearsley, G. & Shneiderman, B. (1999), Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning, viewed 4th September 2009 <http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm>
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