##THANK YOU##

Well what an amazing journey and to think its not really over but just beginning. There is so much to learn and technology is changing so quickly it is abit daunting. However this program has also revealed how exciting the world of technology can be. I now feel more confident and enthusiastic about incorporating a wider range of web 2.0 technologies in my teaching and learning experiences.
Thank you Dione and your team for operating this wonderful program. I particularly enjoyed reading the other participants blogs and found many of them so useful. I will continue to be challenged in this area but am really looking forward to further discoveries. Thank You.

#22 ebooks and #23 Downloadable Media

I have just become familiar with ebooks and downloadable media with the trialling of ipads at our school. E books are wonderful for using with individual students or small groups during literacy groups. The children love to listen to or follow along with the book and some have apps that can be used to explore the text further, with cloze passages or sentence reconstructions etc.

 Of course audio books are wonderful for the visually impaired and for those with learning difficulties. But also great to get kids used to hearing beautifully read and articulated grammar and annunciation. What fun it would be to volunteer to read audio books like on Librivox and as a class that could be a wonderful activity too.

Thanks to Marge for her always excellent blog entries which expand on the topics. I have saved the “Amazing Web 2.0 Projects” ebook as a favourite to investigate further how other teachers use these resources in the classroom.

# 21 Youtube and Teachertube

I have used You tube many times to search for music clips or prayers for staff meetings. My own children love you tube and are always finding hilarious clips to save and share. The danger of course is the inappropriateness of much of the content and of course needs to monitored and filtered. Children also need to be taught sensibly about cybersafety and be educated about making good/wise choices when searching.

I have never used Teacher tube, didn’t know of its existence...again I keep revealing my ignorance! But thank goodness for this course because I have learnt so much.

I had a search on Teacher tube for some classroom resources and found a few things I would use. I tried to save or embed a Multiplications Rap which I will be using tomorrow in class. But I am yet to work out how to embed it or copy it on to the blog. I have also in the past attempted to embed a video clip into a power point and am yet to master that as well. But I will continue on and I’m sure now there is an “Embedding in Plain English” clip that I would find very useful when I have more time.

#20 Podcasts

I haven’t had much experience with Podcasts but can see their relevance in the classroom. I particularly found useful the Education Podcast Network for locating specific podcasts for certain subjects. I did however find that it took a long time to download one from the site. I can see that students would love making their own podcasts and it would be a great teaching tool in most subject areas, particularly in literacy. Podcasts by students would also offer another method of presenting, public speaking and debating without the sometimes daunting aspect of face to face speaking.

#19 Rollyo

WOW! I LOVE THIS! Again another tool I’ve never heard of...but am so glad I have now. I have already set up some Search Rolls on topics we are studying at the moment. I like how you can customise your search and choose from the set categories to narrow it down to specific areas. I will definitely be using this in the classroom and at home. It would be a useful set up to include on the class blog so as I can streamline the sites I want the students to use for homework tasks. Unreal thanks!

#18 Wikis

Wikis have really taken off in terms of encouraging collaboration in teams and sharing of information as well as working jointly on a central project. For example the REC’s in my school’s region or cluster have been jointly constructing a new teaching unit. Using the wiki has allowed us to offer feedback and make alterations to the document without having to meet. AMAZINGLY useful!

#17 Delicious

Another time saving site. The ability to tag and bookmark your favourite sites all in one place is great. I’m going to give it ago as even though I regularly use Favourites in my web toolbar I often forget what I like and my Favourites list is so long it becomes cumbersome. The ability to check out other peoples favourites is also a drawcard.
I want to explore tag clouds further when I have more time, they look like an interesting way of representing information.

#15 RSS and #16 Subscribing

I always wondered what that little RSS symbol meant. Really Simple Syndication helps you tag or keep track of your favourite sites. Rather than going back to the original website, blog or wiki you can subscribe through the RSS link and have the updates and changes come to you.

The RSS in Plain English http://commoncraft.com/ is very helpful. Like RSS for dummies! My type of video!

I have just set up a class blog and will use this tool to link myself to all 26 blogs through the RSS feed. Therefore I can be notified when students make changes to their blogs without me having to trawl through each of them daily. I like how it definitely saves you time!

I also had a look at my local newspaper online...a first...actually enjoyed reading some articles online rather than opening a rain drenched newspaper. Who would have thought! But there were no RSS feeds available, probably because it’s only published twice a week.

Something I will use now!

# 13 #14 Social Networks

The Blogger promotional clip is clever and snappy. Not sure whether it will bring people back to Blogger but as a new user I liked it.

Library:/hack has some wonderful interactive ideas for its users. The competition is a fantastic way of collaborating with the public to come up with new ways of doing things.

My Space and Facebook

I understand the attraction for people to interact with these sites. But it’s just not me! I don’t have time to write about myself, my interests or what tv show I’m watching (don’t do much of that either) and I don’t think anyone would be interested anyway. I know I’d rather chat to a friend in person or on the phone while hanging out the washing, cooking dinner or marking books, than write about stuff on the internet. I KNOW I’m boring but that’s me! Also I struggle to maintain successful contact with my dear friends who I wish to spend time with when I can, without the need to add more associations and contacts with people I’d never get to see. I do prefer real contact.

The Educause Learning Initiative article highlights the benefits for college students to use these sites to interact with other students. The opportunities for students to learn from and interact with students from all over the world is also advantageous.

As a parent I am fascinated/worried by my teenagers’ interactions with these sites and the time they spend (waste) writing inane things back and forth to each other. Also the negative effects of online nastiness is also a concern. It has been a real challenge as parents to educate them about safe and sensible use of these sites.  However, in a positive light my son's football coach recently signed up with facebook as a way of contacting the team about training and game times etc. The players get the info immediately via their phones and this does save time for all involved.

#12 Flickr

I signed up with Flickr linking my Google account to Yahoo. I took the Flickr tour which was a helpful way of checking out the benefits. It is a great site for storing your photos and being able to share them with friends and family. Tags are a useful way of grouping your photos or narrowing a search for a theme.

I searched photos for Anzac Day to use for a school presentation and have included one here. It is very usefeul to be able to link flickr to our Blogs. I also enjoyed the “Visual Story Telling” with 5 images being used to tell a story. That would be an interesting exercise for children, they could take their own photos or search for images of their choice to create a storyboard and use as a writing activity.

“The Commons” feature with links to various organisations with collections of historical photos was very interesting. The interactive or collaborative aspect of this feature whereby the public can contribute to the collections and register interest in, comment and Tag photos allows continual growth and exploration for all involved as well as a living history.

ANCAC Day 2011 # 08

ANCAC Day 2011 # 08, a photo by deanog on Flickr.

I searched for Anzac images.

#11 Library Thing

Well this is the site for Book Lovers!! I am one but I don’t really have the time or the inclination to catalogue my own collections. But I see the benefits in doing this particularly for reference books when studying. It would be a useful tool for the classroom library collection and to allow students to add their comments and reviews to the class catalogue too.

I really like reading other peoples reviews and I’ve always wanted to be part of a Book Club and think that the Talk and Groups section would be like an online Book Club with people contributing thoughts and comments about certain books and authors.

I also had a look at the Yarra Plenty RL site and found this to be user friendly and easy to navigate around. I really liked the Staff Picks section and I showed my children the New Titles section as we are always looking for new reads. Our local library is small but usually has a good selection to choose from. My teenagers particularly enjoyed searching for some books they are interested in reading.

#10 Image Generators

What a lot of fun and enjoyable time wasting can be had exploring these sites.

http://www.bighugelabs.com/  had many and varied “toys” to play with to customise images. I tried out the jigsaw puzzle and the motivational poster maker. These could be great to use in the classroom with student work and photos. Student artworks could be used to create puzzles or posters. Students could also use the features to create comic strips and slideshows of their work. The possibilities are only limited by one’s imagination.

I also had a play with Jelly Muffin and Cool Texting but am still working out how to save those images.

#9 Virtual Worlds

Well I can see some benefits in the Second Life virtual worlds in that students could experience tours and interactions with places that they can not physically visit such as the Van Gough Art Gallery or libraries and museums in distant locations. However, I have to say as a mother of 5 with two sons obssessed with WoW I do have negative feelings about the impact and benefits (or not) of virtual worlds.

We have a constant battle/challenge on our hands as parents and educators to allow children to explore and learn in this amazing world of technology. But WoW just causes discipline problems in my house with arguments and fights about computer use. As well it's powers of addiction really bothers me! and the unrealistic images of people particularly women disturbs me too! and don't start me on the effects of the gaming violence! Some issues just to get  started!!

Mmmmm....I guess I will have to explore these topics further in the educational perspective but it will be a slow process to win me over into second life. I prefer REAL life!

#8 iGOOGLE

Well I am being surprised by the capabilities available each time I venture to the next activity. It was an interesting exercise setting up my igoogle page. Will have a challenge keeping it as “mine” when sharing the home computer with 6 other people though! I can see my children adding their favourite games like “frogger” and “pacman” and my husband adding his sporting features.

Again I am amazed at the amount of gadgets and features you can add to customise your page. I think I could adapt a page like this for my class home page with educational features which could be easily accessible depending on topics being covered in the classroom. So the advantage would be in changing the gadgets or features to suit the learning needs of the students as well as including some useful teaching gadgets, like the calendar, clock,  maps weather links etc.

Google sounds like an amazing place to work but I think I’m over the general age bracket of employees!! The integrated perks like the gym, pool and restaurant would certainly enhance employee satisfaction and motivation. Our Principal (who has previously completed this course) trialled the Google tactic of giving staff time  to have “thinking” time or time working on a personal project with the proviso being that the project or idea being developed was to enhance something at our school. Google allows 20% of hours to work on personal projects to enhance the company!

We were given a staff meeting free to work on this Google idea of using work time to advantage our workplace. The idea was successful even though some staff were fearful that their ideas would not be exciting enough. When we next met as a staff each person shared their thoughts, ideas or personal projects. It was a positive sharing of ideas that have brought about some constructive changes in our school and some effective use of time management.

#5 Google Docs, #6 Google Maps and #7 Google Books

GOOGLE DOCS                 

I didn’t realise that Google offered so many products. I have really only used it as a search engine. Pathetic I know!! But thank goodness I’ve started a learning shift by doing this course! AMAZING!

I really see the advantages of using Google Documents to work collaboratively on a document . I had a play and created a document for my teaching program using a table format, then uploaded it and then saved it as a word doc on my computer. Its usefulness is in the ability for numerous people (colleagues) to be able to work on the same document and edit and change it with all being able to see those alterations no matter where or what type of computer each person is using.

This would also be a great tool to teach older students to use when working collaboratively on class tasks and assignments. It could be incorporated in classroom group work and also as part of home assignments in which students are asked to create one piece of work as a group. All could contribute yet edit and make changes separately for later and ongoing review as a group.  It would enable online discussion and co-operative creation of a task.

GOOGLE MAPS

I have enjoyed using Google Maps in my classroom previously but at a fairly simplistic level, just looking at locations and satellite visuals of certain places. I didn’t realise you could alter or customise the maps or add features to them such as symbols and images. This will certainly make for deeper learning experiences for the students (and teacher!) which I will indeed be using next term.

The “How to Guide” and other You Tube Clips on the various uses and capabilities of this tool are extremely helpful for new users. I will need more time to “play” with Google Maps, but will definitely be exploring in more detail the functions of this great application.

GOOGLE BOOKS

  WOW! Again an application I haven’t previously used. I had fun searching for some favourite books and where to buy them. I also enjoyed reading a couple of reviews to find another good holiday read. I then used the links to search and locate copies in my local libraries. My children were also very excited to look for their favourite authors and books prior to our next library visit. 

This will be good to use in the classroom to review favourite books and authors. Students could be introduced to this as a teaching tool, assisting them in writing their own book reviews. Also I liked the ability to read through the first few pages of the books which gives you a feel for the book...great to be able to do before committing to buying or searching for the book to use in the classroom (or personally for that matter).

 I also read some reviews about a recently read book which I found quite disturbing and I was very interested to read what others thought of the book and its implications. The star rating system was also an interesting tool for quickly reviewing the popularity of certain reads. I will be using this more frequently in terms of reviewing children’s books suitable for classroom use and also for recommendations for my own personal reading.

I created a “Personal Bookshelf” for later reference and enjoyed setting up a list of “Have Read” and “To Read” which I will now constantly update.

#4 Web 2.0

I was interested to learn that Web 2.0 is the development of a second generation of web technology and design, refering to the changes that have taken place in the way the web is used. I am amazed at the quantity and variety of interactive advancements in Web 2.0, some of which I had never heard of before eg. delicious and folksonomies.I hope to understand the uses of these as I continue on in this course.
Web 2.0 allows for more interaction and participation by users and has developed greatly in the area of social networking faciliites. Thus making the web a place of collaboration, interaction and continuous movement and flow of information between users.
Library 2.0 has enhanced the way services are provided to it's users allowing for greater involvement and participation in the form of feedback and input into library services and faciliites.Users of library services using Web 2.0 are encouraged to interact with services provided and therefore assist in the development and design of enhanced and upto date library services.
I enjoyed the youtube clip from bliptv  titled "A Brave New World". Teaching has certainly been enhanced with the use of technology and wow hasn't it changed the way we do things, how we involve our students in their learning and how interactive and collaborative it has become. I hope to continue my learnings in this area so as I can continue to assist my students and make learning exciting for them.