##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!