FINAL COURSE REFLECTION

FINAL COURSE REFLECTION

What an incredible course to have been a part of. I have really learnt a lot throughout this course.

I considered myself reasonably capable of using web 2.0 tools - however the types of web 2.0 tools introduced through the course are ones that I have heard of before, but just have not had the time to investigate or see great examples of how they are used. I can see many of the tools being so useful for students to investigate and learn how to use themselves.

I am such a visual learner and I always appreciate seeing practical applications for how such web 2.0 tools can be utilised for planning, teaching and learning.

Do I find the adaptation of Blooms to digital technology helpful in curriculum planning?

• I have seen Bloom’s Taxonomy and the revised taxonomy many times - however I have yet to come across a version incorporating the digital realm. I am actually glad that I can utilise this in planning teaching and learning.
• The speed of the advancements in digital technologies even during the time I have been teaching has been astronomical. Pressure is placed on using technology - but it must be introduced and implemented with the right professional development.
•  We have students who are very savvy in using technology, applications, navigating websites etc, however students must have many skills to draw upon to make the best use of the available technologies. Central to using Web 2 tools is the primary focus on creating new knowledge and drawing together existing knowledge to create new understandings.

Where would I place other tools such as Second Life, Picasa or Glogster on this map?

These tools could be placed in many different areas on the digital taxonomy map.

• Second Life - in Remembering - social networking, Applying - by playing, Evaluating - networking or Creating - if they are to have a specific purpose in creating their second life realm.
• Picasa - Applying - uploading, sharing, editing, Analysing - tagging, Evaluating - posting, commenting, Creating - using their uploaded pictures/images to create a collage/album/movie/project with a particular purpose.
• Glogster - Remembering - bullet pointing, highlighting, Understanding - categorising, annotating, Applying - running, operating, uploading, sharing, editing, Analysing - linking, tagging, Evaluating - collaborating, Creating - to create many of the ideas incorporated into their Glogster such as videos, animations etc.

Key Course Highlights & Favourite Web 2.0 Tools

• bubbl.us - Definitely an application I can see being so beneficial to students in the classroom for a variety of tasks
• Delicious - reinvigorating my interest in this social bookmarking tool
• Feedly - the RSS reader - this will help me keep up to date with all school matters (and of course anything else of interest too)
• Wikispaces - will definitely be a work-in-progress going forward - but this is definitely a platform that I would like to spend more time investigating with my students.

Module 10 - Learning Communities, Constructing Knowledge Together in Wikis

Wikis

Wikispaces Classroom is a social writing platform designed for teachers and students in education. They are designed so that teachers and students can communicate and work on projects/tasks alone or in teams.

It is a place where activities, resources, conversations and projects can all be managed efficiently, allowing students and teachers to work together effectively. Wikispaces provides the tools to quickly create assignments, share resources, make announcements, and foster discussion seamlessly.‍

A colleague of mine is very technologically savvy and has a host of wikispaces already.

https://mrsusher.wikispaces.com/

http://mrsushermaths.wikispaces.com/

http://mrsusherprojects.wikispaces.com/

I need to catch up. I especially love her wiki dedicated to Mathematics - as it has been an area of significant professional development for us at our school over the last 12 months.

I can see the benefit of keeping so much data all in once place. Rich and open-ended tasks, coupled with solutions and working out students complete.

Time to create my own Wiki space - it will be a work in progress!

Wikispaces offer a free educational wiki - Here is the link to mine below

https://mrslarnach.wikispaces.com/

Nings

I am already a member of two educational nings. They are full of resources, links, professional material and professional contacts/networks.

Numeracy Now

Is a place for conversation and deep thinking about numeracy. To join this ning you must teach and work within the Diocese of Parramatta.

The current professional development resources regarding numeracy are fantastic. If you aren’t yet a member, I highly encourage you to join.

http://numeracynow.ning.com/

Mindful Learning Mindful Teaching

This ning has been created as a PLC (Professional Learning Community), where teachers in schools can come together to share their experiences, insights and resources.

http://national-partnership.ning.com/

Google Sites

Here is our class webpage - where we keep track of all of the wonderful things that are happening in Year 3 this year.

https://sites.google.com/a/parra.catholic.edu.au/year32014/

It provides a great insight for the school community, including parents, family and friends.

Module 9 - Networks on the web – professional and social

I investigated the social networking sites and reflected on the key questions.

Second Life

I have no first hand experience of using this social networking platform. I did watch the trailer - and I must honestly say it really does not appeal to me. I think it is reasonable to assume that many students of today enjoy playing video games and interacting with technology and social network - but I wonder where/when do we draw the line.

I was intrigued by the videos that were available about how some educators have been able to see valuable connections between Second Life and teaching and learning.

Currently as a teacher I feel swamped with the workload - it would be important to have a significant need to invest time and energy in creating such a world - alternatively having children create and interact in one themselves.

Facebook

I have my own private Facebook account - however I do not make connections between my personal social network and my students or work.

Privacy settings are always being updated and changed - and I am very conscious of my ‘digital footprint’.

For me personally, it is important to keep a distinction somewhere in your life between your personal life and work - otherwise it can be a struggle to switch off and feel like you are not always on the “clock”.

This tool is far more beneficial as a personal social networking tool as opposed to a tool to utilise in the classroom.

Scootle

I had never accessed this resource until we were planning to access the program builder available with the introduction of the new NSW English Syllabus. I have since used Scootle to access a range of resources and learning tools. (Scootle accessed through CNA - https://staff.cna.catholic.edu.au/)

I was very interested to search through the learning paths that are available. I think this is still one significant challenge facing educators - how to share and collaborate on making and sharing appropriate resources with a wider community.

I am a huge fan of the Primary Connections Resources - and have been able to access some great resources for Science, among other KLAs.

Twitter

The video overview of twitter suggests that a person’s life continues between emails and blog posts and it allows a person to share this with their social network in 140 characters or less. It also suggested that the posts serve to paint a picture of an individual.

In regards to twitter’s impact on a person’s ‘digital footprint’ - if students are not conscious of the speedy and sometimes long lasting effects of their posts and updates, they may be significantly out of their depth. Critical literacy skills are significant and students take time to develop such said skills.

Linked In

It is very easy to sign up and log in to a host of sites and applications. I have previously dismissed many invitations to sign up to many networking sites.

I find that like in the short video on the module page - you may not always see a reason for yourself to join up and be available across countless networking sites. It has given me food for thought though - to reconsider my previously held assumptions about such sites. I definitely believe you need to see a purpose for why you need such a resource.

It’s like the overview of a previous module - as the amount of information available on the web increase rapidly, how is one able to keep up with new ideas/information/technologies/networks etc?

Module 8 - Managing your flow of information on the Internet

Managing your flow of information on the Internet 

I had previously understood what an RSS feed was - however never utilised the feature on any of my favourite sites or blogs. I loved watching the overview - it was so easy to understand.

Digg

Very easy to sign up with google account and start adding RSS feeds from my favourite sites.

Feedly

Really liked and preferred the layout of this RSS reader - again, very easy to create an account with google+ add the links for the RSS feeds.

I would highly recommend feedly to a first time user.

https://feedly.com/ 

I immediately went searching for RSS feeds that I could add to my feedly reader. I added my school’s websites (especially the RSS feed for newsletters - as they often escape passing my eyes before parents receive them). However I was disappointed that I could not locate RSS feeds for the diocese. It says the page could not be located. I will keep trying at a later time. It’s always nice to stay up to date.

At this point - since subscribing to RSS feeds is relatively new for me - I see the huge benefit of myself staying up to date with new posts/information available on sites of interest to me. I am sure it would be the same for students.

I did find searching the education tag in feedly helpful to locate some useful sites to keep track of.

Module 7 - Building Online communities

I had started a del.ici.ous account many years ago - while I was in my final years of university.

It was a very new ‘tool’ back then - to track and record sites that were of interest to me. I remember the majority of them were school related.

I remember the part I found most beneficial was the access social bookmarking allowed. It made it very easy to access your favourite sites and links from any computer anywhere. I relate this very much so to our current circumstances using Google Docs. Many a time I have been elsewhere, away from my own laptop - still being able to enjoy easy access to my documents and resources anytime.

Here is the link to my delicious page

https://delicious.com/annettelarnach

Click below to start your own delicious page

http://www.delicious.com/

I quickly found one of my grade partner’s delicious links too - to be able to view their bookmarks and links. What a great tool to share resources and websites we find with each other. Jess is always looking for new resources and I love stalking her page for new ideas!

One of our favourite social bookmarking sites is Pinterest - definitely a treasure trove of resources and ideas.

So if you haven’t created a social bookmarking account for yourself as yet, check out either of these to get started.

http://pinterest.com/

I found it very easy to install the delicious ‘bookmarklet’, which was added to my browser’s toolbar. I wasn’t sure what the tag bundle feature did - so I looked through the help menu and started creating tagged bundles to make it easier to find resources and links that I wanted to ensure would be grouped together when searching.