Finito

I can't say any more about this course than it has been a truely amazing Web 2.0 journey. I have enjoyed looking at the different tools and the links to video and information that has been provided for us to look into. I have learnt so many things and have now started to incorporate some of these tools into my teaching and also my own personal professional development and management of technology tools. By doing the course it has made me look into many things I have heard about that are out there but that I haven't completely understood and therefore have not used. RSS feeds, google docs, ebooks, audio books, delicious, diigo and the list goes on. I have recommended this course to a number of colleagues and they are looking forward to enrolling into the next course when it is offered.

Activity 23 - Downloadable media

Well there is not a day that goes by at work that I don't download something to use with my students - a video to grab their attention, a game to play to revise a concept, an interactive whiteboard lesson to use as a teaching tool or plain and simple some information for myself to use or to share with others and the list goes on. Especailly in my new role at my school and looking for resources for teachers I am constantly finding new and exciting tools for teachers to use with their class. The teachers are really enjoying using the different teaching tools and the students are loving the fact that they get to use some form of technology in their lessons. The creation tools that they have been given to complete their assessment tasks is truely allowing them to complete some amazing work. Where would we be without the internet and all of the wonderful tools that are out there now??? I guess the only problem with all of this is where do we start - there is so much out there...and where will it go next...all very exciting!

Activity 22 - Audio/Ebooks

Ebooks is something that I haven't really taken to personally as I would prefer the hold fashioined hard copy of a book, however, after talking to some friends they pointed out some interesting points about Ebooks. Of course with the latest technology and the ipad I had some friends going on a holiday and instead of packing the books as we all used to/still do they simply downloaded the books on to their ipad - first important point - more room to pack other necessities. The second thing was that they didn't need a light to be able to see the book as the screen was backlit and they could read in the dark. The other things that they mentioned were that it didn't give them a headache as sometimes starring at a computer screen can do and for some reason they seemed to read more of the book. Now if you put that into a classroom isn't that what we want all of our students to do - read more and find a love for books? Our school is just bringing in ebooks and audio books and our new iCentre will be using OLIVER. What a great way to get students interested again in reading and to also cater for those students that have trouble reading independently. Again, after taking the time to lokk into this concept further through this course and speaking to others about it, I will have to try downloading some of my own books.

Activity 21- You Tube/Teacher Tube

I never knew there were so many video service sites out there. What a comprehensive list! Generally I always use You Tube as I finid it easy to navigate and find a clip that relates to the topic I am looking for. As it is not a secure site and can contain inappropraite images and advertising for students it is something I use with caution due to this. A shame this can not be cut out. I have tried to to find resources on Teacher Tube, however, my success with this has been somewhat limited. In a small number of instances I have found something valuable to show the kids. At school we are lucky that as teachers we still have access to You Tube/Teacher Tube, however, they are blocked to the students. One problem I have found in the past with You Tube is that some videos can go missing and when you go to link to them with your students they are not accessible. To solve this problem at school we have started using the Keep Vid tool which is wonderful. There is no need to even worry about whether the internet is going to be up and running as the file will be saved.

I loved the video on "Why let our students Blog?". In my role at the school now I am trying to get teachers to integrate technolgy tools into their lessons and assessment. This term, one of the focuses are blogs. A short yet, effective clip to use to show colleagues on just how valuable the tool can be. Of course, the next link on Cyber Safety goes hand in hand when trying to teach students about technology. There are so many tools out there now that kids are using, that they need to be aware of what can happen out there and how to protect themselves. All students need to be aware of Cyber Safety and what is appropriate to post and what is not.

Activity 20 - Podcasts.

As suggested by the first link we were given to look at, the word Podcast has become increasingly popular and used all over the world in many different professions. During my teaching career I have heard of it countless times, yet I have never engaged my class in the making of their own podcast. Although I think it is a wonderful tool, the students would enjoy making a podcast and of course listening to others. The area that I have found Podcasts most beneficial is for my own personal professional development. There are so many presentations out there, from so many people on so many topics it would be silly not to take advantage of these presentations. I have to added the Educational Podcast Directory as it has some wonderful resources on it, to my Diigo/Delicious account and tried to subscribe to the RSS feed into my Google Reader account however this does nto seem to work. I have put some other sites into my Google reader account though asuch as Podcast Alley so I can get all of the updates. Wow! So many new tools already being utilised and making life with technology just that little bit easier.

Activity 19 - Rollyo

Well I thought I was off to a great start with this site and after reading about its capabilities and what it actually was I was quite excited, although hearing from a colleague that the site does, at times not work properly, I was a little hesitant. I created my account and started to create a list of sites for my search engine and also looked at what other people had rolled. By doing this I found a lot of new links and was able to add these to my account. I could see this useful for students to use during research tasks as it really allows the teacher to filter what they are searching and also gives the students a place to start their researching. I then had to log out as work called and when I went to log in again I could not get into the site as it said there were too many connections. The joys of technology! This for me is a little bit of a negative, as I have tried this a couple of times now, as there is nothing worse than setting something up for your class and then when you go to use it, it doesn’t work properly. I will persist with the site and give it a trial to see how it runs.

Activity 18 - Wikis

I have had a class Wiki for the past 3 years and over this time I have continued to develop my knowledge of its capabilities and what I can use them for. I first built one with the library staff 4 years ago and it was very basic but it became a central place that the library staff and I could add information to and the kids had access to it. The students loved the idea of it so I started a new one the following year. I have developed links to various subjects and added information for parents and students to the page. It is so easy to upload photos and videos and the parents love seeing the students work. The students know they have access to all task sheets and any information they may loose or forget to take home so it has eliminated the problem of "I forgot my homework". The students really enjoy the freedom of writing on their very own clas Wiki and also having the ability to comment on each others work. Some of the feedback that they have provided each other has been fantastic. It has been a wonderful communication tool between the students, myself and the parents. This year I am trying to get class Wiki's up and running in our middle school which is slowly getting some momentum. I strongly recommend Wiki's as a wonderful collaboration tool!

Activity 17 - Delicious

Delicious is a very easy to use and useful tool that many people at school are alreeady using. A push from our wonderful library staff a couple of years ago converted many people that were using their favourites to using a Delicious account and what a great move. Using different computers always caused problems when saving sites to your favourites and when the school upgraded its system we also lost everything we had savede in our favourites menu. Saving useful links is so quick and easy in Delicious and having the tags makes it quick to look for different objects. This year I have also created a Diigo account as I heard Delicious was changing hands and I was not sure of the outcome of this. Diigo works very similiar to Delicious. It allows you to save your websites to both Diigo and Delicious and even imports everything you had saved in Delicious. I guess I look at it this as a back up, just in case something goes wrong with one of them. I love the fact you can log in anywhere, on any computer and you have all of your favouite web addresses at your finger tips.

The students have had some experience with Delicious when completing research tasks and through the connections with the library staff. They are often adding useful sites for the students to use to their delicious account which gives them a great place to start their research. I guess it wouldn't hurt to go over Delicious/Diigo with the students again and perhaps for those who haven't already created an account, get them to start creating their own bank of resources.

Activity 15 & 16 RSS Feeds and Subscription

The article the key to better team collaboration was a great article and made for a really interesting read. I have actually printed it off to possibly use in some of my own PD sessions that I run.

It has only been recently that I have actually learnt what RSS stood for. I have heard of it numerous times before but never knew that it meant - Real Simple Syndication or what it actually did. I have already got a Google Reader account and I was surprised with how easy RSS feeds worked and what a fantastic tool it is. I have already started subscribing to websites and instantly have seen that everything that has been updated is at my fingertips. Technology is certainly an amazing tool. I can see a great deal of value in RSS feeds and I am excited about the time it will save me from going from one website to the other to see what has been updated. At this stage, I can see it being a more useful tool for myself as an educator, but I am sure the students would love to know about this tool as well. I think it would benefit more senior school students but again I think an awareness of just how powerful it is, that it is easy to use and it is yet another tool out there is something everyone should know about it. I will definitely being sharing this tool with my colleagues.

Activity 14 - Facebook

This is a tool that you hear about so many times in a single day. This tool is used so widely in every facet of life, yet it is something I have not signed up to. At times it does intrigue me and the fact that you can be in contact with people, have a conversations, share photos with is a valuable tool and at times has me asking why not create an account?? But then you hear those stories of having to friend someone as they friend requested you and yet you didn’t really want to and others seeing information that was never meant to be shared and this is why I have avoided it. After reading the article on 5 easy steps to stay safe on Facebook and having a look at a friend’s account it may just be something I look into as parts of it I think could be useful and enjoyable. I think the security settings outlined in the article were fantastic but it isn’t something many people take the time to set up or possibly don’t even know about. These are the things, from what I have heard, that causes many of the problems. I actually heard on the radio on the way to work this morning about a talk back of parents that stalk their kids on Facebook to see what they were up to and debating whether this was a good or bad thing - knowing what your child is doing all the time. With the capabilities of Facebook and knowing about the security settings and setting this up appropriately I may just generate that account. 

Activity 13 - My Space

MySpace is a tool I heard of a few years back but not so much lately. I believe it quickly got over taken by Facebook. It is something I don’t really even hear of anymore and know very little about but I believe the younger generation still use a little. Unfortunately the site is blocked from school, like many social networking sites, so this will have to be something I come back to.

Ning - I have seen used at conferences to store information and keep information on meetings. I have even heard of it being used as a learning management system for schools if they don’t have anything else in place. From what I have seen it is a useful tool.

Linked In – seems like a great idea for your own professional development and networking. I have heard of businesses connecting with this tool and promoting their place of work. It is not something I have used personally. It could be a great place to start when looking for a new job.

Activity 12 - Flickr

I have created an account with Flickr before and have had a good look around at what it offers and is available. It is relatively easy to upload images and video and I also found it fairly fast. The fact that you can make things public or private is also a big plus. I always enjoy looking at the other images and photographs that other people have posted. They can be a great stimulus for some great conversations. I also like the fact that you can create your own products canvas art, posters etc. This is something I would like to have the time to look into further. I did notice that you have to be over 13 to sign up for an account (like most sites) which means the students would not be able to use the program. This is why I didn't continue to use it last time as I wanted the kids to be able to create their own project. I did see that parents can create family accounts now which I guess could be a way around that. I didn’t see anywhere that teachers could sign up for class accounts…

Activity 11 - Library Thing

Well, I have never even heard of Library Thing before. I created an account and had a look around; however, it isn’t something that necessarily grabbed me as a tool I can see myself using personally or professionally with my class. I think the site has some great ideas and offers some great tools for the avid reader but is more suited to adults who love reading and their books. I also looked at the Yarra Plenty site and found this to be a little more user friendly and something that kids could go to and navigate around. The issue would be, like with most things in the teaching profession these days, would be time. More time on the computers to allow the students to be exposed to these various tools and to develop their awareness of what exactly is out there.

Activity 10 - Image Generators

Wow!. I didn't even realize any of these tools were out there. They are brilliant - so easy to use and something I can see the kids really enjoying. A lot of time could be wasted with them playing around with all of the different features you can add though.



http://says-it.com/seal/triangle.php - Found this site very user friendly. Very quickly tried to design a stamp (something one class is doing at the moment) to see if it was possible and yes it was. It also allows you to save the image which can be up loaded. (See below). I assume this could also be embedded into a Wiki.

Another very user friendly which I didn't mind using and would like to let students try is http://cooltext.com/. This could also possibly be used to create banners/posters/signs for around the classroom.

It amazes me with how easy it is to upload this images to different site!

I have also had a look at the following site but I couldn't get anything to work. http://cooltext.com/ I would get so far and then it would seen to not do anything or I would end up back at the start. I will look again at this site later on as I would like to know how it works and its capabilities for students. It sounds like it could be a fun, useful tool for students to present their work differently.

These activies were fantastic! Great links and ones I have saved for further use.

Activity 9 - Second Life

I have recently been to a PD on Web 2.0 and a section of this was on looking at Second Life. My first impressions of this were not great as I could not work out how you could use it in a classroom setting and the values of it, however after looking further into it with some work and development it could be useful. I still have a question mark over this though. I know a lot of universities use this now to run certain courses and I also believe business can link to other parts of the world in second life and hold closed meetings. I found this interesting and something you would, I think, do regularly. I was told at the PD course that recently a women became the first milionaire from second life as people actually purchase land etc to build what they want. I was quite taken back by the fact the money tranfers actually take place through this, what I first thought was just gaming. I am going to continue to look into this concept further as I find it interesting. One program I am looking at, at the moment is called Open Sims and it may just be more useful in a school setting.