Final Reflection

Final Reflection
At the beginning of this course I stated that I was going to try to become familiar with the Web 2 tools listed in Module 1 and although I have not reseached all Web 2 tools yet, I know that I will continue to navigate my way through the list. I believe that  you are never too old to try new things.Since starting this course I have created my first Blog, I have encouraged two colleagues to create their own blogs and I have helped them both to create class Blogs. As part of one of the Blogs I have used Picasa to insert a video of student's work. Teaching someone else to do this has developed my skills. In module 2 I created my first Twitter account and now I follow inspiring people on Twitter. As yet I have not posted anything on Twitter but I'm sure I will in the future. In each Module I have learn something new and I have embraced the skills and tools I have investigated. 
I was really impressed with prezi and I can see the value of this mind mapping tool in education as it allows learners to develop their visual literacy and communication skills.
In Module 6 I discovered Picasa, a program I had not heard of until this course, but it has become my favourite program. I can see great advantages of this program in a school setting and also for personal use. As a Mac user Picasa allows me to make stories, videos, movies etc instead of using photo story which won't work on Mac computers. Being a visual learner this program enables students who are visual learners to really engage in their learning, letting their creative side shine through. A very important section of this module discussed Copyright and how we as teachers have a duty to ensure that students understand fully the Copyright laws. Our schools must ensure that students are familiar with copyright laws and that students are constantly reminded about this.
I had belonged to Delicious years ago but I had never really taken it on board. This fantastic tool allows us to tag and share bookmarks with colleagues and friends. It is a very time effective method of planning.
 
I thought the video 'eLearning with the iLE@RN model' gave a clear picture of how studets and teachers will continue to grow and learn in the future. I will ask to show this video clip at a staff meeting to refresh all staff members ideas and then as a staff we can have a discussion how we can implement this into our school. I was very pleased to see that the e in elearning was for engagement. I am a strong believer that young children have to enjoy their learning to fully engage in their learning. We are all learners and together we can achieve great things.

I have found the Web 2 course to be very interesting. I have enjoyed reading and viewing many different articles and I have also enjoyed reading other participants blogs and commenting on some.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to complete this course and I would recommend it to my colleagues.  Thank you very much for developing this course. I have found it to be very inspiring.

 

Module 10

Module 10
 I can't believe that I am completing module 10.
The time spent searching, watching, creating and learning new technological skills has been amazing. I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey with Web 2

WIKIS

After watching "Wikis in Plain English" I have a better understanding of what a Wiki is. I think Wikis would be very useful in any classroom or staffroom. It allows members of a group to work collaborately on a project. Wikis could be very useful in the senior classes as students could work collaborately on a project at school and then at home. How fantastic would it be if staff could work collaboatively on a project  or even School Review using WIKIS to get their thoughts and ideas down for discussion and decision making. Something to think about as my school enters Review season.

NINGS and GOOGLE SITES

I watched the video on"Using Nings in the Classroom" and found it interesting and how I coud develop social networks at school and in my personal life.
Google sites are fantastic. I am constantly amazed and what you can find using Google. I could live without it. How many times have I found myself saying " I will have to google it to find the answer to a question." Time is running out for this course but I intend to continue to further my professional development on my own at the completion of this course.

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Module 9

SCOOTLE
Scootle is a fantastic tool that many teachers use frequently. The varied array of information is wonderful. It never ceases to amaze me how much fantastic information is on the web. Scootle offers teachers the opportunity to develop, share and comment on the ideas and units of work that are on Scootle. Scootle's only drawback is the long way of getting into the program via CEO links. I might try adding it to my delicious account.
 
SOCIAL NETWORKING
I am familiar with 3 of the 4 social networking sites suggested in this course. I am not familiar with Second Life. I will need to look deeper into this program.
Facebook is fine for personal networking however for use with students in primary years it is not appropriate. In fact is is illegal for students under 13 to have a facebook account. In saying this many students younger than 13 have accounts but as educators we cannot be seen encouraging illegal behaviour.
Twitter: As part of this course I created a twitter account and I regularly check what others have tweeted. I very rarely add anything. Maybe when this course is completed I will start to add posts to my twitter account.
LinkedIn
I have had a LindedIn account for a little over a year now and every now and then I check what's happening with friends and colleagues. It is a way of letting people know your expertise. Good if you are looking for a new career. A great way to keep your Professional Resume up to date with new skills and capabilities. I receive notification from Linked In when colleagues or friends update their profile.

Module 8

Not knowing what RSS stood for I was pleased to discover the answer in Activity 2.

What is RSS?

RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.

I watched video "RSS in plain English"  to gain an understanding about RSS. Like other participants I was a bit sad to discover that Google reader is going to be no more after July 2013. Although I had never used a RSS I think it could have been quite useful. Instead of searching for updates they would have automatically been sent to me.

I will now try and find another RSS to replace Google Reader. Perhaps after this course.

 

Module 7

Module 7

Social Book Marking

Activity 1: Explore Delicious or Diigo for bookmarking and sharing on the Web

After viewing the video “Social Bookmarking in Plain English”  and reading Ten reasons to use Diigo I decided to go with Delicious as I had used it many years ago but never really got into it. I decided to look more closely at Delicious rather than start another social bookmarking program. I think the concept of social bookmarking is brilliant and for staff members it could become a very valuable program to save time and energy searching for sites and links. Also an advantage would be to share links with teachers and students around the world.

Activity 2: Create either a Delicious or Diigo account and install the extension on your toolbar

I created a new delicious account and have started bookmarking my favourite links.

 Activity 3: Find another Delicious or Diigo user and add them to your network

 I was able to add a featured Delicious user to my network. I still need to update my twitter and facebook account.

Being able to access URL’s on any computer is wonderful and so time effective. Teachers’ lives are very busy and it is very frustrating when you can’t remember or find a URL link necessary for a class lesson. By using Delicious or Diigo this problem is solved. Having added the Add to delicious button to my tool bar has made the process so much easier.

I think I will continue to use this social book-marking tool after I retire from teaching.

  

Activity 4: Read and comment on blogs of other course participants

 I have found that reading other course participants view on many of the modules enlightening and it is also informative due to the many varied and interesting views people have posted on their blogs.

 Optional Activity

How easy was it to upload bookmarks. I just watched video clip “How to import your Bookmarks into delicious. And within a couple of minutes I had transfered my bookmarks from my computer into my delicious account. I can now access them on any device. Graet for teachers at school when they use many different computers. I no longer have to carry around a piece of paper with my favourite URL's.

Module 6

Module 6

With less than a month to go before this course finishes I thought I had better get a move on.

Activities 1-5 . 

Introducing Picasa

Search for Images using Picasa Web Albums

Uploading Photos

Editing photos using Picasa Web Albums

Sharing photos

 

After viewing the 2 video clips for Picasa I  was really impressed at how easy and effective it looked. A great way to share photos and videos with family and friends. One effect I was most impressed by was the collage tool. How great it was to combine your photos in a collage.
In just a few minutes I was able to create a collage of my granddaughters' holiday in Hong Kong Disneyland. Great for sending to family interstate. I love this program. You can really experiment with photos and collages.
Here is a collage of some of my dolls.

Picasa is able to be used on Apple Mac computers and therefore is a viable option rather than Photostory which will not work on Macs.

Activity 6: Copyright & Acceptable Use

Schools always have to be mindful of the Copyright laws and also the Acceptable Use policy of programs. I found the facts sheets at http://www.smartcopying.edu.au very helpful and user friendly.
The section on images and Youtube was very informative as I feel that teachers use Youtube and teacher tube constantly. It is important that all teachers are aware of the Copyright laws and Section 28 clearly spells this out for teachers and students. The conditions that allows us to use Youtube clips in class for education and non profit to further student learning. Thankfully this fits into the Copyright Act. 

Module 5 continued

Module 5 continued

Activity 3

Prezi

I had heard about prezi from PD I have attended but this was my first attempt at making a Prezi.
I had great fun and a little frustration when I couldn't get it to paste where I wanted it. Prezi is a more creative and effective presentation tool. I coud see it being very useful in a classroom or staff meetings.
If anyone can tell me how to rename my Prezi I would be very happy. As you can see by my Prezi I love making Porcelain dolls and I intend to follow my passion when I officially start my retirement.