Powerpoint, Prezi, Glogster and Me....

This weeks task was to create a Powerpoint, Prezi and Glogster, all tools that can help aid a students and teachers learning and teaching methods. This task required us to create all three of these items about pretty much anything in which we wanted, therefore I have created my Powerpoint, Prezi and Glogster all about either TV shows or that of the singer known as P!nk.

The first tool of these three was that of Powerpoint, I have had much experience with powerpoint and found this to be a great tool for presentations, and would happily use this tool again. Therefore I created the Powerpoint, which was firstly a quiz about tv shows and their actors, however after later thinking I thought the Powerpoint created was not the best I could have done and found myself creating a whole new powerpoint. As a movie nerd, on occassion I find it hard to select one particular TV show to watch from time to time, therefore my idea was about creating a powerpoint presentation that would show the opening credits, cast and series information, to help aid with the decision. I found that incorporating hyperlinks and videos to be very useful and actually enjoyed creating such a presentation, however due to the file size I had to revert back to the original tv Quiz powerpoint, which dissapointed me greatly. However powerpoints have a variety of ways to be used in the classroom, such as creating spelling lists, quizzes ect ect, allowing students to interact and have "fun" whilst learning. Not only does a powerpoint aid the learning of students, it also allows the information being taught to be presented in a new creative way, keeping the student and teacher interested in the topic at hand.

Link to where Powerpoint is posted:

http://elearner1website.weebly.com/  

The second tool used for this week was that of the Prezi, which I found really useful and creative. I created my prezi around the singer pink and included videos, pictures and information, which I enjoyed doing quite alot. The prezi could have many different uses in the classroom with them being able to be used by students to create fun, interactive presentations for the class. It also allows students to explain, justify and give examples of the topics in which they have been studying in class. Therefore allowing the student to express and convey their thoughts and allowing them to present the information in the modem they feel most comfortable using. Overall the prezi allows students to have fun and enjoy their learning.

Link to Prezi:

http://prezi.com/aa9swnhea6ll/pnk-and-the-truth/

The third and final tool used this week was that of the Glogster, I found that glogster was confusing and slightly annoying in the way it presented information, there was no easy way to bring pictures forwards or backwards and this led to me becoming frustrated with the program, I will say however that I enjoyed the aspect of being able to add videos and sound recordings to the Glog. Glogster could be very useful in the classroom by allowing students to create bookcovers, posters etc, for learning resources used within the classroom, whilst allowing the digital pedagogy to come through. The Glog whilst being a public site can be changed to private which I thought was a great idea for students, because it means that students, teachers and parents dont have to worry about their students work becoming public. A glogster also allows students to collaborate effectively in group tasks as well as allowing them to collect a large amount of information and present it in a fun and enjoyable manour.

Link to Glogster:

http://www.glogster.com/humbledore/teen-wolf-poster/g-6kjpmpavoa6qupkdloe7ra0

 

Overall I found the Powerpoint and Prezi the most enjoyable and would happily incorporate them into the classroom, with all three learning tools being great tools that can be used in the classroom it is easy to see why these tools are amazing pieces of technology.

Photos, Podcasts and videos oh here we go.....

This week we where asked to evaluate the uses of images, podcasts and digital videos. All of these tools can be used to help aid a students learning as well as aiding the teacher in their efforts to help aid their teaching methods.

The first tool was that of images, not only do images engage a student in their leaning, it can also help support a students critical thinking whilst also being able to present the learning materials required to help aid the students in their learning. There are many ways to help present images to students such as creating book covers and adding images to slides in a PowerPoint. All of these techniques can be used to help students to learn whilst keeping the student entertained and interested in the topic at hand.

I found the resizing and editing of images easy due to my experience in ITS and the fact that I always edit and use filters on many images I take. The many uses that come with editing and resizing images are great. And I believe that this tool will become very helpful in the future years of teaching.

Original:

Edited:

 

The second tool was that of a podcast, which can be used to continue a students learning, out of the school environment, whilst allowing the teacher to continue teaching the student whilst our of school via audio files. By using a podcast it allows the student to stay engaged whilst keeping them interested. This tool also allows the use of digital pedagogy to come through whilst supporting a variety of students learning techniques. There are many sites that can be used to create these audio files and in today's age any basic phone allows the recording of audio files.

I found creating a voki, to be quite nerve racking and I found that recording audio files, I would go back delete and then rerecord. Therefore I would fear that implementing this tool in a school environment would cause some students distress whilst allowing other students to flourish. So whilst I see the potential for podcasts, I myself would not use this tool as frequently as possible. However I do see the overall benefit of using them.

Link to voki:

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=8392143&height=267&width=200

The third and final tool was of video, which I absolutely personally love, as a learning tool it can be used to help students communicate, observe and reflect on the lessons learnt through out the school year. Videos can again keep the student interested and involved in their own personal learning, whilst allowing the student to express themselves in their own unique way. This therefore supporting their own personal learning technique and supporting their creative side of learning.

I personally love the many uses of video, in my years of schooling I have helped produce many short films. The only real issue I have with video is how hard it is to make sure the videos stays in accordance to the curriculum. However I really enjoy the ideas and many uses that the topic of videos can present. The video I selected was a video created back when I was in steps, it was created around the topic of "dreams" in which I took footage from a TV show "Primeval: New World" edited it together along to a song and showed that as part of my assessment on dreams.

Video:

In conclusion I find all three tools as effective learning tools, however I would choose to use videos and images over that of podcasts. Due to if I as an adult dislike using such a tool then my students may not enjoy it either, yes that doesn't mean I wouldn't use it, it just means I would select the other two modems over that of podcasts. However it can be seen that all three tools all have their own pros and cons, it all just depends which tool we as teachers and students and more comfortable and confident in using.

Blogging, Wikis and Websites....Oh My..

This weeks task was to reflect on the usefulness of Blogs, Wikis and websites in the class room along side creating one of our own of each. 

Firstly we created The Blog, which I find highly useful and a great piece of technology. I personally love the idea of a blog, not only can I upload my thoughts and feelings about particular subjects, I can also upload pictures, videos etc, to personalise my blog even more. The only issue I have with the idea of a blog is that of it being so "public". Which I see as it's major floor, especially in the context of use in the classroom. Blogs can come in handy in the class room to come to terms with students thoughts and ideas about particular topics, it's also a great way to have the student draft their assignments. Not only does this technology allow students to learn in their own learning style, it also allows students to take a break from black and white learning methods and experience something different that they may come to love further along in their learning journeys.

The second technology to use was that of the online Wikis, which I must admit I didn't fully understand how to use, however I do see the benefits of using such a technology. Not only does a wiki allow students to draft projects, allow them to express their opinions, it also allows them to see what fellow students have to say as well as allowing them to think about the topic at hand in more detail. As a teacher I could see a wiki being useful due to being able to track the changes made to a wiki, as well as being able to track which students have and haven't taken the time to think and expand their knowledge further. 

The third technology harnessed was that of a website, by using a site called weebly it became simple to create our own sites. With my certificate 2 in Information Technology I had only prior used program's to create websites, however being introduced to a website that creates websites, I thought it was great, taking the difficulty out of programming and getting straight into the design and publishing of information. I find that using websites would be also a very helpful tool in the classroom, due to the website allowing students to express themselves not only with the text on the site but also the designing of the page/s. A website could be used to organise thoughts, feelings and assessment whilst allowing students to break away from the usual context of learning, allowing the student to have fun in their learning.

Overall I found that the blog and website where the two more enjoyable tools used by myself and would use these in the classroom. Not only would these be interesting to use in the classroom they would also be fun to do, therefore supporting a variety of learning styles whilst incorporating the aspects of digital pedagogy.

Wiki address: http://e-learner1.wikispaces.com/

Website address: 

Http://elearner1website.weebly.com

Wikis and their many uses...

This week the task at hand was to take part in a "wiki" that focus' around the topic of cellphones being used in the classroom. This activity was laced with many different learning tools, however the largest learning tool used was that of the De bono thinking hats, with the many different styles available it was hard to choose one particular point of view, which in all is the point of these particular hats. Not only did this allow me as a student to think about the many options available to including cell phones in the classroom, it also allowed me to witness and grow to understand the rest of the groups opinions and ideas about this particular topic, which leads me to the topic of the learning Theories incorporated into using the wiki. 

There are two very prominent theories used with in this activity and these are that of Constructivist and behaviourist theories. This particular activity allowed us as learners to construct our own intellectual ideas about the topic at hand whilst sharing our thoughts to the other students, therefore allowing the constructivist theory to be presented within the activity. The wiki also allowed us to respond to the stimulus (debono hats) which in place stimulated our learning therefore making this activity also behaviourist theory. 

By taking part in this activity it has allowed the digital pedagogy as well as the productive pedagogy to come through within the activity. With the digital pedagogy allowing the learner to experience new ways of learning via technology and the productive pedagogy allowing us to draw from our background knowledge on the topic in relation to the question presented, should mobiles be used in schools. 

In conclusion by joining both the wiki and debonos thinking hats together, it has allowed the activity to directly support many different learning techniques. Overall I found that the activity allowed me to think differently as well as being a more "hands on" approach to learning. Which in part would be very useful to use in my future years of teaching.

Pedogogy Lesson #1

Well this is kind of starting to freak me out. To be honest I have no idea what is being spoken about and am not understanding any of this subject. I think what is freaking me is that its seems that everyother student knows whats being talked about because of prior years study and they have atleast introduced the topic to my fellow students. Here I am sitting here feeling like an absolute dumby, feeling stupid and thinking I have so much to do :( well I guess this is Blog #2 finished.....

E-Blogger #1 out........