When I started this course I would class myself as fairly computer illiterate! I much preferred the old school approach to teaching and would pick a book over a website any day. However after my experiences in teaching and in learning more about what programs and websites are out there I am beginning to come around! At first YouTube and prezi was the extent of my ICT and they were mainly used as prompts or to explain a topic or idea. Now I have found some exciting new tools that can really involve the students in their learning. I found new programs such as Webspiration classroom where students can work collaboratively on visual representations of information, with live chat and the ability to see changes instantly so group work is made easy. They can even get feedback from teachers as they work. This allows so much freedom for students to explore inquiry based subjects and to control their own learning. This fits in with Zygotsky's theories of reciprical learning and peer to peer teaching by creating environments that allow students to learn from each other. This helps students to learn from each other's strengths and model work for each other. This also challenges students to work within their ZPD with a more knowledgable other.
There are many other programs I have found that can be used to engage students and give them a different way to explore information and present knowledge. One of them is Animoto where students can make videos by uploading images and video clips and adding text and music, and Animoto does the rest. It allows students to create something amazing and integrate their understanding into something creative. Other programs and websites have activities to scaffold students and allow them to learn progressivly and see instantly their improvment. This means that both students who are having difficulties and those who need extension can work at their level and their pace. This is something that is difficult to do in regular classrooms, in English students need lots of assisstance and scaffolding and it is not always easy to diffirentiate to all learning levels, however ICT provides the tools to do this.
I think that ICT can really add something more than just a engaging side note to other work, it can really give student’s a deeper understanding of topics and ideas. I will definitely keep exploring ICT as there is always new programs and websites and technologies. I don’t think I will ever be done exploring ICT and even though I may not be the greatest with technology I will continue to try new things.
Monday, 14 November 2011
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Teaching Teenagers about Cyber Safety!
Teaching students about cyber safety- Assignment 2
When teaching Teenagers about being safe on the Internet there is always the problem of how relevant is it to student’s real lives? Teenagers are the experts of the Internet and they are likely to know more about it and have had more experience in a range of situations than the Teacher. So how do we make it relevant to the real concerns they have about the internet and to make them think about what they are doing when they are online. Therefore rather than preaching to teens about the perils of the internet why not ask the experts and get them to describe the common problems that they and other people face when online. Problems such as talking to unknown people in chat rooms and the potential of paedophiles posing as teenagers online may not be seen by many teenagers as an issue that they are concerned with, as many teenagers would have been told about safety in chat rooms since they were young. Also it is a common feature in movies and television shows, so teenagers are well aware of the risks. However issues of bullying and trolling on social networking sites may be something of greater concern. Rather than giving a lecture about how to be safe on the Internet, students would benefit more from being provided the opportunity in a workshop environment to generate their own areas of concern on the Internet and brainstorm how you would deal with these concerns. This can be done effectively using the program “Webspiration classroom” which allows students to visually organise ideas and information into a mind map. This allows students to easily and quickly organise ideas using pictures, notes and labels. This is in keeping with Ritchhart and Perkins idea of “Making Thinking Visible” At the same time Webspiration also creates a written account of everything in the visual map in order to some at a glance all of the information in a clear and logical way. I think that this would allow students the freedom to make their thinking visual and to prompt a deeper exploration of ideas.
After producing a visual representation of the issues raised for them on the Internet, they can choose an area to focus on. Students could then create a scenario that is relevant and accurate to their experiences and show how teenagers could approach this issue or what to do to prevent it from happening. This they would make into a short film or animation that would be screened to teach other teenagers about the issues on the Internet. Students could use a wide variety of programs from movie maker, Audacity or Animoto to create a film representation of their scenario. The range of easy to use programs available makes creating a film more widely accessible for students to create their own project and be creative. This would allow students to produce a creative product that implements their understanding of the concepts and the importance of the issues and make it relevant to their real lives as well as creating an opportunity for peer to peer learning in keeping with Vygotsky’s theories on the importance of reciprocal learning environments.
VELS intergration with ICT throught the curriculum in thinking processes as students create visual representations of the thinking strategies they use when solving information problems. Early in their learning, students are scaffolded through templates that they modify, to assist them in developing skills in using ICT for visualising their thinking. They also use ICT through personal learning in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), students learn with and from their peers, and various adults, both in the classroom and remotely through online access to experts and others with knowledge to share. Students solve problems both independently and cooperatively to create information products in a positive learning environment. Students learn to be respectful of others and their products through the implementation of classroom expectations and protocols for ICT use. They use visual thinking tools to plan, monitor and revise their thinking strategies and reflect upon their learning strategies in systematic ways. (VELS, 2011)
References
Ritchhart, R & Perkins, D. (2008). “Making Thinking Visible”. Educational Leadership, pp. 57-61.
Schunk, D H. (2008). Chapter 6 “Constructivist Theory”. Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective. 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson, Perrill Prentice Hall.
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Victorian Essential Learning Standards. Information and Communications Technology- relationships to other domains.
An example of what a completed Webspiration project could look like (created me using Webspiration classroom):
Cyber dangers
I. Chat rooms
A. Dangerous situations
Arranging meetings with people who you have only ever talked to in chat rooms can lead to dangerous situations as Pedophiles may be pretending to be someone else to lure information about you and where you live to arrange to meet up in order to harm you.
A. Pedophiles
I. social networking sites
A. Twitter
A. Facebook
1. Bullying
Online Bullying can be a problem when students are harassed on social networking sites such as Facebook where other students post mean comments, photos and exclude or isolate victims.
1. Inappropriate posts/Pictures
Posting messages that slander other people and companies and posting pictures of yourself or other people that are compromising can lead to further consequences on friendships, jobs and even legally.
a. Getting fired from your job
Many employers now check employees or potential employees Facebook accounts to make sure nothing inappropriate is posted. Most companies now have policies regarding social networking and can terminate employment based on a breach of employee conduct on Facebook.
I. Steal information
A. Credit card information
A. Personal information
I. posting photos online
Posting nude or provocative pictures online even if they are of yourself, if you are under 18 can be classed as making and distributing child pornography and can lead to jail time if found guilty.
I. inappropriate sites
Accessing inappropriate sites while at work or school can get you into trouble even if it was accidental.
I. Tricked into buying items
How to be safe on the Internet
There are some ways to stay safe on the Internet. It is important to be cautious and think about what you are doing on the Internet.
I. Set Privacy settings
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow users to set profiles to private so that only approved friends can see profile, posts and pictures. This stops unwanted people from getting access to information or interacting with you when you don't want to.
A. Don't divulge personal details
Never tell people where you live or your personal details like phone number as it is easy to track you down. If it is someone you know contact them privately rather that in an open forum such as a Facebook wall.
I. Be wary of what you post or what is posted about you
Most social networking sites allow you to approve photos or posts where you are tagged. Make sure you control what you are being displayed in and that you are happy for that image to be shown. If not un-tag yourself or delete the image.
A. Never post something embarrassing or rude
A good rule is to never post anything you wouldn't be happy for your Grandma to see or to be shown to everyone at school. Once it is on the Internet it is never gone so make sure you think before you post. Somethings may seem like a bit of fun but will not be funny if your employer or your teacher saw them.
A. Report images or posts that are inappropriate or offensive
Images that are rude or offensive should not be on social networking sites. Even if the image or post is not about you but you find it offensive do your part to stop cyber bullying and report it. Facebook removes images that are reported and gives a warning. If behavior is continued Facebook can shut down offenders accounts and makes Facebook safer for everyone.
I. Only talk to people you know
Trolling
Trolling is the intentional repeated annoyance of other people on the Internet. Often seen in chat rooms, online games and on social networking sites such as Facebook, where the aim is to be rude and annoying to other users. This repeated behavior can be seen as a form on bullying.
Examples of what a film scenario could look like (taken from YouTube):
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Digital stories
In the spirit of including ICT and creating challenging and engaging assessments for my students I have created an excellent task for my year 8 Literacy class (if I do say so myself!) We have been studying the film Wall-e and I have gone throough with them the various film techniques and terminology and we have explored and broken down the meaning and messages of the film and how the film depicts these. So I wanted my students to take it the next step and have a deeper understanding of how films promote messages to the audience. So I set them the task of creating a Digital story. This allows students to impliment the concepts of filmic techniques and the creation of meaning in their films through narrative, character, music and action. The students were excited and engaged and came up with lots of creative ideas. By having students also create storyboards I was also able to scaffols students learning as they made their thinking visable.
DIGITAL STORYTELLING – BASIC STEPS
A digital story is a 2-3 minute multimedia movie that combines photographs, video, animation, sound, music, text and often narrative voice.
- How would you present the issue of the environment/global warming/pollution in a creative film to encourage people to help?
- Write a piece about this subject (at least a page)
- Read the page aloud to yourself or to each other. Does it sound right? Does it flow? Too short? Make appropriate adjustments.
- Create a Storyboard. This helps to match the words of your story with the relevant images. Break up your story into parts and think about what image would go best with what words.
- (Optional) Record the story on the computer using AUDACITY – This can then imported to Movie Maker or PhotoStory. Using AUDACITY produces a cleaner recording and is easier to edit if you fumble the lines. Alternatively, you can record the story directly into Movie Make or PhotoStory3.
- Put the story together using Windows MovieMaker or PhotoStory3. In general, PhotoStory3 is an easier program to use, but you may feel more comfortable using Moviemaker.
- Import your photos and place them in the correct sequence, add transitions and titles.
- Import the Audio from audacity or record the story directly into the program.
- Save as a Media Player File.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Inspiration
I recently had the opportunity to attend a PD on the software program Inspiration. I thought it was an exciting new way of allowing students to make their thinking visable using ICT. Inspiration allows students to make mindmaps and graphic organisers. It is fairly easy to use and can allow for "rapid fire" writing that organises the writing as you type so that you don't have to pause but can just get everything down first. I felt this was helpful as I am one of those people that needs to get everything out quickly befor I forget and fix it up later. You are able to use symbols and colours to visually organise information and group them how you want. It also create for you a written organiser that sets out what is in the visual presentation in an additional written hierachy. This allows both the written and visual parts to be compined to create a better understanding of the concepts. This would be an excelent tool for starting a topic and having students brainstorm or to revise on the connections and information on a topic studied. I also found that a new product called webspiration classroom allows students to have accounts where they and the teacher log on and can invite others to comment or give feedback as they work so that they can use it for drafting. Students can even collaborate live with a chat function that allows them to discuss and see changes as they happen. This is a new tool that I am excited to try out in my classroom to see how the students will respond to it. I think it will be very helpful in engaging students with the concepts and making their thinking visable.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Showing examples of film techniques
I used this clip in class after a discussion of the different types of film techniques and after we discussed how different techniques are used to convey meaning and emotions. It lead to a really insightful converstantion into how film create emotion. A great clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1japIhKU9I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1japIhKU9I
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