Post Web 2.0

Well, somewhere down the track, post Web 2.0, I find myself still meandering down this path of technology, no longer out of a sense of obligation, however, but out of a curious addiction I have developed to all things new.

I just want to say - in case anyone should bother reading this blog - that I was originally averse to any form of technology, mostly out of a sense of fear of the unknown. I feel that I, personally, have poor spatial skills and it takes me forever to navigate my way around a site etc. while to others, I have perceived, it comes naturally. Nevertheless, I persisted and found that eventually it became easier to just plunge headfirst into 'unchartered territories' (for me that is!) and just bumble around till I worked out what to do or how to do it. It's become a kind of game for me rather than something I dread. And yes, I know all this experimenting takes time but any form of real learning does, and eventually, there is that feeling of satisfaction at having conquered the impossible.

And for fear I would forget everything I learned and just relegate it to the 'back burner' I immediately employed one of the tools I picked up - the glog. I had my Year 10 English students create their own glog based on the themes, etc. of one of the poems studied in class. They were also to write a short response in which they explained their choice of tools, which might have included symbols, music, you-tube, etc. I have to say I was stunned at the standard of work submitted - and quite relieved to find that this was not just a case of 'novelty' but a 'real' learning tool. What is more, I was able to give positive feedback via the glog text box available for comments.

Two days ago my school embarked on a staff e-learning day. We got a glimpse into what the class of tomorrow would look like, with technology streaking ahead at breakneck speed. I was also lucky enough to have tech whiz Simon Crook teach me a few neat tricks. Our fearless e-learning master Phil Hogg has created a staff 'ning' that we have all been visiting excitedly for a few days now, both socially and for the purposes of thrashing about ideas in the world of e-learning.

Simon taught my colleague and I how to create our own ning for our year 8 Italian students. We have had fun setting this up, uploading photos and videos of students involved in special language days and activities, creating vokis, etc. I am looking forward to having our students eventually come to the site to practise their Italian, send their homework here perhaps, and just basically enjoy seeing and hearing themselves perform 'live'. I had already created a wetpaint wiki for some of my students but am finding a ning much more accessible and fun.

module 10

Well, last leg of the journey... I've finally reached the summit of my mountain and can look down at all the knowledge I've gained and start to contemplate how to apply it in both my personal world and in my teaching space.

Don't know that there's too much more to say that I haven't already said throughout my journey but I will attempt to Bloom my way through a basic evaluation of Web 2.0.
Firstly, I have obviously accumulated a ton of information and need now to recall it all, sift through it as time permits, and eventually, collaborating with my colleagues to create new learning experiences for our students, apply it in the classroom and evaluate it's success.

Just as we have used Bloom to challenge our students via conventional methods of teaching, we will now endeavour to embed him (oops!) into ICT learning. No matter what the teaching methods or tools, students will always perform well if the learning is differentiated, challenging and conducive to high order thinking. Activities such as mind mapping can represent both moderate Bloom's tax. via application of related information in the form of a basic mind map - and relatively high order skills where students are required to synthesize content, and perhaps even high order skills, should the mind map be a culmination of complex content covered.

I love the idea of Wikis and have now actually created a Wetpaint wiki for some students. Educational value? As Stephen Downes points out ('Steophen Downes looks at blogs and their uses') blogs give students ownership over their learning and an authentic voice. They also appear to help students create a sense of identity for themselves.

Ultimately, it's all about communication, creation and sharing, whether it be for entertainment or educational purposes. Ultimately, everything we do is educational in one way or another. This includes sharing laughs and gaffes with people you don't normally 'hang with'. Case in point, when I first came on board to do the Web 2.0 course at school, others sat down with me of an afternoon, ready to take the challenge and plunge in head first. Boy did we sink fast! We laughed and tried to help each other out with the most basic task of starting an account- google- the first of many I was soon to discover. Being part of learning communities, both on and off-line is imperative if we want to keep up with constantly changing pedagogy, more particularly now that we are embracing digital learning in order to remain relevant to our students.

I am most appreciative of this opportunity to experience so many sites/tools etc - some of which I would otherwise have happily ignored were it not for this Web 2.0 course. Wikis, Blogs and the like all stand for personal expression, communication and collaboration. Definitely a good thing, both in our personal space and in the world of the classroom. Here's a quaint comment from 'Twitter' (Article on Libraries and Social Networking):

'....an online social network is an Interactive e-playground community.'

Well, I feel like I've been on a playground with this Web 2.0 course. It's been 'fun and games' in all senses. But the real games haven't even started.......

Ciao and GRAZIE!!!!

module 9

Interesting how you go into something with preconceived ideas, then suddenly find information and a host of commentaries to counter your personal opinion. But I'm jumping the gun here as I'm alluding to the virtual worlds of networking.

Let me first comment on the valuable resources of Scootle. I confess I had already subscribed to Scootle some time ago, had had a fleeting browse but didn't actually implement it in the classroom, chiefly because I did not take the time to explore it properly.

On close examination I was impressed with both its sophisticated framework and nature of the learning tasks, both informative and 'hands on' for students. I have discovered resources that have both appeal and potential for students. They would certainly be keen to work their way through acivities and Learning Paths because they have a wonderful visual guide to work from, one that allows them to complete tasks independently.

I can see a parallel between Scootle and other tools in Web 2.0 in the fact that you are collecting resources and organizing them into one spot with the aim of gradually building a Learning Path. Another element common to other Web 2.0 tools is the aspect of sharing and collaborating.

I think Scootle provides us with a world of opportunities to both construct our own Learning Paths and/or utilize those of other teachers, or even collaborate with colleagues to create resources together.

With respect to Social Networking, I actually found the course articles enlightening, perhaps because I'd only ever seen my daughters' MySpace and Facebook artistry as a conceited attempt to present themselves to their circle of existing and 'potential' friends. But I have since discovered the logic and justification behind what I have probably considered a self-indulgent passtime.....

Quoting from Pope ('Second Life' librarian) "Social networking is another type of community. Communities of different types have existed for a long time and as technology and the times change, so do the tools for social networking. For instance, before newspapers, computers, etc. networking was meeting in the village commons."

So ultimately, students are only doing what we've all done for years, but simply using modern tools like virtual worlds to do it. Another comment(Nigan) highlights the fact that MySpace '..is not only a fun place to hang out with friends, but also an environment for teens to build important peer relationships.'

I was also made to realize (after slamming these virtual worlds as dangerous for kids) that yes, there are concerns such as data theft and viruses and, even worse, online predators or individuals who claim to be someone they are not. But this can also exist in the real world, right?
Of course, as teachers, we need to be familiar with these tools used by our students and do our bit to teach safe practices for these interactive sites.

It is comforting to know, however, that there are actually Internet Security Officers who 'are continually working to educate youth on online safety through various programs.' ....which is great news because I now concede that Social Networking can be instrumental, educational and entertaining for both adults and youth, and, more importanly, it allows for sharing and collaborating - both basic social practices.

module 8

As I worked through the earlier modules, I came across the term 'RSS feeds' and promptly recorded a random definition which encompassed three types of feed and which I might add, filled me with some trepidation. Once I'd immersed myself in Module 8 I was relieved to find more than one explanation which clarified it all for me.

I was excited at the prospect of subscribing to various sources, primarily news sites such as 'The Sydney Morning Herald World Headlines' and the BBC News, and I was also happy to discover several Italian news sites, one of which is interactive and welcomes articles, comments on stories, etc. This could be useful for both teacher and students of Italian.

I am keen to investigate more sites to subscribe to as soon as time permits.

Certainly, it is interesting to see how the movement of knowledge has now radically changed. As the you-tube videos describe it 'a simple web site that becomes your home' for recording all the material that arrives from your favourite web sites. I also love the idea of accessing a simple list that shows up all my frequently visited sites.

Two major benefits of RSS feeds are:

1. You save time

2. You ensure your privacy by not needing to join each site's email newsletter.

Well, I think I have now read, understood, synthesized and evaluated. Not bad for a luddite?

Just the odd cloud on the horizon now.

module 7

Ok. Impressive statistic....over 15 billion web pages awaiting our discovery. This is mind boggling, as is the site 'Delicious'. It was a little daunting for me, which, perhaps, suggests that organizational skills are not exactly my forte but I was soon consoled by the way Delicious could help me tag and bookmark my favourite haunts. It is clear that this tool can facilitate research and collaborative learning for both teachers and students.

A quick perusal of fellow bloggers' recordings has revealed that, by and large, they too are undergoing a similar experience to mine, at times frustrating, but often rewarding. Nice also to see how creative (and sharp!) some bloggers are!

module 6

I enjoyed this module. I occasionally use mindmapping in my lessons and would definitely get my students on board for this one.
This is my rudimentary attempt at producing a mind map of Bloom's Taxonomy for Web 2.0 teachers.

http://www.bubble.us/edit?welcome-user-lorenaprior

Glogster is more up the students' alley. This would be a useful tool in both my English and Italian classes. English students could use it to create posters for the class novel or a visual representation of a poem. Italian students might use it to design posters for such topics as Italian food, music, a tour through Italy, Carnevale, etc.

Well, here's hoping the next module is as entertaining!!

Module 5

This module bears some content with which I am, thankfully, familiar. You Tube is one of my fave passtimes. I'm always emailing links, often music, to friends and colleagues. Hope I can learn to do more with it. Makes me wonder what entertaining and educational things my heffalumps could do in the Italian class with the aid of You Tube and progs such as garage band. There is so much scope in mediums such as podcasts, vodcasts, digital storytelling, etc.

I have used Audacity and Garage Band with my language students, particularly for testing purposes, and really love them, as do the students.

I have downloaded Italian music, photographs and video files on my ipod and encourage my students to do the same in order to facilitate their absorption of the Italian language.

At the end of my last unit with Year 10 English, my students were required to create their own Digital Story based on the plot of Macbeth. That is, they were asked to write their story (pers. laptops) based loosely on Shakespeare's play, then they were to cut it down to a mere 100 words, and then add their pick of images and sound/music to compliment their story. I have yet to see the fruits of their labour as it was last days of term but I am hopeful of some interesting compositions (is this word back in vogue yet?)

This module has reminded me of what I have already gathered, namely that integrating technology into the curriculum is important because we need to remain relevant to our students. In this day and age when our students have access to information, expertise and data through the most amazing channels, we have no option but to pick up on all this technology and use it to challenge students, enabling them to synthesize, analyse and evaluate, and eventually, create. Bloom's Taxonomy will always remain fundamental to our teaching practices.

module 4

Having spent an entire day on Flickr I feel shell-shocked. Can't say how long I spent trying to upload my photostream onto my blog.... MISSION IMPOSSIBLE! So I finally imported one from Blogger gadgets (Picasa) instead. Also failed to import 'Explore interesting things from July 2009' (calendar) from Flickr to my blog....sigh.

I have always resisted digital camera technology but a five week trip around Italy meant I needed to purchase a good digital camera (with touch screen, no less!) and I would also need to know how to store the photos (thousands!!) as we moved along from Venice to Naples. In the end we temporarily stored them on my nephew's laptop and on an external hard drive. The real challenge was where to put them on our return....photos everywhere!! I had folders with pics and film clips taken by daughters, nephews and bro and wife. Doubled up photos in folders labelled with titles such as 'Mum's external drive' (courtesy of daughter's efforts to organize me).

The snaps and film clips are still randomly sprinkled in my 'photos' folder and on my desktop, to which I have now subsequently added both family and school photos and films, a veritable plethora of photography files that is gradually threatening to engulf my hard drive!

However, I have been thrilled to share these happy snaps with family and friends via the conventional method of emailing but, long story short, I can now appreciate that Flickr would be an ideal medium for organizing one's photos and video files - emphasis on SHARING these memories with family, friends, etc.

Unfortunately, every new piece of technology has its downside and privacy laws and copyright would be a thorn in my side in terms of Flickr. Not only do I need to watch what I publish (having just taken photos and video recordings of my students for Italian 'gelato day' and their improvisations at the 'Italian cafe') but the students themselves need to be very sensible and circumspect in what they might post on Flickr. We would need to remind them of what is both legal and appropriate before they set down their 'digital footprint'.

Oh, by the way this is a link to my photostream created through Flickr:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40369508@N02/

module 3

Well, today have been round the world and not sure if I have crossed the t's and dotted the i's but am getting a little impatient with learning all there is to know. Think I'm becoming a little like my students. I WANT TO KNOW IT ALL AND I WANT TO KNOW IT NOW!!! trouble is I'm not the world's most computer- literate person and it takes me forever to find my way through this maze of directions and applications etc. I loved one blogger's comment which suggested that our navigation through Web 2.0 takes us into the twilight zone while the world around us just fades into oblivion, kids and housework included. Ta Kerrie (Ramsay) for that analogy... I found it most apt!!

I actually can see benefits of google docs and would love to implement this in the classroom. It would save a lot of hassle with incomplete group work, as kids often make excuses for not finishing pair/group work because of time restraints in class. I noticed that one teacher on a given video link commented on the sharing of poetry composition. I can definitely see benefits of using google docs in my English classes. And it appears that students welcome this tool as well, with one student (again from video link provided) remarking it was just 'like sitting alongside another student and working on a task together in class'.

A centralized system of idea sharing that encourages collaborative learning and allows for editing has got to be a good thing, right?

I also like the idea that a teacher can actually see exactly how much each student is contributing to a set task. For me this is ideal because it means that I can now use group work as a valid means of class assessment.

module 2

Having now completed modules 1 and 2, I have created (for the third time) my own i google home page complete with useful gadgets, and I have started my own blog. Interestingly, after having done module 2, I have revised my opinion of blogging and 'my spacing' etc. as i did, indeed, consider these communicative mediums nothing short of narcissistic. However, I can now see the practicality of it all, and I might add, the fun!

I have also discovered that Web 2.0 - as opposed to Web 1.0 - is more functional and accessible to much of the community, not just the 'technorati'.....BTW love that word!!

ciao for now!

module 1

I have just had a lesson on blogging and have learnt how to use a thousand passwords and promptly forget them in the process!!

All good now though. Am legitimately enrolled in Web 2.0 course and ready for more frustrating times ahead!!

Hopefully the road on my journey will become smoother as I venture forth through this jungle of e learning!!