Module 2: Exploring the use of blogs in K -12 learning spaces

Activity 1: Learn about Blogs

I have quite a bit of experience with blogs. I used to run a family blog and a friend in the USA and I currently run a book review blog: Great Reads and Tea Leaves.

Activity 3: Using and customising Blogger

I had a lot of fun customising my blog. I got a stock image from a site our family business uses and I put the information on top of that image using iPad app 'Pixelmator' (brilliant app)

Activity 5: Find out more about the educational use of blogs.

Firstly, Ann Griptons blog, 'Teach.Eat.Play' http://agripton.edublogs.org/' was most interesting. Her writing was easy to read and follow and I particularly enjoyed her comments on reporting and assessment:

“So this year, I’m letting results go. Sort of. I know I have to deliver a grade at some point, so I will. However, from the outset, I will be allowing students to present curation their learning (Bateman, 2014), reflecting on it as we go. There was an article fromDylan Wiliam a while back about feedback **– he stated that “our work in schools has shown us that most students focus entirely on the grade and fail to read or process teacher comment”. “**

Personally it is so very important for students to be aware of their educational journey all throughout and not just the final destination. Learning occurs at all stages and schools, parents, students and the wider community must come to appreciate that.

Secondly, reading about the Edublogs awards was great. What an array of inspiration. And how wonderful that they are acknowledged for paving the way in education across the Web.

Module Reflection Activity

It's always inspirational to spend a bit of time surfing the web for educators who are so passionate. It helps fill up one's own level of enthusiasm about how things can be done in the classroom. Currently my use of blogs in the classroom is through the platform, Edmodo. If you would like to learn more about Edmodo and its benefits, I suggest you read the article, 'Ten reasons I love using Edmodo in my iPad classroom'. There is a wondeful summary of some of the highlights of Edmodo, some of my favourite aspects include:

it is really easy to share work with students and by students.
students can easily download a document to be used in another app e.g. UPAD.
it is much easier to teach 'digital citizenship' skills.
the small groups feature makes group work easier to manage.

Comments

DIGITAL SYSTEMS: CSER task 5 - Information Systems

Option 1: Think of a lesson idea for "sharing information online safely" or "behaving online appropriately". Write your idea as a brief description with any links to websites, videos or books that you might use in your lesson. Digital Citizenship has to be a key area of focus in the modern classroom with the access to online digital devices that all students have today. The transference of behaving appropriately in class and the playground must now apply to behaving appropriately online. Two key concepts I reiterate in my class are: one, if you would not say it to someone's face then don't type it online; and two, don't be a bystander. This last concept my students are most familiar with. What students require today, is ways of being responsible when inappropriate situations occur. I am a big fan of Common Sense Education. Here you will find a vast array of resources for teaching in the digital age. One lesson idea I have used to reinforce appr

Module 7: Building Online communities

In today's cyber world, there is a plethora of data out there! Therefore, it's a great idea to discuss and learn different ways to tap into this wealth of information. I have some of my own ways - being the avid iPad user that I am - that I will tell you about later. However, I had not read much about Delicious or Diigo and it was interesting to learn of yet another way to try and itemise useful information for future uses. Upon delving further in Delicious I can see a range of benefits that I currently use. For example: there is never enough time to read interesting articles and its great to be able to bookmark pages, authors or work sites that have great lesson ideas you might like to come back to and trial in your own classroom. a benefit that is an absolute MUST, is the capability to be able to access your bookmarks from any device. it's also beneficial to be able to share interesting articles or sites with students and colleagues that promote discussion and act

Final Reflection

This Web 2.0 course has solidified my understandings and introduced me to some great new tools for the classroom. Web 2.0 has taken hold for educators and is having a significant impact on learning for the 21st century. Overall it can be said that the creation of collaborative learning spaces is huge. What is essential, and something this course most definitely provides, is the necessary and appropriate teacher preparation for the pedagogical impact of using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. It is imperative that teachers feel comfortable and ready to adopt the educational benefits of Web 2.0 E-learning with the iLE@RN pedagogical model can combine to provide the necessary student learning, teacher designed curriculum and creative lesson planning. You cannot just launch students into this style of learning. Skills need to be addressed that incorporate communication, collaboration, questioning, reflection, critical thinking etc so that learning is at its optimum. I am a big supporter

Inspire: e-learning

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