Skype

In my investigations of Skype I was able to contact my best friend who lives in London, viewing her son face to face, and reading him stories for his bedtime, all while I am still waking up. I was able to show her around my renovations, which could not have happened on a normal telephone. The idea that students could contact another person on the other side of the world, and access information from experts 24 hours a day made me realise the power of this tool in developing students’ understandings of time, day and night around the world, and even seasons. Being able to actually view the differences in daytime and seasons and relate these to geographical locations of speakers make knowledge more meaningful for the students.

Plus:

·     Contact experts - go straight to source of information

·   Affordability (Free skype-to-skype calls)

·      Information gained through both visual and audio

·      Can ‘share screens’ to see what the other person is working on (good for tech help)

·      Accessibility (just need a computer, or even a phone)

·      Face to face contact with peers

Minus:

·      Have to arrange when to call

·      Bad connections (some calls cut out / images and audio are bad quality)

Interesting:

·      Offers the option to conference call between multiple people

Uses of PowerPoint

Since beginning this journey, discussion with on-line peers have changed my views about PowerPoint. No longer do I view it just as a presentation tool for lectures. 

Here are a few things PowerPoints can be used for:

* Making Frame-by-frame Claymations

* Choose your own adventure stories

* Quizzes, with links sending users to correct answers and further explanations of a concept.

* Display of science experiment journey

* Presentation of stories and ideas, using voice overs to aid those who have low literacy skills

* Presentation after using a Wiki to develop ideas (consolidated multi-modal text)

* Displaying small books on a bigger screen for young children

* Slide-by-slide student diary 

Learning Objects

Through the exploration of learning objects in our tutorial at school, a comment by a lecturer made me wonder, how does prescribed learning objects ensure all students are catered for? If half of the class know the subject matter already, and the other half don’t, does that really mean you still teach the learning object to the WHOLE class?

There are many benefits of using technology in the classroom. However, I am constantly questioning whether technology is actually ASSISTING in knowledge acquisition. For me, it would seem that students would actually learn more by doing an experiment, physically. After conducting a test then students may be asked how they could make the test better? And then enter into the topic of fair testing, using non-examples and examples from their past experiences. In this case the students would have an existing bank of knowledge to draw on, and students who already know about fair testing are able to show their knowledge through a task at their standard, rather than becoming bored by going over information they already know. There are benefits to learning objects, no doubt, as they can be used when no equipment is available, or locations or time restraints do not permit certain knowledge to be acquired practically. However, as Learning Managers we must continue to ask ourselves, how can technology be used to FURTHER knowledge acquisition and deep understandings??? I think we need to look at the teachers who are failing to use technology appropriately, either by using it badly, or not using it at all.

As I mentioned on Anna’s blog, the problem with ICTs in education is that teachers may use technology to teach content superficially. Even with widespread use of technology in schools and homes, there is a declining rate of graduating students in technology and decreasing interest of children in technology education (Moravec, 2009). This suggests that the problem is not technology, but the way it is being used. “The key to success lies in finding the appropriate points for integrating technology into a new pedagogical practice, so that it supports the deeper, more reflective self-directed activity children must use if they are to be competent adults in the future” (Matusevich, 1995). This means computers need to stop being used as ‘add-ons’ or modern day electronic alternatives to old fashioned worksheets which focus on rote skills, and look to technology as the “tools which are an integral part of a child’s learning experience” (Matusevich, 1995).

In my posting on Anna’s blog, I suggested teachers needed more training (and funding to do more training) in the area of technology. But, I wonder, even if teachers implement technology into classrooms, how do we ensure technology is integrated in a way that improves educational outcomes, rather than using it because it is ‘fun’? 

Practicalities of using a Wiki

At uni, we had to do group presentations for two subjects. When we were teamed up, our team discovered that three of our group members lived reasonably close to each other but one lived quite far away. I suggested we use a Wiki to consolidate information without needing to meet face to face for group meetings. This also gave me a chance to see, in practical terms, how collaborative work using a Wiki is.

At first the site was used as a space to ‘knowledge dump.’ Every scrap of information, every idea or question or lead to places of interest was noted on the Wiki. This allowed each member to follow the progress of the presentation. Team members could comment on others ideas, pose questions to each other and information was consolidated as the heart of the presentation became clearer.

Having all the information in the one spot, and team members already familiar with information before each meeting ensured meetings became more about REFINING the knowledge we had gathered rather than using up precious time sharing research and commenting on what might be relevant and what might not be.

Plus

*  No need to for group members to meet up to discuss ideas. All questions and information can be shared on line.

* Able to see who has been contributing.

* All information is shared, and in the one place.

* Projects can be worked on at any time of the day.

Minus

* Editing at the same time freaks out the site!

* Some people are scared of using the technology.

* Students can use the wiki purely as a knowledge dump, not building on knowledge or editing as they go which means the wiki becomes very overwhelming and crowded. Unfortunately when this happened, certain people had to continually take on the role of editing, ordering and minimising repeated information.

Interesting

* If people are not contributing, this can cause bad feelings amongst the group. 

In the classroom, the Learning Manager could diffuse bad feelings within the group by ensuring students contributed to the gathering and organisation of information evenly, by checking the log of editors/contributors on line. Perhaps a criteria sheet could have one box for contribution, which is marked according to the log which outlines the contributions made.

iMovie & Youtube

I used iMovie (a Mac programme) to make a movie about my journey in the Arts. This was a very time consuming process but using the programme I was able to express my ideas in a creative way, combining images, text and audio. The types of effects were also able to communicate the ideas behind this project, which was a very reflective journey.

When I had finished this film, which was the first one I had ever made, I was very proud and wanted to show my parents. Unfortunately, my parents live in Adelaide and the file was too large to send in an email. I decided to post it onto Youtube, which was really easy to use and upload to.

iMovie

Plus - encourages creativity, can incorporate still or moving images as well as text and audio, engaging way to present information, easy to 'drop' images and audio in.

Minus - takes lots of time which could demotivate, constant access to computers is needed.

Interesting - students would need briefing on copyright laws for images and songs, movie can be incorporated into other applications such as power points.

Youtube

Plus - ability to share with others which would be good for long distance education

Minus - public access to the videos means certain videos might not be appropriate

Interesting - Comments from a wide range of people

Powerpoint

In our group presentations this term, we made use of PowerPoint presentations to present information to the class. This is not a new concept to any of us, as this is the tool that is used to present every lecture at Uni. 

I think it is very useful in that graphs and text can be presented clearly, easily and professionally. Unfortunately, I feel this tool lacks the spark that other technological tools have, which engages students with new, fun ways of presenting information. 

Am I missing something? Can the powerpoint be more than a mundane information dump?

Plus: Easily presents data using graphs and graphic organisers, easy to use, backgrounds can be changed to add interest.

Minus: Students are used to information being presented this way, does not appeal to all learning styles, limited to academic uses

Interesting: Effects can be added to words and graphs, but too enthusiasm for these can lead to overuse of 'bells and whistles', detracting from information delivery.

Screen Captures & Hyperlinks

Throughout my group work at University over the last few weeks, I have discovered a few incompetencies I have on the computer. 

1. I didn't know how to do a screen capture (I have always right clicked - saved - added file).

2. I had never created a hyperlink (Usually the website self-hyperlinked in documents I used).

So, today I played with these two things.

On the mac, I discovered the 'grab' tool in the applications folder and then all I had to do was click on 'capture' on the top tool bar. Easy! 

As for the hyperlink... I didn't realise it was so easy! All I had to do was click the 'link' in the tool bar. 

I then wondered, how can I make a link to a reference list? How do I hyperlink to a word document on the internet? Where does the word document live? 

There may be an easier way, but my solution was to add a hyperlink to a page on my wiki which now contains my reference list for this assignment.