Renee’s E-Learning Blog

I have just finished reading an article about Concept Mapping and I was amazed at how great they are to use in the classroom. Concept mapping is a process for drawing pictures to represent the conceptual relationships between and among key ideas in a domain of knowledge. Concept mapping in an electronic environment facilitates the visual thinking that underlies this form of knowledge representation, making it more accessible and less frustrating. In the same way that word processing has revolutionized writing and writing instruction, computer-based concept mapping is revolutionizing this important form of visual expression and literacy enhancement.

I think this is fantastic as visual tools such as Inspiration open up new avenues for incorporating technology into the teaching and learning process, and educators have been quick to see the advantages of using powerful concept mapping software with lots of helpful features. I have used Inspiration software myself and found it quite easy and enjoyable to use. I will most definitely be using it with my students in the future, as it has many different uses and it provides a visual stimulus for the students.

Source: Anderson-Inman., Lynne., Horney., & Mark. (1997). Computer-Based Concept Mapping: Enhancing Literacy With Tools For Visual Thinking. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 40(4), 1-6.

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence:

www.flickr.com/photos/36521956512@N01/22358886

I have just finished reading Allanah’s blog posting regarding involving parents in the ICT happenings at the school. Allanah talks about an ICT celebration that she is attending at a school in which students are going to show their parents some of the ICT learning activities they have participated in. These things include blogs, Flickr and Delicious sites and various other ICT projects. Allanah also mentions that she is giving a small talk to parents about how they can help their children participate responsibly on the internet. I think that this is a very important aspect that parents should be aware of. With the increasing amount of computer technology it makes it even easier for hackers to get into someones computer system. Children are also curious and they may post things online that are private or give out personal information online or even join up to a site they may think is free. It is important for parents to monitor their child’s internet usage for these very reasons.

Another great aspect of this is that parents get to see what their child has been learning in the classroom. The child might also be able to teach their parents a thing or two about ICT. The reason why I chose to react to this post is because I believe that it is important to involve parents in every aspect of their child’s education. Parents may be surprised and impressed with what their child can do with computer technology. In my future teaching practices I will aim to make parents as involved as they possibly can be in their child’s education, especially in ICT.

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence:

www.flickr.com/photos/13257277@N00/106305326

I have just finished reading an article about integrating the web into the curriculum using WebQuests. It was great to see how an average teacher used WebQuests in her classroom to make learning more relevant and interesting. A WebQuest is an inquiry orientated activity in which some of all of the information that students need, comes from resources on the internet.

I believe that WebQuests are a great idea to use as they often require collaborative group work and usually integrate many learning areas. Another great aspect of WebQuests is that can use long term WebQuests that take up to a month or more to complete. This challenges the brighter students and requires higher order thinking skills. From a teacher’s perspective, using WebQuests make the crowded curriculum an integrated curriculum.

The article also gave some examples of how the teacher used the WebQuests in her classroom and the results were amazing. Students were actually coming back to the library in their own time to look up more activities and information on the topic they were studying. What had started out as a small integrated learning activity took on a life of its own.

I will definitely be using WebQuests in my classroom in the future. I believe that when students are motivated they not only put in more effort, but their minds are more alert and ready to make connections. I believe WebQuests are a great way to achieve this in my students.

Source: Wood, J. (2005). Integrating Computers Into the Primary School Curriculum. Education Horizons, 8 (5), 10-11.

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence:

www.flickr.com/photos/37996585435@N01/167849275

I have just read Emily’s blog posting titled “Games as Learning Tools” and I found it quite interesting and a bit controversial. My views are mirrored with that of Emily’s as I was also quite skeptical of using games as a learning tool as children generally play games to escape from learning. A professor from MIT states that games are the most powerful learning technology of our age and we will miss out on exploiting this powerful tool unless we catch up.

After reading this posting I feel that my views have changed quite a bit. I feel that games can be educational and they are also an interesting and fun way of engaging children’s interests. This tool can also be taken further by getting teachers and even students to design their own games to meet specific learning outcomes. This is definitely an avenue that I will explore in my future classroom.

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence:

www.flickr.com/photos/26036520@N00/140504998

I have just read an article about learning while mobile and I found it very interesting. The digital tools that we use to access various parts of this world are increasingly pervasive, networked and constantly changing, redefining the world and how we live in it in profound ways. It is difficult for many of us to imagine life without the internet and now media access at home comes to us through tools such as mobile phones, media players and wireless mobile computers. This means that in education, learning is happening outside of the classroom.

Mobile learning focuses on the interactions between learners and technology and emphasises that learning is a social process. The article gives examples such as  MyArtSpace and Frequency 1550. MyArtSpace is a service for children to spread their learning between schools and museums. Mobile phones and personal web spaces are used to collect multimedia representations of exhibits and store them online; to collaborate with those who have collected the same digital artifacts as prompted by those same cell phones; and to reflect on what they see, hear and discuss.

I think that this is a fantastic idea that can be brought into schools. It is also a great way for students to share excursion photos and other images. This would be something that I would consider using in the future.

Source: Van ‘T Hooft, M. (2008). Envisioning the Future of Education: Learning While Mobile. Learning and Leading With Technology, 35(6), 12-16.

 

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence:

www.flickr.com/photos/84059604@N00/310670770

renees-podcast

I have just finished reading Loren’s blog. This is my podcast stating my views and opinions reagrding Digital Textbooks.

 

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence:

www.flickr.com/photos/44124412272@N01/4299234

Today in my sociology lecture an interesting story was presented. It was about a 75 million dollar Microsoft school that opened up in Philadelphia USA. This school was opened up in what you would call a disadvantaged area and students were selected by a random lottery to see which students would be attending the school. This is a great public education movement as students did not have to pay to go to this school. What was so special about this school is that Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates worked with the school to design and add technology into every aspect of the school. Each individual student was given a laptop for them to use throughout their schooling as well as having smart cards that would record data including what they eat at the school cafeteria. There were no blackboards or books and paper, but rather computer screens and wireless internet connection throughout the whole school. All students had access to the schools network even from home. All of their work was done on their laptops as well as teachers lessons.

I think this is a great initiative taken as technology can be quite costly and Bill Gates has actually decided to pay for all of the technology and equipment. Students that are considered disadvantaged are given the opportunity to learn with technology and experience a wide range of e-learning skills. It is also a fair system as the students were selected at random and did not have to pay for their position at the school. I hope that something like this happens in Australian schools as I feel that students would greatly benefit from having a technologically rich classroom.

Watch the video about this school here

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence:

www.flickr.com/photos/17863489@N00/2081043813

I just finished reading an article titled “Sandcastles go Digital” and I found it fascinating. The article is about Constructionism which implies that children learn best when they are in the active roles of designer and constructor. The article gave the example of children building sandcastles on the beach. No one tells them how to build them and what to do but yet they are engaged in their own learning. This is where the adults take advantage of the opportunity to talk about further learning because children will listen because they are engaged and thinking about something in the moment. This is a great way of thinking about learning and I believe that this can be  into the classroom with computers and technology. One limitation of the sandcastle idea is that learning cannot be added to and further developed the next day. However with technology, this can be done as students can save and add to their learning projects. I believe constructionism is a great theory to use in an e-learning environment and I will definitely be aiming to use this in my future teaching practices.

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence:

www.flickr.com/photos/74094008@N00/500450433

I have just read an article about using digital technology inside the classroom. I agree that using digital technology, especially digital video, is a powerful way to motivate students, energize teaching, and link to the community. This generation of students live in a visual world, as they are absorbed in television and other media. Using digital video in the classroom would be beneficial as it is relating to their interests and capabilities. Teachers should use this in the classroom as it models best practices by capturing the best in e-learning environments. As a future teacher I will definitely be aiming to do this in my classroom. I believe that this will benefit my students and develop their skills further. Digital video would be a great way to make my lessons interesting and motivating for the students.

Source: Haffenberg, H., & Handler, M. (2001). Digital Video Goes to School. Learning and Leading with Technology, 29 (2), 10-15.

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence:

www.flickr.com/photos/49503108469@N01/164112950

I have just read Lucy’s blog posting where she has commented on an article titled “Internet is Making Kids Lazy”. I did not realise that there was so much negative controversy regarding the internet. Everything I have read so far for E-Learning is about how the internet is beneficial for children and how it needs to be used more in the classroom. I agree with Lucy, as she states that the internet can make kids lazy if used in the wrong way. If children are constantly sitting in front of the computer and not using it for educational purposes or for learning, then they may become lazy.

I believe that children should be exposed to the internet in schools as it can be used to research information, complete learning tasks online, use web quests and may other possibilities for learning. If children are completing these acivities and are learning form them, then they are not being lazy. They are creating opportunities for their learning as well as being autonomous with their learning.

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/2.0/http://www.flickr.com/photos/98223054@N00/147294427