Module 10

Wikki Wikki Wow Wow!



First task was the visit the Bookleads Wiki to find out more about blogs. The first think I noticed was that they had a glogster page embedded into the site. Cool! I randomly selected some links and explored the Wikis on the links. The next site was 50 Web 2.0 ways to tell a story. It is a great way for students to publish their stories or even other text types!



The Wetpaint Central Help and Support site was explored. It is necessary to have a support site to help members with any technical issues.

The Bloom's Taxonomy Digital map is a great resource to visually indentify where Web 2.0 and the digital world fits into the taxonomy. Most students in my class who rarely reach the creating level (the highest level) when completing reading and writing tasks, were able to create vodcasts (videocasts) and blog this year. Perhaps this is where Garner's MI theory needs to be used alongside Blooms with another MI level "Technical". That way, students who are not achieving the higher thinking levels in linguistic or logical areas, for example, can achieve in the "technical" word and their abilities are not ignored.


This version of Bloom's Taxonomy helped identify that some students are achieving the higher thinking levels. In terms of planning, I can see that students can create a digital product in order to achieve the higher thinking levels. However, based on experience, "googling" needs to be explicitly taught, as students are often overwhelmed by the wealth of information available and do not have the skills to sift through it. By teaching them ways to Google particular keywords, it would help them proceed up the levels in the taxonomy.


I would place Second Life into the Taxonomy based on the uses. If Second Life was just used to explore and meet people then it would fit into the 'remembering' level. It is also a game that they are playing and they need to use a number of skills, so therefore it fits into 'applying'. The same applied for Flickr. Uploading images fits into 'applying'. If they categorise images with tags, then the students are 'analysing'. Finally, in terms of mind mapping (such as Bubbl.us), students could be categorising their thoughts (understanding), editing their mind maps (applying) and linking ideas (analysing).


The final reflection post on the WetPaint Wiki is:

What role do you see for using Web 2.0 tools in your own life as a learner and as a member of online communities?

Web 2.0 plays an important role in my life as I use them to share my own work with others and to view what others have shared. I believe online communities are vital to ensure that knowledge is shared with many. I use Web 2.0 tools such as YouTube and Facebook to share images and video with family and friends. As a member of an online community, I need to ensure that the content I share is current, relevant and safe for all to view.

How can Web 2.0 assist in improving learning outcomes for all students?

As mentioned in my Module 10 post, by many of the products created using Web 2.0 tools allow users to achieve a higher level of thinking in the Bloom's Taxonomy. Students need to be motivated to learn. Without that motivation, learning does not occur. Web 2.0 tools seem to motivate students in a way that teacher's could have never imagined. Blogs allow students to create posts in a "real world" context. There is a reason for their writing - it isn't isolated. They have an audience and produce a better product because they know this audience is there. The audience is other students, and not just their teacher. They work harder. I've seen kids who HATE editing edit their own blogs so that it is correct. Student's eyes have lit up at the thought of creating vodcasts to sell our school to students overseas. When the motivation is there, the learning happens. When more learning occurs, the learning outcomes are achieved and extended.

How can we use wikis as a joint KNOWLEDGE construction tool in our learning spaces (virtual or physical)?

Wikis help students share knowledge. When students record information in their workbooks in class, only them and the teacher are their audience. When they publish information in a wiki, the audience then becomes the Wiki members! Other students can comment to praise of critique others' work. Students can add information to a wiki page so that every member of the class is a valued member in the construction of the page. I have used retrieval charts in the classroom, where the class are given a topic and must work together to complete the chart. Imagine a wiki as a retrieval chart, where each child works to complete the task. Student contributions and what they need to research can be varied depending on students' abilities, so that every child has the ability to be a useful and valuable member of the task.

I think I'll have a go at creating the Wetpaint Wiki in the summer holidays and link it to my blog.


Signing off! Happy holidays everyone!


A

Module 9

Caught in a net of networks!

Scootle was the first social network I visited. I realised that an email I had ignored at the beginning of the year was my key to logging in so I began a search through past emails to find my log in link. Registration completed, I began my exploration of the site. I decided to take a shortcut and headed to the seach function. I typed on "British colonisation" as I am currently teaching that unit and will teach it next year at my new school. I found a few good resources, mainly aimed at older children. I downloaded the Scootle User Guide and skimmed the 59 pages. It was clear that there were a number of ways to find content other than the search function. These included:

• by advanced search,
• by location,
• by time,
• alphabetical searching, and,
• by topic.

When I initially searched, my automatic reaction to the search results was that there was nothing of use there. Then, when I looked closer, I noticed that certain buttons needed to be pressed to find the content I was looking for. To the untrained eye, Scootle could easily be disregarded as an unuseful resource. Before I read the user guide, I thought that, while Scootle was quite useful, that it took a marathon of steps to find content. Most teachers would agree that taking time to find resources means using time we don't already have. Once I read the user guide, something I probably should have done before, I gained a better understanding of how to use Scootle to maximise its potential. Yes, I should have read the user guide before, but how many people start assembling something a cabinet without looking at the instructions. I put up my hand and say I'm guilty of this!

Scootle definitely has its benefits. In the age of multimodal education, it is evident that Scootle provides several options and resources to integrate a range of rich multimodal resources into the classroom.

I could identify a few Web 2.0 features of Scootle, the most obvious being the ability to share learning paths. I visited the learning paths page to answer the question and to my surprise, someone from my school had already begun a learning path! I created a learning path called Christmas and began adding Christmas items to it. I then clicked on my learning path to share it with my school. It was quite easy and I can see the benefits of the function, especially with collaborative planning and team teaching.

Social networking is the use of online communities that allow people to connect with other people through a variety of topics and content. I explored the three sites: Social networking - friend of foe?, Libraries and social networking, and, What is social networking? The three sites provided some useful information about social networks. I am currently a member of a few social networks, such as:

• Facebook,
• MySpace,
• Twitter, and
• Friends Reunited.

Admittedly, I am quite a Facebook addict, spending at LEAST 3 hours a day on Facebook (yep! time to institutionalise me!)

I explored What is Second Life?. I had heard of Second Life before and was interested in finding out more. After watching the Intro video, I had recollections of my high school days when I was addicted (worse than Facebook!) to The Sims. Thank God I purchased a laptop with a weak graphics card otherwise Sim 2 would take over my life! Before watching the videos, I was a bit skeptical about how Second Life could be used in education. First, I watched Education in Second Life: Explore the possibilities. I loved the idea of asking students to create characters to explore how life was like in particular eras. At my school, we just had a "Back to School" day for Year 4, where they experienced school life in the 1800's. Some kids just couldn't handle it. With Second Life, there character is the actor, not them, and (hopefully) they would find it easier to tell the difference between acting and reality. The second video, Educational Uses of Second Life, it was clear that this tool would be useful for those students who are reluctant to participate in drama activities due to shyness or an unwillingness to participate. Here, they are are controlling their virtual character who is a different 'person' to themselves and hopefully would overcome that shyness or reluctance as it is the character who is in the spotlight rather than themselves.

The next site to explore was Facebook. He he... being told to go on Facebook is like asking me to open by Christmas presents early! The slideshare presentation was no longer available, so I explored the Directory of Social Networking Sites for Learning Professionals. I cannot believe the amount of sites available. I tried creating my own social networking site while I was in uni for beginning educators using a forum. It seemed that no-one was interested as it was before the days of social networks. Perhaps I'll try to get it running again....????

The final social network to explore was Twitter. I tried Twitter, with very little success. Not many friends are on it and it seemed pointless updating a site that no-one was paying attention to. The Twitter in Plain English video helped outline the basic use of Twitter. Perhaps if more of my friends were on Twitter, I'd probably "Tweet" more!

Ok, blogs done.. time to check Facebook! LOL!

A

Module 8

My own PA!

I have been a bit slack the last few months so I decided to sit down with the intention of finishing Web 2.0 once and for all!

This module is all about RSS feeds. I had heard of these in the past and I have seen the snazzy little icon on my brower toolbar before. First I viewed the video RSS: In plain English. Again, the plain English series explains the concept in easy to understand language. I like how he gives the warning: "It's addicitive! So be careful!"

The following video was Welcome to Google Reader! This video provided a basic introduction to Google Reader. The "list" fuction looks exactly like Gmail, which I have been using for years. Therefore, Google Reader looks pretty easy to use.

Next, I read through the website What is RSS? Here I learnt that RSS stands for "Rich Site Summary". RSS appears to be an excellent tool to use when you constantly access pages that are frequently updated.

When I clicked on the following link about Google Reader, I noticed it took me straight to Google Reader and that I already had items that I was subscribed to! Looking down my list, the Reader program had already subscribed me to the Web 2.0 blogs that I have been following, especially the blogs of my colleagues.

I also watched the Google Reader in Plain English video, which highlighted some excellent features of Google Reader.

I suppose websites with teaching resources would benefit from using these features so that teachers can stay informed about the new resources that have been uploaded onto the website.

Happy RSSing!

A