Using YouTube in the Classroom

Using YouTube in classroom allows students to receive both aural and visual messages. This helps students gather information more effectively. YouTube can help students get a deeper understanding of a topic they had never experienced. The video can be used in a astronomy unit to show students the vastness of the solar system and the planets and moons relative sizes compared to Earth. It is a great introductory video to a unit as it will allow for a great number of questions and discussions.

Goggle Maps

Google Maps are used by people to find different locations. With Goggle Maps a person can look at satellite shots from all over the world. This will allow students to view other places in the world they have never seen. With goggle maps students can add their own pictures, pins, locations and captions. With this in mind, Google Maps can be used as a way for students to create their own tourism maps. They can also compare buildings from all over the world. For example, what does post office look like in Bundaberg compared to Berlin. Students can gather loads of information from Google Maps.


The link below will take you to a map created in Google Maps

http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=118322329923890537237.00048df8d0ae4bc04fcd3&ll=-24.899417,152.313935&spn=0.001795,0.004117&t=h&z=19

Movie Maker (claymation)

"Windows Movie Maker makes communication both visual and aural to large numbers of people simple" (Beaglehole, A. 2010. p.1). Students can use digital cameras and mp3 players to insert their own images and sounds to the movie. Movie Maker is simple to use as the program has prompts which show the students how to use the different aspects of Movie Maker.

Uses in the Classroom

• Narrative


• Procedure Texts


• Poetry


• Newscasts


• Advertisements


• Stories (Beaglehole, A. 2010)
  

Advantages of Movie Maker

• Students engagement will rise


• Student get the opportunity to plan, capture and record (Beaglehole, A. 2010)

Disadvantages of Movie maker

• It takes time to create a movie


• Early primary students will find the program difficult to use (Beaglehole, A. 2010)

The website below will guide you to a number of claymation

http://www.ikitmovie.com/57/MovieGallery1.htm

Blogging

Blogging is a wonderful way for people to share information via the web. It can be used in the classroom as a way to incorporate learning outside the classroom. It keeps students encourages students to write and it keeps them motivated. Blogs can be used as a way of students to reflect on an activity as a type of virtual LOG book. This program is also great because it allows "followers" of your blog the ability to read and make comments. While blogging students have the ability to post videos, images and links.

Advantages of Blogging

• Students improve writing skills
• Student get into the habit of writing
• Allows students of various personality types to participate in discussions more effectively
• Students learn to express their opinion and discuss popular topic
• Teacher can view what students have written and track their progress

Disadvantages of Blogging

• It involves a lot of time updating and writing a blog
• There is no confidentiality as it is a public forum (Online Education Blog, 2010)

I have found the use of blogging a very useful device for learning. Having being blogging for the past couple of months, I believe that blogging is a very useful tool that allows students to share information and the learning manager to monitor learning effectively.

References

Online Education Blog. (2010). Blogs- Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved from, www.onlineedublog.com/blogs/

Powerpoints

In the third week of E Learning we were taught how to use PowerPoint's in a complete new way. Using Digital cameras and Mp3 players the students were able to create their PowerPoint's presentation with real life images and sounds. PowerPoint's were also used as a way to create an authentic assessment, this is evident especially for lower primary students. In the example we were shown students had to match the noise the animals make to the picture of the animals. Since PowerPoint's allow the author to insert actual sounds and images students will have an authentic exam.

Advantages of PowerPoint

• Fun to watch and make
• Accommodate all learners needs (visual, sound etc)
• Spell check function
• Numerous uses
• Easily shared (printing, emailing)

Disadvantages of PowerPoint

• Overuse can bore learners
• Each students requires their own computer or large screen for whole class
• Easily get lost in task

Wikispaces

It is amazing to think of the vastness and hugeness of the world wide web. The number of valuable resources that can be easily accessible and yet the majority of the population chooses to ignore. The Internet for teacher and students is almost an infinite resource that if managed correctly can improve the authenticity of teaching and motivate students into learning. It allows students to gather information from all over the world, with a click of a finger students can have the current weather in Rome and just as easily actually see many images of cities around the world. This is why it is important to harvest all these tools and include them in the curriculum.

In the second week of the course we were introduced into a number of new ICTs that can be implemented in the classroom. I will be focusing on wikispaces and their advantages and disadvantages in the education.

Advantages of Wikis

• Easy to follow as it guides students step by step in every step of creating, managing and commenting on the wiki


• Allows students to discuss with peers


• It is easily accessible from home


• Student have the opportunity to create their own wiki and hence they feel like authors


• Teachers can track the students work easily


• Can be used as part of formative assessment
  

Disadvantages of Wikis

• If not managed properly it can be vandalised and spammed


• Students could bully each other as it is an open account and anyone can add comments
  

Although spamming and bullying are serious problems, they can be controlled by a teacher who can manage the account. The number of advantages that wikispaces offer show that wikispaces are a valuable tool and should be used in education.

The link will lead you to a Wiki space discussion on De Bonos 6 Thinking Hats: http://sixhats.wikispaces.com/6+Hats

Bubbl_us

Coming into E Learning I felt I was competent at using the computers and Internet. I believed that with the knowledge I had accumulated over my high school and university years I would be able to successfully teach students. After just one tutorial I was made aware that there is still a lot to learn and that there are many useful tools on the Internet that allow a learning manager to teach students in a more meaningful and authentic way.

In the first tutorial we were introduced to Bubbl_us and Text2MindMap. Both of this websites allow students to create concept maps. I found this to be very useful tools for students that are visual learners and need to organise their thoughts in a very simple organiser which makes better use of their visual memory. Blogs were also introduced as a way to allow students to reflect, it is also a way for the LM to keep track of students learning as a way of formative assessment. While brainstorming students also have the opportunity to access their prior knowledge and if working collaboratively in allows students the change to peer tutor.

Bubbl_us

Bubbl_us allows students to create mind maps, by allowing students to make the mind maps on the computer it allows the students to be able to add, remove and change aspects of the mind map more effectively then pen and paper. This tool also encourage students to have participate in classroom discussion outside of school. "From a teacher's perspective, this tool can be another option to stimulate students involvements with classroom topics" (Sawchuk, P. 2009. p.1). The mind maps created on Bubbl_us can also be shared easily and quickly via email and printing.

Mind map using Bubbl_us

References

Sawchuck, P. (2009). Bubbl.us: A tool for mind-maps. Retrieved from http:://assett.colorado.edu/post/570