Reflective Synopsis

I completed my Reflective Synopsis on Weebly. The link is provided below.
http://learningmanagementsynopsis.weebly.com/

Jenny Abel

Week 6

This course seems like it has gone so incredibly fast. Can you believe we're into our 6th week already? I definitely can't!! This week the topic of my blog is all about  mobiles phones and iPads, and whether or not the help learning within a classroom. 

Source: Google Images

I believe that introducing smart phones and iPads into classrooms to use as learning tools is a great idea. Technology is becoming more and more advanced as the years pass by. Children in the 21st Century are extremely technological savvy and thrive to get their hands on it. Technology is being used more in day to day life for many activities. Phones are used for calling people, playing games and texting. Computers are used to contact people via emails and Skype as well as writing assignments. So imagine what we could do by introducing smart phones and iPads into classrooms, the possibilities are endless. Teaching is about growing, be resilient and adapting to change. In order to do this, we need to grow with the children and teaching them ways in which interests them.

I have constructed a SWOT chart to help voice my opinions on introducing these types of technologies  into classrooms.

STRENGTHS    Ø Supports children's interests ØGives students the opportunity to  learn new skills   ØIt is up to date with current technologies  ØMost students own smart phone and/or iPads ØAllows student to gain a sense of ownership over their own learning ØEngages students	WEAKNESSES   Ø Some student do not have access to this technology.   Ø This form of technology can be expensive.   Ø May cause the students to become distracted.    ØStudent's may become anti-social    Ø Some student's have difficulties using this form of              technology.
OPPORTUNITIES   Ø Allows students to access new technologies and ways of learning.     Ø Students gain new skills and ideas of how to use technology.    Ø Gives students multiple ways of accessing the internet.    ØAllows the students more opportunities of assignment formats.	THREATS    Ø Some websites are inappropriate    Ø Students may uses these technology devices incorrectly.    Ø It is easy upload inappropriate content    ØCopy right becomes an issue

Source: Google Images

Throughout this course we have been introduced to many learning tools, sites and applications that can all be accessed via the internet on smart phones and iPads. All of which can easily be implemented into a classroom. One of the applications we were exposed to was called Prezi. Prezi is an amazing tool where students are able to create a presentation which is very similar to a PowerPoint, however, it is more engaging and interesting. Another learning tool that we were introduced to was an application known at Audio Boo. This digital learning tool allows students to record their voices on many different devices via the internet or downloaded from iTunes. If smart phones and iPads were introduced into classrooms, applications like this would allow students to take interest in their own learning, and in return, children would gain accesses to new ways of learning. Educators would be able to run an activity such as this with ease as most students understand how applications on iPads and smart phones work. 

Source: Google Images

In my brothers current primary school, there is a class which is devoted to iPads. Each student is given their own iPad to have throughout the year which MUST stay at the school and used for educational purposes only. Applications are downloaded to help students with mathematics, english and science. He comes home from school every day explaining how he uses his iPad to take notes, complete set tasks, access the internet and complete assignments. Some of the apps my brother interacts in consist of Sky View Explore: for Science, Math Bingo: for Math and School A - Z: for English. He has became a lot more engaged and focused in his school work ever since iPads were introduced into his school, so imagine how the students would react if they were introduced to using smart phones? The opportunities will become endless. 

Source: Google Images

I believe that if these digital technologies were to be introduced into all schools, there would be a lot to
consider. I would try to minimise all threats and weaknesses to the best of my ability and ensure that the devices were used purely for educations purposes. Overall I think that by exposing children to smart phones and iPads, it would definitely assist in helping students learning. Especially considering it targets the students major interests. For this to work well it needs to be done so in a supervised environment where teachers can attend the students needs at all times. 

Teachers in this era say that the educational system does not allow them any time to make learning fun. However, I believe that anything is possible. Teaching children through digital technologies such as smart phones and iPads, incorporates the four key components to learning; active engagement, participation in groups, frequent engagement in feedback and interaction with the read world. Through the use of these digital tools, you are able to reach different learning styles. Therefore, I believe, if used appropriately and purely for an educational purpose, these devices can help with learning within a classroom. Below is a video about smart phones being introduced into classrooms. 

Teaching is all about being adapting to change and being resilient. Therefore, using technology is becoming essential within classrooms. Teachers need to assist to the students wants and needs. Therefore, teaching them in such where you can incorporate smart phones and iPads, means you're attending to their interest and enriching their learning. 

"Teachers will not be replaced by technology, but teachers who don't use technology will be replaces by those who do". - Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach 

Jenny Abel

Week 5 - Powerpoint, Prezi and Glogster!

This week in E-Learning, we were yet again introduced to different digital pedagogies. These included Powerpoint, Prezi and Globster.

POWERPOINT
The first resource which I explored was PowerPoint. I have used PowerPoint many times throughout my life. However, when it came to making a presentation focused towards engaging children within a classroom, this became an unknown experience to me. In the past I had only used PowerPoint for assignments and class presentations. I was challenged to come up with a new way of using this learning tool. Therefore, after brainstorming for what seemed like ages - I thought, "what if I could turn the PowerPoint into a game for a way children can learn their spelling words. I called this game Guess The Covered Word. Below is a screen shot of my PowerPoint.

 PowerPoint can also to great tool used to help teachers remember their lessons for the day. Adding promoting words to each slide to refresh your mind. This would prevent you from referring to your lesson plan all the time. As I am currently undertaking prac in a grade 4 classroom, I am going to try this learning tool during my next day visit. This learning tool could be used in many other engaging ways such as introducing them as an assignment. Instead of writing in a book - make a presentation. PowerPoints could also be more interesting if you were to add sounds and pictures. Using PowerPoints within a classroom is a great way to target students who are auditory and visual learners. Kinesthetic learners are targeted when they are constructing their own PowerPower presentations.

PREZI 

Prezi was another learning tool which was explored this week. Prezi is known as an online interactive slideshow software. It is extremely interesting and amazing for children to engage themselves in. When playing around with Prezi, I found that it was very similar to PowerPoint, however, it is more fun! It has a function which allows you to upload PowerPoints which you have already created and turns it into a more entertaining and engaging presentation. Before today I had never used Prezi, therefore I found it extremely confusing to begin with. I found some instructions on how to navigate my way through Prezi. After a few minutes of playing around with different tools within the site I became confident with the software. I think that students would need a lot of practice using Prezi before they were confident to construct their own presentation. However, I believe students would definitely benefit from viewing a Prezi presentation in their classroom. Year 5 and up would be capable of using this program.

GLOGSTER 
Glogster is an online site where you can create your own account which allows you too generate your very own posters from scratch. It reminds me a lot of scrap booking but all done on the computer!! I love the idea of using this as learning tool. You are able to add your own videos, photos, audio and text. There are many different fonts to choose from to decorate your Glogster as much or as little as you like. I had never used Glogster before today, so I was extremely surprised when I could use the site with no trouble at all.

Glogster could be used in classrooms for many different purposes. The teacher could use it as an interesting and engaging way to share information with students. Students could use this site to create a posters about there experiences throughout a unit. This learning tool challenges students to think creatively. Kinesthetic, visuals and audio learner can all be targeted by using this program. The greatest thing about this program is that it can allow you, as the teacher, to make a class account. This would then mean that your students can create their own usernames and passwords which you can then view on Glogster and keep track of their activities and progress with their creative masterpieces. Below is a Glog I created.

Jenny Abel

Week 4 - Audio, Images and Videos

This week in E-Learning, we learnt more about digital pedagogies such as audio recordings, images and videos. These digital tools can helps make learning fun and engaging for children in our classrooms.

AUDIO RECORDINGS
Using voice recordings within a classroom can lead to many creative and engaging opportunities for the children. It could be used as a voice over in a PowerPoint presentation or even when making a video for a class project. Podcasting is another idea for the use of audio recordings. Podcasts are known as broadcasts made as media files which are easily downloaded from the internet. They vary from expert talks, announcement, presentations and audio books which allow for an effective range of context within a classroom. Podcats are easy to use and therefore, can to used by students in group presentation to convey information or to support an argument or debate.

Audio recordings was something I had never done before today as I had never been confident with recording my own voice. However, I decided to give it a go and see just how easy it would be for a teacher to introduce this type of learning took into their classroom. I downloaded an app on my iPhone called Audioboo, this allowed me to easily record my own voice. As Blogger does not support audio files, I have attached a link to my recording here: http://audioboo.fm/Jennyrose18.  

IMAGES
Images are great for students to add into their school projects, assignments and presentations. Adding images allows students to deliver visuals to their peers and teachers to help support their written work. Images can also be used to make movies or on posters for the classroom walls to use as stimulating materials.

Source: Google Images
Example of Classroom Poster

Being a teacher means you have a huge responsibility to make sure students are searching for images safely. The wide world web has many relieving and inappropriate images for students to see. Therefore, using online multimedia databases such as Flickr would be safe and more resourceful. This site can be used within an learning context to support visual literacy, providing access to numerous pictures within a topic of interest. Flickr also provides the opportunity to search for photos by locomotion, providing geographic description of various places. This would be excellent if the children were learning about subjects such as Countries, War or the Olympic Games, just to name a few.

Using images also gives you the opportunity to edit images. This can be done by manipulation or resizing images if they are to large for the students projects. Tools such as paint can assist with this. However, there are also online editing websites such as BeFunky, which can also providing fascinating editing tools. Below are some images which I have manipulated and resized some.

Image Resizing 
My personal photography - Resizeyouimages.com

Image Manipulation

Edited on BeFunky.com

VIDEOS 

Using videos within a classroom is a common digital tool used for a number of situations. These videos can be created by children using many programs and applications. Some programs which are easy to use include iPods, iPads, camera, smart phones, moviemaker and iMovie. Teachers can introduce these tools into classrooms to make films relating to a specific subjects. These devises can also be used to film presentations or for a creative assignment and edited to construct a video by using Moviemaker or iMovie. The video below is something I created on Moviemaker using my personal photography images, music, and text. Putting all of this together was a creative way to show of my photography. 

Since all children in the 21st Century are extremely technological advanced, it would be a great idea for teachers to use audio recordings, images and videos within teaching context. However, it is the teachers responsibility to make sure the tools are used appropriately. Using a range of digital tools that is becoming the basis of everyday life is a fantastic way to make learning fun and engaging for students. 

Jenny Abel 

Source: Google Images

Week 3 - Blogs, Wikis and Websites

This week in Managing E-Learning we learnt about Blogs, Wikis and Websites. People in the 21st Century have so many ICT tools at their finger tips and most of them (including myself) wouldn't have a clue as to how you would use them! 

BLOGS

As you can already see, I obviously know how to use a blog. I have been blogging for the past three weeks so I think I have finally got this down pat. This is known as Blogger which is powered by Google. It is extremely easy to use and allows you to personalise your blog and change the layout. The greatest thing about Blogger is that it is FREE! 

I believe that blogs can easily be used as a learning tool within classrooms. They could be used for assignments where the students reflect on their learning experiences throughout a unit. Blogs could also be used as a classroom news letter where the teacher keeps parents updated on what is being learnt each week and when the important dates are approaching. Blogs have many other fantastic uses as long as the students are taught how to use it correctly. We are all well aware that the internet has many risks. Therefore, students need to be educated about online safety, cuber bullying and copyrights. 

BLOGS
STRENGTHS    Ø Blogger is free to all users Ø  Easy to use (does not require much knowledge) Ø  Can be customised as much as you like ØEnables you to embed videos, links and graphics ØAllows you to post anonymously  ØYou can change your blog to private	WEAKNESSES Ø Your blog can be accessed by anyone unless you change your privacy settings.  Ø Only one person can add blog posts and viewers can only comment Ø  Easy to unintentionally post personal information and breach copyrights of videos, information and graphics
OPPORTUNITIES Ø Students can use a blog as a reflective journal for part of an assessment, which can be checked online by the teacher at anytime. Ø Blogs can engage students as it is an interactive and personalised form of technology Ø  Blogs can allow students to continue learning outside of the classroom. Ø Gives students a sense of ownership and pride for their work Ø Targets student's technological interest and abilities	THREATS Ø Risk of students using the blog unsafely by posting personal information ØCopyright issues could arise when using a blog to share research Ø Customising and personalising their blog can lead to distraction Ø Increases opportunities for cyber bullying

WIKI

This week I created my first ever wiki as one of my activities. I found this process fairly straight forward. There were step by step instructions given on how to create the wiki page. This was great as it allowed me to easily upload a video clip and image. Wiki allows you to customise with fonts and images. As mentioned last week in my blog "Six hats are better than one!", wiki is similar to a webpage where it allows you to read, exchange, edit and modify ideas. It is known as a more collaborative sharing space. Unlike a blog, wiki is used more as a discussion based site rather than a reflection. Here is a link to my wiki: http://jennyabel.wikispaces.com/home 

WIKIS
STRENGTHS    Ø Collaborative learning space Ø Engages learners in active learning Ø Can personalise to suit the needs to students  ØCan embed videos, links and images ØCan post anonomously   ØYou can change your blog to private to some group members can access and edit it	WEAKNESSES Ø Can be difficult to understand how to use Ø Only one person can edit the wiki at a time Ø  Wiki can quiet easily become cluttered  ØCan distract students when they are on the internet
OPPORTUNITIES Ø A space for students to present their opinions and views on specific topics Ø Used as an online brainstorming activity  Ø Can be monitored by the teacher  Ø Targets student's technological interest and abilities	THREATS Ø Risk of students using their wiki unsafely by posting personal information ØStudents can become confused with wiki and therefore become disenaged Ø Customising and personalising their wiki can lead to distraction Ø Students could add their own ideas without reading the information first

WEBSITES

Making a website was very new to me. I found my first experience of creating a website a little bit confusing. However, after playing around with the site of a while and figuring out how it all works, it soon made sense to me. I feel a bit insecure because websites are very open and I'm not sure how I feel about everyone being able to view it. I believe that using websites within a classroom can be an effective tools to help students learn and express their individual creativity. The website allowed me to customise to how much or little I like. It also enabled me to upload video clips and images. When using a website within a classroom you could upload different activities and games for students to complete and learn from. Here is a website I have created: http://jennyabel.weebly.com/

WEBSITES
STRENGTHS    Ø  Can embed videos, links and images Ø  Can be customised as much as you like to make your website creative and personal ØCan be edited at anytime by the author ØWebsite such as Weebly offers free templates ØEngaging, interactive and fun	WEAKNESSES Ø Students can easily get distracted as   websites are extremely customisable Ø  Easy to unintentionally post personal information and breach copyrights of videos, information and graphics
OPPORTUNITIES Ø Students can post their work on their websites.  Ø Allows students to be engaged in learning Ø Gives students a sense of ownership and pride for their work ØCan be used as a presenting tool for students to publish their assignments Ø Targets student's technological interest and abilities	THREATS Ø Risk of students using the websites unsafely by posting personal information ØCopyright issues could arise when using a website to share research Ø Customising and personalising their website can lead to distraction

Jenny Abel

Week 3

In class this week we were introduced to a variety of ICT tools such as voki, wordle and fodey. Before this week I have already had some experience with Voki throughout my high schooling years. Therefore, I was fairly confident with using it. However, I have never heard of Fodey or Wordle. After exploring these tools and finding out how to use them, I played with the different ICT tools and created these two images below.

Source: Gernerated on Fodey 

Source: Generate on Wordle

Week 2 - Six hats are better than One!

In our tutorial this week we were introduced to de Bono's six thinking hats. In relation to the six thinking hats we were to complete an activity which allowed us to express whether or not we think the use of mobile phones should be introduced into schools as a learning tool. This activity was to be completed in a wiki which had been developed in the past. 

My previous experiences with wiki had me concerned when I first looked at this activity. I have never been confident with using wiki as it has always scared me. Essentially, a wiki is quite similar to a webpage where it allows you to read, exchange, edit and modify ideas. Everyone can see your view points and opinions. However, a blog is based on who you are. It is where you can express your feelings and reflect on your experiences. Today I overcame this fear and concurred wiki with ease. Turns out wiki was not as confronting as I thought it was going to be. The simple layout and instructions definitely made it easy to understand and follow.  

Source: Google Images 

Some people can find the six thinking hats extremely confronting. The six thinking hats are made up of 6 different colours. These consist of:

White Hat - Facts, information, data, research needed. (Bloom's knowledge). 

Red Hat - Feelings, hunches, emotions, intuition. (Bloom's evaluation).

Black Hat - Caution, risks, judgment. (Bloom's analysis and evaluation). 

Yellow Hat - Benefits, good, vale, strengths. (Bloom's analysis and evaluation). 

Green Hat - Creativity, new ideas, brainstorming, predicting. (Bloom's synthesis). 

Blue Hat - Thinking about thinking, metacognition, summaising. (Bloom's comprehension and application).

Source: Screen shot from wiki page 

My original thoughts towards whether or not mobile phones should be used in a classroom as a learning tool were very negative. I felt as thought the black hat was the only hat I wanted to wear. However, after thinking further into the question began to change my mind and tried on the the other hats. I recongnised that to be a great educator means you need to be resilient and adapt to change. Therefore, being creative, resourceful and doing what interests the students. So why not give mobile phones a change, right? I began to make connections with the facts and other uses for mobile phone and decided that it would be worth expressing my alternative view points and opinions. De Bono's six thinking hats encouraged me to consider different vies through a range of thinking strategies. By wearing each different hat it allowed me to be open minded to the subject and consider all outcomes. This is a highly valued strategy to use throughout learning. On the right is a screenshot of my participate, view points and opinions throughout the wiki activity.

"Mobile phones are forcing children to become more literate. Without the ability to txt, they cannot fully participate in their own cultures of communication" - Perter Yeomans

Jenny Abel 

Source: Google Images