Final Reflection. WoW!

Final reflection:

Wow, Web 2.0! Somehow or other I survived to tell the tale! Actually as I am not “tech savvy” I made it with the assistance of several patient people who I'd like to publicly thank!! Matt and Mel and my many fellow travellers along this path, thankyou!!

However having said all that, I've learnt soooo much, it is an opportunity I would encourage others to complete. 

Now that its done and the self imposed pressure is off, I am looking  forward to investigate tools at my own pace, leisure, interest and requirements of my students.

Many tools challenged me but I could see many were immediately accessable, useful to my role and really helpful to assist in student's learning. I have begun to incorporate these into my resources. Others that will take more practise I hope to develop and include in my repertoire in the future.  Some, I see are being used very successfully in the classroom. I have today, posted a 'PS' on the google docs module. 

There were many advantages to learning in this manner. The flexibility, allowing it to fit around my life, the U tube explanations were invaluable, the availability of reading other's blogs and learning from them.   The “on line community” is a valuable avenue for sharing ideas when there is little or no time in a busy school environment. I liked the way the modules were set up along with access to the theory behind children's learning ie Bloom's Taxonomy.  

Above all I found I was surprised at how exhilarated I became by the successes and the free tools available to assist teachers and students.             

It is astonishing, the changes in the learning environment we are witnessing. We are being given the opportunity to challege students in a unique way, which also assists us to keep them engaged in their world when they are used to so much stimulation. 

How lucky are these students, to have a myriad of opportunities to display their learning, and become independent learners.  To the less gifted child, a new world is being opened, where he/she can engage at their own level, and to some degree, pace. They too can be introduced to tools to accommodate their learning style, to be involved and fully engaged in parallel tasks highlighting their abilities.  The possible autonomy now available to students with regard to their own learning is incredible.
 To all those involved in the designing and implementation of Web 2.0 thankyou!! 

Wikis!!!

Module 10.  Wikis!!!!

I have been looking forward to investigating wikis as several teachers at our school are employing this tool to work on assignments with their classes.  One teacher in particular, created an eye catching wiki, and the year 7 students appear to be loving it as the “conversation” between the students and their teacher is really worthwhile. It also revealed some humour between students and teacher which is encouraging the development of a really healthy and productive relationship with the younger members of our community. These are often the short conversations that do not occur in a busy classroom. So much more than questions and answers is happening!! You can tell I was really impressed!! 

So, wikis not only encourage the communication and collaboration between class members, it also gives a platform for the quieter and/or less confident students to observe their peers and “speak” to class members.  This would also include the students who find some tasks difficult: they may have under developed research skills, know nothing about the subject or where to start, have difficulty putting their thoughts and ideas into writing...all those kids who are not necessarily our special kids but require some form of assistance.  For special education students, this is a fantastic  tool. Work could be modified so as not to highlight their inabiities, providing a vehicle for them to access parallel tasks.

Using this tool, other teachers may visit the wiki and check on a student's progress/attitude/involvement in this particular subject. An opportunity to enlarge the teachers knowledge of a student.

Well, guess what?. With the help of one of our IT  clever people, I have created a wiki to assist a particular student with some specific tasks to assist his development. Within the wiki we created three pages. His keyboard skills need practise, so we created a page offering exercises to assist him, as well as web sites offering games to encourage these skills (the exercises offer the additional advantage of  enhancing his vocab.and spelling). We included a page to assist him with future research for some assignments. This page will be used for filtered research so he is able to access relevant information more readily. It may include user friendly websites as well as research specific to his topic and his level. The third page will be used for maths revision as well as maths topics he finds difficult. The typing page is ready to go, the other two will be ready by early next term.

We discussed access. Apart from the student involved and myself, both our IT specialists have access as well as some specialist staff. His class teachers will also have access as an assignment in their subject is attempted, using this forum. 

Wikis give this student the opportunity to be  challenged at a level relevant to him,    in an unique way, and hopefully it will enhance his enthusiasm.  He will also have access to information which will save him possible embarrassment from peers.

Scootle!/Social networking

Module 9 
Scootle! I'm not sure about scootle yet. All the blogs I follow seem to value it, but the couple of searches I tried were unsuccessful. I found I couldn't refine the search to find what I was looking for. My searches resulted in a broad range of info totally irrevelent for my professional needs. I imagine the resources are there somewhere, but I couldn't locate anything. Might indeed be valuable, I'll try this at another time.

Social networking: mmmm! Have huge reservations about some of these sites. I may use twitter to explore personal interests in the future, but have no need at this time.

PS
I have had another search through some of the Scootle activities anad have found one or two activities that may be of value to some students in the future. So with more exposure I will develop the skills to become more time efficient in my searches.

RSS! Good fun!

Module 8.
RSS! I had noticed this icon but with so many new visuals to negotiate, I had ignored it for the present. I can see this would be a great personal tool for keeping up to date with favourite sites and to view my colleagues' progress through the course. I have perused some sites with the view to adding them, but I think I will wait and further my research as I can see one might need to be very selective with subscriptions. When I do begin to subscribe, used wisely, I can see it will be a huge time saver in keeping up to date.


For students, I think this would save class research time, would be a great tool for group work and, for our special students, an update from their favourite podcasts for example, auditory stories might be a highlight.


PS.
I have now subscribed and have also deleted! At his point I have saved one subscription to an education site, and have found the huge amount of information is very broad. I will need to learn to refine this tool. Good fun!

Module 7. Delicious!!

Module 7.
. Delicious is a great resource. One can build quite a library of useful websites, and have access to them on any computer at any time. This is a great way of sharing sites with friends and colleagues as well, saves e-mailing them or copying them down and getting them wrong, which I've done!

. In addition, having access to other people's endless searching is so generous and what a time saver. I can see this as a great resource for saving students' class time, searching for relevant information. I'm not sure how many sites would need to be offered for a whole class to search within the same class time.

. Expanding this idea a little, for students with limited research skills and/or learning disabilities, a limited number of sites, or sites specially chosen, with the students' abilities in mind, is a possible way to accommodate our special students.

My Glogster Page.

 Module 6.

Bubble.us. This tool would definitely suit some students' learning style. Great tool, for example, for the kids that have trouble with the written word/spelling/reading slabs of information. I had a dabble and can think of many uses for the student/classroom.. Many of the same reasons, I could apply to glogster, and did so! I created a Glogster, and found it easy to use, but being inexperienced in many tools, found it difficult to save to my blog.


Click here to view my first attempt at a 'Glogster.'

Kids Love Stories!!

Module 5:

Kids love stories!

Having recently acquired an i pod it was fun to dabble with downloading music, but I had no idea such a wealth of resources were available in digital stories. Kids love stories!  So off I went searching, and found loads of stories for a student of every age, ability and interest. In our school i pods are available for some students to access the class novel. One of our students has an interest in castles, kings etc, and so while the class is studying Macbeth, this particular student is going to enjoy an audio story about a king. An accompanying work booklet is now almost complete to enhance his learning. And, the i pod is ready to go! He is looking forward to this special task, and is hoping to be the envy of his more able peers, with access to an i pod during class!  

This is a great tool to engage students,  it gives students the opportunity to use a much loved tool in the class. Those that find the written word difficult to access have an alternative. It can enthuse a flagging interest and/or refresh a student's interest in class work, and... it gives the kids a break from the teacher's voice and the written word.

I have seen Utube used very successfully in the classroom and I've had a quick look at Teachers Tube, School Tube and Teachers TV and can see some huge advantages for students and teachers. It must be very time consuming to investigate so many resources available, and I am looking forward to looking at Delicious in the next module to assist here.   

flower

Module 4:

Flickr! Although I am not as into photos as when my children were young, I can immediately see a use I will employ at the first opportunity! Photos on school excursions! Some students have trouble absorbing all the information presented on the day. The resulting worksheet/assignment can be enhanced by using photos to jog the memory, clarify information, indeed, use in their presentation.

Creative commons could be a very useful tool for our artistic students to share their talents.

I was recently invited to a celebration where the family provided photos of the guest of honour in many social settings that included many guests. This was quietly presented on a large tv screen in the background. It ran all afternoon, with many guests stopping for different moments to enjoy, many memories were discussed, shared and enjoyed. Would this idea be good for school open nights for incoming families? Would it enhance other occasions where those families of the school community are invited for a showcase night? It would highlight the strengths and opportunities of a school. Great for student morale?

Module 3:

g Docs. I am really looking forward to having a play with this. Theoretically, I think I can see some really great uses for this. For some less able students who find creating a piece of writing, or sentence structure difficult, the teacher/aide could start it for them, and have them complete and continue. With a few sessions like this, they would grow in confidence and create more for themselves. For example, recently some of our students, after viewing a movie, were required to report on themes portrayed and the techniques that were used to portray their chosen theme. Many less confident students were very reluctant to start, and needed support to continue. Apart from providing scaffolds etc, using this format, teachers could provide feedback and support outside the time restrictions of the classroom setting on an individual (or group) basis.

This may also provide a less public way to manage different learning levels within a classroom.

For less able students, this could be a great vehicle to use for modifying tasks, parallel planning (such as modifying curriculum into manageable tasks) for life skills students while still enjoying an inclusive approach.

Another students use that immediately comes to mind is our debating team! This clever group's practise and preparation might be enhanced by thoughts and contributions outside their school time.

Another suggestion where it may be useful is where colleagues are all contributing to the same piece of work in their own time and space. Each member can immediately see the others' contributions and continue on. For example, where a progress report on a student is required, each teacher could post his/her own observations to the same document. This approach could be used for curriculum planning, policy planning, calendar planning etc.

MODULE 3 PS..October 2010:

 P.S. Recently one of our teachers employed google docs to have his english students submit drafts of their essays. As I assist in this class, I was also able to assist students with completing their work. It was thrilling to be involved and watch the development of ideas and understanding of concepts of some of the students, until finally their polished final product was ready for submission. Later, came the excitement of results. So very rewarding. 

Module 2:

We've created a blog! In theory, I can see some uses already. Where a blog is created for a purpose by a group of students, the possibilities might be endless. A group of very creative and able lap top students (they all seem to qualify in this area) all working on the one group task, could each contribute using their particular strength be it photos/pictures, collecting data, creating editing text. Alternately, students with similar interests eg music/art, love to share their interest, could collaborate and develop their own skills through peer support, eg reading and writing skills. A group task could be completed on an excursion, camp, on line research, interviews, a school newspaper etc. Even a group brain storm blog. Any of these could all be presented to the rest of the class.

In addition and most importantly, this possibly provides a tool for those less articulate or confident students to “pull their weight” in collaborative tasks, using their sometimes hidden strengths. Working in their own space and time, they choose the pace, rather than not competing at all with the quicker “leaders' in a group say around a classroom table.

Web 2.0

Module 1:

I admit after my first post, I was reluctant to continue reporting as I didn't see its value for myself or other potential readers. I also thought that since I am only an aide where hours are dependent on funding, my applications are limited. True! But.. this very limiting condition of employment of not enough hours to help not enough students is shared by all active teachers. And, perhaps if I continue to learn this area of technology, some very useful tools may enhance my ability to assist students. Indeed, these young, keen, innovative teachers who seem to have this technology mastered still need support in some very challenging classes. Particularly in assisting some less able students in a class room setting.

So here we are. As I think I said, this experience is very daunting but working with a group of colleagues with an able leader, we should indeed manage with minimum heartburn. Looking at other peoples' blogs is interesting, I can't think of a personal use at this point, apart from documenting my progress through Web 2.0. We created an i google account and I am starting to see that the inevitable number of accounts some colleagues are mentioning will take some managing. However, its the door to progress I guess.

OK, finally it's time to start. Is it just me or are others daunted by the width and breadth of this thing called "Technology"? We've completed two sessions and how am I feeling? Can I do it? Using our students' favourite response to any and many questions? "I DON'T KNOW" Like many of them, there are occasional flashes of enthusiasm, some understanding, much trial and error and even some output. Though, I'm reminded how they often feel when presented with new info.

Anyhow, also like them under our very patient tutor's close eye, we will develop confidence! I notice our next session is on G Docs and I'm curious as to what that's about. So I shall look forward to that with genuine interest, some pretend confidence and gratefully received support from our patient leader.

ASCBC Staff Class

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