Glogster

SWOT Analysis on Glogster

Strengths - Fun, colourful, user friendly, allows for text, audio, video, images, graphics, drawings, data - appeals to all styles of learners.  Students would enjoy creating presentations on this great ICT Tool.
Weaknesses - Planning is required by the teaching to achieve successful learning through this tool, so it doesn't just turn into a personal poster page.
Opportunities - Students can use it as a collaboration tool and once Glogs are created can be embedded in a Blog, Wiki or web page, so parents, friends and possibly other schools can see.
Threats - Since it is a communication tool teachers must safeguard students and administer the main classroom account and have the students create their accounts without any personal contact details.

My First Movie

Watch out Steven Spielberg - Simone Benoit is an upcoming director/producer/writer....................

SWOT analysis of Movie Making:
Strengths - This ICT is unlimited in its strengths as it is a very powerful tool.  Bloom's Taxonomy and Learning Engagement would be covered in one swoop within this technology if students have to research,write, produce, collaborate - everything to make the movie.

Weaknesses-If students make a movie the teacher would have to be careful that they all understood the technology, so you don't end up with a few who can actually drive this vehicle.  Collaboration would have to be done in small groups.

Opportunities-This tool can be used to make simple movies, but also would allow for more complex movie making.

Threats - Students and Teachers would have to be very careful with referencing and copyright.

PMI on Podcasting

PLUS for Podcasting - it is another interesting ICT Tool to use to maintain interest for children in learning.  Children could work in groups and record their ideas for a lesson which can be shared with everyone.  They love to hear their own voices - record a story with everyone reading their part.  Younger children can be recorded reading at beginning of term and re-recorded at end of term to gauge their level achieved.  

Minus- Podcasting by itself would limit the type of learners it would appeal to, so video or photos added would engage a variety of learning styles.  If downloading Podcasts from the internet it is important to thoroughly check content. 

Interesting - There are a lot of podcasts by experts out their, so this tool can be of great support to a teacher who is time limited - download to an IPOD and listen to them to get the creative ideas flowing.  It would also be an excellent tool to use for students to use to explain assignments as they are viewing it online or explain an outline sheet for an assignment. 

Upload Image from Flickr to Picnik then to Blog

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5566095827_873f0776ef_m.jpg

I uploaded a picture from Flickr into Picnik then resized it and made the file smaller.  I then embedded  the link and photo into my Blog.  Picnik place their logo on the image because I am not a subscribed user.


Picnik - this is a great working tool for teachers/students to use for image uploading if they have a blog or wiki or any other ICT Tool which requires photos.  Also, if they require photos to be manipulated - it's all here.  


Flickr and Creative Commons - this is great - amazing photos available to use carefully by noting the different protocols available under the licenses.

Assessment task 1 - Learning design brief

Microsoft Office 2011

Assessment Task 1 – Learning Design Brief

What have I learned and how can I apply this to my future learners?  In my conclusion for my blog I need to reflect upon the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) tools we have used in this course and review how they can cover elements of learning theories and thinking routines to develop intrinsic learning.   Also, I need to review whether some of these tools are more suited for individual learning or collaboratively and if I believe there are any obstacles with their use. Finally, I need to understand where to place or use these tools in the suggested framework which is Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy/Learning Engagement Planning Framework.

The ICT tools we used were great! Week 0 saw us create a blog, plus create a profile to be added to a wiki.  In our readings and online activities we have clicked on hyperlinks which took us to website readings or video links.  We also met Voki’s Angela and Rachael and clicked on Jeff’s Avatar to introduce us to topics – fun and interesting.  We learned how to add photos, videos, URL addresses to our blogs and as we became braver we could go into our settings of our blog and change the look of our page.  It was assumed by our teacher that we had basic computer skills (base knowledge) and that by creating, using and adding to these tools the scaffolding was in place for us to increase our ICT knowledge. 

Now that we have been introduced to the ICT tools we will be using and begin to read about learning theories we can better understand how to use these tools to support learning in our classrooms.  Smith (2011) states in the introduction and overview of this course in Week 1, ” Each week is divided into two sections.  One is theoretical, in which your academic and pedagogical knowledge is built.  The second section is practical, where you are asked to select digital technologies and explore them”.  Already, from this one statement we can see the scaffolding of learning starting at the bottom of the framework (Lower Order Thinking Skills).

So now that we have some base knowledge we need to explore this further.  We are introduced to readings and online activities about learning styles and theories.  We also participate further in the profile wiki to select a partner.   The scaffolding of this learning lets us discover our learning styles, but makes us ponder the question how will I cater to class of 25 students of diverse learning needs? We have to choose the right ICT tool to find out these needs as well as cater to them.  I also have to consider does this tool cover elements of Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivism and Connectivism?  If we have these together we can support the diverse needs of our learners.  

The profile wiki would be an excellent tool to use in understanding your students learning needs as an individual and the group as a whole.  Also, by everyone being able to view each other’s profiles it supports collaboration and trust.  Smith (2011) states in the Welcome notes in Week 1, “The wiki activities are designed to model ways to scaffold online “spaces” to draw out a range of thinking perspectives.  They are designed to support networking, since you will be working with the same cohort across the year....”.  This wiki supports both individual and group learning and moves us through understanding and applying of the lower-order thinking in the framework.

Blogging the reflections of the learning journey is another great ICT tool.  It lets an individual to share their feelings, but also allows the group to participate in this and support each other in the blogs. Trust can be built from this for everyone participating in the course.  The blog entries also act as a form of assessment for a teacher to gauge the level of learning achieved by the student.  Smith (2011) states, “The purpose of this blog is a reflective journal.  So as you experience activities, and digest and analyse your readings, this is a place to share your reflections with others.”  Blogging is a great activity to be used throughout your teaching framework as it reflects the learning journey of your student.  

The learning theories wiki was interesting because it was a base to post thoughts and collaborate on a reading about learning.  The thinking frameworks used in this wiki were PMI Scaffold and Expert Jigsaw Strategy.  Again, this would be a great collaboration tool in the classroom for groups to post their ideas from individual work as well as group work.   Smith (2011) states, “by using scaffold such as PMI, you ask your students to transform knowledge.  This means that they are unable to merely copy and paste somebody else’s ideas onto the wiki, they have to transform them.  This is the transformative power of ICT.  An important lesson in your building repertoire of skills.” This thinking strategy and ICT Tool move us from the lower thinking into the higher thinking of the framework. 

The mobile phone wiki introduced us to another thinking routine - Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats.  This strategy scaffolds learning to the highest level in the framework – intrinsic learning.  Smith (2011) explains it completely:

The first is to participate in the mobile phones wiki, using a thinking routine called de Bono's Six Thinking Hats. This is a very useful routine for both individual and group work that scaffolds a way to examine a range of perspectives on a contentious issue.

Each colour hat represents a different perspective. By gathering the ideas of a group of people within the wiki, you are presented with a huge set of perspectives that is capable of informing your decision-making and judgment in the construction of a balanced argument. When examined, this activity is about analysis and evaluation. And when you combine all of the perspectives to make a decision, you are engaging in a synthesis of information. Right at the top of Bloom's Taxonomy. (EDED20491, 2011, p. 1, Resources, Activities Week 2)

Finally, in drawing this altogether it is important for a teacher to have clear framework in place, and to know what ICT tool to use when and where in their framework and understand clearly how it relates to the learning theories.   Collaboration is a very important throughout the framework as it engages students and and creates successful learning. The thinking strategies used must continue to scaffold the learning upwards towards intrinsic learning.  If all of these elements are in place successful teaching along with meaningful, creative and engaged learning occurs.

References

Smith, G (2011, February 28).  Introduction and overview of this course.  Retrieved from

CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491, ICT ‘s for Learning Design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au

Smith, G (2011, February 28).  Week 1 Email.  Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491,

                ICT’s for Learning Design, http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au

Smith, G (2011, February 28).  Week 1 Email.  Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491,

                ICT’s for Learning Design, http://e-courses.cqu.ed.au

Smith, G (2011, March 10). Welcome to Week 2. Review of last Week.  Retrieved from CQUniversity

e-courses, EDED20491, ICT’s for Learning Design, http//e-courses.cqu.edu.au

Smith, G (2011, March 10). Activities Week2. Activities Index.  Retrieved from CQUniversity

e-courses,EDED20491, ICT’s for Learning Design,http//e-courses.cqu.edu.au

Weebly Web, Wiki, Blog

Weebly Web page - I like this web page and feel it would be a great tool for a teacher to use for students to visit and gain access to for course instructions or view online videos, links and the list goes on.  As the teacher would be the webmaster he/she can add their own content and be in control. Professional looking and allows for a lot more settings and functions. 


Wiki - Great basic tool to use.  I liked learning how to set it up and feel this would be a great ICT for the students to access to work on group assignments.  It would allow a teacher to set up a number of wiki's for different groups or different assignments. Limited in settings and functions. 

Blog- Now that I am confident in using my blog I would recommend for students to set one up and use it as a reflection tool just as we have in this course. It allows for more individual creativity.  Since I have used this tool quite a bit so far I would like to explore it further.  My PMI analysis shows I feel more strongly about this ICT.

Moving forward.....Simone

PMI on Blogs for Learning using Text2MindMap and Picnik

I used Text2MindMap to create this PMI for Blogs - great tool and easy to use, however when you try to upload to the Blog there was a struggle make it fit and maintain quality.  I tried resizing in Picnik, but struggled to get the right look.  This is probably more due to operator error than a problem with Picnik.

SWOT Analysis on Website for teaching

Strengths:  Content and structure can be decided, no one else can edit or add to it, you can share, network, upload, download, publish.  Content can be text, video, audio, images, etc.
Weaknesses:  Students cannot contribute to content
Opportunity:  It can be taken to the world wide web
Threats:  Everyone can access it, so extra pre-cautions would have to be taken in what you are publishing.

SWOT Analysis Learning Potential of a Wiki

Strengths:  Collaborative Learning, allows editing, modifying, information can be added or removed, knowledge sharing base, owned by students, builds trust, fun
Weaknesses:  When used as a learning tool consideration must be taken for the way the learning will occur and be scaffolded correctly.  If not set up carefully information can be edited incorrectly or lost.
Opportunities:  It can be a powerful tool to be used in learning frameworks.
Threats:  Trust is important

Learning Design Framework