Final Blog

Finally I have come to the end of the Web 2.0 Course. I would never have made it if it was not for Scott Hansen.  Scott led most of our staff through each of the modules which allowed us to be able to work together and learn together. There were also many other benefits such building a common eLearning language, having a shared experience and building staff morale – unexpected outcomes from the commencement of the course.

When I look at the ILEARN model, I notice that I was able to achieve many of its outcomes.  

  

The Web2.0 course has also been a great learning experience for me. I have learnt to use and apply some of the tools in my classroom practice.

While the course was meant to be about 20 hours (10 modules x 2 hours), I found it took a lot longer for me.  After Scott Hansen introduced us to each of the modules and navigated us around the tools for that topic, I would then spend individual time trying to work on that module on my own. The way the course is set up though was brilliant. I could access the Web 2.0 Course any time of the day or night – seven days a week. What a fabulous tool to be able to access.

Looking at the ile@rn model and blooms taxonomy model at the end of the course is a great way to conclude the course.  

As children learn in so many ways through so many different tasks at different levels and at a different pace, the Blooms Taxonomy digital model links well to the web 2.0 tools.

CREATE - digital story telling, itunes, flickr

EVALUATING - podcasts, class wiki, blogging

ANALYSING - blogs, glogster, bubblus

APPLYING - flickr, delicious, itunes

UNDERSTANDING - blog writing

REMEMBERING - RSS feeds, websites, bookmarks

While I found the course quite challenging at times, I also took heart from following other people’s blogs. The blogs were also really valuable for me to reflect on my own learning. The course was also great as I could work at my own pace, in my own time at my own level.

I am now more aware of the infinite number of technology tools that are “out there.” I will never ever get on top of them but I take heart from being an “ongoing” learner. 

Module 9 and 10

Two weeks ago we looked at Scootle. I have looked at this before but could only go so far before I had to subscribe. It has fabulous content - great for classroom teachers. The issue of cost, access, passwords etc need to be further explored but it is a great teaching tool.

We also looked at Social Networking sites such as facebook. I do not have my own facebook page but my sons do and I have navigated around their pages to know something about it. I would be very concerned about using Facebook in schools. I am aware that one is meant to be 13 years old before you can have a facebook page but I know that students as young as 8 in our school have a facebook page. Already Facebook has caused problems in the primary school with various inappropriate posts and bullying issues. Where does the line end before an issue is home related and not school related?

We also looked at other Social Networks that encourage professional, social and learning communities through the use of Wikis. (Some of the posts on some Wikis are unbelievable.... some people must have nothing better to do than to share their life story!) I was also surprised at some sights that are available, such as Virtual Worlds!!! There is so much "out there". I'm blown away.

Module 5 iTunes

iTunes is a fabulous way of accessing music, podcasts and other great resources for the classroom.

One of the best features of iTunes is iTunesU. This was only started a couple of years ago by universities in America. It contains lecture notes, powerpoints, resources to complete whole university courses. iTunesU is mainly aimed at tertiary students but secondary schools are now accessing them for their students and some primary resources are gradually being added. You can use this program to find heaps of resources for your own personal use and also, to a lesser extent, for the classroom. Some of the applications on iTunesU were programs for learning another language. These would be great to download and use for our new arrivals students. They could use the "How To Speak English" programs.

Another great download was TEDTALKS. This contains excellent podcasts containing 20 minute documentaries about current topics in Science, Computers, History and a huge range of interesting and contemporary topics.

You Tube is also a great tool. It should be used though with protection. The only two rules to remember about using You Tube is that you can't download and store videos on your computer (however you could add to Favourites) ans also you can't use content that a has a copyright on it.

I absolutely loved this Module. Great for future investigations.