Animations and Simulations

Animations and simulations (such as Gizmos) are great for learning.  As it is stated in Explore Learning, the use of Gizmos (or simulations) actively engage students and encourage inquiry (and research supports their use as a learning tool).  I loved looking at the Froguts website and the demonstration on the dissection of a Bull Frog.  It was great because it had a combination of visual, auditory (although, using a computer generated voice was not the best choice) and active participation.  And, to some extent, it was self-paced.  This way, students can have access to a virtual dissection, without the mess and fuss!  I think they are fantastic.

Novice at Work on Picnik!

I was experimenting with Picnik.  As I am not use to using this sort of software, it has taken me some time just to explore the basics.  I am not very good at it, but imagine the fun students will have in creating masterpieces with Picnik (using an ordinary photo like this one)?  Here, I have cropped, resized and fiddled with the one image, just for fun.  Nothing purposeful, but imagine its use in the Arts.  With other photos, I created a collage and used a template.  Whoohoo!

Uploading Flickr Images To Blog

Happy Furry Friday :)
Originally uploaded by meg price

Here is a someone else's photo I have uploaded from Flickr.  This has been a time consuming process and I don't know if I am doing it the right way. By chance, I stumbled upon a button that says 'send to blog' and I thought that this was what I was supposed to do. It isn't an option on all photos, though. I'm not entirely sure why that is. Maybe the publishers have limited the options and don't want the photos splashed around willy-nilly? I tried adding a photo to 'Gallery', but I have no idea where that ended up?!!

I did, however, manage to upload some of my own photos, but with uncertainty. I have a fear of putting any personal photos on the world wide web. Once they are there, I feel I have no control over where they end up (not that anyone really cares about my photos, but I do). The "private' option doesn't appease me.

In terms of students using Flickr (or similar programs), I think it is a great way to source photos for projects, presentations, story telling etc that would otherwise be limited. Students could search for photos that represent certain emotions, events, places or topics for example. The other great thing about Flickr, is that you can use it in conjunction with Picnik to modify the photos in all sorts of ways!  It certainly opens up the opportunity for creativity and artistic flair.  In Picnik, a photo is not just a photo anymore; it's an artform.  When I was in primary school, I was pretty much limited to magazines, newspapers and those project packs you use to get from the newsagency! Does anyone remember those? It was sooo hard to find pictures!! 

In terms of students uploading their own photos, I think an introduction to cybersafety would be important - what is appropriate for uploading and when it should be used, things to avoid etc. I think Flickr would be great for students to record their work - take photos and short videos of things they have done in class (and elsewhere) that they can then share. These photos can then be used for portfolios, blogs, wikis, power point presentations, regular presentations, reports etc.

As teachers, we can also use photos to enhance our pedagogy. Images can help engage learners, maintain interest, promote discussion, and perhaps explain something that words cannot describe effectively. However, the only problem I had was finding the "right" photo. This can be challenging.

Confusion - My Middle Name

baby with confused face
Originally uploaded by Elwynn

I am so confused with Flickr and copyright etc, etc, etc. I've been trying to upload photos to my blog but with no luck. This picture truly reflects how I feel and isn't she just gorgeous? Hopefully this will work this time.......



Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle.  It actually worked.  It has only taken a good part of the day.  Let's see if I can do it again?

Embedded Professional Learning - Already?

I have recently found out the school where I will be doing my first EPL experience (or for want of a better word "prac").  My first initial reaction was excitement which has now been overrun with anxiety and fear (probably of the unknown and all the assignments that I need to do in that time).  I'm perplexed by how fast the first few weeks have simply passed me by and wondering how much faster they will fly once I start EPL.  I'll be flying by the seat of my pants, no doubt!!  I just hope that I find the time to get everything done and still keep my head above water.  Come the 12th of April, the real roller coaster ride begins.......

Interactive Whiteboards - WOW!

I have just finished watching some videos on Utube regarding interactive whiteboards.  Regarding MY knowledge of interactive whiteboards - it is zilch.  I have only heard of them, that's it, but I must say that even though I haven't seen them or used them, I've always thought that they sounded like a marvellous idea and I am itching to see one (which is amazing since I am the epitomy of the techno dummy!). 

After watching the video  (Interactive Whiteboards: boon or boondoggle), that provides arguments for and against their value in schools, it seems both parties had good arguments.  Now I feel I have to reserve my judgement until I see them for myself and my excitement has waivered a bit with the reality check.   That said, I then watched the next video and I was in awe!!  Another video (Interactive Teaching and Learning in Australia) also briefly showed  the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom and I am truly amazed.  I have never seen anything like that before in my life (yes, I live under a rock) and I really want to check it out!!!  Imagine using that in maths and science or anywhere really.  I am a visual person and I think something like this would help my understanding no end, so imagine it's application for students' learning.  I am really excited!!!!!!!  Here's hoping that my school has interactive whiteboards so that I can them see in action!! For me (even though I haven't seen one yet), out of all the tools I have played with thus far, the interactive whiteboard excites me the most.

That said, it is important that if these resources are implemented in schools, that teachers receive adequate training and ongoing support in their use.  And it is also important to know the reasons for using them. If teaching practices are going to remain the same, then it will be a very expensive, glorified white/black board and probably do little to promote student engagement and participation or help students achieve learning outcomes.  

My Powerpoint Presentation

Here is my power point presentation targeted toward a year 7 class. Unfortunately, somewhere between creation and embedding it into my blog, I have lost all the sound and animation. I don't know how to fix this yet.

Smoking Hazardous to Your Health

View more presentations from guest457a3d.

Playing with Power Point

In my next post, you will see my power point presentation.  I chose to do a presentation on smoking that targeted Year 7 students.  There are so many social, economic, health and environmental issues with smoking and we can all relate to it on some level.  Our students are not exempt.  I chose a health approach.  I also thought that year 7 would be ideal because they are on the cusp of highschool during which time most kids start to smoke.  The activities that I suggested could easily follow the Engagement Theory of learning.  In small groups, they are required to create an anti-smoking campaign using any media of their choice targeting a particular group of their choosing (e.g. parents with kids, youth, general smokers, friends, pregnant women etc), as well as compile a resource kit with information, advice, community supports, support groups to help them quit.

Regarding using PowerPoint, I spent an enormous amount of time playing with it to create something Ok-ish.  I know there is a lot more potential with it, but this will take time and practice.  I found it all very time consuming because I spent a bit of time researching the topic (I didn't just want to make it up), then, trying to get it to look OK and sequence OK.  My goodness!!!  And I would have liked to have had a video play straight into PP, but I couldn't work that out.  I have some audio on there too that plays automatically when viewed in PP, but I lost the audio in the transition phase into my blog.  I don't know how to fix that either.  So, I found that very frustrating.  Then I couldn't embed the darned thing into my blog, aarrrgghhhh!!!!!!!!  It was so frustrating but thank goodness for people out there who know what they are doing and can lend a hand.  But what a marathon effort to say the least.  Sadly, it is still very basic and is highly visual, so I probably didn't cater well for all students' learning styles.  Of course, I would never just set up a presentation like this and leave them to it (not with a topic like this anyway; online homework, however would be a different thing).  A lot of discussion could be generated as we go through the slides.

While I was fiddling, I noticed you can do a lot with PP (e.g. put in graphs, organisers, sound effects, probably music if you wanted to, have the slide open in many different ways, lots of colours etc).   Armed with all that information, you could create a masterpiece.  I think, having done mine, that I would have been better off just taking a part of the topic and putting it in a powerpoint instead of trying to cover lots of things in the one presentation.  For example, in mine, I could have just focussed on the anti-smoking campaigns, or the health implications, or the socio-cultural issues surrounding smoking.  So, in terms of using PP as a teaching tool, as one idea, it could be used to introduce a topic and generate discussion.

Other things PP could be used for include: advanced organisers, online homework, framework for lessons, supporting lessons by highlighting key points, presenting tips and outlines, presenting examples, providing pictures and other graphics supporting the material, stimulating interest by use of clipart, cartoons, audio and video; and displaying assignment information.

Students could use PP to present projects, provide visual/auditory information to support debates, create stories, for oral presentations, create games that could be used to support concepts learnt in class.  It could be used to display some of their work e.g. in art.  As it has so many features, I think PP is limited only by our imagination and it can be used for big and small projects alike.  I look forward to using powerpoint in the classroom.  I just hope it doesn't take as long as this one did, but I suppose that once they are set up, you can re-use them and modify them accordingly.  So, time spent in the beginning could be time saved down the track.

Creative? Me? Surely Not!

Since the beginning of my journey to become a primary school teacher, the word "creative" or "creativity" has been thrown around a lot.   The word has always left me feeling a little inferior as I have always believed that there is not a creative bone in my body and that it is a quality that you have or don't have.  But perhaps I have been using the term a little loosely rather than really thinking about what it means to be creative.  Having read a bit about creativity, it is reassuring that there actually is hope for me.  Ken Robinson (2001) argues that creativity can be taught and he defines creativity as imaginative processes with outcomes in the public world, that are original and of value.   And it can be found in all areas of life, not just the Arts.  I also took to the important elements of the creative process, which are finding the right medium, controlling the medium and freedom to experiment and take risks.  From this I realised that I just haven't found the right medium yet and thus my creativity must be suppressed! 

What I do know is that technology is not my medium (if it was I would have come to this course with a lot more knowledge - and you only have to check out my blog and my dumb questions on the forums!!).  I have fun playing with it (in the short term) and I will hopefully master a bit more than the basics for application in the classroom.  However, I am quickly bored with it. So my challenge is to find my medium because without that, I can't yet realise my creative potential. 

What does this mean for me as a teacher?  Perhaps it could mean embracing the Arts (which I presently have feelings of dread) to foster imagination, risk-taking and curiosity in my students - all of which are important aspects of creativity but also valuable attributes for functioning in the 21st Century. 

Reference:

1. Robinson, K., (2001). Being creative: out of our minds: learning to be                 creative. Capstone Publishing.

Reflection on Mahara

Over the last few days, I have immersed myself into a program called Mahara (which is an e.portfolio).  It took me quite some time to start getting my head around how it works and I am still unsure how my views will come together in the end (when considering a teaching portfolio).  I can't say that I am excited about this one, but perhaps in time, it's true value will unfold. 

With regard to using an e.portfolio in the classroom, I found it really difficult to come up with a way to use this program with young students (as my focus is in the primary setting).  However, I can see it being more suited to middle to late secondary students when students are considering their futures, making plans to enter university and, indeed, the workforce.  It would provide students a method of digitally displaying their work, achievements, resume etc for potential employers. 

I do question, however, if it is a method that is more suited to some industries than others (e.g. marketing/graphic design vs the trades), and how welcoming employers are of this mode of presentation (especially when some jobs attract hundreds to thousands of applications).  Employers probably tend to streamline the recruitment process in the name of time efficiency and perhaps the urgency of getting a position filled doesn't lend time to find the most suitable applicant.  That is not to say that I agree with how things operate at the present time.  I am simply considering the plausible barriers to using this program in the job seeking market.

Voki on Blog

My husband just had a chance to review my vokis and pointed out that my welcoming voki sounds like it is saying "welcome to my stupid blog" instead of "Welcome to my student blog".  I couldn't help but laugh (a lot!!), so it just goes to show how important it is to make sure you spell phonetically.  I haven't changed it, but I will if others think it sounds like "stupid".

Vokis in the Classroom

Get a Voki now!

I've just been playing around with a voki - quite entertaining really. I'm sure students would have a blast playing around with all the characters and voices!! They are fun, interactive, engaging and can be used to lift even the driest topic.
Some ideas for use of a voki in the classroom could be:
1. To use a voki to introduce a person they have been studying (e.g. artist, author, character in a book, politician, inventor).
2. For students with SLI who may have difficulty expressing themselves. They could set up a voki for use in an oral presentation (although the limitation here is the amount of words or speech you can use).
3. In LOTE subjects whereby students must write something in the language they are studying and then set up a voki using the speech option, not the type-in-text option.
4. For students to introduce themselves to other people around the world without showing their faces, but still having a "human" element. This would be great if they have blogs linked to other classrooms around the world.
5. As mentioned in the voki, they can be used by teachers to introduce a topic.
6. Teachers could use them in online classrooms if they don't want to do their own video. Might help personalise the online classroom.
Good simple fun. Just need to be creative in their use so that they can improve teaching instruction as well as help students meet their learning goals.

Motivation At It's Best

I spotted this on another person's site and really liked it and thought it would be something that I may need to revisit on occasion.

Frustrations with Technology

I found this video today which I could relate to.....So much information which is suppose to be readily available through the advent of the technology age, yet is so hard to find. 

Wikis and Engagement Theory

Recently, I have been involved in developing my own wiki.  You can view it at http://chocoholicsparadise.wikispaces.com/.  I have never set up a wiki before and initially found it challenging to work out how to use it.  I found it a little easier once I chose a theme/topic that I had some knowledge and interest in - chocolate - as it helped me focus on understanding wikis and perhaps how they could be applied to other settings e.g. to school or work (as a community of practice as discussed by Wenger (2006)).  It could be suggested that this is a deep approach to learning as described by Felder and Brent (2005, p 63) as I was seeking to understand how wikis worked and how they could work for me and others. 

Upon thinking about how wikis could be applied in classrooms, I tried to think of activities that would align to the engagement theory of learning, which "is that students must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks" (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999, p: 1), but also keeping in mind the instructional conditions proposed by Felder and Brent (2005, p: 67) for promoting intellectual growth.  With this in mind, my idea for using a wiki involves the following:

Topic:  Healthy Food Options for School and Home
Problem to Solve:  Kids complain about boring food in their lunch box, parents struggle to come up with interesting ideas that are also nutritious and easy to prepare, and schools are also under pressure to provide nutritious food options.  Other linked issues: childhood obesity, massive options of readily available processed foods and fast foods, kids/parents struggling to identify healthy food options, misconceptions that healthy food won't taste nice etc.)
Audience: broad audience but primarily targeting families.
Product:  publicly available wiki with multicultural food ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snacks with a nutritious food guide (pre-existing or one established by the class) to make informed choices.  A five star rating can also be applied to recipes as an option.  Would also hope that the school canteen could use it to have a cultural theme one day a week.  The students would be able to promote the site through the school newsletter but also to Child Health Centres, Women's Health Centres etc.

To me, this is active learning at its best.  Something like this would challenge the students' own thinking and perceptions of food, allow them choice and creativity over what goes into the pages, allow them to work cooperatively and collaboratively within groups and between groups, allow them to explore the diversity of food with no boundaries and provide the motivation to making a great product because it could be accessed by everybody and anybody (and it may even solve some issues closer to home - that is, variety in their own lunchboxes). 


References:

1. Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2005). Understanding student differences. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 57-72.

2.  Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning.  Retrieved from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

3.  Wenger, E,. (2006). Communities of practice a brief introduction. Retrieved from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/

Take a Vote

I have learnt about another tool that we could use in our classrooms with students and it is the good old fashioned opinion poll.  I have created some on my wiki site Chocoholics Paradise.  I think the following quote from the Emerson College website sums it up quite nicely:

 "While inspiring class discussion, a poll can give students a place to express their view on an issue and help them consider the views of others. An online poll gives students privacy to honestly express an opinion without anxiety and time to formulate a strong argument for their viewpoint, which ultimately sets the stage for meaningful in-classroom discussion."

Another site also provides a couple of examples of how we can use opinion polls in the classroom.  The website I used to create an opinion poll is at vizu.com.

Wikis

Over the last 2 days I have been playing with Wikis.  At first, I signed up for wetpaint.com and had a play.  I have had no experiences with wikis until seeing wetpaint, and wetpaint had turned me off wikis completely. I found it visually overwhelming, ads everywhere (and today I found out that you can't remove the ads unless you want to pay for that option), and it just seemed disorganised.  I just couldn't follow it (and that includes other people's sites). 

Thankfully, today I saw someone elses wiki at wikispaces.  It was much easier on the eyes and appeared user friendly.  So, I ditched wetpaint (that would be my advice to anyone) and set up (yet another) account with wikispaces.  It seems much more structured (for a super novice like me), and  at least now I feel there is hope in using wikis in the classroom.  Yesterday, I wasn't using a wiki for anyone. 

Reflection on Blogs

This is the first time I have used a blog.  I would never have set one up otherwise.  I found it realitively easy to set up but a bit longer to navigate around to work out it's features.  The video on the courseware was particularly helpful as it provided visual and verbal step by step instructions. 

For me, the use of videos (if they are done properly and use simple language) are invaluable for teaching our students.  Looking at the Dale's Cone  of effective learning, I found the combination of visual and verbal instruction as well as being able to create and use my own blog with purpose (and design as I like) fits at the bottom of the pyramid (direct, purposeful experience)(Active Learning Online Team, 2000).   As a result, I feel as time goes on, I am getting a better understanding of blogs and feeling more comfortable navigating my way around them.  This might also say something about how my learning style (as described by Felder and Soloman (n.d.)).  In doing this activity, it could suggest that I learn best when actively engaged in an activity (and in this case, that probably is true as I would have found it more difficult doing it in other ways), however, when I completed the learning styles questionnaire, I came out with a strong reflective preference.  This suggests to me, that even though students may have particular learning styles (just as I do) that doesn't mean that they won't learn anything if your teaching strategies aren't directly aligned to their preference.   Felder and Brent (2005, p. 62) stated that:

 "The optimal teaching style is a balanced one that sometimes matches students' preferences, so their discomfort level is not too great for them to learn effectively, and sometimes goes against their preferences, forcing them to stretch and grow in directions they might be inclined to avoid if given the option."

Therefore, our job as teachers is to design a balanced teaching approach that addresses the learning needs of all our students (Felder & Brent, 2005). 

Another thing I found with using blogs, is that it could be useful for students with all types of personalities as described by Carl Jung.  As it tends to be relatively non-threatening (and there is such a thing a netiquette which effectively defines the rules of engagement in cyberspace), students who are reserved or introverted, may feel more comfortable posting comments through a screen than contributing in class.  Similarly, an extrovert wil also able to get their views across and might enjoy jumping from site to site, spreading their thoughts and ideas.   It also allows students to connect with each other in a non-threatening way, posting comments and receiving feedback, that probably doesn't happen in a regular classroom. 

This leads me to RSS feeds.  I didn't even know what they were or how they worked prior to this course.  While I am still a little fuzzy about setting one up, I think they are a great idea for channelling lots information efficiently.   Using one of these in my Blog activity would be great (I should go back and add it in), so that students can follow each other's blogs without having to go and look for it. 

Another application is a news feed.  If students are engaged in current affairs issues, they could follow the news links via their Google Reader and post comments to their blog (or a class blog) about issues affecting the local, national, international communities (such as the War in Iraq, the cyclone that hit Fiji, who won the World Cup).  Comments can be further discussed in class.

Another fantastic idea would be making connections to several other class blogs from different countries all over the world, where they could share information (about their country, culture, lifestyle, cuisine etc), ideas, and experiences.  This would be a great and fun way of exploring diversity.  I really like this one.

I just had another idea for blogs - for students to make it their own (that is they can put whatever they want on it that they are comfortable sharing with others) and then sharing it with their peers.  It would be a great 'getting to know you' activity that can continue throughout the year.  The trick would be to get students to visit all sites, not just their friends.

Finally, it has been great viewing other students' blogs.  Everyone brings a unique perspective which makes it interesting and because we all share a common bond (that is, participating in the GDLT), the information we contribute to our blogs can be relevant and helpful to a number of other people.  By reading other people's blogs, you can generate further ideas of your own, share your ideas with others, get support and feedback, and tap into resources that you otherwise may not have found.  In essence, it is an effective way of disseminating information.  I believe this could be reflected in the use of blogs in the classroom.

All in all, I like the idea of blogs in the classroom.  I can see many applications that will be engaging for students and I can't wait to give it whirl one day.


References:
1.  Active Learning Online Team. (2000). Active learning online. Retrieved from http://acu.edu/cte/activelearning/whyuseal2.htm

2.  Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2005). Understanding student differences. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 57-72.

3.  Felder, R. M., & Soloman, B. A. (n.d.). Learning styles and strategies. Retrieved from  http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

4.  Humanmetrics. (1998-2000). Humanmetrics jung typology test. Retrieved from http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jungtype.htm

Blog Activity in Detail

I thought I might try doing an activity in more detail.

I thought that a Student Portfolio is a great idea and is something that could be used across all primary year levels.  Unfortunately, it doesn't quite fit into the engagement theory's relate-create-donate as it doesn't involve collaborative team work, but I think that this could happen by having a number of small groups maintaining a group portfolio.

Purpose:  As most parents are not privvy to what goes on in the classroom and what their kids are up to during the school day (and students don't always get to show off their hard work), I thought it would be great for students to develop a blog to showcase their activities, achievements, events etc to family and friends over the course of the semester/year.  It would also allow the student and the student's family, friends and peers to comment and provide feedback about the student's work, and the topics/activities/events in the classroom.  It may motivate some students to do their best work as it would be available for public viewing.  The portfolio would also be used as a form of formulative and summative assessment.  The students progress can be reviewed periodically and at the end of the unit.

Declarative Knowledge:

• Definition, characteristics and purposes of a blog - an initial activity could be brainstorming with students to work out numerous ways of displaying work, but leading into the use of a blog.  Students could then do a KWL - a group discussion regarding the KW parts, then research the internet to find out about blogs using advanced organiser questions.  During this task, the teacher could stop students for a "3-minute pause" to determine something new that they have learnt.  Upon completion the 'L' of the KWL can be completed as a class.  Students can then create a graphic organiser or pictograph for a blog.
• How to set up a blog - watch video.
• Definition and Characteristics of a Portfolio - again using a KWL strategy, students can then brainstorm the types of things that would be suitable for  putting on a portfolio.  The teacher can then demonstrate an example of a student portfolio using a blog.  A graphic organiser which could then be put on the wall as reference to the types of 'artefacts' that they could put on their site.
• Definition of Habits of Mind (self-regulatory thinking, particularly responding appropriately to feedback and evaluating the effectiveness of your actions) as described by Marzano and Pickering (1997).  As an introduction, the teacher might give students a hypothetical situation whereby they are receiving feeback for a project they had done or sport they have played.  Using the Think-Pair-Share, the students can think about how they would evaluate their actions and respond to feedback , share their responses with a partner then feedback to the class.   After reviewing all the responses, discussions can be made regarding what constitutes good habits of mind.

Procedural Knowledge:

• The ability to setup a blog and use it's functions for the purpose of a student portfolio, including making frequent posts using a variety of media e.g. powerpoint, video, photos, texts.  Initially, the setup of a blog would be demonstrated using a 'think aloud' approach with the computer projected onto a whiteboard for all students to see.  The students would then use step by step instructions (which would include images of webpages, buttons to click) to create their own blogs.
• The ability to apply the habits of mind as demonstrated by appropriately responding to feedback on the blog and evaluating the effectiveness of their blog but also evaluating the activities/tasks that they were involved in -  answering questions such as:  What did I do well? What could I do better?  What did I like/not like about an activity?  What could I suggest to the teacher to do next time?
• For shaping their learning - brainstorming, discussing and providing examples of the other purposes of blogs which may be in the work place (e.g in the form of a community for practice), or for private use (e.g. a person's personal journey through life event).  The pitfalls could also be discussed.  For example, if you don't post regularly, if the content isn't interesting or uses the same format, how this may impact on the number of visitors to a site.  How the use of text, pictures, videos, avatars, photos, links to other sites of interest can influence how the audience perceives the blog.
• To internalise: this will be done by providing students with opportunities at home and at school to add to their portfolio on a regular basis. 

References: 

Bloggerhelp. (2008, Jan 4). How to create a blog with blogger:  [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnploFsS_tY

Marzano, R. J., & Pickering, D. J. (with Arrendondo, D. E., Paynter, D. E., Blackburn, G. J., Brandt, R. S., Whistler, J. S.). (1997). Dimensions of learning teacher’s manual (2nd ed.). Alexandra, VA: ASCD.

Blog Ideas for the Classroom

This is all very foreign to me, but I have come up with a few ideas for using blogs in the classroom:

• As a Class Portfolio to showcase to parents, family, friends etc what the students have been doing and creating in class.  Students can participate by taking photos, writing activity summaries, doing videos and then uploading into the blog, and providing quotes.  This could also be an opportunity for students to comment and reflect on some of the activities.  (This could give valuable feedback to the teacher for future teaching).
• Individual Student Portfolio whereby students can showcase their own work and reflect on the activities they have done (what they liked, didn't like, what they learnt, what they would have liked to learn more about, ideas about alternative activities etc). These blogs would be available for all students to see and comment on.  It may add extra motivation for students to think about their product as others can view it and comment on it.
• Thinking Blog - I like the idea of posting thought provoking topics/readings, videos or pictures for students to respond to (as a homework activity).  It could be something like a photograph of a war scene, a Van Gough painting, or a video on the fragility of the planet or 'The Lost Generation'.  This could be a great introduction to a new topic or to increase depth of understanding of an existing topic.  This could also include viewing news broadcasts and commenting about what was portrayed, how it was portrayed, the influence of media on peoples' perceptions, how students felt about certain topics (lets face it, there is not a lot of good news on TV).  The postings can then be discussed in class the next day.
• KWL blog -  for each new topic, have students post what they think they know about a topic and what they want to learn about it.  After the topic has been covered via video, various texts, practicals (or whatever the case maybe), then student can complete the last part of the KWL.  Students can then reflect on what they thought they knew (was their information correct), new things that they learnt and whether this new information resulted in changed opinions or thoughts about the topic. 
• Online book club - whereby students get to comment about or critique books read in class and/or privately and students and teacher can work collaboratively in setting the criteria on which to critique books (e.g. the characters, the plot, ease of reading, style of writing, enjoyment/recommendation rating etc).  This could be particularly motivating for students as they get to talk about books that they enjoy reading, not just ones prescribed by the teacher (e.g. DragonLance, Harry Potter, Saddle Club or whatever kids are into these days). 
• Class 'Newsletter' - to post class related information such as calenders, events, homework assignments, student achievement (and not just of the academic or sporting kind), articles and photos about school events (e.g. sports carnival, book fair, crazy hair day, disco etc).
• Class Suggestion Box - a platform for students to provide feedback about classroom and school activities.  Probably of more benefit for the teacher than student, but at least it gives students a chance to make comments in a least threatening way.

I'm not sure if this is what I am suppose to do, but it is all I can come up with at this stage.  While the options seem endless, it's important to consider what we do with blogs is purposeful in the classroom.  Interestingly, I read today on the "Beyond Schools" blog about using blogs for homework related things.  It suggested that readers will not return to a blog that's full of homework posts, and then commented how a resource such as a blog can be used in such a 'schooly' way.  And he is probably right.  We probably have a tendency to use these digital technologies in such a 'schooly' way, but perhaps it is more about creating a balance between blogs with an outside audience in mind (as in a product) but also as a teaching platform (such as posting homework tasks).

Blogger Revisited

Wow! What an intense first 2 weeks! I remember now why I didn't read anything for months after I finished my undergrad degree!!!! I was well and truly over reading. The GDLT is going to be no different.

I must say, so far, that I am excited about technology and it's endless possibilities in the classroom (even though I am lacking in digital literacy). I really want to know how to create a podcast, create a website, create and upload a video (although, without any pressure!!) and then use these tools in the classroom (that's right, I don't even have these basic skills!). The students will probably end up teaching me! I think I could really get into it once I know how. I have just had no reason to know all these things up until now.

I am also interested to learn more about gaming and literacy (this has been alluded to in the literacy courseware - I just haven't had time to expand into that area yet). As there is a huge gaming culture in our society, I'd love to know if there are any links to literacy, or in fact to the development (or lack of development) of other skills. Also, as kids love playing games, I am wondering how this interest can be brought to the classroom and used productively? I probably won't be able to answer this in the coming year, but it will be in the back of my mind to revisit at a later date.