Reflection

Reflecting on Web 2.0...has me thinking about so many things...tools I have explored and learnt about....new ways of teaching my students...exciting new Web 2.0 tools I want to use with my students...and that ...

In my first year of teaching I had...

• a black and white tv
• shared a cassette player with the other infants classes
• a piano
• a blackboard and chalk
• posters/flashcards handmade by me
• 'jelly pad' if you don't know...don't even ask!

In my 31st year of teaching I have...

• an interactive whiteboard
• a whiteboard
• mp3 and mp4 players 
• a flip camera
• digital camera
• computers
• cd player
• internet access to an endless supply of educational sites
• colour tv
• dvd player
• portable hard drive
• etc....

The changes have been unbelievable!!

I found the video on iLearn model particularly exciting as it covered all the aspects of learning that I find most appealing. 

• ANYTHING 

• ANYWHERE 

• ANYTIME.

My school uses Blooms to differentiate teaching programs. As the ESL teacher I have used our school's Scope and Sequence for Thinking Skills to follow what each class focuses on and have built my program around this.

I believe in challenging my students as they are more than capable of higher order thinking...it's just the language they need to build on. 

Bloom's Digital Taxonomy was a great insight in to how I could program as an ESL teacher with the emphasis on Language Aquisition...

REMEMBERING: 

• Googling, searching, highlighting and bookmarking relevant information when given assignments, research etc

UNDERSTANDING:

• Blog journaling - it would be wonderful to have an ESL blog for my students to use for writing, reading etc
  

APPLYING:

• Uploading, sharing, editing using Flickr and a blog
  

ANALYSING:

•  Comparing, organising, deconstructing, finding, structuring, linking,  mind-mapping for any number of KLA's

EVALUATING:

•  Posting comments to the ESL blog and discussion boards.

CREATING:

• Podcasting what a great tool for the students to be able to use so as to critique themselves and publishing via the blog.

I am sure there are many other ways in which I could include these but  this was all my poor brain could think of at the moment.

Overall I have found the Web 2.0 course to be wonderful...it has challenged me....been exciting to learn new things...made my mind expand to try to find ways to use these great tools with my students...in fact it has been quite addictive and I know I will miss it...however my hope is to perfect and use what I have learnt.

Some of my colleagues blogs that I have commented on and enjoyed following are:

http://margosweb20blog.blogspot.com/2010/10/module-8.html#comments
http://catherineweb2.blogspot.com/2010/10/module-6.html#comments
http://trishaweb2.blogspot.com/2010/09/module-3.html#comments
http://janettesweb2.blogspot.com/2010/10/module-3.html#comments
http://antz-nest.blogspot.com/2010/10/module-2-benefits-of-blogging-in.html#comments
http://capkid62.blogspot.com/2010/10/module-2.html#comments
http://bamboozled-toni.blogspot.com/2010/09/module-4.html#comments
http://web20andthebreakfastclub.blogspot.com/2010/09/its-all-about-networks.html#comments
http://blogjdmh.blogspot.com/2010/08/module-4.html#comments
http://web2journey-maureen.blogspot.com/2010/09/module-2.html#comments
http://wolise.blogspot.com/2010/08/course-reflection-i-have-been-on.html#comments
http://dianesedg.blogspot.com/2010/09/module-10.html#comments
http://macbeth74.blogspot.com/2010/10/module-seven-reflections.html#comments


Couldn't finish without including this clip....



Module 10

Reaching Module 10 and having explored and played with so many new and exciting tools as part of the Web 2.0 course I am here to say that... the times really are a changing!! The above song kept playing in my head as I worked my way through the modules so I just had to include it! In fact the You Tube clip I wanted to show was taken off You Tube before I had a chance to publish this post...change?

What is a wiki?

'A wiki is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser'

The short video 'Wiki's in plain English' we were asked to watch really explains what wikis are all about. In some ways I found them similar to Google Docs.

I can see how they would be a great resource to use in group work and also with higher order thinking skills...however I will need some more time to become familiar enough with wiki's before I use them with my students.

What is a Ning?

'A Ning is an online platform for people to create customize, and share their own social networks.'

As an ESL teacher in the Southern Region I am part of The ESL Southern Region Network Ning.
As part of this Ning these are some of the things available to me:

• Delicious Tags for ESL
• Forums that I can take part in
• Notes,photos,videos that are pertinent to ESL
• Blogs
• Groups
• Resources for ESL

These are just a few of the wonderful areas in the ESL Ning. It is valuable to me as this Ning is specific to ESL teachers (all teachers in my school can be part of this group) and any presentations that have been presented at inservices or meetings or Delicious tags are all at my fingertips through this Ning.

It really is a one stop for ESL matters!!!

It is amazing the changes that I have made already in my teaching having been part of this Web 2.0 course. The only hurdle is that of access to computers...as I am a 'floating' ESL teacher moving from class to class K-6.

However the students have all been exposed to a number of new and very exciting tools and are all very eager to access them as often as possible! 

What pleases me is the fact that are keen to read other students work from their own and other classes as well as write their own. The best part of this whole set up is that students do not think they are actually 'doing schoolwork' they think it's all play and fun....and really it is all of that and more!

I am also quite interested in setting up a blog for my students to use regardless of what class they are in...an ESL blog. I know my students would absolutely love it!

Couldn't end this post without a word about 'changes' from the great changer himself!!!

Only 1 post to go...

Module 9

What is scootle?

Scootle (www.scootle.edu.au).is an online environment that provides access to digital curriculum content developed by The Le@rning Federation.

Scootle is great for teachers because:

• the search and browse tools allow quick and easy access to TLF resources.
• you can view or download resources.
• save searches as Favourites that can be shared with colleagues.
• use Favourites to create Learning Paths for students – each with a unique 6-digit PIN - that can be printed or saved

What is a 'learning path'?

Within scootle teachers can set up learning paths.

These paths can be saved and organised as favourite digital curriculum resources in themes or topics. These lessons can easily be accessed by students with a personal pin number. Teachers can share  resources and lessons with colleagues. Students can use the learning paths as part of group activities.

This is one area that I will need to spend more time researching as I can see that it would be of benefit to me and my students.

What is social networking?

I always thought that social networking involved being with people face to face, talking and socialising...

however I find that in this instance it means...

'The interaction between a group of people who share a common interest; Using social contacts to network; Using internet's network groups (such as Facebook and Twitter) to network and communicate between consumers and businesses'

What is facebook?

'Facebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc.'

I am aware of the benefits of facebook and other similar websites...especially if you are travelling or living and working a great distance from family and friends. It is so convenient and inexpensive to keep in contact using a site like these.

However I also know of the many dangers involved in being part of these websites and the traps young people can fall into...you only need to tune into news reports to hear of athletes and innocent young people who have suffered through the websites as well.

What is twitter?

'Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers.'

I have not yet worked out the value of twittering...
I did see on a colleagues blog a link on:

25 ways to use twitter in the classroom 

here is the link to her blog

http://wolise.blogspot.com/2010/08/module-9-social-networking-i-found-this.html

Perhaps it will be of some use to other teachers looking for ways to incorporate twitter in their classes. 

However this is one area that does not interest me...

...it may be the time aspect of handling a facebook account or twitter account (from what I've seen of teenagers and other young people much of their time is spent on these social networking sites)...

...or that I cannot think of what I could possibly have to say that would be of any interest to anyone. 

Call me old fashioned but I would much rather go to lunch with friends and do my socialising that way!

What is second life?

'Second Life (SL) is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab and is accessible on the Internet. A freeclient program called the Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars (An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself). Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world (which residents refer to as "the grid").'

Wow this part of the module really blew my mind!!! 
I had heard of Second Life, but really did not know anything about it. The best way to try and get an understanding of Second Life is to view the two YouTube videos provided for us:

• Second Life: Explore the Possibilities

• Educational Uses of Second Life

After viewing these I began to contemplate the possibiliites of using Second Life for educational purposes. I imagine that for high school it would be a worthwhile tool.

By far, for me, this was the most exhausting module to trek through...

This module had so many tools to explore within it, that it took me quite some time to get through and to get my head around. 

These were all tools that I had heard of and that my children and friends were part of but that I chose not to explore in the past, as they did not interest me.

I am glad that I took the time to look at each individual tool and tried them out...however I am not interested in pursuing any of the social networking tools.


It may be a privacy issue...

or maybe it's because...

I like to have control!

Module 8

What is an RSS Feed ?

'RSS (most commonly expanded as "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.'

I have been using a RSS feed while completing this course with a number of blogs that I follow. I receive an update every time they post a new blog...

that way I don't need to go looking for them...they come to me.

I particularly enjoyed the videos used to explain about RSS feeds as they were so easy to understand. I think that in my role as ESL teacher I would use this as a resource for myself rather than with or for my students.  


What is google reader?

 

'Google Reader is a feed reader. It allows you to subscribe to RSS and Atom feeds. You can manage feeds, label them, and even share your feed collection with others.'

 Life with Google Reader is 'easy as a b c ' because it really does all the work for you.

Ahh..there's no looking back when you've google on your side!

Module 7

What is del.icio.us?

'Delicious is a Social Bookmarking service, which means you can save all your bookmarks online, share them with other people, and see what other people are bookmarking.'

Mmmm.....my idea of delicious always looked something like this... 

 

However I know that in terms of Web 2.0 it really is more like this....

...whereby I am able to share my favourite websites with others.

Keep my favourite sites to access from any computer through a del.icio.us account. The beauty of this is that any sites that I find I can access from home or work without having to try and remember the URL or having to try to find it again through a search. 

Discover new sites that other colleagues have found through my account. 

Organise my favourite sites by tagging them with keywords.

 

I can make them public......

                      

or keep them private.

We have a del.icio.us account at school...

and I have access to another del.icio.us account as an ESL teacher through the Southern Region ESL Ning (another social network).

I also have my own del.icio.us account and through it can link them all together!

Access to all of these make my life easier!