Introducing... Technology!
It is hard to think that around
20 years ago phones, laptops and computers were very rare to have in a household,
but in today’s society it is very hard to find a household without one of these
electronic devices. Although it is easy to buy one of these products, it is
another story to understand how to use it and find all of the different tools
available. Students these days will need to know the ins and outs of nearly all
electronics so in order to teach them, the learning manager will need to know
as much information about them as they can.
Safe, Legal and Ethical Practices
The first thing to know
about using electronic devices that are connected to the internet is how to
stay safe and keep students safe. The Internet Society explains that adults and
children alike need to look out for service attacks, spam, viruses and even identity
theft (2012). Learning managers need to inform their students about what each
of these things are, and how to prevent them from happening. Learning managers
also need to be aware of bullying and inappropriate websites or ads that students
might come across. Nowadays most schools have a blocking system that blocks
websites that are not suitable for children but nevertheless learning managers
should make sure that their students are aware of the threats and content on
the internet.
Although there is a wealth of knowledge on the internet at the tip of our
fingertips, this information has come from a source that needs to be
recognised. Learning managers need to educate their students on how they can acknowledge
sources on the internet and why they need to along with an explanation of plagiarism.
Most websites don’t mind if information
is taken from their site just as long as they receive recognition, this is why
learning managers need to teach their students how to reference their sources.
However it is not only other work that students and teachers need to reference
but also each others work. If a learning manager was to use a piece of a
students work as an example then the teacher also needs to acknowledge that
student. If a learning manager is unsure of anything to do with safety on the internet
or legal issues, they should educate themselves before they start a unit of
work with students in order to be prepared.
Reference in my blog about Legal Practices: Flying with Flickr
Group 1: Online spaces
Working within a Blog
Although I have never used the tool blogger to create a blog, I have used the social website Tumblr. The idea of these two tools is much the same though, where people post pictures, ideas, thoughts and videos. At first the idea of putting my learning journey on the internet where everyone could see was a little daunting. After I put my first couple of posts up on the internet though, I was fine and just thought about it as if I was just sharing my ideas with my friends and colleges and not the rest of the world. I really enjoyed seeing how other people had presented their blogs and shared their ideas. It was a great way to get my own ideas flowing so I could post my own thoughts and experiences onto my blog.
I believe that blogger is a great tool that could be implemented into the classroom. The learning manager could create a unit of work that centers on the students blogging about what they are learning. This way the whole class can see each student’s perspectives on different issues as well as comment on their ideas. The learning manager could also use each student’s blog as an assessment piece in order to see what they have learnt.
Students of all age groups and ability levels could enjoy posting and blogging on blogger, but they need to be aware of the safety measures. If the student has taken information from a source off the internet, then they need to know how to reference it. The students also need to understand that some people on the internet could intend to do bad things, so they could use nicknames and avatars instead of their own details.
Reference in my blog regarding Blogs: My Adventure so far...
Group 2: Visual and Audio
tools
Working with YouTube
YouTube is a great tool to
use in the classroom to engage students. There are millions upon millions of
YouTube videos out on the internet and hopefully at least one of them could be
used for a lesson or unit in the classroom.
A learning manager could find a YouTube video to explain something they
are trying to teach I a fun or exciting way or they could use YouTube just to
show students something funny. Students can even upload videos to YouTube so
they can show they parents at home, just as long as they have permission.
YouTube is a great tool for
all ability levels and can help all learning styles such as visual, auditory and
kinesthetic. It is also a great tool for all age groups although students will
need to be at least 13 years old in order to have an account and upload videos
(Wiley, 2010).
YouTube videos can be
embedded into blogs and websites or just downloaded for future use. If a
learning manager was to do this then they should watch the YouTube clip the
whole way through in order to confirm that there is no inappropriate content in
the video. The learning manager also needs to ensure that when they embed a
YouTube video into their blog or download it for use in the classroom that they
do it properly and go through the prompts to ensure that no adds pop up at the
end that could be inappropriate. Just as long as the learning manager is
careful, lots of fun can come out of watching and uploading videos to YouTube.
Reference in my blog regarding YouTube: Wandering through YouTube
Group 3: Presentation tools
Working with Powerpoint
A great presentation tool to
use is PowerPoint. The possibilities are endless when working with PowerPoint and
students of all age groups and ability levels are able to enjoy watching a PowerPoint.
This presentation tool also helps students learn, as it engages them into the
information, no matter what learning style they are. There are sounds for the
auditory learners, moving images, diagrams and text for visual learners as well
as full interactive PowerPoint’s that will help kinesthetic learners to absorb
information.
There are many different PowerPoint’s
that can be created by a learning manager to engage students. The first one is
just a simple presentation that could help the learning manager or student as
they are giving a speech; to have the information on the screen. The next is an
interactive PowerPoint where the learning manager could create like a quiz
where students need to select the answer or click on the next arrow to more
onto the next slide. PowerPoint’s could also be used as a way to show photos in
a presentation.
There are many different
settings on PowerPoint that will help no matter what type of PowerPoint is
being created. A learning manager could set their students a task to create PowerPoint
as an assessment piece or to use a PowerPoint in a speech or answer questions
on an interactive PowerPoint. Whatever a learning manager decides to do to
incorporate a PowerPoint into a unit, it will be fun and engaging for all
students.
Reference in my blog regarding Powerpoint:
Group 4: Animation and
Stimulation
Working with Voki
For the group Animation and
Stimulation I have chosen to look into a voki. A voki is like a type of avatar
which could be an animal, a cartoon, a 3D person or just an animated person.
After the creator has chosen what their voki will look like, they can then
change the background of where there character is. After this the creator can
make their voki talk either by typing in what they need to say or recording
their own voice.
A learning manager could create a voki to
explain a unit of work to their students. This way the technology used will
engage the students which could help them to concentrate on what the avatar is
saying. The students could also create a voki to embed onto their blog to
explain what they learnt in a unit of work. Vokis are easy to embed, as the
website actually gives you a code that only needs to be copied and pasted into
the html coding part of a blog.
As of last year, Voki has
actually brought out a new section called voki classroom. Voki Blog explains
that this new installment will vastly improve the way teachers utilize Voki in the
classroom (2011). Voki classroom allows the learning manager to have a class
account, where all of the students in their class can be added onto their
account. This is a great addition as each student had to use the teachers
account in order to create their voki in the past. Voki classroom has many more
installments that should be looked into by all learning managers so they can
engage their students in the best of ways.
Reference in my blog regarding a voki: Pillaging with VokiIn conclusion...
I believe that I have learnt
a great deal by completing this blog and creating an analysis of Digital tools.
I have learnt a great deal and agree that digital technologies are very
important in the classroom and can be incorporated into every subject. Safety,
Legal and ethical practices need to be enforced from a very young age so that
students understand and know what to do to stay safe and reference their sources
of information. This subject has changed my outlook on digital technologies and
I believe that I will be more computer savvy in the future for both uni and as
a learning manager.
References
Internet Society (2012). Security. Retrieved 16 August, 2012,
From: http://www.internetsociety.org/what-we-do/issues/security
Voki Blog (2011) Introducing Voki
Classroom. Retrieved 17 August, 2012, From: http://blog.voki.com/2011/05/31/introducing-voki-classroom-part-1/
Wiley, M., (2010). Everything you
wanted to know about YouTube. Retrieved 17 August, 2012, From: http://www.media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/56/.../0470149256.pdf
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