Websites

In Week 2, we talked about websites in Managing E-Learning.
We discussed how websites are different to blogs and wikis because only the person creating it determines the content and no one can add to, swap or change things around.
I had a go at making a website through weebly ( www.weebly.com) and found that it was easier than what I had expected. The site had speech bubbles telling me what to do next or what other options I had which made the process a lot easier. Finding the right information to go onto my website was quite easy, especially having a fair bit of experience using the internet.

Here's the link to the website I created:
http://www.web4web.weebly.com/


If I had my students in the future using this site, I believe that it would benefit their learning. Technology is a great way for students to keep motivated, have connections to the real world and to have some form of control in their learning (Valdez, McNabb, Foertsch, Anderson, Hawkes, Raack, 2000). I will be teaching students Visual Art and Physical Education and in both of these areas, a possible assessment task that they could do is produce a website, (for Art) about different mediums in art, historical artworks, display pieces that they are currently working on, etc and (HPE) they could address the topic in their theory component and instead of writing an essay, they could produce a website about the different functions of the body, for example. They can use this opportunity to show the world what they know and teach it to them.


References:
Valdez, G., McNabb, M., Foertsch, M., Anderson, M., Hawkes & M., Raack, L. (2000). Computer based technology and learning:Evolving uses and expectations.Retrieved 28/7/2010 from
http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED456816.pdf

Wikis

The concept of a wiki being information which is quickly spread between online browsers was originated from the Hawaiian word 'wiki wiki,' meaning quick (Younger, P. 2010). There are open wikis where anyone can add, remove or edit information and there are closed wikis where only specific people who are invited can edit the page. The purpose of a wiki is to share and notify readers of information. They can contain links to other wiki pages and can contain blogs (Younger, P. 2010). At times the information on a wiki page can be inaccurate because anyone can contribute to the page. Probably the most popular wiki is wikipedia, as shown above.

Wikis can be used in the classroom for the gathering of basic information, however may not always be the best source for accurate information. Wiki's can be used by groups of students to create an ordainment of ideas and research to almost create a 'book'. This will be enhancing their learning as they have to all equally contribute through individual findings and work together to produce the most accurate, informative page. It also encourages students to use technology in their learning.


References
Younger,P. (2010). Using wikis as an online health information resource. Nursing Standard, 24 (36), 49-50.

Mind Mapping

In week one of Managing E-Learning, we explored two different programs on the net for mind mapping. They were bubbl.us (http://bubbl.us/) and text to mind mapping(http://www.text2mindmap.com/). Both programs were fairly easy to use, but I personally preferred bubbl.us. Here is an example of my experimentation with the website.

For the classroom that I will be teaching in, these programs will be an easy tool for students to organise their ideas and information needed for their assignments. As technology is increasingly being used more, I will need to use it quite readily in my classrooms to not only keep up with my students, but to also keep them interested and engaged in lessons. These programs could also be helpful fo myself as a student to help organise my ideas and group together information for assignments.

A Blogging Journey

When travelling overseas or to a foreign area, one might keep a journal of what they see, hear, feel, experience, smell and taste during their journey. They might send postcards or letters to loved ones informing them about what they are experiencing.
Since our world is increasingly becoming more technologically based, you would expect that to inform many people about news in your life or through your journey, you wouldn't need to handwrite 20 thousand letters and walk all the way to the postbox to send them. Instead now, people all around the world are posting blogs on the internet where others can read about their opinions or any exciting news they have to share. Blogs can include podcasts, images, music and links to other websites to increase interest. They can be used by anyone.

As I am studying to become a secondary teacher, I will need to experiment with different technologies to connect with my students and to maintain their interest while I am teaching.
Keeping a blog that they can readily access would be helpful in keeping them updated with homework, assignments, excursions, due dates, topics covered in class that they want to go back over or if they are away from school for a period of time, they would be able to keep up to date.
A negative aspect of a blog used for these purposes could be a decrease in numbers at school; if they can learn everything from home, why bother coming to school?

Over the next 10 weeks, I will be posting blogs about my journey through a university course called E-Learning. It should be a challenge for me as I don't know very much about this subject in particular, but hopefully by the end will be able to understand and use different tools that can enhance my classrooms in the future.