E-Learning

I am now at the end of my third year of Bachelor of Multi Media studies, whilst I have not done a lot of teaching perse, I have had the opportunity to teach adults and children privately. I have used many forms of technology to achieve the goals that my students have wanted to achieve, powerpoint, flash, excel, Photoshop and illustrator are just some of the tools used. Tutors will need to continually improve their knowledge of the technologies that are increasingly being introduced and used in classroom situations.
During this course, I have investigated many of these technologies and have noted that many of them have changed significantly over the last three years; this is prevalent in the messenger systems as each of the sites continues to link their users with the wider web.
As I haven’t actually been in a classroom situation it is difficult for me to state which technology would be better used in that situation, however I do know that as technology grows and expands that students and tutor will be using more technology and relying on that technology to assist the learning processes required to for educated and intelligent adults for the future

Learning Management Systems (L.M.S)
Blackboard, Webfuse and Moodle are three platforms that are used at CQUniversity. These three instances of L.M.S provide a virtual information area in which students and tutors can connect, sharing information and assessing their own information. Students and tutors can be stationed at any point around the world and at the same time be in contact with each other through the World Wide Web. The discussion boards within these interactive interfaces serve as notice boards where students and tutors can post curriculum exercises, questions and answers. E-Learning tools are being improved and invented on a regular basis and these are easily accessed within the virtual classroom environment.
I have used discussion forums many times throughout my program and have always found them to be of great value and support, especially when there are questions to answer or to be asked.

Podcasts and Video Presentations
This type of presentation is becoming more popular as a learning tool by students and tutors alike. Podcasts are an audio visual file that can be saved as mp3 or mp4 before uploading to a player. These files work the same as an mp 3 or mp4 music file would. A student or tutor can keep in touch trough a podcast and the tutor can immediately correspond, correct or answer any query from a student on the presentation. Podcasting could be beneficial within the classroom environment, as students load their homework in or if a student is away for any reason they would have access to all the necessary lessons. You Tube works on a similar system to a podcast and YouTube podcasts are easily downloadable to many of the tools and site on the World Wide Web.
Video Presentations this is an excellent way to communicate between tutors and students; however this presumes that each person has a digital camera. Once footage and audio has been shot, it is then uploaded to a computer, from there it can be edited and save to a C.D or it can be converted to mp3 or mp4 and loaded to a player for viewing.
I have used both methods of communication and have found them to be very good, especially the podcasts. These two systems of communication are being enhanced and improved and will no doubt prove to be invaluable to students and tutors as their technology grows.

AvatarThese animated forms of communication can be obtained online either free to use or for a small cost. They can be used in many ways, to commend a student on their achievements, correct behavioural issues or to assist with class room activities, such as informing students of their homework requirements or dates when assignments were due. Other than taking a ready made avatar from the web, a tutor could give a class in which students actually create their own personal avatar themselves. This is an easy to achieve task and the students that I have taught this activity to have enjoyed creating their own likeness as opposed to sharing an avatar likeness that is prefabricated.

Skype
Skype is one of many free to use online interactive messenger, others include Yahoo and MSN these two messengers can be linked to each other, and each of them are linked to many other tools on the web including, flickr, facebook, my space and twitter. These messengers including Skype can be used as a direct and real time communication tool, which enables students and tutors to communicate in a virtual classroom situation. This means that people can connect with their peers or tutors regardless of where they might be at the time of the lecture. Video conferencing with sound makes communication through these systems very comfortable and easy for the users.

Blogs and Wikis
These sites are easy and usually free to build online. Information can easily be updated and used by users. Wikis and blogs can be locked so that only invited or accepted users can view them. This method of security is paramount in the teaching of students, some of whom maybe unaware of stranger danger and other lurkers. Either a blog or a wiki could be used in the class room situation to encourage students not only to interact with technology but to enhance their writing literacy skills. These sites can be accessed anytime as long as the user has access to the internet.

Refletive synopsis

Reflection
As technology continues to grow and expand, ICT has become an important part of education today; however, as the digital teaching factors are being introduced, teachers must not lose sight of the fact that analogue learning is still every bit as important as the digital learning. Students need to have non digital hands on learning to become well versed and rounded in their studies. Many of the technologies allow for spelling to be automatically corrected, this does not teach a child to spell, nor do computers necessarily teach a child to read, it is important for a teacher to give a student analogue learning experiences where the student does not use a computer until the exercise has been completed, meaning, a teacher could ask students to prepare a short story on a subject relevant to the class work, this work could later be up loaded to a computer, this exercise if carried out regularly might enhance the students spelling, writing and reading skills better than just doing it digitally.
Google is a really good interactive interface, where children and adults can engage and explore the many sections, such as Google earth, Google images and many more. There are sections of Google to suit most lessons a student might be required to complete especially if they maybe engaging in geography or any of the sciences. Many of these sites are free to use, meaning anyone may freely use pictures and information, however a teacher should always check copyright before actually allowing students to download. I would defiantly use Google in teaching students, I find Google to be an excellent source of information.
www.google.com
Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia. The information Wikipedia contains is somewhat dubious; in that it cannot always be confirmed as factual, and may not always be from reliable sources. However Wikipedia does have references at the end of each page and these references often are links to reliable sites and online journals, these are far more acceptable. Students should be advised of the discrepancies that are Wikipedia, and shown how to use this extensive site correctly. This site if correctly used as a stepping stone can be beneficial. I would warn all students and explain to them the content and format of Wikipedia, I would show them that although Wikipedia is not always the correct source it can be used to find links to correct sites.
www.wikipedia.com
Voki is a trade name for an avatar development site, there are a number of these sites online and they are all as interesting as each other. An avatar would be an interesting and totally engaging activity for students of all ages. There are many different types of these avatars to choose from and audio can be added in several ways, one of which is to simply type what is to be recorded, then a choice of voice accent is available. Teachers could make short lessons or stories for the children to interact with, especially if they were unable to be at school, they could then connect and stay in touch with their peers and teacher, much like i-pod and its interconnectivity. I would use avatars to help students learn, I find them engaging, I would ask the students to make their own interesting avatar as a presentation, they could then share with the class.
www.voki.com
A voice thread is an interactive e- tool. This interactive interface can be used for group discussions through a number of media e-tools such as, video, presentations, images or a combination of any or all of these. This is a user friendly interactive site that is uncomplicated to interact with, the treads can be uploaded by phone, file upload, webcam and microphone, and texts either written or graphs, these texts can be added as the user is engaging the audios. Editing is readily available within this site, this makes updating the site easy and effective. This tool could also be utilised as a learning tool for children who are members of a team or group and do not always have access to the class room or are away from the classroom due to illness or other commitments.
Web 2.0 has many and varied tools used throughout the World Wide Web. These tools change regular, as technology grows these tools and artefacts also evolve and expand. As technology continues to advance it becomes more intrinsic to education, and the need of all teachers to keep abreast of these changes is paramount to the education of children. One of the most important components on web 2.0 that is constantly being improved on is net alerts; these alerts are sometimes called “nannies”, they help and indeed shield computers from undesirable sites. With a nanny in place children cannot access adult sites, chat rooms or certain other sites deemed by the parent to be unsuitable. YouTube along with Flickr, Facebook, Myspace are phenomena of web 2.0, these sites have gained phenomenal popularity world wide since they were introduced. These sites and others like them provide users with previously unknown avenues of interactive engagement, young children and adults alike can interact easily with these interfaces. Teachers can and should interact with the students and utilise these sites as they could be used within the class curriculum very easily and become good learning tools and good learning experiences. Each of these sites can either be open to anyone or closed to only invited people the user knows, this means that if an under aged child has a site of their own it can be locked allowing only recognised people to access, this affords security for the child.
As technology continues to expand, teachers will need to be diligent in their commitment to these changes, I find the technology and its changes exciting and absorbing. I will most definitely be using these technologies within the class room and I would also encourage students to explore, engage and then come to the classroom and share their findings with their peers.

Flickr, Powerpoint, Photoshop and the others

If you have photoshop no doubt you will know how great it is, I also use Illustrator alot and actually like it better. Not saying I don't use any of the thousands of other tools like flash,windows photo gallery and kodak etc. I actually prefer powerpoint to flickr, but thats personal. Children would have and do have a great time useing all these tools. They do not need to have photo's they can google freeware pictures, or they could scan then upload their own drawings and make very nice shows to have as show and tell for their parents.

Great book to read

I have just taken from the CQU library a book ....Digital Literacies Social Learning and Classroom Practices, by Victoria Carrington and Muriel Robinson.
I'll be reading it this week then I will return it for anyone that would like to have a read.

Animation for the class room....Flash or You Tube

This is a little flashy I did for this assignment. It can be added to and made quite a bit larger but for this exercise I think it is long enough for you to envisage what its meaning is. I hope you find it as interesting as the children that I tried it out with did. You can see that it would make a good learning tool for anyone that was unaware of how to make colours from the primaries. I have found that children as young as 6 years can very quickly learn basic animation, infact they very quickly learn the finer points of the software by search and find methods. I have enjoyed showing people how to use flash and hopefully will be teaching animation in the class room, even if its not flash then another of the many cheaper animation softwares that are available.
You Tube is another good way to display all manner of things, so if you didn't have a blog, web site, or wiki to share your creations then You Tube would probably be a good substitute.

Digital and Analogue Literacy's

I am third year Multi Media Studies student.
While I was at school there were such things as computers, however not everyone had one , in fact I didn't know anyone that did, maybe it was because they were two or more stories tall and took the space of a city block to house them. At least that's the excuse I use for not having had one....a bit heavy as well.
So here I am a grandmother, and now all but completely submerged in technology...at this point I had best point out that I love it, technology that is.
I am hoping to complete my degree at the end of this term, I then will enrol in the Diploma of Education, for beginning of next year. My ambition is to teach computer studies, how exciting is that an immigrant granny teaching, the future digital elite.
What interests me mostly is literacy or the lack of it, not just the usual stuff like reading or writing, but others problems regarding literacy, the thing that really interests me is colour literacy. I have seen that many children who do not understand colour, nor do they understand which colours make which, eg. blue and yellow make green or that the tone can be altered with white or black. This may not seem like a big issue, but I believe it is, any illiteracy is not good, I devised a small flash animation aimed at children and will upload it to this blog.
I believe E-Learning will help me to explain myself and to also show me how to make teaching somewhat more fun.
As I add to this blog I hope that you too will find it interesting and leave some comments.
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