Navigating technologies to support meaningful learning.

Web 2.0. ?   What was Web 1.0  ? Wiki ? Blog ? Virtual Learning Communities? Podcasts? Webquests?  Voicethread?  Thinkquests? IWB’s ? Widgets ???  Second Life ? 

What happened to my first life ?

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Podcasting

Podcasting

A series of technologies for transmitting audio and video.

Task 5

Read the link above and explore the working examples in elementary schools.

1. My English students have created an interactive mulit-media presentation using moviemaker embedded in Powerpoint. They wish to add audio and embed their presentations in our Class Weblog and in their personal logs. What technologies do you recommend?
2. I have students that want to listen to more English in the bus from the residences – it is a long drive. What tools and websites do you recommend?
3. My students want to make video and download on http://www.youtube.com/.  They asked their teachers, but they also said “No!” . What ideas can you think of  so they can still make and publish videos ?

Why Webquests ?

 Webquests

 Take time to explore the link above.

Task 4

1. Why are webquests so popular in education?
2. How do they meet constructivist principles?
3. What are the “critical attributes” for defining an Information Product as a Webquest?
4. Find an engaging webquest you could use in your learning environment and post it below with a comment of how it would fit into a lesson plan or Sequence of Work.
5. Are you interested in creating a webquest ?

“Only a few years ago I returned to Uni to invest more money in my education. I spent countless hours in an “ICT- Education” course creating an integrated ESL/Humanities Webquest on rainforests. I am passionate about webquests.  My initial enthusiasm waned after 90 hours in the university computer lab in the evenings after teaching rounds.  I learnt how to design a website. More importantly, I learnt I was not an IT  technician –  I was an educator who enjoyed using ICT.   I haven’t had time in my teaching life to create a website since.  However, technological  tools have caught up with my pedagological beliefs. This semester I learnt I can use a blog to create a webquest.  Wow! My life can focus on ideas and learning  rather than remembering how to check and repair broken links!  Goodbye Dreamweaver  (Nightmare Weaver) – hello Blogs and Wikis!”

Regards,

Brigid

If you still like creating a website feel free to check out Microsoft Front Page or Dreamweaver

What are Wikis ?

1. What do you know about Wikis?
2. How are they different to blogs ?
3. Which Wiki includes privacy options?
4. Which is the easiest to use ?
5. Why and how could “trust” be an issue ?

Task 3

Do some research and add some comments.

Websites

Ways to Use Wiki in Education

Wiki Spaces for Teachers

Wikis 

Best Wiki for Classroom Use

Wiki Design Principles

Digital Storytelling – Voicethreads

VoiceThread is free open source software that allows you to record voice with pictures or input text. It can be used for digital storytelling or to collect audio comments on a topic.

You can publish VoiceThread on a Blog and share it with as many people as you wish.

Where can I learn how to use WordPress?

You can watch this video or you can go to lessons on the wordpress site.

ICT Tools – What is “Web 2.0″ ?

Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other ICT tools explained in the context of language learning by an ESL teacher in Spain. Our role as teachers is to keep up to date with learning technologies to incorporate these tools in our learning plans.  What tool/s are you interested in?

Community of Learning

This weblog has been designed to document our collaborative learning process towards creating information products for education.  It will serve as a community of practice for our class of teachers in training to collaboratively develop and visualise our thinking.

The information products we create will be informed by constructivist perspectives. 

 Task 1

 a. Share an ICT tool to use in our lessons.

 b. Reflect on “What is meaningful learning ?”

How can we use Weblogs with our learners ?

A ‘blog’ is short for ‘weblog’. It is a website that is easy to use because you need no knowledge of HTML. Great for technophobic teachers. You can make a private community to create, publish and share ideas. How can we use it ? Let’s start a list and discover more uses.

• classroom websites
• writing portfolios
• webquests
• teacher/learner posts to communicate
• reading portfolios

 ”Blogs” (Enda Toumey ADMC – Feb.2007)  has the following links:

http://edublogs.org/10-ways-to-use-youredublog-to-teach/

http://www.pembinatrails.ca/program/technology/uses_of_blogs_in_education.htm

http://www.walsallschools.org/uses

http://www.educatr.com/uses

http://blogherald.com/2008/01/24/edublogs-campus-bringing-blogs-to-schools/

Free blogging websites:

http://wordpress.org

http://blogger.com

http://edublogs.org/   (note for public viewing )

Task 2

a. Start researching from above links and search other websites for authentic examples of blogs to support learning.

b. What are your thoughts?

c. What are two different ways you could use this tool with learners ? (Do not repeat ideas- create new applications).