blog

EDN113

Thu, 24 May 2012 11:05:19 +0100

Today I listened to the final lecture for this unit and I found myself reflecting on how I felt when I began this technological experience and how far I have come. With a great amount of fear and trepidation I embarked on this journey with my sole aim being a pass grade - that was the best I could hope for. Remember, I am a digital immigrant; not a digital native. Now that I have almost reached the end of my journey, I realise that not only will my final grade probably exceed my expectations, but so has the entire experience. I have learnt things that I never dreamt I would be able to achieve and I did so with excitment, motivation and intrinsic reward. The astonishment I was greeted with when I informed people I had created my own website was amazing, but the looks on their faces when I showed them was priceless! The same can be said for my wiki also - infact several teachers have asked my to show them how to create these resources! Needless to say I am very proud of my achievements.
I have taken great pleasure in participating in this unit. I hope to maintain my website for future use and create my own, individual wikis in the near future. I can't wait until I can enroll in EDN205 and EDU417 as I feel I have definately developed a passion for technology and the benefits it will have in future classrooms.

Thank you Jan and Dani for all your help throughout this semester, I have found your assistance and advice invaluable.

Wikispaces

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:17:47 +0100

Wikispaces was the technology required to complete Assignment 3. As mentioned in a previous post, I was not look forward to this assignment and was completely overwhelmed by it. OMG! Was I wrong! I have never had so much fun completing an assignment task. I had three fantastic members in my group - The Fantastic Four - who worked so well together. Everyone was given their own set task to complete and we would email regularly to provide updates to each other on where we were at. I don't believe anyone in this group did not pull their weight - everyone found something to contribute based on their strengths. The only problem I encountered with this task was not knowing when to stop! That was the beauty of creating a wiki - there is no end to it. Everytime I completed a page or a task, I was inspired to create a link to it. Once that link was completed, I was inspired to link that to another page, activity or learning experience. There just was no end to it. I loved it! I can not wait to use this tool in the classroom. I discovered you could create individual learning pages for individual students to work on. That everyone - teachers and students - could contribute to the resources available on the wiki. I am excited!

Goodbye Teacher....

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:53:26 +0100

Lecture 10 was delivered by Jan Herrington and focused on the role of teachers in a 21st century classroom. As an external student I find this subject particularly interesting. Many people question the role of the teacher in classrooms especially when many individuals are opting to continue working and studying online during a time that is convenient to them. If individuals are able to manage their education independently, then where is the need for the teacher? I think it was Fred S. Keller who said "technology will not really teach" and this remarkably true. Teachers will still be required to teach, facilitate and guide learning for students. I find I am regularly 'checking in' with tutors and other students to ensure I am on the right track or for clarification, etc.

Jan also addressed the different ways we learn - 'shoelesslearning' - and the different environments we learn in - rule of thirds classroom design. Both topics were interesting as she ran through the pros and cons of shoeless learning and how the environment inwhich we learn effects the way we learn. I particularly enjoyed G. Whitby's Funky School and felt myself longing for that kind of learning environment when I was in school.

Jan further addressed the use of mobile phones in the classroom. I have heard her mention this in a prior lecture and am still not sold on it. I have heard of a couple of schools in the northern suburbs where the use of mobile phones is encouraged rather than discouraged. Unfortunately the effects in the playground have been quite negative - as soon as it is recess or lunch the mobile phones are out and the students are texting other students, but there is little to no verbal communication or play occurring. We are all aware of the importance of social development on students and the impact it has on their emotional and academic development. So sorry Jan, I can not reconcile myself to mobile phones in the classroom.

Overall, I found this weeks lecture really interesting and have enjoyed internally reflecting, blogging and discussions some of the points with peers.

Multimedia Technology

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:53:55 +0100

I can't believe it has been so long since my last blog or that this semester is almost over!
Lecture 9 was delivered by Rob Phillips and was about learning with multimedia. I enjoy Rob's lectures as they are informative and entertaining and this lecture was no different - it required some group participation and discussion. Rob addressed the technologies used in EDN113 and asked if we could give examples to support them.

Tool to support knowledge construction - campanion website, examples on LMS
Tool for exploring information and knowledge - google, library database, EndNote
Tool for learning by doing - personal website construction
Tool for communicating with others - discussion forums on LMS
Tool for learning by reflection - personal blog on website

Some of these examples I found I really had to think about; where others came to me relatively easily.

Next Rob addressed different forms of educational multimedia and how they are used for education. This was really interesting, as well as being inspirational in reference to completing Assignment 3 and ideas for the classroom in the future.

I particularly like the slides with the School Maths 'jokes' on them.

Words of Wisdom

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:25:50 +0100

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

- Chinese Proverb

EndNote

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:16:05 +0100

Wow! I can't believe it has been almost two weeks since my last blog! I have been struggling with this referencing software known as EndNote. EndNote was one of the referening options we were given to use in Assignment 2. I don't know why, but I really struggled with this.
I watched a couple of the tutorials on the Campanion website, then installed the software onto my computer. Then I watched the tutorials again, researched some more information and tutorials online and began to stress. I had no idea what I was meant to do with this program. I noted on most - if not all - of the tutorials that you could import the information from the online research documents onto EndNote, however not many documents allowed this option. How was I meant to import the relevant referencing information? Was I meant to record this information manually? I thought this software was supposed to make referencing and citing references easier? I wasted almost a week trying to work it out before I finally decided to get on the reseacher side of Assignment 2.
Once I was satisfied with my research notes, etc, I began work on my essay - still unsure of how I was going to use EndNote. I wasted another afternoon trying to work it out for myself before conceeding defeat and emailing Dani. With the information he gave, it was really quite simple - alothough I am still not 100% confident using the software. Yes I did have to install references manually if I was unable to import from the online document. I needed to insert the citation/reference where needed in the essay document and the complete reference would appear at the end of the document. Some questions I still have are; Why are my references not highlighted in the text like Jenni's were? and How do I organise my file according the subject relevance? And when adding a reference manually, what do you do if you con not fill all the criteria asked? If you have the answers, please beemail me.

How Computers Work

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:06:52 +0100

After I recovered from the initial feelings of dread relating to the requirements for Assignment 3, the second part of Lecture 6 focused on How Computers Work and was delivered by Rob Phillips. Being a Digital Immigrant and still learning about computers and the Internet, I really enjoyed this part of the lecture. Rob was really proficient in explaining technical jargon in a way that I could understand. I had no idea what CPU, RAM, HDD, imput and output devices actually meant, however his explanation relating to computer components was brilliant!

Imput Devices (keyboard, mouse) are the senses of the computer - like our five senses.
CPU (Central Processing Unit) are the brain of the computer that registers the information given from the imput devices/senses.
RAM (Random Access Memory) is the short term memory.
HDD (Hard Disk Drive) is the long term memory.
Ouput Devices (screen, printer) let us know what information the computer has received/registered - like talking.

This laymen explanation held my attention and made the information easier to understand because Rob used concepts I could relate to. This was not the only time he used this method during the lecture.

Prior to this lecture I had no idea what a router was other than you needed one to access the Internet. Rob gave an explanation that was easy to relate to and, therefore, understand:- A router is like a post office sorting 'electronic envelopes' and deciding the best 'route' to send them!

I really did enjoy this part of the lecture. Thank Rob!

Assignment 3

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:29:38 +0100

Ohhh! Sickness and illness - I have just listened to Lecture 6 and I am terrified of Assignment 3! Everytime I start to feel comfortable with this unit, Jan throws another curve ball and I am afraid that even if a give it a good whack I am going to hit a foul. I am just coming to terms with Assignment 2 and now I have this one to think about too.

Epiphany!

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:23:05 +0100

What an amazing teaching tool having a web site is going to be when I become a teacher! To be able to post deadlines for assessments, links to resources that may assist students in completing assessments and post notices regarding events such as sports carnivals, excursions, incursions, library day,etc will make a web site an invaluable teaching/learning tool.

It will also allow parents to review assessment criteria, thus enabling them to assist their children when completing homework and assessment tasks. They can also email the teacher via the web site if they require a more explicit explanation. The possibilities are endless!

I'm excitied!

Peer Review

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 05:53:52 +0100

Just completed my Peer Review! There are some really fantastic Web Sites out there! Well Done!