canterblog

BLOG TOOLS  WORKSHOP notes

What was the catalyst for setting up your blog?

• We have been using Stu’s eduweb, students and teachers enjoy it publishing on the intranet  Blogging and podcasting is a logical next step.        
• Blogging offers a motivating challenge to students and teachers to come to grips with the expertise and skills necessary to publish a blog. It;s fun and it ‘s new and its experimental. At this stage the process is as important than the product.
• Cyberspace is inundated with blogs, both good and awful.Learning how to make one is the best way to understand and critique them Blogging helps to develop critical literacy skills.
• In the The 21C world  “technological skills” are so crucial to all aspects of life (recreational, educational, political, social, commercial and industrial )  that if we do not integrate them in teaching/learning programs we are seriously disadvantaging students who are not learning those skills at home.  

What was the impact of the blog on your teaching and learning? ·   

•  Helps to build learning communities.  Students can have superior skills to teachers thereby democratising the classroom.
•  Peer teaching and collaborative learning opportunities are integral to the process as students and teachers work together to come to grips with the process.
•  It’s a Steep learning curve. Reinforces the fact that that in this fast changing world students need to be able to learn, unlearn and relearn.
• Teachers and students need to develop strategies for analysing , evaluating and creating information rather than absorbing  and regurgitating  content . Everything we learn how to do today will be superceded tomorrow.
•  Students need to become flexible, engaged independent, collaborative and and active in their approach to new information and skills. Engaging with Web 2.0 applications reflects the need for these qualities. It’s exhausting because the point never arrives when we can say. “Right now I’ve got it” ·   
•  I have pulled nearly all my hair out. I don’t really know whether flv. Is better than mp4 but I do know they can be played directly in a blog in their own little player. ( wmv. files on the other hand must be downloaded and saved to be played . I have learnt how to use ftp client software to upload files and how to convert files from one format to the other (encoding).  (All of these things are extremely tedious and I am looking forward to the time when they are no longer necessary  )

Purpose

• Address the need to integrate technology in teaching programs
• Develop students literacy skills (reading ,writing, speaking ,listening  + visual literacy, media literacy and critical literacy ) 
• Motivate and engage students and teachers
• Interact with students families and community members
• Provide links to relevant websites
• Celebrates student achievement
• Provides an audience for student publications
• Invite discussion and interaction around the blog and its content
• Gives voice to student ideas and stories  

 

• Highlight the part of your blog your students engage with the most.
• Students love to hear their own voices.
• They love using the video making applications such as Photostory 3

 

Highlight any content of your blog you would improve and give reasons for the change  

We definitely still have training wheels (trail blazing)

 As the blog develops I hope that

• The quality of the material will get better. Of greater intellectual quality
• A blog shouldn’t be viewed as a finished product like a magazine or a website but rather as a work in progress, in that sense I don’t feel the need to revisit old posts.
• Ultimately it should be clearer and more coherent, in that it will address a particular project, theme, group or function (it will be less of a proverbial dog’s breakfast).
• The posts couold be created for individual students, teachers, subjects and projects and attract participation and feedback.

 

 What lessons have you learnt on your “blogging journey”, which you would wish to share with others   
• I f you are writing a long post I advise you compose first in a word document and then paste into your blog. Composing directly into your blog will invite disaster.
• Don’t be afraid to ask your teenage son, daughter next door neighbour or student for assistance.
• Know when to call it quit and go to bed if things are not going according to plan
• REMEMBER Nothing substitutes for good teaching it’s a teaching/learning  tool

  Maybe wait for the DET to come with some good tools instead of plunging head first into the abyss as we have done.

One day it will all be TOO EASY

 Outline technical features that were important in setting up the blog 

• Teachers and students need technical support and training
• Students need access to publishing
• Access to hardware and softwar
• Fast Broadban
• Bug free application
• The ability to comment on a moderated site  

What features/functionality of the current blog tool are essential for effective use of

 

• Site is moderated
•  Site can be private or public
•  Site allows users to upload a variety of file types  ( this could be standardised and simplified )
•  Site provides a variety of templates and widgets o   Site allows ftp upload and direct upload

 What features/functionality would you like but don’t have currently? 

• User friendly  layout ( ie.better templateS  which work seamlessly and have many customizable features)
• Shock Wave and java embedding would allow more interactive content to be used. 
•  Avatars should be enabled as they encourage students to interact with sites.  

Why are we podcasting  ?

Effective teaching ensures that students are meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks.

Technology allows engagement in ways which are difficult to achieve otherwise.

In working together to create a publication such as a website or a podcast ,collaboration among peers and a community of learners take place incidentally as part of the process.

The focus is on experiential and self-directed learning which are  increaingly important in the information age

What is enaged learningBy engaged learning, we mean that all student activities involve active cognitive processes such as creating, problem-solving, reasoning, decision-making, and evaluation. In addition, students are intrinsically motivated to learn due to the meaningful nature of the learning environment and activities.



some links

http://www.enquiringminds.org.uk/

http://www.flypaper.net/

 

 

 

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