Learning tool 9: Podcasts

Wow! What a useful tool! Clips like the one below can be used to give students a break from always listening to the teacher. Using clips such as these can save the teacher the time and energy they would otherwise have had to use to find and correlate the information. Podcasts give the advantage of having professional speakers on various areas of knowledge that would otherwise be challenging to bring in to a classroom.

Digital Tool 8: Photographs

Pictures speak a thousand words. Visual literacy is a major part of communication within our society. Images are particularly useful in an educational setting for visual learners. The use of photographs for educational purposes is the topic of this blog. As I searched through the endless libraries of photographs within countless websites, I came to discover that there is an image for every occasion. The beauty of this is that any image is accessible to any individual within seconds. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have uploaded their images on to websites for the public use.

The image on the right would be utilised within a science classroom for students to learn the anatomy of an insect. The image was found in www.kiddk.com.

Digital Tool 7: Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Although I'm currently on a one week waiting list to create my Learning Management System (LMS) I know I will like it.

I know this because I have used them before and have found them to be a most useful system indeed.

We use this system to receive information on course work in our University. I have had the pleasure of working with both BlackBoard and Moodle in the past. These LMS's definitely have a place in my classroom and would be of particular use for setting homework tasks. I look forward to receiving my URL in a week or so!

Digital Tool 6: Prezi.com

Wow what a program, what one can do with this tool is nothing short of amazing. Everyone can be, and look professional with this program!

However I did have some problems. After spending quite some time making a beautiful piece of work I discovered that you cannot use your page away from this program until you pay (I did not discover a way, although there may be one). This reason alone would not have me using this program in my classroom.

Digital Tool 5:PowerPoint: Plug in to this One!

I'll give PowerPoint a plug any day.

I do find it useful for presentations and let's face it as teachers we will be presenting on a daily bases. I did discover however, that it does take some time to know and understand the tools and their location within the program. I like the fact that now everyone has the ability to make an effective presentation, even your students!

Digital Tool 4: Creating a Website

Today I created a website. I discovered that it takes a quite a lot of time. However if you already have text and images that you want to cut and paste it could be quite a useful resource. You can view my website at: http://elearnintoday.weebly.com/

I had a difficult time trying to edit my page once I had published it. Overall this is not my favorite use of digital technology, but it does have its place in the classroom.

Digital Tool 3: Wikis for Collaborative Learning

The use of Wiki has its place in the classroom, particularly in the upper and middle years of primary school. I was amazed at how extensively Wikis had been used at Korea International School.

A Wiki is different to a blog in many ways. The Main difference between a Wiki and a Blog is that a Blog can only be edited by the person who created it whereas a Wiki can be edited by any person at any time, this has major implications for their use in learning design. Wikis can be best used for students to collaborate on tasks. Used in the correct way a Wikis potential is mind boggling!

To have a look and add to my Wiki go to: http://thelearningofelearning.wikispaces.com/

Digital Tool 2: Concept Mapping for Learning

Concept mapping is quite a concept, and will be a very useful tool in my classroom in the future for both me and my students. Concept mapping is an organisation of ideas that can expand thinking. As a teacher, I could use this tool to collaborate with student in a group discussion and build upon ideas or brain storm and generally achieve higher order thinking in my students. I would particularly favor the use of concept mapping in group work using the 'Mindmap' program.

I found the 'Mindmap' program more user friendly than the 'Bubbl' program. I got very lost on the Bubbl program and could not manage to join the boxes and kept creating bubbles that over lapped.

Below is an example of the potential of the 'Mindmap' program:

Don't get blogged down!

The notion of blogging at first seems daunting, particularity when one is a first timer. As we have now all discovered it is not that confusing, particularly with the scaffolding that has been provided for us. There is no doubt blogging has its place in modern society, but I hope it does not take place of face-to-face social interaction. In a face to face discussion information can not only be divulged to the listener at will but it can also be tailored to suite their particular interest or needs instantly. Whereas in a blog it is mainly a one way conversation. I have discovered that questions can be asked by blog readers but there is no guarantee of when or even if you will get an answer. I look forward to using a blog and discovering its strengths and weakness and assess it for use in my classroom in the future.

Blog on CQU students!