Assignment 3 - eLearning Design

eLearning Design: Year 10 Geography

 This is an eLearning design aimed at Year 10 Geography.  The design focuses on who the learners are, what they may or may not already know, and how the learners best learn.  The design focuses on a particular unit of work that I wrote, and provides a brief overview for each lesson within the learning sequence.  During the creation of the learning design, a range of factors were considered.  How do I incorporate ICTs into the learning process?  How do I make the ICTs use more interesting and creative?  What do I need to consider (what students were present in the previous lesson, who needs catching up, who does not understand etc) when planning a lesson?  I also had to consider my approach to teaching the content.  Was I going to be taking a teacher centred, individual learning approach?  Or would I approach the situation with a more constructivist outlook?

Based on my own understanding and beliefs, a constructivist approach to teaching and learning is more appropriate in our classrooms today.  This is what I have gone with in this instance.  I have approached the students learning and my teaching in a way that I don't teach the students much in the way of facts and concepts.  Instead I am providing the students with the necessary information to assist with their learning.

Profile of Learners: Year 10 Geography

LMQ1: What do my learners already know?

• I performed a learning styles and multiple intelligences/smarts test on my students to determine the ways in which the students best learn.

Results for Year 10 Geography
Student	Learning Style	Smarts
E.D.	Visual	Group
J.D.	Visual	Picture
J.D.	Auditory	Word
K.E.	Kinesthetic	Group
K.F.	Kinesthetic	Group
T.G.	Auditory	Nature
C.G.	Visual	Picture
E.H.	Kinesthetic	Group
J.H.	Kinesthetic	Nature
J.J.	Kinesthetic	Nature
J.M.	Visual	Group
K.P.	Auditory	Nature
C.R.	Visual	Picture
D.R.	Visual	Body
A.S.	Kinesthetic	Group

•  From these results, I can see that the group of students I have are spread relatively widely across all learning styles, and most of the students enjoy group work or working outside.
• The year ten students have already looked at climate change and natural disasters and have some idea of things like storm surges.
• For me to gauge what my learners already know, I will be getting the students to create a concept map on the board telling me everything they know about waves and wave formation - getting them to think about activities involving waves, types of waves and locations of good waves.
• Students will be answering a range of questions about beaches and waves to get them thinking about the topic and what the unit is all about.

LMQ2: Where do my learner/s need/want to be?

• By the end of the unit of work, students should be able to successfully identify a range of different types of waves and coastal landforms and features.  Students should be able to explain and describe the process of how waves are formed, and link this to the different types of waves.  Students should also be able to present a range of coastal management strategies for preventing damage to the coastline when students create their report based on a minimising the environmental impacts on coastal environments during a surfing competition. 
• During the course of this unit of work, I will need to ensure students have plenty of opportunities to work in small groups or with other students, have plenty of visual stimulus, and opportunities to learn with a more 'hands on' approach.

LMQ3: How does my learner best learn?

•   Based on the results drawn from the learning styles and learning smarts test, clearly my students need a good mix of visual, auditory and tactile learning experiences.  As well as a range of group experiences.
• Based on the outcomes and findings from Assessment task 1 for ICTs for Learning Design, students in this class would definitely benefit from a constructivist approach to teaching.
• As mentioned in my first assignment for ICTs for Learning Design, we all need to be aware that there are a range of students within our classroom, and every student is unique (CQU 2011, para. 2).  "One of the key elements to designing successful learning, whether it is face to face, or mediated by ICT (Information Communications Technology), is to know your learners and recognise their needs" (CQU 2011, para. 1).  I believe that this is important to consider when planning learning experiences.
• Based on this and the results from the learning styles test, it is important that not only do I incorporate technology into each lesson, but also have a range of other experiences and options for the students who learn differently and who may not enjoy the over use of technology.

 Plan of Action: Year 10 Geography

Unit of Work: "Geography of Surfing: Waves"

1. What your learners will be learning and demonstrating at the end?

Waves are an important feature of Geography as there are many factors and concepts that relate to the overall study of Geography.  Students investigate a range of geography concepts as they learn about waves and the surrounding features of beaches on their way to developing a coastal management plan to present to a surfing competition body.  Students will present their plan in the form of a report that outlines their gained understanding of waves, coastal features and possible coastal management solutions to prevent destruction to beaches and coastal environments.  The report will show the students' ability to provide recommendations from coastal protection and management.  From the report, it should be made clear to the hypothetical surfing competition body that the students' know and understand the topics and information that is being presented.

       Ways of Working (from Year 10 Geography Guidelines)

• respond to local and global issues by taking action in planned and enterprising ways
• understand geographical facts, concepts and procedures
• make connections between spatial knowledge and geographical examples
• understand how systems influence the changes in places and the distribution and movement of people, resources and information
• identify and explain patterns, trends and relationships in geographical data and information
• analyse the characteristics of geographical features and processes
• respond to geographical investigations across a range of scales
• provide and evaluate alternatives in response to geographical investigations across a range of scales
• present geographical information and data in formats appropriate to audience and purpose
• use appropriate geographical and language conventions and terminology when manipulating data and creating maps and plans

2. What the learners will be doing?
Students will be studying all features of waves and coastlines, learning as much as they can about how waves and coastlines are formed and the factors that influence the creation of the coastline.  Students will be actively participating in a range of activities where they will be comparing and contrasting waves and beaches both nationally and globally, critically deciding what waves and beaches are most appropriate for surfing and surfing competitions, and justifying all of their responses.  Students will be participating in a number of case studies that will assist them in creating a report at the end of the unit. 

3. How will they be doing it?
Students will participate in activities where they will be required to use higher order thinking skills (compare and contrast, concept mapping) to develop and enrich their knowledge and understanding of the topics discussed each lesson.  PowerPoint presentations, videos, individual and classroom activities will be provided to assist the students with their learning journey.


4. How is ICT embedded into the unit/learning sequence and what is it used for?
ICTs will be embedded into this unit and learning sequence to assist students in gaining understanding of the unit topic.  As there is no set textbook for Year 10 Geography, the material being taught to students will be presented to them from a laptop and data projector (unfortunately there is no interactive whiteboard in the classroom), or on the whiteboard.  PowerPoint presentations will be used to teach the students, there will be a range of diagrams, images and video clips embedded into these PowerPoints for students to remain engaged and so they will understand the concepts being delivered to them.  Students will also be taken on an around the world trip of beaches and waves, to do this, Google Maps and Google Earth will be utilised to get students virtually involved and the the beaches.  Students will also be taught how and where to search for the most appropriate data and information when it comes to writing their assessment.  Students will be shown how to use appropriate search terms, and how to use appropriate data bases or search engines.  In relation to the students' assessment, they will also be taught how to best utilise Microsoft Word.  As their assessment is a report, students will be shown how to format and set up their documents to reach the assessable requirements.  To fill out gaps in some lessons, I will be providing activities for the students to do that incorporate both the laptop and data projector, but also my Telstra T-Touch Tab in hopes that students will be more interested and engaged while completing tasks.

Year 10 geography 2nd lesson

View more presentations from staceydraper.

This PowerPoint presentation is from one of the lessons that I did with the students.  As you can see it is very basic, but to my students, it was a very helpful and powerful visual aid.  The following YouTube clip was also used during this particular lesson, students 'loved' this clip and it also assisted in explaining some of the points in the lesson.

This YouTube clip and the following PowerPoint presentation were used in another lesson.  The video clip was really helpful and it assisted the students in understanding some of the processes that I was trying to explain to them.  The PowerPoint presentation is again, very simple, but it was effective in its ability to provide the students with the real life examples of the coastal management solutions that we were looking at.

10 geography erosion

View more presentations from staceydraper.

5. What will the final product be and who will it be for?
 The final product that students will hand in at the end of this unit of work is a report outlining a surfing competition.  The report will be aimed at 'Surfing Australia' who have approached the students to do a report on a particular beach either locally, nationally or globally.  In their report, students will provide insight into the most appropriate 'beach' for a competition and discuss, explain, justify and reflect on why the beach is the most appropriate.  Students will also need to consider, explain and identify coastal management strategies so that the coastline and the environment that is being investigated remains unharmed and protected.  In doing this, students will also allude to the knowledge and their understandings developed through the course of study.  The student reports should demonstrate that students understand how waves are formed, how beaches are formed and a range of preventative measures that should be taken to protect coastal ecosystems from being damaged.

6. How will you align your unit with Bloom's Taxonomy to support a focus on higher order thinking?
 As higher order thinking is becoming increasingly important in schools, this unit supports Bloom's Taxonomy by requiring students to compare and contrast, critique, analyse, demonstrate, describe, design, identify and justify (just to name a few).  Concept maps, SWOT analysis and other thinking activities will also be incorporated into this unit of work.

Using the Four Resources Model as a Framework for this unit of work, Bloom's Taxonomy will be utilised in the following ways:

Code Breaker How do I crack this code? Spelling words Glossary terms Key words	Meaning Maker What does this mean to me? Reflection Concept maps Response to images
Text User What do I do with this text? Analysis Justification Compare and contrast	Text Analyst What does this text do to me? Problem solving Cause and effect Recommendations based on course material and research

By using a framework, the unit of work can become more structured and focused.  And the use of Bloom's Taxonomy can centre around the actual unit or work and students thinking processes can be more focused, giving everything a direction.

Overview of Learning Experiences (Unit of Work overview)
 

Wk	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
1	Anzac Day Public Holiday	Why are we studying waves? Introduces and start looking at types of waves. Activities 1,2 & 3	Looking at waves again, bit more in depth.  Look at the different sorts of waves – Definitions, diagrams and pictures. Activity, students look at a range of waves rating them from best to worst and justify why.	What makes a wave good for ‘surfing’?  Get students to look at a range of waves, get them to identify what sort of wave they are, get them to justify why they think surfers would choose that sort of wave.
2	Start to look at the coast.  Look at a diagram that shows the land/coast and possible features that are formed from waves.  Look at high and low intensity waves, recap on constructive and destructive waves.	Erosion: Corrosion & corrosion & coastal ecosystems. Look at a range of images that show what waves have done to the coast line.  See if students can point this out. Introduce some preventative measures we have taken to stopping erosion etc.	Show students ‘table’ that has what the preventative measure is and a picture, the rest of the table is blank with the headings ‘advantages’ and ‘disadvantages’ at the top of the columns.  Have students come up with a couple of points for each measure.	Case Study: Coastal Ecosystems. Talk to students about the ecosystems that make up the coast.  Pose a range of scenarios to the students and get them to come up with ways to prevent destruction of the coastline, ensuring they justify their responses.
3	Get students to recall what they have learnt about waves so far.  See if students know where some of the good surfing spots are both locally and globally. Start to look as some of Australia’s good surfing spots.	Take students on an ‘Around the World’ study of beaches and waves.  Pick a couple of beaches/countries to look at and take a look at where they are and what’s there.	Continue on with the ‘Around the World’ study of beaches and waves.  Looking at 2 or so different places then the lesson before.	Recap ‘Waves around the world’. Get students to recall all the features from the different beaches. Activity: show students 10 images of waves/beaches from around the world and get them to compare and contrast the waves/beaches, rate them in order from 1-10 (best to worst) and justify why.
4	Look specifically at Australia’s coastline and beaches. Show a range of images of the coastlines and get students to identify the features etc.	Case Study: Australian surfing spot. Look at: what there is that would make the beach appropriate for a surfing competition, what things need to be brought in to protect the coastal environment.	Case Study: Hawaii surfing competition. Look at: what they used to make it successful, what they did to avoid damaging the beach, what was brought in for the competition.	Have a look at some surfing clips and images. Get students to recall the 2 case studies. Activity, students to compare and contrast between the 2 case studies, students need to choose which of the 2 they would prefer to surf at based on their findings and justify why.
5	Revision lesson, go over everything that has been covered to ensure that the students have learnt what is needed.	Introduce students to ‘Report writing’; be sure to tell them that their assessment will be in the form of a report.	Introduce students to their assessment, scaffold the whole thing out for them, and ensure they all understand what is required.	Get students to start thinking of headings and research questions for their assessment so they are prepared when they start to research.
6	Assessment Research	Assessment Research	Assessment Research	Assessment Research
7	Assessment Drafting	Show Holiday	Assessment Drafting	Assessment Drafting
8	Assessment editing/re-typing	Assessment editing/re-typing	Assessment editing/re-typing	Report Due
9	Game: Pin the name on the coastline feature.  An image of a coastline is shown to the students as are a range of terms that will identify the features along the coastline.  The aim is to have students put the correct term on the feature on the image. Activity: show students a range of definitions and get them to identify what the term is based on the definition. Movie: Start watching ‘Blue Crush’.	Students continue to watch movie ‘Blue Crush’.	Athletics Carnival	Athletics Carnival

References CQUniversity. (2011). Week 1 readings: active learning, learning diversity and the theory. Retrieved  from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=17135

Assignment 2: Conclusion

Reflective Synopsis on Four Digital Technologies

"Advances in computer technology dramatically transform modern society into an arena where digital devices are indispensable" (Chung, 2007, p.17).  In today's world, technology is everywhere, it is easily accessible and in most cases simple to use.  So why not incorporate this into the learning environment?  Not only are students constantly using technologies, but for the majority of them, they seem to enjoy using technology.  "Research suggests that students learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process" (Dupain & Maguire, 2005, p. 1).  Why not take advantage of technology and incorporate it into the learning journey?

So much has happened over the past five or so weeks, as a wide range of learning technologies have been introduced into our ICTs learning journey.  By introducing these new learning technologies, we have been given the opportunity to explore these technologies to get an idea of just what is out there and available for possible use in our own classrooms.  Through a range of readings and experiments with the suggested technologies, we have gained valuable experience in how to use the technologies and been forced to think and reflect on the possibilities of using them in the classroom.  The following image shows the retention rates of students based on research.

(Sourced from Dupain & Maguire, 2005, p. 3)

Since the 1980s when technology was introduced into the classroom, a range of "studies have been done on how technology is used in the classroom, what advantages technology in the classroom may hold for teachers and students, and how technology is implemented in the classroom" (Eskil et al, 2010, p. 165).  This is important to consider in relation to all teaching environments and experiences.  There are so many advantages that can be seen to using and implementing technology in the classroom, all of which have become apparent over the last few weeks.

It is also noted that it is important that as we introduce technology into the learning environment, we need to shift our focus from 'teacher-centred' environments to a more 'student-centred' focus (Wright & Wilson, 2009).  The four technologies that have been chosen to reflect on are Blogs, Windows Movie Maker, Prezi and Dipity.  Through a series of blog postings on each of these four technologies, higher order thinking has been shown in a range of PMIs, SWOT analysis' and concept maps.

During Assignment One for ICTs for Learning Design learning theories were introduced, and in this case, Wright and Wilson (2009) identify that blogs allow for a constructivist approach to learning.  If we recall, constructivism focuses on how we learn knowledge with a push towards collaborative learning (Gupta, 2008, p. 381-382).  Blogs can encourage students to become actively involved in their own learning, by improving their performance both in and out of the classroom (Wright & Wilson, 2009).  Blogs have also been found to be effective in improving the relationships between teachers and students, as well as improving student's higher order thinking capabilities (Williams & Jacobo, 2004).  The following image proves that blogs are just that easy to set up, use and connect to fellow users.

(Sourced from Wittner, 2005, 'Basics')

In relation to the classroom setting, there are many different ways that blogs can be incorporated into learning experiences.  Whether it is simply to get students writing to hopefully improve their literacy skills in a more creative way, to get students to track their own learning journey, or as an assessment requirement (See Appendix 1).  Blogs really do have the ability to get students and teachers to think outside the box in terms of what and how to use blogs.

The second digital tool that I have chosen to explore is that of Windows Movie Maker.  When we, or in many cases our students join together "images, music, narrative and voice" (Chung, 2007, p. 17) we/ they are providing a creative and much deeper understanding to subjects and situations.  By digitizing stories, thoughts and general topics and information, students show their abilities to blend together multiliteracies, as well as including and showing off their creative skills and critical thinking skills (Chung, 2007).  Windows Movie Maker adds yet another dimension to creating and showing understanding.  Images force us to think about the hidden meaning and make us question things in relation to our own thoughts and feelings (See Appendix 2).  By combining the power of images with music and narrative (etc.) more emotion is created and we really do begin to see the power of an image.

It is important that as teachers we are continually searching for ways to engage and excite our learners.  Digital storytelling is definitely a creative way to do this (Dupain & Maguire, 2005).  Windows Movie Maker allows students to express their personality and creativity by providing a way that knowledge and understanding can be shown in a fun and entertaining way.  By using Windows Movie Maker, the "learning becomes student-centered as students conduct research, analyse and synthesize information, and creatively communicate their findings in a digital story" (Dupain & Maguire, 2005, p. 1).  Windows Movie Maker allows students to develop and improve their comprehension and retention rates, which is perhaps why more teachers from across all study and subject areas are incorporating and making use of this technology (Dupain & Maguire, 2005).  From personal experience, video is a powerful tool by any means, having students create their own, only adds to the power.

The third digital tool that has been investigated is that of Prezi.  Even though personally I have experienced a wide range of technologies, Prezi is new and previously unheard of.  "Prezi allows you a global perspective on your material whilst allowing you the ability to add minute detail not possible in PowerPoint" (CQU, 2011, para. 12).  PowerPoint has been around for many years and has plenty of exposure and use, but now Prezi has entered the field and is promising and exciting to use.  According to Diamond (2010) Prezi has the ability to change the way we think about how we create and deliver presentations.  Instead of just piling information onto slides, Prezi uses the subject content to create a story.  By doing this the story presented begins to dictate the processes involved in the presentation topic (Diamond, 2010).  Using Prezi allows you to see the 'whole' picture, or allows you to zoom in on certain parts to emphasize points.  This technology also allows you to map out the direction of the story.  In other words you may start out with the entire picture, and then zoom to the first major point, and continue to move to important facts or topic points throughout the presentation.  The following image shows the mapping out of a Prezi story/presentation.

(Sourced from Diamond, 2010, p. 21)

Prezi is available online as both a tool to 'create' presentations, but also to view those that others have created (See Appendix 3).  It should also be noted that if saving the presentations to the online version of Prezi, they will be available for all to see.  There are different 'packages' that you can purchase to access Prezi, unfortunately if you wish to 'download' the full program to your computer it will cost money, but as an upside, will mean that you have the ability to save directly to your computer (Diamond, 2010).

The fourth and final digital tool that has been explored further is that of Dipity.  Dipity is an online tool that allows that users to create 'timelines' about any topic.  The great thing about Dipity is "you can link video, audio, images and text. You can convert the timeline to a list, to a set of flip charts. You can zoom into a minute by minute timeline, to a centuries long timeline" (CQU, 2011, para. 12).  See Appendix 4 for an example of a timeline created using Dipity and a breakdown of how useful Dipity would be from an educational perspective.

From these four digital technologies, it becomes quite clear how each of them would be useful in the classroom and in students' learning journey's.  As mentioned earlier, it is so important to engage and interest students in their learning, and technology aids this.  As Malin (2010) notes that for students to have the ability to "reflect, decode, comprehend and construct meaning" (p. 121), students need to be engaged.  Yong and Ping (2008) support Malin by also noting that engagement is important for student success.  Malin (2010) provides an amazing example of how to implement technology into reading, to assist those who struggle with this task.  This is just one case of using technology to engage and excite students.  The majority of today's youth are socially using the freely available 'web' technologies, which in many cases makes most of these technologies appropriate and useful to teach with in a modern classroom (Robbie & Zeeng, 2008).  By using online technologies another aspect to teaching and learning is drawn on, as both students and teachers can communicate collaboratively locally and globally (Robbie & Zeeng, 2008).  Not only is it great to use technology to engage students in the classroom, but it offers the opportunity and the ability to work outside the classroom (Robbie & Zeeng, 2008).  In Appendix 1, it was noted that blogs could be used as a tool to improve students literacy skills.  By simply setting tasks for students to 'write' about, the students are engaging in their 'thinking' and getting their own thoughts, views and ideas out there for fellow classmates and the teacher to read about, if they so choose.

As the subjects that I will most likely be teaching are secondary English and Geography, there are so many opportunities where technology can be used to assist and support student learning.  Technology would not just be a means to create an exciting and engaging learning environment, but to help students to develop their skills and begin to get involved with and enjoy their own learning.

But as exciting and interesting as it can be to use technology within the classroom context, there are also guidelines that need to be followed to ensure the safety of all those involved.  Bennett (2005) suggests (and generally it should be implied) that teachers are expected to show respect, "fairness, responsibility, honesty and compassion" (p. 38).  Teachers need to ensure that all students have access to and are using technology in the appropriate manner.  Perhaps it is a good idea to set out some classroom rules for using technology, the following image is a good example of just that.

(Sourced from Bennett, 2005, p. 39)

These rules are a great example of setting out rules for all students to follow, and to ensure that no one 'abuses' their rights to technology.  Bennett (2005) outlines that the National Education Technology Standards provide a guide to the legal issues that are related to technology.

1. "Model and teach legal and ethical practices related to technology use.
2. Apply teaching resources to enable and empower learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.
3. Identify and use technology resources that affirm diversity.
4. Promote safe and healthy use of technology resources.
5. Facilitate equitable access to technology resources for all students."

 (Bennett, 2005, p. 38)

These guidelines are just a starting point for teachers.  As teachers we should also analyse the benefits or the drawbacks, determine whether learning will be enhanced by the use of technology, and to use the most appropriate technology for the activities; this should be based on the needs and requirements of all the students, what the curriculum demands and just what the classroom environment offers (Bennett, 2005).  Bennett also offers some good advice in that teachers should make sure that students are not only treating one another with respect in the actual classroom, but are doing so online as well.

From experience, technology most of the time, is interesting and exciting.  The four technologies that have been explored here, are just that, entertaining, but mostly through experimentation, are engaging.  Which as a teacher, is just the sort of technology needed in the classroom.  There are both advantages and disadvantages to using technology in education, but for the most part, it is a positive experience for all who are involved in the experience.  After experiencing and experimenting with the range of technologies presented in the ICTs for Learning Design course, no doubt some of them will be 'popping' up in my own classroom teaching!

Appendix 1
http://staceydraperelearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/week-3-activities-reflections.html 

Appendix 2
http://staceydraperelearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/group-2-technologies.html

Appendix 3
http://staceydraperelearning.blogspot.com/2011/03/group-3-technologies.html

Appendix 4
http://staceydraperelearning.blogspot.com/2011/04/group-4-technologies.html

References

Bennett, L. (2005). Guidelines for using technology in the social studies classroom.  Social Studies. 96 (1), 38-40.  Retrieved from http://www.tandf.co.uk.journals/titles/00377996.asp

Chung, S.K. (2007). Art education technology: digital storytelling. Art Education. 60 (2), 17-22. Retrieved from http://www.archersmediacomputing.com

CQUniversity. (2011). Week 1 readings: active learning, learning diversity and the theory. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=17135

Diamond, S. (2010). Prezi for dummies. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Publishing.

Dupain, M., & Maguire, L. (2005). Digital storybook projects 101: how to create and implement digital storytelling into your curriculum. 21st Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/

Eskil, M., Ozgan, H., & Ballear, B. (2010). Students opinions on using classroom technology in science and technology lessons: a case study for Turkey (Kilis City). Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology. 9 (1), 165-175. Retrieved from http://www.tojet.net/

Gupta, A. (2008). Constructivism and peer collaboration in elementary mathematics education: the connection to epistemology. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education. 4 (4), 381-386. Retrieved from http://www.ejmste.com/index2.html

Malin, G. (2010). Is it still considered reading? Using digital video storytelling to engage adolescent readers. Clearing House. 83 (4), 121-125. doi: 10.1080/00098651003774802. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t914957666~db=all

Robbie, D., & Zeeng, L. (2008). Engaging student social networks to motivate learning: capturing, analysing and critiquing the visual image. International Journal of Learning. 15 (3), 153-160. Retrieved from http://ijl.cgpublisher.com/

Williams, J.B., & Jacobo, J.S. (2004). Exploring the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 20 (2), 232-247. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet.html

Wittner, R. (2005). Weblogs: a powerful tool for educators. Retrieved from http://www.sbg.ac.at/zfl/eTeaching_Skills/eTeaching_weblogs/basics.html. Retrieved from CQUniversity e-courses, EDED20491 ICTs for Learning Design, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=17135

Wright, V.H., & Wilson, E.K. (2009). Using technology in the social studies classroom: the journey of two teachers. The Journal of Social Studies Research. 33 (2), 133-154. Retrieved from http://www.thejssr.com/

Yong, T.L., & Ping, L.C. (2008). Engaging academically at risk primary school students in an ICT mediated after school program. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 24 (5), 521-539. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet.html

Just for laughs

The following clip was sent to me in an email and I thought that this was the perfect place to share such a comical parody on technology!  What do you think??

Appendix 4

Group 4 Technologies

This group of technologies were actually a lot of fun to get involved with and experiment with!  I know I really enjoyed having a good old play around with Google Earth and Google Map, especially when I found my house and could zoom around the streets!  I also quite liked Gizmo and what it offered for both students and teachers, I know that after checking it out I'll definitely be attempting to use it in the classroom (especially when trying to get students to understand tectonic plates etc).

But perhaps the technology I most enjoyed was that of Dipity.  Basically this is an online timeline generating website, where you can create your own timelines based on anything you want, or you can view timelines that have already been created.  I decided that I would test this technology out and so I created my own timeline, which you can see below (I have also included a direct link to the timeline on the Dipity site).

http://www.dipity.com/staceydraper/My-literacy-and-numeracy-journey/

My literacy and numeracy journey on Dipity.

And because I found Dipity perhaps the most enjoyable of these technologies, I have provided an indepth 'Concept Map' to show how I view this in a teaching context.  As I was unable to access the mapping links provided to us on the ICTs moodle site I had to locate some mapping sources from out in the universe.  The one I have used here is called 'Mindjet Mindmanager', it's free to download and I found it so simple and easy to use!

To break down everything that was included in this group of technologies, I have created a very basic and simple concept map.  I decided not to go too over the top here with the information as I wanted to avoid an over crowed and messy looking map.  As it turns out, with the small amount of info I did decide to include, the map did eventually became incredibly crowded.  Unfortunately, for some unknown technological reason I was unable to use the concept mapping tools provided on the ICTs moodle site, so thus I again had to source my own!

The program that I used in this case is called 'Personal Brain' and is available online as a free download.  It still has me confused, and I don't quite know how I even managed to create this mind map as I found the program incredibly confusing to use!

All in all though, this group of technologies I have found to be a lot of fun!  I have certainly enjoyed every minute of creating things and experimenting with the programs.  I can not wait to get in and start using these in the classroom!