The engagement activity this week involved exploring blogs,
wikis and websites. While playing around with these different on line tools we
were asked to consider SAMR Model and think about how effective these various
types of technology impacted on teaching and learning.
The mentioned sites all link to at least one aspect of the
SAMR Model. I found that wiki’s and blogs – if used as a way to answer
questions and reflect link in with the substitute (S) and augmentation (A) area
as these are still task learners can perform with or without technology – it
just makes it more exciting than pencil and paper. That being said I also believe a blog applies
to modification (M) enhancing common classroom tasks, as students to add
various tools to their blogs. A website is an indication of modification (M)
and redefinition (R). Not only can it be used to boost learning, websites are
great for student centred learning.
Wiki’s are a fantastic resource to be used within the
classroom to create a collaborative learning environment. This site is user
pretty friendly and easy to navigate, if you are not trying to make anything
too fancy. For a novice like myself, I found it can become a little complicated
when you want to add different things such as slide shows with the different
HTML coding. It is a great site for users to share written ideas amongst one
another. However to use this in a
classroom as a student centred activity would be quite difficult as it appears
the site isn’t really developed for this purpose. It should be used for teacher
guided activities along with appropriate scaffolding.
Click on the link below to take you to my Wiki site, which I
have had a play around on.
I am a big fan of the website Weebly. Having never used it
before my experience at university, it seemed a little complicated to use at
first. After playing around for 5 minutes or so I had enough figured out to
create a successful site. I have used Weebly for a number of assessment tasks
over the past 2 years and find that the layout and the simple click and drag
options for text, images, documents and YouTube clips make for easy
functionality. This site is a great resource for learning managers to use to
create student centred activities in which the Weebly can be used to explore
various content knowledge. It caters for a large range of primary learners, and
students as young as year 3 can navigate a created site themselves, while
offering the challenge to those students in the upper primary year 6 and 7 of
creating their own Weebly’s for assessment. It can also be used as a teacher
guided site for those students in the lower primary from prep to year 2. The
only downside to this site I have discovered at the moment is the fact that if
you’d like extra features such as audio or you want to upload your own clips it
comes at a cost.
I have inserted a link with an example of a Weebly I created
to teach people about the Sacrament of Marriage. Please take your time to explore
my site.
Blogs…where do I start. Before engaging in E-Learning I had
very little to do with blogs occasionally have a sneak peak at one or two
thanks to something intriguing as seen on social media. So the concept of not
only creating and using a blog was very overwhelming especially after having so
much difficulty trying to figure out how to get onto the blogger site. After
spending quite some time having a play around, I have discovered it is nowhere
near as stressful as I first thought, even if there are a few tasks I am still
trying to figure out. Practice makes perfect! A blog is a fantastic way to
share your thoughts and ideas with the online world. People can engagement with
the information and leave comments. It would be great to use within the classroom
and have students individually blog about their weekly experiences - what they
have learnt about, anything they found interesting and or difficult. This site
could be used as a reflective tool for the students each week.
I’d like to share below with you in particular one blog that
I have so recently become very interested in – this by no means has anything to
do with my love of the Carlton AFL club or Chris Judd!
Sacrement of marriage in one section, and Carlton AFL and Chris Judd in another.... ??? LOL LOL Is that wishful thinking?
ReplyDeleteEliza....THANKS for getting me way off track!! Just spent the best part of an hour checking out Rebecca Judd...LOL
ReplyDelete