England -> Home Sweet Home

England....   Nice place to visit.  Woudn't want to live there.

No trip would be complete without getting a hug from a really English Bobby.  : )

Or an English, Ok Wales, Castle

Ahhhh.....Home Sweet Home.  My little, spacious, cabin in the middle of paradise. 

Sunshine, soft gentle breeze, sounds of birds and the leaves rustling.

A little piece of heaven.

Shame I am so far behind in my studies to enjoy all that it has to offer.

Atleast I have the best place in the world to study in. 

Try this photo link to flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/66810949@N03/6081729838/ for more.

The size of these photos were reduced for uploading using MobaPhoto software.

New Media Literacies: a language revolution.

There will be many innovations in the development and use of new media in our digitally supported worlds. Some of these will be central to entertainment and to business. It is in these areas that we have witnessed substantial innovations already. Some of these will be central to education and to the basic competencies of all citizens.

The task is to identify which these are, and then to provide students with mastery in the important media literacies and experience in functioning effectively with them, in areas such as:

• engaging critical judgement in assessing the wealth of available information
• using imagery in communications
• engaging collaborative groups in solving problems
• assessing information gathered from multiple sources
• expressing ideas in a range of media
• choosing media appropriate to tasks
• thinking in multimodal terms
• participating actively in collective intelligence communities

Attributed to Woolsey, K. (2005).  New Media Literacies:  A Language Revolution.  Retrieved 29 July 2011 from http://archive.nmc.org/summit/Language_Revolution.pdf

Reflections on my learnings

Reflect on the learning potential of a blog in your context.
Blog address: http://zoestudders.blogspot.com/

My blog has allowed me to add content that I feel is relevant to my learning context, and to join and look at other peers ideas on the same subject.  My blog feels more personal.  Being reflective, and sharing ones learning, are very admirable qualities to aspire to; however, one needs a lot of time to keep up with all the things required in a day.  I am not sure how good I would be keeping up with Blogging – I rarely visit my Facebook page, and post to even less.  I would need to have a ‘need’ to do it.  If I was to encourage my students to be reflective learners, and to use this medium to reflect in, then I would most certainly need to model this in my everyday life.

Reflect on the learning potential of a webpage in your context.
Weebly address:  http://elearning2011style.weebly.com/

Like the Weebly tool.  I can see how this can keep growing as a subject grows.  I would need to pay for the full version so that I could include video clips.  It would be a useful tool for keeping in students up-to-date with lesson material.  Maybe the lesson material could be put up at the beginning of term, or at least on a weekly basis for students and parents to keep track of the learning.

Reflect on the learning potential of a presentation tool in your context.

Prezie address: http://prezi.com/mzvb1dxpew0q/copy-of-getting-started-with-prezi/

I was not able to embed a Ted Talk into my prezzi.  Embedding a YouTube clip, image and text was very easy.  Prezie was easy to learn and to use.  I have always wondered how people managed to create presentations like this – and you see them all the time.  I will endeavour to use this tool in the future.

Reflect on the learning potential of a wiki in your context.

As a secondary teacher in the mathematics and scientific fields I can see a huge potential for students to engage in collaborative learning using a wiki page.  In science there are many opportunities to explore curriculum topics.  Many of these topics can have a wide range of cultural, social, and environmental consequences and opinions that could be explored and discussed using this type of forum to broaden students thinking and views on scientific knowledge and their understandings of the world as a global community.  This could be scaffolded by using an Expert Jigsaw or a SWOT or a PMI framework.  In Mathematics students may use a wiki page to discuss a current topic.  They may use it purely to clear up any misunderstandings, or to embed a YouTube clip that explains a process or concept in a different way than the teacher, or to add links to mathematics sites that they have found interesting or helpful.  Students may also be able to use a wiki to work on a group/individual assignment.

A Wiki that I have created for this course can be found at http://elearning2011style.wikispaces.com/New+eLearning+with+wiki    

Wikis that I have participated in for this course include:  http://fahe11001flex.wikispaces.com/Communities+of+Practice
http://fahe11001flex.wikispaces.com/Mobile+Phones+Wiki

SWOT Analysis: the learning potential of a Wiki

Strength

Wikis are simple to use, user friendly and easy to learn.

Students can access their wiki from home, school, friends place, work in their breaks, anywhere they can connect to the internet.

Students can have access to any school work that the teacher has determined important and posted, things they may have missed if absent for the day, collaborative assignments that they may be working on etc.

Anyone can edit a wiki page.  It is also possible to regulate user access. 

Wikis can be adapted to facilitate many different types of classroom activities such as collaborative projects, peer review, debates, competitions, and student comments and reflections.

Wikis can be a tool used for collaboration as everyone can access them at any time.

Wikis are instantaneous so there is no need to wait for a publisher to create a new edition or update information.

Students can upload files to the wiki.

The wiki software keeps track of every edit made and it's a simple process to revert back to a previous version of an article.

On programs, such as WikiEducator, you must be logged in to edit pages; this can reduce vandalism by automated spam bots.

Widens access to the power of web publishing to non-technical users.

There are a wide range of open source software wiki's to choose from so licensing costs shouldn't be a barrier to installing an institutional wiki.

Weakness

The flexibility of a wiki's structure can mean that information becomes disorganised and the thread of information may become disjointed.

Anyone can edit so this may be too open for some applications, for example confidential documentation.

Open to SPAM and Vandalism if not managed properly.

Requires Internet connectivity to collaborate.  Since the wiki is web based, if you can’t get to the web, you can’t access the wiki, and therefore, you can’t access the work.

There are many types of wikis to choose from. Some of these can be confusing as to how to install it and back it up.

Opportunity

The wiki has no predetermined structure – consequently it is a flexible tool which can be used for a wide range of applications

Encourages participation and a strong sense of common purpose.

Allows students complete control of the content.

Gives teachers an opportunity to help students gain ICT and literacy skill.

Wikis can promote peer learning through public project viewing. 

A wiki also gives the advantage of being able to put many ideas together and then go back and edit them when necessary or when time allows.

Students gain a platform in which to differentiate and make their own judgements regarding accuracy of information.

Student’s edits and additions can be tracked, allowing for the teacher to assess an individual’s contribution to group progress; visibility adds accountability.

People located in different parts of the world can work on the same document.

Threat

A wiki can run the risk of becoming a battleground.

Students can publish inaccurate or untruthful information.

A wiki is a web based document which means that what you put up into cyberspace can be found by other people. Wiki’s can be protected by using a password, but that doesn’t mean someone can’t hack into it. One of the people that has the password may be a little less than trustworthy and give the password out to others. If you are working on a project that you really don’t want others to see, you may not want to use a wiki.

If someone in a group is not tech-savvy, they may be very timid about using the wiki. If one or more of the users are avoiding the wiki because they are scared of it, the whole group will lose out on those people’s ideas.

It is not uncommon for a group member to be lazy about doing their fair share of the work. When that person has access to everyone else’s work, it may be easy for them to steal ideas and take credit for work they didn’t really do.

Attributions to:

Aneesh Bhat’s Blog, LMS Wikis: Unarnessed Potential, http://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/index.php/2011/01/10/lms-wikis-unharnessed-potential/

Augar, N., Raitman, R. & Zhou, W. (2004).  Teaching and learning online with wikis.  Retrieved 3 August 2011 from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.133.1456&rank=1

DeVore, J. L., Cecala, K. K. & Maerz, J. C. (n.d.).  Wikis in the classroom: properties, perceptions, and potential uses of this collaborative learning tool.  Retrieved 3 Aug 2011 from http://precedings.nature.com/documents/5244/version/1/files/npre20105244-1.pdf

Feris, S. P. & Wilder H. (n.d.) Uses and Potentials of Wikis in the Classroom.  Retrieved 3 August 2011 from http://innovateonline.info/pdf/vol2_issue5/Uses_and_Potentials_of_Wikis_in_the_Classroom.pdf

GeekGirl (2008). Gadget Girl Accessories: disadvantages of Using Wikis.  Retrieved 3 August 2011 from  http://www.gadgetgirlaccessories.com/internet-geek/disadvantages-of-using-wikis/

Sanden, S. & Darragh, J. (2011).  Wiki Use in the 21^stCentury Literacy Classroom: A framework for Evaluation.  Retrieved 3 August 2011 from http://www.citejournal.org/articles/v11i1languagearts1.pdf

Wiki Educator (2010).  Advantages and Disadvantages.  Retrieved 3 August 2011 from http://wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial/What_is_a_wiki/Advantages_and_disadvantages

TPACK Theory

I really enjoyed this fun 46 second commercial for the TPACK framework created by Punya Mishra for ISTE2010. It was "inspired" by the Mastercard "Priceless" series of commercials.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPTS-EMmLws

Mishra and Koehler’s ‘model of technology integration in teaching and learning argues that developing good content requires a thoughtful interweaving of all three key sources of knowledge: technology, pedagogy, and content. The core of [their] argument is that there is no single technological solution that applies for every teacher, every course, or every view of teaching. Quality teaching requires developing a nuanced understanding of the complex relationships between technology, content, and pedagogy, and using this understanding to develop appropriate, context-specific strategies and representations. Productive technology integration in teaching needs to consider all three issues not in isolation, but rather within the complex relationships in the system defined by the three key elements.‘    http://site.aace.org/pubs/sigs/sig-Mishra-Koehler-TCR.pdf

Dr Koehler’s, website which can be found at http://www.tpack.org/ , has a website dedicated to TPACK that includes: components of TPACK, research and professional development and resources.  Well worth a wander through. 

And finally, this YouTube video clip by Muniduki-stopmotion.m4v http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hwu-85H6aA&feature=related could not put TPACK in more simple, easy to understand terms, and is in a fun format.

Reflection: Mobile Phones in Schools wiki, using De Bono’s Thinking Hats

Is this forum reflective of Behaviourism, constructivism, cognitivism, connectivism?  One, or all of the above?  What are the characteristics of the wiki design that lead you to that understanding?
I believe this forum is reflective of all of the above.

The Mobile Phones in Schools wiki could be described as behaviourist as it gave me the opportunity to practice and re-shape the way in which I went about my thinking of this topic.  De Bono’s Thinking Hats gave me a scaffolded way of learning ‘how’ to thinking through a topic, with planned steps that can be taken again in the future with other topics.  I can use this to change my behaviour, and my future student’s behaviour, when it comes to thinking issues or ideas through.

This wiki could also be described as constructivist, as I started with what I knew and had experienced and developed from this through research and reading, guided by De Bono’s Thinking Hats.  It was an exercise in Social Constructivism as I could read and engaged in the current thoughts and views of my peers, and access the current social and cultural research findings and reports of this topic.

I believe it was cognitive in structure as I allowed me to think about my thinking.  It gave me a variety of angles, in a safe environment, in which to think about and discuss the Mobile Phone in Schools topic.  It engaged a higher order thought process by analysing this topic, and evaluating research reports, peer opinion and my own understandings.

I most definitely ‘Connected’, via the internet,  with my peers, other members of the public, Australian Bureau of Statistics, researched articles and reports, as I felt I did not have the required prior knowledge and I wished to participate in this discussion with a more informed opinion.

Reflect on your own personal participation in the wiki.  What are the benefits, issues, drawbacks of participating in a wiki like this?
I benefitted personally by participating in this wiki as it stimulated thoughts, gave me new perspectives with which to look at this issue, gave me an idea on what/how other people saw this issue, encouraged me to research this topic/issue, gave me an opportunity to practice a scaffolded activity and to think more deeply about thinking.   I also benefited by being able to participate in my own time, at my own pace, at my own place.  I liked being able to research further, and back-up or change my thoughts and ideas.  I also liked being able to pre-type and articulate/edit before expressing these thoughts.  It was a low-risk environment with which to voice my opinion.  It gave me an opportunity to voice my opinion when I otherwise may not have.  I was able to complete each Thinking Hat individually, as I found the time and opportunity, and post when I was able to.
 
A personal issue I experienced with this wiki was internet connectivity and computer problems.  Without both of these working properly it made it impossible to participate in this wiki.  I did manage to start posting on the wiki, then on returning to the site I had so much reading and catching up to do.

A Question:  can more than one person be editing a wiki at the same time?
 
How would it contribute to the learning of your students?
Like myself, my students would have the opportunity to engage in a group, or whole class, discussion that allowed participation, and a voice, for all students.  It would give individual students the time to think about and articulate what it is they would like to say.  If students were given class time to enter into a wiki, but did not complete the activity they would then be able to finish in their own time at a time more convenient to them.  I think wiki’s could be scaffolded in many ways; such as the Expert Jigsaw and De Bono’s Thinking Hats that have been used in this course.

How did the scaffold support the collection of a range of perspectives?
Using a wiki platform and the De Bono scaffold allowed individuals to note down their opinions and understanding.  It gave the individual the opportunity to see how other people viewed the same issue, allowed the opportunity to respond to another’s point of view, and to reflect and change or further develop their own opinion.  Using the Thinking Hats gave ‘thinking structure’, collected all ideas related to a certain way of looking at the issue together, and made for easy analysis of ideas and opinions.  A consensus of opinion could be easily obtained from this scaffold.