Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a great tool to generate quick information about a topic. There are numerous pages of information that is often very helpful and insightful, however, the validity of the information is definitely something that needs to taken into account when using information from Wikipedia. This is due to the fact that anyone that is a user of the site is able to add or update information, this means that information may not necessarily be true or may contain bias views.

I conducted a search of recycling which resulted in 32 pieces of information, however, not all of this information was relevant and of good use. The first piece of information, though, did produce very relevant, correct and usable information. As i have previously studied this topic with one of my host classes I was able to determine that most of the information was valid and could be trusted in using. The problem however with this, is that while students are conducting searches using Wikipedia they may come across and use information that is not true and is not relevant to the topic. It is for this reason most universities and schools do not allow the use of Wikipedia in academic assessment material. I do however believe that Wikipedia is a great tool for those that are searching for information for personal use only, not the for the use of academic assessment, as this tool does often have a great source of information that would otherwise be difficult to find. This is fundamentally the reason behind most people using this site to perform searches, because it does provide one with a great deal of information, quickly- and you do not need to sift through pages to find it. Through my search i also found that pieces of information listed below were pages thought to be relevant to the search i conducted. This included the history of recycling, legislation, supply, process, collection, sorting, cost benefit-analysis, positive and negative points, common recyclables and other techniques, just to name a few.

Wikipedia, would be an excellent tool to use in order to teach students to unpick information and determine what is relevant, what is seems valid and what is of good use to them. This would definitely benefit students in the way of finding information for tasks and determining what information they need to complete the task. These skills are used as a part of university study as well as many professions in the real-world, so not only would this type of teaching become authentic and beneficial to students in their future learning but allow for them to see relevance to their learning and practices in the real-world. Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) explain that this connection to real-life practices and the integration of ICT's is significant in creating engagement within students toward classroom tasks. Prensky (2005) provides further reasoning to this as he believes that students of the 21st century need to use technology in classroom experiences in order to be prepared for the technology rich society of the future. Furthermore, the use of Wikipedia can be seen to be also beneficial to learning Managers in their attempt to gather information to support their teachings.

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity,
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Google Earth

Google Earth is such a great tool for everyday use as well as pedagogical contexts. The tool is very easy to use and navigate around the world to various places. It is amazing that anyone can view any place around the world via their computer! Already I have learnt where particular landmarks are located within countries around the world as well as the longitude and latitude of these. I have been exploring places all over the world such as; the Egyptian Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Great world of China, Pantheon and Colosseum of Rome, Parthenon of Greece, statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower and many landmarks in Australia.

Learning Managers could make use of such a tool by taking students via the web to the places they are learning about in order to create a greater understanding of where particular places are located and what they look like. Google Earth may be used to benefit a variety of pedagogical practices such as;
-showing learners where particular animals/ people/ objects come from
-where famous landmarks are located
-what landmarks look like
-what different shapes can be found in landmarks around the world
-the distance between locations
-the difference in weather around the world
-the difference in landscape around the world
-what countries are on each side of the equator
-the longitude and latitude of different places

Upper primary students could be required to investigate, using Google Earth, the longitude and latitude of countries and landmarks around the world and explore the longest and shortest ways between different locations using different units of measure including centimeters, meters, kilometers, ect. Younger students could be required to locate different countries around the world or landmarks within Australia and investigate what places would be traveled through in a trip across Australia. These types of activities integrate hands-on technology practices while providing visual cues for learners(Mueller, 1980). As it can be seen, Google Earth provides real-life connectedness and meaningful relevance to the real-world, which supports Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) along with Felder and Solomon's view that students see value and are actively engaged in these types of experiences.

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity,
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Mueller, G. (1980). The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 335-340

Felder, R., Solomon, A. Learning Styles And Strategies. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

Youtube and Techertube

This is a Youtube video of the world's most deadly spider. Youtube is a web tool that can be used by anyone to watch videos uploaded by its users of just about anything. The beauty of this tool is that there are a very large variety of videos made available and you don't have to be a member to make use of the site. Youtube is easy to use and finding a suitable video is simple! Youtube videos can be used to introduce topics, provide information about topics, show demonstrations, provide engaging visual support to topics, provide ICT rich practices ect. The use of Youtube within educational contexts can be very beneficial to learning experiences because of the engagement (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) and visual support (Mueller, 1980) it provides for learners. Youtube also provides a gateway for the integration of ICTs and multimedia within classroom practices (Prensky 2001). Prensky (2001) emphasizes the importance of ICT's within 21st century classrooms as he believes these students are 'digital natives' thus speaking the language of technology. Through Prensky's view it is clear that children of the 21st century are greater familiar with technology and it's uses, it is for this reason it is important that Learning Managers provide learning experiences that make use of technology to create ease into learning with the use of familiar tools as well as engagement (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) and prepare students for the digital society of the future.

Teachertube similarly provides a place for Learning Managers to upload classroom videos, ICT assessment materials and moreover anything educational in video format. I have seen on the site, a range of students' videos for assessment tasks and class videos documenting their learning. Through this i can see how beneficial such a tool can be within classroom tasks in particular as a form of assessment. Requiring students' to video themselves presenting findings, information or ideas in creative ways as a tool for assessment allows for the inclusion of those learners who learn best through the incorporation of ICTs, creativity, visual cues (Mueller, 1980), hands-on and auditory practices along with authentic focuses (Felder & Solomon). Through providing this inclusion along with incorporating students interests and showing students how their work is relevant to real-life practices, learners will become greater engaged (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) within their task.

The video above can be used in a number of ways within classroom practices, including the introduction to a topic on spiders, providing students with facts on spiders during a topic and providing an example for students of how to document their findings on a particular spider. I have decided to use this video in an English lesson to incorporate the students' interests, provide engagement (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) into the topic and provide connection to the text that will be read by the student. The video will be used as a part of an English lesson focusing on spelling; students will clap when they identify words that end in 'er' throughout the video. This will be used to assess their knowledge and understanding of words that end in 'er' along with the ability to identify this sound. After this students will be asked to write a story about spiders making sure they use 'er' correctly in their spelling of words. The concept of using a video to do this will enable students to engage (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) within the topic through the use of visual representation (Mueller, 1980), ICT's in the form of video, inclusion of students interests along with active involvement from students.

References

Kearsley, G., Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity,
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Mueller, G. (1980). The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 335-340

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Felder, R., Solomon, A. Learning Styles And Strategies. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

Picnik

Picnik is such a fun tool! I have been playing on this site all day, editing my photos using a large variety of effects, touch-up tools, frames, stickers and text. Some of these tools are amazing, it was surprising to see that a free program allows you to whiten-teeth, fix blemishes, change colours and textures in your photos. The site is very simple and easy to use and navigate around. I love this program and look forward to using it for fun as well as within my future teaching practices.

Picnik is a tool that could be used in almost any pedagogical contexts. Learning Managers could make use of such a tool in almost all classroom experiences in order to provide inclusive practices and incorporate engagement (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). Some students learn best through the incorporation of ICT's (Prensky 2005) and multimedia while other students may learn best through the use of visual cues (Mueller, 1980) or hands-on experiences, it is for this reason it is vital to ensure all students are catered for and inclusion is achieved (Felder & Solomon), this can be achieved through the integration of tools such as Picnik. Teachers are able to use this tool along with Flickr to choose and manipulate images to suit their teachings. For example, in a topic of animals Learning Managers are able to choose images from Flickr and manipulate and edit them to support their teaching. They may, for example, choose to blur the background in order to provide focus on the animal they are discussing or add text to reinforce their key points about the animal, such as labeling parts of the animal. This tool could also be of great benefit in the teaching of technology or art in order to provide students with visual support (Mueller, 1980). Kearsley and Shneiderman (1999) explain that this type of learning shows students how their learning can be put into practice within the real-world and provides reason behind the learning. They suggest that the use of this supports students' engagement toward classroom tasks. Therefore, it can be seen that Picnik caters for those students who learn best through relation to real-life.

Students are also able to make use of this type of technology within their pedagogical activities along with assessment tasks. Students may put this tool to good use within their assessment tasks and presentations in order to support their work and show a deeper understanding. Learning Managers may also integrate this tool into learning activities. Students could learn about the use of technology within the 21st century and how it had progressed (Prensky 2005) , photos can now be manipulated and edited on the internet compared to once taking photos to professionals for such work. In addition, students can learn about the job of a professional photographer and what this exactly entails through hands-on experience. Picnik would be very beneficial to the learning to art. In particular the different effects including, colours, textures, creating a focal point, softening, sharpening and bordering. Learning Managers have a large array of opportunities to incorporate such technology within their classrooms.

As it can be seen the use of Picnik within pedagogical practices offers engaging, hands-on opportunities for students while providing visual cues, real-life connections and ICT rich experiences. There are a rich variety of ways in which Picnik can be used and incorporated within learning experiences for Learning Managers as well as students use and learning.

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity,
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Mueller, G. (1980). The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 335-340

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Felder, R., Solomon, A. Learning Styles And Strategies. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

Technology of the future

On Top Gear Tuesday night they had a segment on the future technology of mobility. One of the hosts went to Toyota City in Japan to explore what technology had been invented in the way of cars for the future. Their most recent invention is a car that looks simply like a seat, only higher- the mobile seats one person, can get up to 20km/hr, drops down to travel at higher speeds and doesn't have a roof, doors, windows or walls. The host explained that the mobile was very much like a wheelchair. However, the technology which really surprised me was that the mobile can talk to other mobiles of it's kind. The user is able to mark on their screen that they are going to a coffee shop and the mobile will notify all other users where they are going and ask if they'd like to join. I'm able to see through this the progression in technology today (Lincoln & Strommen 1992). While twitter exists and allows users to notify others what they are doing at any time of the day, the mobile is another step up where users can notify anyone, even people they don't know, where they are, what they are doing and ask if they'd like to join. I remember a few years ago when mobile-phones and email were the only means technology speaking to contact someone. However, in order to contact others using email or mobile-phones you must have them added within your contacts. This is the same as facebook and myspace where users are able to see what others are doing at anytime of the day however they must be friends on the site. Of course, users of the mobile have the ability to choose to display where they are, what they are doing and at what time. Although in relation to some of the studied course material describing the importance of safety within the use of technology for students, it can be seen that this piece of technology is not entirely safe. This is because of the lack of restrictiveness in terms of who can view what users are doing, where and at what time. It is however, fascinating to see where technology is now and the progression it is making into the future (Lincoln & Strommen 1992). Soon it seems, we will not have to walk, talk or think for ourselves as technology will have the ability to do so- a scary but interesting point to ponder.

REFERENCES

Lincoln, B, Strommen, E. (1992). CONSTRUCTIVISM, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE FUTURE OF CLASSROOM LEARNING. Retrieved from http://www.playfulefforts.com/archives/papers/EUS-1992.pdf

Flickr

Flickr is an amazing tool that allows users to upload photos and videos that can be made available to the general public to view and use. Data also, however, can be set to be viewed solely by the user. It is for this reason Flickr is such a great tool to be used within education contexts as well as everyday use. Users are able to store their photos on the website and even use others photos. Consequently, this tool can be used within educational contexts as a means of finding and choosing appropriate photos for classroom tasks as well as uploading and storing students own photos. In this context it can be seen that Learning Managers could make use of this tool in any classroom activity.

As Mueller (1980) describes, some students learn best with visual cues incorporated into learning experiences. It is for this reason that visual cues should be provided within classroom contexts in order to cater for these learners and achieve inclusive practices (Felder & Solomon). Furthermore, the use of images within pedagogical contexts provides significant support to the engagement of learners (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). In support to this view it can be seen that Flickr provides access to a range of educational appropraite images for view as well as use. For this reason it can be seen that through the incorporation of images within pedagogical contexts, learning Managers are able to support inclusive practices and provide engagement for their students within learning experieneces (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). However, Flickr is a tool that can be used by Learning managers as well as students! Students can make use of Flickr by using images within their assessment tasks and presentations to support their work and provide visual cues to their information. Learning Managers can design learning tasks that require students to document their experienecs through photos or videos which can be uploaded onto Flickr for storage or even submission. This type of task clearly incorporates the use of ICTs and multimedia, important in catering for 'digital native' students who are familiar with the uses of technology within the 21st century (Prensky 2001).

In using Flickr i found it quite simple to explore and maneuver around the site as well as upload images and view galleries of other users images. I have already thought of numerous ways in which i can use this tool within my future teaching and designing of assessment tasks. Through this i am able to see how such a tool creates engagement for students and caters for those visual learning within the learning site.

References

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity,
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Mueller, G. (1980). The Modern Language Journal, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 335-340

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Felder, R., Solomon, A. Learning Styles And Strategies. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

Mahara

"Mahara is an open source e-portfolio and social networking web application that provides users with tools to create and maintain a digital portfolio of their learning" (Wikipedia, 2007). Mahara offers many opportunities of educational communication between students and groups of students. The site allows for students to combine all of their work and educational relevant documents such as wikis, blogs, assessment materials, views and resumes all in the one area. Such a device allows students to store these materials, that may be found in various locations, and furthermore make available to other group work members, teachers, parents, peers and prospective employers.

"Mahara is a highly capable tool, but it will take a week of exploration to truly understand the capabilities of the software"(Aldred, 2010). I have found through exploration and use of the site that it is very beneficial to students participating in group work as groups can be created where all documents, views, ideas and communication can be stored and easily accessed. This is particularly beneficial to networking activities where means of communication are solely online. Maharas simplicity means it is very easy to use, moreover, the site is extremely safe and monitored. Any information uploaded onto the site may be shared with the general public or restricted to groups or individuals.

Mahara would be an excellent tool to use with high school students as they would be able to showcase their best pieces of work, assessment materials and resumes in the site for submission to assessment or to use for prospective employers. The underpinning job of Learning Managers is to engage students within their learning (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) and cater for individual differences in learners (Felder & Solomon). This online application allows for those students who learn best with relevance to the real-world are able to see reason in such a task as they document life-long learning experiences. 'Digital natives' and students who learn best with the inclusion of ICT's (Prensky 2001)will also benefit from the use of this tool within classroom practices. Through designing an assessment tool that makes use of Mahara as a means of showcasing students work, opportunities are provided for gifted and talented students to participate in extension activities that further request these students to produce a greater number of materials displayed on the site. Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and students from various ethnic backgrounds along with students with disabilities (Queensland Governement, 2006) are catered for through the manipulation of assessment, Learning Managers will be able to manipulate the tasks which ask students to provide materials onto Mahara to ensure inclusive practices are achieved. Learning Managers are also able to attain engagement (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999) within tasks relating to Mahara through the incorporation of other tools studied throughout this course such as Voki Avatars, Piknic, PowerPoint, Flickr, ect (Aldred, 2010). Students are also able to form groups and participate in online communication with peers which allows for peer teaching and learning along with a sense of engagement through networking with one another (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999).

There are various benefits of using e-portfolio applications such as Mahara within educational contexts along with every-day uses. The major being the ability to produce and maintain a life-long portfolio of learning.

References
Aldred, S. (2010). Learning style and personality. Retrieved from CQUniversity, FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44149

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved from CQUniversity,
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning, http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Wikipedia.(2007). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: Mahara. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahara

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.

Felder, R., Solomon, A. Learning Styles And Strategies. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm