FINAL REFLECTION

 

Finally the sun has set on my Web 2 journey!!!!! It has taken me some time to finish this amazing course - not because of interest but because of time constraints and my own personal technology journey. 

 

From Module 1 through to today,

the fascinating world of

blogs,

glogs,

prezi,

flickr,

rss,

communities online

etc, etc, etc

 

has been a source of consternation but also inspiration!!

Our students are growing up in a world that is at their fingertips

and I never stop marvelling at creative technology

and the way it engages all those open to new challenges

assto take the plunge,

ask questions,

solve problems,

think outside the box,

and

communicate and share online!

 

It is not only our students who are 'growing up'

in this world.

We are growing with them!

So it is important to be immersed,

to try,

to explore,

to discover......

not just leave it to them and hope for the best!

 

Not everything works

or not everything is suitable!

But we need to be right there in the mix!

 

Marcel Proust wrote:

 

"We do not receive wisdom;

we must discover it for ourselves

after a journey

that no one can take for us"

 

I plan to constantly review and explore Web 2 tools

and other tecnological tools

in my classroom

to engage students

and to encourage them

in their own wisdom journey

and the

pursuit of deep knowledge!

 

 

 

 

MODULE 10: "LEARNING COMMUNITIES"

I have just watched a couple of the clips with regards to wikis and nings.  Have had some interaction with nings - CaSPA ning! Saw some of the pages created by teachers and students!  Would love to create a Library page for staff and students to access! Will work on creating an effective communication page for all for 2013!!! I think I am going to be a very busy person over the school holidays putting this into creative functionality! I found the concept very innovative and creative and certainly something I have been thinking about for our school! Hopefully I will be able to think creatively and get something up and running! Would be a marvellous asset and great way of communicating with the various communities within the school on a number of levels. 

MODULE 9: NETWORKS ON THE WEB

 

 

I have used Scootle as a resource tool in finding Music resources for various activities and various classes. It has a wide variety of tasks and activities available for teachers set out in the KLAs and age groups and, given that it is a learning portal for teachers, I am assuming that most of the resources are student friendly.  The resources I have used have been most helpful and given some new insights into tasks I was already doing with my Music students.  Further investigation and exploration to come!!!!

 

 

SOCIAL NETWORKING!!!!

 



 Facebook, Twitter, Second-Life, facebook, twitter, twitter, facebook, second-life.......and on it goes. These are common everyday words and activities engaging people of all ages. Everywhere you look, people are facebooking or twittering, or social networking. It is part of life! How much we choose to be involved  or participate is entirely up to each individual! I have to admit I am not a prolific social networker and have yet to see how some of these applications can be used successfully/educationally in the Primary School Classroom.

Guess I had better get a 'life' and start networking to find out!!!!!



MODULE 8: RSS

As stated,

"RSS feeds are a simple way to select and manage the information we receive from various internet-based sources, such as news alerts, social networking updates, journal articles and blog posts"

 

 

 

The videos were most helpful and very clear in delivering this message.  How much more convenient to have the new information and updates coming to you instead of having to go looking for the updates.  Wow! Technology will never cease to amaze me. I wonder if I will ever be able to amaze myself and others with all that I am learning! I have been into Google Reader to investigate and have found it to be most useful - I am sure that it will became an absolute must for me when I have my head totally around it!



MODULE 7: BUILDING ONLINE COMMUNITIES

This is a very useful tool for anyone who uses the web! As a Teacher Librarian students are constantly using the internet as a source of information. Some of the questions raised on Module 7's page were:

How do you find the good stuff?

How do you remember where you found it last week?

What great things are out there that you are yet to discover?

 

 

Three very good questions for students and teachers as we walk this technological walk through education in the 21st Century!!

 

This is an excellent tool in assisting everyone to work their way around the thousands upon thousands of sites that appear when searching for information in any area. It is so easy to spend precious amounts of time 'surfing' the net in search of that 'goldmine' of information. Delicious allows the controlled sharing of 'favourites' at many different levels which can save hours of 'surfing'.  This is particularly useful for assisting students when searching for information - especially in the Primary School.  Students require assistance to direct them to relevant and safe sites.  With this tool, time is spent productively and educationally. It is also an organisational tool - something our students require at all levels.

 

I can see many benefits to this tool - it is all about sharing - especially when we have the means to do so at our fingertips!



MODULE 6: EXPLORING PHOTOS & VIDEOS ON THE WEB

I have once again been busy playing with the web 2 tool of Picasa.  I can see that students and teachers alike would love the creativity of this visual tool and perhaps use it for presentations of class work, design and make projects, excursions and incursions.  This form of sharing is widely used now and gives all parties involved a visual and up-to-date view of education.  However, I am yet to fully discover the implications and scope for this amazing world of sharing so it will require further visits to watch the various clips on how to use this tool effectively. Still not quite up to embedding in my modules so I will have to re-visit my module reflections to successfully embed the various presentations I have created!!!

MODULE 5: "CREATING & COMMUNICATING ONLINE"

 

This has also been a very creative module: bubbl.us, glogster and prezi.  Wonderful tools for children (and teachers) of all ages to share and display their knowledge in creative and innovative ways. 

A glog is an online poster or web page. Glogs are online posters that enable the user to combine text, pictures, graphics, video and audio to creative an interactive online poster.    Glogster enables students to become knowledge creators!!!
 
I have just been experimenting with glogster and created a page about bagpiping - allowed me to see just how creative my students could be with regard to their own learning. As usual, I will have to work on this and focus on further applications.
 
Also had fun with Prezi - ideas are infinite! Created a page about the book "Wonder" in this National Year of Reading!  Like glogster - I found this to be a creative means for student sharing and learning. Just have to embed in in this module reflection!