web quests- the good the bad and the boring!!

the webquests that we looked at on the powerpoint presentation, were intresting. the difference in them were so prevelant it was easy to see which ones were better. the webquest on the tiger cubs was very boring...no student would look at it! i was even bored before i read any of the infomation!. this may have been because it wasn't creative it had a whole heap of infomation all bunched together and there was one picture and that was it. it wasn't inviting so the student would lose intrest very quickly!
the second webquest on the murder mystery was really good. it was interactive, lots of visuals, and it gave the students a specific task. what was even better about the webquest was that it could be used for different subjects, biology, buisness, law, forensic sciences! thats what a web quest should be!, inviting, intresting, stimulating and used over a variety of subjects!!

online games for students.

trying to get a game on to my blog... and i thought the music was hard :)

actually its not that hard.

for students how are naturalistic this game is great! zoo games allows students to create their own animals and make an entire zoo. its fun, intercative and intresting...perfect game for kids who love to create things.

mp3 music | Daniel Powter MP3s

a scary Al Gore!!

Podcast or Radio?

A podcast you can download and play over and over again. listening to it whenever and wherever you want. you can play the same thing over and over where as the radio plays something once and thats it!
you download files, images, radio highlights, news to your computer and then transfer to your IPOD!

SO HOW DO WE CREATE A PODCAST???

when finding out how to podcast, GOOGLE it!

this is a good place to start on making a podcast!!
podcast tutorials explains what a podcast is, and how to create your own!

happy podcasting:)

to blog or to wiki????

the difference between our blog and our wiki!!

we can control our blog and we can decide who and what appears on it. we are able to delete comments and we know who is posting them. however on the wiki the postings are anonymous. we cant tell who is writing and posting on our wiki therefore anyone could be writing anything!.

on the wiki, people can change our work, add to it, or delete what we have written however on our blogs they can only post a comment not change our work.

contents of a small wiki!!

http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Dreikurs,_Rudolf (use this site for an example of the basic wiki) (this wiki is a private wiki)

Contents[hide]
1 Descriptions, definitions, synonyms, organizer terms, types of
2 Application in classrooms and similar settings
3 Evidence of effectiveness
4 Critics and their rationale
5 More Books by Dreikurs
6 Alternative explanations due to diversity considerations
7 Signed "life experiences," testimonies and stories
8 References and other links of interest

wkik? a collabroation of people working together on the same document. it can be frustrating to use and a hazzard as it is free and anyone can use it at any one time. it is a document put together by a group of individuals not through email but through a document on a serve

example of e-learning 2.0 (collaborating with others in the creation and construction of knowledge) using wikis
example of web 2.0 ( collaborating with other people to create new knowledge) using wikis

task:
1. name of wiki?
2. aims, goals, objectives and outcomes
3. history and members of this group who are contributing (descriptive infomation)
4. how have we learnt? key elements of our experience that have worked well or that we would improve on
5.what have we learnt about online learning
6. what resources have we found that are really good
7. how would you structure an E-learning group
8. how would you assess an E-learning group
9. Rubric for a course using e-learning 2.0 approaches

second life!!!

what is second life???

second life is a 3-D virtual world, owned and built by residents.

From the moment you enter the World you'll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you've explored a bit, perhaps you'll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.

You'll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow residents. Because residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other residents.

The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world unit-of-trade, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online Linden Dollar exchanges

www.secondlife.com

it has an economy, education, marketplace, business...its an online world.

mulitple intelligence online!

it is now no longer HOW smart you are! it is what intelligence is your stongest!
linguistic
logical
visual
rhythmic
kinestheitc
naturalist
interpersonal
intrapersonal
existential


when designing a lesson it must be analytical, interactive, introspective.
when using ICT, it must include activities that include these 3 domains!

http://surfaquarium.com/mi/intelligences.htm is a site on multiple intelligences. it contaians all types of intelligences and activities for each, using ICT.

how do we handle multiple intelligences in the ICT environment??!

we can handle mulitple intelligences in ICT by:

need to be aware of your dominat domain of intelligence as it gives you a natural bias when teaching

be aware of the natural dominat domain of intelligence of your students.

make sure you offer activities for each of the three domains in your lesson. offer these simulataneously

organise activities in the ICT world that are around the three domains.

what is my dominant intelligence?

my dominant intelligece domain is interactive (linguistic, interpersonal and kinesthetic).

learners in this area typically employ to express themselves and explore their environment.

I characterize these three intelligences as interactive because even though they can be stimulated through passive activity they typically invite and encourage interaction to achieve understanding. Even if a student completes a task individually, s/he must consider others through the way s/he writes, creates, constructs and makes conclusions. The interactive intelligences are by their nature social processes.

http://surfaquarium.com/mi/mi_domain_interactive.htm

Bruner

his theoretical position states that learning is an active process that learners constructnew ideas and concepts based on their current knowledge

this also is the underlying principle in the constructivism theory. studnets build their knowledge on their previous schema.

a cognitive structure will provide meaning and sturcture to infomation

it is encouraged to let the student discover principles for themselves

active dialog and a spiral organised curriculum will work so that the student is continulally learning

his ideas are based on catorgirsation, "To perceive is to categorize, to conceptualize is to categorize, to learn is to form categories, to make decisions is to categorize."


the narrative construction of reality!

1. 
   Narrative diachronicity: The notion that narratives take place over some sense of time.
   
2. Particularity: The idea that narratives deal with particular events, although some events may be left vague and general.
   
3. Intentional state entailment: The concept that characters within a narrative have "beliefs, desires, theories, values, and so on" (7).
   
4. Hermeneutic composability: The theory that narratives are that which can be interpreted in terms of their role as a selected series of events that constitute a "story." See also Hermeneutics
   
5. Canonicity and breach: The claim that stories are about something unusual happening that "breaches" the canonical (i.e. normal) state.
   
6. Referentiality: The principle that a story in some way references reality, although not in a direct way that offers verisimilitude.
   
7. Genericness: The flipside to particularity, this is the characteristic of narrative whereby the story can be classified as a genre.
   
8. Normativeness: The observation that narrative in some way supposes a claim about how one ought to act. This follows from canonicity and breach.
   
9. Context sensitivity and negotiability: Related to hermeneutic composability, this is the characteristic whereby narrative requires a negotiated role between author or text and reader, including the assigning of a context to the narrative, and ideas like suspension of disbelief.
   
10. Narrative accrual: Finally, the idea that stories are cumulative, that is, that new stories follow from older ones.
    

Networking

Part of this project was to post blogs on other people blog space as such!!

To do this we had to invite and be invited oin turn to join and contribute to someone's blog. This was an activity that was done in class, and in class for a reason. To overcome difficulties easily!

Personally I was absent for the actual tutorial that this was done and as a result the task itself was harder even with the guidance of these wonderful people!! Many of s were new to this blogging and the ability to do something new such as intive authors to our blogs was a lot easier with the authors present to help troubleshoot!

For example people were present at the time to give their emails and confirm their invitation almost instantly. Where as if we had been doing it seperatly at home, we wouldn't haev had this quick acception and would not have known if we had actually done it right!!!

When undertaking the intivaton process, my invitation from a classmate (cough Stefan cough hehe) was continously not coming through. If we had been seperate at home, this may have caused an issue! We would either not have noticed or we would have had to converse through other means to correct it! It turns out it was simply an error in the email address given but even something like that if we were not both present may have been a larger issue to figure out!!!

Working at it simitaniously meant we could all create these fabulous blogs!!!!!

xoxo

hyperlinking to the H drive!!

hyperlinking...EASY!

hyperlinking to the 'H' drive.....NOT SO EASY!!!

however lets give it a go!

click here to view a picture from my 'H' drive

the knowledge tree.

the knowledge tree is a community of online journaling about innovative learning.

The function of the knowledge tree???

The Knowledge Tree enables the sharing of research and innovation in global e-learning practice

what is a good blog???

ok everyone! what does a great blog consist of?? well there's a great blog that has all the characteristics!!!! want a blog that will stand out from the crowd? click here for a great example!

here are some of the top chracteristics of GREAT!! blogging:

• intresting
• relevant infomation
• always being kept upto date
• infomation is readily avalible
• easy to access
• comments from readers

networking

Networking at home would have been different if we had to do this at home, as there would of course be technical difficulties and with that we would use msn, mobile phones and any other way to communicate to each other, it would inevitably be more difficult....the networking through use of external technology can be used to enhance the social aspect of learning which suggests that people learn more when learning together. we learn through teaching others and by networking with others via blogging, we are learning and teaching others, sharing thoughts and working in a group. we use peer tutoring (‘Peer tutoring’ is students teaching each other in a planned way, for example checking each other’s calculations, explaining a worked example to a peer etc.) to teach each other how to do things, in this example, it is how to network and share ideas and views on blogspot....


i know if we had done this at home, mel would have called me at least 3 times to see if she was doing it right!!

learning styles and ICT

• ICT is very important in the development of the new way of learning. its vital to keep lessons up to date with technology as it is the new way students are learning
• with this new age learning we are sometime to focused on the technology we are using we forget to look at the education behind the technology..what ICT can teach us about the subject we are learning about.
• it is sometimes assumed that by using ICT we will ALL learn more however if it is not used properly we cn not believe that.
• the effect of ICT is maximised if it goes hand in hand with the changes to teaching and learning

http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/story/0,10577,1164792,00.html

• ICT promotes different learning styles. students should be able to take their time while using ICT.
• it cant be assumed that all students know how to use computers..however most will
• the use of visual stimulas helps students to remember what it being taught..if they can see it they will most likely remember more
• technology means that the teacher has to develop new stratigies to teach. the technology helps the teacher aswell. it makes the subject more intresting for the students and much easier to teach.
• using ICT for teachers whom education has always been textual and verbal approaches using technology may seem a challenge
• iusing ICT will improve motivation levels with the students...using visual stimulas highly motivates people

Networking

Ok today was kind of a tricky one seeing as my university comerades and i had to try and network into each others blogs so we could post stuff for each other on everyones sites. If i had done this task at home alone i would have been lost an hour ago. lost my wallet, phone and keys etc in the process. Gosh I've been mugged!!! I most probably would have blown up my computer screen. >insert smiley face< This activity does however teach you how to communicate and work in a group situation, a skill that modern day society requires, no demands. It is actually quite interesting to observe and participate in this group situation as you discover you have insights and ideas that you would not have had by yourself. This leads me to the idea of social constructivism. The sense of community we build,"Higher Order thinking" occurs and we develop communal awareness.

Hi guys just thought you should read this...
What would it have been like if this was done at 8pm last night???Well this could have been an interesting phone conversation, alot of swearing and some laughing about how stupid we are because we can't do it. Then the questions would have come flying 'how did you do that?' 'what does your screen look like?' 'how come mine doesn't look like that?' 'what's wrong with my #$!* *^#$@!* computer?'. This could have been a disaster last night, but because we were all sitting here helping each other we were talking it through. Guys this is SOCIAL INTERATCTION at its best. We are now a community, an online community who would have thought... Communicating in person and with a screen infront of the both of you is so much easier than over the phone, where little, stupid mistakes are easily missed.

networking!!! not has hard as it seems

ok well we all know how hopeless melissa is with technology..if i had to do this by myself last night it would have been alot harder and i most likely would have given up!!! its pretty cool though. it would have taken forever then i would have rung jess to ask her how to do it!its a good idea to do because people can tell me if im wrong about what ever it is im babling about then i could fix it up. social constructivism using technology who would have thunk it!!!!!knowing how well i use technology i probably would have deleted not only my blog but everyone else's...if that is impossible im sure i would be able to do it!!!why did we use this whole networking bizzo??? well we're using our "higher-order thinking" we are using our ability to construct a on-line community of learners..were helping each other, if someone dosent understand we can make it clearer!!! simple really :) complex ideas become clearer when a peer explains it to us.:)

Social Constructivism in use in ICT

Following on from the idea that human's learn through creating personally meaningful understandings by relating new info to what they already know (constructivism), social constructivism is where this process occurs through interaction with others. Shared interpretations of new info and shared previous knowledge and experience enhances the understanding for all involved.Effective use of ICT fosters social constructivist learning through engaging the learners, fostering discussion, facilitating metacognitive learning (student is aware of their own learning), providing cognitive tools for co-operative work, and encouraging use of different thinking and learning styles (eg: visual, audio, spatial etc...)

cognitive tools

• What is a cognitive tool?
  
  Definition:
  
• Cognitive tools refer to learning with technology (as opposed to learning through technology).Jonassen (1994) argues that “ technologies, from the ecological perspective of Gibson (1979), afford the most meaningful thinking when used as tools”.
  Cognitive tools are generalizable computer tools that are intended to engage and facilitate cognitive processing. [...]
• Cognitive tools can be thought of as a set of tools that learners need in order to serve cognitive apprenticeships. [...] They scaffold the all-important processes of articulation and reflection, which are the foundations of knowledge construction. They (gag, can I say it?) empower the learners to think more meaningfully and to assume ownership of their knowledge, rather than reproducing the teacher's. The major problem if we accept this conception of technologies is what to do with all of the instructional designers... (Jonassen 1994).
  
• Cognitive tools help learners with complex cognitive learning activities and critical thinking. These tools are learner controlled in the sense that they construct their knowledge themselves using the tools rather than memorizing knowledge. In this perspective, computer systems are "partners" that stimulate learners or groups of learners to make maximum use of their cognitive potential.
  http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Cognitive_tool
  
• how do you use cognitive tools to teach??
  
• Learning WITH technology as opposed to learning FROM technology.
  The basic principles that guide the use of interactive software programs as cognitive tools for teaching and learning are:
  
• Cognitive tools will have their greatest effectiveness when they are applied within constructivist learning environments.
  
• Cognitive tools empower learners to design their own representations of knowledge rather than absorbing representations preconceived by others.
  
• Cognitive tools can be used to support the deep reflective thinking that is necessary for meaningful learning.
  
• Cognitive tools have two kinds of important cognitive effects, those which are with the technology in terms of intellectual partnerships and those that are of the technology in terms of the cognitive residue that remains after the tools are used.
  
• Cognitive tools enable mindful, challenging learning rather than the effortless learning promised but rarely realized by other instructional innovations.
  The source of the tasks or problems to which cognitive tools are applied should be learners, guided by teachers and other resources in the learning environment.
  Ideally, tasks or problems for the application of cognitive tools will be situated in realistic contexts with results that are personally meaningful for learners.
  
• Using multimedia construction programs as cognitive tools engages many skills in learners such as: project management skills, research skills, organization and representation skills, presentation skills, and reflection skills.
  
• research concerning the effectiveness of constructivist learning environments such as microworlds, classroom-based learning environments, and virtual, collaborative environments show positive results across a wide range of indicators

inspiration natives and immigrants

re-thinking bloom

1. description-


2. analysis- summarising and notemaking


3. synthesis-


4. evaluation-


5. application- apply techniques to the classroom you are going into


6. creation- coming up with creative ways to deal with your class

blooms taxonomy is being re-thought by many people. we need to learn to transfer thses skills into our classrooms, we need to become creative!!!

Get creative!

Get productive!

Get connected!

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/soundhousevectorlab/

constructivist!!

• Formalization of the theory of constructivism is generally attributed to Jean Piaget, who articulated mechanisms by which knowledge is internalized by learners. He suggested that through processes of accommodation and assimilation, individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences.
• Assimilation occurs when individuals' experiences are aligned with their internal representation of the world. They assimilate the new experience into an already existing framework. Accommodation is the process of reframing one's mental representation of the external world to fit new experiences.
• Accommodation can be understood as the mechanism by which failure leads to learning. When we act on the expectation that the world operates in one way and it violates our expectations, we often fail.
• By accommodating this new experience and reframing our model of the way the world works, we learn from the experience of failure.
  
• It is important to note that constructivism itself does not suggest one particular pedagogy. In fact, constructivism describes how learning should happen, regardless of whether learners are leveraging their experiences to understand a lecture or attempting to design a model airplane.
• In both cases, the theory of constructivism suggests that learners construct knowledge. Constructivism as a description of human cognition is often associated with pedagogic approaches that promote learning by doing
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)
  

constructivism!!!

some definitions of constructivism:

• The constructivistic approach to teaching and learning is based on a combination of a subset of research within cognitive psychology and a subset of research within social psychology,http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/construct.html


• Constructivism is an approach to teaching based on research about how people learn. Many researchers say that each individual constructs knowledge rather than receiving it from others.


• http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.d36b986168f3f8cddeb3ffdb62108a0c/;jsessionid=D1G9DbBQp88y4L68DUtdLOt6fY6of7KDGSzrznqIxWO27EEungvz!258856059


• constructive teaching is based on the belief that students learn best when they gain knowledge through exploration and active learning.


• Education is centered on themes and concepts and the connections between them, rather than isolated information.


• Constructivism is a theory of learning based on the idea that knowledge is constructed by the knower based on mental activity. Learners are considered to be active organisms seeking meaning. Constructions of meaning may initially bear little relationship to reality (as in the naive theories of children), but will become increasing more complex, differentiated and realistic as time goes on. http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/802papers/Skaalid/definition.html

There are several guiding principles of constructivism:

• Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore, learning must start with the issues around which students are actively trying to construct meaning.
  


• Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. And parts must be understood in the context of wholes. Therefore, the learning process focuses on primary concepts, not isolated facts.
  


• In order to teach well, we must understand the mental models that students use to perceive the world and the assumptions they make to support those models.
  


• The purpose of learning is for an individual to construct his or her own meaning, not just memorize the "right" answers and regurgitate someone else's meaning.


• Since education is inherently interdisciplinary, the only valuable way to measure learning is to make the assessment part of the learning process, ensuring it provides students with information on the quality of their learning.

http://www.funderstanding.com/constructivism.cfm