YouTube is a site where the public can upload video clips and music clips to share with the public. It amazes me how many clips are out there and what people are will to share with the public eye! In my experience with YouTube it has been a very useful tool to engage students in a given topic and use throughout and extended lesson or unit.
Through researching the topic it is clear YouTube can be used in education for a variety of purposes. It is a great way to search and find a topic related to lessons being taught, it can help students refine their search techniques and gives new meaning to they way in which students research. With so much content on YouTube it is important that educators are very careful in choosing content especially when searching in class. "YouTube's content is interesting and unpredictable. It isn't always safe for work or appropriate for children" (Karch, 2009).
The clip I have chosen to share is one that I will be using at the start of a lesson with my prep class. We cook every week and have been discussing the importance of food handling, kitchen safety and healthy eating. This cooking lesson we will be making pizzas! After showing the clip the class will discuss what foods we are using to make our pizza, where they fit on the healthy food pyramid and they steps we need to take when cooking in the kitchen (safety). McKenna Gehrke makes a personal pizza for her family on the Kitcheneers!
Karch, M. (2009). YouTube Explained - Overview of the Google Video Sharing Tool. Retrieved August 19, 2009, from: http://google.about.com/od/moreaboutgoogleaps/p/youtubeprofile.htm
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Quizzes
As today's students have grown up in a world surrounded by technology they have become very competent users of computers, mobile phones, video games and digital music players (Prensky, 2001), just to name a few. For this reason it does not surprise me that they may wish t0 partake in online quizzes.
Online tests can provide students with a fast and engaging way to check their learning. Prensky (2001) states Digital Natives "thrive on instant gratification". Online tests can cater for this need. Educators can develop tests that are targeted towards a specific topic and students are able to take the test and be notified immediately their results. Depending on the settings students can check where they went wrong and try again.
The following link will take you to a quiz I developed for a prep class. Please note the cohort of students have just completed a lesson on pet animals and discussed the home environments each pet would live. These students are only beginning to read and identify words with out picture cues. The have also had very little exposure with working on computers. Let me know what you think, I value your feedback.
http://www.classmarker.com/quiz/?test_id=59001
Prensky, M., (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved August 19, 2009, from:
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Online tests can provide students with a fast and engaging way to check their learning. Prensky (2001) states Digital Natives "thrive on instant gratification". Online tests can cater for this need. Educators can develop tests that are targeted towards a specific topic and students are able to take the test and be notified immediately their results. Depending on the settings students can check where they went wrong and try again.
The following link will take you to a quiz I developed for a prep class. Please note the cohort of students have just completed a lesson on pet animals and discussed the home environments each pet would live. These students are only beginning to read and identify words with out picture cues. The have also had very little exposure with working on computers. Let me know what you think, I value your feedback.
http://www.classmarker.com/quiz/?test_id=59001
Prensky, M., (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Retrieved August 19, 2009, from:
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf
Animation and Simulations
Animations and Simulations are a great way to engage students in learning of more complex concepts. Computer simulations can recreate all kinds of processes both physical and social (Marsh, 2008). Simulations allow students to get fully involved in learning and allows concepts to be more easily understood and gives students the feeling of being 'right there'. It can also be a great tool for teachers to explain a procedure or concept and give the students the opportunity to revisit the experiment/experience at a latter date.
I would however argue that students seem to, more and more, live in a simulated environment and in some cases miss out on the hands on experiences. What happened to the days when students got right in on the action and got their hands dirty? In my experience students love the gory details of dissecting a frog! Don't get me wrong, I do think animations and simulations have their advantages, when used appropriately!
Marsh, C. (5th Ed.). (2008). Studies of Society and Environment, Exploring The Teaching Possibilities. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
I would however argue that students seem to, more and more, live in a simulated environment and in some cases miss out on the hands on experiences. What happened to the days when students got right in on the action and got their hands dirty? In my experience students love the gory details of dissecting a frog! Don't get me wrong, I do think animations and simulations have their advantages, when used appropriately!
Marsh, C. (5th Ed.). (2008). Studies of Society and Environment, Exploring The Teaching Possibilities. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Picnik
Picnik is a photo editing tool the learning opportunities are endless! What a wonderful site.I found this to be a very user friendly site. Although it was a little difficult at first to navigate my way around I quickly became wrapped up in all the possibilities.
Photographs are a great visual source for most learners and Levstik and Smith (1996) suggest students find it more rewarding when engaging in visual interpretations. Educators could use Picnik across many Key Learning Areas to provoke emotions, experiment with colour, shapes and design creative slides and collages. The learning experiences are are only limited to the teachers own creativity. I look forward to using Picnik as a learning tool in my classroom.
Levstik, L.S. & Smith, D.B. (1996). "I've never done this before". Building a community of historical inquiry, in a third-grade classroom, Advances in Research on Teaching, 6, 85-114.
Flickr
Flicker is an image and video hosting website and an online networking site. The website has become popular with bloggers as a form of photo 'bank'.To begin with I had many hassles setting up my account with flicker. With yet another account having to be set up at times it seems as though all these new 'time saving' technologies can be more of a hindrance than help, I feel in the past it has been much quicker and easier to just use google images!
Through further exploration of flicker I can see the benefits it could have. You are able to set up your account and choose who has access to your photos. This is another way in which social networking can take place. Through the formation of groups you can share ideas and build a repertoire of resources. Therefor this would be a great resource for education teachers.
It was a very simple process to choose photos and then upload the photos to my blog. As teachers with so many tools available it is important to be critical about which tools would best suit when executing learning experiences.
Video
The use of videos are a fantastic way to engage an audience when used appropriately. As a visual learner I have found videos to be extremely helpful throughout my studies to firstly engaged me in the topic and then help me to make meaning. Videos have been particularly useful in my E-Learning Adventures when understanding and establishing a blog and wiki!
Through careful planning video instruction can be used to promote student curiosity, speculation and intellectual engagement. They can promote group learning, discussions and activities allowing students to use knowledge they already have and higher-order cognitive skills required to extend their knowledge (Denning, n.d.). When used correctly Videos can encourage critical thinking skills, reflection and provoke emotions. They can also be used as a tool to present visual information that would otherwise be difficult to explain and again allows for a variety of learning styles and learning difficulties to be catered for. Videos can be very beneficial for students with reading difficulties (Denning, n.d.).
It is up to the teacher to decided what would be most valuable and they must ask themselves: Does this video encourage active learning through group discussions, allow learners to make judgements, encourage higher order thinking skills and motivate the students to learn more about the topic?
I have used videos as an engagement tool and as away to demonstrate manual skills on many occasions. I revisit the video at the end of learning experiences as a reflective tool to see if students initial thoughts have changed. "Students learn best when they are actively engaged in a learning activity" (Denning, n.d.).
I can see the endless ways videos can be incorporated into learning experiences and look forward to hearing ways fellow collages have used them.
Denning, D. (n.d.). Video in Theory & Practice: Issues for classroom use and Teacher Video Evaluation. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://ebiomedia.com/downloads/VidPM.pdf
Through careful planning video instruction can be used to promote student curiosity, speculation and intellectual engagement. They can promote group learning, discussions and activities allowing students to use knowledge they already have and higher-order cognitive skills required to extend their knowledge (Denning, n.d.). When used correctly Videos can encourage critical thinking skills, reflection and provoke emotions. They can also be used as a tool to present visual information that would otherwise be difficult to explain and again allows for a variety of learning styles and learning difficulties to be catered for. Videos can be very beneficial for students with reading difficulties (Denning, n.d.).
It is up to the teacher to decided what would be most valuable and they must ask themselves: Does this video encourage active learning through group discussions, allow learners to make judgements, encourage higher order thinking skills and motivate the students to learn more about the topic?
I have used videos as an engagement tool and as away to demonstrate manual skills on many occasions. I revisit the video at the end of learning experiences as a reflective tool to see if students initial thoughts have changed. "Students learn best when they are actively engaged in a learning activity" (Denning, n.d.).
I can see the endless ways videos can be incorporated into learning experiences and look forward to hearing ways fellow collages have used them.
Denning, D. (n.d.). Video in Theory & Practice: Issues for classroom use and Teacher Video Evaluation. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://ebiomedia.com/downloads/VidPM.pdf
Interactive WhiteBoards
An interactive whiteboard is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. Using a projector the computer screen is shown on the whiteboard and users are then able to interact with the computer using markers, pointers or other devices.
Interactive white boards are a very valuable tool for learner education. They can be used in a variety of ways to accommodate learning across all curricular areas. The interactive whiteboards can accommodate for different learning styles, students can touch and mark the board, listen to discussion and watch as the visual representations take place on the board (Bell, 2002)
The interactive whiteboard is an excellent tool for the constructivist educator. This technology can foster the development of collaborative learning as it encourages students to partake in group discussions and interactions (Bell, 2002). The ways in which one could use an interactive whiteboard in the classroom are endless, demonstrating new computer skills, digital story telling, brainstorming, saving and printing documents just to name a few.
Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to experience the use of the whiteboard in my classrooms; however I have heard great reviews and see the potential it has to offer all learners.
“Students think and learn in many different ways. It also provides educators with a conceptual framework for organizing and reflecting on curriculum assessment and pedagogical practices. In turn, this reflection has led many educators to develop new approaches that might better meet the needs of the range of learners in their classrooms” (Mark, 2002)
What a creative way to engage a class, the possibilities this tool could bring in ensuring all my learners needs are met. I look forward to engaging with the tool in the not so distant future!
Bell, M. (2002) Why Use an Interactive Whiteboard? A Bakers Dozen Reasons! Retrieved August 18, from http://teachers.net/gazette/JAN02/mabell.html
Smith, M. (2002). Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education. Retrieved August 18, from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm
Interactive white boards are a very valuable tool for learner education. They can be used in a variety of ways to accommodate learning across all curricular areas. The interactive whiteboards can accommodate for different learning styles, students can touch and mark the board, listen to discussion and watch as the visual representations take place on the board (Bell, 2002)
The interactive whiteboard is an excellent tool for the constructivist educator. This technology can foster the development of collaborative learning as it encourages students to partake in group discussions and interactions (Bell, 2002). The ways in which one could use an interactive whiteboard in the classroom are endless, demonstrating new computer skills, digital story telling, brainstorming, saving and printing documents just to name a few.
Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to experience the use of the whiteboard in my classrooms; however I have heard great reviews and see the potential it has to offer all learners.
“Students think and learn in many different ways. It also provides educators with a conceptual framework for organizing and reflecting on curriculum assessment and pedagogical practices. In turn, this reflection has led many educators to develop new approaches that might better meet the needs of the range of learners in their classrooms” (Mark, 2002)
What a creative way to engage a class, the possibilities this tool could bring in ensuring all my learners needs are met. I look forward to engaging with the tool in the not so distant future!
Bell, M. (2002) Why Use an Interactive Whiteboard? A Bakers Dozen Reasons! Retrieved August 18, from http://teachers.net/gazette/JAN02/mabell.html
Smith, M. (2002). Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education. Retrieved August 18, from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm
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