Course Reflection

In undertaking the Web 2.0 course, I had no expectations and minimal technology experience. However, the format of the course was user friendly and it was of great assistance to be able to complete the course with colleagues. These colleagues were invaluable when it came to reflecting on, and evaluating each of the applications.

I appreciate the many possibilities the ‘Web’ now allows students, it makes available access to a much wider field of knowledge than ever before and it is ‘time’ friendly.
While technology will never replace the need for effective teachers to promote enquiry, curiosity and a love of learning, it does meet the needs of a student body who will emerge from the cocoon of a closed environment into the technological reality of todays world. Which is the basis of our work, preparing our students for the future.

Of all the programs covered in this course, I found the use of Glogster to be the most applicable for a primary classroom. Wikis and blogs will enable students to work together and share their learning experience, some students were already familiar with their use so it is reassuring to know I can now add to their understanding (or keep abreast with them) in these areas. Students are already familiar with pod, vods and their use in the classroom, but it was useful to explore the full potential of these tools.

As well as informing me of the educational potential and the resources available to me through this technology, I feel I have had the opportunity to ‘upskill’ my knowledge and understanding in this area and can better meet the needs of my students.

While I will endeavour to implement most of this learning into the classroom I do feel there needs to be an awareness of the potential for mismanagement if some activities are not carefully monitored. Social Network sites are illegal for children under the age of 13 and this must be noted and respected.

Module 10

During this module we explored wikis and nings.

Wikis is a familiar tool to me in that I know about probably the most famous wiki .... wikipedia. Wikis could be used successfully in the classroom to publish the children's work. All the children could be working on individual tasks that would all be published and collated in a wiki. Their feed back and results of all contributors would be instantaneous. Work begun at school could be continued at home.

In nings people join more for a purpose who have a common interest. For the current elearning project that I am working on we are all members of a ning.

Web 2.0 has a lot to offer education. There are so may tools out there that we have been exposed to and some I will be integrate into my classroom over the next terms. The children that we teach today are so interested in computers and are engaged and motivated when using them. Children in this situation are able to teach others. The most useful web tool that I will explore is "glogster" . We are already using blogs in school.

Another aspect that I have enjoyed is reading the blogs of other teachers.

Module 9

Scootle is a tool that we have been introduced to previously through staff meetings. It has amazing potential but at this point in time would not be using it to its full potential. Have not yet created any learning paths, mainly found games that the children like to use.

Scootle contains programs that would be helpful if learning other languages and the variety of video clips that are available. There are good filters to gain specific objects for our classes.

Second Life was interesting and I can see the potential for its use, perhaps in a secondary classroom, however, I would not utilise it in a primary situation. I have read reports that 'adult' only material can be accessed and I would not choose to have this possiblity occur within my classroom.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are familiar to me. I find this a useful and innovative site for myself but see no areas for introducing this at a primary level, aside from the fact that the legal age to join Facebook is 13 which eliminates the primary sector in any case.

Module 8

RSS and Google reader are Web 2.0 tools that allow you to keep up with what is happening in the world of technology it is an opportunity to discover what is happening in cyberworld. It is an opportunity to stay up to date with the latest information a website or blog has to offer. It is a convenient way for messages to be flagged within the school network. A useful tool for managing the flow of information available and only receiving information relevant to you. Subscription can be utilised and deleted when and if necessary.

Module 7 musings.

An easy module to follow. A great way to keep up to date with latest info. A research network oriented towards an educational network! Connected google reader to my igoogle home page. Look forward to sharing blogs.

Module 6 Musings

Concept maps are a familiar and effective graphic organiser. The children are also comfortable with this learning/brainstorming strategy. Bubble.us will enhance this learning process. Gloster is a great, child friendly tool. It will appeal to all children regardless of creative 'ability'. The children will be able to personalise their work to reflect their thoughts etc. without the distraction of limited talents.

Module Five

Module 5 included programs that I have used. I have used audio podcasts with the children (using audacity) during library lessons. I have used movie maker as well, where we have inserted slidess into our podcasts to make a movie. This was a revision of known skills.
Using podcasts and vodcasts allows children to be creative, it allows the children to have a voice.

itunes is another application that I have used in the past. It was a fairly straight forward process.
I have have not uploaded children's work to YouTube as I have serious concerns wtih privacy issues. Although I have needed support at various times I found the experiences of Module 5 relatively easy and straightforward.