Final Reflection

In a previous role at TAFE I had been exposed to many of these Web 2.0 technologies through PD. Though the uptake with TAFE students varied, nontheless the direction of education in the VET sector is similar to that of the school sector. Now in a secondary senior school, I have the ability advise teachers to apply these technologies with a younger audience.
The course provided me with some great insight into some of the uses of Web 2.0 which could be applied across many subject areas including the more practically based vocational courses. What was reinforced with me, is the need to be flexible with the ever increasing variety of software which can readily be adapted to teaching practices. The ease at which students pick up technology should be harnessed and applied to technologies in the classroom.
Often this maybe just providing the URL to a free website making site, where students teach themselves how to create pages. Here at SCCVC, blogs are a good way for students to reflect on practical classes they undertake. Rather than teachers spoon feeding students with content they have accumulated over the years, allow the students to create their own content and make a WIKI.
The Web 2.0 course has revitalised me to apply the many web 2.0 technologies available today. As many of these are free and in the 'cloud' it is only our imagination which holds us back with their application in the classroom.

I made a comment on the Leanne Connor's Blog - hairatsccvc.blogspot.com - Module 6

Module 10 - Wikis

Wikis are a great way for students to display their research in a structured online envirnoment. Rather than read the textbook / chapter, lets make the textbook! Being online means the content can be dynamic, interesting and student centred. Allowing students to be the creators of the content, gives them ownership and better buy-in of the content. They are better placed to understand and take in what content is being covered.

Nings, unfortunately, are no longer an option for schools now that they now incur a fee. Web20 software is a free online resource which schools could use, but how long with this remain a free option??
Many of the Web 2.0 technologies will certainly change the way students will engage in learning. As digital natives, they are not afraid to try new programs, especially if they look similar to ones they are already confident with. Handing out a sheet of paper in class and getting the students to complete, is really hard work for the teacher.
Change the focus of the task and include ICT, and you have them onboard. In many wasy you can use WIKIs and large challenge based learning task together. I would like to see our students and teachers use either the WIKI portlet in myPLS or free web based WIKIs like Wikispaces.

Module 9 - Networks on the Web

Scootle is a great resource for all those mainstream subjects delivered at mainstream schools. At SCCVC our General Maths teacher has used Scootle resources successfully with her students. they find the activities fun and more interesting than textbook questions. This is the extent of our use of Scootle at SCCVC, as there is little in the way of vocational resources.
Second Life is an exciting resource which has proven success with students of all learning abilities. At yesterday's iLe@rn Conference, there was a great application of Second Life with RE students. Issues around CEO access, bandwidth and proper student use would still preclude most schools from utilising this software.
Despite students being advanced users of Facebook, it should stay outside the realms of school. There needs to be clear boundaries on the use of the social medium from an educational perspective.

Module 8 - RSS Feed

I think my son beat me to this one! Each evening he 'checks out' @ 100 RSS feeds he has on his Google Reader - cartoons, pictures, cool stuff, comics, etc. For him, its a means by which he keeps up to date with what's on the net and be ahead of the rest - conversation starter! He is addicted to tivia, and there is plenty of that on the internet.

In my role at SCCVC, its important to keep abreast of the latest technologies, uses in education, government trends funding & usage, and readily accessible online resources. Creating RSS feeds to sites which advocate these areas is a clever way to aggregate the information. It's only when I remember or get a request from another staff member, that I will go back to these sites. The clever way, is to let RSS do the work for you.

Module 7 - Delicious

Having just had my school laptop stolen, complete with @100 bookmarks, I can certainly see the benefit of devising a Delicious account! Using the bookmark option in any browser, users are able to organise, plan and prepare for work and study in the future. Delicious allows those mobile internet users to have their favourite sites accessible from where ever. As teachers working between school and home, a cloud based bookmarking system is ideal. As too for students who may have access to computers in labs, libraries and study centres at school, can easily record those important websites for later use at home.

Here at SCCVC, all students have their own laptop, and they can readily bookmark internet sites for work purposes. Clearly, if laptops are broken, forgotten to be bought to school or run out of battery, access to these weblinks are not possible.

There is a real purpose for Delicious, but I am not sure that it would benefit the students at SCCVC.

Module 6 - Bubbl.us & Glogster

Today's Web 2.0 group concentrated on Modules 6 & 7. In reality, I feel that the Bubblus software was rather fiddly to use and feel that there are other software package (MS WORD) which would be a more suitable fit for mind mapping. Here at SCCVC we also have LAMS in myPLS which also has a Mind Map activity which teachers have used effectively in their classes. Students are becoming more confident in using the huge array of Learning Activities in LAMS.

Glogster on the other hand, appears to have more appealing usage. The ease at which you can use the software - without huge amount of instruction - is very appealing for teachers. There is real potential for students to create a very interactive poster using text, images, sound and video. As every SCCVC student has a laptop, they are also able to create images and video easily.

Every subject would be able to use Glogster as an assessment / class tool.

Check out my simple poster at Glogster.

Module 5 - Podcasts

Our students are very familiar with the use of iTunes (to update their iPod) and YouTube (latest funny video). As teachers we should be trying to incorporate both educationally based podcasts and videos into the planning of our programs.

Especially in vocationally based subjects (as is the case at SCCVC), videos really lend themselves to demonstrate to students some of the practically based aspects of the course. Equally, teachers and students have easy access to cameras with video capability or videos. This enables them to be creaters of knowledge and upload to YouTube or TeacherTube. This is handy for teachers to record lessons, experiments or pracs, for students who are away from class.