MODULE 5

Creating and Communicating Online

Feeling a bit frustrated and depressed.

Would it be awesome to have all my lessons backed up by amazing world-class Pezi’s? Do I wish I could design and make awesome computer games that would make my students engaged learners? – yes and yes

The simple fact is that I cannot make these amazing things (yet) - AND the time it would take to:

a) learn how to make them

b) actually make them

would mean that I would have to leave the classroom (and all the behind-the-scenes duties that being a teacher entails) in order to do them. While on that topic – I think that this side of teaching is often being overlooked in this whole Web 2.0 education hype. Teaching is more than just being in the classroom. Perhaps if I only had one class and no other duties (marking, reporting, assessments, competitions, yard-duties, meetings, programming, supervising…) I could have the Web 2.0-based class to end all classes but…

My Impressions on the Tools

• Prezi looks good – about to have a play with it 
• UPDATE on PREZI - now I've seen a few I have to say that it's getting a bit tiresome. Yes, the ability to pan in and out to show the audience the structure of the presentation is a good idea (and there are some pretty clever artistic things you can do with it -I'm thinking of stuff on Hungry Beast, assuming that it's Prezi). BUT all the jumpring, spinning around and zooming in and out crap reminds me of sitting through a presentation by a PowerPoint newcomer who had just discovered the slide transision and custom animation functions so every freaking click saw stuff flying around everywhere = annoying and detracting from the presentation. If your purpose is to bamboozle your audience into thinking you have something to say then it seems Prezi is for you. That being said - I'm sure there are expert users who have something to say and use it VERY effectively. I just still not impressed by the idea that Web 2.0 tools are the panacea for, well, *everything*.

• Bubbl is b-b-boring

• Glogster is being used in my yr 8 & 9 classes for me to see if it is a more effective medium than Powerpoint for students presenting simple research. The fact that it is going to be ‘on the web’ seems to be motivating some.

BTW here are the links to my Bubbl and Glog

To Bubbl

To Glog

On to Module 6

MODULE 4

Podcasts & Vodcasts

I really don't get the big fuss about these online versions of cassette tapes and VHS.

We made videos of our presentations when I was at school - this is just the same - but now students can upload them onto You Tube for the whole world to see - WOW!
But - without getting too cynical

1) Having students do presentations and upload them to You Tube would save class time - and I could incorporate my usual peer assessment into the comment section of YouTube

2) Actually logging into YouTube and saving videos to favourites etc was a useful feature that I didn't know existed until now.

However, I really think the user interface of YouTube and iTunes needs some work - links and buttons and places to go are not immediately obvious. They just seem clunky. I've been using iTunes or a while for music etc but have never really got the 'feel' for it.

And my enjoyment of blogging is officially over - now it is just a chore - hence no pictures or other crap to decorate this post.

MODULE 3

Google Docs

Positives from Module 3

1. I learned about Google forms – I knew about the other sorts of Google docs but this is awesome. The doc: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_779cnssm5g7   was inspiring but I don’t really get all the examples yet. I’ve already started to develop some ‘behind the scenes’ forms for the Science department to try and cut out a bit of paperwork
2. If we get our students to use this system – there will be no more “I lost the file/ Its at home / different flash drive/ wrong format /can’t open it” etc problems. We instead can follow student progress as they are working – Science department will be using this in the near future
3. I think that using gadgets in a spreadsheet has potential– but I’m not exactly sure what for yet

Negatives from Module 3


1. Only bad thing about Goggle Docs is the lack of functionality and familiarity compared to MS Office – I am very interested to see how Google Docs will respond if Microsoft has Office develops some sort of ‘cloud computing’ with a future release of Office (they may do already – just not in my sphere of experience)

2. Atomic learning is so boring – it reminds me of   the style of the old Fallout series of games where ‘fifties’ mentality & style was superimposed (juxtaposed?) onto futuristic technology. Sure they have online video tutorials but the possibilities of the digital medium have not been used to the full extent.

Everything has its place

Video tutorials are good because of the ability to visually follow the instructions on screen BUT – when all you need is a small bit of information AND YOU CANT SKIP OR SCROLL FORWARD IN A VIDEO – it is infuriating. So while I wait for the information I need (the very antithesis of the wondrous web): some thoughts

The advantages of new technology shouldn’t be used to replace even greater strengths of traditional methods –

Written instructions so users can quickly scan to the information they need SUPPORTED with video examples to illustrate difficult points or to lead inexperienced users through the process would be ideal.

I wish I had the language to express this but as I was writing this I started thinking about how this issue was like the minimax game theory problems where the optimum solution for all parties  there would be a combination of technologies/styles - not just the all or nothing approach (that I fear is being force upon us with Web 2.0 stuff)

Educators need to use their expertise, experience, professionalism to use each teaching-tool (no matter how modern or archaic) as much or as little as required to achieve the optimum outcome for your students/yourself/your audience as required.

BTW while I was typing this I missed the end of the video that was playing and couldn’t rewind to see what I missed ha ha on me

Anyway finally got to the end of the video tutorial “Using Solve pt 1 – 4” and it was comical. The video showed

• inefficient clicking on cells –
• creating a new sheet to solve the problem rather than typing it to the original sheet so ‘crop’ variables could be adjusted to effect the result
• bizarre (erroneous) last few sentences to end the video – the sort of thing that I know I do when I lose confidence/am not prepared/ don’t think anyone is paying attention…
• and - epic fail worthy – using an absolutely ridiculous example that was immediately obvious; making the whole demonstration of the ‘power’ of linear function solver fall flat. To someone who wasn’t sure about what solver was about it would just seem a monumental waste of time.

Video tutorials have their place but they are not everything.

Where to from here with Google Docs:

• I’ve already started converting out staff program evaluations into this format and the student ones will follow. This is gong to be very useful to me as I will be able to look at the collated results (for once) which will help with planning/programming/getting ready for the Australian Curriculum.

•  I intend on making a Google doc register for our programs ( but this might wait until he great Australian Curriculum program change)  - it will be a good way as coordinator to keep track of who has/hasn’t done their registers, cut down on paper and filing and will be the end of ‘but I put the in our pigeon-hole, on your desk….’

•  The Yr 9 database assessment could just move into Google docs (forms)  BUT I think the SC test still has a lot of references that best apply to Access or a traditional database program – I’ll have to do some computing skills test research

• Unless our school quadruples in size I think the time it would take to set up the Google form to automatically mark a test would far exceed the time to just mark the test – to investigate if I have time.

• As far as the school is concerned these things REALLY ought to be on Google docs:

School computer booking system, morning messages, (my markbooks), school timetables etc – ie  all things that staff need to access

This will alleviate some major problems, namely it will allow:

• staff  to access these from anywhere not just the T:  
• multiple people access/edit the files at the same time!

Google Docs – WIN

Atomic Learning - FAIL