Digital tools

May as well jump in at the deep end, what an adventure. I thought the previous couple of weeks were a steep learning curve, wow. I had a basic understanding of what was out there but I am amazed at the amount of digital tools available and the capabilities.It's a feeling of empowerment to be able to use the tools to be able to manipulate these images. 

For my embedded task this week I decided to use images.

A picture is worth a thousand words. 

What would students see when they look at this image?







An image tells a story that invokes different emotions in terms of each persons connections and visualisations in relation to the event.

Why is a picture worth a thousand words.Take into account the proliferation of advertising mediums that we engage in today such as newspapers, magazines, web sites and TVs. The purpose of unsing, creating and presenting images in learning is to engage your audience and have them think and communicate graphically. Literacy is normally associated with reading and writing, but it can also relate to images and other digital mediums, such as audio, visual, power point and podcasts. Visual literacy is applying critical thinking where initially the student sees, but then thinks and wonders. Employ critical thinking, where teacher and student engage in dialogue about the material. An image tells a story and invokes different emotions in terms of each persons connections and visualisations in relation to the event.

On this journey of digital tools I have looked at different image file types such as PNG, JPEG, GIF and TIFF.  A file type is chosen dependant on how the image is to be used. Where the PNG file type image is saved to power point. I was able to layer the image of this gorgeous gerbera to get this effect by making the background transparent.

Gerbera

Gif file types are best used with images of flat colour, such as logos, maps and graphs

Original image

image after editing

Substitution: ask the students to select any photo they would like to work with. They are able to work to a theme of their choice.

Augmentation: Then get ready to edit. Try as many of the effects as they like. Some of the capabilities include layering, different effects & frames, graphics & textures and editing tools.
Email a copy of your finished product to the other teams. Images are quite large, so using the file extension of jpeg, gif, & png compresses the file reducing the colour used in the image.

Modification: Work within teams and upload the finished images to a collaborative website. Students are able to work on this in class time

Redefinition: The teacher has decided the the teams are to share their work with another class. Each team is to document any issues and findings on blogspot. Collate this research, communicate and distribute the findings and conclusions.


With the era of digital tools students like Gen Z are becoming more involved in and starting to take ownership of their learning. Working together in small groups students learn from each other. Smaller classes tend to allow them to gain confidence allowing them to share with each other and not feel intimidated.



As with the use of all digital media tools students must always consider the repercussions of acting unethically. This includes asking permission of the person who owns the image and if it is available for  use and make sure you have permission to download the file.

image enlargement 

I enlarged this photo to show the effect of enlarging the image and how it has gone blurry.
The issue here is you cannot necessarily take an image and enlarge it.

I decided to use Wisemapping a mind mapping tool to scaffold my task for this week. As a teacher I believe it will help me to see the different areas that I need to cover. The benefit from all the sites I have researched doing this task will be immeasurable in a classroom situation

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Reflections

Embedded task

Technology is something that once I get over the intimidation factor it’s a whole new

experience. I have used blogs for other subjects, but for text only.  This class has jolted me out of my comfort zone. I have looked at some of the other student’s blogs and they have done some amazing work. It’s shown me what I can achieve, so I’m finding that I spend a lot more time customising and re-customising my blog, trying to use more of the features.

I have started to experiment with wikis but not weeblies, but now I’ve tried blogspot, I will have more of an idea how I want my next blog to look. I won't be so afraid of it either.

Blogspot does not offer any tutorials, so even though all the features are there, unless I google it, I have no idea how to use them, it's all trial and error for me. Looking at other websites gives you some idea of what blogging can look like. I am not sure of some of the terminology so don’t know what they can do. I am a little scared to try them, in case something crashes and I may not be able to fix it. I don’t find blogspot interface terribly user friendly or maybe I should reword that? It is not ‘this mature person friendly’.

I was unsure about pages and posts but I watched the tutorial video from the course contents and realised that all my reflections are posted to my blog. There is no need for separate pages, although I am thinking maybe a home page.

I was able to upload some tables that I had saved in word. I was able to cut and post my text but that creates an issue with the formatting. As long as you are aware of this issue authors can always go back and fix up later.  I did try to use google docs but couldn’t work it out, so for now I have left it out, but will try again. Correction I managed to complete a table in google docs this morning and have now embedded that in my posts. I have also managed to embed a youTube clip. I feel very empowered. I am still struggling with linking a URL as the url address disappears everytime I save it. I seem to be having problems with content that I add and save and when I return to the site it has disappeared. I am not sure what I am doing incorrectly. I make a point of saving all my work offline as I couldn’t think of anything worse. I am already in a state of flux, just trying to write reflections, embed clips, customise my blog without losing all my hours of work.

My privacy settings are set to public so other people can leave comments on my site.  You can adjust the settings to private and only allow blog authors to use the site. My blog has one author however there is the ability to add more, so blogging would be fine for individuals or groups and authors are able to edit the blog also.

This would be a wonderful collaborative tool in schools. My areas are accounting and business. A perfect project would be to set up the blog advertising a function. The school is having their annual fete and the business class has been offered the opportunity to run the restaurant and earn some money for their class.

 SAMR model 

Today in school.wordpress.com



Substitution

• Firstly the class would need to discuss how they saw the event evolving
• Discuss what is involved in running a restaurant
• Consider the audience
• Decide on groups
• Consider budget
• Discuss legal and ethical factors

Augmentation

• Look at some websites to gain an understanding of what we need to consider
• Prepare a list of what needs to be done
• Allocate tasks
• Set up calendar for notifications

Modification

• Prepare a spreadsheet of the costs
• Setup a blog/wiki where each group inputs their progress
• Each group adds authors

Redefinition

• Advertise on social media sites
• Prepare flyers
• Groups share their data on blogging site
• Use date & graphics from collaborative site to prepare a report after the event which can be sent to parents & school
• Put a report on the school website
• prepare feedback for the class

Quite separate to the above I am still stuggling with using tabs and sidebars, but I’m still working on that.

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I added more text to my post yesterday, but when I went back today, the text had disappeared. All my work is saved offline as I couldn’t think of anything worse. I am already in a state of flux, just trying to write reflections, embed clips and customise my blog without losing all that work.

A great feature of blogspot is being able to publish your documents and then revert back to drafts. What I would find quite handy is a search button to get some help with features, what they are and what they do.

The web log is suitable for learners and advanced learners. I didn’t find the interface particularly user friendly, but I would imagine that students would not be afraid to try and use all the different features. Blogging is a great collaboration tool for students learning.

Reflections  wk 3

I find articulating my thoughts or blogging quite difficult. It is not a natural process. I can sit down with people and have a chat, but when I sit down at my computer, my mind goes blank. I come from the traditional school, where a teacher taught and a student learnt. Explicit instruction was the order of the day, so I have to try coming from the perspective of an adolescent. Gen Z, a new phenomenon are more emotional, social and tech savvy, than the previous Gen Y. Most things they do in life relate to technology. If we are going to get the most out of these children we have to think from their perspective. For them blogging is not necessarily about school work, it is more the norm.

Blogging as with most online sites, have different levels of security. But Gen Z are not interested in their privacy settings, they are more attuned to what is going on in the world. From a teaching perspective helping the students to understand the dangers and pitfalls of digital technology whilst maintaining a healthy respect for it, is very important. This would be a good project having students look at various privacy settings for different applications and understand what they mean in terms of traffic to the site and how secure the site is.

Gen Z are used to the fast pace of technology, so why not tap into it. If students are already using these mediums, it makes sense to utilise them for interactive learning.

Explicit teaching is needed for the student prior to them interacting with Information Communication Technology (ICT). Blogging offers the richness of social networking, interactive resources, different styles of formatting, collaborative work, social networking and visual and auditory features. However students need to be aware that there are copyright laws and certain restrictions regarding using some third party content.  Just like privacy issues this is another area that could be looked into in depth.

We just assume that all students are tech savvy however I imagine there would be students who are not as adept as others for whatever reasons. The students who are tech savvy could act as mentors for other students, which allows for further collaboration, interaction and a sense of well being for all students involved. It is all very well being tech savvy but they also need to how to type properly. This could relate to the SAMR model of augmentation, it could be having the tool and gaining some functional improvement.  Similarly typing up an article without using spell check, could be higher order thinking.

Blogs are a great place for students to start writing creatively and offers enhanced learning.

According to Judy Willis on the Science of Learning, students face a certain level of stress when information keeps coming at them, and they switch off.  Whereas with interactive learning, students are given direction and then they can work at their own pace, involved in the work they are doing, sharing with their mates and learning.

   

http://www.pearson.com.au/community/in-conversation/judy-willis-science-of-learning/

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I have also explored Wikispaces but not to the same extent as blogspot. When I first arrived at Wikispaces I found the open space inviting, whereas I did not feel that with blogspot. I felt like I had just been dumped there, and I had to find my own way around. There was the usual formatting options and different templates, but I found it more difficult to customise. 

However with Wikispaces to my delight it offers an interactive interface with options which helped me navigate around the site. When you go into edit it asks you the question and then basically sets everything up. Consequently I found Wikispaces to be an easier platform to navigate than blogspot. Having a help button, is great although not sure of its limitations so may still have to Google issues. Just the fact that the help button is there is encouraging for this learner user. The help button actually takes you to a wikispaces support centre, so very useful. http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/

Wikispaces is an online social writing platform where users can input, edit, change and delete either information that they input or others input. Unlike blogging it does not accommodate multiple and contemporaneous authors. So if more than 1 person is working in the space at the same time, only 1 persons work is saved, but users are notified. So it is most important that rules and etiquette are discussed and subsequently put in place to protect all users information.

I think these spaces are a great place for students to be able to log their thoughts and a great starting place for their projects. It is an effective way for teachers to monitor their students progress and subsequently they can be used to alert teachers to students progress.