Module 9 Scootle

I found the Scootle website very interesting and will explore it further to find resources to use in my classroom. Scootle stands for Schools Online Teaching and Learning Environment. It provides access to a wide range of digital curriculum resources. It allows you to to set up collaborative workspaces that are secure and easy to access using digital interactive learning objects. It would be great to use this tool schoolwide, but all teachers would have to be inserviced to use it. Scootle also allows you set up learning paths for students and is a great way to organise tasks /workspaces for individualised programs.


Second life allows users to become immersed in a 3D virtual world that can provide and deliver a unique educational setting. It allows you co create, collaborate and exchange with other people near and far in self paced tutorials. Great for older students, but not my kinders.





Social networking is the way to go for the youinger generation. It is a very big part of their social lifes, the older generation no. I can see the benefits of social networking for shy people as it enables creativity, boosts confidence and enables them to represent themselves on line. My concern is with those people who represent themselves falsely and pray on others. Cyber bullying continues to be a major concern. As teachers we need to teach our students to be safe online users with the right skills and tools. With the rise of Web 2 the acceptable use policy/ies needs to be revised. Many of our students are already using Facebook and Twitter at home so it is important that we as teachers are aware of the policies etc and instruct our students accordingly.

Module 8 RSS and Google Reader

RSS is a format for for delivering regularly changing web content. It saves you from searching your sites individually and updates them all in one place. Great, and saves you TIME. You can read them all in one place. It is easy to subscribe to and all the new things come to you in the one spot.
Subscribe to feeds through your favourite websites. Once you have subscriptions in place you can automatically see what's new and you are able to share and comment with friends. Items are marked as read as you pass them.
A great thing for us busy people.

Module 7 Delicious but not my cooking mag

Another 'Delicious' topic to explore. I found this an exciting little site to explore. It enables you to keep links to your favourite articles, blogs, restaurants, music etc on any computer, anywhere.
It is a free service, but it does mean you have yet another sign on and password to keep track of.
Allows your network to follow each other and keep in touch. It can be made public or private and having good tags is benefical.
Great for social networking and for searching Delicious to find bargains.

Module 6 To Bubbl.us or Glogster
I found Bubbl.us an interesting and easy tool to use. It is a free tool and a great way to get what's inside your head down in a useable format . You are able to create mindmaps on line and therefore able to share and work with friends on line. You can also embed your mind map in your blog or website, email it, print it or save as an image. I love how it blows up when you delete the bubble!
I can certainly see its advantages when for example grade planning . I have found it very frustrating in that it can't be used at school, no access to flash!!! So there goes , at this point in time any chance to use it for grade planning next week.
I found using Glogster a great tool to use. I could see its use in the classroom, but I would be very worried about it being used by some as a form of cyber bullying. It creates an online poster or web page. You are able to combine text, pictures, graphics, video and audio to creat an interactive on line poster that can be embedded into a myclasses page, wiki or blog as I have done. A great way to while away the hours. After many unsucssessful attempts, I found it difficult to download my glog. One of the many frustrations of completing this course in a primary school.

iTunes,You Tube and others Module 5

Once again we are off on another adventure into the world of the Web. I now know how my brother gets his 'Blues Music' from the States every Sunday night. That's right he Podcasts! I also know that it means Portable, On Demand, and that Cast means file sent over the net in the way broadcast comes as radio and tv airwaves.
Any one can do it. Even me!!! The great thing is that you are then able to transfer it to MP3 players or iPods to enjoy anywhere.
Vodcast on the other hand are a podcast that contain video content. These can also be referred to as Vidcast.
iTunes was another little discovery this week. I thought you just downloaded from this site, but it also syncs all your media with iPod, iPhone and Apple tv. All that you need to be entertained.
I have frequently used You Tube and has been a great resouce in the past. I am now going to delve further into teacher tube and see what it has to offer.
I am very happy to say that my Kinder class at this point in time are telling a digital story about the Bee Bots. Bee Bots are robotic bees and we have been using them in Maths to explore position, 2D shapes and number stories. In our technology time the children are preparing power points to tell others about the Bee Bots and what they can do.
Well that was a fun module! I hope the next one is just as exciting!

A flickr here a flickr there. Module 4

Yes another week has gone and I'm getting more attached to the internet and all it has to offer. This week sees me playing with Flickr. Because what might be ok for me but not others it is important to filter my content. At a safety level it can be safe- suitable for a global audience, moderate- if unsure whether the content is suitable for global and restricted, which speaks for itself. Content type , whether it be photos, videos etc. It is up to me to choose where my things fit. It allows others to apply filters to their searches and to see what they want to see.
Safe search allows me to control what turns up in my searches on Flickr and is always on.
Tags are keywords or labels that you add to a photo to make it easier to find later. What a great idea! I can also share photos witha group as long as I am a member of the group pool through the "Add to a group" link. Only people in the group can see photos.
Craetive Commons is an organisation that provides free licences for creators to use when making their available to the public. It helps the creator to give permission for others to use their work in advance under certain conditions of course. The creator is able to select how they want others to use their work. as a result us teachers and our students can legally freely copy, share or sometimes modifyand remix a CC without having to seek the permision of the author. It's a whole new world to explore !

igoogle all the way Module 3

What an easy way to share work that needs to be done collaboratively! Once again I love the person behind the plain english videos we have been watching. He speaks at my level and if I am lucky I can follow it too.
I am very particular about sending things over the net, so I am very happy to know that google docs sends emails with secure links directly to the document.
It is also very impressive that a few people can be working on the one document and that all additions/revisions are there for each to see. All saved on the web.
I can see the advantages for older students to work with google docs as it encourages learning to happen at all hours of the day. It enables people to work together without being in the same room. saves on travel time alone.
The fact that this enables a wider audience to see the work makes the standard higher and the lessons more interactive. I would like to try this with other teachers when we are working for eg in SRI groups.
See ya, Chris