Week Two.

blogs.websites.wikis

Last week I focussed just on bubbl.us and didn't incorporate any info or reflections on the use of a blog. So firstly to...

Functionality of a Blog
Blogs can be used in many different contexts. They can be used as a learning and teaching tool. For us as students blogs are a great reflective tool (the point of one assessment). They allow us to follow our thoughts and understandings throughout a particular learning experience. It allows us to look at our learning for a particular space of time or of a particular skill/knowledge.. In eLearning, it is every week.
As a BLM student, learning and teaching are two words which always work together - as when I learn I think about how others learn. So as a teaching tool blogs allow students to reflect (as we are doing). Analytical reflection is a skill that needs to be developed and therefore blogs of a reflective nature would not be suitable for younger students but in my case utilising blogs in at a secondary schooling level could be effective. Although students would need to be capable to use and have adequate access to technology. Blogs also take a level of self discipline and commitment to learning, basically like with most aspects you get out what you put in.
Blogs are a constructivist tool, the reflective use of this tool allows us and our students to work out what they know (prior knowledge) and build on it.

Websites
This week Wendy introduced us to weebly.com a site that allows anyone to create their own website without the need to know how to use a coding system. It simplifies the process with basic step by step instructions. In a classroom situation creating as a teacher creating a website like this allows for the easy spread of information without allowing students the ability to edit and alter the content. Utilising a website would allow for self paced instruction in the classroom. Students can work through set tasks at their own pace, referring back to the website for instruction. It would also help address the issue of students getting distracted using computers. Instead of students getting on the computer and doing their own thing until tasks are given, they would be given one instruction go to www.caseyfaulkner.weebly.com and follow instructions from here.

Wikis
Our class wiki today5 is just one great example. With all the uses a website provides plus the ability for public editing. The uses for this in the classroom are numerous. It also allows for the protecting of certain information, meaning, that if you only want students to work on one particular task, you can hide the rest. As you want them to move onto further tasks you allow these to be seen publically.

Each week my eyes are being opened to eLearning tools I've never even heard of. Sitting in a classroom last week I saw numerous opportunities where learning could have been improved by the incorporation of ICTs. This is the future of learning and I don't know about you but I'm looking forward to it.