Reflection on my Recipe

Well it is now time to reflect on my blog. Like the birthday cake I have rushed to cook that flops! I am left wondering where I went wrong with the recipe, and is there is any point starting over again? Or is it better to go out and buy a ready made one? Similarly, there are so many good blogs out there and life is too precious...... making my blog "rise to the occassion" is not worth wasting any more time on. Mark has provided a great safety net for me in Learning Tech with his Wiki.


The advanges of blogging was that I was forced to learn to "blog" - how to link: embed: search: make a Voki: Time tube:...... the list goes on. I would have liked to explore more of the resources and on-line tools. Learning from my colleagues and seeing what they were doing on their blogs greatly influenced me (thanks all)...it was a bit of harmless competitive fun to see what others were doing.


Drawbacks were mainly to do with "finding my voice" and feeling comfortable with what I was writing or expressing. Plus finding the time to achieve what I would have like to with the blog. You will notice the page for Universal Access technology has been deleted, I'd prefer to set up a purely professional looking, specific blog or Wiki on this topic.

Repetitive requirement for reflection...drives me a bit rancid I'm afraid, particulary when I simply "dont' know". I like black and white...tell me to find 4 different applications of virtual learning and I would be delighted to seek, search, discover and share!

The class interaction on blog sites between different students was quite limited - we had a lot more happening on the discussion board on WebCT. I think the Unit could be enhanced and more personally interactive if we kept the blogs simple and the class was divided into groups to research and present the information/on-line tools etc. back to the class. Half the fun is in the discovery. The use of the lab sessions was under ultilised - so I think there is time to do presentations in the Unit.

It was relatively easy to learn how to embed, just a bit frustrating when the image does not transfer across e.g. with the Domo Animate cartoon. Likewise I have no idea how to get the images on the right side of the blog to be complete...I have searched and tried different templates. Perhaps I need a other host site? Not being able to embed images in postings was also annoying. I find the host site limiting.

I liked being in tune with current affairs and appreciate the twitter feeds and postings from my class mates. The feeds and links helped to improve my knowledge greatly, so I personally appreciate how powerful collaborative learning is for education.

I have a long way to go, but now have confidence to apply some of what I have learnt in this Unit with blogging into a classroom environment.

Thank you one and all.

The Future of the Internet (Part Two)

I'd prefer to ignore the personal implications of Web 3.0 at this point, as I am fearful of them. See the slideshow on communilytics on this blog and you will see what I mean. It is already happening, businesses are harnessing this technology already. I don't care mucha about fridges reading bar codes and ordering my milk for me. I need to get out more, walk to the shops and enjoy nature. But then maybe 100 years ago people were fearful of machines milking cows and cows being purged with hormones to produce milk in unnatural cycles of preganancy/lactation.

On the upside, having researched Wikis' for my assignment, I see the tremendous potential for harnessing collaborative intelligence and collaborative learning in classes. I have been thinking that this is how people learn best. How would it be if we took the competitive element out of assessment, and assessment became focused on on who knows the most, but is willing to share their knowlege with other students; demonstrating the best team spirit for the good of the whole? Isn't this what famous scientists and discoverers do?

Virtual worlds for future education, such as second life - I think they will have their uses but I don't think in the next ten years they will overtake traditional classes and lectures. Virtual Learning Environments though, I think complement traditional learning environments and I see this area growing e.g. 3D interactive whiteboards...Pity we are in the dark ages and still trying to get Smart Boards into public school classes!

Kids can have a lot of fun developing their own 3D world and avatar, and this could be used in an educational context such as teaching literacy - sequencing of a storyline, see Meez.

Cynthia Calonge is a University lecturer with experinece in using virutal worlds for teaching and her insights are worth reading and she explains that they do not replace the need for face to face human interaction. She gives me hope. However, in primary school settings, Teachers need to make sure young students have fundamental skills first before embarking on elaborate use of technology, which afterall remains purely "a tool".

M-learning or mobile learning with increasing use of iphones, notebooks etc. Whilst I an concerned about the digital divide, I guess we need to appreciate that in 3rd World Countries and in poorer communities, these devices are also becoming more common and is cheaper technolgy. Therefore it would be crazy to not embrace this form of technolgy in education and at least forge ahead.

Alot of my opinion on how virtual worlds and 3D learning will be is based on the premise of I won't know until I see it and give it a go! I'd like to think I have become a lot more open minded through doing this Unit.

The Future of the Internet (Part One)

I have felt like I have set up an exclusion zone around myself by not having a facebook account, so I decided to set up am alias profile. Just before confirming, Yahoo! listed people who might be interested in following me....and it scared me off. Obviously it was somehow linked to people who have used my personal email account previously.

I do not wish to go into details, but my professional life requires a high level of self-protection and boundary setting. The only time I gave my personal mobile number to a workers' compensation claimant, this person rang me at 5.00am. Unfortunately, in some of my work, I see the not so pleasant side of human nature. Hence teaching is a break and "grounds me" with seeing life and people in a more positive light. I hope that makes sense!

I ponder on how can I find the balance with being available on line to friends and not feel threatened.
I find the future of the internet and its ability to track me quite scary.
I get frustrated with the increasing slowness of the net.
I want to find the time to set up my RSS feeds.
I am excited by the faboulous tools out there that I have only just started to explore.
I am uplifted that there are more resources available to assist students with disabilities.
I hate being sedentary in front of a computer hours on end.
I look forward to using learning technology in my teaching.
I wish developments were'nt moving so fast, to the point that no one can keep up.
I feel sorry for the people and schools left behind, it is unfair.
I am grateful to Mark for his Wiki, it is a fantastic resource that I will continue to refer back to.

Filtering the answer to achieving more leisure time

I wish.

Back in the 80's we used to look forward to the day that we would have so much more leisure time because workplaces would bring in computers and take away people's jobs.

Today's lecture left me with hope. Hope that I will find the time to build up appropriate RSS feeds and explore some of the interesting things we were shown, and then I will be efficient. I will save time and have more leisure.

Damm, I have missed the news on TV yet again because I was embroiled with responding to class blogs. Like Meridith, who likes newspapers, I like TV for news and current affairs - it provides an avenue for converstation with the family. RSS feed and SNS, takes you away from family.

However, I can't help brag, my techno savy son and my equally brilliant "can fix anything" husband did not know about RSS feed or what it does. The downside of getting more techno savvy is there is no one in the house who can help me with my wiki pages.

I wouldn't say I have a passion for IT, but I can see its benefits in education, and will try and use it provided I don't get too disenfranchised from glitches.Unfortunately my hubby cannot fix my wiki page that won't save edits , no matter how many times I re log on and press "save". I hope it is the wiki site!

I found something that you should probably not write as a teacher when rejected for jobs
this teacher claims she was rejected because she is an ICT specialist in a private school. He is also damming of Teachers TV. The author has a website Box of Tricks and had a good posting on using Wordle in a class lesson. This site also featured domo animate which is a free site for making up animations.

Educational Resources- Cyberbullying

Educating children on Digital Safety aims to reduce the risk of cyberbullying, cyberpreditation and access to inappropriate material on the web. There are many children friendly resources that have been devleoped. Budd-e has a great e-security interactive game type self test, with a primary and secondary versions. Give it a go! The secondary one is difficult and I had trouble with the jargon, so it just goes to show there is a huge gap in my learning!

I checked out Hector's World which has many sections with the aim of assisting parents and teachers of children aged 2-9 on responsible use of the internet. So much information and too little time to decipher it all! Looks like a great resource, if you have the time.

Social Networking and Filtering

I watched Q&A, and also Four Corners this week, on the topic of internet censorship. Along with the class discussion, I'd like to share a few insights as a parent:-

Having kids who are now adults and from confiding in other parents during the "hard times", I have come to view that experimentation is part of normal growing up; rebelling against parents values is needed to develop one's own identity, as is exploring/finding out about sexuality including bizarre sexual acts. I'd say to parents:-

• Trust that your children at times will not to do the 'right' thing. At times you will dislike (yes, even hate) your kids for their behaviour, because it is not what you value ot taught them.
• Don't over react when you find out that they have been doing "wrong things".
• Have a life yourself to avoid being driven insane.
• Trust that even with all their transgressions, they will turn out alright -remember the things that you got up to as a teenager. Do you really want your kids to turn out like you?

Computer placed where it is visible? Dream on. Most parents are still at work when their kids get home from school. Unless you are willing to be in the house 24/7 to watch over them or do a history check on internet websites visited, what is the point? Can you recall how it felt to have parents invade your privacy?

I think parents are better off looking for behavioural signs such as children withdrawing, not socialising, mood swings, or not being accountable for there wherabouts. Know who they are hanging out with and where they are, and keep your kids accountable by asking questions, such as, " who are you talking to on the net?" Occassionally interrupt them just to let them know you are around. Accept grunts and non-verbal gestures as an answer.

Have fun with short stints of stirring your kids and their friends up. (Sneaking around in the background with crazy hats on and puppets when your teenage kid is on webcam is enjoyed by all).

In relation to censorship of the internet, if it is not going to be effective, no point wasting the money. Given what we learnt in class today, that teenagers often initiate contact with predators over the internet, this is scary. But it is also what happens in real life. It would be better to spend the millions on providing more resources for youth, teaching emotional resilience, and addressing things that lead to low self esteem and "seeking out love".

The authorities can at least track and catch the predators by what they get up to on the internet.

I like the idea of ISTP's offering censorship and have no gripes with the Ed Dept censoring. It is then up to the customer to review the package that the ISTP is offering when agreeing to a contract. I liked the analogy of the water filter, at the home level a filter will not slow down the whole system. If you put the filter higher up the distribution chain, it slows it down for everyone.

Time tube

Experimenting with time tube when a timeline is provided with relevent Youtube videos. I found that it is quite limited to particular subjects. e.g I tried Australian History; The Sun: Queen Elizabeth; Holden. In the end I chose one already developed.
Could be quite frustrating for students if they thought they could find most topics on it.