My Journey

First semester is finally coming to and end and it is a great relief to know we are about to submit our final task for this unit. It has been a bit of a bumpy ride at times but I have learnt so much along the ride which has made me quiet technology savvy which I am quiet proud of.

 I hope one day when I become a teacher I can use this teacher resource we created to implement using technology to students and use the fun project we came up with. This will not only teach students about technology but about science, the earth, the solar system and all of the other aspects of the solar system.

 I am overall proud of our group and what we have achieved and think we have come along way in working together. It is amazing what you can achieve with a bit of guidance, dedication and peer support. I look forward to implement things I have learnt in the real world and I already use my referencing tool 'Endnote' that I used for my previous assignment in this task and I use it frequently in other units. 

I feel like I have only touched the beginning of what is really out there using technology and I cant wait to learn more!

I hope you have enjoyed my journey as much as I have.

To access our Wikispace please click here

This is the information we used to guide our Authentic learning using the Australian Standardised Curriculum.  It is available on Scootle and there are also an abundance of tools, worksheets, activities to support the scope and sequence of our task.

Feelings

www.google.com

I found this task probably the most challenging because in order for it to be completed successfully we all had to contribute. I caught up with Karri on a few occasions which was a blessing in disguise because it gave us direction and we both helped each other to complete our individual tasks as well as to help everyone else.

Technology can be so frustrating at times as I had a few issues with my internet connection on this computer When everything goes well tasks are quick to complete but sometimes the most simplest task can take forever because I didn't have Java installed to watch a video or didn't save my work on the Wiki space so had to start all over again. It was great to let off some steam when we got to meet with our group as I realised we had a lot of the same issues. If I couldn't remember how something was done or needed a little bit of help trying to embed my power point presentation You tube was also great for this as there is always step by step guides on how to do something on there !

Unit content

www.google.com

Assignment three really tested our knowledge of things we had learnt throughout this unit. All of the things I had learnt throughout this unit I pretty much used again in this task as well as learning new things along the way. The lectures provided an abundance of information of different resources we could use to help us  create our teachers resource as well as gave us information on Authentic learning and how to apply this as future teachers. On the LMS there was heaps of samples that we could use as guidelines and if we were ever unsure of something I would go onto the discussions board on the LMS and write to students and tutors to solve my problems which was a great help.

It is easy to become complacent with time and I didn't realise how much work this task entailed. I was a bit hesitant in working in a group as I don't like relying on other people. I was worried if someone didn't pull their weight my grade would be affected. I think everyone had this thought though and that's why in the end everyone did a great job on getting the job done.

It was great how everyone got involved in the Facebook communications if someone was having a problem. It really showed all of us working collaboratively in an effort to complete the task.

The lectures were a great way to refer back to something if we were unsure about. We focused on following similar formats of some of the samples online which was a great help but also used the marking rubric to make sure we were on the right track.

Issues !!!

The biggest thing our group lacked was motivation. It wasn't until the end when we all really put in effort and carried our own weight. We needed to do this to complete assignment 3 and at the start it was just not happening. I think having an online week contributed to this factor as we hadn't caught up for two weeks. In the end I was proud of our group as we all got together as a team. It was frustrating at times because we set deadlines as a group and it wasn't until the last minute that things got done. I contributed to these frustrations as well as I hadn't completed my power point presentation until the last minute. However I did load it up Monday morning and I felt like there was a big relief lifted off my shoulders. Lucy did a great job as the Wiki manager and made our page look great as she did the home page. Karri completed the lesson plan page which was a detailed lesson plan which was really well put together. The lesson plan gave everyone direction in what we needed to add onto our own pages.

All of us experienced some difficulties with Wiki space as it was hard to navigate. There are a few times I had helped the other girls with their pages and tried to upload PDF's and images of websites and there was an encrypted format which made it very difficult. We got Jenni's expertise on this one and it was soon fixed in class. What a relief that was as we were all pretty over it by this stage !!

Resources

www.google.com

After much research using Google, You tube, Scootle and Nasa Kids our group found some great resources that would support our topic 'space' and would teach kids in an authentic way. Scootle was a great resource that had information following the Australian Standardised Curriculum for year 5 students which was our intended age group.

I found looking for resources the most tedious as I spent hours on the computer looking for resources that had worksheets, interactive games and videos and it was hard to find specifics on the solar system that we needed to teach at that year level. This was the most important part for Hannah and Cleo to complete their teachers and students resource pages as they needed to embed, hyperlink and add information about these resources. Karri did a lot of work on this part and it was great to have her dedication as it was extremely frustrating, of hours searching the net and not finding something that was appropriate to what we wanted to educate the students about.

Nasa was a great website as this was dedicated to astronomy. There was a kids section on Nasa  that had lots of great information and interactive tools for both students and teachers. We got a lot of information from this resource and found it very helpful.

Another great resource was You tube. This had a lot of videos that were developed for kids to teach them about space. It also had tutorials on how to teach kids how to blog, and use Kerpoof which was our online technology for kids to make a digital story book on space.

Kerpoof is a great resource to implement technology in a fun and creative way to create a digital story book. This was a great way to show an authentic way of teaching in the classroom and one that also brings art into the subject area.

Throughout this we used Skitch to create screen captures and I created a  presentation with a 5 minute narration that was a requirement of the task. I decided to use Powerpoint to present my information as it has all the tools and gadgets available to present my work as well as making it engaging to viewers.

Task 3 - Teachers Resource

Task 3 required us to form a small group and create a teacher's wiki resource to present a project for students that would follow an authentic way of teaching and learning using technology. In class we came up with a topic, subject area and a name for our group of 5. After deciding our topic which was 'The Solar System' we thought it was appropriate to call ourselves 'The Space Cadets'. Science was a great subject area as it explores many different concepts that we could apply to a variety of technologies to create our project.

At the start I found it overwhelming to allocate roles for people in our group as we had not done much research on what was required of us in the task. Karri is a great leader and has good organisation and team leadership skills so we allocated her the position of project manager. After looking at the examples we realised that it would be easier to allocate everyone a page to finish and then help with others if when needed.

We decided to use Facebook as our source of contact as it was easily accessible for everyone on their mobile phones and it was easier than email as this wasnt something everyone checked frequently. 

Our communications at the start lacked because there was a week where our workshop and lecture was online so we failed to communicate during this week. I found this put a lot of pressure on all of us as we still didn't really know where to start and our task was due in 12 days !!

Karri and I caught up and we decided to get on top of everything and start giving people roles and write a list of what was required. We were a bit shocked how much work was involved so  we quickly got our move on.

Feelings

It is amazing how frustrating technology can be at times and how overwhelming it can be also. There always is a simple solution but sometimes it takes forever to find it ! I have experienced this plenty of times and all though I have always found a positive outcome it prolongs the time a task should have taken me. Overall, I have enjoyed task 2 once I got into the swing of things but initially felt snowed under with all of my other studies and nothing seemed to be going right at the time. I feel relieved that I am able to finish this task and I can't wait to start on the next one.  I have promised myself to manage my time more efficiently, which I know will take a lot of the stress off my shoulders.

Thanks for reading my blogs, and following me on my journey. Feel free to comment !

 To go back to my website please click HERE

Peer interaction

Throughout this task my allocated group decided to communicate via Facebook. This has been a great idea as everyone has access and almost everyone instantly replies to each others queries. I have had a few issues along the way, and one being I was away for 10 days. By using Facebook it has kept me up to speed with my group and any changes that may occur through this task I needed to know about.

Other resources

I have found some other great resources along my journey that have really helped me develop my technology skills. This includes how to create a video on You tube, Scootle and the interactive online tools for teaching, Screen-O-Matic, and Endnote. I really liked the Scootle (2011) tool as it followed the Australian Standardised Curriculum and was easy to navigate. The previous assignment on social learner has given me knowledge of other resourceful tools that have enabled me to easily progress through this assignment such as; Skitch, how to download a PDF, identifying appropriate resources on the Murdoch website and using the  Murdoch library on campus for resources.

Our lectures provide a lot of information on learning concepts using technology. A great example of using technology as a teacher in the classroom was the example of a 'research action plan' that students could investigate around environmental issues in a particular water conservation area. The class has come up with a great way to display this information on a webpage. I thought this was a great idea to implement technology in a fun, interactive manner that would be engaging to students and can be easily accessed through the internet  for parents and caregivers.

                                      Accessed 10th April 2013, via Murdoch website: http://lcs.murdoch.edu.au:8080/ess/echo/presentation/8bb14552-e887-4031-a1d3-0bf7ae21880f

Frustrations

Well that could have been easier than it was!! I have been trying to embed my screen casting video onto my webpage for hours, I could not work out what was going wrong. Finally I worked out that for some reason firefox would not let me download videos so I used Google Chrome and .... Hello... easy as pie. I went through the You tube widget on my Yola site and it seemed to upload quiet quickly. I was also trying to do a peer review and could not download the video, hopefully it works now I am using Google Chrome.

My progress throughout this unit

So far in this unit I have learnt so much about technology I never even knew was available! I am not the most technology savvy person in the world but I have some idea. There is just a world full of resources out there and it is not until you start looking you find that there is almost anything that technology can help you with . I now know how to properly screen-cast, and know how to use Endnote (still a little grey on it but by the end of the week I should be an expert).

 Along my journey I have worked out ways to aid in my own learning, like asking peers for advice, using Google, and You Tube (is great for instructions on programs) just to name a few. I gain so much important information out of the lectures about how kids understand and apply their knowledge with technology  and the benefits behind this. We looked at a clip in the lecture on Thursday about how a teacher has used technology to help kids make short little films on myths. It was amazing the creativity behind some of the students work and you could see how they become experts in creating little short films. This was a great way to engage kids in learning about different uses of technology but still using their creative minds to explore.

How to do a screencast using Screen-O-Matic

To access Screen-O-Matic and Endnote initially I found them on the LMS via the link to the unit and then through the Assignment two page. This is where I found all the appropriate resources and further links to access them. I also looked at screen-casting through Google where there was an abundance of screen-casting tools available.

To access Endnote I went onto the Murdoch library website where instructions were provided on how to access and download Endnote onto your computer for free.

Screen-casting using Screen-O-Matic was very easy to use and you can see in the screen captures below the easy steps to follow.

http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/screen_recorder

Using technology resources in the future

I can see how Endnote is a great referencing tool that I will definitely use  in my future studies and future career as a teacher. The ease of letting a program deal with referencing, will be a massive time saver and will ensure format referencing is done correctly in my work according to whatever resource or style I wish to use. I never knew these types of programs existed and wish I knew before semester one had started ! It will also be a great tool to use when I become a teacher to set the correct standards to students and show appropriate use of referencing in my work. Especially when I am using other peoples work at least I know I can use it easily that will also cover any issues that may arise with copyright.

Screen-casting is something I will also consider using in the future because of its easy design and the purpose behind it. It will be a great tool to use if I need to teach students a certain thing on the computer or need to give an informative presentation that will be easy to understand and engage. It is a great way to apply technology in the classroom that helps to explain and teach students in an interactive way no matter what the subject may be !

Referencing tool - Endnote

 In class yesterday we were interacting with our groups to share ideas, information and to help each other out if needed. It was a great way to get feedback from peers and to see how they were going in the unit. After having issues downloading the Endnote (sometimes instructions are not as easy as they seem!) Rebecca helped me to over come this issue which I am glad to have her help as I didnt think I was ever going to work it out. I learnt more about the referencing tool through the screencasting example that  Tomaz showed us, that featured on how to use Endnote. My issue I am finding at the moment is that I can not download this video on screen-casting to watch it again to know how to use it. I need to have more of a look and a play but at the moment I am finding Endnote quiet confusing and complicated.

I looked at a few of the other referencing tools available through LMS. I found that everyone was going with Endnote as it had been primarily discussed in our lecturers during the week. Also Murdoch provided free access to it which was another reason I chose it. I was going to download the other resources to see how they worked and what was easier, but didn't want to use up my memory on my computer. Some of the other referencing tools that were suggested in the lectures were Mendeley and Zotero. 

Website resources

After we had chosen our topic area to be English, the resource that was allocated to me by my group was a webpage. I began to research online interactive tools that used technology to help teach English in the classroom. I looked at many different resources on the Internet by using the search engine Google. By typing in key words such as 'Interactive online tools for teaching English', Google allowed access to a abundance of resources. It was then a matter of choosing one that I thought would be engaging and beneficial in the classroom that reflected my topic area of interest.

Some of the website resources were:

- http://www.funenglishgames.com/
Fun English games looked at how to apply English in an interactive way in primary schools using many different resources. There was also worksheets, activities, videos and games available that had free access. I think this would be a great tool to use in the classroom to aid teaching English in the classroom.

- http://www.teachingtreasures.com.auS/teaching-tools/english4-5/englishmain-online.htm 
Teaching treasures was also a great website that had a similar interactive ideas to teach English. I didn't think this resource was as good as the others as it wasn't laid out properly, had less animations and didn't have as many English resources to use.

- http://www.ictinteractive.com/online-learning/english-online-learning 
This was a great website that had a lot of information on English tools that you could use in the classroom. It looked at grammar, punctuation, online tests, teachers information and a lot of interactive tools to aid in this development. I enjoyed this website and was easy to use.

 http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home
 Scootle was an excellent resource and one that I decided to use for this task. It successfully used technology to aid in teaching English in the classroom and  explored many different teaching concepts, resources and had an abundance of information for teachers that would be useful to have.

The amount of online resources that are available are incredible. There are so many to choose from and explore and it is good to have a guide in your head in what you are looking for. I chose Scootle because it followed the Australian Standardised Curriculum and I loved the amount of information it provided to help aid teaching English in the classroom as a future teacher. It did not only provide interactive tools but also information on what you should be teaching at what year level. I think Scootle will be something I definitely use in the future as a teacher.

Searching for a screen-casting program

I recently went onto the LMS and looked up screen-casting that had been referred by the Murdoch website. There were a few screen-casting tools ideas that had been recommended but I ended up choosing Screen-O-Matic. Screen-O-Matic was easy to use and did not require you to download it onto your PC. A couple of others that were mentioned on the LMS were Screenr and Jing. Both of these were also good when I had a look at them as they seemed to have straightforward instructions and had some handy features such as 5 minute limited recording time and a pause button. I did try to download Jing and found that it was not working on my computer which frustrated me too much to investigate. I then went onto the Screen-O-matic website and had a bit of a play around and I found it much easier to use as it provided instant access and automatically went onto your drop down bar on your desktop. Screen-O-Matic was also compatible with You tube (which was the avenue I went down to upload it) and was easy to embed onto my webpage.

CLICK HERE to access the Murdoch site for screen-casting referrals.

Welcome Back - Task Two

Welcome back to my Blog page!

Wow ! How quick time passes... Assignment 2....  Here we are!

I have found this task challenging so far based solely around my time management. I had a family reunion to attend in South Australia which unfortunately overlapped the workshop that involved getting into a group, choosing a topic and a resource. I had prior discussions to one of my class mates and she was happy to relay the information to me via email and add me into her group. This is was very helpful and enabled me to stay connected whilst I was away.  Missing a class meant I missed out on crucial discussions about the task which I found difficult to try and understand what the tools I required to complete the task were, and all the important information you receive in the workshops and lectures. I went onto the LMS and downloaded the online lecturers... Thank god I did! LMS had crucial information involving things like,  how to screen cast, where to access useful resource,s and information on referencing tools. At this stage it was becoming overwhelming and I felt lost as I didn't have my peers and tutors to discuss my issues with like I normally do. :-(

Make sure you have a look at the rest of my webpage and my social space for my event. Please feel free to comment ! I would appreciate your constructive feedback for my first assignment.:-)

Click HERE to go back to my webpage 

Click HERE to go to my social page

Thank you :-)

Ahhh... completion of draft.... relief!!

What a relief, I have completed my draft for this assignment. I didn't realise how time consuming this assignment was going to be. Adding hyperlinks, PDF's, researching appropriate resources, reflecting in my blog journal, and writing instructions took more time than I expected. I would not say I am a 'technology guru' but when I did need advice about something I had great help from my peers. I also found so many helpful resources on the internet that gave me step by step guidance if I was unsure about something. I have really enjoyed this task, it is engaging and I have learnt some useful things that I can use outside of my studies as well. I have already uploaded a PDF outside of my studies (my partner and I are building a house) and I wouldnt have had the confidence to do this without the knowledge I have gained by doing this unit.

What is a PDF again??

I had a bit of a look on the internet about PDF's as I have heard of them but have not used them myself. I was trying to upload my instructions as PDF to my webpage and I couldnt quite work it out. :-( I spoke to one of the girls in my workshop that uses PDF's regulary at her work and she told me how to create it through the 'save as' button in microsoft word. Well that was easy !

It has taken me a couple of days  to put my instructions together. I did not realise how time consuming this part was ! I got told about a great resource in our workshop last week called 'Skitch'.  Skitch is a program that enables you to take quick and easy screen captures, add  annontations, arrows, has a zoom feature and a drawing feature. I found it very useful for this part of the assignment.

Look at me go !

I can create a blog, web page, a social media page (other than Facebook) , and I can create a hyperlink. Wow I am impressed and it was so easy ! I am enjoying this unit now I am getting a hang of it. I just have to work out how to create a PDF for instructions and I am definitely on my way to finishing task one !

What to choose ?

I had a few issues initially trying to find an event and problem that a social media page could help me publicize and resolve. After having discussions in our workshop with Tomaz and peers I gained more understanding of what was being asked for in this assignment. We brain stormed ideas of social media sites we could use and categories we could look at (eg; travel, book clubs, health and fitness, birthday parties, baby showers, etc) This was more than helpful as I had clarity on what was going to be my topic and felt confident this was the right thing to base my social media page on.

Deciding on a social media page

3. GOOGLE +

This social media page was fantastic ! It has all the features I am looking for.

 A personalized profile page

- It has easy access to my interactive map, and can share other links.

-  I can easily upload photo's, people can comment on them, and I can tag people.

The interactive map

-  Has a tracking feature so people can track my journey and also shows how many miles I have done on my journey.

- I can add places of interest, upload photos, and it is a very detailed map which shows all states, provinces, borders, and is updated regularly.

It also enables you to invite people from your email address or those that already have a Gmail account. This gives easy access to friends and family to your page.

I will be using Google + for my social webpage because it has all the features I am looking for to stay connected and share with friends and family. It is easy to use, it can do all the things that is required and the interactive map is a great idea and exactly what I am looking for

Deciding on a social page...

I am going to base my social media page around 'travel'. My issue is going to be  that I need a social media site that will act like a 'cyber journal' that will allow me to stay  connected to my friends and family whilst I am travelling around South America. I also want them to visually see my movements on a  map and share photo's, posts, and comments so they can enjoy the amazing journey with me !

1.TWITTER
It was easy to sign up and work out the general as it was pretty straightforward.  After creating an account I looked at the features and related them back to my reasons behind creating a social media page. It had features such as upload photo's, comment on others, make tweets, tag, and connect with Facebook to access friends and family easier. All of this was relevant to what I was trying to do but it didn't have a interactive map that I could use to track my travels. I wanted people to understand where in the world I was but Twitter didn't have this feature.

2. PANAROMIA
Is a social media page created to upload photos onto a interactive map that you can comment on, tag, like, etc. This was on the right track for what I wanted. However, I found it quiet difficult to use. I wanted to track my journey so my friends and family could see the distance visually and not just  add photo's to a standard map. Overall a good social media page for sharing photos for travel purposes but it lacked the interaction I wanted with friends and family.

I have now designed my blog and basic layout of my web page. I learnt in class how to add hyperlinks which isn't that hard at all. Just a click of a button and its done! The best thing about this unit being technology based is that there is nothing on the internet you can't find! Now instead of getting flustered and trying to work out how to do something I just Google it ! Actually I Google everything as it is such a good resource and tells you everything you need to know. It has been a great help to me not just for this unit but throughout my studies.

Starting my Web Page

As a part of this assignment I decided to use 'Yola' to create my web page. I researched a few others including 'Snap Pages' I didn't find it as easy to use because formatting bars were  hard to find, the layouts weren't easy to follow and a lot of web sites I found  had to pay for. The Yola site crashed a lot at the start but I found Google as a good  resource to research and then download 'Google Chrome' which runs the program perfectly ! Thank god as I was starting to get a little frustrated !

Getting Started

Hello Everybody and welcome to my blogs!

This is the first time I have created a blog page and  I was initially feeling a little nervous about it. I am quiet familiar with technology and use it in my everyday life, so i am lucky I don't find 'computers and technology'  too daunting. I have decided to use 'blogger' because I have a google account  which makes it even easier access. So far I have found it easy to use. The layout is easy to read and understand and is pretty straightforward for those who aren't quiet so technology savvy.

Jess