Who is watching your child on-line?

Leaving a computer unprotected is a recipe for disaster. A March 1, 2011 USA Today story, “Sex predators target children using social media,” reported that reports of child exploitation online nearly doubled in 2010. Kids can also be exposed to content inappropriate for their age, including pornography. In fact, 92% of boys and 63% of girls have been exposed to pornography by age 18

This is such as scary statistic! I have a seven year old daughter who loves to use the computer at home. I have sent up password protected sites for her to use, that have parent consent pages to view, and that I have deemed appropriate. However, what happens one day (in the near future) when she decides to have a look on the web when i am not there to keep watch? With all the disturbing and unsuitable materials online, my child may subjected to unhealthy viewing if not guided wisely.

It is  parents' responsibility to their children to ensure all appropriate measures are taken and in place so that the child is not put into a compromising position on-line. It is also very important to ensure regular discussions are had with the children (I have a brief chat each time with mine) to ensure that rules are always understood an followed.

Really an parent who is blaise about the importance of Internet safety with their children, is playing with fire.... Social media is now a way of life for our children, and this is the exact environment some very terrible people scope out vulnerable children.

More information about this can be found at the following website:

http://www.say-yes.com/how-to-keep-your-children-healthy-and-safe-on-the-internet

SWOT Analysis on Blogs

SWOT Analysis on Blogs

 For a student who at the beginning of his course found the concept of blogging terrifying, I am happy to report, not only have I started to enjoy this ICT tool, but can also now recognise the significant benefits to using this tool within the classroom. Here is a SWOT analysis I have put together, after reflecting on the use of the tool and my experiences to date.

Strengths ·         Owned by the student ·         Single Author ·         Collaborative in that comments can be added by students in the class using additional posts and comments ·         Students can further benefit from developing analytical writing skills ·         Blogs are chronologically  structured ·         No technical knowledge required.                          The Blog could be closed, so that no public access is granted to anyone other than the students within the class. ·

Weaknesses ·         Unlike social network sites, comments made on the blog cannot be responded to directly ·         Students may not feel confident enough to participate within the blog environment ·         Do all students within the class have access to a computer and the Internet

Opportunities ·         From any online space you can link to your blog, for example your class web page. ·         A creative way for the students to reflect on their individual learning experiences throughout the year ·         A link for parents to see the progress their child is making throughout the year. ·         May be used as another ICT tool for uploading assignments and drafts for teacher evaluation. Comments section of the blog could be used as follow ups from the teacher

Threats ·         Student Safety. Are the students old enough to comprehend the risks of information available on the Internet. ·         Permission issues with information, photos, video or music being placed on a student blog page. ·         Plagiarism would need to be addressed

My Reflection
Blogging can be a creative way to encourage student participation throughout a variety of assessments in a classroom. I have been able to continually reflect on my experiences throughout this course, and have realised it can be beneficial in this way to students' in my class. It can also help the students’ learn to write reflectively, through journal writing and demonstrate their ability to debate constructively in this online space. My own writing skills using this genre has improve greatly, and this may be beneficial to a student. Collaboration can be seen though a students’ ability to read and process different perspectives and to make constructive comments about their fellow peers work. I can definitely seen the benefit of such a tool with the context of many different collaborative units. For instance, students’ can participate in cooperative learning activities that require them to relay research findings, ideas, or suggestions. I have also considered the below points in ensuring I prepare the students effectively;

Preparing Students for Blogging

• Inform parents of procedures and secure parental permission.
• Teach students safe, acceptable, and sensible behavior as online authors and readers.
• Review policies and guidelines pertaining to student access.
• Teach the non-posting rules of no complete names, e-mail accounts, or references to reveal location.
• Set clear expectations regarding tone, respect, and consequences.

Students must carefully consider the content of postings to avoid anything defamatory, libellous, or an infringement upon any copyright laws.

References:

http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=156943

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/47

Movie Maker!!!

This is just a quick blog to add my attempt at using Movie Maker!!!

Using the Windows Movie Maker program, I put together a collection of Photo's depicting the culture and landscape of Africa as created by a Yr 5 student. I also imported a music trck of African Tribal songs. This was a great program to use. I found it really easy to navigate, and can definately see the potential of usng this tool in the classroom. These types of tools can be uploaded to websites or blogs or a wiki!! So it would work well as an addition to any unit.

There are copyright and intellectual property considerations that need to be explored and analysed when allowing student's to work with this application. What photo's can be used from the web? What referencing needs to be shown? Can you use pictures from books? Can I download music from itunes to use in my presentation? These are all questions a student in my class may have.

This will be discussed in more detail in a later blog.

Happy Blogging!!!

Playing with Flickr!!!

I had never seen or used Flickr before today.... but it was so easy to use, and it's a tool that you can learn about as you experiment. (This would be benefical with younger students). The link to my flickr page is below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65845118@N02/5996306599/in/photostream







I uploaded these photo's of Isabella's Birthday party to Flickr. I also used the picnik program to edit the first photo of the cake. It change the size and colour of the photo, there are so many different applications to use within this program. Young students would be very excited to explore this tool.

Both of these e-tools where very easy to use. I haven't used any programs like this before. But now I am addicted. Will include this application in a SWOT analysis in the next blog.

I definately think this would be a great tool to explore in the classroom. It's easy and allow the students to be creative.

Learning Styles: A Reflection 4 weeks on.

Well I know we have already looked at the Learning Styles topic described in week 1, however I really wanted to look at this data again, now that I have a better understanding of this course and the tools we have been working through.
When I first completed the quiz, I didn't really agree with my results, (perhaps it was that I seemed very much sitting on the fence in most area's). But having the opportunity to reflect on my learning in this course now, I find myself now agreeing with the interpretation given.

It has also made me realise, that the tool of blogging is very useful for student reflection, particularly when the learing environment is knew. It allows the student to discuss their interpretation of the material and to allow collaboration within the classroom to argue or debate individual thoughts.

Week 2: Mobile Phones Wiki designed using De Bono's Six Thinking Hats Strategy

This week's activity was to consider the idea of using mobile phones as a learning tool within the classroom. In analysing this concept we were to adopt the thinking strategy of Edward De Bono's Six Thinking Hats.
This method of creative thinking encourages the learner to investigate various perspectives (the six different coloured hats identify the specific perspective) to create a more complete comprehension of the topic.
The following site shows what each coloured hat relates to; www.kurwongbss.eq.edu.au/thinkinghats

Within our class group, we were each allocated a different coloured hat and asked to explore the idea of using mobile phones in the classroom, specifically from the perspective of the coloured hat you received. This would ensure our class looked at all points of view, and discussed the positive and negative views that may vary from our own. I really enjoyed this activity, and by the end of the activity realised my view had in fact changed because of class activity.

We were able to work collaboratively within our group to comprehend, apply, analyse, synthesise, and evaluate all the information. These steps are all defined and discussed within another learning strategy called, Bloom's Taxonomy which relates to a learner moving through six processes when learning new information. More information on this strategy can be found on the following site; http://www.infosemantics.com.au/

We then added our thoughts to the mobile phones Wiki to form a very comprehensive group of ideas supporting each of the six thinking hat colours. My personal view centres mainly around the black hat (examining the problems associated with a topic). I have a strong feeling that this type of technology could be very distracting for younger children within the classroom. A phone can be used incorrectly to expose sensitive and private information about a student or teacher and the ramifications for this can be extensive. Another thought to consider is the cost associated with using the phones within the classroom. Who foots the bill for this exercise? As a parent myself, I certainly wouldn't be happy with the extra cost incurred by using this devise as a learning tool within an education environment, however a school surely couldn't justify the expense either.

I have also embedded a great YouTube video for you to examine on this topic. It was very cleverly created and right on point for this very debate, have a look and see what you think. Thank you to OnOttButton for allowing the contribution.

Discussing Constructivism and why it works as a Learning Tool in the Classroom.

During our first week of our course, we were asked to read literature discussing different Learning Theories. We were then given an opportunity to pick from a list of these theories, and particpate in a group activity which would analyse and reflect on this theory by creating a PMI list (positives,minus and interesting points) and adding it to a wiki page.

I was particularly excited to examine the Constructivism Theory in detail, as in other courses I am currently enrolled in, this theory has been highlighted as an interesting topic to examine.

I was also excited to work with a partner, as a way of meeting new people within my course, and also sharing ideas and thoughts on this theory. I elected to work with Louise, who has also just started mid-year, and who also liked the idea of examining constructivism.

I read the selected text outlined on our wiki site http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html  which I found informative and which I have attached for you to look at.

My PMI  descriptions were then posted to the wiki page and I have included the address to this site below.http://fahe11001gladstone.wikispaces.com/Constructivism
Please feel free to add to the discussion board your own points and ideas on what we wrote.
Louise and I decided we would both individually read through the texts, and then collaborate online with each other to complile our final PMI list. This then gave us an opportunity to discuss our opinions, and any questions we had, to clarify what had been explored. Interestingly the basis of the learning theory constructivism, is the belief that learning should involve active learning. That is, the student exploring new concepts and information by actively participating in experiments, and group problem solving activities and then reflecting on what has been learnt from these experiences. Louise and I were able to actively test this theory by participating collabratively examining the literature, and then discussing what we each believed were positive points, minuses, and points of interest.

What was so interesting to learn was that this learning theory can be used with almost any age group, and within any teaching curriculum, from Mathematics, to English, to Science. It encourages the teacher to facilitate discussion, rather than merely informing the class of principals, and allows the children to develop their own logic, rules, and thoughts. When a child is allowed to construct their own knowledge that knowledge is both personal and owned. It is something they control and will encourage them to seek out further challenges, and explanations.

Group activity also encourages students to collaborate idea's when forming logic, and allows the student's to look at different ways of working through a problem. The children are able to challenge each other's concept's and idea's and ensure children learn how to communicate effectively within a group environment. Children who have difficulty with a task can be buddied up with stronger class members so they learn new ways of exploring subject information and problem solving, through experimentation. All children have a unique life experience that can be valuable in creating new idea's.

The challenge for the teacher will be to ensure all children have equal opportunity to construct their own knowledge and to be able to actively participate within the classroom.

I would also like to add this link for you to read. It shows a very easy to understand explanation by an American  Professor named John Abbott.
http://youtu.be/F00R3pOXzuk