Weebly Website

Hi Everyone,

I have created my very own Weebly website. I must say this is one teaching tool that I really enjoy. I find it the most useful teacher tool that I have research yet. Following is my Website address and also some ideas on using websites in the classroom.

http://managinge-learningbynatalie.weebly.com/

How can a website support the learning of my students?
Children love websites! Websites for children are usually colourful, have talking characters, are interactive and great to use as a learning tool.
Website allow students to access the classroom at home.Classroom websites can contain the following:
-Teacher introduction and contact details. Email for parent to contact the teacher. This would be particularly useful for working parents.
-Daily News Page - Great for keeping parents up to date with what their child has learnt for the day. Also great for students that have been home sick.
-Newsletters. Notes about excursions.
-Classroom policies and procedures..
-Samples of students work and achievements.
-Website can be colourful and fun. Images loaded to support the unit of work currently being taught.
-Allows parents to help children as they are "kept in the loop" with what the children are learning at school.
Bye for now
Natalie

Wikis

Hi Everyone,

Wikis are a great mean of communicating with students of today. Students need to be engaged to learn and in the 21st century and technology is certainly Generation Y's chosen tool. Wikis can be used in the classroom in many ways such as- Lesson Revision- Notes collaboration- Concept introduction and exploration- Learning by sharing ideas- Learning by working individually by individual assessment- Organisation of tasks.- Students can upload videos and images.- Homework can be loaded on a Wikis so both student and parents can access it.

Collaborative learning is certainly a popular teaching tool. Students are able to learn from each other, talk to students from other countries and revise their work via the Wiki.

I found the Wiki a little more difficult to work with than the blog, however with practice I'm sure it is a simple tool to use.

Bye for now

Natalie

PowerPoint

Hi Everyone,

The good old faithful PowerPoint. This program is used regularly in school currently. Students are using PP to create presentations for assessment.
What's good about PP.

- Uses color, images, shapes, sound, music, video (multimedia) etc. to reinforce the important points and addresses Multiple intelligences and encourages creativity.
- Students can see, hear, or “feel” the concepts.
- Is an interactive tool can be used for collaborative learning.

- When students share ideas and learning with PowerPoint, they are often more interested in a quality product.
- Hyperlinks can be added for images, videos etc.

- Easy to use, most homes have the program so it is accessible.

An all round easy to use, great program as a learning/teaching tool.

Regards,

Natalie

Mindmapping

Hi Everyone,

I used Bubbl.us to create this mindmap. I found this program to be fairly simple to use, however I did have some difficulties with importing it. I can truly see why and how this technology would be so useful in a classroom however I do question the degree of difficulty for students to use and also how the teacher is actually able to teach a classroom of, say 25, students and be able to help them all. On saying this, I'm sure that students today are very capable of learning with a teacher giving instructions through a smartboard or with screen captures.

Mindmapping is a useful tool when learning as it is way for students to give ideas through words that relate to the topic and also diagrams are also a way for a student to visualise ideas. As a visual learner myself I have used mindmapping regularly when I prepare for my assignments.

Hope everyone is going okay.

Regards,

Natalie

Fodey.com

Hi,

I have just played with this talking tomato on Fodey.com. What a wonderful tool to use with children. It is a lot of fun and a very easy program to use. Just had to save the image on my desktop first before loading onto Blogger.

My initial thought immediately were towards students with special needs but of course all students could benefit from this visual learning tool. However students with special needs particularly could benefit because, number one it is fun for them but also they often find sitting and listening to a human speak quite difficult. It would provide them with an interesting visual character to learn from. Students with Autism especially sometimes find human intimidating which is why they often like characters such as Thomas the Tank and can relate to these.

Just another perspective to learning and how a teacher could provide positive learning experiences for a range of diverse needs.
Regards,
Natalie

Courtesy of Fodey.com

Sir Ken Robinson

Hi Everyone,

I have just watched the video featuring Sir Ken Robinson. He was wonderful to watch. I love the way he is so down to earth and the way he views children and creativity. I agree with his opinions that all children are creative, positive, forward thinking individuals that need us, as adults and educators, to help them to continue to see their future and to build on this. Inspiring!
Regards,
Natalie

My very first Blog

Hi Everyone,
Wow, my very first Blog! I'm excited to get this far. I'm not very confident in the world of technology but am very excited to be able to learn. I know that I am going to have to be very diligent with this course and keep up with the homework! I love reading everyone's blog and am learning so much from my fellow students. Any tips would be appreciated.
Blogs and Wikis, from what I understand at this early stage, is similar to an on line journal. It is a discussion board for ideas exchange and information. Similar to the forums that are set up on the moodle site for students to exchange ideas about our assignments. I'm sure I will learn a lot more about the benefits of blogs and wikis as I go along. Looking forward to it!
Regards,
Natalie