Blogging has given me such mixed feelings since I first started e-learning. At first I pondered over how on earth it could be used for educational purposes, but after watching an interview with Kathy Cassidy and reading “All the World’s a Stage: Teaching Through Online Journals” by Sarah Fallon (2005), I can see how blogs can provide many more opportunities for students and teachers. There are so many advantages, such as the ability to publicly showcase written work when the only way to do that with a journal is to make hundreds of physical copies. Assignments and essays can be accessed in the comfort of one’s own home, and parents can have the ability to visit their child’s page and comment! It’s not often parents are seen commenting on their child’s journal.
There is still a price, though. If the teacher posts worksheets or assignments primarily on their blog, what about the children without computers? Computers are becoming much more common these days, but there are still homes without them. What’s more, some might break down or otherwise be unavailable when a child needs them. Some children might be disadvantaged to such technological advances.
Granted, I’m saying this now in the year 2008. Maybe in ten years time computers will be as common to any Australian household as a refrigerator or telephone. The world is changing…And for those curious about the interview with Kathy Cassidy, here’s the youtube video! Enjoy!
Week two of e-learning introduced me to podcasts and whilst I was fiddling in my chair dreading having to record my voice, I thought, “.. what does this have to do with educating children?”
Reading Podcasting in Education and watching Michael Cowling’s example on how to use podcasting to engage student learning did open my eyes a bit, but I still consider podcasts a bit of a gimmick at this time. While I don’t necessarily think podcasting has a place in every lesson, I feel that if students wish to use podcasting for showcasing an assignment in progress, or the various other examples presented in the Apple Education page, then that’s fantastic and I would encourage them to experiment and take risks with this new-found knowledge.
For the most part I imagine podcasts being used more as another form of presentation – nothing more. While Cowling’s demonstration was unique and creative, I have seen poetry lessons that rely on cutting out “wind-chimes” which were just as engaging. Podcasting provides an opportunity to think outside the box for a lesson, but I don’t really see it as a “revelation” or a “must do.”
And now for your listening “pleasure,” here is the first podcast I ever recorded, created on the 6th of March. It relates to my greatest passion when it comes to teaching. Hope it doesn’t sound too convoluted! It was made in “Garageband.” vvpodcastfinal.mp3
I was just reading an online article from the BBC news called “Video games stimulate learning” (2002) and the list of video games used in the experiment conducted just fascinate me!
To be honest, I thought the point of video games was to offer a problem that would require a strategic or certain approach to reach a desired goal, so this article doesn’t really surprise me. I feel we are always learning, even if to others the knowledge might just be “recreational.” That’s the glory of humanity: we are constantly obtaining information and trying to solve problems. Even if the problem is “save the princess from an oversized turtle.”
I do agree that whilst certain video games test your strategy skills, just because it encourages thinking doesn’t mean it can easily fit into the curriculum. The teacher would have to be creative if the lesson plan involving a video game was to work, but at least this article shows that lessons can come from anywhere, even in the most unexpected areas.
That being said, I am now daydreaming of using the video game Patapon for a music rhytmn lesson. But that would require about thirty PSPs and I don’t think that would be affordable.
Isn’t this just the cutest little laptop? This is the XO laptop. It was presented in my e-learning class last thursday, and after a while of attentive listening, it hit me that I’ve actually seen and used one of these little gadgets before! For more information about XO laptops and the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organisation, I implore you look at the main site. It’s even got a wiki!
At the time, I didn’t think much of it, and the person that owned it (he had access to a pre-production model somehow) explained to me about how it was being distributed in third-world countries for a relatively affordable price. I feel that’s a great way to spread the wonders of technology to children who might have otherwise never laid eyes on a computer!
Playing with it was interesting. It was definitely the kind of laptop fit for a child to use, considering the incredibly small keyboard. As you can see in the picture, I was trying to draw, but failing miserably at it. It’s pretty clunky, but I’d imagine this is just the beginning.
I don’t want to seem like I’m fawning over this thing too much – I’m sure there are going to be problems with it. But it sounds like an inventive, interesting tool for kids to use. For instance, it apparently has a socket on the side of it that puts out some kind of adjustable voltage that allows those using it to experiment with electricity. I think it is ideas like this that truly make it an educational device, and hint at the possibilities these these kinds of multipurpose devices could have in schools everywhere.
One thing’s for sure, though. I can’t help getting the image of Shrek in my head when I look at the thing.
So I did my first ever video podcast in e-learning class on the 13th of March. We had to talk about any chosen educational site and I picked “funbrain.com.” I made it in iMovie.
The funny thing is that at the time when I was picking my educational website, I merely popped into google to check out the first “fun-looking” page, but funbrain leapt out at me with dozens of memories I almost forgot…Back when I used to study in Rutgers University in the US, I used to participate in the “Big Buddy” program that assigned you to a child in any number of schools. You would visit the child for a minimum of certain hours every week, and during that time you’d help them, follow them around, and just be as the program says, a “big buddy.” I was assigned to an energetic and outspoken Year 3 boy and one day, I followed him to “computers,” as they called it.
That day, the students were introduced to funbrain.com and were told to create little accounts and play JUST the maths games. I was fascinated by their eagerness to practice their maths skills. As explained in my vodcast (What a horrible term), the children went through a digital chess board and played little minigames, each win granting them a step further in their cyber-victory. I still remember laughing as my “little buddy” gloated about how he beat the games in a “higher stage,” since stages link to your year in school. They were told to play stage 3, but the children found it fun challenging themselves, and I think that kind of motivation is wonderful.
Not only can it be competitive, it can just be fun! Maneuvering a bee around little flowers has never been more.. educational. Check it out:
One problem that I noticed with funbrain, though, is that this site is only good for reviewing what one has learned. The page shouldn’t be used to teach new concepts, as it seems to “expect” the student to be at a certain level and only poses revision questions. So, while I don’t think it’s an appropriate tool for introducing a subject, I would totally suggest funbrain as a little exercise for children if they’ve completed an assignment early and they have time to put their new knowledge to the test.
I’m also shocked that funbrain.com has a funblog! It wasn’t there when I saw that page for the first time! My, how times change.
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So I did my first ever video podcast in e-learning class on the 13th of March. We had to talk about any chosen educational site and I picked “funbrain.com.” I made it in iMovie.