I’ve been out blogging and guess what?

In the process of working on the final assignment I found myself on a few interesting sites I thought I would share one of these as it can take you to other worthwhile sites Connie Yowell has a blog that will take you to a very new hot off the printer and significant survey done by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and Civic Engagement group at Mills College. The survey claims that contrary to mythological belief games have the potential to cultivate civic engagement among students. Its a big document but anyone even remotely interested in this issue – even if that interest is based on your disagreeing with game use in the classroom – should read this.

Blog the Blog

I have been transformed by this course. I am now an official convert! Watch this blog.  I love going to the different blog sites which lead me to other blog sites and on it goes.  I heard there is something like 2 billion blog sites but only something like 1% of these get regular hits.  Apparently the rest are only seen by parents or the blogger themselves.  That is beside the point I have found some useful sites for teachers from blogging blogs.  Freetech and globalclassroom.us are just two examples so I say go blog the blog.

How Old is Harold Bloom?

I found a book in the UTS Kuringai Library written by Alan Pritchard titled Effective Teaching with Internet Technologies: Pedagogy and Practice. It was a really good read and I can’t recommend it enough. Sometimes I find the information we are dealing with is so dated and with ICT you have to ask the question what is the use by date on ICT research. You gotta figure it has to be faster than any other educational research. How old is Harold Bloom?  A few years older than Wordstar and Space Invaders (Some of you may well ask Wordstar? Space what?). The book was published in 2007 with the “…intention of looking in detail at some of the issues surrounding the increasing use of the internet in schools. The book also looks at the associated areas of learning theory and pedagogy, which are likely to have an impact on the realisation of the expected learning outcomes that teachers formulate and work towards.” (p1.) Pritchard does not get caught up with the argument about access to and restrictions etc but instead is a really positive look at the impact of the internet on teaching strategies and the effectiveness of lessons using the internet. It takes a good look at exactly what if any value is added to using the internet in comparison to other teaching strategies. He states that “Certainly the information found on the internet is a valuable source for teachers and learners alike, but making use of the information in an effective way requires planning and a sound pedagogical underpinning.” (pg. 116). This is a well researched book that considers differing strategies such as video-conferencing and e-mailing for integrating the internet.

There is a companion website which might be of interest Effective Teaching with Internet Technologies

Pritchard, A. (2007). Effective Teaching with Internet Technologies: Pedagogy and Practice. Paul Chapman Publishing: London.

Podcasts do work and they are fun

Debra James worked on creating podcasts with students in her recent practicum. I had a fantastic Year 9 class myself, who created some outstanding, and I really mean it, publishable, poems. Some of the titles included, monsters, shackled, and things I hate about her. They were all deeply meaningful for the students and quite sophisticated in content. Anyway due to the no-mobile phone policy in the School I was unable to podcast and then bluetooth my student’s work to their mobile phones. Despite everyones enthusiasm privacy issues prevailed. I believe the attitude to teaching with a variety of technology is one issue that will slow down the uptake of technology. This was very disappointing. However, Deb James has worked on a vodcast of a podcast which is worth taking a look at on her blog.

Teacher Tube in Plain English

Plain English – A Perfect Example

I love this because it is a perfect example of how students can learn on-line. It is practical, no-nonsense and fast paced learning. Stop listening and you miss it. Teacher Tube is a fabulous spot for teachers and students. It overflows with positive ideas!

Top 10 Reasons to use a blog in the classroom

Reasons to use a blog in the classroom

Take a good look at this – it does require some thought – a couple of worrying comments e.g. would rather blog than read a book in the classroom and can’t focus in class so would rather blog to find out what is going on. These kinds of comments only confirm in my mind that educators and parents have to be extremely careful in the driving seat of classroom technology – and have to be very clear about what the objectives of technology in the classroom are exactly. I just had a rather scary thought – as today Gen M become more willing to put themselves out there visually – and speak about their preferences does this genuinely mean the death of writing. We can all just go on/line video and talk!

Bullying Grows Up

Exciting Education

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