Natalie's Learning Journey

Monday, August 17, 2009

PowerPoint Quiz

When I first heard about PowerPoint Quizzes I was unsure about what they were. I did not know that you could have hyperlinks embedded into your presentation or turn your presentation into a quiz. After reading all about how to make a PowerPoint Quiz on the Internet4Classroom website (2000) I am now aware how to add these hyperlinks and modify where the mouse clicks were valid.

I have created a PowerPoint Quiz which has the same questions as the Classmaker quiz I designed earlier in my blog (refer to Classmaker Quiz blog). When students are completing this quiz they will be using their prior knowledge learnt during the lessons and using this knowledge in practice. In the PowerPoint I included bright colours and pictures to cater to learners in my class and make it engaging and inviting and not look like a ‘scary’ quiz they have to complete. Prensky (2005) discusses that if students are not engaged in the lesson, then instead of learning the information they will be frustrated and disruptive.

If I were to use online quizzes in the classroom, from my experience with this technology I would prefer to use Classmaker. This is because I find it easier to use, and the results can be tallied based upon the answers. Although by using PowerPoint it makes the quiz look more inviting, I am confused about how the learning manager will know which answers the students got right and wrong. If anyone knows the answer can they please let me know, it would be much appreciated.

This is a copy of my PowerPoint Quiz which I uploaded to MediaFire. Please have a look and share your thoughts. The images I included in this PowerPoint Quiz were found on the Flickr online photo sharing website.

http://www.mediafire.com/?23omtjijwtg

- Natalie

Reference List
Brooks, S., & Byles, B. (2000). Using PowerPoint: Using buttons on a slide show. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://www.internet4classrooms.com/pp_buttons_show.htm

Prensky, M. (2005). Engage me of Enrage Me. What today’s learners demand. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0553.pdf

Yahoo 7.(2009). Flickr. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from http://www.flickr.com/

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

During my studies at CQU we have been using Blackboard, which is a traditional Learning Management System (LMS). It has been my first experience using a LMS and I have not had anything to compare it to. That is until now. This term we have been using Moodle instead of Blackboard. In my experience I find that Moodle is a more interactive LMS where tools can be added to engage the learners and assist them through the learning journey. Moodle also has the same content as Blackboard which includes; online tests, discussion boards, announcements, resources, readings and assignment help.

LMS are being used in schools and are called virtual classrooms. A great resource where a LMS can be set up for your class is through the Learning Place website. LMS’s are private and can only be assessed by people who have the password and used name.

LMS can support learning as student can access their virtual classroom at home and post a question using the discussion board. Their peers or teacher can then respond to the question and give a response quicker than waiting the following day to ask it at school.

- Natalie

Blogs and Aggregators

I have been using a blog for the past 2 months now and I have learnt a lot about how this technology can be used both inside and outside of the classroom. If you are unaware what a blog is, you are reading one right now! A blog is an online journal where people can share their thoughts, ideas, experiences and write about any topic of interest (WordNet, 2009).

As we are now in the 21st Century and technology is all around us, we need to incorporate it into our daily teaching practices. These are some ideas where Blogs and Aggregators can be used:
-Students can keep a Blog when they are on their holiday. Students in the class can read all about what they are doing on their holiday and get to share the experience
-Record Keeper, where students can share their ideas on a particular topic. The mentor teacher can post a blog about a topic they are learning in class with assign tasks for the students to complete. The students can post comments about the topic and how they found completing the tasks
- Sharing ideas with other learning managers both nationally and internationally. This is where teaching strategies, lesson ideas and reflections can be shared. This is the Community of practice theory being displayed. The learning managers will be sharing information and problems which have occurred during the process (Wenger, 2004).

To help follow these Blogs the use of an Aggregator will notify you when a new post has been published. Google Reader is a great tool which can be used as an Aggregator.

These are some example I found were blogs can be used in the classroom:
- Setting tasks for students: http://sarahplainandtall.blogspot.com/
- Blogging about your holiday overseas to share with the students: http://my-ecoach.com/blogs.php?blog=1451

- Natalie

Reference List
Wenger, E. (2004). Communities of practice: a brief introduction. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/

WordNet. (2009). WordNet Search. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://wordnet.princeton.edu/

VoiceThread

After I uploaded my images and recorded an audio comment, the first words that came out of my mouth were WOW. This is such a great and easy to use tool which can be used for numerous activities in the classroom. In my previous blog about PowerPoint’s I commented that a PowerPoint was created for Mothers Day. This would be a great tool which can be used with the same idea. The students can record their comments about their mother to accompany their photo. This can also be used by students to show creative thinking (Johnson & Lamb, 2007). Students can create a new VoiceThread and show their peers their skills in different areas. VoiceThread is an interactive and easy to follow technology which is safe for students to use.

The advantages of VoiceThread as an educational tool are that, students can be commenting on the pictures on the VoiceThread in a variety of different ways. Also the tools can cater for all learners; Video doodling and images for the Visual learners, Audio comments for the Auditory learners and hands on and interactive learning for the Kinaesthetic learners which will allowing them to try the technology themselves (VoiceThread, 2007). This supports the theory of Connectivism (Siemens, 2005) as learning take places in a variety of ways. By using VoiceThread the Learning Manager can link activities together for continual learning practices where students will use them in the future (Siemens, 2005).

This is a quick VoiceThread I created, although I have not added any audio to the

presentation. This is because when it is to be used in the classroom, I would allow the students to make Audio and Visual comments about each photo. The images uploaded to the VoiceTread include photos of where water can be found. The students will be commenting on what they think the water is used for, who uses the water and where it can be found.
http://voicethread.com/share/582318/

I hope you all enjoy this technology as much as I have!

- Natalie

Reference List
Johnson, L,. & Lamb, A. (2007). Critical and Creative Thinking - Bloom's Taxonomy. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic69.htm

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

VoiceThread. (2007). About VoiceThread. Retrieved August 18, 2009, from http://voicethread.com/about/

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Music on the web

Just recently I learnt that music had to be purchased to be used in schools due to the copyright laws. But then it made me realise that at schools instead of using existing plays and music the students and teachers are writing their own to use in performances.

Incompetech is a great music tool which has Royalty Free Music which can be used to download. Downloading is against all copyright laws, although when using Incompetech you will be covered by the Creative Commons Agreement. The Creative Commons Agreement allows music downloaded from Incompetech to be used by everyone (Incompetech, 2009).

Incompetech offers a variety of different styles of music to be downloaded and can be incorporated into the classroom. A type of music can resemble an emotion the students should be feeling at that time. For example, Classical and Contemporary music can resemble calm, soft, soothing and relaxing emotions, where as horror music is scary and edgy music (Incompetech, 2009). The type of music listened to in the classroom can have an impact upon the classroom environment and the students in that environment.

When I was searching for music to download on Incompetech, I found this beautiful song called Atlantean Twilight by Kevin MacLeod. It is a contemporary song and made me feel relaxed and care free. After I downloaded this song I was listening to it and it made me realise how the music made me feel and the impact it had on me. I then thought about how it could be used in the classroom. This type of music I chose can be used in the classroom as background music for silent reading, creating a calm environment when students walk into the room, background music throughout the day and can accompany PowerPoint presentations.

All of these are ideas I would use in my teaching practices, as Christina Laun (2008) said that music can help the brain to work and help to remember certain things. Therefore, I feel that music is a great tool to be used in the classroom, as it can assist with the learning outcomes to be achieved. By using this Royalty Free Music it is not breaching any copyright laws and can be used by Mentor teachers in the classroom.

- Natalie

Reference List
Christina Laun. (2008). 50 Fun Ways to Maximize Your Brain Fitness. Retrieved August 17, 2009, from

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/men-s-health-article/50-fun-ways-to-maximize-your-brain-fitness-by-guest-writer-christina-laun/22974

Incompetech. (2009). Frequently asked Questions. Retrieved August 17, 2009, from http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/faq.html

SlideShare with Audio File

As you can see from the previous blog, the PowerPoint presentation was not very engaging for the students .This was because I removed the caption on each slide to accompany the photo. I have now turned the caption into an audio file and the full presentation can be seen below.

When adding the narration audio file to my presentation it was a difficult process to follow and understand. Although as the hours passed and learning from my mistakes made I finally added the MP3 file to my presentation. I think this is one of the more difficult technologies to understand, as many files have to be transferred over to be added to the SlideShare presentation.

This can be used in the classroom for students who are doing presentations. If students are scared to talk in front of their peers, they can start off by putting their voice on the presentation. This can be done until the student has the self confidence to do so. I believe students should not be forced to do things they don’t want to do. This can have an impact upon their attitudes and perceptions (Marzano & Pickering, 1997) towards the topic and in future situations.

Here is the finished product! Please post any comments with feedback about what you think about my SlideShare presentation

Thank you

Water walk with audio

View more presentations from nrichardson09.

- Natalie

Reference List

Marzano, R., & Pickering, D., Arredondo, D., Blackburn, G., Brandt, R., Moffett, C., et al. (1997). Dimensions of Learning Teacher’s Manual. Colorado, USA: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

SlideShare

SlideShare is a free program which allows you to upload slideshow presentations (PowerPoint) for users to view publicly. When you create your free account you can see the presentations SlideShare users have uploaded (SlideShare, 2009).

I have uploaded a PowerPoint I used in the classroom last term. It was created with the help from the students to recap the activity and show photos of their water walk. We took photos during the water walk of where we located water in the school. To support learning, the students then got the opportunity to type a sentence to go along with the picture (can be seen in next blog). If students were not sure about what to type I applied Blooms Taxonomy (1999) of higher order thinking and asked the students questions. This made them aware of what they could write and supported them with the process.

This is what we created

Water Walk