Final Course Reflection

Learning Objectives:

·         Web 2.0 and Contemporary Learning Models.

·         Web 2.0 and Bloom's Revised Digital Taxonomy.

·         Create a final blog post reflecting on the use of the your diocese  model (e.g. iLE@RN) and Bloom's Revised Digital Taxonomy in learning.

·         Complete the course survey.

·         Submit your final course learning reflection.

Contents	Date completed	Comments
1.       1 Activity 1: Web 2 and the eLearning with the iLE@RN Model	14/11/13	The iLe@rn model It is important that we all have a common understanding about e-Learning –computers are not the focus of e-learning; it is about engaging students and teachers in learning – it is about evolving the learning process and examining emerging practices. At the core of e-learning is the ability to learn anything anytime, anywhere. It is our role as educators to provide structures to develop reflective, responsible learners. What a powerful video, with a very strong message!! We have a role to teach students the skills they need to use Web 2.0 tools effectively BEFORE they use the tools, and we have a role in enabling the tools to assist in the joint construction of new learning.

2.       2 Activity 2: Web 2.0 and Bloom's Revised Digital Taxonomy	14/11/13	I can copy the image but not download the diagram:  I like the verbs, though so here is a link to them. I would certainly find them helpful in planning curriculum so I want to keep them close J
3.       3 Activity 3: Create a final course reflection blog post		The research resources are part of the Sydney CEO so I don’t have access – there appears to be quite a bit of information that is as relevant in CEOM as anywhere else.
4.       4 Activity 4: Course Survey		DONE!!
5.       5 Activity 5: Submit your Final Course Reflection		When I started this course on 13th August I thought I knew a bit about Web 2.0 – and yes, I did know a bit, but I could never have dreamt about how much I would learn. This course has taught me so much I can use not only in my Professional life but also my personal life. It has made me rethink some of the tools I like to use, examine my own digital footprint and reflect on how I might improve my use of Web 2.0 tools to benefit schools and students. I am very glad I undertook the course and will recommend it to all the people I work with. During module 7 I visited Daniel Avano's blog: http://danielsedublog.blogspot.com.au and made a comment at the end of module 7 - more because I wanted to communicate with him about some students at school undertaking his Scienceworks tasks than for any other reason :-) My own blog, http://sue-os-blog.blogspot.com.au/ is where I have all my module reflections. I also set up a google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jpBY_s412SNTZf5sGllit0ZBMWNz3SsRDuJYhafI0rg/edit?usp=sharing This has been fun!! Thank you!!

Module 10

Learning Objectives:

·         Find out more about the educational use of WIkis.

·         Learn about the educational use of Nings.

·         Learn how to create your own Google Site.

·         Consider the attributes of effective virtual learning environments.

·         Create a blog post about your learning discoveries and reflections in Module 10.

1.       1 Activity 1: Find out more about the educational use of Wikis	14/11/13	I had used Wikis before and belong to a few; I had even seen that movie before as part of the original Ultranet course! 50+ ways to tell a story was an interesting take on all the different Web 2.0 tools you can use – not sure I don’t have access to enough already J I know several teachers who have Wikis – I guess my question is always how to control what others can edit – do I want something I have worked on deleted by someone else?? At least with a blog I can choose who does what……
2.       2 Activity 2: Learn about the educational use of Nings		Hmm – Nings v Blogs – maybe I am missing out and need to move up a level? I investigated Classroom 2.0 – it certainly looks interesting and I have added it to my Delicious list and to Feedly so that I can access it anywhere
3.       3 Activity 3: Learn about Google Sites		Two of the links don’t work, which is a little annoying, but I did watch the video and I read the beginner’s guide. I’m not sure that I want a Google site at the moment – I have 2 Blogger blogs and a Global 2 blog so that will probably do me for now – but maybe one day……
4.       4 Module Reflection Activity		I think blogs and wikis are really valuable in education and I try to encourage the teachers where I work to set them up and use them as much as possible. There are varying degrees of take-up, but amongst the students at school there is a much higher enthusiasm so we need to capture that!!

Module 9

Module 9

Learning Objectives:

·         Visit Scootle and explore the ratings and comments of others.

·         Understand the difference between professional learning networks and social networks.

·         Explore social networks for your own understanding (not for use with students).

·         Create a blog post on your learnings in this module.

1.       1 Activity 1: Visit Scootle and explore the ratings and comments of others	13/11/13	I have used Scootle before so this was not a new resource for me – I spend a lot of time with teachers exploring the resources available. I used to use it when it was Digilearn but it is so much bigger now. I did download the User Guide so that I can learn more about all the features in Scootle and better utilise it. I even managed to put in a profile picture! I had already discovered and used learning content and I understand and can refine search results. I have also added, managed and shared learning paths. I discovered that in order to copy someone’s learning path you need to change the name of it otherwise it won’t copy. In the meantime I created three empty folders because I thought that was what I was doing wrong J Scootle is a bit like a a lot of other Web 2.0 platforms with its capacity to personalise what you do and with lots of weblinks and different ways to access content and make comments.
2.       2 Activity 2: What is Social Networking?		From Wikipedia: A social networking service is a platform to build social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. A social network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Online community services are sometimes considered as a social network service, though in a broader sense, social network service usually means an individual-centered service whereas online community services are group-centered. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, pictures, posts, activities, events, and interests with people in their network. And from the course advice: The use of collaboration tools such as blogs, wikis and nings for learning with students is recommended. Personal social network sites such as Facebook are not.  Social networking is certainly popular and not just with kids – most people I know use Facebook at least if not Instagram, Twitter, etc. We need to recognise what we, as teachers can do to maximise positive uses of networks but keep a “lid on” the social and emotional risks associated with social networking. Cybersafety has to be a big part of education today, without stifling opportunities for creativity, collaboration and learning.
3.       3 Activity 3: Explore social networking sites		Exploring social networking sites: A.      Second life While I can see there might be some value in this for education, particularly being able to create realistic virtual “situations”, the content in the introductory video seemed a little unsuitable for most school aged children and I would be concerned about the level of violence possible from what you could create.  I could not see myself getting into it and I certainly would not want anyone in my professional life to see anything I had created there!! B.      FACEBOOK I have a personal Facebook account in my own name, which is a concern when I think about my digital footprint, I need to ensure that I am not being linked to anything unsavoury and I am contributing more regularly to other online sites so that what I put there is more readily available than anything I might be associated with in Facebook. I also only accept actual people I know as” friends” c. TWITTER I also have a twitter account but I only set it up for CEOM and have not really used it much at all – my children have twitter accounts and are less than eager for me to “follow” them, unless it is to comment on my daughter’s blog. I have concerns about using this tool at school too – maybe I just can’t see the value in having kids tweeting with each other when they could be talking!! D. LINKEDIN Yes I have one of these too, but I don’t access it very much. I need to see the professional value it can give before I am convinced it is good for me. I have always preferred networking in person but after watching the video I can see the point in giving it another go – so maybe I will!! This is the one that has the most possibilities for positive addition to my digital footprint.
4.       4 Module Reflection Activity		This module reminded me about the good things in Scootle and gave me the impetus to properly examine it through the User Guide, which I will keep handy through Delicious. It also got me rethinking about social networking in my own life but it didn’t really give me much reason to embrace it in an educational setting.

Module 8

Learning Objectives:

·         Understand what an RSS feed is.

·         Learn why you would use RRS feeds.

·         Set up an RSS feed using Feedly.

·         Explore a variety of RSS feed sources.

·         Create a blog entry describing how you might use RSS feeds

·         to manage information flow

1.       1 Activity 1: Understand what a RSS feed is and why you would use it	10/11/13	I have some RSS feeds already from blogs I follow so this was not too new for me
2.     2 Activity 2: Introducing RSS Readers		Google Reader has closed down – I might investigate Feedly, but this also looks like it could become an addictive time waster – I think I might be better off just looking at blogs when I have time rather than being told about them and tempted to read them when I have other things I should be doing J
3.     3 Activity 3: Setting up RSS feeds on Feedly		I set up a Feedly account and added a couple of sites I like to follow – this looks pretty user friendly, a bit like Delicious once I worked it out!!
4.     4 Module Reflection Activity		This unit didn’t take me long to do as it made a lot of sense and was easy to complete the activities, being only one new site to set up. Onto module 9 – next time I have some spare time!!

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