Final Course Reflection Post

For my final post I pondered the best way to approach the undertaking. In the end it came down to a choice of two options, one being to systematically reflect upon the points raised in this module, the other to review my approach to technology and teacher. I have decided to follow the later course.

Whenever I start a computer, I like open my connections to the world and so I will open the following:

1. School email

2. GMail that aggregates a number of id's including alumni accounts from two universities

3. Twitter

4. Edmodo (a great platform athough next year I plan to use Moodle)

5. Pageflakes

Twitter and Pageflakes tend to be late day stress busters. Both serve their purpose and help strength my connections with my PLN whilst also provide a filtered view of current developments (hopefully aligned with my interests evidenced by my delicious tags presented in the Wordle cloud above).

Of course what is it all for and why do I teach? Should I use the latest bleeding edge tool or simply sit down and have a chat? If I don't "innovate" will I be left behind and what impact might this have on my students?

I thought well why not step back and look at the characteristics of an effective teacher. Dr. Glen W. Probst  wrote that there are many characteristics, techniques, etc. that make for a successful teacher. These may be as varied as the teachers themselves. However, there are certain time-tested attributes, characteristics, and practices which contribute immensely to teacher success. He then gave a comprehensive list that contained items that students have used to describe their best teachers. No mention of technology!

However Walls et al (2002) in there work identified the role of technology, because students see effective teachers that "always did creative things to make us learn" and "kept up on the latest stuff". And there you have it, teachers need to keep up with the "latest stuff".

There are a number of dimensions to this and I think that it is perhaps best pulled together in the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) model.

Surely the goal of all educators must be to find that sweet spot in the middle where Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge have been mastered and then shared with students in a manner that they can relate to. Teachers simply need to know their "stuff".

And so is there a place for other tools such as Second Life, Flikr or Mind mapping in a teacher's armoury? Certainly provided they represent an appropriate use of ICT that will deliver on the promise of education.


Another question to best answered is just what have people done in the 12 months that follow completion of the course. Follow these links where I have asked the question of GrantonWeb20 and Frank's Web2.0 Adventures.

Learning Communities, Constructing Knowledge Together in Wikis (Module 10)

We were asked to find out more about the educations use of wikis and power of Nings within the context of constructing knowledge together.

Whilst I have seen the power of Wikis through say Wikipedia and a couple of wikis that I have subscribed to, I haven't as yet successfully used a Wiki with a class. Most of my web2.0 experiments have had some degree of success, but the wiki result has thus far been elusive. That said, I have a couple of ideas in mind for longer term projects and so watch this space.

Reflecting then on the educational value of Wikis / Nings as virtual K-12 learning spaces, I thought I might comment upon the role I see for using Web 2.0 tools in my own life as a learner and a member of online communities.

The ability to connect and interact online is a most powerful tool and will continue to transform the way people share and create knowledge. I am a member of a couple of wikis and monitor the sites as they evolve ever ready to adopt ideas that may assist me in my teaching. The Science Teacher's Association of NSW has just launched a Ning to assist them in their mission of providing leadership and promoting excellence in science education.It's a great site with huge potential.

Checking my profile I had created 4 Nings now all defunct. They all served their purpose and were not only easy to set up, but also served their purpose at the time. There are lessons for administrators to consider in that Ning changed their terms of service (as was their right) and I am still smarting at the implosion of Pageflakes.

My final statement - networking be part of it, share your thoughts and resources, let's move forward together.

Networks on the web (Module 9)

Activity 1 - Scootle

I'm grateful to the course for taking me back to Scootle as I had not accessed this valuable resource for some time. With access to over 10,000 items of digital curriculum content from The Le@rning Federation there are certainly some gems there. In fact having been prompted to visit the Scootle, I used learning objects in two of my classes this week.

I have a couple of other sites I like for digital content - PhET and Merlot.

PhET provides free online simulations covering a diverse range of topics in physics, chemistry, biology and earth science. The simulations have been designed by the University of Colorado and are generally first rate.

MERLOT is an abbreviation of Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. It is

a leading edge, user-centered, collection of peer reviewed  higher education, online learning materials, catalogued by registered members and a set of faculty development support services.

Activity 2  Explore social networking sites

I am fortunate in having been introduced to Second Life by Judy O'Connell some years back. I have also been following the excellent pioneering work of Jo Kay( aka jokay Wollongong (in SL)) . Jo Kay is a freelance geek, designer, and facilitator based in Wollongong, Australia. She can be found on both SL and ReactionGrid and I have found her very accommodating of novices. Whilst I have not been there as yet, I am confident that a free jokadiaGrid account would be a great way to experience a safe introduction to a rich virtual environment. I owe thanks to Judy for pushing me and to JoKay for being so helpful to someone she has never met face to face.

Whilst I have attended a few conferences, museums, universities and professional society landmarks in Second Life, for me its time is yet to come.

Having been a sceptic in relation to Twitter for some time, I now find it a valuable tool for establishing and maintaining contact with a professional network. Personally, I have tended to stay away from Facebook and suspect that that will remain the case.

What is a RSS Feed? (Module 8)

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a powerful feature and a tool that helps me manage the information overload that can be a problem with trying to track too many things.

I use Pageflakes as an RSS aggregator and have 3 public pages:
Welcome Page with some news and tools
Edna and EduBlogs with the Blogs that I like to track
Science Feeds with a compilation of feeds that may interest teachers of chemistry and science generally.

My Pageflakes profile was established on 7th November 2007. I thank the Catholic Education Commission for that as I was introduced to the tool at a CEC Web2.0 day. Whilst I might not visit my flakes daily, I still check them every couple of days.

Social bookmarking using Delicious and sharing blogs (Module 7)

I had not read ahead when I was referring to my Delicious account during Module 6. I've been using Delicious for quite a while and it is an essential part of my web armoury. In my Network I currently follow 74 people and have 36 following me.

I use Delicious in a number of different ways:
a) storing links with my particular focus areas being teaching chemistry, pedagogy, Web2.0 and slideware,
b) searching for "pre-screened" links on topics, with favourites of my network often providing rich pickings.

These days I move seamlessly between about 4 computers and Delicious is one of the tools that makes this possible.

Creating and Communicating Online (Module 6)

This Module suggested that we visit mindmapping and Glogster as tools that may assist in the process of creating and communicating online.

I have used Glogster in the classroom offered as an alternative to posters. It worked fine, but I believe that other Web2.0 tools offer richer learning experiences in the secondary school environment. I have also found that Glogster binds up websites when you embed the work. This is based on personal experience with a class Edmodo site and the post, where I embedded the work below only to find editing the post slow. I deleted the embed, finished my writing and then embedded (or at least I intend to) at the end. There is no denying that Glogster offers high potential for a rich creative session; however, I have found student engagement was not as high as with some other collaborative tools.

STUDENT SAMPLE





Mindmapping is a personal passion. My Delicious account needs some housekeeping but my links can be found here and here. The links point to a number of Web2.0 mindmapping tools and some ideas for their effective use in the classroom.

At present I have two preferred mindmapping tools: Mindmeister and Webspiration.

Mindmeister is a fabulous free web-based collaborative mind mapping tool for brainstorming and project management. A feature that I really like is that a whole class can simultaneously work on maps and see changes as they happen. It takes a bit if getting used to and I have experienced a few classroom management frustrations when first introducing classes; however, once up and running I this this as the tool of choice. My one hope is that one day system responsiveness may be upgraded.



The is no denying that Webspiration achieves their goal of combining the power of visual thinking and outlining to enhance thinking, learning and collaboration. Webspiration is an easier product to use. It is designed such that only one person can have editing rights at a time and so serves a different niche to Mindmeister.



To satisfy the course requirements, I worked with a group of students using Bubbl.us.  They enjoyed the experience; however, I will continue to use Mindmeister and Webspiration depending upon the nature of the class application.

Digital Storytelling (Module 5)

Pod, Vods, Videos and Web 2.0

We were asked to explore iTunes and visit videos sites such as YouTube.
 
Internally, I remain skeptical about the necessity for everyone to blog about everything. Particularly when people are exploring and their depth of understanding is evolving. My fear is that the confident with pollute the ether with misconception and superficial trite whilst the truly knowledgeable may hold back given all the rubbish currently freely available on the web. Maybe this blog post is the case in point. Even worse had I turned on the webcam and chose to share the message by way of a vodcast.
 
I've experimented with Vodcasting in the classroom and found it a great way to aid learning. Students have created such works as Newtons First Law - Recut, Prelim Chemistry Metals and Year 10 meets the Flip. Unfortunately these were hosted on TeacherTube and whilst my account still survives the video footage was lost by them during an upgrade (a lesson for us all there).
 
YouTube is fantastic for class for that 3-4 minute grab that might be used to engage, consolidate, pace or simply wind down a lesson. I really like the screened resources recommended by NeoK12. I keep some of the videos that I like collated in a group strangely enough called YouTube Videos I Like, with 128 videos favourited in my YouTube account. My students will all tell you that I like playing Gregorian Chants whilst they complete practicals.




Despite my earlier comments, I like the way Greg Whitby the Executive Director of Schools of the Parramatta Catholic Education uses YouTube. See below an example from Greg's site.




Prof Stephen Heppell is an informed and revolutionary educator. The work put up by my students on TeacherTube was strewn with misconception. There is also the wealth of information being made available as opencourseware. I particularly like the free nnline course materials made available at MIT OpenCourseWare and the professional development potential of Teachers.TV a rich source of education video resources, lesson plans, inspiration and ideas to use in classroom.

We need to ensure that our students are armed with the skills to discern whether the information presented is from a credible source and likely to be correct, but that will be the subject of a later post.