Module 4

Flickr...yuck!!! I find flickr to be a waste of time (for me personally). With so many programs on your own computer to edit photos and other social networking sites to post photos and communicate electronically, why on earth would someone want to create a whole new account to post and edit photos? Seems like more work to me.

I'm not exactly sure yet where or how I would use Flickr with my students but with furthur personal use (to change my mindset of this tools and to familarise myself a little more with its editing features) I may find a purpose for it in my classroom.

I was not aware of the "Creative commons organisation" until this module. It can be a great way to organising and sharing of "cultural, educational and scientific content." It allows indiciduals and creators to give permission for use of part or all of their material.

Module 3

I found google docs to be a highly valueable tool and very easy to use. My practise google doc that I created was for my taskboard session. Parents entered their name and selected morning or afternoons that they were available and selected activities that they were available for. At the end I was able to receive all information in an excel format and it was very easy to read.

There are many uses for docs. One that I am thinking about using in the near future is for student assessment and feedback. Particularly with the younger students, I think that it's a very easy format for them, all they need to do is read a question and tick a box. How easy!

Module 2

SUCCESS! Well at least that's what I'm saying to myself. After not being able to create a gadget for my igoogle page and working myself to a frenzy due to frustration, I now feel like a normal human being again. I completed module 2 almost 2 months ago, however I did not post a blog straight away.

Creating a blog is actually quite simple and straight foward. I have also managed to help other teachers from my school create their blog long after I created my own. Blog use in the classroom can be lots of fun and very enticing to our students. In the older grades, students could make their own blogs to demonstate their understandings of particular topics or subjects. In the younger classes, teachers could make blogs on particular points of interest which the younger children can look up at school or home.

A blog can be as simple or intricate as you intend it to be. There are no rules (which is exactly what we like) and if you make a mistake, you can always delete or even start again. Blogs are a great way to experience and interact electronically with people and to keep the intended audience informed. If there were more hours in the day, I could certainly spend a few of them creating blogs. =)

Module 1 - part 1

WELCOME TO MY BLOG SPOT

MODULE 1 REFLECTION

As you can see from my picture, Module 1 proved to be very frustrating. Watching the videos and related links for Web2.0 and making an iGoogle account were very straight forward and quite simple. The frustration (and trouble) began when trying to make my own iGoogle gadget. After about an hour of playing around with this, I have up and submitted to failing this component of Module 1 (for now). I will seek assistance from other users and then attempt to complete that component again.

In terms of instructions giving to create a gadget, I found that there was not enough straight forward information provided. The information that was given was not useful to me. I google searched other ways to create a gadget and attempted a number of times to make my own, and failed on all occasion's.

I have not given up hope and will return. Stay tuned for part 2 of my Module 1 posting over the next few weeks.