pennys-blog

Kid Fit Challenge End Result

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:10:22 +0100

The Kid Fit Challenge, group project came together in the end and the overall wiki creation looked fantastic. I was thankful for the priviledge to work with other students studying EDN113 and as a result I have formed great friendships. This unit has tested my technology skills and has pushed me completely outside my comfort zone. However I have learnt the importance of technology and impact it can create in a classroom and to student's individual learning. From studying EDN113 I will take my new self learnt skill with me and apply them to my personal studies and when given the opportunity in a school environment.

Thank you

Penny

Creating the Student Page

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:49:23 +0100

As you know my task was to create the 'Student page,' and to begin with I was a little overwhelmed by the layout of the wiki so I decided to start with typing my information onto my page first, and then look at the design and other elements later. The information was aimed at the age level of Year 5/6,that introduced students to the topic as well as explaining the task and the resources that they will be using to complete their exercise challenge. The introduction discussed the importance of exercising and looking after your body and the main content outlined the task and then discussed each of the following resources that students could use: TeacherTube, Edublogs, WhatsWhat.me, Cool Tools For Schools and other useful websites. Writing about the different resources wasn't hard but was time consuming as I had to learn and explore each site before I could explain to the students what they were and how to use them. Once the written side was done I focused on making the page more attractive and engaging for the students, with the use of YouTube videos and links to the discussed websites. Over all I was happy with the creation of my student page and my contribution to the groups wiki.

Task 3 Student Page

Fri, 25 May 2012 07:01:21 +0100

For our groups wiki the page that I was responsible for was the student page. At first I wasn't sure on what to include on this page but after speaking to Hayley I became clear on the purpose of the student page. Student page needed to include resources that the student's could use to complete their exercise challenge these resources also had to relate to Niya's teacher page. However our group hadn't really discussed what resources we were going to use or how we would incorporate them in to our lesson plan so we decided as a group that we needed to Skype and solve the issue so that we could continue with creating our wiki pages. From our Skype call we decided that student's will form groups and create an exercise plan that they will continue to follow over a week, reporting on their progress through a online journal. We also decided that the teacher would record their exercise using some form of technology and upload it to the computer for the class to watch and reflect upon their learning. After making these decisions we also thought that our group name should be changed from Kid Fit Program to Kid Fit Challenge as it was more of a challenge for the student's then an actual designed program. We also decided on the following resources that the students and teachers would use to complete our task: What.what.me as a social website, TeacherTube a place for students to upload their videos, Edublogs for students to blog their progress and Cool Tools For School's a website that suggests technology tools available. We also thought to research the Learning Federation for interactive whiteboard resources that related to physical education as well as the Department of Education to understand what we had to focus on achieving for our year level (this was included as a pdf on our wiki)

Task 3 Teaching and learning technologies

Fri, 25 May 2012 06:42:49 +0100

Task 3 involves completing a group task where we create a small sharable educational resource on an educational topic of our choice.

For this task I selected to be in a group that included the following team members: Niya, Hayley and Amy
Our first contact with each other was through email when introducing ourselves. Once we had done this it took some time but we started to get down to business first deciding on a topic. Suggestions were made such as designing a lesson on a frogs cycle however later found out that this was already been done by another group. The second suggestion focussed on implementing an authentic learning lesson on algebra, but not all group members agreed on this topic. At this point all group members where feeling the pressure as time was short, but with Hayley's clear thinking a positive idea was suggested. This being the creation of a lesson plan that included the educational topic Health and Physical Education which involved lesson's aimed at student's improving their fitness ability, through designing their own exercise routine. I personally thought this was a wonderful suggestion as I loved PE when I was at school, it was a fun hands on real life activity that I just loved to be involved in. The topic worked well with the requirements for this task and this then created us to move to the next step 'job allocation' and as a group we decided that each member would work on a page each for our wiki. Before starting work on our separate page we also made the decision on the title of the pages. We all happily agreed to include a home, task, teacher, student and resources page. Then from this we selected the page that we wanted to work on and as a result Hayley selected home and task page, Niya selected teacher page, Amy selected resources page and I selected student page. We then all decided to go our separate ways to collect information and create our wiki page keeping in contact through Skype conference calls, email's and personal phone calls.

EndNote

Wed, 02 May 2012 04:50:13 +0100

For this assignment we were required to format our references using the program EndNote. I have previously worked with endnote and had the program already installed on my computer, however I couldn't remember how to use the programe. So to refresh my mind I referred to the website 'Living and Learning with technology' and printed two pdf's 'Endnote Data Entry' and 'EndNote Reference Types.' These were great guides that refreshed my mind on how to use endnote and I was able to get started on referencing my work. Endnote is quite easy to use once you understand how it works and I think it is a useful tool when it comes to referencing. Below are the links to the pdf's I used to help use the program Endnote.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B47FoXFf0TRzamRJSXhzTWtJYnc/edit?pli=1

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B47FoXFf0TRzSm1JS281cnRpSG8/edit?pli=1

Task 2 Research Technologies

Wed, 02 May 2012 04:08:42 +0100

For task two I was required to select a topic that I thought was interesting as a teacher, and with the use of different search engines research how technology might be used for teaching and learning the topic in the classroom. The topic that I selected for this assignment was how technology can be used to improve Mathematic skills in the classroom. My first task was to find one of each of the five resources that had some relation to my topic Mathematics and technology. I first started out searching for a journal article with the use of Google and to my surprise found an article that looked promising. The article (from ERIC) examined the effect of using an online 3D virtual environment in teaching Mathematics in a primary education. I thought that this article was perfect as it related to my topic, however I was unable to access the full text so I referred to the Find it search through Murdoch's online library. With some luck the library did have the journal article in full text and I was able to continue to use the article for this assignment. I thought that it was fantastic that some form of research was studying different approaches to teaching and the student's response to the teaching methods. It was also great to see that the research accepted that technology is the future of teaching and that students respond to technology.

After finding a journal article I concentrated on searching for a book that related to my topic. For this I used the search engine Google Books, and found the book 'Teaching Mathematics using ICT'. I thought this was another great find because as a teacher you may not be aware of the available technology that you can use to incorporate in your classroom/lesson or how to affectively use the technology. I was quite surprised that I found a book that covered my topic, I thought that results would be limited but I guess there is a need for explanations on how to incorporate technology into education.

My third resource included a movie, for this I referred to YouTube and found a movie based on schools in America using the programe EnvisionMATH. EvisonMATHS explores a digital path of teaching Maths skills. From incorporating EvisionMaths into the curriculum teachers commented that students Maths skills are improving and the students have a greater understanding of the Maths topics. Finding a movie that related to my topic was difficult as most results showed how teachers were using technology to teach other subjects not covering my selected topic Mathematics. Solving this problem required me to think back to my personal experience of working in a school environment and looking at the forms of technology we incoporate into our lessons such as Mathletics. This then lead to my search for progams used in classrooms to assist in teaching Matheletics which was more successful.

Finding the fourth resource a conference paper proved to be a small challenge. I started my search with the use of Murdoch's online library. I was a little unsure of how to use the search engine to find a conference paper but thought it was best to type in some key words in the Find it search bar and to work onwards from there. I received lots of results but noticed the bar on the side where you could actually minimise your results by selecting the type of resource such as a conference paper. This narrowed down my search and I was able to find a conference paper that best suited my topic.

The fifth resource included a website. Out of all the five resources I thought that finding a website would be the most easiest but I was proved wrong. The challenged that I faced was finding an actual website that showed how others were using technology to teach or assist in the learning of Mathematics. I found lots of Mathematic programs that are available online but not an example of how someone was actually using technology to teach Mathematics. This created me to reflect back to the example essay provided on LMS. I noticed that one of the provided examples reflected on the use of an ipad. This inspired me to search for a website that displayed how others were using ipad's to improve students Maths skills in a classroom. Thankfully I found a website that explained how Houghton Mifflin Harcourt had designed new available Mathematic apps that schools in America are using in their Mathematic education.

In conclusion searching for each resource had their own difficulties, but with the use of available information, lectures and tutorials I was able to successfully find one of each of the resources required for this assignment.

1B Social Resource Process

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:06:10 +0100

Well my assignment is due tomorrow so I hope all goes well. I asked my peer review partner to do a second evaluation on my site as I had nothing up for the first review and she said that it was great but suggested to cope the youtube website page and paste it to my website to provide an visual view of my social media Youtube. I thought this was a great idea and I have now added it to my website, thanks Isabella :)

Cheers

Penny

1B Social Resource Process

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 05:37:18 +0100

Yes I finally did it, I have now created my website page for task 1B :)

I have put in some long hours trying to play catchup to finish my assement which is due Friday, but feel I now have it under controle. I found that most of my time was wasted on tryiny to get things to link and work and also the playing with the layout of the page. The putting together of this assignment was a little challenging, as it was hard to link my idea with my channel, and the using of the correct words to explain my topic theme. I feel my website page has covered the elements of this assignment but still has some room for improvement.

I learnt lot's of wonderful new things such as Youtube being more than a place to watch clips but one were you can become a member and create your own channel adding your favourite clips. Once you are a member you can also comment like or dislike videos as well as subscribing to films and uploading your own videos. From discovering what Youtube has to offer I learnt how to download videos and save them to your computer so you can use them in a powerpoint. I also learnt that Yola has a widget that you can use to add a video from youtube to your website. From just exploring and using Youtube and the website Yola I learnt lots of new things and it has broaden my view and approach towards technology.

My feelings from this experience were a little mixed, technology can always present some frustration from me as sometimes things just dont work how you want them to. From my experience I was given the feeling of confidence in my ability to use and learn different social medias. I was happy with my achievment and end product and felt that the experience was a great challenge and has given me a sense of trust in that I can use and understand technology.

Unfortuantly I didnt have anything on my site for my peer review partner to review, sorry Isabella. But was able to make contact and asked for a second review. From doing this I did use some contact with a class peer, but having this link with others is a little difficult when you are an external student.

Thanks for reading my blog

Cheers Penny.

1B Social Resource Process

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:07:45 +0100

Wow it's been a long time since I posted my first blog, but I am now concentrating on the second half of the first assessment.

Today I spent some time researching and exploring social networks in preparation for my task 1B assessment. For this assessment I have to select a type of social network and create something from using the social site. The first part involved in this task is learning how to use the social network site and discovering what it has to offer. Once I have mastered the site I must create something from it, giving clear step by step instructions for someone else to follow so that they are then able to use the same site for their own needs. Once I have completed these steps a beautiful peer from EDN113 unit will access my instructions and use of the website, providing good and bad feedback.

After looking at some of last years examples for this task on the EDN113 website and reading the overview, I was little overwhelmed and confused in what I could do for this assessment. However after clicking on some of the social media icons displayed on the unit website my mind settled and ideas started to flow. I decided to use the social media You- tube to create my own channel, selecting favourite videos relating to my website page theme of 'Love for the Body and Soul'. I have decided to run with this theme as I think it's important to consider the food or fuel we eat, the amount of exercise we do and the relaxation we provide to our stressed out, over worked bodies and mind. I was also thinking of adding clips to my channel that explored personal presentation or sense of fashion to suite or individual body shapes. At this stage I have videos on the ABC television program 'River Cottage' as I love Hugh's ability to make homely healthy meals using freshly grown produce, some yoga, polarities, and exercise workouts, as well as relaxation music for the mind. I hope to find and add more as my work is still in the process of making.

Creating a personal Channel wasn't that difficult as you just press on a link displayed on the you-tube page and work through the information needed and also the adding of a photo for your profile which you can upload from your computer. A part that I did have difficulty with was the saving of my password, I had to confirm it twice before it would let me create my own channel and from doing this I also somehow manged to change my gmail address to my hotmail address, so this is something I will have to go back and look at. Finding the write videos proved to be a little bit of a challenged as I wanted them to present a clear relationship to my theme 'Love for the Body and Soul'

From exploring you-tube and creating my own channel which I have never ever done before I experienced some understanding of how people commented, liked, and subscribed to videos. I also learnt that you can keep videos that you have viewed and liked by adding them to you channel through the favourites icon. I also discovered that you-tube has endless videos relating to just about every and any topic and searching for the right one can be difficult. From creating my own channel I experienced lot's of different emotions such as frustration towards the technology when it didn't go my way, anxiety towards using the new social site, doubt in my ability to create a channel and fulfillment and joy from tackling my fears and actually creating my own channel. I was also proud of my attitude to have a go and approach to learn from exploring the social site. From creating my individual Channel I have learnt not to be afraid of technology and that there's such useful sites available for just about any subject I have also found from doing this exercise that i am quite good at exploring and using technology and am know feeling more open to the use of modern technology.

By for now,

Penny

My First Blog :)

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:08:25 +0100

Wow I have just created my own website I'm so proud of myself.

One of the units that I have to complete as part of my course is EDN113 Living and learning with technology and for my first assignment I had to create a website and blog. I have to admit I found the thought of this a little overwhelming as I'm not the best with technology let a lone creating my own website. But with helpful hints and support from my lecturers and tutor I have been successful in my website creation. I hope you like my website it's not the best but it's a start and I'm sure with time it will be one of the best websites out.

Reach for the moon if you miss you'll land among the stars.

Penny