At the end of this course, I noticed that my name is found on search engine. It all started from blogging, tweeting,
curating and webcasting….
Search engine, (cc) Kawai Sabarillo 2013,
Learning from blogging make me understand we should never
stop learning and thinking. There so many things that are worth to explore,
worth to try and worth to learn. Just like when I look back to the PLE that I created
in week 1, there were only a few digital tools that I would use in my learning
environment, but now I have at least six items on each category. The growth
shows to me that there are many interesting things to reflect upon and utilize
for changing my mind.
PLE is power tool and I can see how it fit into the self-direct
learning trend. As a lifelong learner, I
need support and a solid plan that can lead me to a learning environment and
learning network of my own.
I have come a long way since the beginning of 1P32. I am
inspired by what I learned and what I created in the digital world. My PLE has
grown, and it will continue growing.
Webcasting tool delivers audio and video presentation
through internet. A successful webcast creation is informative, engaging, and
interactive. Webcasting is beneficial to the both teacher and learner because
it
works as an instructional technology tools
provides Live class.
allows learners to go on the same class over and
over again as long as the access is available.
supports creation, is a fun way to invent audio
and visual lectures
is good way to share, build and learn
accommodates a large amount of learners in the
same time.
Is an effective way to learn from home,
especially for remote learner.
Tools that I explored in week 11 are Muziboo, Audacity, Jing
and Screenr. I found they are all useful tools and can process your creation
into a professional and presentable product, however, there are some technical
challenges and I can see some potential limitation for such tools if using in a
younger learner group.
Lack of REAL-TIME interaction between students
and teachers. Students won’t be able to ask question right away.
Hard to evaluate learner’s understanding.
Webcast can be easily influence by the internet
signal, beside, viewer has no control on the quality of the show.
For my opinion, webcasting is a great learning and teaching
source for the higher education, especially for online learners. As part of the webcast and if you want to be a
successful lifelong learner in the digital world, self-discipline is the key.
On the other hand, as a webcast provider and teacher who
wants to use webcasting in his/her classroom, we have to make sure we have enough
supports, such as a good follow up discussion or some relevant assignment, so
students know what they learn from the source.
I think I would enjoy webcasting presentations; however, I
would not be one of the providers at the moment. To make a quality video or
audio can be expensive and it requires some technical skills and that can be a
challenge for me. However, I will keep webcasting tools in mind and hopefully
soon I can add it into my PLE.
TED Talk, Daphne Koller, What we're learning from online education.
The format of education is changing, more and more online
courses are offer to people and make learning much easier. The # TED Talk, “What
we’re learning from online education” from Dr. Daphne Koller, is what I want to
share this week. Dr. Koller inspires and encourages people to put education in
action and she shows how MOOC can really works with the support of technology nowadays
and benefit to those who struggles with life and learning. Great talk.
I created my first speaking avatar with Voki in Week
11 and that was a fun experience.
To customise your avatar, you have to first sign up
for a Voki account. There are many options for you to choose until you can find
your ideal face, hair style, mouth, colour, background and more. I wrote a
message and picked one of the computer voice so my avatar can speak!
For educational purposes, you can use Voki to create
a lesson and post on onto your website, blog post or upload to youtube. I guess
this is a cool way to present your lesson rather than just standing in front of
your students and talk.
I also got inspired by Glenda Funk, an English
teacher from the United State, as she has some good ways to use Voki and I think they
are interesting ideas. In a nutshell, to teach and learn nowadays… you got to
be “CREATIVE”!
here are Glenda Funk's ideas to use Voki in the classroom.
1. In multigenre inquiry projects 2. As
a way to promote participation in class discussions. 3. As
a way for teachers to give instructions or reinforce a concept, particularly
for absent students. 4. As
a lecture students view in a flipped classroom setting. 5.
Etc. I'm sure these ideas only begin to touch on the possibilities.
Glenda Funk, July, 21, 2013, Creating Classroom
Conversations Using Voki [Lesson Idea], available at,
In week 10, I explored 3 slideshow tools and they
are Animoto, Fotobabble and Photopeach.
I like Animoto the most as the website was easy to understand and start up
process was fast. There are a few background designs, lots of copy written background
music and photos for you to choose from and all I have to do is to upload
images.
Compare to Power Point, creating a slide show with Animoto is easier and faster and the most important, the show is more visually
satisfying. However, with the limit of 30 seconds for free videos, I found Animoto is suitable for presenting a concept ,as an introduction or to provide
a summary in a learning environment. In addition, the limited text capabilities
only allow user to give a short description on the side of your images.
Like many other digital tools that I learned in
this course, the projects that created with Animoto are easy to be shared online.
However, I can also see some potential risk of using Animoto. As I build my
reputation of how to be a good digital citizen, I am always on the alert for
‘doing the right thing ‘with the technologies and using images legally on a
slideshow tool can be a challenge.
In the past I always know to download music from a
shared forum is not legally but to ‘cut and paste’ a picture?? I’m sharing with
friends, not for business use, why is it a big deal? It’s there anyway!
The unforeseen and unintended uses of online images
seem like some common mistakes that are happening in the digital world and it
is difficult to stop such activities completely. But the legal aspect of being
a good digital citizen should be our major concern. “The issues of intellectual
property rights and copyright protection are very real, and have real
consequences for violations” (Ribble,2011, p.31). “Copyright is the system of leagal rights that protects
original creative works, including text, images, videos and artworks, from
unauthorised copying, distribution, alteration and other uses” (Sites2See,
2012).
As a student
and a technology user, this is my responsibility to obey and follow the rules. To
respect the legal rights, I learned how to use an online work properly in week
10. Website such asMediaSmart.com, The2Learn.ca and blog posted by Creative Common have given me a lot
of useful information of how to cited online images, create and protect my own
work and to remix online contents.
This is truly an informative week and I believe my
PLE has evolved to the next level. Slideshow tools become an important part of
my learning elements when building assignments and doing project with others. Learning what is Digital Law is urgent, especially for our next generation. "The best time to begin establishing a culture of proper use is the first day you introduce your students to technology" (Starr, L. 2003). In Canada, copyright is governed by the Copyright Act(R.S.C.,
1985, c. C-42). For instance, fair use of online source protects original and
fixed products and also encourages us to learn and to create meaningful work.
It was a rewarding experience of
learning Animoto in this week. I created a short slideshow to introduce the
Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship and I think it was a success.
Even the video is only 30 second
long, the video was presentable. I enjoy the amount of options that Animoto
provided and it allows me to make changes many time. Another point of interest
when using Animoto was choosing the licensed audio, I didn’t have to worry about the
copyright and it actually saved me a lot of time.
Animoto may seems like an individual
show case, but it can really function as a collaborative tool in the classroom.
The 30 second (free) slideshow can
be used any time during the lesson, for example..
1. icebreaking
activity at the beginning of the class,
2.visual aid of a case study and lead to group discussion
3.summary slideshow
As a learner, I enjoy exploring and using technology as part
of my learning, pictures and sound are engaged and help taking in information
and this the key to education.
VoiceThread has demonstrated a new way of communicating as
it allows learners to response to threads via text, voice message and video. I had
a very positive learning experience in learning VoiceThread and I think it
support learning by promoting engagement and motivation. Especially nowadays,
technology involved in almost everything in our lives, computer apps are fast
and fun, when using VoivceThread, students are not limited in using text, they
can speak or even act in front of the screen, and their recording can store in
the thread and can be shared whenever others log in to the website.
On the other hand, digital tool such as VoiceThread has also
changed the way of teaching. It changed the tradition lecture based classroom
into an active learning environment. From the posting of Avery, on Apr7,2011, on
the Teacher Challenge. edublogs, “We’re
always looking to foster discussion and break down the barriers of the typical
classroom walls”, it showed how important it is to engage students and VoiceThread allows
spaces for thinking and students gain different perspectives from each other.
Digital media has given the freedom of access on the internet;
however, it creates some potential risks to user’s safety and wellbeing. “we
are also one click away from making a public gaffe, mistakenly sharing
information not intended for a wider audience, in the form of an email, a wall
post, text or chat message.” (Levinson, 2012)
One digital citizenship that I have learned in week 9 is
the Digital Literacy. “one of the most important aspects of technology is
understanding how that technology works so that it can be used in the most appropriate manner.”
(Ribble, 2011, p.26). VoiceThread is easy to operate and can be a powerful
learning tool but it would become a big issue if students use it with a wrong
sense such as recording and posting inappropriate comments, images, audios or
videos. As a cyber-learner, I wish Digital media will become a positive
educational tool and I believe, it is the educator’s work to encourage such professional
development, but it is also the user’s responsibility to practise the digital
citizenship.
I develop my PLE at the beginning
of this course as a mean to support my individual and professional learning. Online
course is a challenge for me; learning does not happen in a “click” on the
mouse, but involves communicating with others. Sharing is the one of the main
ideas in my PLE and VoiceThread is probably another powerful thing to make my
PLE works. This new tool allows me to collaborate, develop and grow with my
colleagues and I am looking forward to explore this visual rich technology with
everyone again.
