Legal, Safe and Ethical Practices
The most important aspect of using E-Learning, is making sure that throughout the learning journey, legal, safe and ethical practices are being followed and adhered to. As a teacher, you are responsible for your students and some of the content they come in contact with is not always safe. Students must be aware and feel comfortable in reporting to you when they are exposed to materials such as pornographic, sexually explicit, offensive, hateful or violent. Prior to any internet activities taking place, students should be instructed on what to do if they feel threatened in any way, and how to protect their privacy online.
Mobile Phone Wiki Activity
In weeks one and two, we were asked to contribute towards a wiki activity. This activity posed the question, “should mobile phones be used in the classroom?”. De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats framework was used to explore this wiki. I had never come across this tool before but after reading and reflecting, it was found that the six different coloured hats are used as a basis of responding to a particular question or issue. The diagram below shows what the different colours represent;
“A wiki is a website which allows its users to add, modify, or delete its content via a web browser usually using a simplified mark-up language or a rich-text editor. Most are created collaboratively” (Wikipedia, 2012). Wiki’s serve many different purposes such as note taking, collaborative thinking and knowledge management. Using a wiki to collaborate a task as a student body would be beneficial as students could individually access the wiki from their home, edit the page with their information and everything would be there together for students to reflect on. However, care must be taken when anyone can edit a page, as accidents can always occur and everything could be deleted. Privacy issues could also play a role in a student wiki and special care would need to be taken from the learning manager to put security measures in place. I have taken a lot away from the mobile phone wiki activity, as I could post my own thoughts in relation to the topic, but then I could read other persons perspectives and gain different viewpoints that I have been able to take away with me.
Group 1 – Blog
“Blogging is a way of creating your own online journal to share your views with others. Many college and high school classrooms integrate blogs to engage students and add a level of Internet interaction between classmates” (Kolifrath, 2012). Before commencing this study, I had never actually posted in a blog before. However, since doing so, I really think that using blogs in a school setting can be very beneficial for students. Each student can have their own space to explore their learning and their classmates will have the opportunity to comment and interact with them online. This tool is especially useful for students who find it hard to speak in front of others for fear of being laughed at or put down. “Blogging in the classroom can engage reluctant readers and writers, according to McGraw-Hill's Teaching Today website. Students who spend more time on Facebook than they do reading novels may spend more time reading assignments and writing about them in a blog format” (Kolifrath, 2012). Like anything, there are also some potential problems to consider. Some students may not have access to a computer at home. Anonymous comments may be made on a student’s blog as a form of “cyber-bullying” and these students may then be discouraged to continue along their learning journey. Overall I believe the positives outweigh the negatives by far.
Group 2 – Voki
“A Voki is a talking voice character, a computer-generated version of oneself. The more generic term for a Voki is a speaking avatar, a digital representation of a person or being. Teachers and educators are discovering some of the unique roles these speaking avatars can play in education particularly in the online classroom” (Cohen, 2007). Voki’s are useful in adding a more human element to the website or blog. They can be used to introduce the course or topics, and aid in instructing students who are audio/visual learners. Students, who are shy and less willing to videotape themselves speaking, tend to become more involved when they can use the Voki in assessment (Cohen, 2007). For this activity, I created a Voki, which was a new concept for me. I was able to choose the type of animal (human, monster, dog, insect) sex, skin colour, colour of hair, facial features, and accessories (such as jewelry, hats, scarves or glasses). A tone of voice can then be chosen, along with what ethnicity you would like it to sound. Once the Voki has come to life, you type out what you want it to say and just like that, your speaking avatar has been created. In my opinion, Voki’s are excellent for E-Learning education. Human interaction which is natural in classrooms can be provided in an online environment using voice communication (Cohen, 2007).
Group 3 - Prezi
This week we focussed on interactive technologies such as PowerPoint, Prezi and Glogster. In my opinion Prezi was the most appropriate tool for classrooms of the 21st century and will soon be used to replace PowerPoint in more and more classrooms around the country. Prezi is a tool which is used for presenting, exploring and sharing ideas on a virtual canvas. Users are able to zoom in and out of the presentation with ease (Wikipedia, 2012). Not only can text be added to this tool but users can upload images and videos to enhance the learning experience. As a teacher, I believe using Prezi will engage learners on a new and exciting level. For this activity I experimented with creating a simple prezi for the topic again of “should mobile phones be used in classrooms”. I had never heard of prezi prior to commencing this unit. As soon as I watched the exemplar and the how to guide, I immediately fell in love with all of the potential it has. This has got to be the new PowerPoint. Instead of students doing PowerPoint presentations, it will soon be Prezi Presentations. The way in which the screen flicks from side to side, around in circles, zooms in and out; compared to sliding through ten screens, is so much more captivating. My example prezi below is a quick view attempt on a Prezi for opinions on "mobile phones in the classroom".
“Google
Earth is a free, downloadable application that works as a browser for all sorts
of information on Earth. It uses satellite imagery to grab, spin, pan, tilt and
zoom down to any place on Earth. Students can explore every corner of the
globe, measure distances, create their own virtual tours, and share their tours
with others. You can also create and download layers of information and view
them in geographic context” (Google, 2012). Students can use Google Earth to study
natural and political maps, learn map reading and navigation, visually explore
historical, news and census data, annotate locations and share with others,
create their own 3D models to overlay on maps and download
geographically-referenced information created by others (Google, 2012). Most
students have probably used basic side of Google Earth, such as Google Maps.
The other ways to integrate this wonderful program into pedagogy, I found weren’t
completely straight forward, but once I was shown how to use the 3D models and
other features it was simple enough to use.
Conclusion
E-Learning
is an exciting, innovative subject which is taking over from the boring days of
the teacher standing out the front lecturing students. As students become more
tech savvy, so do their needs through learning, and that is where we as
Learning Managers come into play. By using any of the tools that have been
covered in this reflection, I will be endeavouring to cater for the needs of
these technologically advanced learners. I am excited to be grasping E-Learning
and intend on continuing to broaden my horizons and engage learners for future
generations of my career.
Cohen, A (2007), Avatars and Education – Classrooms without walls. Retrieved from:
Wikipedia (2012 Wiki,
Retrieved from:
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