Module 9

In module 9 we investigated online, professional and personal networks. Finally!!! A module where I had a clue as to what we were looking at. The networking site Facebook is asocial networking site that I’m very familiar with. Although I know Facebook is not particularly a professional networking site I was interested in finding sites that were. At school we’ve had a ‘Techie Brekkie’ in the past where we looked at Twitter and its uses as a professional networking site. Although I don’t have a twitter account at the moment, I’m beginning to realised that it’s only a matter of time. Once again I think it’s me not wanting to step out of my comfort zone.

I also looked into the uses of Second Life. The tutorials given in module 9 painted a really positive picture of Second Life as a professional networking site. I guess for me the thing that really stood out was the possibility of teachers being able to use it as a tool to teach their students about culture, science, art and historyetc. in meaningful, creative and even collaborative ways. It’s great! However, although there are numerous opportunities for learningwith Second Life, one big problem is the age restrictions. Being a 3/4 level teacher, this eliminates the possibility of using this great tool in my classroom with my students.

Module 8

When I initially looked at what Module 8 was about, and saw that it was about RSS feeds my first thought was OMG!! My panic began to grow when I realised I was unable to attend the ‘Techie Brekkie’ session held at school which was to introduce us to RSS feeds. Fortunately I was given a link that gave a great summary of what RSS feeds are and how they actually work. So I looked into ‘Feedly’ which is a feed reader straight to your iPhone or iPad. Now I don’t have an iPhone or an iPad, so I found it quite difficult to understand friends who raved about this app and said how easy it was to use…. apparently even for me!

I spoke to my dad about it (the most amazing ICT guru the world has ever seen), he can’t believe it and either can I, but I’m getting an iPhone!! So thank you Module 8. Although you have left me quite confused you’ve made me step out of my comfort zone!

Module 7

In this module, we explored the bookmarking websites Delicious and Diigo. Prior to this Web 2.0 course I hadn’t heard of these tools, so I was interested to see what they were all about. After reading about them and watching some video guides I was beginning to see how valuable these tools were. The thing that stood out for me the most was that you can access your bookmarks from any computer. I can not even begin to explain how amazing this is for me. I basically use three different computers where I find it difficult to remember which computer I’ve bookmarked particular sites. Delicious and Diigo are definitely time savers and I look forward to exploring them more.

Module 6

Module 6 was great! As with basically everything we’ve looked at in this Web 2 course, Picasa is completely new to me. Although it was completely new to me, I didn’t find it that difficult to use. When I initially looked at Picasa during the last school holidays, I didn’t have a Google account. But I have one now, that I’m beginning to use more frequently. So I guess the good thing about Picasa is that is can be linked to your Google drive which means it’s easily reached anywhere you have access to the internet.

The possibility of using Picasa in the classroom is something I definitely think is worth discussing with my 3/4 team, mainly to discuss the practicality of using Picasa with our students.

Module 5

This was a great module and I’m glad it was included in the WEB 2.0 course. For me it involved a bit of old as well as some new programs/tools. With so many new tools and programs that we are exposed to and encouraged to use in our classrooms, I believe we (teachers) sometimes forget about simple programs like Bubble.us  It’s so easy to use and the kids always love using it. I can think of at least a couple of times so far this year my students could have used it to organise their thinking, where instead we opted for a paper and pencil Mindmap. Thinking back now I’m pretty sure which one the kids would have preferred to use!

Glogster is new to me but I can already see that it is another tool that the kids will love and find useful, particularly those creative students I have.

Prezi is completely new to me, and I’m not all that confident in using it yet. However, I’ve seen colleagues at work use it and they really like it and say that the kids have enjoyed Prezis they’ve created. To me Prezi seems to be another, and probably a better way to present information that I would otherwise present in a PowerPoint. Prezi is a tool I am definitely interested in looking more into and using to enhance the way I present things to my students.