I Think to Myself...What a Wonderful ...Journey!
The collimation of many different ages and expertise has been a wonderful experience at St Kevin’s. Completing the Web2.0 course as well as facilitating it with 12 other staff has opened up a wonderful world of shared and collaborative learning. All participants have enjoyed coming together on Thursday mornings (and one day in their holidays) for the St Kevin’s Breakfast Club. We have worked through the modules at individual paces allowing for each individual to experience and explore at their own level and convenience. Having a group to work with has made the experience ‘safer’ for many who were not comfortable with using web2.0 tools or even knew what they were.
By completing this course I feel that I have been exposed to a large variety of web2.0 tools that I can incorporate into my teaching and learning. It has opened my eyes to many aspects of the Web2.0 world that I did not know about like Bubbl.us, Glogster and who can forget the wonderful world of GOOGLE DOCS and GOOGLE READER!!
Most importantly this course and the iLearn framework have once again highlighted the need for teachers and educators to stay connected with their students and the technologies that are out there. I like the fact that the emphasis is still on the pedagogy and not the tool. It’s important as teachers that we remember that these web2.0 devices are just tools that we can embed in our teaching and learning to help our students in the acquisition of knowledge and learning. They are not the be all and end all and we need to continue to ask ourselves ‘what we want the students to get out of using these tools?’ Are they aiding in the achievement of an outcome or just filling time?
The iLE@RN skills that need to be addressed prior to my students using Web 2 tools are:
The collimation of many different ages and expertise has been a wonderful experience at St Kevin’s. Completing the Web2.0 course as well as facilitating it with 12 other staff has opened up a wonderful world of shared and collaborative learning. All participants have enjoyed coming together on Thursday mornings (and one day in their holidays) for the St Kevin’s Breakfast Club. We have worked through the modules at individual paces allowing for each individual to experience and explore at their own level and convenience. Having a group to work with has made the experience ‘safer’ for many who were not comfortable with using web2.0 tools or even knew what they were.
By completing this course I feel that I have been exposed to a large variety of web2.0 tools that I can incorporate into my teaching and learning. It has opened my eyes to many aspects of the Web2.0 world that I did not know about like Bubbl.us, Glogster and who can forget the wonderful world of GOOGLE DOCS and GOOGLE READER!!
Most importantly this course and the iLearn framework have once again highlighted the need for teachers and educators to stay connected with their students and the technologies that are out there. I like the fact that the emphasis is still on the pedagogy and not the tool. It’s important as teachers that we remember that these web2.0 devices are just tools that we can embed in our teaching and learning to help our students in the acquisition of knowledge and learning. They are not the be all and end all and we need to continue to ask ourselves ‘what we want the students to get out of using these tools?’ Are they aiding in the achievement of an outcome or just filling time?
The iLE@RN skills that need to be addressed prior to my students using Web 2 tools are:
communication and collaboration skills
questioning skills
reflective skills
creative thinking skills
critical thinking skills
questioning skills
reflective skills
creative thinking skills
critical thinking skills
multimodal literacy skills
The most important skill I feel they need to learn and be exposed to is what it means to be part of an ever growing online, global community. What are their rights and responsibilities when working and sharing online? How can they surf safely and work within a secure framework? The reality is that we as teachers can not monitor all that our student do online out of school hours. They need to be taught how to be responsible members of the online community and be aware of their digital footprint.
I was exposed to Blooms Digital Taxonomy early this year at an E-Learning day. I think that this is a great framework and model for implementing web2.0 tools as many tools can be used by students to ‘Create’.
Having the opportunity to facilitate the course has been a terrific experience and allowed me to further develop my skills in leading and facilitating professional development sessions with a range of teachers. I am confident that each member of the STK Breakfast Club is walking away from the course with their back pocket filled with a range of new and exciting web2.0 tools to share with their students!
I am looking forward to the next instalment!
Thank you to Diane, Greg and Peter!
I have commented on a range of blogs including all member of the STK Breakfast Club and http://web2-0matthewf.blogspot.com/
STK Breakfast Club
http://suzieqonweb2.blogspot.com/
http://c-mac2.blogspot.com/
http://web20rosa.blogspot.com
http://daycarole0.blogspot.com
http://towers-janeensweb2.blogspot.com/
http://c-mac2.blogspot.com/
http://web20rosa.blogspot.com
http://daycarole0.blogspot.com
http://towers-janeensweb2.blogspot.com/
TILL NEXT TIME... HAPPY BLOGGING WITH AN ITCHY WIKI!
Dear Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI have read your reflection and agree with what you have said about so many things!!!! I am just about to write mine!!! You will be very proud that i am working away to finish hopefully today. (As I have a few other bits and pieces to do too!!!!!) THANK YOU for all the support you have given every one at school with Web2. You have inspired us all and supported us all along the way giving so much of your time and energy and enthusiasm!!!!! You're a good woman :) Mandy
Thanks Amanda for all your support and generosity and patience. It has been a valuable experience and I have learnt so much.
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