Week 11

Activity 11.3 - B: Using IWBs

Two ways that I thought of incorporating IWB to the lesson provided were:

Have the word map saved to the IWB and it can be left up throughout the class so that any student can add to it at any time  by the end of the unit it’s still all there. This helps because you have one big collaborative map for the whole class. I have had teachers do it where each student does it themselves but by the end it is hard to collaborate with everyone because everyone’s is different, here you work together towards final piece of work. This supports group learning and gives the students a sense of control over their own learning as they are responsible for adding to the map. Depending on the class it could be disorganized looking, abstract or it could take on an organized or grouped form. This could give the teacher an idea on class dynamics and the way the class as a whole learns. Students can add words or pictures could even draw an illustration, it opens up possibilities, it doesn’t have to be just words.

You could also use the IWB with the scrapbooks. The students would have interactive scrapbooks so it would be easier to add things they have created to it with less hassle and mess, also they have more diversity in what they could add. They could add a video of their Readers Theatre presentation as well as connected myths, pictures, and anything else they wanted to add, it doesn’t have to be just paper pieces like a regular scrapbook would entail. You could also have all scrapbooks available so that students at any time can go up to the IWB and open a scrapbook for reference or continued learning or even feedback. Again this promotes collaborative learning; if each student is assigned a god/goddess they could teach the rest of the students about their particular god instead of each student having to learn each one by themselves. It also supports continual learning; it helps students to see their progress every day, not just project by project, they get to see the unit as a whole. Also the IWB allows to students to be creative, the scrapbooks could take on many forms like mind maps or presentations like Prezi’s or Powerpoint, they could be in list form or even collage form. 

Week 10

I choose to take a mulligan for Activity 10.3 - Vendor Reflection

Week 9

Activity 9.3 - Using an LMS

I think that text notifications are a good idea however I don’t think they are appropriate. I would veer on the safe side when it comes to communicating with students and stay away from text messaging and go for email through the school.

 I really like how you can create blogs right in the site but I was really interested in the journals. The journals have more settings and you can have it set where only the teacher and the student can view the journal. I thought of a student doing an essay or an assignment in the journal portion of the site and with only the teacher being able to see it, it would be great for marking. It cuts down on paper and there is no need to print it off so the students don’t have to spend money to do it and the teacher doesn't have to keep track of all the different papers, they are all online. Also the journals can be broken into groups so group projects are also possible online without too much hassle. Groups don’t need to physically get together which can be hard for students with no transportation or busy schedules. The teacher doesn't have to give too much class time for group work as it can be done online.

Early warning system is a great tool to keep track of late or missing assignments without having to search through each student or assignment individually. Also it helps to stay on top of things, letting a student know as soon as possible so that they can correct the situation. You don’t have to wait until you’re finished marking to find out someone forgot to hand it in; it is quicker and more efficient.

I cannot believe that safe assign was included here! It’s a good tool to use for anti-plagiarism. It also gives feedback to the teacher and student about citation; it is easier to pick out where citations are needed and if they are being done correctly.

Surveys are great to get feedback for the teacher about how the whole class is going or the online process. You could also use it to see what students think about a project idea or which book to read next. It gives students a bit more power in the classroom knowing that they get to give feedback and have a role in deciding on how to proceed with the material.

Tests are a no-brainer. I would definitely use it just for convenience sake as well as accessibility.

Self and peer assessment tool is great for the students to learn how the marking process works, when you know how you are being marked it is much easier to meet the criteria of the assignment. This also gives students a sense of empowerment.

I like how you can put things into folders and pages for organization this not only helps the teacher but the students as well.

Also you can put in an announcement which keeps everyone on track and organized knowing what is coming up and what is due. Communication is one of the best organizational tools you can use.

I think the YouTube function is great! You can search for and add YouTube videos into your content page without leaving the site, it’s all built in! This is, first off, way easier than trying to embed the videos and the students don’t have to link to the video or anything, its right there centralized and organized. This can help with focus, by keeping them on your site it is less likely they will deviate to other YouTube videos when they should be working on school work.

You can also add audio, images, and so much more content on the site as well allowing you to cater to every learning style with minimal effort. This helps each and every student to reach their full potential because they are getting their needs met.

As a closing statement I would like to point out how much work this would take to set up! Just playing with it had me stressed out. You would have to take the time to learn the system and how to best use it effectively. Once you have it set up though, it would be amazing! I can’t believe it’s free!

Week 8

Activity 8.3 Social Media in the Classroom Reflection.