Images and Learning!! -TOOL 8

This was a topic for our learning journey! Using images and podcasts to enhance students learning, I have discussed using podcasts to learn so now I am touching on using images to learn. Using programs such as photobucket, allows you to edit and manipulate an image top suit your needs/likes/requirements. You can play with the contrast, saturation, brightness, colours, styles and textures of the photo, you can also add stickers, text and other items to the photo, you can then save a copy of the photo as to not save over the original. These are stored in an album and kept there for you to edit and play with as much as necessary. You can create collages, scrapbooks and other photo items also.

I believe this would be a great tool to use when talking about media and the manipulation of images- photoshopping etc. Especially young girls and there image awareness, a unit could be based on how the media and magazine editors manipulate the photos to enhance their look and change their body shape, eye colour etc. Students would also be engaged by using these image tools so therefore will be learning effectively. Have a look at these images that I have manipulated myself using photobucket.

Using RSS as a tool!

An aggregator is designed as a way to track what certain sites, people or things on the net are doing. Such as following a friends/ colleagues blog, you simply add their blog URL to your 'contacts' in Google reader and it will simply show you when they update, post and the comments that have been added to their blog. This tool allows you to follow more then one person/colleagues blog at a time by going to the one destination/webpage.

I believe that this would be a great tool to use in the classroom as it is easily accesible, user friendly and allows for great learning opportunities. Students could have digital portfolios of their work, as they add new learnings and information other peers could view that and follow how they are progressing, collaboratively share experiences and learning journeys, especially those students who are not as confident to talk to other peers, this is a way to work around that.

Using an aggregator in the classroom would be useful as the above reasons state and the main reason being it would ENGAGE the students in their and their peers learning journeys. The engagement theory states that children need to be engaged to learn positively and effectively within a school environment. The tasks and tools used have to have a purpose and meaning behind their design and usage.

Video and Flickr!! - TOOL 10

I decided to look into using video as a learning tool in the classroom and discovered that there are numerous uses for video in the learning environment. I found a video about poverty and thought to myself... I could use this as a stimulas to begin a unit of work, or to use within a unit of work to act as a learning object for my students. This is the video below...



Thanks to earlb.com on Flickr to allow me to use this video for purposes of my assignment.

I thought wow!! I could simply play the video and then have questions or statements organised to get my students thinking about the severity of this problem and what they could do to help ease the poverty problem. I believe I could use this with younger students to older students by simply changing its purpose and design of the stimulas to suit the learners needs for the given unit of work that is being implemented at that time.

Video - TOOL 10

This is what I created after playing around with movie maker!! I love playing around with photos, music, sound effects etc to create a movie. I believe that using movie maker in the classroom would be a great tool as it is engaging, flexible and easy to use. There are numerous positive outcomes that come as a reslt after using movie maker and digital video to learn. These are as follows:

- Learn how to manipulate text, images and sounds to create a video.
- Develop ICT skills to enhance learning.
- It is Engaging, interesting and motivational.
- Used for multiple purposes within all learning contexts.
- Encourages collaborative learning - create movies together- reflect together.
- Allows for reflection and constant editing to improve their work.


I believe that by using movie maker in the classroom this will cater for the engagement theory, which talks about meanginful tasks that engage the students in their learning effectively and appropriately. By using digital video and move maker to help students learn, this becomes student- centered learning, which is more effective then constant teacher- centered learning that they are faced with. Students learn a great deal from their peers by working together collaboratively and when the learning is student- centered, these students will also benefit by developing social skills in the process.

Have a look at this concept map that I have created mapping out the theories and frameworks that link adn relate to the use of concept maps in the classroom.



There are numerous activities that students could complete by using movie maker as an ICT tool in their learning. Such as: conducting a science experiment- documenting the steps that they took to complete the experiment by taking photos and voice recordings to document their experience for a range of audiences. They could also create a story by taking photos and recording voice overs - visual story, could be created for a younger grade level etc. I believe that this would be an excellent tool to have access to in the classroom!!

However, there are always limitations to using ICT in the classroom. The schools' policies and understanding about ICT use must be considered. Some parents also find ICT a complex topic and do not have the same beliefs as educators about the positive effects that it could have on their child's learning. There are also legal obligations that must be followed when using ICT in the classroom to protect childrens' privacy and personal information.

If all of these factors have been considered with due care, ICTs in the classroom- specifically the use of digital video would be an excellent resource and tool to have in the classroom to support student- centered learning.

Discussing the Engagement Theory

I was thinking about all of the ICT tools that we have covered so far and started to think about the theories and understanding behind the use of ICT's in a classroom and in general. I LOVE using concept maps to plan, analyse and list all of my ideas as I believe that they are a very useful tool for visual learners especially. I would definately use these in my classroom as I value them highly as an engagement tool as well as an effective tool. Using bubbl.us I have created a great concept map based on the "Engagement Theory" and what it involves as an ICT framework. This site could be used for brainstorming before drafting written genres of writing, conducting experiments or for general use within the classroom and collaborative learning sessions.

Here is the concept map that I created, please feel free to comment, add or voice your opinion about what I have written as I love hearing other peers points of view and ideas.

This was created using tagcrowd.com. I believe this is a great tool and could be used for a variety of learning in the classroom. This would be a great way to summarize everything that has been covered in a given topic, provide a stimulus image to get students thinking about a given topic, and many more. These would also make great posters around the classroom with different words and topics chosen as the content of the image.

allows alot began believe blog blogthis buzz classroom collaborative com comments concept create discovered easy edit effective email engage enhance facebook google http ideas kasberger kirsti learners learning map pm podcasts posted powerpoint share students theory think thoughts today tool twitter untitled used user view voki weebly wikis wordle younger

created at TagCrowd.com

Podcasts!! - TOOL 9

Today I was introduced to podcasts, what they are, what they do and how we can use them in the classroom to enhance students' learning. I had heard about podcasts, however I did not know what they were and how to create them. I was unaware of how to use them and the effects that they could have on students' learning. I began to think about the engagement theory, and how it is focused on the students being engaged to learn effectively. I began thinking about how podcasts could possibly enhance and engage my learners in the schooling environment. I believe that they could be useful in certain circumstances. Such as if students are involved in science investigations, they could record their thinking and progress about an experiment, watching how a plant grows, watching how an animal grows- e.g. chicken.

This is a way of recording what they see, think and learn which can then be included in their learning journals (digital portfolios) for all to see. Students could also benefit from using podcasts in a collaborative environment - refering to the collaborative theory- students learning in small groups and using each others ideas to learn in a collaborative environment. I believe that using podcasts in the schooling environment would be of great benefit to students' learning, especially yo those students who are visual and auditory learners. Using podcasts would also cater for students with learning disabilities eg. hearing impaired or vision impaired.

Although I have trouble creating podcasts myself I believe that practicing and working out the steps that need to take place to create a podcast wuold be of great benefit to both myself and my students. Podcasts are a great ICT tool to enhance students' learning, however I do believe there are implications with any ICT tool as if the resources and technology is not available in the school itself, this would block the use and creation of using ICT tools in the classroom, which would be devastating!!Click the link to see a range of podcasts that I found on the ABC website, this is great site with free podcasts available to be downloaded and used in classroom settings.