Week 3

Image by Cool Text: Free Graphics Generator - Edit Image

In today's classroom there is a huge range of online resources that can be used to enhance a lesson and learning experience. This weeks blog will outline some of the resources I have come across and ways that I would incorporate them into future lessons and daily activities in the classroom. Teachers had two main skills that they need to address.  Teachers need to ensure they themselves know how to use ICTs in the classroom to enhance their lessons, they also need to provide students with opportunities to better their own capabilities at using ICTs.

YouTube

YouTube is a fantastic online resource that can be used for any subject area and year level.  YouTube clips can be amazingly engaging for students to allow them to better understand the learning area.  YouTube clips can also be used to engage students in a brain break.  The following PMI chart outlines the plus', minus', and interesting facts about YouTube. 
 

Plus	Minus	Interesting
·      Engaging for children of all ages ·      Thousands of topics are covered in a range of different ways ·      YouTube can be accessed at school, home, in the car on a mobile device, anywhere with Internet access	·      Advertisements can sometimes be inappropriate ·      When viewing a clip using internet, loading and buffering can become a problem if internet speeds are slow ·      When a clip ends, related videos are offered, some of these can be inappropriate ·      YouTube can be blocked in some schools	·      Can be used as an online format or downloaded to be used without internet ·      About 4 billion hours of video are viewed each month on YouTube ·      Playlists can be made to overcome the issue of related videos. Once a clip is finished the next clip on the play list plays automatically without showing related clips

Slide Share

Tiger facts2 from Siobhan Rodgers

Slide Share is another ICT that can be useful in the classroom.  The Power Point that is shown was compiled for a preps modeled reading experience.  Power Points like this one could be created by students and uploaded to a webpage as an informative area for students to gather information. When uploading PowerPoint privacy must be adhered to. 

Tagxedo 

Tagxedo is a word shape maker.  It allows you to add in any words you like, the more frequently the words appear, the larger they are in the shape.  You can then change the colours, themes and shape of the word to suit what the shape is needed for.  There are many uses for Tagxedo in the classroom such as a students personal word wall. Students can alter the Tagxedo to colour and styles that appeal to them.  I have had some issue with saving the Tagxedo, and this may be due to Mac operating systems.  However a screen shot can be taken to still utilize the shape.  

Weebly 

Weebly for Science Assignment. This Weebly was created in conjunction with a fellow student for a science assessment.  It uses many skills such as embedding links and videos. 

Fodey.com 

At fodey.com there are many things that can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom.  The use of the talking animals could be a fun way to conclude a lesson on punctuation, using questions marks and exclamation marks.  As well as animated animals there are always newspaper articles, clapper boards, wanted posters and wizard text.

  

Cool Text

Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own Logo

Cool text is a way for students to be creative while creating a webpage. There are many different  designs that can be selected.  Students can then alter the text as they wish, making it bigger, smaller, less glow etc.  

 

References 

Edudemic, (n.d.).The Teachers guide to using Youtube in the Classroom. Retreived from http://www.edudemic.com/youtube-in-classroom/

81 Revealing facts about YouTube. Retrieved from http://facts.randomhistory.com/youtube-facts.html