Reference List

2:23 pm / Posted by Aaron Quilty / comments (0)

Squidoo. (2009). The World is going to end at – 2012. Retrieved Friday 21st August, 2009. From http://www.apollopony.net/images/solar_storm.jpg.

James. A. (2009). How Much Information Does the Brain Hold?. Retrieved Friday 21st August, 2009. From http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1542601/how_much_information_does_the_brain.html

CQUniversity Australia. (2009). FAHE11001: Managing E-Learning (Term 2, 2009). Retrieved May 12, 2009. From http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=134

CQUniversity Australia. (2009). Introduction. Retrieved May 12, 2009. From http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=579

CQUniversity Australia. (2009). Active Learning. Retrieved May 12, 2009. From http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=580

CQUniversity Australia. (2009). E.Learning Design. Retrieved May 12, 2009. From http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=641

CQUniversity Australia. (2009). Delivery Technologies. Retrieved May 12, 2009. From http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=671

CQUniversity Australia. (2009). Student Centered Technologies. Retrieved May 12, 2009. From http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=696

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The End to End All Ends

10:05 am / Posted by Aaron Quilty / comments (1)

Life Long Learning is a continuous journey, it never stops, it never sleeps but it always eats. You see from the minute we are conceived we are growing, we are developing and we are transforming into something that is far beyond measure. We just encountered, explored and been on a journey through 25 different delivery technologies and student centered technologies in just a matter of weeks. That’s a big ask for what we think the human brain can undertake and withhold but the reality is that these things, these technologies are all around us, and our Brain is the greatest piece of technology you can ever encounter. You see the typical adult brain contains 15 billion to 200 billion neurons. Most people think that we use the lower figure but still that is equivalent to writing zero on a piece of paper every second for 90 years. Carl Sagan once said that “the brain is a very big place in a very small space”.

The 25 tools of Technology that we look at included:
1. Blogs and Aggregators
2. Setting up an e.Portfolio
3. Mahara
4. Voki Avatars
5. PowerPoint
6. Learning Management Systems (LMS)
7. Interactive Whiteboards
8. Video
9. Static Websites

10. Flickr
11. Image Manipulation
12. Animations and Simulations
13. Quizzes
14. YouTube
15. Podcasting
16. Google Earth
17. Webquests
18. WIKIPedia
19. Slideshare
20. File Storage
21. Using music on the Web
22. Voice thread
23. RSS Feeds
24. Social Networking
25. Digital Story Telling

Each tool is as effective as one another but it depends on who is using it and what they are using it for. Frank Borman once said that “Exploration is really the essence of the human Spirit”. As I explored these tools I came to the conclusion that most of them have the same purpose for what they are or can be used for in the classroom. Blogs and Aggregators, e.Portfolios, Mahara, LMSs, Webquests, WIKIs, etc., all of which include creating and designing your own website. It depends on what the designer likes. Personally for myself, if I were to create one of my own websites for the classroom I would use Mahara for the main page with feeds to different Webquests that I have designed for the class. I personally would do it that way because I am able to interact with my students outside school hours if they want some guidance, I’ll have different links going to other resources that the students can follow and I can use the students work on the page so other students can look at them themselves. Other links I would include would be all of the different designs that I and the students could create or embed for presentations such as YouTube, Podcasting, SlideShare, File Storage, Using Music on the web, Quizzes, Voice thread and many more that we touched base on.

The Internet is another world, the more we find out about who we are the more the internet will expand. However there is a problem, the more advanced we get the more we communicate with each other. We’re no longer in the days where you can write a letter and then weeks or even months later that person will receive what you sent. We are in the days where things are instant and this can and are a problem. As a teacher or even as a parent when using the internet we have to always be aware of what our kids are doing, creating or saying. As a parent you know you would not allow your child to go somewhere unless you knew it was safe. This is how we need to monitor our kids and even ourselves. We don’t want our kids/student and even ourselves to be caught up in any exposure with inappropriate material, any physical danger, or any harassment or bullying but we want to protect their privacy.

The more I used these tools and the more I found out about them through talking with my lecturer, my fellow classmates and to what I was following through the portal, it is a risk using these things but with the way the world is going, these are the best tools to be using in the classroom. Our kids want to know more and if the world is going in the direction of using technical devices and our kids are following that then let’s not bore them with the traditional pen and paper but lets use these technologies that we have just explored to engage our students in a more productive way and set them up to be Life Long Learners.

Remember what Waterhouse (2005) says...
"e-learning involves improving teaching and learning using instructional strategies enhanced by technology, especially computer technology (p. 3). At a very basic level e-learning is using information communication technologies (ICTs) to engage, enhance and extend learning in flexible and innovative ways, now and in the future".

If these ICT are expanding then the knowledge of our teachers today need to expand. So let's pick it and run with it. We don't want to be behind the eight ball and miss out on the opportunity in teaching the students how to be active learners, but let's use these ICT Learning Design Frameworks to become the teacher of today.

#25 Digital Storytelling

9:19 pm / Posted by Aaron Quilty / comments (0)

To understand who we are, what we know, where we come from and about history has been through the use of storytelling. Storytelling has been told either by word or by play or even through song. Now storytelling is becomming advanced and brought to life a little bit more through the use of Digital Storytelling. The best way to use Digital Storytelling is through educational purposes. Creating something and making it come to life for a student would be overwhelming. Learning through story is virtually the best way to learn, otherwise we would not know the things we know now. What we do in the classroom is a bit like story telling, using it on the net creates a different approach to the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
Traditionally storytelling focussed on a specific topic and it contained a particular point of view. As the name of Digital Storytelling seems a bit farfetched and complexed it actually is quite simple. Digital stories contain a mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio, narration, video clips and/or music. For eduaction purposes a normal presentation can last between 2-10 minutes. The Univerity of Houston quotes:

'topics that are used in Digital Storytelling range from personal tales to the recounting of historical events, from exploring life in one's own community to the search for life in other corners of the universe, and literally, everything in between'.
So lets use this Delivery Tool and lets use it effectively. There is a saying that goes something like this, 'if you forget about the past there is no doubt its going to reoccur again'. Lets not forget but lets make sure that our students are learning for the best and are always egaging as Life Long Learners.