Week Three Personal Reflection

Whilst the use of these websites can be both educational and beneficial, teachers need to be exceptionally cautious as to what they are exposing their students to on the internet. All websites should therefore be predominantly tested BEFORE introducing them to the classroom and allowing the students to explore their contents. With the internet being a resource which offers pornographic, sexually explicit, offensive, hateful and violent activities that are dangerous or illegal; we as future educators need to strictly ensure that we educate the children of the twenty-first century to be entirely safe when using the internet.

Just as we are well aware of certain aspects to be careful of when using the internet, children need to be educated to have these same ideas in mind. Students need to understand the importance of protecting their own privacy and personal information as well as being proactive in letting someone know if something seems odd or strange. When being asked to provide personal information, students should be aware of the risks involved in doing so and taught the differences of genuine websites as opposed to the ones, which may pose risks. In relation to these attributes, it is also important to educate children with respect to the notion of copyright issues and respecting the quality of work created by others.

The issue of cyber bullying is one, which is sadly increasing in the world of the internet amongst youngsters in the twenty-first century today. Watching the archived video named ‘Cyber Bullying Australia 2009’ on TeacherTube broke my heart to see such hatred words displayed on the screen. I believe it is in the power of the schools to educate children in order to stop such bullying from taking place and put a stop to cyber bullying all together.

When researching the notion of being cyber smart for children; I found this creative resource, which can furthermore enforce the understanding amongst children. A print screen of this image has been uploaded below.

The idea of this image is to allow children to ‘THINK in order to help children to stop and think before they act when using the internet.’ Each letter stands for a strategy, which can be implemented in order to be cautious when using the internet. They have been outlined below;

·         Tell your mum or dad if you see something online that upsets you, or if someone makes you feel unhappy. You can also talk to a trusted adult like a teacher, they can help.

·         Hide your password. Only ever share it with your parents – never with your friends. Someone else could go online pretending to be you and do something that could get you into trouble.

·         Interesting websites can be fun. Check with mum and dad if a site is okay to use before you visit. Sometimes they can set up a good list of sites just for you!

·         Be Nice to people you talk to on the internet or phone. Name calling or being mean is not call. Look out for yourself and for others.

·         Keep your special personal information safe. Never give your real name, address or phone number to anyone you don’t know in the real world. Use a nickname in chat rooms or when you play games on the computer.

I think this simple creation can be the key needed to further reinforce the importance of being safe on the internet. This image can be enlarged and put up in the classroom; ensuring children have access to it at all times.

Teachers need to be extra careful when organising for their students to make use of the internet. Children need to be constantly supervised and made sure they are not exposed to any form of the dangers unfortunately offered by the use of the internet. Teachers need to be extra careful and never leave anything to chance when utilising the use of the powers of the internet.

Resources:

TeacherTube: teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=139986

CyberSmart: cybersmart.gov.au/YoungKids/How%20to%20be%20cybersmart

Week Three Workshop Reflection

This workshop began with an introduction to the ‘Design Brief.’ Whilst working in a group, we were given a small piece of cardboard, a picture of a frog, an elastic band and a small portion of tape. Together and with the use of all resources; we were asked to produce a mechanism, which would allow the frog to potentially jump. Conducting this simple exercise within the classroom has the capability of allowing students to develop diverse ideas and predominantly ‘think outside the box’ whilst working within a group and showing respect to the opinions of others.

By signing up with a website named ‘Quia,’ we were provided with a thirty day trial account where we had the ability to create a variety of quizzes within the online website. Quia not only gives you the flexibility to create and solve your own variety of quizzes, but also gives you the opportunity to search millions of quizzes created by educators all around the world.

The print screen above is a snap shot of a multiple choice quiz I created in the workshop. It was great to have the preference of selecting options such as how many questions I would like to create and whether or not I would like my quiz to be timed and for how long.

I believe implementing such an exercise within the classroom could be highly beneficial for both the teacher as well as the students. Such an activity has the capability of being incorporated within any topic of the classroom. This notion forces children to create questions in which they predominantly have to answer themselves. With the flexibility of this task, an incorporation of a research activity can also be introduced to the students. Allowing students to develop their own quizzes enhances their information technology skills such as typing and develops writing skills with the inclusion of grammar and punctuation. The notion of producing questions and answers furthermore enforces the use of question marks and important question words such as who, what, when, where and why.

With a given time frame of completion, students can then be given the opportunity to have a wonder and attempt the quizzes of students within the classroom. This additional activity furthermore creates interaction within students in the classroom. 

Week Two Personal Reflection

Before beginning this course; I had many friends working within the teaching profession approach me and attempt to explain the notion of the ‘ePortfolio.’ Honestly, I never understood. Different people had different perceptions and it seemed like everybody brought various concepts. The one common opinion people shared with relevance to this resource was that it was extremely ‘important’ and that ‘I couldn’t get a job without it.’ Listening to Greg’s views of the ePortfolio and reading through the notes provided on LMS, the concept started making more sense. Going away and completing my own research, I believe I now not only have a better understanding but have also been able to develop an understanding for the importance of this resource.

Pebble Pad describes the ePortfolio as being a resource, which allows others to see the progress of both your skills and development (Pebble Pad, 2010). Rather than being a ‘one off’ notion, I gather the ePortfolio should be ongoing and continuously developed through additions and updates. Essentially, ‘it works as a user-centred, personalised learning space allowing the user to shape the way they present themselves to the world’ (Mahara, 2008). With the freedom of creating personalised design and template, the idea of personalised learning is further enhanced and learning needs are catered for at an individual level (Mahara, 2008). ‘Students get to be informed, active participants in their own learning, they contribute to decisions about what learning can work best for them, and they have a much better understanding of how they are progressing (Minister of Education, NZ, 2007).

With a wide range of resources to work with, the ePortfolio allows students and teachers to further enhance their multimedia skills as well as develop their presentation skills. With a development of achievements overtime, the ePortfolio allows for both reflection and self assessment. Having a personal experience of the standard ‘scrapbooking’ exercise, I perceive the ePortfolio as a ‘scrapbook with an edge.’ As the notes provided on LMS also mention, scrapbooks are only an accumulation of information which provide no incentives of reflection. With the incorporation of continued learning, I only wish this proposal had been around when I was in school.

References:

Mahara: http://mahara.org/about/eportfolios

Pebble Pad: www.pebblelearning.co.uk/definitions.asp