happily blogging

<http://www.shep45.edublogs.org/>

This is a year 5 class in Australia and it's purpose is to document what the students have been doing in class. What I especially liked was their documentation of birds in the school environment. They took photos and recorded how often they saw the birds. I thought this could be done with any year from K to 6. I thought it was a great science and maths lesson. They could discuss what they know about the birds e.g. native or introduced, how they live and how many there are. The students would learn the proper names and be able to identify the specific birds in their environment.

<http://www.huzzah.edublogs.org/>

This is a 5/6 class in America. It is used like a newsletter, information for parents and for the students. Some parts I liked were the individual students book reviews. Each week one student would post a review of a book, what it was about and what they thought of it. This was great. They also have video footage of their science design of a robot which they presented with a dance and music. This was great for the other students to see and parents who often don't know what's going on in the classroom. They also had the students explain what perspective is with pictures then the class had posted their drawings showing perspective. I loved this too. They have lots of other information too e.g. student election information (by the students), a visit by an Australian teacher they blog with, homework info etc.

<http:/www.bryanclass.edublogs.org/>

This is year 4/5 in South Australia. There are MANY links to maths games, tips and tricks (which my daughter spent time playing the tables games...who needs mathletics???). Tips on how to 'train your brain' which I will look at later (very necessary!!), handwriting information, their history project details, reading rubrics for students etc. It must take a lot of time by the teacher setting it all up. I think the students would love it at home where they can check information, lessons or project details.

copyright australia

<http://www.copyright.org.au/find-an-answer/>

1) Can I copy material from the internet for research?
 Yes, material can be copied from the internet for research or study purposes.
2) What constitutes research and fair use?
 Research and fair use is if it doesn't interfere with the legitimate market for the item. 'Fair' is seen as no more than 10% of a document that is more than 10 pages long.
3) Can students (university or school) use music in videos that they make?
Permission is needed to use music in videos unless copyright has expired.

tutorial 2: 3 key ideas/activities

Happily blogging @ Belmore South


Ms. Pericles article contains great ideas.
1) A video recording of the class performance of Macbeth. With information about the performance added.
2) A class wiki sharing their knowledge of a part of history that they have been studying, including photos, maps etc.
3) Can use blogging as a reflective journal. Students can write each week what the learnt in science and maths which helps the student to not only understand what they have learnt but to express themselves in writing.

Pericles, K. (2008). Happily blogging @ Belmore South. SCAN, 27(2), 4-6

one stop shop multimedia website

I tried 'animoto.com' but it seemed to take a long time to download or get anything moving. I also tried 'teachertube', however the best so far seems to be 'webtools4u2use'. It has everything! Glogs, voki, wordle, tagxedo, voicethread, charting, mapping, drawing, wikis and more. It also gives a clear explanation of what each site is, how to use it, real life samples and links to more similar sites. The different techniques are clearly explained and aimed for use in the classroom. Just one draw back- there is so much to go through, look at, read & play around with, it could keep you up at night....

<webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/RSS>

New Literacies definition (Knobel & Lankshear)

According to Knobel & Lankshear the term 'new literacies' has two parts to the definition. The technical part is the use of digital electonic apparatus, e.g. computers, to create multi modal texts using basic software.
The second part is the ethos of new literacies. This has two mindsets, one being the old literate physical world of books and information. The other is the new world of 'collective intelligence', e.g. wikipedia. This is a place where information is gathered, created and exchanged but all in a digital mode.

Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2006). Discussing New Literacies. Language Arts, 84(1), 78.

Dr. Jon's suggested website

This link shows you how to create your own newsfeed of information from a blog on your topic of interest.
<webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com/RSS>