Week 5 - Concluding Remarks

During my practicum I took every opportunity to use technology to enhance my teaching and learning and as result I feel confident that I can do so in my own classroom next year. I found that using Interactive Whiteboard activities at the start of my lessons stimulated whole class discussion and helped me ensure that students were actively involved in the learning process.

Firstly, I used the education software I worked on at Pearson as the starting point for many of my literacy lessons. For example:

• The activities on Pearson Places Handwriting came in useful as a means of reinforcing students' knowledge about letter formation and placement.

• The A Sound Way Interactive Whiteboard CD activities worked well as a means of testing and reinforcing students' knowledge of long and short vowel sounds.

Secondly, I adapted the M&Ms activity from the Week 4 workshop for use in the numeracy unit on collecting data. I used Clinkers for the activity rather than M&Ms and as a class we recorded how many of each colour there were in the packet. Having collected the data we then created a bar chart and discussed what which colour was most common, least common etc. Unfortunately due to limited access to computers I wasn't able to teach the students how to create their own bar charts using Excel, but this activity was a fantastic and engaging way to introduce bar charts in a Prep class.

Finally, I used activities that I had created using the Quia software which allowed me to customize them to fit my integrated lessons. For example, as part of the Integrated Unit on Pets and the Farm the class had living eggs in the classroom which then hatched and therefore having looked at a PowerPoint about the lifecycle of a chicken I used a Quia quiz and hangman activity to test students knowledge and understanding. These activities can be viewed at the following links:

• Hatching eggs quiz: http://www.quia.com/quiz/2683189.html?AP_rand=126135913

• Hatching Eggs Hangman: http://www.quia.com/hm/696825.html

Overall, the technology workshops have opened my eyes to the range of resources that are freely available and the educational value of integrating these into my lessons as teaching and learning tools. I look forward to putting more of the ideas we have explored into practice next year and to discovering other sites and programs that can be used to effectively integrate ICT into every day teaching and learning.

Week 5 - Animate to Educate

In recent years animation has become a buzzword in educational circles and as a result of software developments in schools more and more teachers are getting the chance to explore the educational value of the animation process. According to 'The Educational Forum' in the UK, animation has a whole range of cross-curricular benefits including the exploration and development of ideas (The Arts), the ability to generate and communicate ideas (ICT), the development of storylines and characters (English), etc. According to the Senior Minister for State Education in China, meanwhile, 'the educational value of animation...lies not only in its stimulation of the creative instinct in pupils, but also in its encouragement of the team spirit', this ties in with the Interpersonal Development domain in VELS.

In this week's final Technology workshop we looked at a number of programs and websites that can be used to unleash the educational potential of animation in our own classrooms. I thought that the Build Your Wild Self and Reasonably Clever websites were a really good starting point for discussions about character creation and development. I particularly enjoyed using the Build Your Wild Self site and I think students of all age groups would find this an interesting exercise and a good stimulus for writing activities in English or Integrated Studies.

The Zimmer Twins website, meanwhile, could be used to teach students how to storyboard their ideas and how this process links to the creation of the final animation. There were some limitations in terms of the type of actions or ideas that you could include in the animation, but it would be a fun starter activity that could lead on to a more detailed and open ended exercise on storyboarding ideas.


While the Dfilm site was inappropriate for primary students, I did think that the structure of the Moviemaker program linked in nicely with the need to think about all the different elements of an animation such as setting the scene, choosing the characters, establishing the plot and creating dialogue. During the workshop I used the site to create the following animation on stranger danger so perhaps it could be used as a teacher tool if you where careful about the scene, characters and plot that you picked.

Finally, given the importance of linking students' learning to life beyond the classroom I think that looking at interviews with professional animators would also be really beneficial. On the Rollermache website for example there are interviews with Darcy Prendergast and Marisa about how they went about creating their clay animations. On this website there are also tips and activities for each stage in the animation process: Get Rolling, Story Telling, Storyboarding, Character Development, Props & Set, Animating, Editing and Sound. It is easy to see how you could develop a whole unit of work based on this site.

Week 4 - Excel at Excel

The M&Ms activity in this week's workshop could be used as a fun introduction to chance and data and, perhaps more importantly, as a means of introducing students to one of the most common workplace applications. Having struggled to use Excel to its full potential throughout my publishing career I can see real benefits in teaching students how to use this software from an early age and reinforcing that learning throughout their schooling. After all, of all the different software programs we have been introduced to in the Technology workshops, Excel is the one that students are most likely to encounter when they leave school.

Using Excel also encourages students to develop their data analysis skills. Rather than spending time plotting graphs or creating pie charts students can focus on interpreting the data which, based on my practicum experiences, is what students find most difficult. Being able to organise and create graphical representations of data also helps students understand the relationship between numbers and how different charts can be used to represent the same data. Excel can also be integrated across the curriculum, for example, it can be used to record the results of science experiments, to create historical timelines, to alphabetise word lists, etc.

What's more once you get beyond the basics Excel can do some really exciting things such as creating macros and games. Given that Excel is a standard application on most school computers; it would be invaluable to be able to use it to create activities for use in the classroom. There are some great examples of Excel activities at http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/maths/mathsA4.htm.

Week 4 - Dust Echoes

According to 'The Australian' earlier this year, under the new National Curriculum there will be a growing emphasis on Indigenous Education in primary schools. It was proposed that Aboriginal dreamtime stories, for example, be included in the science curriculum as a means of teaching students about the Earth and the links between all living things. While this particular element of the draft curriculum has since been removed, Aboriginal culture will feature in other areas of the new curriculum and there will be a cross-curricular focus on indigenous perspectives. With this in mind, I think that the Dust Echoes site will be fantastic resource; the stories are enchanting and the beautiful animations make them really accessible to primary school children. As someone who hasn't grown up in Australia I can really see the benefit of using this type of resource to support my teaching and ensure that I do justice to this aspect of the curriculum.

In the workshop I chose to look at 'Brolga Song'. This is a story about the importance of culture and of knowing ones place in Aboriginal society; Victor never knew his father or grandfather and spends his life searching for their spirits. Eventually as an old man Victor finds his 'dreaming body' in the brolga and is reunited with his fathers; finally he can enjoy happiness. While I think that retelling the story in images was an enjoyable exercise, I would be more likely to use this particular story to explore the importance of belonging and of knowing where you have come from. This theme is something that most primary students will be able to relate to and the story could be used as a powerful stimulus for creating their own story of belonging. It could also be used as a starting point for a unit on family trees and ancestry.

Week 3 - Staying Safe Online

Having taught a couple of lessons on how to search the internet during my first practicum I was particularly interested in the issues raised in this week's Technology lecture. I used Google as the basis for my lessons, but I would definitely opt for a more child friendly search engine in the future. The Education Department's search engine, for example, seems like a good option for primary students, particularly as all the content has been carefully vetted. There are also some other options listed at GetNetWise, although none of them seem as child friendly as the Education Department's version.


I also took a look at the resources for teaching students about online safety and I felt that the Cybersmart website had the most potential for use in a primary classroom. The Hector's World clips, for example, could be used as the basis for whole class teaching to allow students to engage with the various issues without scaring them off. There are also some other useful clips on this site that address other issues such as online dos and don't and spending too much time on the computer that could also be used to teach students how to behave safely and responsibly online.


While on practicum I was introduced to the Superclubs Plus website; a safe social learning network site for children aged 6 to 12. Students use the site to learn about social networking without being exposed to the potential dangers associated with sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Students get points for what they learn, for example they can get a point for building their home page, sending their first email, posting on a discussion forum, etc. When they accrue enough points they then gain a Star Award. These awards cover a whole range of topics including Internet Safety in a way that engages students and encourages them to learn. I can see this being a really effective teaching tool and well worth the $4.50 per student yearly subscription.

Week 3 - Quia Quizzes and Activities

I found this section of the workshop really useful. I can see huge potential in being able to build my own quizzes and activities and tailor them to fit the needs or interests of my students. I created a quiz, a hangman activity (see above) and a scavenger hunt (see below) and found all of the templates really easy to use.


I particularly liked the Scavenger Hunt activity template which allows you to add links to websites and provide questions for students to answer when looking at those websites. This is really a much simpler version of the WebQuests we are creating in Integrated Method and would be a great way of getting students to do internet research on a specific topic in a really structured way using websites that you have vetted.

This site would also be a useful way of getting students to create their own quizzes and activities. You could use the design brief template that we were introduced to in this workshop to set them a task using the Quia site and then get them to investigate/design, produce and analyse/evaluate their own activity. You could also introduce an element of peer assessment by getting students to swap activities and analyse/evaluate each others. I can see this being really fun and engaging for students and a good way of getting them to use their higher order thinking skills.

Looking at the website there are also some useful tutorials to allow you to get the best out of the site and thousands of pre-made activities to choose from. There are over 1500 shared activities for English alone and therefore you can also refine your search by entering a key word, activity type, etc to find the activities that meet your needs. You don't even need to register to use these tutorials and activities so it would be a really good way of assessing the site before investing in the subscription. At $49 per year for the subscription I think this could be a really good investment particularly if the teacher testimonials on the site are anything to go by.

Week 2 - Using Technology in the Classroom

One of the key issues highlighted by the weekly readings is the fact that children are not adequately prepared for the 21st Century. Using technology in the classroom is highlighted by the White Paper, 'How digital tools prepare students for the 21st century', as a way of overcoming this problem. I totally agree with this stance and I explored this issue in detail in my Issues in Education assignment last semester. What the workshops have highlighted for me is that using technology is about more than using educational software to enhance teaching and learning; it is also about teaching students how to use a whole range of different software programmes that they will come across in the working world.

What's more research has shown that using technology in this way equips students with a number of essential skills, for example:

• information and data management skills
• analytical skills
• thinking and learning skills
• reading comprehension

All of these skills are invaluable in today's technology rich society and therefore ICT needs to be an integral part of everyday teaching and learning.

My key concern is that teachers and student teachers and not being adequately prepared to use technology effectively in their classroom. The fact that this course has been reduced from 18 weeks to 6 weeks, for example, is testament to the fact that not enough emphasis is being placed on this aspect of teaching and year after year teachers are graduating without these essential skills. What's more millions of dollars are being spent on Interactive Whiteboards for schools which are then just being used like traditional whiteboards. If we are to have any hope of better preparing students for a future we cannot predict we need to have the training and support required to develop these skills.

Week 2 - MS Publisher

This week we created a brochure using MS Publisher. I found this program very intuitive, despite the fact that the menus differ from traditional Word menus. I think students would find this program very useful in lots of different contexts such as creating brochures, newsletters, postcards etc. I also think that the finished results look very professional which will appeal to students.

The ability to use this program to create web content is of particular interest. I have some limited experience of using DreamWeaver and from what I have seen so far MS Publisher would be a much easier program to use with students in the classroom. I would definitely see the creation of an ongoing e-Portfolio as a valuable task for students which would help develop a whole range of different skills relating to design; navigation; selecting, writing and editing content, etc.

I was also interested to read in 'Digital Portfolios: Fact or Fashion' that the research done on the benefits of ePortfolios highlighted that they helped graduate teachers organise their ideas in a way that greatly assisted them in the interview process. As we head towards the end of the Graduate Diploma and begin applying for jobs I am sure we are all looking for ways to improve our chances of securing a position for next year. It seems that ePortfolios can in fact provide us with that edge in interviews as well as being a useful learning and assessment tool in the classroom.

Week 1 - Inspiration Software

I found the Inspiration Software quite fiddly and I didn't feel that it was particularly intuitive for a first time user. The finished results, however, were a lot better than anything you could achieve using the whiteboard or computer software alone. With a bit more practice I can see that this would be a really useful tool for whole-class teaching, particularly with regard to demonstrating how to organise information, cluster ideas or create a hierarchy of ideas using features such as colour, line thickness etc.

With regard to getting students to use the software to create concept maps and mind maps my main concern would be that it could be quite a time consuming process, particularly with younger children. I also feel that the lesson may end up focusing on how to use the software rather than on how to create a good concept map or mind map. I would therefore get students to create these diagrams using more traditional methods before using the Inspiration Software to create a final version.

Following the workshop I had a look at some of the other mind mapping software programs - bubbl.us, MindMeister and Mindomo - for comparison. I felt that bubbl.us wasn't as visually interesting as the Inspiration Software and it lacked many of the technical capabilities. However, I could see that it may be useful when working with older children or as a brainstorming tool when working with other teachers. I can also see huge potential in simultaneously working with other students on the same mind map as offered by MindMeister and I would definitely look at ways of using this in my classroom.

Week 1 - My Empty Blog

I consider myself to be reasonably tech savvy having edited educational software for the last 8 years, but blogging is all new to me and a little bit terrifying. Will I have anything interesting to say? Will I have time to really get to grips with the ins and outs of the blogging technology? How can I then use this technology in my classroom?