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?