This week's workshop introduced so many fascinating web 2.0 tools to me! Digital Storytelling, Social Sharing, Podcast/Vodcast are some of the tools that left a huge impression on me.
I always knew what podcast and vodcast were, but never really dappled in it. Today, I decided to take the brave step forward and spent close to 2 hours making my very own vodcast! (and yet its not perfected) I have to admit though it was daunting initially, I had lots of fun creating it. I can only imagine how excited students would be to use these tools to enhance their educational development.
For the purpose of this blog, the term 'podcast' means a series of audio files (RSS feeds) & 'vodcast' means a series of videos.
One of the main advantages in using podcast/vodcast in education is that the material that is created is always available for users to access it. Students can chose when they wish to access the podcast/vodcast and be selective in which areas they wish to focus on. Thus, there is no need to listen/view the whole recording if it is not necessary.
By using such technology in the classrooms, educators may find that students are more engage in lessons and interested in developing their skills as they are able to relate to it. As educators, we have to plan and prepare lessons that incorporate new tools like these that highlight concepts and support the curriculum. Using these tools in education should be encouraged as students' safety/privacy is mostly protected by the use of avatars and voice recording.
Below is my maiden attempt in creating a vodcast with the help of the very useful Xtranormal website.
Please be gentle with your reviews! :)
These are only some of the netspeak/textspeak used by teenagers all over the world today. Teenagers invented netspeak to not use so many key strokes to type messages on their desktops/laptops/mobilephone keypads. They have simplified English language into acronyms and abbreviations.
This is a video I came across which promotes textspeak (obviously since its an ad for a mobile plan).
Personally, I believe that netspeak/textspeak should not enter the classroom. The abbreviations and acronyms of the English language does not allow learners to fully utilise it in formal situations. For instance, learners will develop spelling problems if they only stick to the acronyms and abbreviations of words. There will be a fundamental problem of translating spoken language into written language. In order to comprehend written text, we have to make sense of what is written, restate it in our own words and be comfortable in paraphrasing it into spoken langauge. These are skills that every student should develop.
Only when students have gained the foundation skills of interpreting the language, should textspeak/netspeak be encouraged in a classroom setting. For instance, many university students use textspeak when taking down notes in a lecture as it saves time! However, it is understood that when necessary, these students are able to code switch back into formal English.
Chat/IM:
However, in today's world, due to the growth of the internet, we have to accept the importance technology has on the education system that were previously unavailable to students. In a classroom context, chats/IM contribute greatly to major learning areas. Chats can improve students’ thinking and literacy skills. One cannot dispute the wealth of knowledge chats/IM bring in distant education and rural communities. Students can work collaboratively with one another to discuss and edit their work. Schools are no longer confined to a small classroom within a building. Students now have access to experts in different fields and have the opportunities of collaboration with students from other parts of the world through the Internet, email and chat rooms. Sites such as mIRC (used for the ReadIn (www.readin.org) which invites authors to answer questions from students on a given date and time) and TappedIn (www.tappedin.sri.com), a chat room designed for educational professionals are just some of the many beneficial chat rooms available to teachers.
I came across this quote while doing some background research of this week's topics:
"email is increasingly seen (by teenagers) as a tool for communicating with “adults” such as teachers, institutions like schools, and as a way to convey lengthy and detailed information to large groups. Meanwhile, IM is used for everyday conversations with multiple friends that range from casual to more serious and private exchanges."
Like many, I was under the impression that the term 'wiki' referred only to Wikipedia. So, when Mark came in for our first workshop and said that this was indeed a common misconception, I was shocked to know that there are so many various sites.
This week's workshop has really been an eye-opener for me. I now know that 'Wikipedia' is merely one example of a wiki and that 'wiki' refers to a collection of inter-linked web pages that allow the editing of materials.This means that, there is no such thing as a final product of a 'wiki', as it is always a work-in-progress.It is definitely accurate to then say that wikis rely on a pool of collective intelligence which is distributed intelligence collaborated by many.
Wikis if used appropriately are beneficial in education. Collaborative information learning is presented as 'tag clouds' on web pages, which highlight the descriptive terms used frequently by users. By clicking on the words, users are brought to another web page that contains definitions and examples of the term. Another interesting fact of the wikis is that anyone with information, new perspective and knowledge can share their thoughts. The 'history' function on the web page which allows past pages to be recovered minimises vandalism or dispute of content. In this manner, students (possibly at a university level) can use wikis as a platform to draft and work with their peers collaboratively, while extending one another's thought process and make changes to it in the light of feedback from teachers and other users.
Knowledge is collaborative. However, one of the dangers of wikis, is anyone from anywhere is allowed to add content onto the world wide web, just like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Online materials should be always viewed with a 'pinch of salt'. Users, especially students need to be aware that just because people agree with an idea, it does not necessarily mean its true. Users need to develop Information literacy, where they have the skills to evaluate and compare ideas from various sources.
