'Webquests'

“A well-designed WebQuest combines research-supported theories with effective use of the Internet to promote dependable instructional practices.” (March, 2003)
The webquests linked to this course are engaging, innovative and provide an enormous base for a teacher to tailor learning experiences. Both encourage critical thinking, teamwork and individual work, provide opportunity for extension and are just amazing in their creativity.
How any student could be bored learning with this offering is confounding!
For my subject area, the following is superb:-
http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/harmony/shopping/process.htm
I found this amazing webquest which actually covers many of the strands in the Home Economics syllabus. The webquest provides the framework for students to develop an aged person friendly shopping centre. ‘Living in a Wider Society’ and ‘The Built Environment’ are both core strands in the Home Ec syllabus, and technology essential skills of collaborative working, design and production are included in the outworking of this quest. Health and Physical Education contents are sometimes covered in the Home Ec. syllabus where aging can be addressed. This ‘Webquest’ is tagged forever!!
For a teacher to be able to use a webquest to its fullest potential will require the necessary resources of reliable internet access for a number of students. Incorporating field excursions would remind the students that it is a ‘real’ world and not a virtual one. Possible excursions would be to the aged care centre and a shopping village. Interesting that the producers of this webquest ask for feedback and provide teacher guidance.
Personally, I think designing a webquest is a specialist area and whilst I would welcome the opportunity, the reality for most teachers is that they simply do not have time to develop competency in creating the webquests . Accessing those already created and adapting them to suit specific classes would allow both students and teachers the opportunity to learn in this way. A professional development opportunity exists in this area and is catered for in both real and virtual situations eg. http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/
This particular Webquest could be an entire unit of work and its framework would need to be utilized several times to ensure that the time cost of production is worthwhile.

Reference:
March, T. (2003, December). The Learning Power of WebQuests. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from Tom March/ozline.com: http://tommarch.com/writings/wq_power.php

“A well-designed WebQuest combines research-supported theories with effective use of the Internet to promote dependable instructional practices.” (March, 2003)
http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/harmony/shopping/process.htm
I found this amazing webquest which actually covers many of the strands in the Home Economics syllabus. The webquest provides the framework for students to develop an aged person friendly shopping centre. ‘Living in a Wider Society’ and ‘The Built Environment’ are both core strands in the Home Ec syllabus, and technology essential skills of collaborative working, design and production are included in the outworking of this quest. Health and Physical Education contents are sometimes covered in the Home Ec. syllabus where aging can be addressed. This ‘Webquest’ is tagged forever!!
For a teacher to be able to use a webquest to its fullest potential will require the necessary resources of reliable internet access for a number of students. Incorporating field excursions would remind the students that it is a ‘real’ world and not a virtual one. Possible excursions would be to the aged care centre and a shopping village. Interesting that the producers of this webquest ask for feedback and provide teacher guidance.
Personally, I think designing a webquest is a specialist area and whilst I would welcome the opportunity, the reality for most teachers is that they simply do not have time to develop competency in creating the webquests . Accessing those already created and adapting them to suit specific classes would allow both students and teachers the opportunity to learn in this way. A professional development opportunity exists in this area and is catered for in both real and virtual situations eg. http://www.webquestdirect.com.au/
This particular Webquest could be an entire unit of work and its framework would need to be utilized several times to ensure that the time cost of production is worthwhile.

‘Google earth’ in Home Ec/Hospitality.

‘Google earth’ in Home Ec/Hospitality.
Just imagine tracing the historical journeys which bought back spices and chocolate to what was then “The Free World”. Using ‘Google earth’ to chart a course brings the physical reality of terrain and climate into the learning environment. Chocolate had to travel a long way from a very different place to end up at the tuckshop!
Students in these disciplines study international cookery, living in the wider society and built environments. All these strands are accessible via google earth and its multitude of layers. I would use ‘Google earth’ technologies in a summative assessment task where a student was required to present a cultural context/history in combination with the preparation of an international food.
Professionally, ‘google earth’ could be used to as a virtual map to take the class to the area being researched.

Embedded You Tube Video "Baby Think It Over" program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQAx2thCDC4&feature=related




This video shows a teenage girl's experience in her home economics "Baby Think It Over" program.
The program involves students being issued with a "baby" for several days. The babies cost about $6000- each and in our district are bought by the local council and shared between schools. The babies are programmed to various levels of need and have sensors which are activated by hunger, wet nappy, burping or just in need of a cuddle. The student wears a bracelet which is programmed to one particular baby which ensures that the baby is cared for by the student and not someone else. At the end of the set period, the baby is returned and a computer printout displays the care level given.
This video is a good summary of several days of induced motherhood and would be helpful in a classroom situation when introducing the program because teenagers are more likely to listen to teenagers than a teacher or parent. These students may have had to produce a video record for assessment which is quite a feat when coupled with the parenting experience!
I enjoyed a pract. placement where we did this program and to have these videos available is really helpful for both the students and the teacher.

Podcasting.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/tilt

I love podcasts!! We have a family culture when travelling where we listen to audio books. I can now add to that with podcasts which just makes me want to hop in the car and drive!

The podcast I have linked and subscribed to is "TILT" - Teachers Improving Learning with Technology and this particular podcast talks about a variety of different technologies and there possible uses. Subscribing to this podcast will enable me to learn and be inspired as I drive!

Podcasting lets audiences listen to content over and over again (McKeever, 2009). This fills the gap in formal teaching situations where a teacher simply is not able to continuously revisit work but benefits the individual learner. The fact that the content is portable and freely shared promotes a framework for lifelong learning and in a school context when students are away from class for cultural and sporting events this technology allows continuity in study via a user friendly medium.

Recognising the various learning styles and designing learning experiences which incorporate these is challenging and using podcasting in the audio and video streams encompasses the two major areas of visual and audio learning. “An analysis of existing research supports a notion that already has begun to transform instruction in schools from coast to coast: that multimodal learning--using many modes and strategies that cater to individual learners' needs and capacities--is more effective than traditional, unimodal learning, which uses a single mode or strategy.” (Stansbury, 2008)

Podcasting can be used for instruction, as pictured in “The Learning Space Model” by (Aldred, p. 2007) and can also be used in both formative and summative assessment situations where students develop ideas and use this medium for presentations and collaborative learning. Audio and visual podcasting could be particularly useful for a student who has difficulty communicating in the written form.

References:

Aldred, S. (2009, July 21). Effective e-Learning Design. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from E-Learning Design: http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=18264

McKeever, C. (2009). How-to-add-podcasts-to-blog-posts. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from OpenSourceMarketer.com: http://opensourcemarketer.com/how-to-add-podcasts-to-blog-posts/

Stansbury, M. (2008, March 26). Analysis: How multimedia can improve learning. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from eSchoolNew: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=53243

ClassMarker

Hi everyone
I have completed a quiz making task in ClassMarker and found it to be very user friendly after the initial small amount of frustration in registering.
Great resource with some tests that I could slot in to several levels of Home Ec on the subject of Healthy Eating/lifestyle.
Creating the test was easy to follow, however, when asking a question with a free text answer you had to give the "exact same words" as the examiner and guess who couldn't remember the "exact same words!" So, the assessor needs to complete the optional fields in this section and they would need to be pretty broad.
Having completed this task I would feel comfortable using the tool and recognise the need to understand more fully what ClassMarker can offer.

http://www.classmarker.com/teacher/edit_test.php?test_id=78834
regards
sue

Using Flickr

Experiences on using Flickr.

Thankfully that was not too painful. I uploaded four or five photos of my own, pleased that I could limit access by ticking the 'private use' type button. Then searched through Flickr images to find some more gingerbread men that were freely available and copied the URL,pasted it in the blog 'upload images' and ......too easy. Well nearly. I keep getting an error message, so have decided to publish the post after cutting and pasting the picture from Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/45039959@N03/4137257306/
In a Home Ec/Hospitality context, Flickr most definitely would be a useful tool as assessment requires that photographic evidence supports the assessment. Uploading and storing a students work on-line with privacy constraints adhered to provides a secure and permanent record of work. With a student's permission these photos could be used to encourage and inform new students. Embedding FLickr images into student blogs would provide interest and allow for collaborative learning through discussion forum.

Engagement theory (Kearsley and Shneiderman 1998), can be supported with this tool in the Hospitality area by students uploading photographs of stages of their cookery and "donating" both the process and final outcome back to the community of learners.

"The theory posits three primary means to accomplish engagement: (1) an emphasis on collaborative efforts (2) project-based assignments, and (3) non-academic focus. It is suggested that these three methods result in learning that is creative, meaningful, and authentic".(Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999)

Hospitality is a practical subject area where collaborative efforts and non-academic focus is apparent. Using e-learning tools to enhance learning broadens the perspective of the subject and allows for students to problem solve not just for themselves but for the whole hospitality community.

Overall, a great experience.
ENJOY!!
References:

Kearsley, G., & Shneiderman, B. (1999, April 5). Engagement Theory:A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Healthy Behaviours Yr 8

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Healthy Behaviours Yr 8

View more presentations from roleypie.

Powerpoints.

I have just completed my first techno powerpoint.I included my gingerbread man on each slide to provide humourous sequencing and jazzed up a pretty boring 'Healthy Living' powerpoint I had created for Year 8 Home Ec. students Using the animation tool and the sound tool makes the experience much more interesting. Unfortunately 'Powerpoints' have become so commonplace in presentations that they are often disengaging and can promote a message of 'generic' education to the students/audience. This sends a message to the clientele which screams impersonal. When powerpoints are used as the teaching tool and not as a support, then the presenter could be a robot! If powerpoints are used as support and reference then that is beneficial. Overuse of any medium creates a situation of disengagement, so I think it is important not to overuse the tool and this way its vitality can be maintained.

However, encouraging students to use this tool to display their findings after researching a topic is creative, hands on and can be either collaborative or individual. Using the tool as both formative and summative assessment provides opportunity for diversity.

Personally, I enjoy a visual summary on powerpoint not the whole topic and will definitely be using this tool as a support and also as a learning design element for students.

Gingerbread Day

My first avatar!! I feel like the creator!
The introductory script I have used is just for fun and the character is appropriate for my subject area of Home Ec/Hospitality.

Avatars could be used in so many ways. In a hospitality context, an avatar could be used to instruct in many procedures which would allow the instructor to assist other students. I think this would be an enormous benefit when you have a classroom full of Year 9's cooking and asking so many questions all at once. If students could access the avatar and watch the procedure several times, pausing when necessary, then this would enable students to take some responsibility for their learning.


Using "Avatars" in a support role enmeshes with Oliver's framework illustration #2 where the template recognises the need for support which can be provided electronically whilst students are involved in the same process but are at different stages.

references: Oliver's Framework, Figure 2
http://www.learningdesigns.uow.edu.au/project/learn_design.htm

E-learning design.

What a challenge we have to embrace technology, maintain a safe and comfortable e-learning environment whilst attempting to provide equitable access to this brave new world. Interesting that the common thread in schools is that WIKIs, BLOGs and YouTube are blocked access!

I am finding it really difficult to get my head inside that of a digital native and that is what I think I need to do in order to effectively design learning opportunities for my future students, however the variance in digital native literacy reminds me of the inequalities apparent in our society.

Even if everyone was a digital native the problem of motivation would still exist and that is the crux of the 'education/learning' matter.

In this century we have more opportunities to engage the learner and ICT is a major player there. Providing a safe learning environment translating from the physical, which is still vital, to the virtual, is necessary and challenging. This requires more protocols to be established and adhered to by learning managers as we protect our learners.

Phsyically providing access to the internet highlights the equity issues in all countries around the world. Is internet access going to be considered a basic human right?

ICT opens up the world of information and provides a vast array of tools for creativity and communication. As learning managers we need to understand the tool, recognise that it is a tool and not a teacher replacement.

As a Home Ec./ Hospitality specialist there are many opportunities to use ICT. Within the current curriculum it is possible to go on-line and access information and complete assessment to attain certain industry standards eg. OHS. Motivating students to become involved in on-line discussions and using blogs and wikis is challenging and suggests it is not the mode of learning but the content students are forced to learn which is the issue. The current government policy of learning or earning has attempted to legislate learning which will only be truly successful when the learner is intrinsically motivated in spite of all the virtual bells and whistles.

Active Learning and Diversity.

In consideration of the conceptual frameworks presented in this module it appears that ICT can be integrated into all learning design frameworks. Using ICT as a tool provides so many varying opportunities to share, construct and consolidate learning. Recognising student's individual learning styles is still of the utmost importance when using ICT. There is a danger that the 'nerd' learning style will shape many ICT deliveries and therefore isolate other learners.
Given that ICT is now part of our lives, I believe it is really important for learning designers to remember that even though our children are digital natives they are not necessarily 'nerds'.
So, embrace the technology, remember the conceptual frameworks but most of all consider the uniqueness of the individual.
cheers
Sue

Managing e-learning

How exciting to begin again. Look forward to learning heaps of great stuff.
cheers
sue