MODULE 4 - Flickr

Much of this unit seems focused on copyright issues. Whilst a very important thing for any academic work, i feel much of this is more suited towards tertiary, rather than secondary, students. It is another program for searching for images, however unlike ‘Google Images’ each of the supplied pictures is approved for public use- some for editing. Beyond the important distinction of approved public copyright, I don’t see too many uses for this program in the classroom. 

MODULE 3 - Google Docs

The concept of an externally saved document was a little hard for me to get used to. For the majority of my time using technology it was ‘gospel’ to save and save often. Making sure there were backup’s was also critical, however those copies of your work had to be kept with you (hard drive, USB, CD, or disk- opps! am I  that old already). Working and saving documents online makes all of that unnessecary. This would be great for someone working in different locations, such as home and work/school. Being able to constantly access all your documents (providing you have an internet connection) is very convenient. 

Collaborative documents seem a good alternative method for group work. By being able to access and edit the SAME document, students can have a greater degree of input and work far more efficiently.

One of the more interesting features is online forms. This could easily lend itself to struc tured homework tasks, revision tests and even easy student surveys. The ease in creating one of these forms is probably the best feature of these documents. Anything which can save time and doesn’t take lengthy tutorials to learn is always good in my opinion.

MODULE 2

MODULE 2

Blogs seem to be much more than i had previously thought. Much of the on-line posting of random thoughts and likes/dislikes held no interest for me, as this is all that i thought they were. However much of the sites provided (e.g. ‘Boys Blogging Books’) shows an easy way of sharing information or personal reflections with an audience. The readers of these blogs will have to seek out this information, but it is useful for publishing a kind of journal or  public diary. Its use in the scientific field is interesting (SIPEX site), allowing initial experimental finding to be shared in an informal way. 

In the classroom it could be a great way of getting students to write (or type) personal reflections, but also maybe a more engaging way of introducing stimulus material and getting students to respond. The communal access to this type of journal is appealing, being able to check ongoing student work definitely has benefits- in some cases replacing work in student workbooks. Much of this would seem to be much more engaging for the students, and has the added benefit of allowing the students to see each others contributions. Possibly this could promote them to be more likely to contribute more work to the learning task.

MODULE 1

Ok, i have finally started this course, and its only my second semester enrolled!! My name is Stuart Pearce and I teach Science at All Saint Catholic Boys College in Liverpool. This is my third year teaching, and am pleased to say that i am enjoying the experience- at least most days. 

The concept of Web 2.0 is a fairly new one to me. I have gotten used to the idea of the internet as simply a large database, from which information can be retrieved as needed. I thought working collaboratively was limited to bouncing emails between people. Likewise for publishing and sharing information, i understood it to be solely one way. 

However it appears i will have to re-think my position on not only how to use the net, but how best to apply it to my teaching practice. Some of the concepts discussed in the source material seem really interesting, i am looking forward to exploring some of these new tools and programs.