Text Innovation

Book: Are we there yet by Alison Lester

Stage 2, Year 3

Subject: English/ Geography/HSIE

Description: Students to identify the Australian place that was visited by Grace and her family using real photographs and be able to know where these places are on the map of Australia.

Educational Blogs

Huzza uses blogging as a way to document the year that has been and features class activities and learning that students have done in class. The blog is targetted at an age group of 10-11 yrs old and uses lots of great photos of students to accompany the narrative.

Features:

• Link to other blogs in the same school from different grade levels and classes, "Our blogging friends." This is useful as students and teachers can find out what other classes are doing and also get different ideas on the types of stuff they are blogging about.
• Clustrmap which is a tool that keeps track of who has viewed their blog from around the world.
• Utilising Twitter for announcements about school or class projects and informations.

Mrs Caudill's Classroom Connections is an example of using blogging to monitor students progress through the creation of their individual blogs. Students are encouraged to use blogging as a creative outlet. The blog enables students to write about what inspires them. Although their is some freedom, the teacher has structured the learning by providing topics such as book reviews to keep them on task. The blog is appropriate for 9-10 yr old.

Features:

• The layout is like a notebook which is easy to navigate
• It shows recent post
• It has shortcuts to selected pages such as assignments
• It also has individual blogs on the right side of the webpage in alphabetical order which makes it easy to  find

Information found on Australian Copyright council website

Can I copy material from the internet for research?

The material can be printed or saved to a disk if it is for research and study. However, copying material will need to be under fair use and permission will need to be given by the webmaster or author to be able to copy the material.


What constitutes research and fair use?

'Research' can mean and serve as purpose for study or for personal interest regarding a topic.
Fair use means using the material for your on purpose and it does not interfere wiith the legitimate market of the item. It also states that only 10% of a book may be copied and distributed before it breaches copyright laws.

Can students ( university or school ) use music in videos that they make?

Yes, as long as the video is being used for study (and not just for a school concert, etc). The use of the music has to be 'fair', such as a school or university assignment that you do not intend to show anywhere else. It cannot be sold for profit.

3 key ideas for blogging

1. Use Bubbleshare slideshow to present a story map on a text that students have constructed using photographs. Post the final product on their blog

2. Students to practice reading a script to be used when recording voices for an animated avatar that has been produced using an Internet application. This is then uploaded on their blog.

3. Students to collect photos from school highlights and activities that they have taken throughout the year to create a photomontage. They will then be able to use this as their farewell post on their blog.

Reference

Pericles, K. (2008). Happily blogging @ Belmore South. SCAN, 27(2), 4-6 http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries

Youtube for teachers!

teachertube

There is definitely a space in the market for video content sites specifically dedicated to educators.
The concept is the same as Youtube but this site is only for sharing educational video clips.

There is a wide variety of materials currently on Teacher Tube, ranging from professional development materials for other teachers (e.g. discussing what are literature circles, using wikis, etc.) to more student geared materials.

Features that I like are the flag for reporting inappropriate materials and the ability to embed the video clips. I also like the guidance and position about posting copyright materials.

A problem with Teacher Tube is, like many other web 2.0 applications (like YouTube), it is important to question and evaluate the accuracy of what you are viewing. Just because a lesson is uploaded on Teacher Tube, it is not necessarily accurate or easier to understand. Additionally, if the service is free, the site is going to have to rely on advertising for revenue and it is fair to question if this will affect browsing through the website. Another problem that teachers may face is the download time to view and upload videos. The school will need to have good internet connection and have broadband to play the videos properly.

Teacher Tube has a potential to develop into a great online community for teachers as well as a much needed safe place on the internet for students to find "extra help" resources.

What is New Literacies?

It is often seen that digital technology is just a way of representing familiar things through a digital form such as letter writing which has manifested as emails. However, according to Knobel and Lankshear (2006) new literacies "do not have to involve the use of digital- electronic apparatus such as computers or internet" instead they point out that new literacies are not in direct competition with conventional literacies (p. 80). Instead it is steering away from the "world of physical-industrial order (ie. bookspace)" into a world of "collaborative practice and hybrid experts"  (p. 81-82).

Callow (2008) suggests that  new literacies reflects the social and historical times and is heralded as changing the way teachers teach and students learn. In an educational context it is often linked to advances in technology.

References

Callow, J. (2008). New literacies, New York & Web 2.0: a little knowledge is a helpful thing! SCAN, 27(4), 13-16

Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2006). Discussing New Literacies. Language Arts, 84(1), 78

Critical and Digital Literacies

Description: This video discusses the role of teachers in implementing and integrating digital literacy within the classroom. It relays the importance of professional development in the teaching community to be be able to utilise the potential of digital media and to navigate through the landscape of information coming from the internet.

Review:

Websites with .org and edu has potentially been flagged as credible resource for students but what is surprising is that although a website may seem to meet all criteria, it isn’t always just a case of ticking all the boxes. The digital media landscape is as cluttered as any other types of media, more often than not filled with irrelevant, useless and unfounded facts.  As 7^th graders found out after a hoax website regarding tree octopus was published on the web. It caused much distressed and confusion as the website seem to look and feel legit.

The Tree Octopus website shown in this video provides a basis for discussion on the reliability of information found on the internet and highlights the importance of having the skills to be able to filter through and navigate ones ways through the informations found online. For instance as stated before websites that contain .org and edu are taught to students as credible sources, however, what is shocking is that this domain names can be purchased by anyone who is not affiliated with an organisation or educational authoritive.  It is important to note that this is usually an undiscovered territory for most teachers and many only teach the way they were taught and this is more than likely outdated and irrelevant. This video highlights the importance of professional development for our teachers to become critical users of the internet. Essentially, this knowledge can then be passed onto students when utilising the internet for assignments as well as for developing critical thinking in what constitutes as a reliable source of information.

The video raises important questionz one needs to ask in order to determine its credibility.

1. How was the text constructed?
2. Who is the intended audience?
3. Who owns and benefits from it?

These questions are important as digital information has seen advertising, news and information become blurred.