Module 7

Delicious is a unique tool to use to avoid forgetting your favourite websites when you are using different computers, and by adding tags, or key words, to link to the sites, makes looking for information quicker and easier. By having access to websites that work colleagues have found would be beneficial when time is limited. Delicious certainly has great potential both in the classroom and for personal use and it's great to know that people are willing to share their finds on the web. Sharing of resources assists in professional development and makes everyones workload just that bit lighter.

Module 6

I found Bubbl.us and Glogster simple (for most of it) to use and completely addictive!!!!. Really enjoyed playing around with the brainstorming/mind mapping part of the Module, and can see students whose past attempts at mind mapping, which turns up looking like the dog ate it for breakfast, able to achieve something that they would be proud of. To be able to add and delete boxes, to change the position and colour as the thoughts flow and fill in the boxes with great ideas would be a huge bonus.

Bubbl.us can be used by one student or a group of students commencing work on a new topic.

Making an online poster on Glogster made me realise that life isn't always meant to be taken seriously. With pictures, text, video, graphics and sound, students in many subjects, not just Visual Arts could use this application to produce work that is interesting and to do it in a creative manner.

Because todays students are mainly visual learners and having grown up in a world involving all things technical and digital, creating a poster online is really nothing out of the ordinary for them.

Module 5

In Module 5 we looked at the use of digital storytelling, podcasting and vodcasts in the classroom. The learning opportunities with websites such as YouTube are countless and just another way for students to learn.

Podcasts - Portable On Demand - are audio files that can be downloaded to your computer, MP3 or IPod to be used at any time. It's another way of getting something you have created out to the public. Students who are able to work together creating, recording and publishing are able to find unique ways to express their ideas. Ideas learnt by not just listening to the teacher in a classroom, but by doing.

A vodcast is a podcast that contains video content such as YouTube and TeacherTube.

Podcasts and Vodcasts are one step up on Flickr, while allowing great learning experiences, it has the extra bonus of voice and video to be recorded.

Students who are vision-impaired, have a physical or motor-skill disability could benefit from ITunes U as this works with VoiceOver and it would let them learn at their own pace and in a place and time that is more comfortable for them.

While YouTube has so many positives, there are also some negatives, eg. with all educational tools it is important to check the content of what is being used and viewed by the students, is it age appropriate and suitable.

How much fun is Garageband!!!. Who doesn't enjoy music, especially when in a short time you are able to put words or a song or a poem together with your choice of music or sound effects. This I really enjoyed. When Year 10 students have to present a task on MacBeth, how interesting and enjoyable would it be for them to use Garageband, they could add some dramatic music to it and have produced work that they are happy with.

All the tools mentioned in this Module are aimed at enriching the learning of students and these tools are all familiar to the students in classrooms today.