E-Learning In Education

This blog was created to promote more awareness and support educators in their integration of innovative technology through information, examples and use of technology by other teachers. E-Learning is fast becoming the way everyone learns and interacts.  Thus as educators I believe we have a duty to know what it entails and research it thoroughly thus equiping us, as  trainers and teachers, with the best skills to support students.

Researching E-Learning has helped me understand how learning and communicating online with the use of technology can have a very strong effect on the learning process through participation and collaborative learning activities.

Contact Info:

I would be glad to help in any way so don’t hesitate to contact me on:

rose.anna.camilleri@ilearn.edu.mt

Shared Practice

In this section I will be including teachers’ shared practice through videos and photos anyone wanting to share can contact me and join in.  Sharing helps us to open up to new ideas, learning from others and also bringing out any short comings.

Using Stop Motion Animation in the classroom

Old Mcdonald’s farm – Kindergarten Luqa

Photosynth

This slideshare shows some photosynths as well as information on how they were created.
 

Photosynth

View more PowerPoint from Rose-anne Camilleri

Here I have shared a video of the creation of a photosynth:

PREZI

What is Prezi?

 Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that opens up a new world between whiteboards and slides. The zoomable canvas makes it fun to explore ideas and very innovative.

Most often although presentations are important they are boring with endless bulleted lists. A Prezi on the other hand is captivating, you can tell your story in a non-linear exciting way. It is very dynamic allowing you to convey information in a new fascinating way.

With Prezi learning happens in a fun and engaging manner making it easier to understand using multimedia to its full potential.

With Prezi you can collaborate in real time with colleagues, editing, sharing, exchanging and learning.

Creating a Prezi: Click here to create a simple prezi

Using Bee Bots in the classroom

Bee Bots

Using a Programmable Toy – The Bee-Bot

The programmable toy Bee-Bot was awarded as the most impressive hardware for kindergarten and primary school children on the world educational technology market BETT 2006. It uses Logo-related principle of controlling floor robot. It enables the child to program a journey on the square grid.

The design of a toy is adapted to a child user – the toy has a shape of a yellow bee with black stripes. (This design is not fixed. It can be slightly modified by the use of special plastic shells, on which child can stick paper antennae, woollen wings etc.) The toy has a small connector for a toy carriage or other moving device in its back part. We can control the toy by a few colourful buttons. By pushing them the child enters

a sequence of simple instructions for motion or rotation of a toy.

Four orange buttons serve for a backward/forward motion and rotation to the left/right. The central button is a green GO button. It launches interpretation of the whole sequence of pushing buttons.

There are two more buttons, two blue buttons for erasing memory (CLEAR) and short break in executing commands (PAUSE) in the toy controlling part. User interface in fact copies interface of successful Pixie robot and adds child-friendly design to it.

The child can enter up to 40 instructions in one programmed sequence. User cannot modify the length of single step or size of angle rotation. These parameters are constant (which is comprehensible in relation to the target group of users), the toy moves in 15 cm in one step. Pushing rotation buttons means right angle rotation

without changing toy’s position. The toy provides a simple feedback to the user. After completing the whole

sequence of instructions its eyes will blink and the toy will hoot. Pushing the buttons in the mode of creating programmed sequence has also been accompanied by a silent peep sound.

Sounds can be disabled by a discreet switch in the bottom of the toy.

The way of controlling the toy is simple. Children get used to the green GO button very fast. This button is the only green button in the whole interface; moreover it is located in the central part of the toy. The slight problem appears by two blue CLEAR and PAUSE buttons. They have same colour and are placed symmetrically. The titles of the buttons can therefore be supplemented by a picture sticker for young children that cannot read, in order to distinguish between them easier.

Various classes have used Beebots integrated in their teaching.  In kindergarten storytelling or number concepts are more motivating when the Bee bot is introduced.

For more ideas and lesson plans have a look at this web page:  beebots.skola.edu.mt/

Additional Resources

In this section I will be including any resources which could be used in the classroom. They cover a variety of ideas and topics so feel free to have a look and use any captivating ideas.

Search engines:

This PowerPoint Presentation gives a good introduction to what search engines are, the different types available what they do and how to make specific searches on the web which yield the necessary information.

Search Engines

Search engines for young learners:

As a teacher supporting primary educators I feel there is a great need to be aware of search engines suitable for children. Few know of the various search engines available which are safe for children to use and also have an attractive display. Here are a few examples:

Ask Kids is a search engine designed exclusively for young people ages 6 to 12. It’s a free, safe, fun way for kids and their parents to quickly and easily research school topics like science, math, geography, language arts, and history in a search environment that’s safer and more age-appropriate than traditional, adult search engines.

Studies prove that visual learning improves children’s comprehension, retention, critical thinking, and organization. Additionally, children are better at “mousing” than typing. Ask Kids was built with this in mind, and organizes search results in a graphically vivid three-panel display that includes SmartAnswers and related images, current events and encyclopedia results.

Each web site in the Ask Kids core search index was selected by the Ask.com editorial team as child-appropriate or as a relevant and practical site for reference and learning. Ask’s proprietary search algorithm then identified communities and collections of web sites linked to the core list, and filtered those to remove adult content.

Yahoo! Kids -  is Yahoo!’s entertainment and education site for children aged 6 through 12. It  connects you and your children with the best—and safest—content on the Web whether for school or fun.

Launched in 1996 as “Yahooligans!,” Yahoo! Kids uniquely combines the power of the Yahoo! network,  with the top producers of children’s content and kid-safe .

KidsClick is owned and run by the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at Kent State University.      KidsClick! was originaly created by a group of librarians at the Ramapo Catskill Library System, as a logical step in addressing concerns about the role of public libraries in guiding their young users to valuable and age appropriate web sites.

Ivy’s Search Engine Resources for kids:  Here you will find  the major Internet search engines for kids.  Below these are Internet search engine links, links to web guides for kids, some specialized search engine forms and specialized search engine links of interest to kids.  At the bottom there are links to family friendly or general WWW filtered search engines and links to more pages like this.

View this PowerPoint Presentation  for use in the classroom :  Search engines for kids

Internet Safety

You can use this video clip in your classroom.  It shows pupils how to be safe when using the chat function in online games in Maltese.

The Interactive Whiteboard

As Interactive Whiteboards will soon be in each primary class its remarkable to note that the fears, questions, problems or excitement we experience as Maltese is the same elsewhere.  Simon Botten featuring on teachers tv shows us how teachers can overcome phobia of having an Interactive whiteboard in the classroom as well as ideas, thoughts and suggestions as to the general use of such a great interactive tool.

http://www.teachers.tv/flash/videos/top-tips

WORDLE

What is WORDLE?

A great tool for use within the classroom:

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

Let’s create a Wordle:

To create a Wordle simply click on Create and insert  words in the text box.  To view click Go.  Your Wordle has been created if you would like to change the orientation or colour simply go to the top of the Wordle and from the formating toolbar change the layout, font etc…  Otherwise one can click the Randomize button under the created Wordle to choose randomly created wordles.  To view the whole Wordle click Open in Window. You can now Print your wordle, save it to the public gallery for online viewing or you can even save to your disk for later use.

Another great thing one can do with Wordle is emphasis.  If a word is written more than once it automatically appears bigger than the other words, so if you need to emphasize a particular word just write it twice.  To show emphasis on more than one word : write one word twice another word three times and yet another four times.  When the wordle is created the word written four times will be the biggest word.

Saving as a separate file:

To save for later use simply click the print button,  as the printer name select PDF Creator.  Click print and a window will ask you to save , do so and another window will ask where you would like to save your wordle.  Give the location and name of your wordle.  It is important to change the file extension in the save as type box.  You can choose to save as: jpg, bmp, tif etc….

The Maltese Language:

It is possible to create Wordles in Maltese.  On inserting words in the Wordle textbox change the keyboard to ML and create your Wordle.  When created the Wordle may appear as not to have used the Maltese fonts in this case simply change the font either from the formating text on top of the textbox or click Randomize from the bottom.

An example of an activity:   a short video clip about a particular topic could be shown to pupils The teacher makes note of the sentences within the video clip and inserts them separately in Wordle.  Wordle creates a jumbled picture of the sentences and pupils are told to put the jumbled words in order.  To check if they managed to find the correct sentences the pupils can then listen and watch the video once again.  This could be done in the same way with a podcast which would reinforce listening skills as well.  Visit this link to view a worked out lesson in Wordle:
Wordle for short texts (lesson plan)

Another activity could be a brainstorming session about a particular topic for creative writing – enhancing team work and sharing of ideas.

For more information and to start Wordling visit: http://www.wordle.net/

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Watch this  presentation:

Wordle-presentation

Some tips on using Wordle in the classroom:

Ninteen interesting ways to use Wordle

Using Photosynth

Microsoft has come up with a new technology which stitches together a number of still photos creating a 3D image which suddenly comes alive – Photosynth .  All the user needs to do is to take an amount of still photos of a particular scene load them onto the internet and photosynth does the rest – the result – a walk through experience of the scene.  This is how Microsoft is bringing innovative technology into the classroom and enhancing the learning experience.
Photosynth is a free tool which teachers can use to integrate technology into the curriculum.  All they have to do is to download and install Photosynth and Silverlight onto their computer or laptop. Students can then share their experiences of the real world not only through static photos but synths which enable anyone to see a three dimensional world moving up and down, left or right, zooming in and out.  This will create a set of opportunities where students interact with other forms of technology such as digital cameras, camera phones, the internet and above all are able to be as creative as they like.

Learner Benefits

•    In experiencing Photosynth students are exposed to a number of technologies including the use of the Internet and handling of digital          cameras from an early age.
•    Children learn to understand the basic technology behind the software wherein a number of overlapping photos create a multidimensional      image.
•    Understanding how photos are transferred from a digital camera to a pc.
•    Understanding the concept of uploading photos onto the Internet.
•    Children become more aware of their environment as well as zooming on to detail resulting in becoming more observant.
•    More cultural awareness and appreciation whether of natural or historical heritage.
•    Capturing sites on photosynths can help increase knowledge, collaboration, discussion and conservation.

This new and innovative tool still in its infancy is undoubtedly opening up a new dimension to learning. It enhances and promotes the notion of life long learning, sharing and collaboration.  Anyone from across the globe can enjoy the experience one visualises through photosynths.  Engaging students with photosynth means using the technology they themselves are using in everyday life.  What better way to educate and reach children  than by using the gadgets they themselves play around with.

My experiences with photosynth.

As an elearning teacher supporting primary teachers I have used photosynth with teachers willing to try out innovative technology which could enhance and motivate learning.
Teachers were eager to find ways in bringing the existing curricular topics to life in engaging situations. I see the experience as a narrative, a digital way of going about storytelling.  Letting the world see things from your point of view and with photosynth creating a virtual walk through your own reality. The end result could be stored as part of one’s e-portfolio giving a new dimension to portraying oneself.

With a particular Yr.5 class in Luqa the teacher wanted to introduce this technology through a simple in class activity. The children were introduced to Photosynth through explanations of the way it works, how to use digital cameras and by showing them uploaded synths from the Internet especially ones done locally as for example the Statue of Dun Karm Psaila .
Once pupils understood how it basically worked they moved on to the actual production of the synth.  A pupil from the same class dressed up in his Jujutsu kit and posed in a move he is trained to do.  The rest of the class gathered around him forming a semi circle .  A digital camera was given to them and each child took a photo of the boy in the middle acting as the object of focus. As the pupils were in a semi circle, the photos taken not only featured the boy in the middle, but also the pupils themselves in the background. This later on created an interesting backdrop to the scene as pupils wanted to see if they themselves were caught somewhere in the background.  The expression on their faces was of sheer excitement as this was turning out to be really fun and yet they were learning how to use a camera, how to zoom in, what to include, what to avoid, how to upload photos, how to adjust photos, using online software and so many associated skills.
Finally the resulting photosynth was a real boost to the pupils who could see what they had achieved.  This motivated and encouraged both the teacher and children into thinking about the next step : a photosynth done outside the school premises.

On the same day another class this time a year 3 class in Luqa as well were working on creating their own photosynth.  These children had already been introduced to the software and so along with their teacher decided to shoot pictures of the local parish church as part of the topic they were covering in social studies – Their local Village – Luqa. Thus we organised a walk to the church supported not only by their teacher, LSA and me as their eLearning teacher but also by some parents from the school council who were curious in observing how the photosynth was going to be created.

Taking the curriculum beyond class desks and giving it a new dimension can transform learning. Children who usually slack behind due to having special needs or simply because they are not interested, during the activity produced the best shots.  One particular boy wanted to know how the zooming worked on the camera as he wanted to get shots of the highest parts of the church which cannot be seen in detail with the naked eye. In another school(Qormi St. Sebastian Primary) a disabled child who was rarely seen smiling was clearly enjoying herself as she was given the camera to take shots just like the rest of the class.
On site the children lead in a single file on the pavement and took photos of the church from the front and from both sides.  Curious passer-by’s observed how the children were intent on carefully taking the photos, trying to get different views of the church.
Back at school photos were uploaded and the synth created.  The teacher took the pupils to the resource room so as to show them the result on the Interactive Whiteboard .  The children were so surprised to see how their effort had created such a wonderful image. The noise level in the class indicated the sheer excitement of the children who wanted to know how to access the site so as to show their masterpiece to relatives and friends.  The effect was stunning and not because it turned out to be only a great synth, but because each child had participated and felt involved as a team where everyone is important and has something to offer. I believe this is what we should aim for in education, learning as fun, creative and collaborative.
Luqa Parish Church – created by Year 3 pupils at Luqa Primary school .  To view click here:
http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=12c0d5ba-112a-4ffe-88c6-4a2881b59302

View an article I wrote in the LearnIT online magazine for educators. Photosynth – A guide for teachers

Instructional Design

In this study I considered Open Source for the various systems available:

Strategies for Instructional Design

Moodle – A Virtual Learning Environment

Open the link below to read an evaluation of  Moodle.

An evaluation of Moodle