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

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

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

Strategies for Instructional Design

An evaluation of Moodle

Broadband wireless networks continue to expand the capability of these devices making them even more comprehensive in what they can do and what we as educators can do. The young generation consider mobile devices as second nature to them so there are no inhibitions and thus more widespread and popular.
Undoubtedly learning becomes more flexible, from any location at any time, can be carried around anywhere and conforming with the users busy schedule, making it an ideal learning device. On the increase is the idea that learning can occur anywhere and is now more personal and I believe with more impact. In a normal face to face environment students and pupils can get distracted, you loose their attention and before they know it the lesson is over. With these devices a person can re-visit the lesson so to say. Can go back to a forum, to a podcast, to a virtual learning environment .
Mobile learning is not just a passing fashion, it is here to stay and get better so we have to move forward in education by grasping the potential of these technologies, accepting them in a learning environment and moving on. Otherwise education will become an antique item there to be looked at in a museum and thus useless as education should be part our everyday lives to really make sense. It has to utilize as examples whatever technologies are being used. The challenge is to use them adequately.
According to Ellen. D. Wagner a Senior Director of Global Education Solutions at Macromedia:
-Learning is a deeply personal act that is facilitated when learning experiences are relevant, reliable, and engaging.
- Different kinds of learning demand appropriate strategies, tools, and resources.
-Technology in and of itself may not guarantee better learning.
-The better the experience and the more intentional the results, the greater is the likelihood that learning will occur.

I believe at the bottom of this is the desire in everyone to be able to connect to others, we as social animals want to know what others think of us of our ideas, to be able to communicate with others and what better way than by mobile devices.

In this pdf file you can find information about a primary school which is using mobile pc’s

Ultra-mobile-pc-for-year3

References:

http://connect.educause.edu/er

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-learning

http://www.m-learning.org/index.htm

http://www.learning2go.org

http://www.teachers.tv/video/21433

Blogging

Introduction And Background

Tools and devices incorporated in Web 2 provide a great resource in Teaching and Learning. In today’s ever changing digital world, technology used to its potential can enhance our way of teaching and learning.  It is our duty to discover this potential, to revolutionise education.  Our ever changing society blogs, chats, uses facebook and exchanges ideas, thoughts and information over the web and wireless devices.  This is the way society today interacts.  For education to move on it has to grasp the potential within these tools and learn to use them accordingly, otherwise we as educators will be teaching in a dead language. Teaching and learning has to be re-thought using the potentials of Web and blogs form    a great part.

For a more indepth article on blogging and links to videos click here Blogging

♣♥♣♥    The first one is

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

This site is really great to see how things work.  One can find text explanations, videos and images.

♣♥♣♥  Another cool site contains any ebooks you would like to download.  I find this site very useful so I don’t have to buy all the books I use.

http://www.ebook3000.com/

♣♥♣♥  The site colour maker allows one to copy codes for colours especially when needing particular codes for websites:

http://www.bagism.com/colormaker/

♣♥♣♥  The 3D text maker allows you to insert text of your choice choose colours,  font and size and thenthe program animates it for you. You just copy the picture.  Really great.

http://www.3dtextmaker.com/

Online Survey :  http://wufoo.com/

What is it?
This feature is used to create surveys as a way of gathering data and opinions from users. These are presented in a standard format on the world wide Web.

What is it used for?
This is a convenient way to build surveys and collect information online.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Instructors could use this feature to conduct a survey of their student cohort.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students can participate in surveys where questions have been set by their lecturer.

Key features:
These surveys are usually created through a web browser so there is no need for the user to have computing or programming expertise. Professional looking surveys can be created quickly and usually there is nothing to download, install or maintain as the services are web hosted. Results are generally available in various reporting formats such as Microsoft Excel.

Blogs: http://www.blogger.com/

What is it?
A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

What is it used for?
Blogs are used to communicate, present, personalise, and share information online.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Relevant blogs are a useful way to keep up to date with what is happening in your subject area and for research purposes. Instructors can also use them to communicate with students.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students can use blogs to keep a journal of their progress on a course or to follow information from other students or lecturers.

Key features:
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries.

Wikis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

What is it?
A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.

What is it used for?
A wiki is used as a collaborative writing tool and for disseminating information. Wikis are usually community based. The most well-known example would be Wikipedia.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Wikis are a valuable online information resource for instructors, and can be used with a student cohort to create a collaborative resource that all students can participate in editing.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students can amend and append information to a class wiki, or set up their own wiki for project groups.

Key features:
Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.

E-books :    http://adedemo.com/

What is it?
Electronic books are course texts that can be viewed online or printed out.

What is it used for?
Course Texts, reading lists or recommended readings can be provided online or within an online course area as E-books.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Instructors can use E-books to distribute course texts to their student cohort.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students can read course texts within their own course area.

Key features:
Text can be easily searched and cross-referenced and can be enhanced with hyperlinks and links to other relevant resources.

Screen Cast:    http://www.jingproject.com/

What is it?
A screencast is a digital recording of actions taken on a computer screen, often with accompanying narration. It is also known as a video screen capture. It is essentially a movie of what is happening on a monitor.

What is it used for?
Screencasts are often used as tutorials or instructions of how to perform certain actions or operate certain programs on a computer.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Screencasts are especially valuable in training contexts where instructors want to help students learn how to use a particular tool or piece of software by showing them how an expert uses them.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students can use screencasts to view tutorials or demos of how to best use software.

Key features:
Some screencast tools also allow for annotation (both text and audio) so that instructors can make these more educationally valuable.

Social Networking :   http://www.ning.com/

What is it?
A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who may share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.

What is it used for?
Online communities such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and Ning are examples of popular social networks where groups exchange messages and catch up with others.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Teachers can use social networking to build an online community for their student cohort.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students can use social networks to communicate with their classmates and catch up online.

Key features:
Most social network services are web-based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services. Social networking has created powerful new ways to communicate and share information.

Social bookmarking :   http://delicious.com/

What is it?
ocial bookmarking is a method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet with the help of metadata.

What is it used for?
Users can share bookmarking resources with others using a social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us. Instead of bookmarks being stored locally on one computer, they are stored on the Internet.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Teachers can use social bookmarking services such as Del.icio.us, Digg, reddit, or StumbleUpon to share relevant bookmarks of online resources with their cohort.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Learners can use social bookmarks to collaborate and share online resources with their class.

Key features:
Social bookmarking allows collaborative tagging of relevant resources for viewing/use by others.

Audio & Video :    http://www.youtube.com/

What is it?
Digital media, audio, video and the tools which are used to create these have transformed the internet from a primarily text-based environment to something much richer, that engages more of the senses.

What is it used for?
Most digital audio on the web is shared in the form of podcasts. (Podcasts are audio broadcasts that have been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file format for playback in a digital music player or via a computer). Creating digital media is becoming easier, with mobile phones and similar tools that can take pictures, capture audio and video, and creating rich media is becoming increasingly commonplace. Distributing the material is also becoming simpler using services such as Flickr, YouTube and iTunes.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
In their most basic form, digital audio, video and images can be used to communicate with students as an alternative to text, either for accessibility reasons or to accommodate learning styles or preferences. Audio or video recordings of lectures can free up face-to-face time with students for discussion or problem-solving.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students may find online learning material more engaging if it includes audio or video material.

Key features:
Audio and video can be used to enhance and enrich the online learning experience.

VoIP :    http://www.skype.com/intl/en-gb/features/

What is it?
VoIP stands for Voice-over-Internet Protocol. It refers to the transmission of voice via the Internet using computer and mobile devices. Often it is used to describe making telephone or telephone/video calls over the Internet.

What is it used for?
It is used as an online voice communicaton tool – Skype being a popular provider of this service.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Teachers can use VoIP to add a voice to an online classroom.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students can use VoIP to communicate vocally online to add a more personal, community feel to an online classroom.

Key features:
Voice communication allows for more effective, personal online communication and builds a sense of an online community.

Podcasts :   http://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/podcasts.aspx

What is it?
A podcast is a series of digital-media files which are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

What is it used for?
Podcasts enable students and teachers to share information with anyone at any time. The University of Ulster provides the tool Wimba Podcaster within its VLE, WebCT.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Podcasts can be a tool for teachers or administrators to communicate information about the curriculum, assignments and other information. Teachers may also create podcasts to be used as a preparation tool for students.

How would a learner use it effectively?
An absent student can download a podcast of a recorded lesson. Podcasting can also be a publishing tool for student oral presentations.

Key features:
Students can access the material either on- or off- campus and, by downloading it to a portable media device (such as an iPod) can listen to or view the material anywhere at a time to suit themselves. This service is particularly valuable for part-time and distance learners.

Reusable Learning Object (RLO) :

http://www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=246&Itemid=297

What is it?
An RLO (reusable learning object) is a resource, usually digital and web-based, that can be used and re-used to support learning.

What is it used for?
RLOs are intended to be shared with other teachers, either for use in their own teaching (with or without modifications) or as a source of inspiration when designing learning activities of their own.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Suitable and relevant RLOs are intended for use within a particular learning session. Teachers can search through a database to find suitable RLOs for their particular area of teaching.

Key features:
RLOs save time, as instructors are re-using relevant resources rather than recreating them.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) :

http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

What is it?
RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called a feed, web feed, or channel) contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text.

What is it used for?
RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with web sites in an automated manner that can be piped into special programs, like Google Reader or filtered displays. Usually, a person would read all their RSS feeds of updated content via one reader program

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Lecturers can use RSS as a research tool to keep up to date with developments in their field, by subscribing to different RSS feeds of websites and blogs. RSS feeds could also be used to send announcements to students.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students can use RSS feeds as a research tool, in order to gather the latest information (news and/or research data) on the topic which they are studying.

Key features:
The benefit of RSS is the aggregation of content from multiple web sources in one place, rather than a user having to go to each website individually to search for new content.

Instant Messaging:

http://www.wimba.com/products/wimba_pronto/

What is it?
Instant messaging (IM) allows participants to conduct a discussion over the Internet, using instant messaging software. It is known as synchronous communication, meaning both parties are connected simultaneously and chat in real time.

What is it used for?
Originally, only text-based communications were possible; now, webcams enable participants in chat rooms such as Windows Messenger to see and talk to each other, while Skype and similar tools permit telephone communications over the Internet (either free or at considerably cheaper rates than conventional telephony). Participants can also exchange files, images and Web links to illustrate the discussion. The University of Ulster provides the Instant Messaging environment Wimba Pronto within WebCT.

How would a teacher use it effectively?
Teachers will find instant messaging useful for mentoring online learning and for students to collaborate on group work. Instant messaging offers a heightened social presence especially for distance/remote students.

How would a learner use it effectively?
Students can use instant messaging to communicate and collaborate with their online cohort.

Key features:
Instant messaging is easy to use, communication takes place in real time, so it is very fast, and invites aninstant response. It can be used as a collaborative tool for an online course.

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Across New Zealand are projects in  Implementing e-learning .  Although this research is being done in tertiary education with further research e-learning using Web2 can be implemented at all levels of education.  Here is a selection of the e-learning guidlines website for New Zealand.

URL: http://elg.massey.ac.nz/index.php?title=Main_Page

It is the potential for mobile learning to bridge pedagogically designed learning contexts, facilitate learner generated contexts, and content (both personal and collaborative), while providing personalisation and ubiquitous social connectedness, that sets it apart from more traditional learning environments. Mobile learning, as defined in this paper, involves the use of wireless enabled mobile digital devices (Wireless Mobile Devices or WMD’s) within and between pedagogically designed learning environments or contexts. From an activity theory perspective, WMD’s are the tools that mediate a wide range of learning activities and facilitate collaborative learning environments (Uden, 2007). MLearning can support and enhance both the face to face and off campus teaching and learning contexts by using the mobile wireless devices as a means to leverage the potential of current and emerging collaborative and reflective e-learning tools (e.g. blogs, wikis, RSS, instant messaging, podcasting, social book marking, etc…). These are often called social software or web 2 tools. The WMD’s wireless connectivity and data gathering abilities ( e.g. photoblogging, video recording, voice recording, and text input) allow for bridging the on and off campus learning contexts – facilitating “real world learning”. The following diagram is an attempt to illustrate the alignment of these activities with the projects underlying social constructivist pedagogy. There is an interactive online version available at
http://ltxserver.unitec.ac.nz/~thom/mobileweb2concept2.htm .