http://ericah.edublogs.org A student-teacher's look at E-learning in the Primary classroom Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:29:47 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A video blog I made on the fascinating story of pencils across the curriculum, a great parody of e-learning today! http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/06/15/pencils-across-the-curriculm/ “Can we imagine a time when, instead of reading about city planning in geography textbooks, children play Sim City? When, instead of sitting in a language lab, they play online games in Spanish with children from other countries? When, instead of GCSEs, A-levels or NVQs, a child can claim that ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/06/15/is-simcity-a-geography-lesson/ | View | Upload your own 10 ways to a killer blog is a great slide-show that has 15 very handy and very simple tips for creating an effective blog. It is nice to read something that gives such simple and easy to understand tips. I liked number 5 Admit Your ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/06/10/the-future-belongs-to-the-bloggers/ For years research has said that education should be student-centered and collaborative. Now teens have found a way to do this and most educators are going out of their way to stop them-sounds pretty bad, doesn't it? However this what is happening with social networking. The commentary Don't Tell Your Parents: ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/05/31/cyber-bullying/ Papertexplores the complex underpinning of constuctionism and the importance of choice and passion. In this article Papert tells the story of how as a young child he was fascinated with gears, through his obsession Papert discovered a lot about how cars and gears work, he learnt about cause and effect, ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/05/26/using-the-computer-to-make-learning-interesting-agian/ This audio podcast is a basic introduction to constructionism. The site I refered to: Harel, I. (2003). Sand castles go digital. Retrieved August 4, 2006 at: http://www.mamamedia.com/areas/grownups/new/21_learning/sand_castles.html http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/05/24/turning-play-into-serious-learning/ I know I have already posted some blogs on why it is useful for students to blog and the research supporting the use of blogs.  Now I have some real peoples experience I want to add.  I have just read Twittering with Sue Walters and wanted to read why other teachers blog. I ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/05/24/why-blog/ Okay, well not a normal blog today. I have been reading others blogs and found a lot of talk about twitter, I signed up but I still can't understand the craze. I was reading the blog Is twitter shifting blogging to a new phase,when I just had to laugh, the widgit on the ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/05/13/translate-this-page/ I was discussing my blog with other students in my course when some-one mentioned they haven't got any comments yet  their blog. It made me realise I had no idea how you find other blogs and how to generate interest in your blog. So far I have been connecting to others ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/05/12/no-comments/ I hope my comic really speaks for its self. Today the students in my prac class used the website makebelief comix, all but one student was highly engaged. In fact all were concentrating so hard on their stories that the teacher reminded them they could discuss their ideas if they wanted too! ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/05/01/make-belief-comix-real-success/ BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games. Sources http://www.cabrillo.edu/~nstucker/images/zits.gif> & www.cartoonstock.com http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/04/22/30/ While most of my previous blogs may have seamed like rants that schools need be 'modern' and to try and keep up with the times and I just  found a video on teacher-tube that looks at the same issue. Shift-happens totally blew me away, it  really makes you think about ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/04/22/something-to-get-you-thinking/  I have just read Ten Web 2.0 Things You Can Do In Ten Minutes to Be a More Successful E-learning Professional, perhaps I'm a little behind because I'm not sure I will be able to get through the list in 10 minutes. However the idea is simple, e-learning is not ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/04/21/a-challenge-to-you/ It probably isn't news to any educator that students are using the internet more than books today to do their research and for help with their homework. However this form of literacy requires new skills. "You have to teach how to identify source bias, and balance that with other sources ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/04/19/but-i-found-it-on-the-internet/ I just read Hayley's post on smart-board and I have to admit it does seams a very dived and topical discussion. While on my first prac I was lucky enough to have a smart-board and a teacher who was keen to make use of all they had to offer. On prac I ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/04/19/clever-smart-boards/ Since my post A podcast on Podcasts I have started listening to podcasts more. I have been using them as simple, professional development. I wanted to share what I have gotten out of listening to podcasts. While on prac I was so nervous about my horrible grammar that I began listening to Grammar Girl pod-casts. Listening ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/04/17/podcasting/ So far most of my blogs have been about the possibilities and opportunities in ICT.  However I just read Cathie's blog Are Children safe using online blogs?  And it made me think about the negatives of using the internet and especially the safety issues.  In my earlier blog "Blogging possibilities"   ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/04/06/the-dark-side-of-the-blogosphere/ <! Websites are often used in education or by students but are often judged on little more than the aesthetic aspects, others are  designed purely as sources of information.  Jose Gomez Galan, in Design of Educational Web Pages warns that many are based on the behaviourist model of teaching and often very pre-programmed ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/04/05/beware-of-bright-graphics-and-boring-content/ I have just read Hayley's very insightful post on the benefits of students using blogs. She explained that students could use blogs to publish their work and express their thoughts and feelings. Blogs can also be thought of as the 21st century answer to the journal and could be a valuable way of students ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/04/04/blog-a-21st-century-journal-article/ podcast-on-podcasting.mp3check out Veronica's blog on podcasting and the literature from Podcasting 101 http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/03/30/a-podcast-on-podcasting/ 3 steps is a teacher tube video that challenges teachers to think about how learning should be occurring in the 21st century. It assumes that technology could be as seamlessly integrated into our classroom as it already is in our homes and the workforce-and why not? Teaching must be relevant to ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/03/30/compete-with-yourself-and-collaborate-with-others/ The notion that schools are backwards thinking, boring places may not be new(Wallis , C & Steptoe, S., 2006), but Wallis and Steptoe (2006) has come up with some potential solutions to fix this age old problem. The answer was to teach students skills, values and attitudes, to give them ... http://ericah.edublogs.org/2008/03/12/how-to-bring-our-schools-into-the-21st-century/