Week 5- My personal thoughts and reflections.... Animation in the classroom

I found the lecture this week on animation and claymation really interesting. I found it particularly inspiring that many teachers were unfamiliar with these topics but still embraced them enthusiastically. I recall one teacher from a school saying that the children approached him about doing claymation as they had been introduced to it the year before by a different teacher. Although he had no experience at all, the children were so enthusiastic that he decided to go ahead with it and learn from them. I really like the idea that the teacher and students can learn together and that a teacher not knowing how to do something is not a barrier. If it is a barrier both the teacher and students could miss out on so many valuable learning opportunities. That would be a real shame.

Week 5- My personal thoughts and reflections.... Electronic Games

This week I read some articles on electronic games and learning. I found this experience to be a real eye-opener. I have to admit I was one of those people that often viewed electronic games as something that distracted children from learning rather than being a rich source of learning. Prensky (2003) raises some very valid points- children learn when they are motivated and in order to be motivated children need to be engaged. Computer games seem to be able to do this. They have the ability to make children interested, cooperative, competitive, results oriented and encouraged to seek information and solutions. Futhermore while playing these games children learn to absorb information from multiple sources, make quick decisions, deduce the rules on their own, think strategically and understand complex systems (Prensky 2003).

However it's also interesting to note that according to Kirriemuir and McFarlane (2006) most educational games fail to realise expectations because they are often too simplistic, the tasks are repetitive and they do not support progressive understanding.

What I take from all of this is that there are many skills to be gained by children from playing electronic games. In an education context however if these games are to be utilised in the classroom some careful thought will need to be given as to how they are developed.

References:

Prensky, M. (2003). Digital Game-Based Learning. ACM Computers in Entertainment 1(1), 1-4

Kirriemuir, J. & McFarlane, A. (2006). Learning through Games. NESTA futurelab REPORT 8 Literature Review in Games and Learning.

Week 5- Animation and Movie Making

Today we created various animations and movies on different websites. Some of what I created appears below:

1. Sketch Swap

Using the website http://www.sketchswap.com/ I created the picture below and selected swap sketch. My picture was then sent to someone else somewhere in the world and I received a picture from another sketcher. The sketch I received was of Mr and Mrs Brown and their now house. Mr and Mrs Brown were very cross because they're extremely tall and their new house was built too small for them.

2. Build your wildself

Using the website www.buildyourwildself.com/ I was able to create an image of a wild person. It was fantastic how you could choose every aspect of "your wildself", from eyebrow shape to whether or not you had wings. My "wildself" appears below. This website was lots of fun and really allowed me to be creative.

3. Mini-Mizer

Using the website: http://www.reasonablyclever.com/mini/kidsafe.htm I created a lego character of myself. This was also a lot of fun. My "plastic" image appears below.

4. Xtranormal

I used the website http://www.xtranormal.com/ to make a movie. I was able to choose the number of actors, design the scene and write the script. A snapshot of my movie appears below. I enjoyed doing this and found it quite challenging.

5. Zimmer Twins

The website http://www.zimmertwins.com.au/ was another site that you could use to make movies. Making movies on this site was a little more challenging than Xtranormal. I felt I really had to think about the script and make sure the scenes made sense and followed on from each other. I'm not sure my movie did make much sense in the end but it was a great learning experience and really good fun. Two scenes from my movie appear below.

6. Dvolver

I created another movie using the website http://www.dvolver.com/live/home.html and my particular movie can be viewed here: http://www.dvolver.com/live/movies-257396 This website was fun to play around with and definitely not suitable for children. Having watched my movie back I probably should have added some more to the script. The characters mouths are moving far too much compared to what they are saying but not too bad for my first try!

Week 4- M&Ms and Dreamtime Stories...

1. M&Ms

This week we counted how many of each colour was in a packet of m&ms. We then put this on a graph using excel. I made 2 graphs, one using a column chart and one using a pie chart. My 2 graphs are below:

1. Column chart

2. Pie chartThe most popular colour in my packet by far was blue and the least popular was orange.


2. Dreamtime Stories
We then viewed some ancient aboriginal stories on this website: http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes

Using inspiration I copied sections of the story and re-told it in my own words. This appears below:

Week 3- E-Portfolios

Today I started an e-portfolio which I will use when I am applying for jobs. I did this using Microsoft Publisher. A copy of what my homepage may look like is below. As a class we discussed the sort of information we may wish to include and under what headings this will appear. Possible headings included:

• About Me
• Home
• Introduction
• CV
• Educational Philosophy
• Professional Experience
• Awards and Achievements
• Community Involvement
• Interests/Hobbies
• Resources

I think I will find completing my e-portfolio very challenging. I will need to make decisions about what information to include and leave out, and how I can make it eye catching and appealing and also succinct so that others want to read and look at it.

Week 2- My personal thoughts and reflections.... The Perils of Technology

The lecture in week 2 really got me thinking. It opened my eyes to the issues that will need to be at the forefront of my mind when I am using technology with my students. It’s not simply enough to teach children how to enhance their lives with technology but our responsibility as teachers to protect them from the harmful aspects. As an adult using technology I need to protect myself from spam and computer viruses and I need to be mindful of how much information I make public about myself but this is something I tend to do automatically. With children there is also the issue of ensuring they don’t access inappropriate information; or bully other children or allow themselves to be bullied via "new" technology like mobile phones or email. There is so much to think about...

Week 1- My personal thoughts and reflections.... Technology, then and now.

I remember back to when I was in primary school. It was during the mid-late 80’s and Commodore 64’s were all the rage! I can remember how excited my class got when we were allowed to play Pac Man. We had to wait what seemed like hours for the computers to boot up but once they did it was all worth it. How times have changed. Here I am in 2009 learning how to use programs like Inspiration and publishing my work on a blog…

The technology children have available to them today is amazing. I like the idea of teaching children how to use technology to enhance their lives rather than teaching them how to use it purely for the sake of it. I suppose I like that concept in general when it comes to being a teacher. The more you can demonstrate how something relates to everyday life the more receptive I believe children will be...

Week 2- Jumping Frogs and Games

Today our first challenge was to make a paper frog jump with a limited number of resources. It was interesting to see the different methods the class used. Almost everyone came up with a different and original idea. It was great to see how such a simple activity allowed the class to use a variety of skills- team work, problem solving, science and technology. It also enabled us to use our creative side. It opened my eyes up to how subjects can be integrated without even realising it.


Our second task of the day was to create games and quizzes on the website http://www.quia.com/.

I created a quiz based on animals and two games based on spelling- a word jumble and hangman. These quizzes can viewed here:

www.quia.com/quiz/1755913.html

www.quia.com/jw/323055.html

www.quia.com/hm/500306.html

A picture of my quiz is below:

Week 1- Green Vegetables

Using Inspiration I created a mind map. In the middle I have placed the phrase green vegetables and then put pictures of all the green vegetables I could think of. This program would be a great tool for children to use when they need to brainstorm a particular topic.
Green vegetables are tasty and nutritious! My favourite green vegetable is brocoli.

Week 1- Animals and their favourite foods

Today I learnt about Inspiration and I created a map of some animals and their favourite foods. Inspiration is easy to use and a lot of fun. I also learnt how to create a Wiki which I did with 3 other classmates. We will use the Wiki to write weekly reflections on topics covered in our Issues lectures.