Final Reflection

I have finished the course and my just in time management skills have not come too close to the cut off time – a whole week to go. Thanks to the holidays.

I have really enjoyed and benefited from this course and don’t feel as overwhelmed as I thought I would, although I readily admit to having much, much more to learn. I think having the course outline still on “my classes” page will be great enabling back referencing over time as I attempt to become more proficient in different areas. I am hoping I can keep assess to that for at least a while?! The videos were particularly good as well as the careful instructions.

It is very exciting being exposed to so many wonderful resources that are available to use in our classrooms to engage and excite our kids. And the kids at our school are up and running even if only in baby steps. We have started using blogs in writing and scootle is a favourite. Youtube is always a motivator and the digital cameras are regularly used. The children have experimented with podcasting and we used flipvideo and imovie to produce a short news report. I really loved glogster and can see a real place for that in upper primary and will try to incorporate that into the classroom next term. Blubbl.us would catch the attention of the children and requires quite a set of thinking and organizing skills to apply well. A similar application on Apple Mac may be an easier choice and give more scope for variations. I want to know more about wikis and how I can use them effectively in the classroom. That is my next priority for further exploration. Thank you for opening the door. The learning curve is steep both for the students and the teachers but the benefits returned with motivated, engaged, enthusiastic students far out way the time spent in exploration, preparation and practise.

The digital Blooms Taxonomy is very interesting and thank heavens for blogging otherwise I would not have past applying! There is certainly a lot there! The use of verbs instead of nouns to categorize, then expand each level is much more hands on and works extremely well.

I haven’t had an in depth look at Second Life but I would expect it would sit within the applying level as it looks like playing and operating. Mind mapping would come under understanding in its simplest form but in analysising for a more advanced application of the mind map. Using flickr would be applying as it is the uploading and sharing of work.

In the SMH this morning there was an article about Twitter and how it is being used effectively enthuse audiences about productions with theatre and arts companies like Sydney Theatre, Bell Shakespeare and Belvoire Street. Twitter is a bit lost on me but I guess I better get on the band wagon too. I don’t want to miss anything! How great is that, if a little 140 character tweet can boost our arts awareness and guarantee a good night out!