Prezi

I'm still deciding whether or not I like http://prezi.com . It seems like a program that after one use is going to cap my downloads for the month! For me, it seems like powerpoint, concept maps and youtube all rolled into one. This could be utilised in positive ways, but I don't think I'll be using it in lessons. It seems time consuming and I would not recommend it for secondary schooling. This could be good for younger students to play around on and to learn basic computer skills.

POWERPOINT

Powerpoint is a fantastic digital tool and one of the most popular. It's great for showing presentations in front of an audience. You can add sounds, animations, pictures and text to relay a message or information. Powerpoint is a commonly used program so to learn the ropes of how to use it is important! Coming into University I thought I would be getting away from them but it's quite the opposite! Using powerpoint for years on end can be a challenging process. I thought I was ready for something new, until I realised how much I needed powerpoint for university. Lecturers put up an abundance of powerpoints onto the university website to provide us with new information, or information we have learnt in class but can't remember! The great thing about this is that I can download the powerpoints while I'm at uni and utilise them at home. This is awesome since I'm a poor uni student and can't afford broadband at home, let alone food and rent! Also, I must say, it is really good only having to read dot points and summaries of information we need to know. I don't know how I would finish university if I had to read textbooks front to back. Powerpoint is very easy to use which means creating slides isn't time consuming. Powerpoint is ideal for all ages, even primary and early childhood. The program is easy to access and every school would have it. So all in all, as much as I hate it, I've gotta love it.

Weebly is a fun and exciting website which enables you to create your very own website! It's free, and allows you access to bring out your creative side. This is good for learning html and many other digital tools. As you can see in the picture above, it's a screen print from a site I began to manage. Here I used a mixture of tools including :
- Text: Titles, paragraphs, centre alignment
- Pictures: Watermark and solid colour, overlaying and positioning
- Template: Creating the layout and structure of the website i.e. Background colours, text colour, borders

Among these, there are still loads of things you can do! Add video clips, links, animations.. whatever! You can use other digital tools such as prezi's and voki's and apply to them to your website. Creating a website is really the first step to take in using digital tools. I see it as the base of the cake, and the icing comes when you learn other digital tools and add them to make it more interesting.

Creating a Wiki is fun and exciting! It enables you to add your knowledge and research to a page where other people can add information as well. The information may not always be 100% up to date or correct, but in this instance it's a great opportunity for forming ideas and thoughts.

I personally do not seeing myself using this in lesson plans. I would refer students to Wikipedia online for general ideas and thoughts, but for an important piece of assessment I would recommend more appropriate and strong resources. Also, when people add information or change information on your wiki, it could be incorrect! I don't like the thought of people being able to access and change something that I have produced. This could lead to sabotage! But this is the way I think, tell me what you think about it.

Using http://bubbl.us/ enables us to create concept maps. This is great for doing schemas. This could be used in the classroom as tools for words, synonyms and things alike, or students can make their own concept maps for brainstorming and ideas. By using concept maps we can see how students think differently.
Get students to create a concept map, and compare them to eachother. It's amazing the way other people think, especially young people! This could also help with profiling students and recognising their interests, strengths and needs.

E Learning Journey

The beginning of my E-Learning Journey has come as a bit of a shock! There are so many tools out there that we can use for learning, it's absolutely amazing yet scary. What I've learnt so far is that these tools can be used in certain ways that focus on behaviorism, cognitivism and constructivism. For example, digital tools such as quizzes and online tutoring systems are based on a behaviorist design, and are designed for low-level content, process and routine skill development. It is therefore vital that when using digital tools in the classroom that you identify the skills that will develop from these tools to relate to specified learning outcomes!