Resizing Images - Mobaphoto

Educators can use images in the classroom as another form of learning material. The purpose of using a picture, photograph etc is to engage thinking, analysing, evaluating and understanding with the students.

Images allow students to see the real thing, it can illustrate concepts and show examples of what you are discussing, images inspire discussions on the topic developing language, and can encourage students to work as a team.

The following website suggests practical ways to use digital images in teaching and learning , it gets you thinking!

Photographs, graphics and images come in many different shapes and sizes. Generally photograph files such as GIF files or JPG files are usually quite large and cannot be easily uploaded online. To upload pictures online it is important to reduce the size of the file, this will reduce the quality but it will still be useful for web use. To do this you can download a free program called Mobaphoto.
Mobaphoto is a portable tool box for digital photography, once downloaded and you have installed the program it is very easy to use. It gives the user four main tool options:  Batch photo resizer, Digital gallery creator, Batch photo editor and Batch picture renamer. The program also allows you to crop your images and correct red eye.
To resize your image select, Batch photo resizer, a display window will then appear allowing you to browse and select as many images as you select to resize, there is also a small viewing photo window, now click resize. You will be prompted to save the resized pictures and now they are ready to use and upload online. The upload time to load your pictures online will also be much shorter as the file is much smaller therefore saving time.

I have resized and included a few images below from a trip to Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast Queensland. In the classroom context these photographs could be used to: begin discussions about the animals in the pictures and asses students current knowledge, the educator can provide students with an extension task or project to select an animal in a photograph and submit a research project, begin a theme in the classroom, create further lesson plans on the selected animals, discuss where they come from, where they are found, extend on geography, extend to other animals e.g. African animals and begin another unit of work.

                                                 Images taken from Australia Zoo Queensland

Reference

JISC Digital Media. (2010). Practical ways to use digital images in teaching and learning. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from

http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/stillimages/advice/practical-ways-to-use-digital-images-in-teaching-and-learning/

Mobaphoto, (2008). The portable toolbox for digital photography. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from

http://mobaphoto.mobatek.net/en/

Central Queensland University (CQU). (2010). FAHE11001 – Images/Mobaphoto: Study Guide. Rockhampton. QLD, Australia: Author.

PowerPoint - In the Classroom

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presenation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office Suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows operating system.

The program allows the user to create their own PowerPoint slide show based on a topic of their choice. The program has many design functions and tools, you can choose a background and layout, add text, pictures, animation, sounds etc. Once you have the content of your slides you can choose special effects for example, you can choose how your text appears on the slide such as flying in and also add a sound as it appears. It is operated by the mouse or space bar far which controls the slide show.

I have developed an example slide show about Elephants, it is quite basic but gives you an idea of what I am trying to explain and allows you to see how it works for yourself. To view the PowerPoint please click this link Elephant PowerPoint which will take you to my wiki where the slide show is attached.

PowerPoint is a wonderful tool for learning, it can add a new dimension to learning allowing teachers to explain concepts and accommodate different learning styles. Used properly PowerPoint can be a powerful tool for teaching in the classroom but used inappropriately, PowerPoint could confuse students and make learning difficult.

It can save a lot of time for teachers who would have used a blackboard or overhead projector instead. The program is quite easy to use and encourages those who would not normally use a visual aid or give a presentation to make a presentation.

The benefit of PowerPoint is always being discussed, its use in the classroom has influenced investigations of PowerPoint’s effects on student performance in comparison to overhead projectors, traditional lectures, and online lectures. It is a useful introductory tool for lecturers/classes but at this stage there are no results to prove or disprove that PowerPoint is more effective for learner as opposed to traditional presentation methods. I think that used correctly it can make learning more interesting to students, using a presentation may encourage them to want to learn about specific topics instead of using pen to paper or chalk to blackboard.

A slide show developed appropriately with the correct content and design, using PowerPoint in the classroom can be another useful tool for presenting information to students. It introduces the program to students who may not know about it or how to use it, it provides another form of presenting information to students other than using a blackboard, introduces and teaches learners about technology, it accommodates all learners’ needs and develops language and spelling skills. It can also be fun to watch and make, the program not only motivates students but can motivate educators as well. Some other advantages of using PowerPoint in the classroom is that if a student is away the teacher is able to print out the slide show or make a copy and provide it to the student. Also allows you to reflect on your lesson and make any additions or changes.

Because students today are so technologically advanced presentations developed with the use of videos, music and pictures attains student’s attention and increases student involvement.

Presentations made poorly have been given the term PowerPoint hell. If used continuously PowerPoint can bore students and diminish its effectiveness. A negative for educators is that a successful presentation can take several hours to create, teachers in a school environment do not always have this much time on their hands.

Teachers do not need a book on how to use PowerPoint the program comes with a complete tutorial. There are also a number of websites that provide extensive information, during my research I found this website  to be useful it has a list of positive and negatives. Another website I found useful was  targeted to teachers on how to use PowerPoint and its use in the classroom. I also found a website that allows you to downlaod free background layouts and a site called slide share this is a free website that allows the user to create and share presentations.

Reference:

Wikipedia.(2010). Power Point. Retrieved November 26, 2010, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_PowerPoint

teAchnology.(2010). Whats all the hype?. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from
http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/powerpoint/

eHow. (2010). What are the benefits of using Power Point and slide presentations in the classroon. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from

 

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5008796_using-powerpoint-slide-presentations-classroom.html

Moodle

Moodle, Modular Object-Orientated Dynamic Learning Environment, also known as an LMS (Learning Management System), CMS (Course Management System) or VLE (Visual Learning Environment. It is a free open-source e-learning software that educators use to create online courses. Moodle is very similar to an LMS but has more standard features. Moodle is used in a variety on contexts such as in education, business settings and training and development. It has become very popular among educators as a tool for creating online websites for their students.

Many institutions use moolde as a platform to conduct fully online courses, this is how it is used in my situation, to delivery content.

I am a university student studying distance education moodle is the online tool that allows me to do so. Each semester I enrol in selected subjects, I log on to my moodle student account and access the course material. Once I click on a subject all the content and information appears allowing me to study at home and at my own pace. The course is broken up into week blocks with links to activities, readings, videos, external resources, power points etc, there are also discussion boards for students and teachers to communicate and discuss topics,wikis as well as a notice board for updates from lecturers. Moodle makes it possible for me to study, it is free, easy to access and very easy to use, it is a project that gives educators the tool to manage and promote learning.

Moodle has created a very informative website it also allows you to look at a demonstration site and watch a moodle presentation. While researching I also found a useful you tube video if you are interested in having a look.

References:

Moodle.(2010). Moodle. Retrieved november 26, 2010, from
http://moodle.org/about/

Wikipedia.(2010). Moodle. Retrieved November 26, 2010, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle

Personal Journal Entry - RSS Aggregator

Hi Everyone,

What a busy 4 weeks so far! I am finding this course very interesting and useful, so far I have learnt alot but this has been with much stress....Recently I moved house and have been having a large amount of trouble getting my internet switched on, I tired to use my pre paid internet for the mean time but optus could not allow this as they did not have the stock I needed. I was back to the drawing board and decided to go into work early/stay late and use the wi-fi connection, this worked for a short time until their internet was diconnected, so for the past few weeks I have been using my ipone through my computer. Tis has caused me much stress and I am very far behind, I am trying very hard to catch up but this is also hard as I work Full Time and I am now worrying about the assignments as the due dates get closer.

On a positive note, Im working hard and hopefully will catch up by committing and dedicating all of my spare time. I am now onto week three and have just set up the google reader, it took some time to copy and paste each students URL's into the feeder and now I have over 100 updates! This tool is great I have now subscribed to everyone's blog's and the Google Reader will inform me of new posts and provide updates. This is much easier then searching for everyone's blogs and then adding to follow the blog.
I took the time to look at a few blogs and realised we are all at different stages of blogging, course activities and content. Everyone has a different way of blogging, approaching and discussing information, there are alot of brilliant idea's. I hope to get through more blogs and learn as much as I can.

Goodluck!

Static Websites - Weebly

Weebly is a free, online Web site creator. Users sign up to an account and begin to create pages using WYSIWYG editing, with only a few clicks using the drag and drop method. It includes a step by step user guide and has a support centre. It offers design layouts, free domain hosting, website publishing and RSS feeders.

When Weebly was first created the objective was to enable content creation and its mission is to help users put their information online quickly and easily.

Webbly includes a blog editor and allows users to add pictures, music, video, audio, documents etc.
Weebly pro accounts are also available at a small cost which gives users access to more features.
Below I have included a PMI (Plus, Minuses and Interesting) on the use of Weebly:

Blog vs. Weebly (Static Website):

I have begun to explore Weebly by creating my own website http://www.leahbliss.weebly.com

At this stage it is quite basic as I have not had very much time to explore and use it or chose a topic, but after doing research and viewing other user’s Weebly websites I understand their function, purpose and abilities.

I have created my own person blog using http://www.blogger.com/ and am confident in this site and am adding new posts each week, although I find adding some content a challenge or not possible (or I have not yet figured out how to do this). For example: I could not find a function to add a graph to my blog, I created my own in Microsoft Word, once completed I copied and pasted it into a new blog post, the content copied and it looked the same but when I clicked preview the graph did not show and the content was all over the post page, an error message came up on the screen and I could not add the actual graph. I tried to save the graph as a picture to upload but I was not successful.

As I am now familiar with both sites, I find the Static Website (Weebly) to be a useful and better tool. Weebly allows you to create your own website with as many pages you like, you can add pictures, videos etc to create a great educational website for students. The user can also choose layouts and colours making the website very interesting to the eye. Your website can be about any topic you wish and the many different tools on offer make it a great teaching tool e.g. add a voting poll, you tube video etc.

 Weebly also allows you to create a Blog, you have all of the website functions including a Blog where as blogger is used only to create blog’s, Weebly offers both.

After viewing other Weebly Websites some students have created I was convinces, they have done a fantastic job and I think they would be a great tool to use in teaching student’s. I hope soon to create a website just as exciting and useful.

PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) CHART - WEEBLY

PLUS +Free to create & publish your website.
Easy to sign up & create an account.

Beginners step by step guide.

Drag & drop website editor.

WYSIWYG. (What you see is what you get)

Free domain hosting

Many design layouts

Variety of content elements - add pictures, music, video’s, audio, documents etc.

Blogging features.

No advertising on the website.

Support center – FAQ, Email etc.

Add RSS feed readers.

No limit to pages or amount of material.

     
MINUS -

To use all multimedia elements need to upgrade to Weebly pro at a cost.

Some people don’t know how to use HTML code.

Need to be computer literate.

Content is not monitored or filtered.

Cannot use pre-existing plug-ins from other blogging engines.

     

INTERESTS i

Currently 3 Million people use Weebly & growing by day.

Named one of TIME’s best websites 2007.

Reference

Wikipedia.(2010). Weebly. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weebly 

Central Queensland University (CQU). (2010). FAHE11001 – Static websites: Study Guide. Rockhampton. QLD, Australia: Author.

Dimensions of Learning

Using bubbl.us I have developed a concept map of the Dimensions of Learning Framework:

Dimensions of Learning Framework

Dimensions of Learning is a practical framework that K-12 Teachers can use to improve the quality of teaching and learning in any content area. It is based on research and theory which is explained in Dimensions of Learning, Teachers Manual 2006, Marzano & Pickering. More than ninety educators worked on this model for two years, the educators helped shape the basic program into a valuable tool for reorganising the curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The use of this manual is as a structure for planning units of instruction.

Dimensions on Learning uses what theorists and researchers know about learning to define the learning progress, it is made up of five key dimensions:

Dimension 1 – Attitudes and Perceptions: Attitudes and perceptions affect students’ abilities to learn. When a student’s attitude is positive their learning is enhanced. Two focus areas to develop attitudes and perceptions are Classroom Climate and Classroom Tasks.

Dimension 2 – Acquire and Integrate Knowledge: Helping students acquire and integrate new knowledge. It is important to define the type of knowledge being learnt, there are two basic categories, Declarative Knowledge and Procedural Knowledge.

Dimension 3 – Extend and Refine Knowledge: Learners develop in-depth understanding through the process of extending and refining their knowledge. When students understand the importance of the knowledge, they can use that knowledge, to develop understanding students extend and refine the knowledge they initially require.

Dimension 4 – Use Knowledge Meaningfully: The most effective learning occurs when we use knowledge to perform meaningful tasks. The purpose of acquiring knowledge is to be able to use it meaningfully.

Dimension 5 – Habits of Mind: The most effective learners have developed powerful habits of mind that enable them to think critically, think creatively and regulate their behaviour. Habits of Mind indentifies productive mental habits that along with Dimension 1 (Attitudes and Perceptions) form the back drop of the learning process.

These five dimensions work together, see the graph below of how they work together.  

Image courtesy of - http://www.kurwongbss.eq.edu.au/thinking/Dimensions/Dimensionsmodel.jpg

I find the Dimensions of Learning Framework to be a very useful tool and will use this framework throughout my studies and when teaching in a school context. Particularly I find Dimension 1 & 5 to be the most useful. A students attitudes and perceptions (Dimension 1) effect their learning, it is important for the learners to develop positive attitudes and perceptions about the classroom climate and the classroom tasks for the best learning to be achieved, dimension 1 informs educators on techniques to best achieve this. If learners feel accepted by teachers and peers and experience a sense of comfort and order this develops positive attitudes about the classroom climate therefore enhancing their learning. This also applies to developing a positive attitude and perception about the classroom tasks, if the students perceive the task as valuable and interesting, if they believe they have the ability and resources to complete the task and understand what the task involves it will have the same outcome.

Dimension 5 discusses the learner habits of mind and along with attitudes and perceptions this enhances the learning process, enhancing learning and content knowledge. This also helping students to be successful learners in whatever circumstance and will continue to serve students in the future. This dimension involves both the educator and learners, if the educator models and reinforces good mental habits it will influence the students to develop productive habits of mind.

The Dimensions of Learning Teachers Manual is interesting and useful, it explains each dimension and how to put it all together, I have learnt a lot from this framework and advise everyone to have a read. Online I found a brief overview of the manual if you would like to take a look http://www.hbe.com.au/PUBLIC/HBEItemImages/pdf/197134.pdf

Reference

Marzano, R.J. & Pickering, D.J. (1997). Dimensions of Learning Teacher’s Manual.

          Alexandria, Virginia USA.