Assignment+4-+Reflection

**Online Identity**- Word Count 1587 **//Identify Issues with having an online presence providing evidence and/or examples//** There are many different advantages and disadvantages with having an online identity. Its most definitely a fantastic way to explore new technologies, making friends, researching, communicating and creating online blogs. In saying this there are also many other issues on a serious matter that should be considered and understood. Having an online presence can bring up many different issues and also create different issues. People need to know what they are signing up to and what the security and reliability of each site is. With online sites, you have to consider the privacy issues. With each site, there are privacy settings, which should be altered to suit your needs. It’s a way to protect your profiles, prevent scans and also ensure that you aren't put in any dangerous situations. People need to realise not all sites are secure and that the information they are putting on there such as names, address, phone number etc can sometimes be accessed by the wrong people. This can then lead onto predation or online bullying. An excellent site to help get an understanding of online privacy is [|PrivacyGuard]. It allows to you always be ‘in the know’. I feel the most important point for people to remember is that if you understand what you are using, read the guide lines and privacy laws you will have a excellent times exploring the World Wide Web. When teaching students within a classroom it is important that they understand all these issues before creating their own online identity this could be integrated into the lessons assignment. .

**Web 2.0 Tools** ** //Identify tools (other than below) that would be useful for your own professional/personal life and give reasons// ** Web 2.0 Tools are a excellent way for students to create something original. It allows them to not just use webpages or wikis for information but allows them to create their own with their own information on. I found that all the web tools that I explored in Assignment 1 had benefits. Some I felt would be better to use within the classroom then others. Web tools such as [|Reask] allows students to search for certain topics and receive feedback from other users and their opinions on the site. When they search in Reask, they will see similar google results but also they will be shown a list of humansearch results. They will sort the results in order of relevance to you. This tool allows students or teachers to search topics and get other peoples knowledge, opinions and ideas.

Teacher Tube is another very useful web tool. It allows teachers to view instructional clips that have been posted by other teachers but they also have the option of uploading their own video. The teachers are able to upload a sequence of videos that students can view in order to learn a concept or skill. Many students seem to learn skills easier when they are able to see a visual demonstration, so this is a excellent way for teachers to show the students. The site is useful as it allows other teachers to comment and rate the videos that are uploaded, giving constructive feedback and even recommendations. Its a safe and secure site for teachers to use within schools, as it also allows you to flag inappropriate videos or comments and they will then he deleted.

**//Identify ways in which a professional blog/wiki/website could be useful.//** I particularly enjoyed making the wiki and learning what could be done on them. I think that in my professional life this would be the most useful out of the tools used. The main reason in saying this is being of the security, privacy and customisability of the tool. You have the option of having it public or it allows you to only access people with a username and password, this is excellent in a school setting. For me it was a challenge learning all the tools within the wiki and it would be quite time constraining for students. Although with saying this, it is something that could be done over a number of lessons taking them carefully through each step. I think it is an excellent way for students to great blogs, newsletters to parents and keeping track of student’s assignments as it allows you to see their progress and how often they have accessed their wiki. It is also a different way for student interaction and peer assessment.

= Digital Story = ** //What did you learn from this process? (eg, what was rewarding, challenging or frustrating? What might you do differently next time?)// ** The most challenging process of the Digital Story was finding what software I wanted to use. The software I first chose to use was the Movie Maker as we were shown in class how to do it. As I couldn’t come into uni every day to work on it I had to bring out my old laptop which had windows on it. I started the process and once I had finished all my editing my laptop decided to crash and that meant I lost all my work. So then, I decided I would use my MacBook, which had a program on it, called iMovie. Since this was all new for me, I had to research how to use the program. I watched many different tutorials including the one on the [|Apple website]After finally playing around with the software and learning how to use it, I then had to re edit all my interview. This only left me with a few days to complete the assignment. Luckily, I didn’t have anything else due at the time so my main focus was completing it. Another challenging task was trying to cut down the 10 minute interview into 2 minutes even with all my questions and umm and ahhs taken out it was still around 5 minutes long. I found this extremely difficult as I felt as though the entire interview was needed. After playing around with it for hours and using the transcript to help me, I finally got it edited down to 2 minutes and once playing it I was happy with the sections that were kept.

**// Discuss two other class stories and say what elements attracted you to them //** Timika Williams- This digital story was excellent, the use of the pictures were excellent and related perfecting back to the story. This and the music that was played really drew me in- the voice level and music level was balanced and I feel as though the music really benefited the digital story.

Mathew Berry- This digital story was one of my favourites, I feel as though from the moment I started watching it I was drawn in. The opening sentence just gets you, and makes you want to keep listening. Most of us just did the usual introduction of the person but this was a something different and very effective. The music, the voice and the pictures all went together so well. Transitions between photos worked perfectly, and every time related directly back to what was being said.

**//In what way might digital storytelling be useful for teaching/other professionals?//** This is a fantasic tool to be used in the classroom, but also for individual/personal use. It’s a excellent way to create movies from different memories or experiences. Teachers can use it to create a movie of a class fieldtrip or from a schools sports day. By having the students learn the process of digital story telling it allows them to use different skills such as editing, sound recording, photography, researching, interview skills, ICT and literacy. It can be spread across the curriculum and it’s a way to engage the students rather then just using the traditional pen and paper approach. I would love to see my students once I finish my degree, make a digital story and see how they cope with the task and also the time management.

=** Topic Review ** = **// What activities did you find the most valuable? //** I feel this whole subject was very valuable, some tasks being more beneficial for me then others. I have gained knowledge in the use of web 2.0 tools and what we as teachers have to be aware of and what students need to know before using the internet. Although the task that I most enjoyed was creating the radio cut and digital story as it allowed me to learn new software that is used commonly in schools and as technology is growing they will only become more prominent within the classroom. Both the radio cut and digital story allow you to let the students not only interview someone, it teaches them the elements of a story and also how a interview can be conducted. It enables them to use multiple skills to help them create a successful end product.

**// What activities did you find the least valuable? //** I honestly found all of the activities valuable to me. When coming into this subject I didn’t think it would be so in-depth, so I certainly learnt a lot. I had no idea how to create any of the assignments we created, so it was very challenging for me but also on the same note very enjoyable and beneficial.

** Summarise what you learned as a result of doing this topic and how this may or may not be useful to you in the future ** I feel asthough it’s a great way to break away from the traditional classroom communication. It allows the students to learn new ways to share and show their knowledge. I also learnt just how unsafe certain websites can be and what to look out for when signing up. All of the tasks that were taught within this topic I will most definitely integrate into my classroom setting. Some students are willing and successful when it comes to putting and pen to the paper and expressing themselves other students find this rather difficult. By changing this up it allows those students who find it difficult to use their other talents, after all as a teacher you are required to cater for all students need. Overall this was a very interesting topic as I learnt how to use a variety or programs/web tools in my personal and professional life.