Edublogs

Edublogs is another blogging website, and it is specifically for teachers and students, and, as it's catch cry says, it is blogging 'made easy'. It's services are free, and it also has bloggers from around the world. Currently, they have 376, 419 blogs posted on their site!

Some key features (as quoted from it's website) include;

• Effortlessly create and manage students blogs
• Packed with useful features and customisable themes
• Ready made for podcasting, videos, photos and more
• Step by step support with helpful video tutorials

This website would be fantastic for students from stage 1 onwards. Even if they are purely viewing the blogs in the earlier years, it is a great resource to show students.

Student 2.0

Student 2.0
Collaborative blogs, also known as Group Blogs, publish posts written by multiple users. Student 2.0 is an excellent example of a group blog authored by students. The blog posts come from all around the world and this is fantastic experience for students to witness and/or experience other cultures in this different medium.

On the website, their opening quote reads:

We are students: the ones who come to school every day, raise our hands with safe questions, and keep our heads down. Except, now we have a voice—a strong voice—to share our ideas through a global network.

This YouTube video introduces the blog's young authors.

This blog website is an excellent example to show students. It exhibits the amazing potential and the power of collaborative blogs. Personally, I would use this blog in Stage 3 (Years five and six), as the authors of the blogs appear to be older, and some are in college.

Moodle

Moodle is one of the online educational tools which I am most impressed with. It can be used for many different things, including blogs. One of my subjects at uni employs the use of moodle. It can be used for many different reasons. On the uni's moodle site you can find literary resources, lecture and turoial resources, assignment discussion threads, and much more. Recently, my friend opened a discussion thread on moodle so that fellow students can discuss funny happenings during our prac experience. Throughout prac, there were almost 60 posts! This was a great mini 'blog' for us to use. If we were feeling a little down or stressed, we could have a flick through some of the things that were happening in our fellow students classes and find relief!

Moodle has many great features, and the teacher can facilitate and monitor what goes on on their own site.

I think that Moodle could be used for all grades (with significant differentiation, obviously), and I'm looking forward to trying it out in my classrooms in the future!

Copyright Restrictions

Key points from www.copyright.org.au/pdf/acc/infosheets_pdf/g053.pdf/download

Can I copy material from the internet for research??

• You will not infringe copyright if you use material for the purposes of research or study, provided that your  use is fair. 

• You do not need to be enrolled in a course – you could be researching or studying something for yourself. 

• In some cases, specific provisions in the Copyright Act allow people working in libraries to copy material for  you if you need it for research or study. 

What constitutes research and fair use?

A “reasonable portion” of text or notated music 

If you are reproducing text or printed music from a hard copy edition of 10 or more pages, the Act deems that it  is fair to copy: 

• 10% of the number of pages; or 

• one chapter, if the work is divided into chapters. 

For text material published in electronic form, it is deemed to be fair to copy: 

• 10% of the number of words; or 

• one chapter, if the work is divided into chapters. 

If the material is available in hardcopy and separately in electronic form, you can choose which form to use, and apply the relevant test to work out what is deemed to be fair.)

Key points from www.copyright.org.au/g038.pdf 

Can students use music in videos that they make?

• Generally, you will need permission to use someone else’s music in a film or video. 

• There are a number of narrow and limited situations that may allow you to use someone else’s music without  their permission. 

• You should get permission to record and use a person’s live performance in your film. 

Ideas from readings :)

Here are some key ideas I found useful from the following readings:

Pericles, K. (2008). Happily blogging @ Belmore South. SCAN, 27(2), 4-6 http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/

1. "Blog" is short for weblog. Blogging is easy to control, simple to set up and can relate to each of the six KLAs. Richardson (2006, as cited in Pericles, 2008, p. 17) defines "weblog" as: "an easily created, easily updateable Website that allows an author (or authors) to publish instantly to the Internet from any Internet connection."

2. Blogging is interactive. Blogs provide opportunities for comments, which opens up discussions between audience and author.

3. Blogs can perform different functions and can take many different forms, according to individual and personal needs. Pericles (2008) lists some of the many types and functions of blogs: "From posting assignments and class news, to parent information, to sharing of class activities, to online publishing of student work, to showcases of student art, poetry and creative projects, to places to respond to concepts and ideas dealt with in class, to journal work, to linking with other classes in other parts of the world."

Second Reading:

Barone, D., & Wright, T. E. (2008). Literacy instruction with digital and media technologies. The Reading Teacher, 62(4), 292-302

Barone & Wright (2008) state that teachers should take into consideration three key points regarding new literacy instruction. The three points are; 

1. students need more than practice or use of software programs to be ready for new literacies; 

2. teachers need to adapt to the forever changing new literacies; and 

3. new literacies offer equality within a classroom therefore they are crucial. 

This was a fantastic example for website inaccuracy! I loved it! I would love to use this in my classroom in the future, showing my kids the tree octupus! Haha. Fantastic. I didn't get to watch the whole video due to time restrictions, but i can't wait to watch it tonight at home!!

Signing off <><

Second Life

A few months ago I heard Second Life mentioned on the radio. They were talking about how you can actually earn money and support yourself through this digital world. People have been employed in full time jobs and earning good wages by doing things in this digital world. Since hearing about this digital phenomena, i have been meaning to look it up on the net (but until this moment, I haven't remembered!!!).

Second Life defines itself as thus on their website: "Second Life is a free online virtual world imagined and created by its Residents. From the moment you enter Second Life, you'll discover a fast-growing digital world filled with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity."  www.secondlife.com

I am interested in looking more into this "Second Life" world, not by joining up myself, but by reading reviews in journal articles (I don't have enough time in my "First life" to start an online second life :0) ). Sorry this blog has sounded so blasé- I'm finding it so hard to think in this noise filled classroom! Haha, how will I go as a teacher?!? 

Signing off <><

Brief definition of "New Literacies"

-new knowledge and skills gained from working with new technologies

-using new ways to present old literacies in new methods; ie. not just using new technologies like   powerpoint to present old information

-more about sharing than following

-reaching a wider audience with the assistance of technology