Module Five

At last I've finished my reports so it's time I get back to exploring Web2! It's actually quite amazing that our reports are done all through the web. Our staff is now more proficient on Reporter Pro, so we didn't seem to lose any work to cyberspace this year!

The topic of digital story telling is one that I have become familiar with over the past four months. Earlier this year I attended a Digital Story Telling inservice at ACU Strathfield. This is where my journey with digital story telling in the classroom began. I use both Moviemaker and Photostory in my classroom. The children work collaboratively in groups to produce digital stories in any KLA we can. We particularly use it as part of our text type writing program where the focus is on structured language models and talking/listening activities.

Using digital story telling with the younger students (mine are in Year 2) was easier than I expected. I really only needed to show them briefly once using the smartboard - the kids then just took off. However what was essential was to teach the children how to storyboard and plan series of texts to show the "whole picture"prior to using any form of technology. - Yes I started with old fashioned pencil and paper. The scaffolds, script plans, storyboards, brainstorms and mindmaps became the most important part of the learning process. The technology was just used to communicate the story to others.

I have posted children's digital stories to Youtube. The children love it- they think they are famous. So do the parents- it's a great way for the children to show their parents what they have created in the classroom. I change the children's names that I use when I post their work and have parental permission. However after receiving a strange comment on one of my children's digital stories on Youtube (Some person with strong Religious and Political views) I have become more alert to the whole issue of teaching the children to be Cyber Safe.

I contacted the Australian Communication and Media Authority, who supplied me with the Cybersmart Guide for Parents ( which I sent home to all families) and a poster with Cyber Rules for safe internet use (which I've plastered all over the school!)

Module Four

For me this has been a particularly long module to complete. Perhaps as this is an area I have not explored before. (Thank goodness it's a long weekend!) I still don't feel really comfortable with the uploading of personal images. I have kept my images private, so if you want to take a look, message me and I'll send you an invite.

Copyright is always a topic that as a teacher I have felt unsure of. I found going to the 'Frequently Asked Questions" page the easiest thing for me to do. No fluff and just straight to the point.

The Creative Commons site was a little difficult too navigate through but I'm sure that with more practice I'll find it easier.

My Digital Natives On Holidays.

burgess stagger,
originally uploaded by deanne.distefano.

These are my three beautiful children on Burgess Beach January 09. This is my first attempt at using Flickr to add photos to my blog!

Module Three

Google Docs - facinating! Initially when I explored the program I simply saw it as something I wanted to show my teenage girls. I thought that at last I've found a way of not always having to have all those teens over at my house working on a group assignment. Yes they could collaboratively work on an assignment from their own homes!!!

However as I continued to "play" I started to see the benefits that it could have at a staff level. So this is where I set off on my own first project. I decided to create a form to survey staff as to where and when they wanted to have our end of year function - that way no one could complain! Well they thought I was pretty clever when they received their flash email with their online survey to fill in. Staff responses came in quickly and feedback was honest as a level of privacy was given.

I'm now also seeing it's potential in the classroom. As I already do a lot of collaborative teaching/ learning in my class, I can see how google docs can be extended into this. Having children working in small groups contributing to a whole class document would be a great starting point for me. I could also see the benefits of children completeing their research presentations through Google Docs. I think it would be more engaging for the students to be able to directly access a presentaion document rather than them all sitting around one SMARTboard just viewing.