Inspiration and M&Ms

In my first post, I talked about using Inspiration to create mind maps and concept maps. Inspiration can also be used to re-tell stories.

In this week's workshop, we used Inspiration to re-tell one of the Dreaming animations from the ABC's Dust Echoes site. This is my retelling of the 'Brolga' animation:

It's really easy to capture the images from the animation and put them into Inspiration. When watching the animation, you press 'pause' at the point you want to capture. Then, press 'print screen' and copy that image into Paint. Cut out the image from the animation and drop it into Inspiration.

Using Inspiration to retell a story in this way requires students to identify the main ideas or events within a story, as well as to sequence those ideas or events. Retelling is a part of the VELS standards in the English domain, and this program could easily be used by students to enhance and add to this part of the curriculum.

The actual Dust Echoes site is also a great resource for students and teachers. The ABC site features 12 animated Dreamtime stories from Arnhem land.















As well as the animations, the site has:

• study guides
• a glossary
• wallpapers
• quizzes

It also has a 'Mash Up' section, where students can use clips from the animation to make their own one minute version of the story. In the classroom, 'Mash Up' could be used in a similar way to Inspiration.

M&Ms

In this week's workshop, we also completed a M&M graphing activity. This activity would be a great way for students to explore Microsoft Excel and graphing.

Pairs of students should be given a packet of M&Ms, count the colours present in the packet, and complete a table with their results:

	Colour	Quantity
1	blue	8
2	brown	12
3	red	15
4	orange	7
5	yellow	4
6	green	7

Students can then use these results to create a graph in Excel:

Obviously, students could use the program to create any kind of graph. Letting students explore the different kinds of graphs available could lead to an interesting and useful discussion about what kinds of graphs are suitable for certain situations and data. In this case, for this kind of data, a pie or bar graph would be most appropriate. Students could also pool their data and come up with a class graph.

• An interesting way to follow on from this activity would be to use the data to explore probability and ratios.

Jumping Frogs and Quizzes

In this week's workshop, we explored design as a learning tool. In pairs, we were given five things:

• Small piece of cardboard
• Picture of a frog
• 1 Rubber band
• Small amount of sticky tape
• Scissors

With these tools, we had to create a jumping frog.

This is what my partner and I came up with:

In our design, when you press down on the cardboard the frog is supposed to jump into the air.

Here it is in action:

Design tasks such as these aim to develop students' ability to use higher order thinking. When used in the classroom, it is important to give students a design brief so that they are given a set task and then utilise their own thinking to come up with a solution. Students shouldn't be told how to complete the design, but rather what their design must achieve.

QUIA

If students can develop their higher order thinking through creating, then the QUIA website is an extremely valuable tool for teachers. QUIA can be used by teachers to make quizzes for students, but I think the most valuable way in which the website can be used is by getting students to make their own quizzes. The ability to make their own quiz on a given topic displays higher order thinking and mastery of that topic.

Using QUIA, I made a quiz on bicycles:

http://www.quia.com/quiz/2514029.html

The website could be used to make a quiz on any subject, and there are a variety of formats and lengths of quizzes. The possibilities are endless, but one example of how it could be used in the classroom is for peer assessment. For example, at the end of an integrated sequence or unit, students could develop a quiz which would then be used to assess their peers.

The QUIA website also has many activity makers. Students (or teachers) can make their own learning activities which could be used in a similar way to the quizzes. Examples of the learning activities include:

• Matching games
• Flashcards
• Hangman
• Battleship
• Word Search

Using the program, I made my own hangman activity: http://www.quia.com/hm/668221.html

Microsoft Publisher and ePortfolios

ePortfolios

Teachers need Portfolios. But do we need ePortfolios? Is this another case of using technology for technology's sake, or does it add value to our learning and to our Portfolio? Like all use of technology, the use of technology should add to a teacher's portfolio, not just be a gimmick or an alternative mode of delivery. According to Woodward and Nanlohy, digital portfolios are valuable not only for the 'end product', but for the process that the teacher goes through when developing the portfolio. ePortfolios provide opportunities for layering and interactivity and also provide opportunities for learning about technology.

Since ICT is increasingly becoming embedded in primary schools, teachers need to be competent and effective technology users. Perhaps then, the greatest advantage of an ePortfolio is to showcase to prospective employers your ability to use technology. ePortfolios then, can be seen as a tool for both reflection and engagement.

I am currently working on creating my ePortfolio in Microsoft Powerpoint. Microsoft Publisher is another program that I considered using. In the end though, I opted for Powerpoint since I have more experience with this program. Luckily, in this week's workshop I gained some more experience with Publisher when we used the program to create a brochure.

This video outlines the basics on creating a Brochure using Microsoft Publisher:

Microsoft Publisher in the Classroom

In this week's workshop we used Microsoft Publisher to create a brochure for a country that we'd like to visit. The program was suprisingly easy to use (see tutorial video above). My (unfinished) attempt at a brochure looks something like this:

Microsoft Publisher could easily be utilised in the classroom. Obviously, creating brochures could be used as a method for students to research a country, but there are many other ways in which Publisher could be used. Some examples could be:

• Visual aids for oral presentations
• Presenting research projects
• Creating a class newspaper
• Exploring different text-types

In my first teaching placement, I saw Publisher used in a mathematics rich assessment task. Students were doing a series of maths lessons on 'four cube houses'. The unit culminated in students designing a brochure that advertised their 'estate'. This brochure presented all of their learning throughout the unit and was an example of a real and meaningful way to use technology in the classroom.