Microsoft Publisher

                                                                                                                                                    25/08/2010 

Hello,

In today's lecture I had learnt about ePortfolio's. I did not know what an ePortfolio was until today's lecture. I now know that an ePortfolio is, a 'digital or electronic portfolio'. It is the collection of  individuals work, ideas, reflections, achievements and progress developed across time (across all disciplines) -unassisted and annotated. As new work is completed the portfolio gets updated. 

In the first part of today's workshop I had learnt how to set up an ePortfolio using Microsoft Publisher. I had learnt how to change settings, save work and use certain features such as choosing a website template when creating an ePortfolio. I had also set up a table of contexts and learnt how to change the titles to what I consider appropriate and relevant. I was comfortable using Microsoft Publisher as I am familiar with the program. Therefore I will be considering to use this program in the future when I need to create my ePortfolio.

There were several websites that I found useful to refer to when creating my ePortfolio. These included;

(1) Mahara: http://mahara.org/about/eportfolios

(2) Innovate; Journal of Online Education : http://www,innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=369

These sites allowed me to grasp a better understanding of the term ePortfolio and to understand that an ePortfolio offers ways of making meaning of information through reflection and social construction.  

The second part to today's workshop was designing a brochure, using Microsoft Publisher. The reason for this activity was to see how I could use this activity in my classroom.  I first explored the program and then decided to pick my favourite holiday destination and make a brochure of it. The aim of the brochure was to invite others to come and visit this beautiful  holiday destination. I had conducted some research on my favourite holiday destination which is the Greek Islands. I then looked for eye-catching pictures that best represent this destination. Photos included beaches, Islands, a map and towns. I then decide to put my brochure together. So my front cover consisted of the title of the destination followed by a picture. I then put my information about the destination inside the brochure. The type of information that was included were prices, hotels/resorts and some information on the culture of the Greek Islands. I had also included a picture of a map to show where the Islands are located followed by a picture of a view from one of the resorts on the Island.

I believe this is a fantastic activity for students to complete as they learn how to use Microsoft Publisher, they learn what a brochure is , features that are required, while learning to conduct research and be creative. This would be a fantastic assessment for grade 3-6 students and can be used across all subjects. e.g. English- this activity could be used to describe a town or place that their novel is set in.   

My Brochure: Santorini

My Inspiration

19/08/2010

Hello,
In today's lecture I had been introduced to the use of Technology (ICT) in the 21st century. According to Podolski, (2008) 'Technology is a part of students' everyday lives, and substantial advances in technology have profoundly affected the way they learn. As a result, educators are working hard to meet the ever-evolving needs of 21st century learners'.

In today's lecture, I had also been introduced to Ultranet, which I learnt is a state-wide, secure site, that students, parents and teachers can access via the Internet. I learnt that this site will provide a new learning space and more opportunities for information sharing across the Victorian government school system.
 I also learnt that, education and the Internet are two significant change agents in the current global environment. Skills that are required in the 21st century workforce include; critical thinking, problem solving, innovation, collaboration, life and career and information, media and technology. These skills are achieved through collaboration technologies and are enabled by key system reforms.

I personally do not believe my technology skills and knowledge are up to date that's why  I am looking forward to the Learning Technology lectures and workshops. I believe these classes will help me to improve my technology skills (by exploring and evaluating different child safe programs) and knowledge (with help from peers) so that I can teach my students the skills and knowledge they require in order to meet the substantial advances in technology, (changes in education).

In the first part of today's Learning Technologies workshop I had learnt about what a blog is, as I was unaware of what the term blog meant . I then learnt how to set up and create my own blog by visiting http://www.blogger.com/.  As a class we then looked at how to use the blog. We were taught how to save our work,  how to add pictures and add website references that we believe be to very useful in the teaching profession. Some of these websites included

ICT for Visualising: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/ict/visualising/default.htm  ICT for Creating: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/ict/creating/default.htm and ICT for Communicating: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingresources/ict/communication/default.htm

I have never set up my own blog before nor have I ever set up a facebook account, myspace account etc. Therefore this was an interesting and very useful workshop for me.

The second part of today's workshop was exploring the program  'Inspiration'. Ive never used this program before so I was very excited to learn about it. I learnt that the  first step in using the program is selecting what icon you would like to use. Today I had explored using the create a diagram and mind map icons. In the create a diagram icon I had inserted pictures that best represent myself, without having to use words. This activity allowed me to explore different parts of the program and get a feel of how to insert pictures, background colours and text, as well as to teach myself about the program in order to be able to teach my students how to use this fantastic program. Today I had also designed a spot the difference and similarities activity, using the create a diagram icon. This can be seen below. I had decided to pick an activity that was based on the theme of animals as it is a popular theme that is taught to students in primary school. I based my activity for students working towards  VELS Levels 1 and 2. The activity I had designed allowed students to make comparisons, associations and identify different types of animals.  I found the program quite useful as it allows students to explore and be creative using text and pictures . From this, teachers could set an activity for their students to do, based on a theme of what the students have been learning.

 Today we had also used the mind map icon, where I had chosen the topic of turtles and made branch's talking about the turtle. The different type of text that are branched off the topic, turtle, were food, habitat etc. This can be seen below. This is a very useful activity for students to use as it allows them to learn to brainstorm ideas before they write a story in this case, based on turtles.

                                                               

                                               Inspiration Program

                                               

       The use of the Create a Diagram Icon

  Pictures that represent myself

Mind Map: Topic Turtles