ECOMP6008 The Last Week

This class has wound down with our final project being a class website. We were to incorporate some of the places and ideas we have explored this term. I used the original site I have at school but added  some additions from Google as well as Wikispaces and have a few other plans in the works. Winter break will be busy.

One project I plan to use is to create a teacher page of technology sites and ideas. I plan to take ones we have explored and offer them to the staff. I can also make it a password protected site so only staff members may access. Ideas to create a Wikispace  for us to communicate better (we are one school in two buildings) and to work on new initiatives, at the same time. Delicious is also a site not many use so I hope to create some new converts.

So I plan to be busy and really appreciate the comments and suggestions from my professor and classmates. Another worthwhile class!

ECOMP 6008- Week 7

Week 7- a look back….

Wikis that appears to be a platform that I was not completely comfortable to explore with my students. But now that I know more about them and what platforms have more safety nets to help my students along and to protect their use, I am seeing many different collaborative projects. At this time I have begun a wiki and hope to get my students on board next after the holidays. I will use winter vacation to plan it and complete it. (Who said teachers had too many vacation days???) I am planning on getting permission slips to go along with the assignment, since the children will have an email address (though temporarily) through the site.

Chapter 7- The reference sources in this chapter are helpful. They are a good exercise to use before we set the students on a WWW exploration. Students tend to take what they read on the web as fact and do not analyze the different sources. This chapter is a good reference and guide to get the children to explore different sites and see what works and what does not.

ECOMP6008 Week 6

Week 6- Time sure does fly by quickly. During week 6, we have looked at Wikis place and their place in the classroom. I have been able to find one that is as secure as a Wiki can be, but I still want to examine it carefully before I invite the students to work on projects through a Wiki. Hopefully by January, that will be a possibility. I added more bookmarks to delicious and found some really interesting sites to examine later. Some may be very useful in the classroom.

The Text- Chapter 3 How To Validate Information On the Web

The text introduces the acronym REAL to use to remind students to validate the websites the visit. It also has a very good activity to help take students through the process. Students need to be taught how to pick and choose the correct site. Too many times we hear them talking about something new they have seen on the web and on further investigation we find out that the event, or information was a hoax. The chapter gives many good activities that can be easily adapted to allow students to become better web consumers.

Chapter 4- Look At The Links

The last step in the REAL acronym is the L or Looking at the links. The chapter examines how to breakdown the parts of the links. It also hits upon something I do sometimes, but not with full concentration. That would be looking at the links from the viewed webpage. Where do they take you? Are they related to the content of the original page? What do these added links have to say about the original intent of the webpage? Can you navigate away and get back or are you lead astray to a sight you can never seem to get out. Some very good ideas and concepts to bring up with students for the next time we are browsing.