Web spaces
Web Spaces
“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”
– John Dewey
Introduction
The multitude of online spaces that are currently available provides a vast variety of different educational platforms that can be utilised in many ways. The mindmap above displays a small number of web space options that would be beneficial for educational purposes, these can webspace have an unlimited amount of uses depending upon the lesson objective and the creativity of the teacher and students.
Web spaces were once considered a tool whereby information could be gathered and learnt from, this was initially the case during Web 1 (1991), however, with the growing opportunities presented in web spaces today, we can not only learn new knowledge and skills we can collaborate, create, present, build, reflect and interact on a wide scale.
Teachers can use online sites for students to contribute and learn collaborative on a whole class level, they can then use this to assist with feedback between peers or teacher and student whilst following student progress with ease. Students have the opportunity to display and share their work and progress within a unit of work not only with their peers in their classroom but with the wider community, people at home and worldwide. This opens opportunities for further learning, feedback from others and insight into others' viewpoints.
Online sites can provide more chances for student-led learning and problem-based learning, providing students with the chance to express their knowledge and skills in a way that combines their interests with the unit content. Thus, allowing more room for real-world, authentic links that apply to the students every day lives.
Blogs
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| Source: https://www.pxfuel.com/en/free-photo-iunyh |
This past few weeks I have set up my first ever "Blogger" account. I have spent some time exploring its potential whilst learning and making many mistakes. I have managed to successfully link my blog to my google sites, I was surprised at how easy it was to do.
You can find my website here: https://sites.google.com/cqumail.com/digitallearningwithkaty/home
Some aspects that I found particularly useful were being able to preview my post or page before publishing, this is a great tool as often it may not look the way I envisioned and it gives me a chance to correct it before showing the world. It's useful that you can preview the page from a desktop, tablet or iPhone as often some sites or layouts just don't look good on a smaller screen.
I can invite more people to be authors on my blog which I think is an extremely useful tool for collaboration and utilising other people's expertise.
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| Source: Screenshot from settings |
It is very easy and straightforward to invite other under the settings tab, this would be of huge benefit to group work within a classroom. It's also possible to change the reader's access, the blog can be made public, authors only or a customised list of people only, the only thing I believe would be more beneficial is to have a password-protected area to enable students to see only sections of a teacher blog, however, this could potentially be a tool that I haven't managed to find as yet.
When creating a post within Blogger it couldn't be easier to embed videos, photos, and links, the toolbar across the top has multiple options for customising and even choosing a future date to post the blog. This is even more useful for teachers and students. Teachers can plan ahead by setting tasks, writing out instructions and delivering activities and then setting the time and date that this will be delivered to students. Likewise, students can complete work ahead of time and set the post to publish when appropriate.
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| Source: screenshot from my blogger editing |
Blogs are a great tool to use within classroom teaching, from exploring setting up and creating my own blog, I have a vast range of capabilities available to me to embed resources, videos and in-depth learning tools.
It allows students to:
- Edit,
- Interact,
- Communicate,
- Create,
- Publish
- Reflect
The potential to customise the blog spaces give students the freedom to explore how to display their work in ways they enjoy and feel expresses their personality, I personally think this is a great addition as it gives the teacher more insight into student's interest and personality whilst also teaching them ICT skills to personalise their space and present their work.
The ease of linking google docs, sheets, maps and many other Google apps means that teachers can easily share lesson content with students. This makes delivering activities and tasks seamless and with student competency in using these web spaces makes it seamless for them to hand in work and display their knowledge and skills.
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| Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/collegelibrary/8595434327 |
Online safety considerations
Teachers have a duty of care to ensure that their students are kept safe to the best of their abilities and this is also true for the online world. When implementing web spaces into teaching the question of students' safety online is raised. This should not deter teachers from implementing ICT and technology into their classrooms but rather upskilling their knowledge surrounding online safety. Teachers should make a common practice of informing and reminding students of what it means to post something online have students become familiar with how to adjust and control privacy settings and ensure students understand what is classed as inappropriate content and behaviour online. This could lead to students signing a contract to say they will not engage in inappropriate behaviours online or access inappropriate content.When looking for resources to assist teachers with implementing these safety rules I found the Queensland Department of Education provides training and resources for Cybersafety,
This link also provides information to parents which is useful for parents who may be hesitant about the incorporation of ICT into their child's education.
Below is a way in which ICT and a blog could be used with students, the table does a comparison of what could be done within the classroom with and without ICT and blogs using the SAMR model.
Conclusion,
There is a multitude of ways that web spaces can transform, inspire and ignite learning within the classroom. It's important to constantly build on and improve our ICT competency and skills as teachers to enable more opportunities for our students to experience deeper learning through ICT and technology.
References:
Queensland Department of Education (2020). Cyber safety in Queensland Schools
Hi Katy, You have meet the criteria and provided a very easy to follow blog with great use of sub headings which allows readers to find specific information quickly. I thought your SAMR model was outlined clearly to the redefinition level of creating. Could there be opportunity for students to connect to professionals in the fitness industry for expert knowledge of fitness components and performance analysis? This would really enhance the connection to real world context.
ReplyDeleteHi Katy
ReplyDeleteThis is a really great post. I am particularly pleased to see that you have identified potential deficiencies with using blogs so that the reader is aware and can make an informed decision as to whether this webspace would be the best tool for their class.
The information is presented in an easy to read manner with lots of visuals to keep the reader engaged. I do think, however, that the post would benefit from more sub-headings, particularly for the learning plan section as it is preceded by the safety protocols section which is not related.
The learning plan you have developed using the SAMR framework is excellent - I can see myself using something similar in my classes. I recommend also linking the SAMR levels to Bloom's Taxonomy so that it is clear there is a track towards higher level of thinking.
Overall, a really informative and useful post. Thanks, Bec
Hi Bec,
DeleteThanks for your comment and feedback, i will definitely add some more subheadings in to make the lay out a little clearer. The link between SAMR and blooms taxonomy is a great addition to provide further information and guidelines of how to reach high order thinking tasks. I will make some adjustments to that section to create that link between SAMR and blooms.
Thanks,
Katy
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Katy,
ReplyDeleteWell done on creating an insightful and interesting blog post.
Firstly, I found your opening statement from John Dewey to be incredibly powerful and set the tone of your blog nicely.
I also found your introductory paragraph on the progression of web spaces to be interesting and informative.
The information you have provided about the different technical aspects relating to creating and using blogs is informative and helped develop my understanding of how blogs can be used to support and improve learning.
Regarding your section relating to the SAMR model, it is great how you included a table to compare learning activities with and without the inclusion of ICTs. This makes it extremely clear to recognise how the inclusion of ICT can positively impact student learning.
Finally, I suggest you consider proofreading your blog as I noticed a few grammar and punctuation errors.
Overall, I think you have created an interesting blog post.
Zac
This was a thorough and thoughtful way to present SAMR in the context of HPE. I like the graphic organiser of the table to explain the concepts. Great imagery included within the text to break it up. I also like the background as it gives interest to the reader. I appreciate the link to the e-safety website for Qld. Perhaps you could link to sites from other states if you had extra time.
ReplyDeleteHi Marie, Thanks for your comment and feedback. Great idea about linking the cyber safety to other states. I lived in NSW for 8 years where i was involved in working with schools so i am familiar with their cyber safety guidelines too. Here is the link if you're interested.
Deletehttps://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/learning-from-home/teaching-at-home/using-technology/esafety
Thanks,
Katy