I wish that I still had access to my Moodle build because I think I did a fantastic job of creating a novel study unit there and I would like to be able to share it here again. In building this unit I started with the end in mind. I looked at what activities I wanted students to do and felt that I should require students to collaborate and use critical thinking skills in reflecting upon the novel that they had just read, so I chose resources from the internet and then developed activities and discussion topics around them. I chose some cool multimedia to incorporate into my unit so that students would be engaged and want to do more (got them hooked), and then outlined how I would go about building it on the site. I jumped in with both feet and started adding resources, quizzes, forums and assignments and went from there. Though I was new to Moodle, I found it fairly easy to pick up and once I got the hang of things, very easy to build a unit of study there.
So instead of showing you my Moodle build, I've included a link to a blog post outlining a variety of LMS and non-LMS tools that I created for an assignment in 504:
http://krisslearnsonline.weebly.com/504-blog.html . In case you don't have time to read it (or have already read and marked it) it basically details a number of tools that I use or would use in the classroom. I have (with the permission of myself, the original author) included a short excerpt here:
So instead of showing you my Moodle build, I've included a link to a blog post outlining a variety of LMS and non-LMS tools that I created for an assignment in 504:
http://krisslearnsonline.weebly.com/504-blog.html . In case you don't have time to read it (or have already read and marked it) it basically details a number of tools that I use or would use in the classroom. I have (with the permission of myself, the original author) included a short excerpt here:
"In terms of building community and supporting effective communication, I would use tools like: Edmodo, Wallwisher, Facebook, Blackboard Collaborate, Collaborize Classroom, Weebly, ePals and my Virtual Classroom. To provide continual access to content, I would likely employ: Weebly, Dreamweaver, Googledrive and, again, my Virtual Classroom. And to complete assessment of, for and as learning and provide timely and effective feedback I would use applications like: Weebly, Learnboost, SonicPics, email, blog posts, fluidsurveys, Socrative and Rubistar."
I will detail only a few of my chosen resources here. First, I have found Weebly to be an easy to use and intuitive program. I already have many ideas for improving my own original site to make it a more dynamic and engaging ePortfolio. I also hope to use Weebly with my students next year as a place for them to access and share information, show evidence of their own learning and track their learning progress over the course of the school year. As I finish this particular website I do feel limited in what I can do and show in terms of demos and videos but I think it would be an appropriate tool for elementary students to use for that purpose. I really appreciate how easy it is to use to present evidence, share reflections on that evidence and blog to share ideas. This is definitely a tool I will make use of a lot in my future classrooms.
As I noted in my blog post, I am also very fortunate to have access to a 'Virtual Classroom' powered by Avantage on the Microsoft Sharepoint platform. This has been a great place for students in my classroom to be able to post material, upload and download class photos, access assignments, participate in wiki and blogging activities and keep up to date via our class calendar.
As I noted in my blog post, I am also very fortunate to have access to a 'Virtual Classroom' powered by Avantage on the Microsoft Sharepoint platform. This has been a great place for students in my classroom to be able to post material, upload and download class photos, access assignments, participate in wiki and blogging activities and keep up to date via our class calendar.
Students have enjoyed working within this resource and are eager to share their blogs and comment on each others work via their dashboards.
Finally I want to make a note of some apps that I use on mobile devices in the classroom. To be completely honest, the thing that initially drew me to the OLTD program was the second year line up of courses which include Social Media, Cloud Computing and Mobile Learning and Gaming. Having used iPods and iPads in the classroom for the last two school years, I was eager to do coursework that was fully aligned with what I am doing in the classroom. Although the intent wasn't to become an online teacher, I am getting to be more comfortable in the environment and looking for ways to incorporate more and more technology into my classroom. (in doing the last assignment of contributing to a non-LMS wiki, I came to the conclusion that it's time for me to go all out and actually use an online grading system - so behind the times!).
So here are a few of my favourite apps:
Finally I want to make a note of some apps that I use on mobile devices in the classroom. To be completely honest, the thing that initially drew me to the OLTD program was the second year line up of courses which include Social Media, Cloud Computing and Mobile Learning and Gaming. Having used iPods and iPads in the classroom for the last two school years, I was eager to do coursework that was fully aligned with what I am doing in the classroom. Although the intent wasn't to become an online teacher, I am getting to be more comfortable in the environment and looking for ways to incorporate more and more technology into my classroom. (in doing the last assignment of contributing to a non-LMS wiki, I came to the conclusion that it's time for me to go all out and actually use an online grading system - so behind the times!).
So here are a few of my favourite apps:
Sonic Pics is an amazing app that allows you to take pictures and record your own voice narrating a presentation while you scroll through the pictures. I've used this tool in the classroom for students to create presentations in math, fine arts and social studies. It is easy to use, allows for creativity of the user and files are easily shared via email or simply watched on screen. What a great presentation tool!
Yes, there's an app for that! I have signed in to our collaborate sessions on the iPad and, though I haven't used it in my own classroom, I see it as an invaluable collaboration tool for online environments. Though some options are restricted in the app version, you get the basic functionality and ability to talk, provide video feed and chat during sessions, much like you would with the online version. This allows for ease of accessibility and convenience for your learners (students don't have to be at home in front of their computer, they could be travelling or working and still be able to check in).
A very cool quizzing tool. Teachers sign up (for free) and are given a 'room number' which they provide to their students. Teachers can then push quizzes, tests, exit tickets and surveys to users who are logged into that room. You can graph results to share (making it invaluable for instant survey results which can lead to great class discussions) or have answers sent in an Excel spreadsheet to your email for marking. I have used this app in so many ways over the last year and a half and student buy in and engagement is huge.