POWERPOINT & Windows movie Maker

Powerpoint !!!

PowerPoint is a presentation software program that is part of the Microsoft Office package.
PowerPoint uses a graphical approach to presentations in the form of slide shows that accompany the oral delivery of the topic. This program is widely used in business and classrooms and is an effective tool when used for training or educational purposes.

As a primary school student myself we learnt what there was to know about powerpoints, however I did not fully comprehend the possibilities of powerpoint.In my opinion powerpoint is used or has been used to a great extent but only ever scratching the surface of its potential.In my 2nd year of university I came across powerpoint in the context of creating a game show based upon the theme of scientific classification. As a third term subject we had to create a learning tool that would help us teach something to do with a scientific subject.Although the powerpoint became a bit tedious to create, the effort to create it was worth it.Being in a prep classroom for a pract, I used many powerpoint presentation to show concepts to my students.We had a unit on farm animals where I created powerpoints for each of the different farm animals.this was fun to create with the different pictures of the different life stages of animals and the sounds that these animals made.This brought in a real world experience for students who possibly have not seen these animals in real life. As "city kids" these students deserved to be engaged in real world activities even when access to these experiences is not possible.This is why powerpoint presentations are effective.

Windows Movie Maker....

Just like powerpoint, windows movie maker is a presentation software program that is also part of the Microsoft Office package.Movie maker gives you the tools to create, edit, and share home movies. Compile and edit a movie from video clips with drag-and-drop functionality. Add special effects, music, and narration with ease. Share your movie over the Web or master it to DVD media. This program allows students to create and edit their own movies and presentations in a fun and interesting way.Students can go through the process of taking pictures or movies with a camera or video camera to capture what ever it is that is desired and go through the process of editing those photos or films to create their own movies.

References-

cnet.com& Microsoft ( 2008) Definition of moviemaker : viewed 14/8/10- http://download.cnet.com/Windows-Movie-Maker-Windows-XP/3000-13631_4-10165075.html

microsoft & ask.com (2000) What is microsoft powerpoint : view 14/8/10- http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointtipsandfaqs/f/ppt_overview.htm

Wikis and weebly....

what are wikis?....


A wiki is a type of website that allows visitors themselves to easily add, remove and otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration.( wikipedia)



A wiki is a database of pages which visitors can edit live."
The building blocks of wikis are the "comments" from visitors.




You can generally edit a page in real time, search the wiki's content, and view updates since your last visit. In a "moderated wiki," wiki owners review comments before addition to the main body of a topic.
















(wiki.com 2008)



The most common of all the wikis is wikipedia- ( the evil arch enemy of high school teachers)

Because wikis can be changed by anyone, most times information gained from wikis such as wikipedia can be misleading or incorrect.When using these sites a person should not take all information to be correct as there are some people out there who deliberately or maybe unintentionally change the content and information of a wiki page.



Apart from wikipedia and prior to my e-learning tute I had had little or no experience of wikis and until now had not seen the educational possibilities of a wiki.



In 1999, the world Wide Web inventor sir Tim Berners-Lee looked back on the previous decade and lamented: "I wanted the web to be what I call an interactive space where eveybody can edit."



with this said using ICTs such as wikis can play a big part in the classroom



Using Wikis in the classroom-

Wikis encourage group social interaction and collaboration and support asynchronous communication allowing users to contribute at a time, and from a place that suits them. Many students find that their learning is most effective when they are actively involved in the construction of their knowledge. (DET 2010)



Although wikis are able to be changed by other people, this is not necessarily a disadvantage.

This site below shows how a teacher and his Grade 3-4 students at Bellaire Primary School in Geelong, Victoria, used a wiki to actively engage his students by joint constructing a choose your own adventure story page.

http://terrythetennisball.wikispaces.com/



When thinking about using wikis in my classroom, it leads me to consider the whole class profile of my students.

• what age my students are and their interests and hobbies at this time.


• what does the curriculum inform myself to do in each KLA.


• what units are we currently exploring


• if I do use a wiki how can I effectivly use this tool to my advantage


• how much time should be invested in the wiki

Another tool that we learnt about in the tute was Weebly.

Weebly....

Being very similar to wikis, weebly is an online program the helps you create your own website! it boasts "A Variety of Content Elements,If you can imagine it, you can do it with Weebly. Add pictures, videos, music and audio, documents, maps, and photo galleries. Sell products, accept online bookings, create a contact form, or arrange your pages in multiple columns. Drag on slideshows, files, forums, games, RSS feeds, or any other HTML embed code -- all by simply dragging and dropping.
Powerful Blogging FeaturesPost your thoughts and receive comments using our super slick blogging features. Weebly supports an unlimited number of blogs within your website, with full comment moderation features allowing an open, moderated, or closed conversation. "

This site has a lot of potential for interactive and engaging learning experiences.Because so many things can be added to your page and as a LM requires only a minimal amount of time to create this tool is a fun and creative learning tool to have under your belt.the learning possibilities is limitless as you are only limited to your imagination.

References-

wiki.com (2008) wiki.com-viewed 12/8/10 : http://www.wiki.com/whatiswiki.htm

Bellaire Primary school (2006) Terry the Tennis ball choose your own adventure wiki- viewed 12/8/10:http://terrythetennisball.wikispaces.com/

weebly,Inc (2010) weebly-viewed 7/8/10 : http://www.weebly.com/

BLOGS....

In today’s society we only have to listen to conversation in the lunchroom at work, in the classroom at school or even listening to the news on the radio or TV to hear words like –Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and Blogs.

These “Things” are all communication tools to link us to the wider community and the world.


Blogs (short for web Logs) are basically a personal online journal that is updated regularly for the entertainment or use for the general public as a communication tool. These websites allow individuals or groups to get their opinions heard/read about social issues, business, personal issues or for educational practices.


As an addicted user of Facebook and having had a few dalliances with Twitter and Myspace, ( as most uni students are...you only have to look over your shoulder in the uni library computer room to see evidence of this social addiction)I like to think that I have kept pace with the ever new and evolving social networking and information based technologies, but I haven't had much to do with blogs. Let’s say I am not by any means an expert on blogs, however if we think of blogs in terms of being not that different to Facebook (a communication tool) then the term blog doesn’t seem so intimidating.



As a university student I can see how blogs can be an effective learning tool for myself as a student and as a future Learning Manager.Because blogs are essentially journals, a record of a learning journey can be effectively and efficiently logged to show a students progression throughout a learning experience.

Education Perspective-
Blogs provide a communication space that teachers can utilise with students whenever there is a curriculum need to develop writing, share ideas and reflect on work being undertaken in the classroom. From an education perspective the availability and ease of use of blogging software makes creating blogs a viable classroom activity and a means for teachers to communicate with other teachers.
(Deta 2010)
what does this mean for the curriculum?

Using ICT as a tool for learning enables students to:

• Efficiently and effectively access digital information to assist with investigating issues, solving problems and decision making produce creative solutions to support learning and develop new understandings in areas of learning.
• Communicate, share and work collaboratively in local and global environments
• Understand the legal, ethical and health and safety implications of using ICT and their responsibilities as users and developers
• Develop new thinking and learning skills to support learning. (Deta 2010)

ICTs and in particular blogs can be used in any KLA.Because blogs are effective at showing an individuals learning journey this makes it easier for a Learning Manager (LM) to track a students progress essentially making it easier on the LM to gather and record evidence for assessment and reporting purposes.(Deta 2010)

References-

Department of education (2010) Resourcing the curriculum: viewed 9/8/10 http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/index.htm

searchwindevelopment.com (2000) Blogs : viewed 10/8/10

http://searchwindevelopment.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid8_gci214616,00.html