The Learning Technology Team

Using Vokis in Wiki’s!

I have been using vokis on wikis with our youth General Education students in our CGVE (Cert II in General & Education -year 10) and LLNP (Language, Literacy & Numeracy Program) courses. Both groups are very keen. Initially the Fun Factor was major but the more the students do the more benefits I see they are getting from these activities.

I have set up a wiki for each group in www.wetpaint.com this is a commercial site, but after you have set up the wiki you can email them to have the advertising removed (you will see this has happened on the LLNP wiki & will happen soon on the CGVE wiki).

High student benefits and engagement

The students value having their own site that they can access from home to show their parents and friends what they’re doing at TAFE. They just love vokis, they provide great experience in drafting scripts to record, choosing their visual image, clothing, hair etc to present themselves. By listening to the recordings and self evaluating their speech, they are able to express themselves in a safe, non-threatening way.

I have seen lots of development in students from creating vokis- it was a great way to get students in CGVE to choose the topic for their major projects (an integrated assessment task involving 6 units). The students had to introduce the topic and explain why they chose it- each student seemed to take ownership of the topic because they had to think, then write a very short script, record, evaluate, listen & see others viewing their work on the wiki.

We also have vokis introducing the students and staff. On the wiki we’ve created slide shows made in www.slide.com, signs made in www.flamingtext.com, we’ve started using the discussion area and created a suggestions page. Soon we will be loading samples of work. The CGVE students are keen to upload some vokis they made recently about the lack of accommodation for youth in our area which support their letter writing activity on this topic.

More Information

I have attached a table outlining the benefits of using wikis and vokis with Gen Ed students and the instructions on Making Voki’s are on the Institute e-Learning Kit. There are some instructions on flaming text and inserting them into your wiki here.

Please feel free to go and look at our wikis www.llnp.wetpaint.com and www.cgve08.wetpaint.com

Hope you enjoy these resources. If you would like some assistance with using wikis and vokis, or ideas for use with your students please email me or ring on ext 50640.

What’s Changed…

Arts & Media staff experimenting & embracing these technologies, some of whom at my first technology presentation were sceptical that these Web 2.0 tools could benefit them or their classes.

After all, how can you use these tools when we teach practical skills!

Gains for me …

• Broadening my own technology skills
• Working and learning with a great group of like minded people who make up the LTT.
• Working collaboratively with A&M staff across the institute & using the technologies to do this – using connect to assist with wiki and Moodle creation.
• Experimenting with tools & skills that can engage Gen Y – devolver, podcasts, slideshare, flicka
• Engaging my students and encouraging them to work collaboratively with Wiki, Blogs & Moodle

Issues…

Time will always be my biggest issue…

• time to experiment & expand my skills
• time to put it all into practice
• time to share
• …but I’ll keep at it cause it’s great.

Using the iPod with Trainees in the Workplace

I have used my iPOD to record conversations I have with trainees when I visit their workplace. The trainees love it because I send them the audio file later and they can listen to the conversation and it reminds them of what theyneed to do before the next time I visit. Really cool!!!

Using the iPod for Interviews

I have also used the iPOD to interview a teacher about her experience with technology in the classroom. Just by showing her what’s possible. She went on to try using a video camera when assessing students. First, she made the recording, then created a little movie which she forwarded to her students for self assessment. The teacher loved it and said she would use it again.

A resource worth exploring

JISC InfoNet UK have just launched a really good Info Kit on e-Portfolios. The site explores good practice in the use of e-portfolios as a support to learning, and the infoKit on e-Portfolios covers the main drivers, purposes, processes, perspectives and issues around e-portfolio use. The soundbites and video stories from students are also worth a visit. What’s an e-Portfolio?

“These resources not only provide a valuable synthesis of information about e-portfolios, but also shed light on why e-portfolios are becoming the subject of increasing attention in all educational sectors and may even turn out to be the tools of choice for 21st century learners. The resources illustrate e-portfolio use at the very heart of student learning, capable of supporting more informed and effective progression onto the next stage of education, into employment and through a range of opportunities for learning across a lifetime.” JISC InfoNet

Make sure you check out the Effective Practice with e-Portfolios’ publication and the ‘Role of e-Portfolio’s in assessment practices’.

benefits of being part of the LTT…

it has made me think differently about they way I teach…this has led me to try new tools for a number of reasons…

• to see how the tools work and how well they work
• so I can “spread the word” to colleagues … hopefully changing/effecting the way they teach…for the better (I hope)

Thanks to the LTT I have been exposed to a wide range of Web 2.0 tools which I may not have been otherwise exposed to. I have learned a lot.

Some of the issues I face include…

• I have been disseminating information to the faculty about e-learning…thats the easy part…but is anyone listening?
• having time to explore the possibilities of these tools so that I can pass that information on.

Overall, its all good and inspiring.

Question: What are the benefits of being part of the LTT?

Answer:

• Networking within an institute
• Getting to think about doing things differently
• Skilling up
• Access to cool new technologies

Being apart of The Learning Technologies Team (LTT) I have personally observed many benefits:

Firstly:

• It has made my delivery for all delivery modes more interesting to my students.
• The workplace students and employers see the tools we use as state of the art and innovative.
• Our Community Pharmacy Industry partner is engaged and interested with our use of elearning.
• Distance students have benefited from our use of web tools.

Secondly:

Being apart of The LTT has given me great confidence in using and demonstrating these technologies and their benefits which I have been able to share with my colleagues.  My colleagues now know who to ask and receive help from and where to find it.

It’s been an extremely rewarding journey and I loved every minute of it, it’s great to be part of an innovative and exciting team.

Yesterday my journey continued without even leaving my desk – that’s the beatuy of Adobe Connect. I was able to assist Steve Williams from Great Lakes create a wiki for his Sculpture students.

Steve wanted a space for his students to upload weekly images of their work for comment by staff and other students.

Coaching and Mentoring using Adobe Connect

From within my connect room Steve was able to, as a presenter, take control of the room and display his wiki. We were then able to practice editing his wiki navigation, editing pages by adding text and images and invite his students to the wiki.

The great benefit was that Steve was doing the alterations with me “looking over his shoulder” and offering direction and support. A much more valuable lesson for Steve than just watching how it was done or having it done for him. With the able assistance of his TA Rose, they will be able to have their students up and interacting on the new wiki soon.

In actual fact, there were comments left in the discussion space from one of his students within 15mins of our support session ending.

With Connect, I’ll be able to quickly demostrate/answer any futher queires as they arise as their wiki journey continues.

As an aside, another Connect story…

I had a desperate teacher phone me with a Moodle query last week. She was trying to upload an IMS content package and getting very frustrated. A 5min link up in a connect room and we were able to retifiy the problem.

As a result of my sessions with my connect buddies and support from Des and Alex, I’m feeling much more comfortable and able to assist other staff with this technology.

Hi, I’m Lisa Terry – Primary Industry & Natural Resources FeLC (Faculty e-Learning Contact). I’m also Head Teacher of seafood located at Trenayr campus (just out of Grafton).

The Connect Confidence sessions I have done so far have been a great learning experience. Averil Harris was my buddy for the first 2 sessions, we had a few laughs as we worked out where things were and how to use them. I was impressed with Averils preparation for the sessions and apprecitated the images, sites and poetry she shared with me.

I think the thing that I enjoy about the connect session is that it is a very personal connection which is not always the case with online communication tools.

My students (except for a group in Coffs) are all distance students and we have been using various forms of online support and delivery for many years with them. I am keen to trial using Connect as a tutorial tool with distance students. As they will be connecting from home. It will be intersting to see if bandwidth becomes a problem though.

Hi All,

The web link below has a very extensive list of Aboriginal Bush Foods, some Aboriginal & European history and then on the Test Yourself page there are some clozes, crosswords, matching activities as follow up.

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/bushtucker/index.html

There is also an assignment word doc (which could be adapted to suit your students) on creating a poster on Aboriginal Bush Foods.

This site may be useful for your students interested in Bush Food as a topic- the reading and the activities are fairly high but with assistance may be interesting to some.

Note on resource use

The site creator states the activities may be used for educational purposes.

Image: ‘coffee beans’

Try this great web activity for teenagers to develop knowledge in evaluating web sites- I have created a worksheet to use with the web activity which you can download here.

• HTML Link
• Flash Link
  

Some of the other activities on this site are excellent but have Canadian content/data.

The Allies & Aliens is a great activity which involves reading and interpreting info “to recognize bias, prejudice and hate propaganda on the Internet and in other media.”

Image: ‘three woman shoppping at the web’