Happily Blogging!

Find 2 or 3 educational blogs you could use to model to your class as an example of effective blogs.

1) http://healthy-kids.com.au/category/1/blogs

The Healthy Kids Blog is an effective blog that allows students to explore and gain an understandings of issues that surround foods. I would use an age group of Year 4 (10 years old) and upwards. The content and features that make it a good model for use, is that it is colourful and organised in a logical format so students can navigate around the site for easy use. The content focuses on relevant issues that can serve as substantive point for futher classroom discussion.

2) http://www.21classes.com/

The 21 Classes Blog is a blog site that enable teacher to design with students effective class blog in which they can share and learn from each other to enhance there classroom learning experiences. I would use this with Year 9 (15 years old) and upwards. The content of the blog can be modified to the desires of the teacher or class and the features allow the students to be flexible and in control of how their learning is represented.

I went walking....

Copyright....

Copyright at university and schools. Using the links to the Australian Copyright council, work together to answer these questions and post the answers on your own blogs:

Can I copy material from the internet for research?
According to the article on Copyright, I am able to copy material from the internet provided I check the website for copyright statements which apply to the material. I may print or save material if it is for research and study, if the copying is fair and not for the purpose of reproducing copies.

What constitutes research and fair use?
In the Copyright Act, research constitutes the same meaning as what is in the Macquarie Dictionary, 'diligent and systematic enquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover facts or principals'. Fair use, in terms of text or printed music covers 10% of the number of pages or one chapter. Fair use, in relation to text material published in elcetronic form is 10% of the number of words or one chapter, if the work is divided into chapters.

http://www.copyright.org.au/pdf/pdf/acc/infosheets_pdf/g053.pdf/download

Can students (university or school) use music in videos that they make?
As above, in terms of what the Copyright Act deems as what constitutes as research and as long as it is fair, a student may be able to gain provisions to use music and sound recordings as part of their study. Making sure it is fair is classified as something that is only shown within the classroom, not beyond. However, as the act currently states, 'there is no general provision that allows people to copy for personal or private use' and this needs to be considered.

http://www.copyright.org.au/g038.pdf

Week Four Blog Task (",)

Task: Blog 3 key ideas or activities from each reading on your blog that teachers would find useful.

1) HAPPILY BLOGGING @ BELMORE SOUTH

# 1: Blogging is a simple and easy way to enable student learning. It provides a different medium in which teachers can allow students to extend their skills, with a technological resource that has become more relevant to their everyday surroundings, 'blogging is quite simple to set up, easy to control, amd it fits in beautifully with all key learning areas (KLAs) in your room' (p.1)

# 2: For teachers, blogging is a resource that can be used in a variety of different ways for a variety of different things, 'blogs can take many different forms and perform many different functions according to individual and personal needs' (p. 1) For example, class news, discussions, parent information, displays of artwork and posting of assignments.

# 3: Blogs can also serve as a new way of presenting a Quality Teaching environment. In the classroom setting blogs can be controlled buy student and overseen by the teacher so that they meet the needs of the class, 'after viewing a variety of class and individual blogs, a negotiated set of guidelines can be formulated for the class' (p. 2)

Pericles, K. (2008). Happily blogging @ Belmore South. SCAN, 27(2), 4-6 http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/ 

2) LITERACY INSTRUCTION WITH DIGITAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGIES

# 1: Teachers need to be aware of the amount of time students actually have to use resources such as the internet in order to use them effectively. Highlighted in this reading was the fact that while 95% of student classrooms in the United States have access to the internet, 'the average of US students use of computers in school was 12 minutes per week' (p.1). Teacher need to be aware of the fact that while the technology maybe available they really need to create the opportunities to use internet so that students can maximise their opportunities to use what is available to them.

# 2: Positive uses of IM messaging. While IM is seen to be to many as an antisocial activity that has become essential to the teenager of todays' daily life, teachers can use IM messaging to their advantage. Enabling the use of IM activities among the classroom can provide ways in which students can take a new approach to group work, 'students use instant messaging (IM) to pair share during the reading of the story' (p.4).

# 3: Student Techies. Students who are quite technological excelled can be used by teachers as class techies. Barone (2008), highlights how this can give students the opportunity to take control of the class by assisting other students in teaching them their skills. This allows the teacher to take a step back and allow a more student directed approach to activities thus allowing another way in which students can be responsible for their own learning.

Barone, D., & Wright, T.E. (2008). Literacy instruction with digital and media technologies. The Reading Teacher, 62(4). 292-302

Video Review

I thought that this video was a great example of how important it is that internet as a part of the 'new literacies' is taught by teachers and used by students in the correct way. This video highlights the issue of how the internet is used a main source of information but how students may not review the reliability of sources correctly. The danger is that the imformation is gathered at face value for it appears credible. Also demonstrated through the video is the increasing need for teacher education in the area of 'new literacies' so that they can feel more confident in their own technological uses to then project them in the classroom.

New Literacies........

Society is a product of its influences. 

With the rapid increases of technology and the changes in the ways and how we do things, it is inevitable that the concept of literacy would also change. 

'New literacies' therefore, needs to be recognised in terms of teaching and learning as representing the variety of different methods, tools and practices that are now available to broaden and enhance the education of today's multi skilled learners.