Sandra’s ICT Blog

Photo Story Portfolio Item

This week i was absent from ICT… i know it was an awful, terrible thing for me to do… BUT even though i was absent i still took it upon myself to read up on the study guide and get started on my photostory portfolio item. I had never previously worked with this type of technology, though could instantly see that this computer technology will definitely be something used in classrooms in the future.

I had a load of fun with incorporating my own images and those from the internet referenced below into my very own and original photostory… i know its lame to actually enjoy an assessment task but yeh… I think i had the most fun editing my pictures, having them in black and white or completely having the program water colour them. I think that i will definitely utilise this program for both future personal and teaching use. I mean the program i think for teaching purposes would be a great motivational tool for students when starting a lesson. Furthermore, i am also toying with the idea of actually starting one of my practical lessons with a photostory… my thinking is that for my pdhpe lesson on the cha cha cha to motivate them i can use photostory rather than powerpoint (which i first planned to use). For this pdhpe photostory im thinking that i will show images of the specific dance technique progressively for students to follow accompanied by actual cha cha cha music… maybe debolah morgan’s dance with me…

Photostory was a program that i found really helpful in just aiding me in the general fixing up of photos such as taking out red eye and cropping them and such. Overall, it is the creative opportunity that i loved best about this program. I got to have a great deal of fun with meshing my own and internet images to create a story about a princess and see it come to life… something which i have always wanted to do (this is not sarcasm lol). The hardest part of the presentation though was finding appropriate music to accompany my images, but on reflection i think that i am relieved and proud of my photostory and can definitely see myself using this program in the future.

 

Image References for Portfolio Item-

…any importance [tiara] [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2008, from

http://wordtothemedia.blogspot.com/2007/09/obvious-oppression-black-vs-white.html

 

Princess Letzia on her wedding day [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2008, from

http://www.ouroneheart.com/a-wedding-gown-to-inspire-you/

 

Escape from the Castle [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2008, from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/nightshade/chapter4.shtml

 

Parkhurst Forest [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2008, from

http://www.isleofwightattractions.co.uk/ParkhurstForest.htm

 

Stuzica Virgin Forest [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2008, from

http://www.iabsi.com/gen/public/settlements/images/a_Stuzica_Undergrowth.jpg

  

The day I told Robin Hood…[Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2008, from

http://forums.canadiancontent.net/movies-music-books/49876-21st-century-robin-hood.html

 

Its just a warming potion [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2008, from

http://www.theartfulbloggers.com/?p=126

 

India Star and Princess Flower [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2008, from

http://www.stratsplace.com/othergardens/markc_pics.html

 

Marriage Ceremony [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2008, from

http://www.creativeideology.com/marriage-ceremony.htm

 

 

PowerPoint Portfolio Item 

Inspiration Portfolio Item 

In this week’s tutorial when we entered into the computer lab we were met by Bianca Humphries- this meant that we were going to have to yet again complete another evaluation of ICT as a subject and an evaluation of Mark Lee as a tutor. I dont think that Mark has much to worry about in regards to these evaluations as he is the most fun and considerate tutor. Anyway, after all these technicalities were out of the way at least 15 minutes of the lesson had gone… this meant that Mark allowed for us to use the rest of the tutorial to work on our portfolio items. I really needed this allocated time because uni work is continuously stacking up! i cant get away from it :O!

Well, as last week i had read through the presentation graphics study guide i was quite familiar what the task was asking of me and so was therefore able to get really stuck into the task. From using PowerPoint on countless occasions in high school i’m not really worried about any elements of the task. I think that PowerPoint generally tends to be a technology that is quick in use and is handy, just as i said last week, to cater for the visual learners within the classroom.

In my 5 day practical the Year 5 teacher that i am working with has asked me to take 5 lessons with her class. At the moment i am merely hypothesising about how i am going to teach my lesson centred on the text type ‘discussion’ for the KLA subject English, Stage 3. So far i’m definitely considering using PowerPoint as my means to present the lesson to the kids… possibly having the major sections of a discussion on slides and using notes and effects to highlight their importance and what they are meant to contain… though at the moment i am only hypothesising… so nothing is set in stone… but i think its a good idea nonetheless.  

Portfolio Item GradebookThis week the lesson in ICT was hectic! I mean the week prior I felt confident with all the formulas that we were utilising in our practice spreadsheet… but this week was another whole can of fish (how cool is that analogy lol). This week I went into my tutorial having populated my spreadsheet with 18 rows of data for the 18 students in my ’supposed’ class. On reflection I can say that I found this computer lab tutorial to be extraordinarily hard. I think the hardest thing was the substitution of the ‘$’ into the formulae when completing calculations and percentages and ranks on excel. I mean by the end of the lesson I was able to complete all the necessary elements of my spreadsheet, but I can understand why the teacher I am doing my practical with would rather manually mark a grade book and manually take down the students’ scores for their spelling tests etc.  I think that the end result of my spreadsheet was overall quite good. I was able to include the necessary formulae and a chart with the students’ percentages. As hard as I did indeed find this lesson at least I was able to meet the challenging formulae, incorporating them into my spreadsheet. I suppose the main thing with Microsoft Excel is overall getting the hang for the formulas and their applications. I think that with practice I will be surer of myself in using this program… but it will take time. Again, just as last week I think that this excel is a great way for managing class data, especially that of numerical data such as scores and such.  

I think the most exciting component of the Excel program is that you are able to have the data entered represented visually in graphs. I think that the visual stimulation would be key in activities when students are using Excel and hopefully when I am able to get more involved, teaching lessons and such, in my practical I will have a go at introducing a lesson where the students will enter current weather data into excel. After entering their data I will then guide them in creating a graph presenting it. I think that students would take really well to an excel task such as this and would be intrigued and more excited about a program that students would generally associating with ‘Daddy’s accounting’.

I think that as a trial in my first year of teaching i will test out excel as a means for keeping data and such, and if it doesn’t exactly cater to my needs i can always adapt myself to a more manual approach. I think that the students would take well to the fact that their teacher would be using technology in everyday data keeping activities and would intrigue them more so in their approaches to interactive computer technologies.

Anyway that is all for this week…. coming up: my reflection on the much-loved PowerPoint!

 xoxo

Portfolio Item 4 This is the 4th portfolio item that i have been working on for the past few hours lol I had a lot of fun with being able to actually come up with items of my life that i would class as ‘interesting’. I was digging deep but eventually found some elements that weren’t too obscure. I really love the way that when using published you can express yourself so easily and creatively. I think that if i ever actually give a lesson on bibliographic writing i will definitely have my students presenting their work on publisher!

My Image References (alphabetical order)

  Images taken from:  

· General Teacher Resources [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, from http://www.suelebeau.com/genteachresources.htm 

· Newcastle Knights [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://Newcastle-knights-news.newslib.com/ 

· Snow Patrol Final Straw [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.snow-patrol.net/  

· So you think you can dance Australian auditions (Melbourne) [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.dancing.net.au/sytycd-melbourne-auditions/  

· Womens Shoes [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2008, from http://www.mycatwalk.com.au/fashion/womens-shoes.html  

WebQuest 1- Freaky Frogs. I rated this WebQuest a 37/50, 74%. If my class were specifically studying science, with a focus on frog mutation, I would definitely use this WebQuest. In terms of overall aesthetics I found that the WebQuest was lacking visual stimulation for the students that this would be targeted at. As there was no immediate stimulation I feel that students would make little connection to the immediate concepts and ideas that this WebQuest deals with. Though in regards to navigating the WebQuest the links were simple allowing the student easy access to the task at hand. Yet, the external links were problematic as many were not able to be accessed. On a brighter note, the introduction was intriguing, setting the tone for a fun WebQuest to undertake, having the students envisage themselves coming across the mutated frogs, compelling them to find out more to fulfil their curiosity. The ‘task’ section did not clearly connect with the process when expressing what was expected within the teacher’s marking evaluation. Consequently, I believe students would underestimate the importance of this WebQuest task based on the three brief points listed, resulting in students treating the task as more chore-like than a critical analysis. The ‘process’ section was impeccable, with all steps easily understood by students with little scope for confusion. The build up of tasks in the process challenged the students to go beyond and build up a strong knowledge base of frog deformity, even though separate roles weren’t really assigned. I was not impressed by the resources on this WebQuest, even though students had 3 weeks to complete the tasks, I feel there were too many repetitive sites to investigate with some links out of date as well. I thought the accompanying criteria for teachers was well integrated with the tasks, providing a clear marking rubric that students would be able to understand easily, therefore completing the tasks to an exemplary standard. These students will surely have the skills to make “a difference in the life of freaky frogs.”

WebQuest 2- Shocking Sharks. I rated this WebQuest a 33.5/50, 67%. If a class was studying sharks I’m not sure if this would be the most suitable WebQuest. In terms of overall aesthetics, I found this WebQuest lacking visually, with basic shark images failing to promote a relationship with the task described. With little visual stimulation and images that emphasise ‘shocking sharks’, students would be underestimating the WebQuest. In regards to navigating the WebQuest, with the amount of links on the one page, I felt younger students would possibly lose their train of thought. Further, there were also problematic external links unable to be accessed, proving troublesome for the student working through the WebQuest. I felt that the introduction was lacking, with no elements of intrigue with a rather lame approach at motivating the student as to the task. Further, the introduction was far too brief, and not eye catching at all, doing little to outline what was to come in the task, not being clear cut enough to have the students reflect on their prior knowledge of ‘shocking sharks’.  The ‘task’ on this WebQuest was clear and concise, connecting to what was expected of the student within the marking rubric. There was little scope for wrong interpretation of the task, with students excited at the prospect of creating their own shark commercial or adventure story, going beyond a simple rote type task. The ‘process’ section was clear, with steps categorised into research and writing components via specific images (pencils and sharks). Process activities were able to elicit further understanding with checks in place where students were to share and contrast their research, even though individual roles weren’t really assigned. The resources connected to the WebQuest were terrible, with the few able to be accessed containing repetitive information.  Students would be better to find their own websites regarding sharks. The accompanying rubric for teachers was well incorporated with the tasks, with a marking rubric that students could go by to complete their tasks on ‘shocking sharks’ at an exemplary level.  These students will be even more terrified of ‘shocking sharks’ after all they’ve found!

Portfolio Item 2 has just been completed. And thank god its done may i add lol! I found that producing the task and its MSWORD elements was quite simple as i have quite a profound prior knowledge of MSWORD and its devices from school assessments and such. From choosing the appropriate fonts, to aligning paragraphs and further to inserting graphics and such the document activities were profoundly simple.

I found this portfolio item to be slightly tedious as prior to uni i was familiar with Boolean searching methods and so have always felt quite confident when searching for specifics online. I suppose though that the activity did have its benefits whereby i can now conclude that the google search engine coupled with Boolean searching methods is more effective in granting helpful and matching documents.

I suppose that by completing a task such as this that i will be more able and *slightly more knowledgeable in instructing my future classes in effective searching methods and engines online. As most classwork i predict is surely going to be demonstrated via smartboards i feel that i will easily be able to model correct searching methods and such now, so that the younger people i will be teaching will feel confident and proficient in searching methods, aiding them long into their teens and further, when dealing with searches on interests, for essays and such.

BTW! Easter was fun!

Sandra’s Competency Test After just completing my personal computer competency test i now can conclude that i am not great with the use of computers, receiving a score of 27, therefore not faring well at all within this personal competency test. Specifically when dealing with computer tasks involving spread sheets, desktop publishing, digital video, graphic organisers and multi-media projects i can see that i am not at all proficient in these areas, scoring myself a 1 in each, possibly this was because i have never come across any of these terms but more likely because my computer experience has been limited to msn, microsoft word, powerpoint, myspace, itunes, facebook and bebo lol, all computer programs i believe i am proficient with. I am happy and relieved that i am going to be studying in a course such as this because it would be a worry for my future students if any tasks and demonstrations would have to be conducted by myself at school at the current level of computer proficiency i am at the moment. I hope that my lecturer Mark Lee will be able to dedicate enough time in class to deal with my lack of knowledge and bring me up to date with such computer tasks/items inclusive of spreadsheets and web publishing in particular.

How i fared in the test: Briefly, i can conclude that i did not fare very well within the test as i received a score of 27, one of the lowest amongst my peers. But on receiving this score i can now see that this class will not be a waste of time, educating me in the usage of programs that i will need to be proficient in when i am teaching in a few years give or take.

What some of my strengths and weaknesses in relation to ICT, as revealed by the test: In short i can conclude that i do not have many strengths in relation to ICT as revealed by the test. The main programs that i rated myself proficient in were merely in regards to microsoft powerpoint and microsoft word. I can conclude that i had many weaknesses, the most potent when dealing with spreadsheets and computer multimedia programs as well as creation of websites and blogs such as these lol. ICT has opened my eyes to the fact that there are many weaknesses that i am going to have to address when completing this course.

What areas I need to develop in (i.e. knowledge and skill gaps you need to address) in order to become a proficient user of ICTs in the classroom: As i said before i think it is clear that i need to develop my knowledge and skill in the usage of multimedia computer programs such as digital video and graphic organisers in order to become a proficient user of ICTs in the classroom.

I can conclude that in terms of this class, ICT, i still have much to learn!, no wait a whole load more to learn! Being able to gain experience and such with these new technologies will definitely aid me in my teaching in the future, where classrooms are sure to be dominated by the smartboard.

Computers + Sandra = Trouble! lol