my-blog

Finishing Touches

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:08:43 +0100

The final assignment involves polishing up our websites. For those who have stayed on top of their work this is an easy thing to do, although they are also likely to want to add as much as possible to increase their mark so I wouldn't be surprised if they too were using the last few days to finish their website. Others (who I won't name) and myself are having to do a fair amount of work to fix up our neglected websites.

I have to:
    * Change the information on my home page - get rid of most of the personal stuff
    * Type up the blogs that I have been in mental storage (I don't like to use diaries or paper, I tend to just remember things)for the last few weeks
    * Fix up the formatting of all my blogs (although it has a mind of its own and changes the size of the writing depending on the length of the blog posts that are shown, so I don't have any control over the size of the font at times)
    * Add a resources page - and put resources on it
    * Add a page with content and information about the other units I am doing
    * Tidy up the spelling and formatting of all pages
    * Go through and reference EVERYTHING

Once I have completed all of the above I will submit the coversheet for assignment 3b and then relax before studying for the exams. Overall EDN113 has been an enjoyable unit ...
THANKYOU AND GOODNIGHT

Lectures and Tutorials

Mon, 28 May 2012 07:17:24 +0100

I took this photo during my first week of university. The semester is almost over so I feel it is time to reflect on the lectures and tutorials of EDN113.

My lectures for EDN113 were on a Wednesday between eleven and twelve. Honestly I think that it would have been easier to combine lectures to make about six 2 hour lectures. I found that the lectures didn't always catch the students attention so some students would skip the one hour lectures. If the lectures were longer, so more content was covered, I believe the attendence would improve.
We were asked to take notes of the "Learning with Multimedia Technology" lecture a few weeks ago. My usual note taking method is use paper and pen to write down the most important points of each lecture. In EDN113 my notes are not as extensive as in my other units. From this lecture I leant that technology is used as a tool to support knowledge construction by allowing students to explore, do, reflect and communicate. The aim of using multimedia within classrooms is to transform the students existing learning style. Technology within the classroom is helpful because it combines text, pictures, audio, visual, animation and interation. It is especially useful when real-life situations are either too dangerous or expensive, or even to small to see.

My tutorial for EDN113 was on Thursday morning between ten and twelve, although they usually finished at about eleven thirty. The tutorials were useful for the group assignment and ensuring that you understood all of the assignments.

The exam will be interesting. I really didn't know what to expect until we got given the list of 6 questions (from which 3 will be in the exam). I'm used to 'textbook' learning so I always used to know what was going to be covered in the exam. It's not that I don't like the authentic learning aspect of the unit, just that I am a science/maths girl where there are right and wrong answers. For the EDN113 exam though, the answers aren't black and white, instead the questions are open to interpretation.

And Three Hours Later ...

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:12:02 +0100

I am yet to love technology. I almost threw my laptop through a window the other day when I was trying to upload the video for EDN113 Assignment 3a, but first let's talk about creating the video and wiki.

I didn't have much trouble using Wikispaces but I wouldn't rave about the technology either. There wasn't anything wrong with it; I just think there is something better out there. I know that Kelly and Larra had a little trouble logging into Wikispaces and sometimes even uploading things. The formatting would also change unexpectedly, so that was annoying.

The video proved somewhat difficult. First we had to download Jing and figure out how it works. It took us a while to coordinate the music, the speaking in turns and moving the mouse around the screen (to show both what was on our wiki and flick between the different pages of our wiki). Second, we had to actually 'film' (for want of a better word) our video in one take, without laughing at the music or Larra's introduction and conclusion. Finally we had to upload the Jing video onto our wiki page. Easy, right? Wrong. The file was too large to embed straight onto our wiki home page, so began the 24 task of problem solving.

While I went to another university class Kelly and Larra played around with the video, trying to find a solution. Later that night I got a text from Larra asking if I could try, since we had copied the video to my USB. Having other assignments to do meant that I couldn't do anything until the next day. I tried to upload the file onto YouTube but it was in the wrong format. I then found out (by watching another YouTube video) that I needed to download a file converter that could change out SWF video to a MPEG video. The first one I downloaded didn't want to open the file so I downloaded another one called iWisoft. I only took 10 minutes to convert the file, including the 5 minutes it takes to play the video. The time consuming part was uploading the video to YouTube. It worked nicely, but because it took two hours I was getting frustrated having to stand by my laptop keeping it 'awake' so that it continued to upload the video. After that is was a matter of embedding the YouTube video onto our Wikispaces page which was relatively easy.

To view our final project please click on the image below.

Making Groups Work

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:14:13 +0100

When I found out that we had to do a group assignment for EDN113 I was apprehensive to say the least. Group assignments have always been my downfall - either I do the entire assignment and get annoyed because the others get the same mark as me, or I do my part while the others don't bother with theirs and I get annoyed because I of the low mark. Either way, I am not a fan of group assignments. I don't mind working in a group but when it becomes an assessment I start stressing.

When it came to choosing group members I went with Tyler, Kimba and Ashleigh simply because I knew them. We chose groups weeks before the assignment so we only got as far as an idea before Tyler pulled out. About two weeks later Kimba pulled out of university too, so now I was down to only one other group member. A few weeks before the assignment was due I turned up to the tutorial ready to crack down and do the assignment. I found out that another group was down to 2 members so I suggested we combine our groups. After a bit of shuffling around my new group consisted of Kelly, Larra and myself. I didn't know where this would leave Ashleigh but she pulled out of university the next day so my worries were short lived.

The next problem was that we are all enrolled in different units and have work and other commitments, so finding a time to get together and do the assignment was difficult. We decided to sacrifice Friday night and then meet up during any possible breaks at university. I wasn't convinced that we need to meet up as often as we decided on. I thought the whole point of using wiki's was to work on the assignment at home and then put it all up on the wiki, but never mind at least this way we were able to see each other's work ethic.

We didn't delegate parts of the assignment; instead we took it as it came. Each of us contributed to each aspect of the assignment in one way or another. We had fun doing the assignment, especially putting together the video. When we presented our assignment everyone had a laugh, how can you not laugh when we played star wars music?

PREZI

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:30:38 +0100

Today while preparing a speech for another unit I came across the most amazing presentation tool ever. PREZI was used by a lecturer a few weeks ago and I decided to give it a go. It is an online alternative to PowerPoint and can be edited by multiple people. It is easy to use and is a more interesting way to present information during a presentation. I would highly recommend that everyone have a play around with it as it really is a gift: a present (or PREZI, if you will). I have also posted this in the discussion board so that others can see it. Below is a screenshot of my work-in-progress assignment.

Words to (Re)Search

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:31:19 +0100

As my topic for assignment 2 is "Using Technology to Improve Rudimentary Math Skills" I have had to use nurmerous different search words to find the resources I need.
    Technology could be changed to electronic, interactive, smartboard, ipad etc.
    To get "rudimentary math" results I used phases/words such as: basic math, primary school math, classroom math
I found the following resources:
    Interactive Math Classroom Adds Up to Success (Zugar, 2008)
    SMART Table - Touch. Learn. Together (SMARTClassrooms, 2008)
    Mathletics - Improvement Analysis (Mathletics, 2007)
    Internet-based Collaborative E-Exercisebook System for Primary Math Teaching (Reis et al., 2011)
    Mathematics Education and Technology - Rethinking the Terrain (Hoyles & Lagrange, 2009)
    Weily Apps Announces Launch of Visual Math App for iPad (Internet Wire, 2011)
Although it took hours to collect these resources I enjoyed reading them. Creating the summaries of each was a lot less frustrating than the research itself. I look forward to being able to apply the things I read about to actual classroom situations.

My Saving Grace

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:15:18 +0100

On the surface assignment 2 is straight forward, but the research takes hours. It's stressfull too, so I had to go buy a packet of M&M's to help me.

(This photo was taken on my iPod and then uploaded onto my computer. I have not been able to transfer pictures from my iPod to my computer when using one with iTunes installed. My laptop doesn't have iTunes so it treats my iPod like a usb and simply opens the files)

I'm still struggling though so I really don't know if I will be able to finish this assignment in time...
So after visiting LMS I have learnt that the assignment is due by 12pm so I will finish :) I still have to find a conference paper that relates to "teaching basic maths using technology". My method for this asssignment has been to pick a suject and try to find resources. Then I would get fustrated and choose another topic until I decided to make my topic very broad (basic mathematics). Once I have found a resource I add the details to Endnote and then move on to the next type of resource. Once I have found all of them I am going to write up the 1-2 page report for the assignment and then add it to a new page on this website (that I will have to create).

Emotions and Facebook

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:36:29 +0100

Today on ninemsn there was a news story about a missing girl posting a status update on facebook. This is amazing, IF the post was actually from the girl but you can't tell who wrote it or whether the girl was held at gun-point and forced to write the update. This raises the issue of telling emotion via technology that involves using text (written language). I have always found it difficult to determine the tone in which a text or e-mail is written.

Click here to view the full article .

Facebook has made headlines numerous times in the past few months. There was the instance of a stolen sports car that was located using Facebook sparking the need for a "crime watch" page that encourages people to 'dob in' criminals.

My Friend in India

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:38:37 +0100

I have a close friend, Jess, who is currently on a mission-style trip in India. We all wanted to be kept up-to-date with the latest news. Initially we received fort-nightly e-mails but she found this difficult so she decided to set up a blog instead (to view her blog please click on the Blogger Icon above).

Jess' reasoning for choosing to blog is shown in the abstract below:
"My means of communication so far has been sending out mass emails to family and friends, which, although it does serve it's purpose, is somewhat of a pain when I can't get a mailing list to work. Or attach photos. And I keep forgetting people off my list. So I have decided to delve into the world of blogging and it is proving itself to be easier than anticipated, aside from the fact that my photos are massively large files which need to be resized. But no worry. This way anyone who wants to can check out what I've been up to."

I love checking her blog every Monday (as she usually writes over the weekend) to see how she is going. Jess' blog is the perfect example of the everyday use of blogs and the convenience of technology. If we would like we can also make comments on her blog posts which allows us to check in with her personally and lets her know that we are still here for her.

DISQUS

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:42:14 +0100

A few weeks ago I enabled DISQUS - software that allows others to comment on your blog posts. It’s easy to set up too. All you need to do is go to your blog page and click on Blog Manager. Click on the settings tab up the top and then follow the links to set up your DISQUS account (which really doesn't take long). Copy and paste the Yola code (if your blog is set up through Yola) into the text box provided. That’s all there is to it :D

On another note, I found out how to add pictures to blog posts. Previously I tried creating a normal post (i.e. I clicked on New Post) and adding a picture to it. Although it allowed me to go through the process of selecting a picture to add, it never actually added it. I gave up after trying multiple times then today as I was browsing LMS to see if our marks were up for assignment 1b yet (they weren't) I found that people were discussing putting images on their blog posts. One person suggested that you go into Blog Manager and the click on New Image Post. I used that method for this blog post and it worked quickly and easily. Maybe I will look and the discussion posts more often? Maybe?