How to teach across the digital divide

Knowing is easy, sharing that information is sometimes hard and not knowing or understanding is frustrating.As society is becoming more and more digitally minded, the generations present in today's society become more and more divided.

Teaching is the key to bridging this gap. But how?

I would say making people aware of the different innovations out there is the first step, if people are aware that the way they make posters can now be done for free with no mess they will want to learn. The want to learn will then lead to interest and motivation making it easy to engage the learner. The most important aspect of teaching students or parents or even other teachers about these innovations is to allow them to PLAY and create their own understandings of the softwares.

This unit had taught me the best practice is to allow students to play and learn aspects of the innovation myself. People need guidance however they will not learn and understand how to use something if instructed to use it a specific way.

AWARE...INTERESTED...MOTIVATED...ENGAGED...PLAY...UNDERSTAND...USE!!!!!

Edmodo

Edmodo is a private social platform for teachers and students to share ideas, files, events and assignments. Like everything new it is not perfect however the tools and resources it provides are amazing and it is evident that Edmodo will continue to grow and develop to become an essential tool to be used by all teachers in the classroom.

Edmodo is similar to the social networking site Facebook, that nearly all students in your classroom will be familiar with however is designed for teachers and students It allows teachers and students to communicate privately online with one another ensuring it is simply a virtual replica of the classroom where communication and sharing of information occurs between the teachers & students (and their parents)

Its free and students do not need an email address however the issue lies in that not all students may have aces to the Internet at home... Teachers must identify this issues before using this as the only tool in their classroom.
Edmodo allows teachers to send out alerts, keep records on students assignment submissions and communicate out of school hours with students about assignments and homework. Students also benefit from this tool as they can submit their assignments in via Edmodo ensuring they are handed in on time.

Edmodo is a tool I would use in a classroom with students who are interested in the idea of Facebook and all have access to the Internet!
It is an excellent innovation!

Voice Thread

VoiceThread is a tool where class discussions can be created online. It is a multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows groups of people to navigate pages and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice, text, audio file, or video.
It is similar to Jing in many ways as it allows you to draw on images whilst commenting however unlike Jing you do not have to download VoiceThread. VoiceThread is free to use and is one of the fastest tool I have come across after using a range of technologies.
Unfortunately when using VoiceThread only a maximum of 3 voice threads can be stored at the one time.
It is extremely relevant to the classroom as teachers can use it to communicate with individual students or the whole class, it allows students to create a personal portfolio, develop their English skills and as a tool for project work and assessment.

With so many options and avenues it is a very practical tool to employ in the classroom! I would use it!

Hot Potatoes

"Hot Potatoes is a suite of programs published by Victoria University and Half-Baked Software. Teachers use the Hot Potatoes programs to create educational materials, especially exercises and tests. All these materials can be produced in the form of web pages, and the web pages can be uploaded to hotpotatoes.net very simply, from within the Hot Potatoes programs." (Creative Technology)

This is an extremely useful tool for teachers to use when creating worksheets, units of study and a practical means of assessment. The most interesting aspect of Hot Potatoes is the each student has a profile and you can see how long it tool them to answer a question and how many times they attempted it before they got it right!
It provides a solid means of assessment however the students are enjoying completing crosswords, fill in the gaps etc... on a computer!

This is an extremely clever innovation I would use in my classroom!

Second Life

Second Life is an online 3D virtual world imagined and designed by you. From the moment you enter Second Life, you’ll discover a universe brimming with people and possibilities.
It allows you to create and customize your own 3D persona.... Why not just live the life you have with everything you have and enjoy it? I guess its a world for those with little self confidence who want to be something they are not?

It is like a social networking/dating site... not in reality? You can voice chat but is it going to be your real voice? I dint really see the point of it all as I prefer to live in reality but I can understand the enjoyment people get from being a part of such a world as I once enjoyed playing the Sims as a child and to me it is similar.

I can pin point the relevance in a classroom personally but I do think students would be interested and should be introduced to it to understand the rules of the Internet etc...

Second Life? Why not live your first life.....

Game Maker

Game Maker is not as simple as it first appears. Similar to the programming software Scratch it is extremely complicated!

Game Maker looks at programming, creating games and animations. It is not an easily explainable innovation and is extremely time consuming. Although it is not easy to use children will enjoy the challenge and develop individual skills in relation to the program and its components.

Game Maker can be approached in a range of different ways with children learning constructing, deconstructing and mathematical skills. It is generally aimed at technologically advanced students and incorporated in programs such as PEAC.

Personally I would not use this innovation to teach a particular learning area concept as I do not see the link however I would use it to support learning and promote students higher-order thinking.

Glogster

My Glog....



Glogster....
Its both educational and personal!
It is an amazing teaching and learning tool that is both educational and safe to use.
Assignment presentations, such as, posters can now be mess free however as creative as ever!
This suits my personal interests incorporating scrapbooking, images and sound all in one.
I was surprised that I had not been introduced to this tool earlier, especially as when completing my practicum students were continuously creating charts and posters in long lengthy messy lessons.
The neatness is the most appealing aspect for use in the classroom as it caters for those who are not as conscious about presentation. Having a personal touch is also a good aspect to have in relation to students completing assignments.

I think it is a fantastic tool however could be quite time consuming, downloading, producing and editing these glogs.
The reliance on the Internet and each student being able to access a computer with quick access is not always an easy task within the classroom and could cause some issues when completing assessments.

Overall this is an amazing tool which I would employ within my classroom so all students learning styles and abilities are catered for when completing assignments.