How might we use google docs and web 2.0 tools?

The group spent some time looking at how we might use google docs and web 2.0 tools. We came up with some collaborative ideas for within the classroom, and looked at resources that could be embedded into our LMS to support parents at home.

Resources for ICT PD

Into the book - an interactive website which focuses explicitly on reading strategies.

http://reading.ecb.org/

Thoughts on blog use

Had a great discussion with the ICT PD team yesterday about how we are working with all the new ICT tools at our disposal within the classroom, and clarifying their purpose. Within our ICT PLG we have been looking at using blogs to create authentic audiences for our writing.

As part of our journey, we have explored how we can build an audience and obtain quality feedback for student writing. This has taken us down the road of posting success criteria to allow the audience an opportunity to think critically about the text in relation to the purpose for which it was written. This has proved to be successful, but very much starts to step on the toes of what is trying to be achieved with Mahara.

During the ICT PD team discussion, we had a chance to discuss the way forward for the use of the class blog. It was agreed upon that Mahara, rather than a class blog would be the way forward for publishing student work that requires feedback in an academic/mechanics/success criteria sense. Instead, the class blog will carry out the more traditional role of a blog (short for web log). The class blog will be more about commentary, opinion and response. Posts could be about what is happening in the classroom, what is going on in the world, thoughts about what is going on around the school.

From the perspective of trying to create authentic audiences for student writing, this type of writing if done properly has the capacity to open strings of discussion between the student and audience through the commentary, opinion and response of the audience itself. This of course gives purpose to the students' writing. It also creates a teaching opportunity for students to learn how to write as an audience member, effectively using blog writing and the etiquette involved as a genre in itself.

Food for thought. What do you think team?

Link your blog to facebook and twitter

No idea how it works but it is pretty cool and really easy to do. Go to www.twitterfeed.com and set up and account. Then follow the instructions and choose where your posts get sent to. You can find your RSS feed by looking at the bottom of your blog for the subscribe to: Posts (Atom).
If you click on Posts it will give you the feed address.

Imogen found a useful blog instruction blog with step by step instructions on setting things up.

http://www.bling4yrblog.blogspot.com/

Links to class blogs

Hi guys,

For ease of access, I've added links to all the class blogs of the contributors to this blog. They can be found at the top of this blog on the right hand side, under 'Our Class Blogs'.

Authentic Audience

Hi all,

I was really pleased with how well things worked out with Gemma's class blog in trying to develop authentic audiences.

With much of the work that has been put on class blogs thus far, audiences have struggled to add comments beyond 'well done' and 'great stuff'. By outlining the purpose and success criteria for the writing, Gemma has enabled the audience to offer feedback that is much more valuable than an acknowledgement of effort.

Check it out on her blog http://tisgoldfinch.blogspot.com.