Web Spaces
Web Spaces
The integration of Web Spaces being used in the classroom contributes to the changes occurring in the 21st Century. There is heightened awareness to integrate ICTs into the classroom to prepare learners with skills for the 21st Century. As Alejandro Pena-Ayala states, 21st-century education is about teaching approaches, meaningful learning habits and experiential use of new technology, allowing learners to develop skills and knowledge for the future (Pena-Ayala, 2021). The technologies being used in the classrooms now have altered the way teachers teach and students learn through innovations and affordances for creating content and sharing ideas (Henriksen et al, 2016).Blogs using Blogger
There are three types of Webpages I have been introduced, which include wikis, blogs and websites. Blogs created by using Blogger are easy to navigate as well as display information with the ability to comment on other blogs and for teachers to make notes. In the blog format, there are a number of different settings that allow you to make it your own, but not too many for it to be an overwhelming experience. When logging on and making an account, the user is able to create a theme for their blogs, allowing the blogs to be more personal and easier to identify particularly for the teacher or peers giving feedback.
Navitagtion
Once logged in there are a number of tabs on the left-hand side of the screen, to make navigation more simple. These include stats, comments, earnings, pages, layout, themes, settings and reading list. The main section that students would navigate would be 'comments' to receive feedback for teachers and peer about their blog post. This can be seen in the image below.
Image A. Screenshot of navigation page when setting up a blog
(Blogger, 2022)
Once clicking new post, the user then can use a number of features to develop their ICT skills using Blogger. The user has the ability to create a title, alter font type, alter font size, distinguish if they would like to use a heading, basic font features such as bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, colour of text and highlight, add links, images films or emojis and alignment of text, dot points or numbers, quoting text, adding jump breaks and more options on the side of the top bar. If students have used Microsoft Word or Goggle Docs prior to using Blogger, it is set up in a similar way in terms of adjusting text. The screenshot below shows the alterations to text that can be made using Blogger.
Image B. (Blogger, 2022)
Privacy, Permissions and Commenting
Privacy and permissions are essential when using ICTs with students. Teachers can specify certain boundaries that the students must follow when using Blogger to create blog posts. As shown in image A, by clicking on the settings icon, students will be taken to areas including privacy and permissions. Under the privacy tab, students are able to select whether 'search engines' can find their blog (Blogger, 2022). When looking at the permissions tab, students can select if they would like to invite authors to collaborate with them in their blogs. Students can also adjust if the blog is 'public', 'private to authors' or 'custom readers'. There is also the ability to alter who can comment of the blog post, the selections include 'anyone' anonymously, 'users with google accounts' and 'only members of the blog'. These three setting are an important part to ensure safety when using ICTs in the classroom.
Embedding ICTs
When it comes to adding ICTs into the blog post, this is simple to do and follows similar practice for using ICTs in Microsoft Word or Google Docs. There are three options to adding ICTs into a blog post using Blogger, this can be done by adding a link, image or video. When adding a link, click the link icon, type the name of the link and paste the web address on the next line. I found that adding the link into the blog was a simple and efficient process. The steps are in the screenshots below.
Image C. The link icon (Blogger, 2022)
Image D. What the user will see once clicking on the link icon (Blogger, 2022)
Image E. Where to insert the link and text to display (Blogger, 2022)
Image. F. The link itself on the blog page (Blogger, 2022)
When adding images to the blog post, the user has options to choose from an existing image on their computer, use an image from google photos, use an image from Blogger or insert an image by use of a URL. As you can see above, I have inserted screenshots of the Blogger site to assist with navigation, to do this, I screenshot the image I wanted, clicked on insert image on Blogger, then upload it from the computer and search the image on my computer. I found this to be a simple process when adding images to a blog post. Below are screenshots of this process.
Image G. The image icon (Blogger, 2022)
Image H. Once the user has clicked on the icon (Blogger, 2022). I then clicked on upload from computer.
Image I. From here, I clicked on choose files. This allowed me to choose any photo from my computer (Blogger, 2022)
Image K. My classmates in Digital Pedagogies may have already seen this image on our Startup Galerie.
When uploading a video onto a blogpost students have two options, adding a video from a computer or from Youtube. If students would like to add a video from Youtube into their blog post they can do this by clicking the 'film' icon, selecting Youtube, in the search, students type in the name of their video, they then can select this and it will add straight into their blogpost. See the steps below.
Image L. The film icon, click on this to view options (Blogger, 2022).
Image M. Select Youtube to upload a video from Youtube (Blogger, 2022)
Image N. Students can then type the name of the video that they want to embed into their blog post (Blogger, 2022).
Here is the Youtube video of 'We don't talk about Bruno'.
(Ps, sorry not sorry if this song gets stuck in your head).
(Disney Music Vevo, 2021).
Legal, safe and ethical protocols
As shown above in the navigation topic Blogger has a number of setting in which you can ensure the better safety of students in the classroom. These include permissions, privacy and comments. When introducing students to Blogger it is essential for the safety of students that legal, safe and ethical protocols are laid out to the students and are followed by all students.
Students must be aware or have an idea about copyright and the use of another person's work being embedded into their blog post. When it comes to safety, students must ensure they are being safe online, by looking at information from reliable sites. This is also important with the type of work that is being displayed as well as the comments. Students will need to be reminded that this is on the internet, it can be found by others and teachers will also be looking at it therefore students need to use respectful language and be mindful about what they are posting and commenting using Blogger (Australian Government, 2020).
Students using ICTs
When students use ICTs in schools they are able to use higher-order thinking which allows students to think more deeply about the content they are learning. Using the SAMR model in schools is a way to introduce ICTs in the classroom and think about the further development of tasks using these ICTs.
The SMAR model which was developed by Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura in 2010 provides teachers with a guideline in how to develop the use of ICTs in the classroom and transform students learning (Terda, 2020). The image below states the four parts of the SMAR model, substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition.
When using the SAMR model in the classroom, students are able to achieve the general capabilities of the Australian Curriculum.
Image R. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Recording Authority (ACARA, nd)
Students must be able to investigate, create and communicate with ICTs in the classroom as per the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, n.d). To achieve this, teachers can look at the programs or activities they have already in place and alter by using the SAMR model.
In the HPE context, ICT can be further developed using the SAMR model. Below I will provide my ideas and strategies to help this occur.
Substitution Stage: Rather than students reading the weekly content, the teacher has put the information in a PowerPoint presentation.
Augmentation: During the PowerPoint presentation students have access to the PowerPoint and can follow along and take notes whilst the presentation is occurring or during breaks of presenting by the teacher.
Modification: Students are given a particular topic to research on, based on the weekly textbook reading. In groups, the students need to develop a blog post with the research embedded in it.
Redefinition: The groups of students then present the blog post to the rest of the class and educate them on their learning during the lesson. Peers are able to engage with the blog post and add their own comments onto the post.
When following the steps, it helps to reconsider the tasks are being prepared and executed in the classroom now and develop ideas about how the task can be developed further to associate higher-order thinking and the use of ICTs in the classroom.
Allowing students to educate their peers allows the teacher to become the facilitator of the classroom rather than the lecture. It allows students to use their ICT skills to find information for reputable online sites and compile this information into a blog post. It also allows students to feel a sense of achievement when standing in front of their peers with the information they have researched and learnt on their own.
References
Australian Curriulum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (n.d). Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability. https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/information-and-communication-technology-ict-capability/
Disney Music Vevo. (2021, December 21). We don't talk about Bruno (from "Encanto") [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvWRMAU6V-c
Henriken, D., Mishra, P., & Fisser, P. (2016). Infusing creativity and technology in 21st century education: A systematic view for change. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 19(3), 27-37. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/jeductechsoci.19.3.27
Pena - Ayala, A. (2021). A learning design cooperative framework to instill 21st century education. Telematics and Informatics, 62, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101632
Puentedura, R. (2013). SAMR: Moving from enhancement to transformation. http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/000095.html
Hello Geraldine, great work on completing your first blog, you have done a really good job! I thought your blog was really well set out and clearly addressed the three criteria areas in depth. All the images you used were clear and helped to support what you were saying well, this is something I can take away from your blog and try to implement myself. I look forward to reading your next piece of work. Well done!
ReplyDeleteHi Geraldine, well done on the amazing blog. Your clear understanding of how to use blogger is definitely evident within your blog. I myself learnt a few new things upon reading this. You also had a great example of how blogging relates into the SAMR model with definitions for each of the four letters. You should be proud!
DeleteGeraldine,
DeleteI will second Brady’s comment. Well done with your blog.