Here are some of the important points I have learnt about during this unit. Feel free to comment or add any of your own ideas.

‘iPhoto’ :

This is a helpful editing program (on Mac computers) that can be used in schools and applied to different Key learning Areas e.g. using the ‘Picture Book’ application to build stories for English or using the ‘Edit’ options to manipulate images for Creative Arts.

‘Flickr’ :

This is also a useful photo sharing and editing program. It would be beneficial for students to use in the classroom as a means of obtaining and learning how to alter photos. The issue with this, as with anytime time that students use the internet, is supervising and guiding the class as they search for images.

Digital Cameras:

Providing students with the opprtunity to use digital cameras in the classroom can be an empowering learning experience as it fosters creativity and encourages skill development. In the tutorial we took photos of lollies and learnt how to upload and then maniupalte them on iPhoto.

Balancing Methods:

While the teacher’s instructions are fundamental to every lesson in the classroom, it is beneficial that students have the opportunity to explore independantly when it comes to ICT. There needs to be a balance of step-by-step processes and the students navigating their own way around a computer. It is apart of the learning process to make mistakes and share what they have discovered so that they can also learn from each other.

Cutting and Pasting:

When teaching students to ‘cut’ and ‘paste’ large amounts of text from the internet, it is important that teacher’s remind them to be selective and critical of what they are going to use. This is because students may be using information that is irrelevant to the task they are doing or that may contain terminology they do not comprehend.

ePortfolios:

I have discovered that ePortfolios are a great way to express yourself professionally as a teacher and share ideas and thoughts with other people. It was also mentioned though that students themselves can create their own ePortfolios in schools. It would be a great way for children to display their work, communicate with other classmates and reflect on what they have learnt. In the process they are also becoming more efficient and skilled with using technology.

Childrens Search Engines:

There are certain search engines that are designed to be used by children. These include http://www.kids.net.au/ and http://kids.yahoo.com/. I was not aware of these and think they are an excellent resource that assist us in our teaching roles because they allow students to use the internet safely without finding innappropriate material.

Multimedia Libraries:

It is beneficial to categorise and sort the different forms of multimedia (e.g. pictures and videos) you collect over time into folders on a computer or CD’s. This is a time efficient strategy because the files can then be easily accessed if you need to teach the lesson in future or use some of the resources you thought worked well for other activities.

Make your own resources:

The presentations this semester have taught me that there are so many different types of software and applications that we can incorporate into our teaching. However, we can also be creative and use this software to create our own resources to specifically cater to a unit of work or activity e.g. make our own e-books and models using Microsoft PowerPoint or creating demonstrations of processes or an interesting introduction to a unit using iMovie etc.