Week 1 - the one in which we make blogs and discover Inspiration 8.0

So, here we go... Welcome to my Integrated Technology blog. I've had a go at writing a couple of blogs in the past - nothing major, just something for friends. This, I suppose, is the first time I'll be looking at blogs and their capabilities and possibilities in the field of education. It's also the first time that I've used the Blogger format - it seems largely similar to those I have encountered in the past, but we'll see how it goes!

Although I've blogged before, I wouldn't necessarily describe myself as someone who is au fait with technology - in fact, describing me as a well-meaning, yet dundering luddite is probably rather accurate. I'm interested to see how much the use of technology in the primary classroom has changed since I was a student - what new possibilities, what new avenues for learning there are. We shall see.

I suppose the first thing that pops to mind when I think of blogs and their possible use in the classroom is that of reflection - self reflection, reflecting on one's own learning. A new and interesting way of keeping a journal - although, I suppose during the early years keeping a journal is as much about developing handwriting skill than it is about presenting a cogent recount.

Anyway... just a few random thoughts to get us started. I'm sure they'll all prove to be somewhat redundant as we discover the extent to which blogs and ICT can be employed in the classroom over the course of the semester.

Now, let's see if I can add a picture. That seems to be the task for the moment.

That's a picture of a quoll. I like animals. Animals are cool. This particular picture of a quoll, I think, is rather cute. Let's add a different, perhaps more directly relevant picture...

There we go - added just below, the blog headder. Is that even how you spell 'headder'? I don't know. Where's the spellcheck here... Ah, found it. Apparently it's spelt header. And the word quoll doesn't exist, neither does luddite. Hmm.

Never-the-less, back to this picture. I've justified it to the right. I'm learning things. I 'print screened', then copied it into Paint and saved it as a jpeg. How lovely.

No doubt this is getting utterly boring so let's quickly move on.

Here's a mind map I made with my next door neighbour...

As you can see, I've justified it to the left and it's absolutely a lovely. A vision. Um. Obviously mind maps have been used with pen and paper in classrooms for years. I never really thought you could do it on a computer - but apparently you can! This would obviously be great for small group work - perhaps projects, or why not create a whole-class mind map if you're lucky enough to have an interactive whiteboard? Why not, indeed.

At this point we investigated the various other lovelies that the program Inspiration 8.0 can offer - that mind map was made with Insipiration 8.0, incidentally. Apparently Insipiration 8.0 costs $80 a unit, which is a little on the pricey side for a cash-strapped school. Obviously it's an incredibly useful tool, but it may be worth investigating if there are any other downloadable free-ware options.

The program is useful for middle and upper primary, I would guess. I sometimes find it difficult to find valuable ICT resources for lower primary, which has been the main focus of my practicum. Hopefully this subject will present some.

Um. Microsoft Paint, is a simple tool and might be considered basic for many of us, but I'm of the impression it's a good, basic, introductory - and inexpensive, all you need is Windows - tool for the lower primary levels. Or, indeed, anyone beginning to understand about computers.

... How much experience with computers will students have when they arrive in Prep? Hmmm.

Anyway, this is starting to get a little long, so I'll sign off for this week.