DOLORE SIT AMET ERAT TE BLANDIT DIUS ALISED VELI WISI ERAT DOLRE SIT ENIM ERAT ELIT ................. 1
ALISED VELI DOLORE SIT ET ERAT TE BLANDIT DIISI TE WISI ERAT DOLRE SIT ENIM ERAT ELIT ................. 2
VELI WISI ERAT DE SIT ERA ENIM ERAT ELITDOLORE SIT AMET ERAT TE BNDIT DIUS ALISED PLURIOS ......... 2
ISSUE 1
VOLUME 1
2011
Mentone E-learning
TEACHING IDEAS FOR U SING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM
The FREE issue. Yes, it’s free, but so are all of the tools discussed for you to try. Free tools are the best way to try something, you can see if it works for you and your classes.
Using Free (and easy) Tools from Google Google tools for teachers are free, easy to use and give you multiple options for creating lessons and encouraging students to be more active in their learning. Anyone can set up a Gmail account and then use Google Docs in exactly the same way as you would use Word on your computer. The difference is that you can allow students to collaborate on a document that you (or even better, they) have created. If you click on the sharing option all you need to do is to add in student email addresses and they will receive a link and an invitation to work on the document with the creator. This means that you could see how
much work your students have done on the document in real time by putting it up on the data projector and tracking their progress. I have also created tables with spaces for answers and asked my students to fill in the answers and then comment on someone else’s answer. This way they are reviewing the work of their peers. These tools are just be beginning. You can create spreadsheets, forms and presentations all in this same space. You can then put them in folders to share (or not). docs.google.com
Wikispaces for Teachers If you want to create a free and easy site for your class where you can share lesson topics, handouts, quizzes, videos, images and more then you might like to set up a wikispace. They are as easy as using Word and you can add a large variety of features into them as you become more familiar with using them. Your students can use the discussion tab, behind every page, to ask questions and make comments. It’s a great way to do homework and keep track of learning. www.wikispaces.com there’s an ad free version for teachers too.
Blogging with Students—writing by stealth!
E-L EARNING @M ENTONE
Blogging has been around for a long time now and teachers have seen them as a great way to encourage writers.
When I first used blogs I really just began using them for my own curiosity and recorded my observations and learning as I was going along. Friends were using them to review books, films and music and I thought I’d have a go too. I shared the idea with other staff I was working with and we decided to get students to create blogs of their own using edublogs (now global2)
We were doing the new VCE should look, it had to develEnglish course which reop an image in keeping with quired stutheir writing. Some had amazingly audents to do They wrote using some creative thentic blogs, so authentic different lanwriting and guage, which rewe thought we’d better we thought lated to the persohide them in case people blogging was na they develthought they were real! good way to oped. Some had do this with amazingly authenthe reluctant writers we had., tic blogs, so authentic we Teachers demonstrated blogs thought we’d better hide that they had created and we them in case people thought went from there. Kids had to they were real! blog for the Context A maths teacher then started ‘Technology and Society’ saving his maths lessons on a and had to link their writing blog and it took off from to readings they had done. there. The response was very interhttp://global2.vic.edu.au esting. Students thought carefully about how the blog
The wikispaces site is for your ideas and tips on all things e-learning. It is a good place to ask questions and get some advice. There are many ‘how to’ guides on using technology for teaching. Join in the discussion. It meets some of your professional learning requirements for VIT. http:// elearelearningmgs.wikispaces.com/
http://global2.vic.edu.au http://www.wikispaces.com/content/for/ teachers http://docs.google.com
Share your ideas: It would be great to have teachers sharing some of their experiences with e-learning in this newsletter. If you would like to write a short overview or would like to be interviewed for the newsletter please contact me lrl@mentonegrammar.net and I will include you in the next newsletter. I aim to get one of these out per term for your reference. I hope you have enjoyed the first issue. Louise Robinson-Lay