Saturday 26 March 2011

My thoughts about my e-learning journey so far


·         I’m enjoying the Reflect and Connect Course (an accredited unit - CHCORG428A Reflect On and Improve Own Professional Practice) through YNH Services Inc, Yarrawonga. The course is delivered on line every Monday evening where participants and facilitators get together in a virtual classroom – Elluminate. Participants also engage in a discussion forum and submit assignments through Moodle.  

·         I am interested in using the latest technology, but I’m also nervous. So, I’m so glad I’m doing the Reflect and Connect Course – it is making me experiment with tools I was not aware of or I may have heard at conferences and then they have remained in the folders.

·         BUT now I have used Mindomo for the mind mapping assignment on wiki and for the tree diagram on folders and sub folders for the e-portfolio.  I had never used these earlier so when I finished I felt a sense of achievement. I wanted to share this with my family. While I was describing it, my 15 year old said to me – “O that, we do it all the time at school mum!” The younger generation of today is more technologically savvy, and I may not know as much as them, but I’m glad I have an urge to know more.

·         I have also set up a blog, but regular blogging is not yet a part of me. I also have a Twitter account as part of another assignment, which I would’ve never created! I felt Twitter was for discussing inane things. I use Face book though - with 3 students in my class (the others don’t have a computer yet as they are newly arrived migrants). Last week a student was absent for 4 days so I kept her posted of what we had done each day (via messages).

·         I also got lost in the many Web 2.0 tools – I knew some, but some were new - and was glad when we had to explore one Web 2.0 tool as part of Team B. We decided to evaluate the use of a Wiki and our team leader, Liz did a fantastic job of leading the discussions, reminding us to post our thoughts on the forum throughout the week, holding an Elluminate session so we could share our thoughts (which unfortunately I could not attend) and also putting all the contributions together and posting a summary on the forum. “Hail the wondrous wiki” indeed! What a fantastic tool for teachers. I would love to use it as an intranet for our staff at Glenroy Neighbourhood Learning Centre and as a bank of centralised online resources.

·         Social Bookmarking Website was new for me too - Still trying to work out how Delicious, but Diigo is easy. However, have to still import all my bookmarks in Diigo– when I get a bit of time.

·         Developing my e- portfolio in the Mahara has been slow, but the idea of a digital portfolio and its social networking features is fascinating.