End of Insite Project.

The Insite Project has came to an end and it is now time to reflect on how it aided my development and knowledge.

I feel that the experience I had with the Insite Project wasn't good or bad, just average. The application that myself and Jennifer had was 99chats. My opinion sadly has not changed since my first post about this project. I still do not believe that this application is safe to use within a classroom. I understand that it can be embedded e.g. on a blog, and set us as your own chat room, however you are still introducing the pupils to this application and there is no stopping them going home and trying to use it at home. If they do try to use it at home, it will not be safe to do the content that some people post within chatrooms. Therefore, I do not believe that this should be used within a classroom.

The Web 2.0 respository is a good resource to have, but I think it is important to remember that these may be slightly biased. My reasons for saying this, is because students at Purdue University are creating a page for an application as part of their module which they have to pass and gain credits for. I therefore believe that this overshadows the actual educationally value of the application, and instead it is important for them to pass the module, knowing that the content is all positive about the application. I have severe problems with how the group made 99Chats out to be a fantastic resource, where I could not overshadow the idea that this is not safe or secure to use within a classroom. Here is the page for 99chats.

I believe Insite is a good project and it is a great resource to have access to, to explore different types of applications. However if I was to use it in the future, I would be looking at it very critically and testing out the application before I used it within a classroom to ensure it is ok to use.

End of ICT Elective

The end has now arrived for the ICT elective. Essays are almost submitted, blog up-to-date and my knowledge of ICT has grown greatly. I think that before I started the elective I did not have the confidence to use ICT innovatively in the classroom. The only lessons I had taught on ICT were on first year placement when they were learning to send an email. Although pupils need to know this, it is not fun and engaging and probably not what the pupils want to learn. Since taking part in the elective, I understand now that ICT lessons do have to be more fun. They have to be more enjoyable and engaging. Pupils live at home surrounded by technology so why not use technology to help aid teaching and learning?

I feel that everything we learnt by digital movie making and animation is something that I would definately try out in class. I believe that there are so many skills that can be learnt from this process, and it is very much about working co-operatively and collaboratively, something was is very important in Curriculum for Excellence. I am pleased with the outcome of both the movie and the animation we created in our groups, but it is not the end product that matters. It is the process that we went through to actually do the movie and the animation (also the wiki). It was about working together to solve problems, to complete tasks and to bounce ideas off each other. Here are the finished products for you to see.

Trip to the Consolarium,

As part of the elective, we had the opportunity to take a trip to the Consolarium in Dundee. The Consolarium looks at Games Based Learning and how it can be used within the classroom. During the visit we got to look at WII's, iPets (No site found), Nintendo DS, etc.

I believe the iPets is a great resource to use within the nursery. Pupils would learn how to care after a pet e.g. how to wash him, how to feed him, the attention he needs etc. I feel that the game will also help them personally as they will build a bond with their pet as it is completely in their control. I think it will also teach them what they need to know for their own personal hygiene, lifestyle etc.

We were also shown on three different levels of how pupils could create their own games. I feel that this is something that should be used within a classroom as it is something for the future. The future is constantly changing and as primary teachers, we are faced with the challenge of providing children with the correct skills for the future. Because we live in the Digital Age, it is vital that we do this properly. Children 'need to be tech-savvy if they are going to have any hope of a secure future.' (Williamson, 2007, no page given). The games they showed us got more difficult. The first seemed easy enough to use within the primary school. I would personally aim it at p3-p5. The second is more aimed towards upper school and the third was purely for secondary school.The three game making applications were continous i.e. they should be used to show progression.

Overall, the trip to the Consolarium was very insightful. It provided me with some ideas that I could take both out to nursery and school.