QiongYu: April 2011

Technology has become part of our 2Ist century life. To be literate in the contemporary world is to understand the very large range of language forms which includes not only the ability to read and to write in a language as defines in our traditional way, but also includes the visual and auditory literacy which refers to the ability to identify, understand, explain, interpret, revise, create multimedia.
In order to equip myself with such necessary multimedia ability for my future teaching, I experienced different groups of technology tools within the past three weeks.

Group one: Blog
A blog is a web site, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. In my own blog, I used PMI thinking tool to explain why I prefer blog to wiki and web in a learning environment.
First, blog is easy to set up and explore. Defined myself as digital immigrant, I just follow the obvious, simple instruction step by step to set a new account then I can write my new post, publish, done! It automatically publishes the newest post on the homepage, and the previous ones are automatically achieved in a chronological order. I don’t need to worry about the layout, setting, design. My focus is only the content itself which I want to post. Once I introduce blog to my students, they will be glad to try it for its simplicity. So the task is very simple, clear and students believe they have the ability to finish it by themselves or have the ability to seek necessary help or assistant to finish it which will definitely build up students’ confidence and positive learning attitude and perspectives.
Second, the ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. My purpose of writing a blog is not only to write for myself to keep a online personal diary, but also to share my opinions, ideas, experiences with my readers. They know what I am writing about, and I know what they think about my writing once I read their comments. So I am not lonely in such blog journey. When students put their writing into their blog, their teachers, friends, classmates, parents can read it and comment it. So students feel being respected, being paid attention to which promotes their learning interest and self confidence to continue a learning task which becomes more valuable and meaningful for someone wants to read and comment their blog. What is more, they can read the peer’s blog to share different opinions, or to help each other solve similar problem.
Third, blog can be embedded with other multimedia, such as pictures, graphs, video, auditory forms. Students as young learners, learn more in the form of combined with pictures, video and words than words only. With colorful pictures, real voice, students’ interests are greatly stimulated. They will voluntarily add more pictures, video to support their blog content. And the ability to use such digital tool make students proud of themselves, therefore they have more confidence to finish more complex tasks.
Fourth, blog is author-oriented which means only the author has the authority to edit, revise, add, insert, delete any contents or comments in his blog. Such function gives teachers good opportunities to supervise, monitor their students’ comments in a specific task. As a teacher, I can praise, emphasize the positive, meaningful comments from my students; at the same time, I can identify some negative tendency to help my students to overcome it; and I can delete and ban some malicious comment from outside strangers to put things back to right, safe track.
There is one thing I will mention to my students when they use blog, copyright. It is the author who owns the right for his writing, pictures or videos. If there is information students want to use in their own blog from other blogs, or other sources, they need to reference or obey the copyright rules set in website. Students have to understand that learning, share information doesn’t mean they can pirate other people’s intellectual right.

Group two: Podcast
A podcast is simply a sound file. But it is a sound file that is shared with others, usually by subscription. Clearly, podcasts can be accessed online, created by others across the web. But importantly, they are also files that students create and share by uploading online. Creating a podcast allows students to share learning experiences. It provides them with a world-wide audience that makes learning meaningful and assessment authentic. Again in my blog, I used PMI thinking tool to explain why I prefer podcast to other digital video, or movie maker.
First, its simplicity. Similar to blog, I just need set up a new account followed by simple instruction step by step and then I can use it to record my own voice through a microphone. My students can easily set up their own account by reading, following several instructions. As we know, students are more likely to do something when they know it is easy and direct. What ability they need at this stage is only remembering and understanding instruction. In Boom’s Taxonomy theory, an average student can have such lower order thinking skills without much difficulty.
Second, it is funny. What is more funny than to hear your own voice and to share it globally? As old saying goes, interest is the best teacher. With interest, students have the positive attitude to process the task. What is more, their voice can be shared which let students feel they are not isolated, they are connected instead.
Third, its powerful use in teaching and learning. Since podcast is a sound file, its particular use is in foreign language teaching. When teacher records his/her voice into podcast, students can listen to it at home, to imitate the way how to pronounce a foreign sound, and then they can record their own voice into podcast to compare the difference, and then analysize to improve. At the end of the task, teacher can use all the podcasts created by students to play in classroom to let students themselves to evaluate their tasks. Therefore, students have improved themselves from lower order thinking to higher order thinking.
And again here, since podcast is easily accessible through internet, I need to remind my students of the copyright issue as I mention blog before.

Group three: Powerpoint
PowerPoint is regarded as a presentation tool that is used to support oral presentations. But it is so much more. It is a platform that supports the embedding of text, linking and interactivity, audio, video and images. Again, in my blog, I explained why I choose powerpoint other than prezi or glogster.
First, powerpoint can be used as image tool alone. Just insert pictures which have automatically resized the original pictures and make them suitable in the slides. And I can choose the pictures, charts, clip art which have already stored in powerpoint and are classified into different groups to save time to search.
Second, powerpoint can outline ideas. I just write down my ideas briefly in a list and it will show it on slide in the exact same way. For audience, when I am giving my presentation, it is easy for them to check such outline to see the emphasis.
Third, powerpoint can embed sound, movie and animation. For young students, their focus and interest are easily distracted and get bored by a single teaching tool. I can use outline (words) to emphasize the key points, then change to pictures to strengthen their impression from short term memory to long term one and then I can change to sound or movie to give them a vivid example to see how knowledge can be used in reality to solve problems. When designing assessment, I can list questions to check students’ understanding, and after they answer the relevant questions, I use animation function to list the answers one by one by choosing different time display.

Group four: Mindmap
Text 2 Mind Map is a web application that converts texts to mind maps. It takes a structured list of words or sentences, interprets it, and draws a mind map out of them. Again in my blog, I state my reason why I prefer mindmap to others.
First, again its simplicity. It is the first time for me to use it. It even doesn’t require registration. I just go to its website where I can see an example, and then I change the text in the example, it automatically creates my mind map. How easy and fantastic it is! I see it, I change it, I create it. That is the simply way to use mindmap.
Second, it can be saved as a picture. Once my mindmap is done, I just choose to save, then the map will be save in my computer as a picture for my later use to upload to blog or any other websites.
Third, it can be “frozen”. Once I have finished my main part of the mindmap, what I want to do is just to edit the word, then I choose “freeze” function. Wow, the whole map with the arrows is frozen and still except text which is only editable. How friendly is it to use! And I am sure students’ will be amazed by its simply and useful function to “write” down their mindmap. For visual smart students, they might create a piece of art mindmap.
In conclusion, digital technology used in teaching has greatly facilitated, strengthened students’ learning journey, making learning active, funny, meaningful and alive and it meets different learning styles’ requirement, no matter students are words smart or visual smart. Online digital technology is one of the most cost saving tools to make learning no longer limited in classroom. With supervised monitor online and safe and legal guideline, students can experience from remembering, understanding, applying to analysing, evaluating and creating to form their high order and creative thinking.

Refenrence
•    Material made available through Moodle: http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/ict/podcasts/, Retrieved from CQUniversity e-Courses, EDED20491, ICTs for learning design: http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
•    Material made available through Moodle: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html#cognitive, Retrieved from CQUniversity e-Courses, EDED20491, ICTs for learning design: http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
•    Material made available through Moodle: http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=163846,Retrieved from CQUniversity e-Courses, EDED20491, ICTs for learning design: http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
•    Material made available through Moodle: : http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=163850.Retrieved from CQUniversity e-Courses, EDED20491, ICTs for learning design: http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au
•    Material made available through Moodle: http://www.text2mindmap.com/,Retrieved from CQUniversity e-Courses, EDED20491, ICTs for learning design: http://e-courses.cqu.edu.au