Reflection 2 Week 3

Reflection 2 Week 3

My teaching areas are Biology and Geography so I'm going with the Marine Studies theme this week, it was one of my favourite learning areas as a high school student which will probably emerge as a favourable teaching area too!

The Ocean Explorer - Fodey

 Marine Life - Wordle

Jelly Fish - GIF

Just for fun :)

Fish - Voki

 

Website Links

http://s0139202test.weebly.com/ - Weebly Website Link

https://s0139203test.wikispaces.com/ - Wiki Space Link

http://johannabacken.wix.com/assignment1eded20458 - Wix Website, an assignment for another subject, still in draft.

Evaluation of a website, Weebly and Wix.

 Personally, I prefer a website like Weebly or Wix as opposed to a Wiki-space. I can see the benefits of a Wiki-space but I find it difficult to navigate, of course practise makes perfect but it doesn't full-fill my aesthetic needs. I enjoy being able to customise the look-and-feel of something to make it more visually appealing and engaging. I have a background in writing and creating interpretive signs for Queensland's National Parks and now all I think about when I see a product like this is the Look-and-Feel! What I mean by this is:

• What is the product about?
• what key messages do you want to get across?
• Be conscious of the message sent by your colour palate
• Only use images and media if they enhance your message
• Try not to have bulky slabs of text
• Do NOT be afraid of free and open space, it is your visual buddy!

These sort of aesthetically appealing things are not catered for very well with a Wiki-space. My Wix website is an example of me trying to customise the look-and-feel of a page to showcase the importance of Literacy and Numeracy when travelling (drawing upon my subject areas Geography and Biology) to appeal to a senior high audience. This being said, the collaborative functions such as project creation and random group allocations are good, solid methods and forums to get the job done. When I have a more structured way of approaching a Wiki-space such as the second assignment, I hope to develop more of an affinity for this ICT tool.

 

So, that's my thoughts on a Wiki-space, I guess I'm more pro-website at this stage of the course, with that in mind I have summarised this technical themed rhetoric by creating a PMI for a Wiki-space and a SWOT for a Wix.

 

 

 Wiki-space PMI Table

PLUS	MINUS	INTERESTING
Ability to create discussion forums which encourages participation from all students	Limited scope to change format/layout/styles	Project Generator – I’d like to look more into this, it seems like an interesting and productive function
Students can add their own interesting topics, comments, links, images etc	Difficult to navigate	Randomised Team Allocating Button
The teacher can monitor student participation using the Assessments function	Lacking in aesthetics/ presentation
Ability to pick and choose participants
Ability to make page private

 

Wix SWOT Table

STRENGTHS	WEAKNESS	OPPORTUNITIES	THREATS
Very easy to use – intuitive set-up and functionality. Best platform I’ve found yet.	No HTML option – cannot include anything with source code like Vokis’	You can create multiple pages under the same account for free – opportunity to use this for other assignments	It’s published on line for all to see and comment upon (if you choose to include a comments section)
Many base styles to start from	Undo function goes back multiple steps		Issues with plagiarism of teacher and student content
Large free image library	If a text box overlaps a linked word, the link won’t work on the live site
Extensive selection of Apps

 

Relationship with my teaching areas - I'll stick with the biology theme in this post

Biology is quite linear in its content delivery, there is not a lot of scope for interpretation of the subject content as its a science, with this being said I think that a static web page like a Wix site would be a good way to clearly structure and scaffold difficult concepts that require higher order thinking. Biology leanings are tiered over the years of schooling become more and more in depth over time, having a very clearly organised progression of information such as that achieved with a website will help students create their own mental images of the topic, link it it with existing information and build up a solid knowledge-base. Inserting youtube clips of concepts like Respiration and DNA Replication is a great way to enhance the text on the site. I think I would use a Wix site or similar as a point in space to disseminate information from, rather than using a power point, which would contain embedded videos, avatars with key messages, and links to other information. The collaborative activity could come out of this with a link to a Wordle to start brainstorming or a link to a Bubbl.us page to generate a more specific concept map showing relationships.

Just for fun I'll pop in a quick correlation between the SAMR Model and Blogs:

Substitution: Use of a Blog in Place of a hard copy Journal or a Diary.
Augmentation: Use a Blog to chronologically organise Journal or Diary entries
Modification: Use  a Blog to share ideas and resources and get feedback from other students about subject content
Redefinition: Use a Blog to present assignments with visual, auditory and other digital enhancements as opposed to static paper based submissions.

Reference List

Puentedura, R. (2014). The SAMR Model: Enhancing technology integration. Retrieved from http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/