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Countdown to the Educational Future?
What this site is all about
Don't know a 'wiki' from a 'web-log' (blog to you!)? Think 'RSS Newsfeed' is an ocean liner? Think 'social networking' is an online knitting-circle and 'social bookmarking' is getting your friends to correct your students' work? Then this is the site for you. It's Alperton Community School's very own 'e-learning' wiki. For those of you that don't know, a wiki is an 'edit-able' web-site that allows contributors to do just that - make a contribution - to discussion 'threads' and in other ways that will hopefully become clear. Wikis are an example of what is often called 'Web2.0' - a more creative and interactive version of what we have come to think of as the 'Web'. Web2.0 is to Web 1.0 as is the phone to the radio - a more interactive and. perhaps more importantly, more collaborative medium! More important still, Web2.0 is where our students are routinely accessing the 'next generation' of web-tools at sites like Bebo, Face-Book and MySpace. Take a look at these two videos to see why we need to be tapping in to Web2.0 - both for our sake and for our students' sake - and see what the future has in store!
To start a video, just click on it and then click again. Be patient - it may take up to 30 seconds for the video to begin.
It is clear that e-learning is set to become a very significant force for change in the years to come and here at ACS we intend to be at the forefront of these changes. We've already made a modest start with the ACS web-site but, despite the greater editing control we now have compared with most school web-sites, we cannot really provide the frequency of updating and flexibility of access that we really need. This term, we will be taking the first steps towards creating our own MLE (that's Managed Learning Environment - but the term 'Learning Platform' will do just as well!) As part of a London-wide consortium (The London MLE), and following an exhaustive selection process, the Local Authority has 'signed-up' to the Fronter MLE and Alperton has 'signed up' to be part of the second cohort of Brent schools - launching in January 2008. What will this mean for us? Too much to be able to explain in a short introduction here! However, over the following weeks, we will be beginning to provide that fuller explanation.Why not click on the 'e-learning 'wiki icon from the 'Useful Links' section of the school web-site from time to time to see what's developing? In the meantime, click here to go to our dedicated Fronter page on this site, where you will find a Q&A (FAQ as its called in the 'online' world!) and where news updates will be posted.
Of course, e-learning is not just confined to the Fronter MLE and we will be using the term e-learning in its broadest sense to encompass all web-based resources - including those of which we have already made use, such as SAM Learning.
Missed the 3rd January SAM Learning training session? Just go to Central Resource Library > Whole School > ICT Training > SAM Learning to access the resources used - 2 PowerPoints, a video and 3 PDF 'How to...' guides!
Also, for the next two Tuesdays (29th Jan, 5th Feb) after school, I will be offering SAM Learning training in the 3.30 - 4.30pm INSET 'slot' in Room S26*. Learn how to access SAM Learning, (and show your students how if they don't already know!), sort out password problems,create custom groups, set revision tasks and homework that your students can access online, review their progress, and monitor their use of SAM Learning.
[ * one session could be at ER if there is demand for it - so let me know!]
While e-learning promises to open doors into hitherto undreamed of teaching and learning possibilities, it is not without its dangers. Within the school environment we have a degree of control over what our students access but outside of school we can be nothing like as confident. The 'Internet' remains a pretty 'un-tamed wilderness' in places and the predators are certainly out there. This places a responsibility on all of us - parents, managers and educators - to play our part. The question is, what is our part? There is no simple answer to this but there are sources of advice that we can consult and this site will suggest some of the most highly regarded of these. To make a start, you could do worse than click on the icon below to access the 'Think You Know' (TUK) site.
In a world where a young person can access the 'Internet' from the palm of their hand through a mobile-phone or even a games console, this throws up further challenges than simply monitoring or restricting PC use either at home or in school. Ultimately, we must ensure that we equip our students with the skills and attitudes that allow them to make wise choices and take sensible actions. In short, we must educate them, and given that that's the 'business' we are in, we should be able to make a pretty good job of it!
So, if you want to be 'clued in' to where education is likely to be going over the next few years, why not click the e-learning@alperton link from time to time. You will be amazed at what's going on 'out there'!
If you want to know more about Web2.0 'tools', then click on the minivid tutorial page links below and find out about:
wikis
blogs
RSS
social networking
social bookmarking
online photo-sharing
Google Docs
geofff |
Latest page update: made by geofff
, Feb 24 2008, 6:12 AM EST
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| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
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| geofff | Using wikis | 2 | Jan 5 2008, 8:55 AM EST by geofff | ||
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Thread started: Dec 28 2007, 8:30 AM EST
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Can you see the potential value of using a wiki as part of your role at ACS? A wiki is easy to set up and can be linked to the main school web-site if you wish. You could use it a variety of ways. Go to the Wetpaint home-page and look at the examples provided. If you want assistance, just let me know.
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| s.hartley | Collaboration? | 0 | Jan 3 2008, 11:55 AM EST by s.hartley | ||
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