Like the first day, the second day instructions by Dr. Greg Powell included some engaging lectures and interesting practical workshops. In the following, I will present the two lectures, a brief coverage of two or three readings and workshops of that day in a brief way with my reflections on them based on my experiences and the context of my country Myanmar.
Lectures (Two and Three)
On the second day, Dr. Greg Powell covered two lectures (Lecture Two and Three), which are briefly presented under the particular topics in the following.
Lecture Two
Lecture Two is concerned with the matters of how to protect students while they are browsing the internet. As educators, we should try to empower our learners to develop safe and responsible online behaviours to protect themselves every time and everywhere they go online. Therefore, it is very important for students to behave well online according to the clear definitions of behaving online as specified in the slide on the left.
It is not at all appropriate to restrict the use of technology in this 21st century. However, we should empower our students to go online without any risks. Cyber bullying and harassment problems like teasing, spreading rumours and lies about somebody in the class should be banned and taken action. According to Australian cover bullying prevalence study (2009), the reasons for bullying among students are that the person bullying disliked the person being bullied, that they found bullying fun, that they enjoyed bullying others, and that they liked to feel tough and strong, in control and popular. I think these reasons for bullying are true for the students all over the world.
Another kind of risks for students is that they should be careful with completing personal detail forms, and with privacy issues, especially when creating websites and publishing online documents. We should also instruct our students to avoid spams and viruses in their e-mails carefully. For students to be safe and responsible online, they should be empowered to follow guidelines for schools and Internet Acceptable Use Agreements (AUAs). Moreover, as teachers, we should try to follow the important advice mentioned on the right.
Apart from them, we should educate our students to be safe and responsible online by showing some useful videos to them. For example, by watching educating movie clips like Tagged and Sexting, our students can automatically learn to behave online. Indeed, the movie "Tagged" even touched my heart deeply with a lot of moral lessons in the end. Why don't you spend some time usefully watching it below! We can also discuss what our students learn from it after watching it.
Lecture Three
Lecture Three is related to how the benefits of 'digital environments' be maximized for the students. Digital revolution has provided many opportunities in education for students and teachers. However, it is important that digital objects like audio and video files should contribute to the users' learning through understanding of concepts or processes and development of skills rather than drill and practice. In other words, one of the most important objectives of using learning objects should be to challenge students to question, investigate, analyse, synthesise, solve problems, make decision and reflect on their learning. For learning objects to be educationally sound, the four principles of learner focus, content integrity, usability and accessibility mentioned on the right are essential.
On one hand, teachers should be aware of the notion that learning objects are not replacing concepts which can be presented in a classroom environment. On the other hand, they should deliver learning objects to the students in a meaningful way. For example, students can interact and learn online in Scootle (which I will elaborate more in the workshop section below).
As a teacher educator specialising in methodology, I am convinced that all the teachers should pay special attention to the pedagogically-based learning design described on the left, when they use online learning objects with students.
As a matter of fact, there are many benefits of using the digital environments or the Internet as some main ones specified on the right slide.
To study more about and use educationally sound learning objects, the following websites will be very beneficial:
Readings
Reading One: Protecting yourself online: what everyone needs to know (2nd edition)
This is a booklet of guidelines for protecting oneself online primarily compiled by the Australia Government with the intention of keeping the Australian people safe and secure online. Generally, the 8 simple tips for protecting oneself online which are described as original on the right are quite comprehensive and effective if people do follow them. The guideline booklet has been written with three main sections, viz., how to secure your computer, how to be smart online, and how to be safe online. Under each section, there are clear explanations of the conditions of risks online with relevant examples where necessary, and how to avoid them. Near the end, some government official websites are given for studying more about tips for protecting oneself online, and for reporting online incidents to the appropriate departments directly. In Myanmar, my motherland, there has been an increasing number of online users and so the number of cyber crimes is also going up. As Myanmar government has not yet compiled any official guideline for protecting oneself online and any official law for taking actions against cyber crimes, this guideline booklet can be a good main reference for doing so.
Reading Two: Sex and tech: results from a survey of teens and young adults
This reading material is about an exploratory study conducted for better understanding the intersection between sex and cyberspace with respect to attitudes and behaviour. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Cosmoginl.com commissioned a survey of teens (13-19) and young people (20-26) to explore electronic activity. The survey was done to a total of 1,280 respondents - 653 teens and 627 young adults - between September 25, and 2008 and October 3, 2008. Nine interesting key findings of the research study were identified. The first finding is that a significant number of teens have electronically sent or uploaded nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves. The second finding is that such an online act starts at a young age and increases as teens become young adults. The third is that sexually suggestive messages like text, e-mail and instant message are even more common than sexually suggestive images among the people of these ages. The fourth is that despite some sending such images to their boyfriends or girlfriends, some also send them to strangers. It is surprising to see that many teens and young adults do such online image-sending in spite of their high possibility of being in danger (the fifth finding) and of them being publicised with the consent of the owners (the sixth finding). It is also astonishing to find that many young people who receive nude/semi-nude images and sexually suggestive texts and e-mails are sharing them to the others not originally intended (the seventh finding). Seeing that teens and young adults give many reasons for sending or posting sexually explicit content (the ninth finding) even when they are quite aware of the fact that such an online act can have negative impact on them (the eighth finding), I tend to believe that it will be very dangerous for them if they keep doing so. Although we have personal rights for sending or posting our own images or videos, it is not wrong to be extra careful with doing so online. Sometimes, posting such sexually explicit content online is like inviting dangers for a girl or a young women. Therefore, I believe that it is really worth educating our teens and young people about using technology effectively and wisely.
Workshop
Yenka
According to Dr. Greg, Yenka is a very useful website for the learners since it provides them opportunities to make numerous experiments safely in a virtual environment on the four fields of study: mathematics, science, technology and, ICT and computing. He hinted that he learners may learn a lot from their virtual safe experiments. When I tried to use it, it did not turn up very well for me perhaps because I was still new to it. When I tried it at a later date, I tried to register and download the application free of charge as a teacher. But my Mac not allowing the file to open, I could not try it yet up to now. But I believe that if the students can really use the application, it will be extremely beneficial for them.
Scootle
I find Scootle really fruitful as we can search for the relevant learning materials for us as teachers and for our students. Although my Australian classmates who are also in-service teachers from local schools would benefit most from it as it showcases the Australia curriculum and related materials, international students including me also had lots of useful things which I believe I will be able to use in the context of my country.
When I tried browsing Scootle for English language, I narrowed it by selecting the grades that the content was supposed to be part of. Then I found a lot of videos and other readings on different topics under English language, which are linked to Splash of the well-known ABC. Therefore, I could study a lot of materials there. I am sure that I will recommend my students to do research and discussion on different instructional topics partially based on the website. However, the most crucial thing, I believe, is that I need to spend some of my time regularly on browsing and using it to the best of my benefit so that I will be able to render my knowledge and skills to my students.
Splash
I am particularly absorbed in Splash of the ABC which can help us learn with many useful good-quality documentary video clips, games, audio clips and many other learning tools. I searched for materials concerning English language teaching and found a lot of learning materials. The video we watched in the class was one of the most famous songs for kids by the name of "Twinkle, twinkle little stars" (which you may have already listened or read before). In the video, you can see how it was demonstrated in an attractive way for the kids! I will use such materials for teaching English Language Teaching (ELT) to my student teachers. I also intend to encourage them to use Splash effectively for their future students as I am convinced that we can easily search for many useful materials related to our students' level there.
Roller Mache
Roller Mache is quite an interesting website for animation. On that website, we can watch some inspirational video clips of famous animators explaining how they made their animations, learn how to do animation movies from the written explanations, and create our own animations if we have already registered there. It is a superb help for the learners who are interested in animations or creative art. As the teacher is to "open the doors for the children" so that they can "enter by themselves", I will recommend my student teachers to try to use the website and encourage their future students to try it by discussing the merits of using it.
Edutopia
I really like Edutopia for the numerous articles, videos and researches on a wide range of educational topics. The writers are educationists themselves and so their presentations are convincing and influential, I think. As I registered on the website, they send me the updates on the news and articles via my e-mail regularly. I think every teacher who wants to improve themselves should register there, get e-mail updates, and study and develop their educational horizons. I think it is a good thing for us to join the conversation with the educational community there.
Vimeo
After lunch that day, Dr. Greg told us to do pair work by giving a rubber band, a card, a piece of tape and a frog picture each. The task was to try to make the paper frog jump and then to make a demonstration of the frog leaping in front of the class by a volunteer from each group. I thought it would be an important part of an animation movie if we were to make one with a frog as a character in it. My Vietnamese friend and I thought about making it jump in various ways. Only at last did we think about folding the card, putting one tip of it to the paper frog above with the rubber band after binding the frog to the tip of the card, and pressing the upper tip of the folded card gently and releasing it. Then one representative from each group had to make a demonstration in front of the class. It was fun for all of us! Then we video-recorded our frog leaping for posting on Vimeo. You can enjoy watching my amazing video clip entitled "How to make a paper frog leap on and on!" on my Vimeo wall. Just a click on the link given! :)
Reasonablyclever.com
Like the first day, the second day workshops covered quite a number of useful websites. First of all, we had to try an incredibly awesome website named "reasonablyclever.com".
Lectures (Two and Three)
On the second day, Dr. Greg Powell covered two lectures (Lecture Two and Three), which are briefly presented under the particular topics in the following.
Lecture Two
 |
| A slide from Lecture Two |
Lecture Two is concerned with the matters of how to protect students while they are browsing the internet. As educators, we should try to empower our learners to develop safe and responsible online behaviours to protect themselves every time and everywhere they go online. Therefore, it is very important for students to behave well online according to the clear definitions of behaving online as specified in the slide on the left.
It is not at all appropriate to restrict the use of technology in this 21st century. However, we should empower our students to go online without any risks. Cyber bullying and harassment problems like teasing, spreading rumours and lies about somebody in the class should be banned and taken action. According to Australian cover bullying prevalence study (2009), the reasons for bullying among students are that the person bullying disliked the person being bullied, that they found bullying fun, that they enjoyed bullying others, and that they liked to feel tough and strong, in control and popular. I think these reasons for bullying are true for the students all over the world.
 |
| A slide from Lecture Two |
Apart from them, we should educate our students to be safe and responsible online by showing some useful videos to them. For example, by watching educating movie clips like Tagged and Sexting, our students can automatically learn to behave online. Indeed, the movie "Tagged" even touched my heart deeply with a lot of moral lessons in the end. Why don't you spend some time usefully watching it below! We can also discuss what our students learn from it after watching it.
Lecture Three
 |
| A slide from Lecture Three |
Lecture Three is related to how the benefits of 'digital environments' be maximized for the students. Digital revolution has provided many opportunities in education for students and teachers. However, it is important that digital objects like audio and video files should contribute to the users' learning through understanding of concepts or processes and development of skills rather than drill and practice. In other words, one of the most important objectives of using learning objects should be to challenge students to question, investigate, analyse, synthesise, solve problems, make decision and reflect on their learning. For learning objects to be educationally sound, the four principles of learner focus, content integrity, usability and accessibility mentioned on the right are essential.
 |
| A slide from Lecture Three |
As a teacher educator specialising in methodology, I am convinced that all the teachers should pay special attention to the pedagogically-based learning design described on the left, when they use online learning objects with students.
 |
| A slide from Lecture Three |
As a matter of fact, there are many benefits of using the digital environments or the Internet as some main ones specified on the right slide.
To study more about and use educationally sound learning objects, the following websites will be very beneficial:
- The Learning Federation eContent of Education Services Australia (ESA) (http://www.thelearningfederation.edu.au/default.asp )
- National digital learning resource network (http://www.ndlrn.edu.au/default.asp )
Readings
Reading One: Protecting yourself online: what everyone needs to know (2nd edition)
 |
| 8 simple tips for protecting yourself online |
Reading Two: Sex and tech: results from a survey of teens and young adults
This reading material is about an exploratory study conducted for better understanding the intersection between sex and cyberspace with respect to attitudes and behaviour. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Cosmoginl.com commissioned a survey of teens (13-19) and young people (20-26) to explore electronic activity. The survey was done to a total of 1,280 respondents - 653 teens and 627 young adults - between September 25, and 2008 and October 3, 2008. Nine interesting key findings of the research study were identified. The first finding is that a significant number of teens have electronically sent or uploaded nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves. The second finding is that such an online act starts at a young age and increases as teens become young adults. The third is that sexually suggestive messages like text, e-mail and instant message are even more common than sexually suggestive images among the people of these ages. The fourth is that despite some sending such images to their boyfriends or girlfriends, some also send them to strangers. It is surprising to see that many teens and young adults do such online image-sending in spite of their high possibility of being in danger (the fifth finding) and of them being publicised with the consent of the owners (the sixth finding). It is also astonishing to find that many young people who receive nude/semi-nude images and sexually suggestive texts and e-mails are sharing them to the others not originally intended (the seventh finding). Seeing that teens and young adults give many reasons for sending or posting sexually explicit content (the ninth finding) even when they are quite aware of the fact that such an online act can have negative impact on them (the eighth finding), I tend to believe that it will be very dangerous for them if they keep doing so. Although we have personal rights for sending or posting our own images or videos, it is not wrong to be extra careful with doing so online. Sometimes, posting such sexually explicit content online is like inviting dangers for a girl or a young women. Therefore, I believe that it is really worth educating our teens and young people about using technology effectively and wisely.
Workshop
Yenka
According to Dr. Greg, Yenka is a very useful website for the learners since it provides them opportunities to make numerous experiments safely in a virtual environment on the four fields of study: mathematics, science, technology and, ICT and computing. He hinted that he learners may learn a lot from their virtual safe experiments. When I tried to use it, it did not turn up very well for me perhaps because I was still new to it. When I tried it at a later date, I tried to register and download the application free of charge as a teacher. But my Mac not allowing the file to open, I could not try it yet up to now. But I believe that if the students can really use the application, it will be extremely beneficial for them.
Scootle
 |
| Screenshot of Scootle homepage |
When I tried browsing Scootle for English language, I narrowed it by selecting the grades that the content was supposed to be part of. Then I found a lot of videos and other readings on different topics under English language, which are linked to Splash of the well-known ABC. Therefore, I could study a lot of materials there. I am sure that I will recommend my students to do research and discussion on different instructional topics partially based on the website. However, the most crucial thing, I believe, is that I need to spend some of my time regularly on browsing and using it to the best of my benefit so that I will be able to render my knowledge and skills to my students.
Splash
 |
| Screenshot of Splash homepage |
Roller Mache
 |
| Screenshot of Roller Mache homepage |
Edutopia
 |
| Screenshot of Edutopia homepage |
Vimeo
After lunch that day, Dr. Greg told us to do pair work by giving a rubber band, a card, a piece of tape and a frog picture each. The task was to try to make the paper frog jump and then to make a demonstration of the frog leaping in front of the class by a volunteer from each group. I thought it would be an important part of an animation movie if we were to make one with a frog as a character in it. My Vietnamese friend and I thought about making it jump in various ways. Only at last did we think about folding the card, putting one tip of it to the paper frog above with the rubber band after binding the frog to the tip of the card, and pressing the upper tip of the folded card gently and releasing it. Then one representative from each group had to make a demonstration in front of the class. It was fun for all of us! Then we video-recorded our frog leaping for posting on Vimeo. You can enjoy watching my amazing video clip entitled "How to make a paper frog leap on and on!" on my Vimeo wall. Just a click on the link given! :)
Reasonablyclever.com
Like the first day, the second day workshops covered quite a number of useful websites. First of all, we had to try an incredibly awesome website named "reasonablyclever.com".
 |
| Screenshot of my almost-finished picture on Reasonablyclever.com |
There are a lot of interesting features in it. We can create a lot of colourful pictures by using it. I think this website will be especially useful for the young learners because there are several ways of making colourful pictures with various pieces of art to choose from. I believe that the learners will develop creativity by the teacher asking them to do tasks like letting them create the pictures of their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and best friends. Depending on the teacher's intuitiveness, he or she can adjust the tasks and even develop the learners' other skills like presentation or communication skills. Although we tried only Classic Minimizer of the website in the class, I found on later browsing that other sections like Blockhead will also be very suitable for children. I am sure that these online applications will not only boost young learners' creativity but also make them happy and engaged.
Wordle
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| My wordle |
Wordle is a website where the words we put are transformed into an attractive colourful word cloud. In our Sagaing University of Education, Myanmar, our student teachers are normally assigned to make teaching aids. This online application can be helpful for them as they can make the main words of a particular language topic into a word cloud and printing it out as a wall sheet. On top of that, they can also be encouraged to use this application for making teaching aids needed for their group teaching and bloc teaching. I also intend to use this website for my lessons back in my country. The word maze shown on the left is the one about some words associated with sports that I did with the application in the class.
Tagxedo
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| Word apple made on Tagxedo |
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| A word cock made on Tagxedo |
The two pictures provided on the left and above are the ones that I tried to make by using Taxedo during the class. I believe that anyone can easily learn to use this application.
Makebeliefscomix
What particularly enchanted me was Makebeliefscomix which is a comic-making online application. We can create comics with the appropriate characters and dialogue boxes that we want to use. When we finish creating our comics, we can save it on our computers and send it to a friend if we wish to do so. I am fully convinced that this application will make my student teachers a brand-new experience that will last all their lives as a happy memory. They will be able to create their own comics and share to their classmates. This will also be a kind of language practice by restricting using only English for dialogues even though the application allows them to use their mother tongue. Therefore, it will be an enjoyable learning activity for them, too. Such joys and learning can be boosted with their future students of younger ages with the teachers' creative assignments.
The following is a comic strip that I created on Makebeliefscomix in the class. The theme of the comic is that the student teachers (hereby including me in spite of my being a teacher educator in my country) are confused by the two opposite ideas of a language teacher (that is, Dr. Howard Nicholas, our language teaching lecturer, in my mind) and a multimedia teacher (that is, Dr. Greg Powell, our EDU4UML lecturer, in my mind). The title of my comic strip is "Language teacher and multimedia teacher", which I provide below.
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| My comic entitled "Language teacher and multimedia teacher" made on Makebeliefscomix.com |
Despite me being quite a mature person now, I was overjoyed and proud of my own creation which I even shared on my Facebook timeline and my classmates praised. Taking into account my joy and pride in my own creation, my student teachers and their future students of younger ages will be exuberant and extremely proud. On the other hand, they will also learn English language unconsciously. Therefore, I have made up my mind to render this experience to my student teachers back in my country Myanmar.
