In order to carry out my plan for ISTE Indicator 2a, I will need to get a list together of potential website platforms available free for teachers in order to explore and evaluate them in relation to my needs (your suggestions are more than welcome!). Which also means that I need to get clearer about what exactly my needs are. At the moment I am thinking about using my website for organizational items (calendar, assignments), for student learning support (audio recordings of our readings, quality links, tips, rubrics), and as a place to publish student work in a variety of formats. I would also like to be able to have separate pages for the various classes that I teach. My target audience is primarily my students, followed by their parents, and the school community as a whole.
Another valuable resource will be exploring teacher websites which have been up and running for some time in order to expand my own ideas before solidifying them. Once I have narrowed down the possibilities, tutorials in the website platforms will help me to get better acquainted with the options and capabilities they offer. So far I haven’t got much further than articulating my goals and beginning to conceptualize what my site could look like.
For exploring multi-media student projects in connection with ISTE Indicator 3c, Classroom 2.0 and Edublogs could also be excellent resources. So far I have begun re-thinking several units I have planned for this year, and am focusing on a book presentation my ninth graders will be preparing in October to wrap-up their literature circles in order to incorporate digital tools and allow for a more individualized demonstration of their knowledge and skills.
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Hi Tsenala,
ReplyDeleteIt is also one of my goals to have a teacher website up and running, but at the outset, mine was going to be primarily for communication between myself and students and parents. I wanted to also keep organizational items on there, and a link for people to communicate with me through email. But I really like your idea of putting audio recordings on the website. As foreign language teachers, we could really get a lot of use out of this, putting up podcasts in the target language for listening practice and links to different sites where students can practice or play content-related games. Thanks for the good idea!
- Jenine
Have you explored possible hosting sites for your website? I've looked into Edublogs a bit, but that is as far as I have gotten. Edublogs offers free hosting services, and upgrades to purchase. I'm not yet knowledgeable enough to know if the amount of space available on the free Edublogs sites will accommodate multiple audio recordings. Perhaps it will be necessary to link to a podcast-host? What have you found out?
ReplyDeleteTsenala,
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of using a website to post calendars, audio, worksheets, etc. It will be a great tool for parents as well.
I also have been looking online for teacher websites to expand my own. There is just so much out there and can be exhausting at times! However, I have found some great resources and ideas to incorporate into my class, web english teacher is a great site. Sometimes I get annoyed though with the time wasted on websites that required a fee, such as bookrags.
What types of digital tools are you going to let your kids use at the end of October?
Jeni
At this point, I am considering integrating digital storytelling, "author"-interview podcasts, or even learner created wikis to guide the audience through the most important aspects of each group's book. Initially I had been focused on getting them talking "live" in front of the class (this is also an important skill and I will still integrate it in some way) with visual aids limited to something like an interesting and informative poster. Incorporating digital tools will definitely make this assignment more attractive and engaging for many (if not all) of my learners.
ReplyDelete