E-Learning in the K-6 Classroom

I think the words of Maddie Buras are spot-on when describing the impact digital stories can have when retelling a personal experience. She says “I think the audio visual aspect helped bring the audience into the story. Hearing my voice and seeing my personal photos made it easier for the viewer to feel my experience, rather than just reading an essay” (full article here). That is what I tried to achieve in my own digital story which I created as part of a uni assignment. As my story describes the impact my daughter has had on my view of life, and in compiling it I had to go back and remember what it was like when she was battling cancer, I can relate to another quote from Maddie; “it was definately emotional to go back to the mindset she was in”… yes, sometimes we try to forget the past because it is too painful. I also made my digital story for my daughter, so she can view it for years to come. I am now inspired to make more and maybe refine this one.

The abovementioned article also contains a link to educational uses of digital story telling that is worth a look.

If you are interested you can view my story here (will embed later when edublogs fixes the problem)

Watch this Youtube video about a very inspirational little girl who lives with Cerebral Palsy. She is lucky to have such a supportive family and community and to be attending her school with all its available technology and equipment.
The story has many similiarities to Helen Keller’s story. Unable to communicate and learn until given the tools. The world will be Melissa’s oyster, imagine what Helen Keller could have achieved with the technology available today – and she achieved so much without it!

There are so many possibilities out there for the disabled today. Just look at the software program that is featured in the video; it enabled Melissa to control a computer mouse by moving her eyes around a special computer monitor – amazing! Have a look at it – and have the tissues handy!

This interview is with a US classroom teacher, Susan Silverman, who talks about how the internet has opened up many opportunities for learning in her classroom. There are many academic articles on the topic but it is nice to read one from a teacher’s perspective.

Susan says “The Internet gave me the opportunity to really open the classroom walls, bring the world into the room, and collaborate with the global community.” Susan is known for her collaborative internet projects, for which she has won an International Reading Association award – the Miss Rumphius Award, that is presented by members of RTEACHER  (an online community of more than 1,000 educators from around the globe) to educators who develop and share exceptional Internet resources for literacy and learning.

It contains some good ideas for online literacy learning; you might like to look at the interview with Roxie Albrecht about writing and technology.

The interview was featured in Teachers’ Voices, a Reading Online series which is a freely available, online-only publication of the International Reading Association (IRA), a professional organization of literacy educators. Its focus is literacy practice and research in classrooms serving students aged 5 to 18. “Literacy” is broadly defined to include traditional print literacy, as well as visual literacy, critical literacy, media literacy, digital literacy, and so on.
(From http://www.readingonline.org/about/about_index.asp)

Also, have a look at the Index of articles available on Reading Online, there are some interesting titles relevant to ICT education.

This article is a quick overview on some of the ways blogging can be used in the classroom.
I love the idea of a teacher using them as a sort of online journal of the days activities to keep parents informed and up to date with the classroom happenings. What a great way to make sure parents know what is being studied in the classroom and also has opportunities for parents to post comments or ask the teacher questions that other parents can have access to. It has endless possibilities as a communication tool. Class work could also be featured or perhaps a link to a class Flickr account.

This is a good introductory video to Creative Commons and how it’s licencing works.