Web Spaces

This week I have been exploring, changing and tweaking a web space known as a blog. I’m beginning to appreciate the functionality and potential benefits web-space's like these can have in the classroom. I have found editing and creating my blog easy, very simplistic and intuitive with the structure and layout. I’ve enjoyed personalizing colour schemes, layout, titles, personal details and other intriguing aspects available. Almost all blogs follow a similar formatting, in most simplest form the image below shows some key things they have.  

(https://firstsiteguide.com/what-is-blog/)

Blog contents, look, colours and setting of these things is completely customizable by the author, me in this instance. The added benefit of blogging instead of websites is being able receive comments, lending itself to collaborative learning within a classroom.

I chose to create a blog through google’s app “blogger”. This is my first blog and I’ve come to understand some key differences between Websites, Blogs and Wikis. Website’s are single author and have readers. Blogs also are single author and/ or can sometimes have shared authorship with multiple readers and commentators. Wiki’s on the other hand have multiple authors / collaborators. The image below demonstrates the relationship all three (3) web spaces have between the author and audience engagement.

(https://echo360.org.au/lesson/35e84d7f-730d-45a9-a706-a0443a6b4c92/classroom)

In general, the benefits and effectiveness of ICT’s to adapt and communicate content to learners within a classroom environment has become very clear. They could be as limited or limitless as you make it. The use of ICT’s for the teacher, allows them to slowly become a facilitator of resources, knowledge and the classroom, rather than being the expert regarded as the sole source of information. The indirect effect of using more digital pedagogy as well, is the transfer of learning responsibility due to students having to explore, apply and learn through more individualized, guided activities. The responsibilities and customization available for learning and individualization is unbelievable and would enhance learners experiences as they have to become creators and publishers of knowledge, communicators, collaborators and local experts within these web spaces. My understandings of websites, blogs and wikis has grown, the easily identifiable benefits these spaces offer for learners is the additional, alternative resources, open materials and genuine learner-centredness these can provide.

I personally could facilitate learning to my students in the classroom through the use of a blog to: 

• Brainstorm
• Challenge others 
• Problem solve
• Respond to content, video
• Online debates
• Learning journal
• Set goals
• Feedback
• Reflect on reading
• Present work

The road block to implementing these awesome digital pedagogies could be school resource availability, student computer accessibility and home environment (if they have home computer or internet). As a teacher these things must be considered when working with this form of technology. Making a blog, wiki and websites safe is another key component. You can privatize these spaces and register viewers or collaborators what would give the flexibility to create protected areas. This could be done individually, in groups or even by classroom to ensure student safety and teacher guidance is maintained. 

Using The SAMR Model, a framework for synthesizing pedagogy, digital technology and Bloom's Taxonomy, I've provided some examples in context to physical education: 

• Substitution level: Students lesson contents, readings and task information is displayed through online website that is accessible to all PE students within that classroom.
• Augmentation level: Students could be provided a research list or extended answer quiz where they have to use online resources and researching to understand, evaluate and apply their findings. 
•  Modification level: Students have to analyse their game of badminton through using a excel spreadsheet for recording errors in which region of the court, evaluating, analyzing and visually displaying data collected through graphical features found on excel.
• Redefinition level: Students then use their information gathered from excel to create a 5 min presentation, embedding and creating audio, video and graphical features from excel to explain where their errors were most prevalent and what strategies they could use to fix this. They then publish on a public wiki, interacting globally with experts and audience who they could collaborate with. 

References:

Firstsiteguide. (2018). What is a Blog? - Definition of blog, blogging and blogger. Retrieved from https://firstsiteguide.com/what-is-blog/ 

CQU. (2020). Digital Learning and Teaching Zoom: Topic 3 Tutorial Digital Tools: WEB SPACES. Retrieved from https://echo360.org.au/lesson/35e84d7f-730d-45a9-a706-a0443a6b4c92/classroom