What could a teacher's website include?

What could a teacher's website include?

- School information
- Syllabus
- Schedules/Calendars
- Expectations and/or Conduct code
- Assignments
- Grades
- Archive of documents, files, etc.
- News and events
- Upcoming events
- Newsletters
- Links
- Online resources for students
- Resources for parents
- Activities for students
- Lesson ideas for other teachers
- Contact information (email, phone number)
- Student work
- Actual projects such as PowerPoint presentations, webpages, etc.

Use of Google Books and Google Scholar

I frequently use Google Books and Google Scholar for my work and studies. I have found them to be a great resource, almost like having a library with you.
The books and articles you find vary in their viewing availability. For example, some offer a preview of certain chapters while others actually offer a full view of the book. There are loads of topics and you can even create your own 'library' to find the books you want quickly. You can save them under 'reviewed', 'favorites', 'reading now', 'to read' and 'read'.

I, who still beleive in the (so called) old-fashioned book as being essential, found this site to be the best of both worlds - where students can still be digital whilst at the same time reading a book as well.

I feel this is one of the best initiatives on the internet.

Cartoons

I am coming across more types of this cartoon type video clip which really does get it's message across. As I seriously lack artistic skills, I'm definitely not the one to create such material, but for the folks who can easily create cartoons, this is a very cool way of how to get your message through.

The first video is one I really recommend that everyone watches. It is about what really motivates us, and surprisingly it is not about about money as you shall see...

This second one is a very cool way to explain how a product works, in this case google chrome OS, without any technical jargon.

Are we 'Digital Immigrants'?

I came across an interesting article by Marc Prensky Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (2001) which was discussing the fact if today’s teachers are what he defined as ‘Digital Immigrants’. He was referring to those of us who were not really born into the digital world but have, at some later point in their lives, become fascinated by and adopted many or most aspects of the new technology. These ‘Digital Immigrants’ always retain, to some degree, their ‘accent,’ that is, their foot in the past. The ‘digital immigrant accent’ can be seen in such things as turning to the internet for information second rather than first, or in reading the manual for a program rather than assuming that the program itself will teach you how to use it. Today’s older generations were ‘socialized’ differently from their kids, and are now in the process of learning a new language. But a problem that the educational system can face nowadays is that our ‘Digital Immigrant’ instructors, who speak an outdated language (that of the pre-digital age), are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language. ‘Digital Immigrant’ teachers assume that learners are the same as they have always been, and that the methods that worked for the teachers when they were students will work for their students now. But obviously that assumption is no longer valid; today’s learners are really different. What do you think?

E-learning can make lectures easier.

With all the visual aid we have today it will be possible to give the students all the material schedule, all the material uploaded such that they will be able to access it. Moreover convert the lessons into tutorials and set the dates for the assignments. In this way the students should be encouraged to work harder and achieve better results.

Second Life and E-Learning

Second Life is a virtual 3D community created in 2003. When the user becomes a member, he becomes a new resident and is given a new identity by using a name and a virtual avatar to represent himself in this virtual community. The user uses mouse and keyboard control to move the avatar around this virtual world.

Second Life’s virtual world also includes sound/visual environments such as wind and rain, audible conversations, built-in chats and instant messaging. Residents buy property, start businesses, game with other residents, create objects, join clubs, attend classes, or just hang out.

Second Life can also be used as a platform for an e-learning environment. The good thing about Second Life is that, unlike most of the other e-Learning environments, it brings the student into conditions which are very close to real-life situations. It is well suited for direct interaction and working in a specific virtual environment. All of this can be done by programming the avatar to act like a real person and interact with other avatars (other members).

This is a link showing some examples of how Second Life can be used to provide training simulations. You can find other useful links within the same page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJTzNSV8pb0

EVITA

Several business in Malta are small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and they are often run by a sole owner or as small family businesses. Due to lack of knowledge amongst other reasons, entrepreneurs running these business do not make use of ICT to its full potential and consequently they are less competitive and productive than larger companies.

Di-ve yesterday reported on an EU funded project called EVITA that provides an e-Learning course on ICT aimed at SMEs. Malta is represented in this project through Fondazzjoni Sir Temi Zammit.

I think that is a very good e-Learning initiative. Such entrepreneurs have the motivation to learn and little time to spare in order to attend traditional lectures. Moreover, e-learning is an excellent platform for geographically dispersed companies to share best practice in the field.