THE STATUS OF NELLIE'S PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT : 1.5.4

I can now proudly boast of the confidence with which I articulate issues regarding learning with technology. ( these ideas slip out of my tongue even during meetings at the Ministry!).

 I am already making good strides- I have gained the vocabulary that emanates from learning with technology:Crowd sourcing, curating, tags, bookmarks, etc.this picture represents my envisioning- which I am slowly but surely working towards.

Each of the participants in his/her own virtual learning space but collaborating, sharing, encouraging one another towards this goal- My professional learning network has expanded beyond the confines of Uganda in to the world of  different sites, blogs and wikis ,groups and 'likes'

with this expanded PLN I am not limited in my  search  for information that I want, in evaluating a site, creating links, saving useful links on Delicious. Most of all - I have developed an information seeking attitude/behaviour - learning re learning and un learning and learning to be innovative.

The group Wiki page is still not collaborative at all! this kills the spirit of  editing or productiveness in order to bring out the best in  content sharing. On the other hand, it is an indicator of the power of collaboration since I am able to use a link to a blog created by members of the research group.

My strength  is in my ability to integrate technology not only in the classroom, but in my daily life.

1.5.2: SITES IN SUPPORT OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR INNOVATIVE TEACHING

http://www.fmthttp://www.techforteachers.net/systems.com/04-news/Impl-7-prin.pdf
This is a model organisation site that promotes my professional development goal and my staff development for it provides a novel approach in  the use of most cost-effective and appropriate
ways to use computers, video, and telecommunications technologies to
advance the Seven Principles of learning with technology.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4UzD8bL8yc

This is a link to a blog -Video tour of Edutopia -  a portal which  provides very insightful resources  videos, tools , ideas, teacher development,  technology integration,and project based learning - for the teacher in the following learning areas:

Comprehensive Assessment
Integrated Studies
Project based learning
Teacher development materials
Technology integration in Education
Free classroom guides

http://www.techforteachers.net/
This is a site for teacher professional Development for innovative teaching
This site provides an extensive list of very high quality reliable and valuable websites  and organize them in such a way that it can be used by 'non tech' teachers  for purposes of enriching the learners' learning environment.

Listed below are some of the links to the various websites on various subjects:

http://www.techforteachers.net/mobile-devices.html - the use of mobile devices -Resources for teaching with ipads.https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=24R1QJAXL4s

Tips for technology integration in classroom instruction:http://www.techforteachers.net/technology-integration.html

Using images and sounds in projects:http://www.techforteachers.net/classroom-presentations.html and the video:http://youtu.be/OC1OixM_118

Teacher resources for lesson planning and instructional strategieshttp://thinkfinity.org/
http://www.techforteachers.net/teacher-resources.html

enhancing instructional core content area including reading and writing:http://www.techforteachers.net/content-area-resources.html


http://www.educatorstechnology.com/
Education technology and Mobile Learning:
This is another teacher - tailored  resource  site providing an A-Z list of e-resources for educational web tools and mobile apps for teachers and educators.

 It also provides resources for learners:Coding apps for learners.
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/12/new-collection-of-powerful-ipad-coding.html
a new collection of powerful ipad coding apps for learners

Sites that support Teacher Professional Development

Static sites:

Can contain text, images, multimedia content and HTML tags hosted on a web server.

Pages may contain animated or interactive media- movie clips, Adobe flash presentations and mictosoft silverlite.

BLOG and Wiki

     Their pages are defined by interactivity

These are dynamic sites which have features that are defined by the interactions of the user.

They draw ever- changing content from external information sources

Their pages can provide create, retrieve, update, delete functions

 More specifically,

BLOGS:

1. Are author centered

2. Organised in reverse order most recent posts show on the  entry page

3. Reflect the author's identity in tone look feel and content

4. Used to reflect and review eg learning reflections

WIKIS

1. Are content/document centered

2. Editable website with a complete version history kept

3. Aims to reach a consensus or compromise on the content of  the page

4.used to collaborate and synthesise ie group projects.

These differences are further elaborated in the following 

links: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY5acLmS3RQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY    
http://ethosconsult
 www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXl

In conclusion,

1. A teacher's professional Development is highly dependent on both the static and the dynamic websites depending on his/her purpose although for creating a net work or learning from one another, the dynamic sites are the best why?
2. 1. The teacher has the ability to pull information from sources external to the website proper.
3. 2. It allows for editing, adding website pages(content) from within a browser.

MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

https://www.youtube.com/user/nelflo10/about?edit_links=1#c4-primary-header-contents

Youtube offers a global connection. I can connect to the world with regard to any area of interest at the click of a mouse, giving me a wide exposure to very interesting and engaging learning material.

Youtube also helps me to unleash my creativity -I can create my own videos!

My professional Learning goal is to attain life long learning ....and Youtube does just that!

Nellie the Smart Worker

https://www.facebook.com/nellie.okullo

twitter.com/nelflo10

I am a smart worker/ learner- I am learning everyday -  concepts that I thought I had known begin to take a new shape for example, I can define social learning as how I learn from the people I work, play and live with -learning from others, learning in the presence of others and learning in groups.

Secondly, the ability to help someone to learn through  one -to -one relationship does not need to come from a tutor, a teacher  or expert. It only needs to be someone with more knowledge and skill.
This I have experienced in my own PLN especially among the participants in CCTI.

The next steps: I would like to move towards the ability to crowd source content -  A talent of digital learning which  is the ability to browse through a list of questions filtered by subjects, grade level, source, or platform (e.g., The Khan Academy) or by topics, tone, or creator (e.g., YouTube channels) in order to synthesize information.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH VIMEO

A new Experience with vimeo!

Posted on November 18, 2014
I have just made a new discovery! I simply love it !I am a visual learner and Vimeo is best to tickle my sense of aesthetics!

What is Vimeo?

Vimeo was founded in 2004 by a group of film makers who wanted to share their creative work and personal moments from their lives. As time went on, like-minded people discovered Vimeo and helped build a supportive community of individuals with a wide range of passions. Today Vimeo has thousands of creators and millions of followers all over the world. I am proud to be the newest entrant thanks to CCTI!

It has a human face! – Vimeo is a site that is built by people sharing photographs, films, movies, video clips that depict their life as they live it in real time. It is a fun and friendly environment, colourfully crafted encouraging creativity and friendliness. Vimeo is highly personalized, creating a person to person fun –filled- atmosphere. The objective of Vimeo is summarized in its tag line ‘Vimeo is video+ you. We put your videos first and give you the best ways to share, discover, and be inspired’.

Vimeo encourages a hands on creativity of which the creator of the video is – part or helped create. It encourages the creator to state his role in the video description. One must own or hold all the necessary rights to one’s video.

Vimeo provides a vimeo video school that takes a creator through how to make better videos using a variety of user-made video tutorials about a variety of video making topics.

Vimeo provides a practical and ethical guide to using Vimeo:

Respect of other people and their videos

Do not send unsolicited mass messages and sending robot-like message

Does not support pornography.

Vimeo is one of the teacher’s best companion- Using the videos on Vimeo to teach flipped lessons where learners can refer to in their free time to prepare for the lesson.

Does this not carry learning to a new level?

Nellie's Memoirs

My projection after this course? My expectations? My hopes? To CHANGE Uganda into a learning society; eventually starting with the children born in this digital age_ digital natives!

I have also learnt the hard way. This course forced me to sharpen my concentration skill and to take note of all the small things surrounding technology. Having to be able to use technology aptly in my teaching means that I should be able to navigate my way round the tools! I actually spent the whole day trying to make the head and tail of the edublogs, determined not to get to bed till I  got it and ....Bingo! Here I am!

I learnt how to use the snipping tool too because I am fond of pictures- Pictures  say much, allows  for imagination,  arouse  interest and  are colourful.

I do not know what lies ahead but I would like to learn all there is that this course has to offer - my ultimate goal? LIFE LONG LEARNING!