Utilising the study/ meeting rooms in the Rockingham library

We formed a group in our last workshop and I suggested that we may like to meet on a Thursday in the library at the same time as our usual workshop as the rest of the group all had other units after lunch on Thursdays so it was convenient for everyone. I booked a meeting room, which is free for students. You just have to go to the library and make a booking with one of the librarians – usually at the help desk but if it is unavailable you see someone at the checkout counter. They only need your name and a contact phone number. If they don't know you they may ask to see your Murdoch card for ID. The beauty of this is there is room for everyone and you can talk to each other without disturbing other people in the library, there is a whiteboard and plenty of power points for everyone’s lap tops so good all round.

Check out the link to the Rockingham Campus Community Library it has all their contact details etc.

I utilise the library on a regular basis to study each week, making my ½ day at uni a full time day by studying. I have a routine where I drop my two high school sons off to school in Mandurah at 8am and then I get to Rockingham by 8.30. On a Thursday when my workshop is at 10am I can get a good study session in beforehand and then I take a lunch break and go back until about 3 so I get home when the kids arrive from school. By then I have usually had enough. Sometimes I just spend the hour before workshop in the CRC (Resource room) becoming familiar with what is available for student teachers to borrow. This is a fantastic service made available to us especially for our assignments and pracs. You can test out resources – a bit like trying before you buy!

It is amazing how many others do the same thing and I have actually developed relationships with other students from other year groups over my 3 years of doing this. You usually see a group of us before exams having study sessions together.  I must say this is one of my better study habits.

Assistive Technologies

For my assignment I have chosen to research Assistive Technologies and how they can benefit technology in my classroom. I am completing a minor in Inclusive Education so this will be very beneficial to me.

So what are assistive technologies? In my assignment I wrote the following explanation:

They are devices for people with disabilities that help them to perform tasks that they can't do without them. One of the main things that must be considered when setting students in the classroom up with assistive devices is will they actually be of use to the student as so often money is actually wasted on buying the latest gadgets that do not fit in with requirements of the student. A key factor is the school should not make decisions solely but include the outside agencies involved with the student before making purchases i.e. family, support people and agencies. Having all parties on board with the chosen assistive technology will see greater results for the student.

I have uploaded a YouTube that demonstrates various assistive technologies this teacher uses in her classroom.

(Weilbelk, 2008)

I have worked in a special needs school before and I have had the opportunity to access some very good assistive technologies and seen both the benefits to students as well as some that have been a really bad choice for a student. The reason being is they have been purchased without addressing the needs of the student properly, staff have had no training in how to use them so they get shelved unless some-one is able to spend the time to work out how to use them in their own time.

On the other hand I have shared in the excitement of when a student who was 12 years old began communicating via a program called Clicker 5. The student had Autism and was unable to communicate and he displayed behaviour management issues related to his communication issues. The visiting teacher from The Centre for Inclusive Schooling suggested we implement a computer program called Clicker 5.

Writing this blog brings tears to my eyes as I remember the day that he wrote a message to his Mum. I have three  children who I often tell  to be quiet and stop talking and this Mum just dreamed of the day that she could hold a conversation with her son, so to imagine what his mum must have been thinking.

After researching for this assignment and reading the article about a five year old boy in Queensland who uses an app on an iPhone to help him communicate just gives me a sense of relief for these people who can be taught to use assistive technologies for a better life.

Guess who got an iPad and iPhone for their birthday?

Yes I have turned another year older and I got a huge surprise from my family when they gave me an iPad for my birthday. I was totally shocked as it came out of the blue. I have a very good friend who is a Year One Teacher and unbeknown to me she has been joking with my husband for sometime over him buying me an iPad.
A month before my birthday he received an email at his work to advise him that he had won an iPad so he quietly put it away knowing that I would appreciate it! At the same time my phone needed replacing so he got me the iPhone as Donna had been telling him how having the both of them just added to the value.

Now I have to learn how to use them and I have been so busy that I have not had a chance to sit down and play. I was at the Perth Airport waiting to pick up relatives the other day so I went for a browse in the newsagent and to my amazement on the shelf was a magazine iPad for beginners so I had to buy it. It has everything from setting up, getting started, the next step, essential apps ad also a help desk section. I look forward to working through the process using this resource.

I could probably have got all of this information from the net however I am a very visual learner and being able to follow along with the book will suit me just right for starters and then I will be off and running.

Wow I have come a long way since commencing this unit in February and I have a long way to go. Learning is lifelong and I really believe in this saying!

How to put a YouTube into my blog

Well I am getting far more adventurous believe it or not? I often do a search to find a YouTube that may help me solve a problem or to find out more about something that I am studying. I decided that I had better find out how to put one in my blog to strengthen the information I wish to share with others.

So this is what I did

1. I first found the YouTube that I wanted to use and copied the URL
2. In my blog I clicked on the 'Insert a Video' icon that sits on the menu bar ( 8 in from the right or 2 along to the right of the Link icon)
3. You have to choose a file to Upload - follow the LHS of the page
4. Click on 'From YouTube'
5. Paste the URL you have chosen and then click the magnifying glass tosearch A list of YouTubes comes up on the screen. You need to select the one you wish to use by clickingon it on the list and then click on Select (bottom RH corner of page)
6. Voila it appears on your screen.

Here is an example of one I have done to follow these directions as a check that I have written the right instructions.

My next thing to learn is to make my own YouTube. I have this set as a goal to do before our final assignment so watch this blog for bigger and better things!

Getting Back Assignment 1B

It is always good to get back an assignment just to confirm where you are going with your learning. I was very pleased with my marks and to be honest these are what I was expecting. I believe because we had such a detailed marking rubric as well as having participated in the Peer Review process and having had all types of help available to us i.e. Companion website, LMS, Tutors and Peers, really gave us all a very good opportunity to gain a high distinction.

The only section that I did not receive a High Distinction mark was in the Quality of Instructions.See below screen shot of this section of my marking rubric.

This came as no surprise as I had written about this in a blog I wrote before I submitted the assignment about the Peer Review. It was suggested that I try and do a video or YouTube but I chose not to at the time as I was on my 3rd Year prac and was time poor. Check out this blog for cross reference.This actually made me very happy that I had worked through the rubric and was able to establish this before I submitted my assignment.

I have had discussions with a few fellow students who never fared as well as I did and this has made me think about the assignment some more. I wonder what their Peer Review was like, as I think if it was done correctly the student should have been able to take on the advise they would have received and made the changes to the assignment. I know that some things are personal choices in regards to presentation however if you have not worked and understood the requirements of the rubric the peer review should have picked up on these things and you should have been able to have reached a higher mark.

I have spent sometime with a peer from this unit and we pulled the 'marking rubric to bits' in a very positive way. After I explained the rubric, my friend was able to see and understand why she got the mark she did. In a way we carried out a peer review in more detail. I know that her future blogs are going to be of a higher standard addressing the criteria. Doing this also has made me more conscious of my very own blog. I feel very good about being able to help someone along the way and I know that I probably found it a little easier because I have been at uni for a few years and have become used to the procedures, one of these being to address the rubric or marking guide to the fullest.

APA 6th Guide for Referencing

I have found a really comprehensive guide for using APA 6th referencing style. It is the Curtin University Library APA 6th Referencing   

You can see the cover page of the referencing guide here that I have screen captured.

(Curtin University, 2012)

The reason I like working with the Curtin guide is I find it so well laid out where I can follow along very easily. It is broken into the different types of referencing and it has a table that shows you an example of how to
In- text reference and how the reference list should look. Take a look at the screen capture I have made below to see why I am so impressed with the layout of information.

(Curtin University, 2012)

I found out about this guide from a fellow student I was studying with in my first year studies and I have now passed on this information to a few students in this unit who I have met. If everyone took the time to share good ideas the experience of study would be so much easier.

EndNote Tutorial

During our workshop on 5/4/12 we attended an EndNote tutorial at the Rockingham library given by two of the Librarians Jenny and Pim.I took my own laptop along as I wanted to make sure it was working on my computer but the Eduroam connection was so slow that I ended up just watching Shelley do the exercises - authentic tasks,on the computer she was using!

I still managed to learn a fair amount from the tutorial as Jenny was demonstrating the process on the Interactive Whiteboard - Expert Performance so I was able to clearly follow the processes she was discussing. Our EDN 113 tutor Jenni Parker also explained some aspects of the program that furthered the knowledge of the presenters. This showed me how important working on authentic tasks can be as Jenni added to the instruction that was given. I can relate this to Multiple Perspectives.

I had already loaded EndNote X3 for windows to my laptop last year for another unit but I have not used it as we all had major problems with the downloads and IT Department contacted us to remove them from our computers and I eventually was sent X3 version which I have now loaded but I never knew what to do with it all.

During all of last years debacles I met with Pim in the library and she gave me a quick run down and provided me with a document 'An Introduction to EndNote X3 for Windows' - I have made a screen shot of the cover page using Jing to display here:

(Murdoch University, 2010)

I have made a printout of this resource for easy access.

I now need to go home and begin the Task 2: Research Technologies Assignment and put this new found knowledge into practice.

If I find I need further help on using EndNote I can go to the following sources for help before I need to bother my tutor Jenni.

• Call in to the Rockingham Library and speak to Pim or Jenny at the Service desk
• Access the EndNote introduction workbook
• Go to Companion website and complete the Online Tutorial for week 9 which is on referencing and copyright  - see below screen capture for details.

 

• Go to LMS discussion board and see if other students have had similar queries or put up the question for help. This is very good practice for any student.

I am feeling far more confident to approach this assignment than I did last year as I feel that everywhere I look I can get help for something that may not come to me first time. This is what I like so much about this unit.