Please read the information below to enable you to use this website effectively and to its full potential to allow it to aid your teaching
About the Content of this Website
- We will first looks at eSafety and how important it is to be aware of it from the very beginning of the implementation of any web based tool into your classroom environment;
- Next we will discuss why web tools should be used in the education of Irish students today and especially Technology subject classrooms. We describe Web 2.0, its affordances and also the possible problems in integrating them into your classroom;
- Subsequently, we will look at three specific Web 2.0 technologies: blogs, wikis and social bookmarking tools. We will describe them briefly and give examples of their applications in Irish post-primary classrooms, specifically Design and Communication Graphics classrooms;
- We will then look at introductory and sample activities that can be used to successfully integrate the three web tools into your classroom to achieve the maximum benefits possible from the first day;
- Finally, we apply the three web based tools to aid collaboration and communication between the pupils, the teacher and parents in the form of a design project. The web based tools also act as documentation of the pupils’ progress in and engagement with the design project.
Each Activity Outline is Structured as Follows:
- Overview: Gives you a flavour for what the activity will be about and how it can help you and your pupils to collaborate more effectively.
- Brief Outline: Briefly explains each sample activity.
- Duration: Gives a guideline duration for each activity but may be modified as not all class groups are the same.
- Pedagogic Rationale for Activity: Describes what the theoretical merits of each activity include.
- Subject Matter: Discusses and suggests subject matter that could be used for each example activity.
- Aim of Activity: Gives a single sentence stating what each activity aims to achieve.
- Objectives of Activity: Elaborates on the aim of the activity and further describes what the pupils are expected to achieve during each activity.
- Assessment of Activity: Briefly describes how to assess each objective and also includes a short paragraph on the assessment criteria you could employ when you are assessing the pupils’ participation in each activity.
- Teacher/ Pupil Activities: Describes a sequence for completing each activity. This section is not rigid and it is not expected to be followed word for word but instead it is a simple sequence to aid you in organising each activity for your class in the initial stages of implementation.
- Important Teaching and Observation Points: Discusses important teaching and observation points for you to be aware of to ensure that each activity’s aims and objects are fulfilled and that your pupils gain maximum benefit from each activity.
- Resources: Outlines the resources required for each activity.
- Example of Completed Activity: This section takes the form of a link at the bottom of each activity page. These links bring you to an external blog, wiki or social bookmarking site which shows an example of what can be achieved during each activity.
Download the Activity Outlines
At the end of each activity outline and other pages on the website you will see the following symbol and link:
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Download PDF Version |
This link will give you the option of downloading a copy of the webpage as a PDF document to store on your own hard-drive or to allow for easy printing of each page.
Web Based Tools Tutorials
In the navigation bar you will notice a link to "Tutorials". The tutorial section contains simple and easy to follow lessons on how to set up blogs, wikis and social bookmarking tools for your classroom and how to use the basic functions of each tool. The tools used for these tutorials are:
Each of the tools looked at have features which make them perfect for use in schools, for example, it is possible for a teacher to have administrative control over their pupils' accounts in all 3 tools. At the end of each tutorial page there is a link to the help sections of the respective tools to ensure that you can find answers to all your questions even if they are not dealt with in the tutorial PowerPoints.
- Edublogs (Blogging tool)
- PBWorks (Wiki Tool)
- Diigo (Social Bookmarking Tool)
Each of the tools looked at have features which make them perfect for use in schools, for example, it is possible for a teacher to have administrative control over their pupils' accounts in all 3 tools. At the end of each tutorial page there is a link to the help sections of the respective tools to ensure that you can find answers to all your questions even if they are not dealt with in the tutorial PowerPoints.
Contact Us Area
Incorporated into the footer of each page on this site is a link to the Contact Us page. If you have any queries in relation to the site please do not hesitate to contact me through the simple form located on the "contact us" page. Any feedback is greatly appreciated and will help me to improve this site and enable me to help you incorporate web based tools into your classroom.
I would appreciate any feedback in relation to:
I would appreciate any feedback in relation to:
This website has been created by Paul Leacy (0744034) in 2011 as part of his Final Year Project in the University of Limerick as part of the (B.Tech. Ed.) course in Materials and Construction Technology.
