Journal
Friday, 13th February 2009
I am writing this from another computer. Since my last journal entry I've had major technical issues. The computer I've been using since 2002 finally died but I had backed up my research. I also bought a portable hard drive case so I can access any other files if I need them. My 4 month old laptop has windows issues and needs to be returned for a clean reinstall. This is obviously annoying but I can work around it for now.
Other updates since my last entry are:
1. I've changed the second section of the Main menu from "Unpacking the Research Statement" to "Multimedia Workbooks". I believe this will make the progression from one section to the next more logical.
2. I had my first ICT session with some Grade 6 students at Elwood Primary School. Each child created their own folder and started setting up some basic pages using HTML. It went pretty well and my observations will feed into my guidelines for the creation of Multimedia workbooks.
3. I had a meeting that same day with my boss to discuss how we feel the project is coming along. During that conversation I said how I want the children to be more than just competent computer users as I want them to author their own content.
4. Later that day I thought of an analogy to literacy. Reading and writing can be likened to being a computer user or author. Writing is the higher skill because it requires being able to read. Great readers do not go down in history for their contribution to literature but great writers do.
Saturday, 14th February 2009
Because of my technical issues I've started looking into online file hosting. Google docs had a simple yet impressive animation showing the potential benefits of online file hosting. I uploaded some Storyboard files but they didn't function properly because Google Docs renamed them. Even images in the HTML files weren't displayed.
I've also looking into the "Ultranet" which is a DEECD initiative to be implemented in various phases throughout 2010.
Wednesday, 18th February 2009
Yesterday was quite productive for two reasons:
1/ I had another ICT session with the other Grade 6 class. Some students did better than others in terms of putting their web pages together. Afterwards I was thinking that starting with the web pages is not the best way to go.
In my scope and sequence table I had Grade 6s down as having fully linked pages with embedded multimedia. That is why I started with HTML pages to provide a framework for their work. My revelation is that these Grade 6s are at the beginning of the scope and sequence table because they are in their first year of dedicated multimedia creation. This means that in future I will focus on creating animations and digital stories. Their web pages can come later.
2/ We had a PD session after school with our Ultranet coach. I mentioned the whole Google docs approach and he said there are too many students to give them all online storage space. I disagree as by the time many children have files to upload the exponential growth of data storage will cover it.
I also have many important meetings coming up over the next 7 days with Rhonda (Elwood Primary), Tony (supervisor) and Janice (Innovations branch DEECD).