Buist C., (2011). E-learning: Enriching learning in the classroom. Computers in New Zealand Schools, Vol. 23, No. 2. pp159- 166

St Clair School

e-Learning: Enriching learning in the

classroom

Claire Buist

Computers in New Zealand Schools, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp 159-.166

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Myinterestinthisareacamefrommyownactionresearchinwriting.Iwashopingtofindawaytoimprovewritingout­comesandmotivationinthechildrenthatIworkwith.

E-Learning: Enriching Learning in the Classroom

Claire Buist

St Clair School

Introduction

I began using Web 2.0 tools about four years ago. Truth is, I saw this “stuff”

happening and was hearing about innovative teaching making the most of these

tools. My interest in this area came from my own action research in writing. I

was hoping to find a way to improve writing outcomes and motivation in the

children that I work with. I wanted to explore the value that Web 2.0 tools might

have on pedagogy and practice. In this article I share some of my experiences of

using these tools.

Starting with WikiSpaces

I began by using Wikispaces with my class. The purpose of the Wikispace was

to share our learning with families from outside of Dunedin and to involve

working parents with what was happening in our classroom. In hindsight, this

was invaluable as it taught me quickly many skills including html coding,

uploading images and the Creative Commons. Understanding about the Creative

Commons has meant that I have been able to guide children about legal use and

downloading of internet content. A great explanation about the Creative

Commons can be viewed here: http://www.vimeo.com/25684782. At the time

though, this became a virtual display space and added to my duties as a

classroom teacher. Certainly, it was very motivating for the children to see their

writing published online and visitors reading it from around the world, and it

definitely became another display space for me. In other words, this was

teacher driven, not student driven, unless they were responding to my

feedback.

I am glad I began with Wikispaces because it developed my knowledge and

understanding of web tools and sites. I feel it helpedmy digital literacy to

develop, thus leading to increased confidence. I have continued to use

Wikispacesbutmyphilosophyabouttheirusehasevolvedandchanged.

Wikispaces are a form of social web tool that is intended for users who are 13

years and older. Our syndicate teachers have developed a Wikispace that we

access and update as administrators. It is a valid form of communication between

home and school and includes links to notices, homework, road patrol rosters,

photos, etc. This has proved itself to be invaluable for working parents,

grandparents based around the country and the world as well as helpful for

students. If children are away, have lost notices or homework sheets, or want to

practise spelling and basic facts specific to their current learning goals, they can

access these from home. If you are thinking about establishing an online class site,

Wikispaces is where I recommend you begin. It is easy and intuitive to use, mostly

free and gathering huge momentum with teachers around the world, who are keen

to collaborate, communicate and comment. It has created an authentic audience for

the children we are working with in so many ways.

Developing a classroom blog

Last year, we began blogging. Both the children and teachers became

administrators of the blog and the class took on an active role. The Super7Scooper

Blog http://super7scoopers.edublogs.org/ is a classroom blog that has been

developed firstly by myself and then evolved by the Year 5 and 6 children working

in Room 7, as they took on ownership of their space. The blog shares our daily

learning experiences, exemplars of our different levels working within our

classroom and also acts as a reflective journal that we have referred back to

regularly. Initially, it was started as a teacher-driven tool as a vehicle for modelling

during shared reading and writing sessions, and as a means for introducing the

children to digital citizenship and literacy. Over the year, the ownership has

shifted from the teacher to the students who now decide what is blogged,

which Web 2 tools they use to publish as well as the moderation of

comments.

The aim of blogging was two-fold. Firstly, the blog was intended as a

means for children to share their learning with their families and to further

develop the sense of community between home and school. The second aim

of this blog was to give the children a sense of audience. We were

targeting writing in all classrooms across our school and looking for

ways to improve student standard and motivation to write. This

Theblogwasintendedasameansforchildrentosharetheirlearningwiththeirfamiliesandtofurtherdevelopthesenseofcommunitybetweenhomeandschool.

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group comprises teachers and students from around the country/world that

evolved from professional discussions and sharing on Twitter and VLN (virtual

learning network) – an online community for New Zealand teachers.

The “Scooper” derivation came from “what’s the scoop?” in other words “what’s

the news?” Over the year, operation of the blog has evolved. Initially, it was set

up and managed by myself, the teacher. Over the first term, the blog presented

itself as a fantastic means of shared reading and writing supporting the modelling

of safe internet practice and modelling of the writing cycle from planning and

drafting, to conferencing, publishing and responding to feedback. As the year has

progressed, the children have stepped up and slowly taken over the running of the

blog. “Today’s Scoopers” were rostered and they would work through the writing

cycle to plan, draft, edit and conference their posts. Once posts were published

with the approval of the rest of the class and myself in the form of conferences, I

would then (secretly) tweet my PLN if feedback or audience would be beneficial

to those writers. Often feedback comes from families, friends and “followers”

without being solicited. The children read their feedback and respond or edit their

posts depending on the feedback they receive. There is a sense of pride in this

group of writers when they receive feedback and see readers from around the

world visiting their blog.

Children will actively seek reasons to write, either collaboratively or on their own,

and will independently respond to feedback in order to revisit and edit their

writing. It was noted at our most recent three-way conferences that writing was

voluntarily shared as a favourite area of learning and (surprisingly) not one boy

failed to mention that writing was one of his favourite subjects. By using digital

tools ranging from the class camera to web-based tools for publishing, this class

has been inspired because they’re reaching an audience and their published pieces

look “real”. Above all, they are getting feedback.

Blogging as a class has led to connecting with a range of audiences and

developing projects with classes worldwide. However, the development of using

blogs in this classroom really came from a school-wide initiative to develop our

writing programmes in order for improved achievement at all levels. Obviously

aspects of development included pedagogy and practice. Blogs and Web 2.0

tools have been only a part of this project but it is fair to say that they have

accentuated motivation to write, a purpose to publish our writing, and

Theblogpresenteditselfasafantasticmeansof

sharedreadingandwritingsupportingthemodellingofsafeinternetpracticeandmodellingofthewriting

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Childrenareactivelyinvolvedinreadingandrespondingtoblogposts,sharingtheirnewsorallyintheirfortnightly“Scoop”videosandsharingphotosthatsupportblog

posts.

engagement in the whole writing cycle. The ease of web-based tools has

impacted on other areas of literacy including visual and oral language

programmes. Children are actively involved in reading and responding to blog

posts, sharing their news orally in their fortnightly “Scoop” videos and sharing

photos that support blog posts.

The blog has become an archive of learning experiences and outcomes. It has

proved to be an easy way to store artifacts that have been created using software

and web-based tools. These tools have had a huge impact on learning including

the following examples.

• A massive impact on student writing due to the authentic, global

audience that the children are writing for and receiving feedback from.

Figure 1: An example of stduent posts to the blog.

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Skyping Year 7 and 8 students in Hamilton to learn about presenting their mihi

made the learning authentic. The older students modeled their own mihi and then

mentored their friends from Dunedin.

http://super7scoopers.edublogs.org/2010/02/17/room-2-explains-a-mihi/

Sending and receiving mascots has helped the class to learn about the world that

they live in, its places and people. This class from Canada received Trev the

Kiwi and hosted him by recording his journey on Trev’s blog.

http://trevjunior.edublogs.org/

Thebloghasbecomeanarchiveoflearningexperiencesandoutcomes.IthasprovedtobeaneasywaytostoreartifactsthathavebeencreatedusingWeb2.0tools.Thesetoolshavehadahugeimpactonlearning.

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Figure 2: Skyping students in Hamilton to learn about a mihi

Figure 3: Canadian class that hosted Trev the kiwi and recorded his travels on Trev’s Blog

• Skyping with classes from Sointula, Canada and the Shetland Islands to

create a collaborative dance was a fantastic learning experience focusing on

the Arts. The class found it interesting to read about themselves on other

class blogs.

http://mrswatson123.edublogs.org/2010/11/16/dance-lessons/

http://super7scoopers.edublogs.org/2010/12/16/blog-it-collaborative-dance/

• Learning to “Vlog” has led to the class developing a range of digital skills

including filming and green screening, but has especially enriched the

writing programme and oral language programmes.

Learningto“Vlog”hasledtotheclassdevelopingarangeof

digitalskillsincludingfilmingandgreen

screening,andhasespeciallyenrichedthewritingandorallanguageprogrammes.

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Figure 4: Skyping students in Canada and the Shetland Island to create a collaborative dance.

Figure 5: Students ‘Vlogging.’ Creating digital video for their blog.

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• There is a range of photo sharing tools online that can easily be embedded into the blog so that family of the children can see what they have been learning and participate with children in their learning by talking about it at home.

Photosharingtoolsonlinethatcaneasilybeembeddedintotheblogsothatfamilyofthechildrencanseewhattheyhavebeenlearningandparticipatewithchildrenintheir

learningbytalkingaboutitathome.

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Figure 6: Combining photo sharing tools and images of children's activities on the blog.

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