Using blogs with sixth form students

Using blogs with my A level Philosophy students has changed the focus of my teaching and improved the support that I give to students. This blog records my thoughts on the value of blogs in education. Please feel free to leave comments, and add any ideas of your own. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-23478341-3']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

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TIMERIME - really good timeline application

I have just used TIMERIME with students when introducing them to John Stuart Mill's essay On Liberty. It's really easy to set up a free account, and get students collaborating. With the one below one or two students were responsible for adding certain entries to the timeline. Worked really well.

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Much more complex than FUTUREME, STICKK enables you to set a goal, review it each week, and nominate supporters (friends/family) who monitor your progress, and are sent emails informing them of your progress.

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This simple application enables you to send emails to your future self. A nice thing to do at key points in the year - e.g. immediately after exams. Students might send reminders to their future self about revision (what worked/didn't work in their most recent exams). Also a good thing to do at the start of the year when students are full of good intentions!

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Speakpipe

Just added Speakpipe to my blog (look to the right edge of my blog page) - very easy to do. Instructions on how to do so are here.

Speakpipe enables people to send an audio message via your blog. If you are in the habit of commenting on your students' blogs then this would enable you to do so without having to write anything. At the moment it is free to use.

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This is a STIXYBOARD that I created for a staff training session. Stixyboard has loads of uses and is really easy to use. You can post documents, text, pictures, web links, video clips, etc. The content can be controlled by you (as with this stixyboard) or you can allow other users to add/edit.

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Brainshark

My latest discovery is Brainshark - a free to use web based application that allows you to record narration to a powerpoint presentation, document, photo or video clip. I've embedded an example of one I've done for my Philosophy students (if the video doesn't load, click here: http://my.brainshark.com/Rep-realism-summary-904788134):

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Flash cards for revision

Students can create flash cards to help them with revision at www.quizlet.com. It's very easy to use and the cards can be embedded into their blog. There are a number of games that you can play to learn the concepts too. Here's an example of a simple one I created for my Philosophy students on the attributes of God:

Choose a Study ModeScatterLearnFlashcards Study these flash cards

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Wallwisher

Wallwisher is a really great way of getting instant feedback from students on all manner of things. It's basically a virtual wall that anyone can stick a 'post-it' note on. I'm using it with my students having looked at lots of arguments against Mill's ideas on freedom. Each student has to post a different point and if possible add a link to a youtube clip or news item from the BBC news website that can be used to illustrate the issue. You can also embed this into your blog - example below:

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Embed polls in your blog

It's easy to set up a poll using a website like www.proprofs.com and then embed in your blog. Here's an example I've just created to get a quick feel for what my students feel about something we've been looking at in class. You could, of course, use it to get a snapshot of how confident students are feeling with a particular topic, find out how much time they are spending outside the classroom on your subject, etc.

Do you think that the ontological argument proves... » make online polls Tags : ontological argument

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A nice way of summing up a topic, and more attractive/versatile than creating posters in Word. Here's a link to one of my student's blogs - Lucy created a summary of the arguments in chapter 3 of Mill's book On Liberty and embedded it into her blog

http://lucywinshipa2philosophy.tumblr.com/

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Prezi example embedded in blog

Mill's Arguments for Freedom of Thought & Discussion on Prezi

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Using Prezi to get students engaged in learning

Just been using Prezi in class to get students presenting information in a logical order. They signed up for a free account at www.prezi.com and managed to work out how to use it very quickly. It's quite a bit more engaging than PowerPoint. We were working through chapter 2 of Mill's essay On Liberty and had just read his 'infallibility argument' for freedom of thought and discussion. It didn't take them long to put together some really good presentations. What's even better is that they are able to embed their presentations in their blog (a simple case of embedding the html code in a blog post). I'll show you what this looks like in my next post...

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Using blogs in teaching - wait a few seconds to load

Blogs in Teaching

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Embed powerpoint presentations in your blog

If students have produced powerpoint presentations they can embed them in their blog. Explanation is here...

http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com/2007/09/embed-powerpoint-presentation-into-your.html

...and an example is on my next blog post.

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Responsible blogging

If you are using blogs with students it's a good idea to discuss safe and responsible blogging with them. Many of those who use blogs in education have a clear policy that they share with students. Here's a link to one that I think is good:

http://arapahoe.littletonpublicschools.net/forStudents/AHSBloggingPolicy/tabid/1486/Default.aspx

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SupportBlogging! has been set up to provide an opportunity for students, teachers, administrators, parents, and others to help promote an understanding of the benefits of educational blogging.

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I've found using timelines is sometimes helpful with students. This free resource enables students to produce them very quickly, and they can embed them into their blog.

www.dipity.com

Philosophy of Mind on Dipity.