During our last session with Mark, we were instructed to create an online blog or website at home where we would then upload our weekly reflections regarding the sessions. I decided to have a look at both ‘Wix’ and ‘WordPress’ and decided that WordPress would work best for the task in hand.
Signing up to the ‘WordPress’ service was extremely easy, however when I was first logged into my account I struggled to figure out how to do the basic things like adding my first post. The website builder software did not offer a tutorial for the basic skills which was a negative for me. I now, however feel that this lack of help allowed me to explore the software on my own, forcing me to develop my skills and teach myself which I have found more beneficial.
I really enjoyed writing the blog entries, however I was really struggling to figure out how to launch my website. Although I had chosen the free account during the initial sign up, I was being
Our fourth lesson of this module started with a twenty minute message regarding students missing so many classes. Although this was done to advise students that missing time in classes can cause them to fail or be removed from the module, I feel as though the particular individuals who had been missing sessions could have been taken to once side to have this conversation. Personally, I have not missed a single session and therefore felt as though my important teaching time was used to mention this issue to a minority of the class.
Once this talk was finished, we were instructed to open ‘Dream Weaver’, a software programme for designing web pages. Last week’s blog explained how we had previously struggled to log into this software, however, these particular issues had been resolved ready for this week’s session. As it was the first time each of us had logged into this software, it resulted in numerous issues. The main one of these which seemed to run throughout the whole session was that the group were continuously on different stages to each other. This led to many students, including myself waiting around. I understand that during a session like this one, these issues cannot be easily helped, however, in the future, it could be beneficial to have a step by step instruction manual for each student to allow them to work at their own pace. This would allow the students who needed extra help to receive it, while not affecting the other students session.
The main focus of this session was CSS, this is an acronym for Cascading Style Sheets. CSS pinpoints how the developer wants the HTML displayed on the page. We were instructed to copy the CSS codes from the board into our dream weaver software. While this kind of task can be extremely disengaging for me usually, I found that the software had code tips which came up as I began typing which were extremely helpful. Another benefit of using the dream weaver software was that if I had unintentionally typed in a code wrong, it would alert me by turning the line number bright red. I feel as thought I felt this benefit even more after using text edit to type up HTML last week which did not have this feature enabled.
Using the CSS code I was able to create a webpage with a specific layout and add five other pages which were connected to the main homepage.
Although initially I found the dream weaver software very daunting, I very easily got used to the basics of it and I was able to complete all of the tasks set. At the end of the session Mark gave us time to experiment with our webpages which we had made and I wanted to make all the five pages have different background colours. Although we were not instructed how to do this task, I was able to use my newly found knowledge to create new CSS documents which contained the different background colours which I was then able to apply to the five web pages I had previously created. Being able to do this made me feel like I had genuinely learnt a new skill during this session and I left feeling very positive about the session.
Upon arrival to this weeks session, we discussed as a group our ideas surrounding what HTML was. We finally come to the conclusion that it is an acronym for ‘Hyper Text Markup Language’. HTML is the language which makes up a website using various elements.
Following this discussion, we were given the opportunity to begin creating out own basic website using HTML. We were instructed to access dream weaver on the MAC PC’s, however, after numerous students struggled to log into this system, Mark was forced to re-assess our session plan. While this was a very un-expected and inconvenient part of the session, I learnt that technology, especially within educational circumstances can be very temperamental and this should be taken into consideration when planning a lesson.
Follwing the issue with the Dream Weaver software, we were advised to use Text Edit. We started with some basic HTML codes which we had to copy from the board onto each of our computers. I found that I struggled to engage with this part of the session.
Prior to this session we were asked to create a presentation containing photographs of ten items which resembled us as a person. On the previous blog entry (Reflection – Week One (Kahoot)) I discussed how our tutor, Mark had presented his ten things to the group to give us an idea of what we had to do for the task.
When preparing my presentation, I found the PowerPoint software extremely easy to use. I liked how simple it was to add new slides, images and text. I was also able to duplicate slides which made it easy to keep they layout on each of my slides the same. Another aspect of the PowerPoint software I enjoyed using was the notes – I will discuss this further down as it benefitted my greatly during the delivery of my presentation.
The focus of this session was to watch each member of the group deliver their ‘ten things’ presentations which we had completed at home. I decided to put myself forward as the first presenter, as I have learnt that it works best for me to get any tasks such as these done first to stop my nerves from building whist watching others.
Although I was extremely nervous to speak in front of the group, I feel as though my presentation went well. I had saved my presentation into my UBS Drive which enabled me to load it instantly onto the university computers. As if was my first time using a MAC PC, I was given some instructions from Mark on how to load up my presentation from my storage drive, and also eject the drive safely to reduce the risks of any files being corrupted.
During my delivery, the PowerPoint software allowed me to view my notes on the computer screen while the group could only view the PowerPoint slides on the projector screen. This benefitted me as it enabled me to expand on each of my ten things naturally and confidently to the group.
I also feel as though the presentation allowed members of our group to interact and engage with the ten things better as I was able to add images to the slides. This could be a great benefit when teaching different topics in order to help students understand better. I also noticed that because I was at the front of the room, all of the group were involved which sparked interesting conversation and engagement throughout.
While many students have stated that they have suffered with a ‘death by PowerPoint’ experience during their time in education, I found that it worked extremely well for myself and I believe these are some of the reasons why:
– I was the firt person from my group to present, this helped the group to stay engaged throughout.
– The slides were set to on a 20 second timer to ensure I did not talk too much on one slide.
– Only three bullet points of writing were entered on each slide and I expanded on there in my own words. This ensured the group were more focused on what I was saying rather than constantly reading the slides.
– The images I used were large and colourful.
Although I was extremely nervous to present to the group, I found that I really enjoyed it afterwards. My peers really helped me to feel comfortable while I was talking, and their obvious engagement with my slides helped me to feel more at ease. I also enjoyed watching my peers and getting to know each of them a little bit better through the use of their ‘Ten Things’ presentations.
This session was mainly based on being introduced to our tutor, Mark and the new module for 21st century identity. I felt that this session was extremely important and benefitted me as a student as although I had researched the module though Moodle, I was struggling to feel confident with understanding what the module’s outcome were and needed this clarification.
Following the initial introduction, we were then asked to take part in a ‘KAHOOT’ quiz which was based around company logos. I really enjoyed this part of the session and using technology to emphasise learning within the classroom. I also believe that this part of the session eliminated all our first session nerves with the use of technology. The ‘KAHOOT’ quiz made everyone feel included within the group while also allowing a fun, low pressure environment.
I feel that following the introduction to the online, game based learning platform, I will enjoy using it again. ‘KAHOOT’ is a fun, interactive way of learning or assessing students in a number of environments. It is also up to date with society as users are able to access and take part in the quizzes via modern smartphone technology. This is also another benefit of this digital learning platform as it is accessible from anywhere.
We were then shown ‘ten things’ which reflected Marks attributes. While this part of the session allowed us to understand Marks ethos and attributes, it also enabled us to understand our homework task in more depth which was to create our own presentation containing ten things which reflect ourselves. I believe that this part of the session catered for our learning needs by providing the group with a good example prior to us completing the task ourselves. I will be reflecting on the homework task and the delivery of the presentation in my next blog post (Reflection – Week Two (Ten Things))
Hello, my name is Rebecca Pilling and I am currently studying on a BA Honours Degree in Education Studies at Blackburn University Centre.
The main reason for starting this blog is to generate an online presence in which I will reflect on my personal experiences of education and a range of learning theories and practices which can be used during technology enhanced learning.
Rebecca's Educational Blog 