No peer review!

Hello Blog Readers

This week I had to submit Task 2 for peer review, I was very excited to do this as I really wanted to get some constructive feedback to help me improve my Task 2's website, blog and also my instructions. I also wanted to review someone elses work so i could see if they had any useful ideas for that i could also include for my task 2.
 

My completed draft website for Task 2



After getting out of bed, tending to my little boy and having some breakfast on Monday morning, i went straight onto the LMS Murdoch site and looked to see if the peer review link had been put up yet, it had! I straight away opened it and followed the instructions that were in a PDF file attached to the Task 2 section of the LMS. I added my website URL and submitted it to be peer reviewed. I then went about reviewing a fellow students work. I read through their website, blog and then proceeded to follow their instructions to help me to gain access to their social media site. They did a online book club and it was extremely well presented. There was a lot of visuals and this helped me to gain some ideas about visuals i could use to complete my Task 2. I gave them some constructive feedback and also complemented them on the great work they had done for Task 2.

It is now Thursday afternoon and the link for peer review has now been closed. I am very upset that in the three days that my website was up on the LMS no one decided to review it. This would have greatly improved my chance of succeeding in this Task as i work well when i have been given constructive feedback to work on. I even posted on the discussion forum for Task 2 and asked if someone would review my Task 2, and it seemed there was many people having the same problem as me.

I have now asked my mum if she would mind having a look at my Task 2 and reviewing it for me, so i can get a little understanding of what i need to do!

My Mum's the Best, Whatley 2011 http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2011/05/review-my-mums-best.html

 

 

 

After writing this blog, I went home and found I had a new Facebook friend request from Jasmine, a girl who is also doing this technology unit. Jasmine is not in my tutorial for this unit, but outside of class we discussed peer reviews and how I had not yet been reviewed. Jasmine then went out of her way to do a peer review for me when she had already completed one for someone else. Jasmine sent me a Facebook message Thursday evening to inform me of this so I could go on the peer review site and have a look. I was so happy with the feedback I was given and have used it all to help improve my Task 2! Thank you so much Jasmine for taking the time out to help me improve my Task!

 

Until next time =)

Using blogs in the outside world

Hello Blog Readers

This unit is proving to be very useful to me, even though I still have a lot to work on when writing my blogs I am really starting to enjoy it. At first when Jenni (My Tutor) explained that throughout this unit we would need to be writing a minimum of one blog a week I nearly had a mini heart attack. I now feel confident that my blogs are improving and I am finding it easier to upload visuals, videos and insert hyperlinks (which I had no idea how to do at first). Now I am even considering starting up my own personal blog as I go to quite a lot of punk gigs, and think I would really enjoy writing about my experiences and sharing them with others. I may even challenge myself and sign up to a new blogging site.

Courtesy of, Adam Paterson: Alarm Magazine, 'The Casualties' http://alarm-magazine.com/2012/review-the-casualties-resistance/

Using blogging as a tool for this Unit has also helped me with my EDN111 unit Living and Learning with Technology as I have been looking at other peoples blogs on coral reef research to help me get some ideas for my assignment of rewriting a information report to make it more accessible for primary aged children. I found a blog called Save the Coral Reef by two primary school students, this gave me insight to what level I should be rewriting this text.
This is the blog below, it is a very interesting read and has helped me immensely.




View blog here: http://save-reef.blogspot.com.au/

 

 

 

 

 I am very proud of my achievement throughout this unit so far and I look forward to handing in my Task 2 for peer review and then for marking.

Until next time =)



Making a screencast- Take 2

Hello Blog Readers

After my failed attempt at creating a screencast using Screenr, I have used Google to find a new website to create my new screencast for my instructions on how to use and contribute to my Mlistr. I found a website called "Screen-O-Matic" and thought I would give it a whirl. It was very similar to Screenr and had many of the same properties. I followed the instructions on the home screen and got to recording my new screencast, I was very nervous this time as I did not want to waste my time again. I used my prepared narrated list of instructions and went through the notions to record my screencast. Once I had completed it I click on the upload button and it gave me a list of options: Publish to Screen-O-Matic, publish to YouTube, or publish to video file. I decided to publish it to YouTube as I use YouTube quite regularly and know how it works.
It worked quickly and within minutes my screencast had uploaded to YouTube!
I then added my YouTube video to my Websites 'Social Learning' page, which was easy as I have already had experience with uploading videos online.

Here is my completed screencast video



Screencasts would be a very useful tool in a classroom, they could be used to set tasks for students and as students learn at different paces, they can watch them in their own time. They could also be used to show children how to access different forms of technology at the same time, using a projector, instead of having to show children individually. I think I have learnt a very useful skill that will most definitely help me in my teaching career.

I asked my friend Belinda to watched my screencast and give me some feedback, she said it was very clear and easy to understand. Belinda also mentioned my son coughing in the background, and how was I looking after a 15 month old while making a movie..... multitasking at its finest!

Until next time =)

Making a screencast

Hello Blog Readers,

Today I could not attend My lecture or workshop as my son an I were both unwell. Luckily I was able to view the lecture "collaboration and teamwork" on the Learning Management System on the Murdoch webpage, by using ECHO360, This lecture has helped to prepare myself for when I begin on Task 3, where I will be working with a team and collaborating our ideas.

Task 2 of my EDN113 unit requires me too construct a set of instructions using multimedia, to help a peer access and use my social media page. As discussed in my previous blog the social media page I choose was MListr, where I created my own movie list called "Favourite comedy movies". I decided it would be more comprehensible if my instructions was backed up by using a screencast to help visually show how to use MListr.  

Last week I came across a website designed to create screencasts. It was called Screenr, it seemed extremely easy to use and there was a 1 minute video which explained how to use the site. After watching the video and following the instructions, I found it very easy to complete my screencast. All I had to do was click the record button, set the size of the screen I wanted to record then run through how to access and use my MListr.


Screenr Homepage
http//:www.screenr.com

 After I had completed my screencast I had to publish it to be able to save the file and publish it on my website. I clicked the publish button and waited over half an hour, nothing happened...... I decided to give my computer a break and came back to it a bit later, I tried again to publish my screencast, this time walking away and leaving my computer running for two hours, after returning, it still said it was publishing. I clicked the cancel button and my screencast just disappeared. I went straight to the help bar and sent a question, explaining what I had just experienced to Screenr, only to be replied to with "our servers are down, please try again later". I wanted to have this assignment well on the way to completion by the end of the day so I decided my best bet would be to choose a new website to redo my screencast. By this point I was extremely frustrated and thought about throwing my computer straight into the trash. I called my friend who is also completing this unit and asked her what she would do in this situation, she recommended trying a new website, but as she was not doing a screencast she had no idea on a website to recommend.

Picture courtesy of: http://pic1.gophoto.us/key/angry%20computer%20gif#

I have learnt from this experience, that sometimes technology fails you, however there is always way to get around it, and I have decided on choosing a new website to create yet another screencast. This is a minor setback, but it has been another learning curve in this interesting unit.





Until next time =)