What I think of my VLE

I'm very happy with how my VLE looks. I think it has a very simplistic layout which I think is very important. I have used sites like Moodle and I think the layout can be very over complicated, and you often have to follow a long path before you can get to the resource you were looking for. 

I also like that the students have had some input to the VLE. I think it looks very much like their site, and I think it should be! If you want students to log on and use something frequently then it should at least be appealing to them. 

But in practice I don't see this being successful. I am not dismissing the Weebly Educational site I think it's fantastic. Nor am I dismissing all the work I have put into it. I just think that the students need consistency. The rest of the college use Moodle as the VLE, and I don't see any point in creating a separate one for one class. As a student I would find this very frustrating, I would rather everything just be on one site. 

 

How to create magic

I know this blog is aimed at how we use technology to aid our teaching in the classroom. But I re-watched this Ted Talk and I decided I wanted to share it. Christopher Emdin talks very passionately about teaching and how it is all about delivery and the connection you have with your audience / students.  I use technology all the time to teach my students and I definitely think it's one of most powerful teaching tools out there. But it is just a tool.

Reading theorists for my assignment opened by eyes to how one day the majority of teaching may take place online. I think that would be a big mistake. I know the advancements with video communication, virtual learning environments and exams online make it possible to teach many more students than you would fit in your classroom, but I would see it as a great loss. Having a connection with your teacher can make your education. Everyone remembers the teachers that believed in them, that pushed them. No-one remembers the books they wrote in or the software they used. They remember the personality of the teacher and how that teacher helped them develop and grow. 

I aspire to be a teacher that can make students follow the path they want to go down. Encourage and inspire them to work to their best standard no matter what that is. I want to see my students and get instant reactions from the workshop activities or discussions we have. I don't believe you can deliver as much passion over an internet connection. 

New resources!

                                  






Previously I didn't have specific resources for topics on my VLE, and I had links to pinterest boards, video tutorials and handouts. But I realised that this isn't enough, I decided to create a section which contains various resources for certain topics.

On each topic there are various resources to help the students either revist the lesson or learn more. 

Specfically on the Digital SLR section I have added another link to the Pinterest board I used during the lesson. I created a quiz using quizlet to try and get the students to remember the different pharses they learnt for this lesson. Finally I have also included 3 images from the workshop which the students liked.



I'm glad I went back and added these sections because I felt there was a lot missing. If I hadn't put these in I think I wouldn't be using the VLE to it's full potential. The extra resources available will help the students remember the work they did during the lesson as it was at the beginning of my placement. 

Quizlet

Quizlet is a website that allows you to create learning tools for you students. You can create your own or search for the subject you would like. But creating your own is very straight forward. All you have to do is add your own topics and the explanations. The website then creates different ways for your students to learn these. 
At the top are the different ways the information can be presented. Each one is different, the study subjects are more formal but there are game versions. 

I have created two 'sets' and have embedded two games into my VLE. With the nature of the course I am on they don't need to learn facts and they don't have exams. I feel this website is more aimed at subjects where revision is needed. 

But it is definitely a more interactive way of learning facts if they need to or refreshing their memories. 

I have found my VLE's best friend!

Embed.ly is an amazing site that I have only just discovered. I have been working on my VLE, and I was working on the topic of advertising. I needed a way of embeding  widgets of magazines onto the VLE. I know I could have just had a link to the sites but I thought a widget would look more pleasing and be more interactive. 

Embed.ly is a site that will turn any URL into a widget HTML code for your site. What's also good about this site is that it doesn't ask you to sign up, you can start straight away by clicking create embed.

All you have to do is copy and paste the web address and click embed! Then it gives you a preview of what it will look like. To complete just copy the embed code and the bottom and paste into your web page! 

                                                                   



This allowed me to add magazine widgets to my VLE which was extremely handy for the topic of advertising.

Student's work!

 http://creativemediastudents.weebly.com/

I have finally had time to upload the students work onto my VLE. I was really happy with the work they did for their last project and I'm excited to share it with you. Now on the homepage of my VLE there is a slideshow of all the students work from the last project 'Dreams'. Changing the home page for the website to the students work makes it look a lot more personal. It looks like their website rather than mine. 

Creating the slideshow was extremely easy. In edit mode I went under the basic tab and they have a varitey of free things you can add to the website. I chose slideshow in the end instead of a gallery because on a slide show all the work gets seen and it keeps moving rather than having to select.

 











I asked the students to pick their favourite image from the project (they had to produce between 4-6), and I used it for the slideshow. Each image gets around 4 seconds, I tried out which speed would work best because I didn't want the slide show sitting on one image, I wanted all the work to have a chance at being shown.

I'm also glad that the slide show function has an autoplay button. At first I thought you could only use the slideshow if you hit the play button. But under advanaced you can change this.

Using Today's Meet with my Post 16's

https://todaysmeet.com/

What is Today's Meet?

Before half term my students had a deadline to complete work for their visual diary and 4-6 images to go with it. The students needed to critique each others work and give constructive criticism. If it's your first time it can be quite hard to think on the spot and give your response straight away so I decided to use Today's Meet.

WHY?

Today's Meet gives the students a minute to think before they answer. They have a chance to write what they want to say, see if it makes sense, then send. It definitely helped, the students felt more relaxed and enjoyed the activity. 

After they finished writing I would go through each response and ask them to expand as they are only given something like 140 characters to respond in. The students were already prepared with what they are going to say and feel more confident to say it. 

When I first thought of using this I was nervous, it has lots of benefits but it is also a tool to cause distraction. I was worried about them not concentrating and writing silly things. 

Ok, I admit they did write silly things. But it wasn't as distracting as I first thought. Yes sometimes I would get the odd silly comment, but it was never anything negative, which was important for me. My students need to feel safe in the classroom environment. 

I would recommend others to use it in their classrooms. I know you will get silly comments, but as long as their positive and may even get a little giggle out of the students, it doesn't really matter. It makes it enjoyable and theirs. As long as the work gets done I don't mind having a giggle with my students, I think it's an important part of being a teacher, being able to enjoy your lessons. This is one thing that makes me think I would never enjoy teaching solely online. I would miss the teaching experience too much.