The Exploration of Web Spaces

 Technical Aspects of Different Web-Spaces

    As someone who enjoys both writing and typing my notes and can create a nifty PowerPoint  I am definitely an intermediate level with technology and by no means an expert. However, with the digital pedagogies class, I am able to start understanding the importance of integrating a digital classroom. 

   Blogger allows for their users to create a blog without paying for anything and users can then create a free subdomain to go with their blog. Blogger was originally started by Pyra Labs in 1999 and acquired by Google in 2003. 

It is a perfect web-space for secondary schoolers to use as students are able to create date and timed stamped blogs that can be used as assessment material. Blogger also has very easy settings to allow users to have complete control over their privacy, inviting authors, or who can comment on their blogs. 

Safe, Legal and Ethical Aspects

    Being safe on the internet is vital for students. although many students find themselves to be confident on the internet but they can be at more risk than anyone and tend to overshare more about themselves to strangers. This is why it is vital for educators to start from the younger grades to teach children the importance of internet safety. This can be said the same for the legal and ethical aspects of having a digitally inclusive classroom. Having programs such as FamilyZone is important for schools so they can cover themselves in ensuring no malicious content can be spread around the school from either inside or outside devices. 

Blogger

    Using Blogger allows for the students to be able to either have their comments enabled or turned off and students can start learning how to be safe using internet and web space sources. Students are also able to moderate comments and only allow appropriate comments to be shown on their blog.  

ICT Capabilities

Using ICT in a classroom is important, especially in todays society where students attention span is shortening to just eight seconds, however it is seen that using ICT in an educational setting has improved student engagement and knowledge retention within the classroom. By integrating ICT into a classroom students have the opportunity to become more engaged in the content they are learning as the technology provides a different pathway for students and can make learning more fun for the children and teachers can differentiate their learning better to suit everyone's needs. 

The SAMR Model 

The above model was created as a way for teachers to personalise learning for the students and to also help the students visualise any complex ideas they may not originally be able to understand with traditional classroom settings. ICT skills are also particularly helpful in distance education settings where integrating classroom technologies can allow for a seamless experience for educators and students so learning can be less disrupted.  

History 

Low Level: Using substitution and augmentation in history, students can set up a blog and can use that to take their notes and create summaries over a whole time-period or on different people throughout the times, they can also have different blogs that incorporate their own opinions and other blogs that don't. This can allow for students to still work on important research skills and summarising large amounts of content, however it is also a place where students can document their own opinions on the topics. Students can also use the blog site to share their opinions with their fellow students by commenting under each others posts. 

High Level: Taking this to the higher levels of modification and redefinition, students, at the end of a the term can do a group assessment where the students film themselves hosting a panel where the children are to represent a different influential person from that timeframe and discuss it in a modern day platform. This will make students really plan and think what they're going to say and how to present this in a way that is still teaching their other classmates integral parts of that time-period. 

References 

The |Importance of ICT in Education|. (2022). ICTE Solutions. https://www.ictesolutions.com.au/blog/why-schools-should-invest-in-ict/#:%7E:text=ICT%20in%20education%20improves%20engagement,same%20things%20in%20different%20ways..

Changing Attention Span and What it Means for Content in 2021. (2021, May 24). Ranieri & Co. https://www.ranieriandco.com/post/changing-attention-span-and-what-it-means-for-content-in-2021#:%7E:text=A%20recent%20study%20by%20Microsoft,in%20just%20a%20few%20years

Editorial Staff. (2020, August 18). WordPress vs. Blogger - Which one is Better? (Pros and Cons). WPBeginner. https://www.wpbeginner.com/opinion/wordpress-vs-blogger-which-one-is-better-pros-and-cons/.

GCFGlobal. (2021). Internet Safety for Kids: Teaching Kids About Internet Safety. GCFGlobal.Org. https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/internetsafetyforkids/teaching-kids-about-internet-safety/1/.

L. (2022). The Most Advanced School Cyber Safety Solution | Linewize Cyber Safety. FamilyZone. https://www.linewize.io/anz

Manage your comments - Blogger Help. (2022). Blogger Help. https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/187141?hl=en#zippy=%2Cmoderate-comments

Power School. (n.d.). SAMR Model: A Practical Guide for K-12 Classroom Technology Integration. https://www.powerschool.com/blog/samr-model-a-practical-guide-for-k-12-classroom-technology-integration/#:~:text=The%20SAMR%20Model%20is%20a,Augmentation%2C%20Modification%2C%20and%20Redefinition.