Introduction to ICT Elective

This week, I began the ICT elective and we began by discussing what we would be learning and the main aspects of the course. It appears to me that the elective is very focused on international relationships and connecting with the rest of the world. I am really looking forward to discovering what opportunities there are for children to connect with different people and different cultures.

My own experience at school was having a french pen pal, however, the process of writing letters and sending them by post was very slow. Technology will help make the process far quicker and also the children will be able to send all sorts of things e.g video clips and link to websites.

Throughout the elective we will be exploring animation, movie making, blogging and using wikispaces. My group have began our wikispace and are beginning to look at a topic to use. Last year, I created a wikispace for my french module and really enjoyed it. It has made me far more enthusiastic about using wikispaces and other technology in general. I feel that wikispaces are a useful resource to use with children to help them all communicate but also for the teacher and parents to communicate. It could be used to inform the parents of homework, events and what has been happening in the classroom. I am however, only beginning to explore this and other aspects of ICT and feel I have far more to learn.

My wiki: TamnDunn

When I was first told about creating a blog I was anxious because I was having to combine theory and my own reflections as well as learning a new piece of technology, however, after creating my blog and beginning to explore it, I am beginning to see the benefits; it allows you to reflect as well as communicate and share things with others.