Week 1 - Session 1.0 on 2.0

Today in my ICT workshop I learnt about this new tool in the classroom called blogging and this is actually what you're reading right now! We were told of the role it can now play in school as it's relevance. Things are different from when I was at school and more and more children are becoming technologically 'savvy', we need to adapt to the ever changing times and keep them up to date as well as ourselves.  There is a phrase where 'if children don't learn the way we teach maybe we should teach the way they learn' and this is all part of being able to challenge and excite children as the world around us changes!

What can be involved in this term Web 2.0?

This is all about the interactive side of the world wide web. What about getting children involved in Twitter?  This is a sort of mini-blog. Why not create a character and encourage children to write to them. There's a recent Twitter event where children are encouraged to 'become' a character and do their research on it and then other children from other schools can respond. To find out more click this little birdie right here >

There's also Flickr to upload photo's, why not put photo's of your class mascot up and the adventures they go on.

Skype family members in other countries to find out about their culture? 

So what about this blogging business all about? What can children do? They can talk about their likes and dislikes, they can print screen their favourite websites, their scores on their favourite learning games online, their football teams results, anything! It's a great outlet for them and something they can feel proud of.

Now one thing we have to remember with the little sprogs is keeping them safe at all times and this includes on the web. The need for eSafety is essential as we want to give children the freedom to roam around the internet without us constantly hovering over their shoulders and harping on about being safe. If we can give them the right amount of knowledge and tools we have to trust them to use them properly and hope that they take on board our suggestions. So lets talk about eSafety.

eSafety

What are some of the main ways you can encourage your own little ones or a classroom of children to stay safe, I hear you ask? Well, rule number one is to never ever post any personal details about yourself online. Take a little look at this picture here. Having friezes around the classroom or by a computer will just remind children to keep safe on the internet at all times. A great website called thinkuknow caters for young people to parents, carers and teachers. There is also a more child friendly version of how to be safe online on the CBBC website so check that out to!

For now I'm going to say over and out so until next time space friends!

M x