Pre-Service: Flash, Word Processing and Videos in the classroom

Today I found out I will be teaching year 10 students, year 11 students and possibly year 8 students :]



We will be working with Flash to create animations following a unit in sound.

Straight away Newgrounds comes to mind.



I may have the chance to work with year 9 students in an accounting unit following web design.

(Manage accounts for your web company? Manage your own online vodcast business)

I would like to incorporate Google Spreadsheets if possible.

Free access to software is interesting.



I will also possibly be working with year 10 students in an IT cert class. They have just covered databases

and will be moving on to word processing. Incorporating the two with imported data, mailing lists etc could be a good way to link to prior learning. With word processing I would like to also incorporate an online collaborative word processor for group work (such as Google Docs or Acrobat.com or Microsoft Office SharePoint ).

I'm not sure if this will be possible due to certificate requirements, network speed etc.



I still haven't discovered an interesting way to teach tabs.

So far I think I will encourage students to research a topic and create a report.

Am thinking that the initial topic will be the Guinea worm of Africa,

a 2 foot worm that grows in a person's body after drinking contaminated water.

Guinea Worm in Ghana

My aim is to have the students learn about their world and use technology to accomplish this.

Uses of Word could be

+Using Word to collect information and analyse sources.

+Report on an issue, what can be done to resolve it. Referencing accurate sources

+Summarise the issue using tables and diagrams in Word.

+Convert the report to a PDF file

+Mailing list to send the report to people about this issue.

+Create a postcard to inform fellow students about the issue. (Vote for best one in class and have them printed?)

+Blog/Reflection in Word.



Ideally following this directed inquiry project, I would then like to put students into groups to work on a topic of their choice (approved first by me). I really enjoy watching students learn to communicate and this would be a great opportunity. It also mirrors the real world where a document can pass through the hands of many people before being finalised.



iTunes

For a long I dismissed iTunes because i am not someone interested in listening to audio podcasts.

BUT today I discovered theres a huge section of video podcasts to subscribe too :]

I think it's a great way to stay up-to-date with news and documentaries.



- Tammy