Creating the Blog

With a site like blogger.com its easy to set up a blog and it is something that can be incorporated into lessons for all stages.

Having never kept a blog, the creation of the blog was a new learning experience for me. The main thing I learnt was how easy the blog was to set up. Because the features of the blogging site are very user-friendly, it was easy to post text & pictures and establish the basic parts of a blog.

The main difficulty I experienced was varying the template which required the use of HTML. I have studied HTML at a university level over 6 years ago, and though I was comfortable in using the language, I had forgotten almost all of what I'd learnt. This places limitations of personalising the display of the blog, something which children may want to do. If teaching within a multiliteracies framework, this could impinge on the how the students may want to design the visuals of the text.On the other hand, this allows the children to focus more on the communicative part of any task that you set them. It also lends support to the argument within multiliteracies discourse that literacy at times can be very specific. Being computer literate has many degrees and I for one am HTML illiterate!

The whole task of creating and maintaining a blog ties in with Healy's article which talks about elements of multimodal text incorporating design, student language use and a sense of belonging which would be very evident in such a learner directed project. And there are many opportunities for the practical & critical level of student engagement with ICTs which O'Rourke supports.

Rainforest Maths

Rainforest Maths is a huge website packed with interactive games and activities based around maths teachings and principles. Its activities are tied to the Queensland Maths syllabus and there are sections for all K-6 stages. The site is divided into a section for each grade, and within each section are activities that test and help students revise skills and strategies related to outcomes in Queensland Mathematics syllabus. I would use this as part of a Maths Unit.

It was difficult to discern but I would say that the main text type on this site would be procedural texts, as the main text that is present in the site are instructions and prompts for the activities. Thus there are a lot of action verbs, as most of the text is involved in the imperative, letting users know what to do to engage. Eg. Click here to start; move the shapes.

As the sections are grade specific, the text has been modified in each section and it is very accessible. The field language has specific maths terms such as algebra, 2d shapes and this allows the user to quickly find what they want to focus on.

The visuals of the site are very bright and carry a rainforest theme throughout the whole site. The colours and cartoon like visuals make the site very enticing and visually stimulating. The site is easy to navigate-just choose a grade and then you’re taken to a visual menu which allows you choose maths areas. With some of the activities you don’t even need the text to let you know what to do. The overall effect makes you feel like you're playing a game, and when you consider the audience (primary school age children) is quite appropriate.

I would use this site to supplement any unit of Maths, as a way for students to put what they have learnt in a different context. Students would work alone. Another way of utilizing the site is to have the students do a specific activity on the site then afterwards have them discuss what processes they had to use to do the interactive activity.

The ABC Weather site

Click on the pic above to get to ABC Weather

ABC weather is part of the ABC Online News site. It offers readings and forecasts for a range of weather conditions as well as weather related news stories. It covers the whole of Australia and students are able to gain more information on specific locations and regions. The site is suited to Stage 3 and Stage 2 children for use in the Earth & Its Surrounding Strand of the Science and Technology Syllabus.

The 2 main kind of texts that appear on the site are recounts, such as news reports and reports, such as forecasts and readings. The site uses specific weather terminology which may be challenging to those not familiar with the terms but if the students are familiar with the language then it is a very straight forward site to navigate.

In the weather reports, noun groups are evident such as thick cloud over northwest QLD and jetstream cloud over QLD and western NSW is causing patchy rain and storms. The field language used is specific to the sites content and tenor quite factual and subjective.

Visuals are used within the site to support forecasts and readings. There is a main centered photograph which shows an aerial view of which ever location you want to find out about, while on the side there are small icons to indicate what weather conditions are like (eg. Sun=sunny; cloud=cloudy). The visuals are congruent with universal symbols for weather and this is effective in delivering information clearly and concisely. The ABC banner is quite prominent on the top. The site is conservative in its colours, and this allows the focus to be on the information. You get the feeling that it’s the kind of site that is not lingered over.

I would use this in a unit on weather to have children compare their own weather readings of the school area with other parts of Australia. Both would be monitored over a period of time. Children would be asked to identify any patterns; and discuss why they are similar or different. The site could also be used as a model for the children to create their own weather reports.