Brainstorm-chat


 * Critical literacy and creativity in our classroom**

This is a space to throw around some ideas on the direction on where you would like this wiki to go. I don't know why I have adds from Google on the side panel. Can someone else try making a page to see if they get these adds.

All ok - I have requested an updated plan so they should disappear. Thanks - Gail

Hi Gail, Jerry & Vin.

I know that this isn't exactly what Gail had in mind, but I wanted to share this link with you. I really like the way this website is set out, but don't know if it's possible on a wiki. Jerry, I know you mentioned you were into graphics & design and art - perhaps you're the man for the job?? Let me know what you think!

[|Galileo website]

K-L :)

Hey,,,,, This is now our group - doesnt matter what gail wants, it is whatever the group wants :)

This looks great K-L, It would be great to have a combination of things that can come together. All pages dont have to be wikis. Does nayone know how to make a page look like that? We can link anything to and from the wiki Cheers Gail

I like the way some wikis are set up with organised links down the RHS - I will set up a sample in the brainstorm page.

Hi There,

I had a quick look at the galileo front page & an image map with links can be created but I do not know how flexible this free service. The look & feel area may be helpful but my member status does not allow me to use this area.

Cheers - Jerry PS. Will the adds be taken out of the wiki as I am still getting them.

Hi Jerry, yes, the adds should be taken out once the page is reviewed by wikispaces - not sure how long this will take. Can we brainstorm a list of possible content & direction for our work below:

What is critical literacy and why is it important in the classroom? What is creativity and why is it important in the classroom? What is thinking skills and why is it important in the classroom? Linking thinking with critical literacy. Linking thinking skills with technology What education needs to look like to teach students in 21st century Changing demands on education Pedagogy and ICT Best practice How can we make all this work in the classroom? Problems, issues and risks Professional development Critical literacy & creativity outside the classroom - what is happening outside of school time
 * Below is a brainstorm of things that we should/could cover - everyone please add to the list and place your name next to the ones you would like to cover (there is no problem having more than one person on an item) :**
 * digital communication
 * global classroom
 * online spaces
 * online tools
 * web 2.0

Hi - Maybe something about the concept of creative intelligence, visual mapping, and its place in 21st centrury education Cheers - Jerry. Yeah, great idea Jerry. (Gail) Perhaps a couple of others: Thinking skills - but students don't like to think, what can we do? Australian perspective - what is happening in Australian schools in these areas? (Gail)

 Hi there Guys,

I have been following your progress on the wiki – thanks for all the suggestions. I think we’re off to a great start.

I’m finding it hard to follow on the wiki to be honest – hard to see what’s new (no change of colour etc) and who is writing what. I wonder if in the beginning stages at least, if email wouldn’t be easier?

I had a look at our assignment, and did a very basic table on what we needed to cover. I’m not sure if I see the issues in the same way as the rest of you, and I think this is what Gail was hoping to look at by starting a brainstorm page. Here are my ideas. Once again, they’re only ideas, and up for debate for sure.



It’s a start anyway.

Looking forward to hearing from you – but no rush!  K-L :)   (Gail )-   This looks good K-L, it seems to fit in beautifully with what Jerry and I have come up with. Which areas are you personally interested in developing further?  I see us all helping and contributing to each other and working together but I also see each of us developing a specific area of the overall topic in more detail hence it is important to identify each of our main areas of interest.

I have pasted your response on the wiki above rather than leave it on an email (hope this is ok) - Managing and learning how to use such an online space as a wiki, I think, is important and part of the challenge of the group assignment. If you look at the history tab above you will find that it shows who wrote what and when. We can also use the discussion area which works much like email. Please feel free to use the email if you feel more comfortable and I will paste the responses on the wiki so we will have an online record of our development (which in the classroom would be part of the assessment and what the teacher wants to see). Also ensure that you have clicked on the "notify me" tab - then you will get emails when one of us write on the page and I think it also tells you who it was and what they wrote.

A wiki is more that a final presentation area but a collaboration space, we can make this work but perhaps we need to do it differently so that it is clearer to read and understand. Do we need a system - state name and date before we write? Do we need to have more pages - one to list the brainstorm the other to discuss it? How can we make this wiki work for us? (Gail)

Hi All, An image map like the one on the front page of the Galileo site is unable to be created within this type of service. The best is an image with a single link, as in the example on the Creative Intelligence page. There is a really good video that I have put in there, so have a look when you have time. Cheers Jerry (Gail) - oh well, never mind. Keri-Lee, if you really want we could try something on a google web page rather than this wiki. What do you think? Thanks for looking into it Jerry. I love your video on your blog, although 20 min is a long time but worth the watch. The literacy project website looks really good - I love seeing the resources of others, it is great to share and work together - Thanks.

........................... 22nd April - Well, as you can see I have been adding pages and things all over the place - I still see this as all brainstorming. I am adding ideas and things that may or may not be included in the assignment but a brainstorm is just throwing ideas in. Because there was a bit of confusion of what was happening I spreadout the brainstorm over a large number of pages. Some pages will eventually be deleted or combined and I am sure everyone will come up with more ideas and more pages to add. At present I cant picture the end result but that has never worried me before, I know we all work and think differently and I hope my type of brainstorming is not too distressing. Feel free to add pages and throw ideas in anywhere. On the calendar I have allocated a week to brainstorming (the timeline can of course change if you wish). Perhaps we can organise a skype conversation at the end of the brainstorm - does anyone have skype (free at [|www.skype.com])? Cheers Gail Gail

22 April 9:40 am Hi All, I think the brainstorming period is good and pages can be changed around to suit as things develop. I notice the adds have disappeared, which is great. Thanks for all the work you are putting in. I do have skype but rarely use it and my skype id is. Well must press on juggling work, study, etc. Jerry

Hi guys, I agree, the brainstorming period is good. Thanks for getting the ball rolling with all this Gail. I think a wiki is the right mode of presentation for this assignment, especially as we all have access. We'll get there - I am not remotely worried, as I can see it's all going to come together eventually.
 * 22nd April 10:30am**

I have skype: my username is klandmiles so feel free to add me.

Thanks Jerry for investigating the image map. It wasn't meant to be, clearly! I think it's possible for me to use iweb to publish pages (in the same way that FrontPage would work), so I'm going to have a play around with that too. Will share whatever works.

Ok, off to fiddle with programmes...

Keri-Lee ...................... 22nd April 3:30pm from Gail Keri-Lee, just a word of warning, making pages on your computer can be a problem if you have nowhere to upload them ie no internet live place. If you would like to make a web page and dont have live internet space you are probably best to use google web pages or other free online web builders. One I did for another project using google pages is at http://gaila.casey.googlepages.com/home - it was pretty easy. If you have somewhere to upload it then yeah, go ahead. (If you want to make something and have nowhere to upload my daughter owns her own webspace - she is a multimedia student at uni, I might be able to use some of her space). Let me know....

24th April from K-L Hi everyone,

Am getting a google pages account thing started so I can publish some info for educators. It's very skeletal at the moment, but I much prefer being able to edit the layout etc easily.

The following link is advice on creating a wiki for your class, which I think will be helpful to us with our wiki. It's a quick read (skip the letter to read his reply). [|Wiki Advice]

Gail, thanks for charging ahead with all of this. I think it's great what you've been doing. ................. Gail 25th April 3:15pm Looking forward to seeing what you have been working on - thanks K-L .............................................. Vin - 25April 10:27 Hi Gail, Keri-Lee and Jerry, I have been working with Dr Maureen O'Rourke from the Australian National Schools Network in two different contexts over the past two years. At the Catholic Education Office in Melbourne a team of School Advisers Learning and Teaching (of which I was one) developed a program for schools in Melbourne's West entitled 'Leadership for Contemporary Learning'. It was an action research project that explored the effective use of contemporay tools in schools and the way in which leadership impacts on whole school implementation and direction. Maureen facilitated the development of the project. Maureen is now working with my teaching teams at Kardinia International College in Geelong. She is mainly focussing on teamwork and team development. Having worked with her I was able to access an article she wrote for The Teacher Learning Network Journal in 2001. It is entitled 'Engaging Students through ICT: A Multiliteracies Approach'. In the article she begins to explore engagement from three perspectives:technical,practica l and critical. I was thinking of expanding on her ideas and exploring the notion of engagement from a local perspective. We are looking at dismantling our computer lab and placing more PC's in our classrooms. I have also introduced "Kidspiration' into the school with the goal being to develop higher order thinking further in literacy. I love the you tube segment placed on the Wiki. There is a similar one on Teacher Tube called Pay Attention that has similar themes. I will see if Maureen's Article is saved electronically so that I can send it to you. Engaging Students through ICT: A Multiliteracies Approach Maureen O'Rourke Australian National Schools Network Published: Teacher Learning Network Journal: Change, Growth and Innovation, Vol 8 No 3Spring 2001,pp.12-13 Regards, Vin

................................ Frid April 25, 5pm (from Gail) Vin, I am sure that all of this type of work will fit into this assignment Vin. - from Gail

K-L, great link about wikis that you gave above - [|Wiki Advice] I note from the reading: . " In other words, I needed a **“table of contents”** so to speak. I also needed to organize the pages of the wiki into categories, starting with “semester 1″ and “semester 2″, then break it down into “unit 1, 2, 3″ and so on. Then within each unit I had to break it down into concepts, and within each concept specific topics. That way, //the wiki is very pyramid-like// in its organization, with one homepage that links to the two semesters, whose main pages link to individual units, which then link to pages for each broad concept, finally with links to the individual topic pages, to which students themselves add content."

Once we finish the brainstorm it will be fantastic if we could organize the design. I also think we all need to contribute to the background - it looks like, at the moment, that we are all moving in different directions inside "**Critical literacy and creativity in the classroom"** hence we will each need to justify with readings and referencing how each of our sections fit into this topic - all on the background page would be good. Then I see a host of wiki pages that we continue to contribute and build together ie the resources that can be used in the classroom and the teaching and learning resources.

Have we finished brainstorming or do I need to change the calendar to add more time? Vin, are you able to use skype when we finish brainstorming so we can all talk together?

It would be great also if we can soon start using the discussion behind each page but we will discuss this when we talk.

................................ Hi Keri-Lee, Excuse the ignorance.I have never heard of skype. Is this some kind of on line conferencing? If it is I haven't the facility at home. Vin .......... Hi Vin, skype is like msn, it is an online chat with voice. Do you have msn? It might be easier if I ask Muriel to set up an elive session for us but I need everyone to set a time. I am pretty flexible after 5:30 pm most nights next week.

What night is not suitable for people to chat live? (thanks - Gail )

Hi Gail, I won't be able to chat Wednesday or Thursday.(Late meetings both nights) Monday,Tuesday or Friday at about 7.00 would be the best. I am now navigating the site confidently. I don't know if i have the technology at home to chat live. I certainly do at school. I will for example be able to download a reflection.Let me know what you think is the best way forward.

Vin .................... Great Vin, so we will see how Mon, Tue or Frid at 7:00 will go with K-L and Jerry. To chat live at home you need: 1. internet 2. computer 3 microphone Thanks from Gaill

27.04 Hi All, Re. the live chat Mon. is not good but the other evenings should be okay. If you need my uni login its 'jjres'. Cheers Jerry.

28.04 Hi All, I will try and connect to the live chat on Thu. but may have a problem as the connection is from a Lan connection at our education centre and behind a firewall which may complicate things. Anyway, I will try Thu. and if I can't connect, no matter - carry on. I have taken the liberty to correct the formatting on the 'potential ref's page' as it broke through the template screen horizontally quite badly. The link add's may of gone a little weird in the process, sorry. Bye for now Jerry

06.05 Hi All, I am still not sure if the live chat works with our computer intranet and firewall restrictions. I have not been too well with a cold, so will pass on trying the chat out tonight. Thanks for the text info of the first chat. Bye for now Jerry

13.05 Hi All, This short article & links on the site page may be of some use to you. I found the ideas presented interesting and does give another perspective on the issue of literacy. Anyway, its for your info only: Article - How Computers make Kids Dumb http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/21/how_dumb_kids/ Cheers - Jerry