Playing with the new Blogger

Don't mind me, I'm just having a play with the updated Blogger. Amazingly, it's acting like what I would expect from a Google product instead of the rubbish I've been experiencing for the past few months!

The History of Social Networking

Really interesting history of social networking from the people at Online Schools.

Was it only 7 years ago that Facebook wasn't around?! 5 for Twitter? Time flies when you're having (social networking) fun!

W.I.P

Image from here.

Changes coming soon... watch this space!

State Library Day - New Literacies New Learning

Saturday was ASLA NSW's annual State Library Day. This year's focus was New Literacies New Learning, which I think is of importance to not just all TLs, but also classroom teachers.

Image from here.

According to ASLA, by attending this day we achieved the following outcomes:

• research-based knowledge of the pedagogy of information and communication technologies
• knowledge of strategies for addressing student needs
• capacity to contribute in reviewing teaching strategies and refining professional knowledge and practice

Personally, I just enjoyed the presentations. The keynote address was presented by Dr Jon Callow from the University of Sydney. I found his presentation, a joint venture with Dr Katina Zammit on New Literacies, New Learning, New Insights to be really engaging. There was interaction with the audience and he spoke about the new learning environments that are now being used.

Dr Callow commented that new is a relative term: what's new to us may not be new to others and vice versa. He showed an interesting video from the 1950s which showed education, which led us to realise that perhaps there isn't much "new" stuff out there after all.

After Dr Callow, Colleen Zurowski from the charity Room to Read did a short presentation on their organisation. Room to Read state their vision:

"Room to Read believes that World Change Starts with Educated Children. We envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education that enables them to reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world".

And their mission:

"Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond".

I believe Room to Read are an incredibly worthwhile organisation. You just need to go to their web site and see some of their stats to see that for yourself. I follow them on Facebook, or you can follow them on Twitter. They run fundraising events throughout the year.

There were also sessions on a variety of issues:

• 7-12 Graphic Novels


• Transitional needs fo school leavers at Year 12 into university


• I-tune, E-Book, U-learn
  

The day concluded with a talk from the illustrator and author, David Legge who presented New literacies, new insights - Relationship between text and visual in picture books.

Overall, I felt the day was worth attending. However, I always feel as though I want to explore the topics presented in a more in-depth fashion as the various sessions only last for one hour.

The new semester is upon us...

Yes, the new semester for CSU starts this coming Monday. As always, I look forward to the start of uni for the new year. That is until the time comes when I have all aspects of my life competing for attention and TIME and the anxiety begins...

This year marks the end of my time at CSU as I only have one subject left to complete: ETL507 Professional Experience/Professional Portfolio. This subject has three components - a professional study visit, a 10-day professional placement and the completion of a professional portfolio. This blog will serve as my professional portfolio for the subject. I have been quite sporadic in my posting to this blog but aim to tidy it up and also post more frequently.

I've begun to do so by finding a really helpful post by blogger Heather Wright whereby she explains how to link to a PDF or Word doc in a post. I hope to use this function to document my attendance at professional development sessions as part of my overall portfolio.

I look forward to what this subject will bring, as I can see how it will have positive influences on my professional practice.