YouTube!

YouTube is a Web 2 that I use daily whether it may be for music or educational purposes. The website has many videos which are suitable for all ages. However, the website has both pros and cons.

Small businesses who are trying to become more developed can advertise their products for free by making their own YouTube channel. This allows for them to produce as many videos as they like which will broadcast their product to the world.

Below is an example of free advertising:

Another pro is the variety of educational videos which are available on YouTube. This is an advantage for students who prefer to listen or learn visually through the use of images and videos. The educational videos on YouTube can range from History and Science to Car Mechanics and Tutorials.

Here is an example of an educational video:

YouTube enforces age restrictions on videos which are not suitable for children who are under the age of 18. This makes the website safe for all ages, and allows for easy access.  Also, the website strongly enforces content filers which remove videos that do not comply with the terms and conditions employed by the site operators. For example, Pornographic videos, videos reporting racism etc.

Below is an extract from the YouTube Terms and Conditions:

Among all the videos on YouTube, you can also discover a variety of new talents in a variety of fields. YouTube can become a network where singers, dancers or even magicians can upload videos of themselves to gain recognition. Steven Frayne, known as Dynamo Magician Impossible, was once one of those who began his career by posting videos on Youtube.

Here is an example of one of Dynamo’s earlier videos:

So far, I have only mentioned the pros of YouTube. However, there are cons to the website. These include harsh comments on YouTube videos which can lead to cyber bullying. This is something that YouTube struggles to control due to the sheer volume.

Below is a comment which I took from a video on YouTube:

Another con is that some educational videos could be unreliable or biased. This could lead to people believing that everything they see or hear is true and passing the information on to others.

Here is an example of a propaganda video:

People with YouTube channels are also beginning to complain about the over enforcement of copyright rules as their YouTube videos are getting deleted. This is due to them using game footage or music in their videos which do not belong to them. Despite this fact there have not been many complaints from content holders as this produces free advertisement for their products. Also, children are able to make their own accounts on YouTube where they can easily lie about their age to be able to watch content which is not suitable for them. 

Tag Galaxy!

Today, I discovered Tag Galaxy, an educational blog. The site was created by a student named Steven Wood for his 2008 diploma thesis project. I decided that it was valuable enough to be on my blog as I spent an hour going through the site and found it very interesting.

As you enter the blog, you are asked to “enter initial tag”; this could be anything that you want. For example blue, mining and school. The site is simple and easy to use regardless of age. I found that Tag Galaxy could be used within schools to enable children to see the different aspects of a word that could mean one thing to them.

I enjoyed exploring different words, and I found that I did learn something new. This amazed me as I thought it would be another educational site for children. However, as I began going through the site and exploring any tags that came to mind, an hour had gone already.

Below is a video from YouTube which is a brief outline of what Tag Galaxy is:

Why do I find the site so valuable?

Instead of using text to tell me about the tag, it uses a variety of pictures from everywhere. This makes the site more interesting as I didn't get bored. It came to the point that I wanted to look at more tags as I was becoming more and more interested each time. Using images rather than text can entice children to learn as they become fascinated with the images that they are seeing. If you prefer to learn visually, then this site would be perfect for you.

Once you enter a tag, you will come to a page with a big planet in the middle (which is your main word), and then little planets going around it with other words which are linked to it. This means that you could explore the little planets as well as the main one to help with your research. Here is an example of one I did earlier:

I decided to explore landscape and sea, and this brought me to a new screen. In the middle of the screen there is a big planet again, but this time it is surrounded in different pictures of what I researched. Below is a screenshot of the result:

I recommend this site to anyone who would rather learn through images as images speak a thousand words. 

Glogster!

During my lecture I was introduced to Glogster, which is a unique social network where individuals can create and share their own Glogs. Glogster enables anyone to express their emotions, ideas and knowledge online through creating a 'Glog'. A Glog is an interactive poster where you are able to add text, videos, music, graphics and far more.

Glogster could be used in an educational context in many school subjects, such as timelines of events to enable them to remember key dates in History. As well as this, you could create a Glog to express emotions of characters in a novel or play. Other uses for Glogster in an educational context is that Glogs can be as colourful as you want, as well as being open to any ideas that you have, therefore they could also be used with young children, such as creating timelines of their life or simply a Glog about the things they enjoy or like.

I created a Glog as an example which shows the things I love about my life. I found Glogster easy to use and I could move, add and delete anything that I wanted on my personal Glog. Through my experience of using Glogster, I believe that anyone would be able to use it, however young children would need help from an adult.

Relationships!

A few weeks ago, I published an experiment about creating a short story made out of seven photographs which all link to one theme. I decided to give it another try as I wanted to do something that would mean a lot to me and others could reflect on it. 

After looking through ideas on YouTube, I gained a wider knowledge on what I would want to do for my own. While making the short story I found it difficult because it is something that is personal to myself and I haven't long been through the changes. 

All photographs used in the story are my own and are all linked to relationships and how they change. As well as having to decide what photographs I was going to use in the story, I also had to decide on whether I wanted music in the background. I decided on Through Glass by Stone Sour as this song brings back many memories and I personally feel that it has a connection with the story line. 


Below is the story I made by using Microsoft Windows Movie Maker:

Human Life Cycle!

I decided to create an animation on http://www.abcya.com/animate.htm
The animation website is designed for children, which I could tell by the simple tools and features that the website holds. However, I would have liked to slow down my animation but could not find out how to do this. 

The website is also free to use and there is no need to register. After spending an hour of my time trying to decide and create an animation, I got to explore and use the tools available to me, due to the simplicity of the website, all ages would be able to use it. 

My animation is based on the human life cycle. 

Reflection!

What is reflection?

When thinking about reflection my immediate thought is to recall a past event or experience. I would then evaluate it by asking questions such as, if I had to relive it again what would I have done differently? I would also ask simple questions such as, what were the positives and negatives of the event or experience?

Throughout our lives we continue to reflect on the events and experiences that we go through. However we do not always realise that we are doing it. An example of this would be a young child losing a family pet for the first time. You would then reflect by evaluating what has happened, why it happened, would it be similar the next time it happens, and how do you move forward from here?

After looking through research online about reflection I came across an interesting website which has a quote from John Dewey who says, “We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience.”

It also mentions metacognition which consists of developing an action plan, monitoring the plan and evaluating the plan. This is also important when it comes to my university course as it is something that we are beginning to learn about. 

This is a diagram showing metacognition:

Below I created a flowchart on the reflective process which I created on bubbl.us.

References

Reflective Practice - Reflection for Learning. 2013. Reflective Practice - Reflection for Learning [ONLINE] Available at: https://sites.google.com/site/reflection4learning/why-reflect 

bubbl.us | brainstorm and map online. 2013. bubbl.us | brainstorm and map online. [ONLINE] Available at: https://bubbl.us/ 

Safety First!

Is it possible to make a themed story in seven photographs? This is a challenge that I am going to experiment with and find out for myself how simple or difficult this can be.

The video below is a demonstration of the themed story that I made about fire safety. The photographs were taken around my university campus where I experimented by taking a variety of different photographs to decide on a theme which would then be suitable for a short story. I decided to base my theme on fire safety because of the majority of signs around the campus which were focused on fire hazards and emergencies.

George Phillip North

I have been asked to look at a topic that I am not particularly interested in which is rugby, and find a unique angle which makes it interesting to me.

George North is a young, talented Welsh rugby player. At the age of 21, he is already an inspiration to young children and adults. North took part in the winning of the Six Nations in 2013 as Winger, where Wales beat England 30-3. He also became part of the British and Irish Lions squad in 2013 in which they were victorious over Australia for the first time since 1997. North currently plays for the Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership, but in April 2013 it was confirmed that he will be moving to the Scarlets on a three-year contract from Welsh Pro 12.  

George North Try, The British and Irish Lions v Australia 2013:

Introduction!

Hello Reader!

I am currently sat by a desk in university, which may I add was a little scary to begin with, but my journey here is something that I should be proud of today and in the future.

In year 9 when you’re asked to decide on topics for your GCSE’s I would never have suggested that I would one day become a university student, but look at me now? Sat here, writing about my journey of how I got where I am today.

I’m extremely proud of my GCSE results and carried on into sixth form to do A Levels in History, Geography, English Language and Literature and the Welsh Baccalaureate. I choose these topics because they are all part of the primary school curriculum in which I hope to pursue a career in after university.

After yet another successful set of results I was accepted into my first choice university which was Swansea Metropolitan University, now known as University of Wales Trinity Saint David, to study Educational Studies.

I am extremely excited but also nervous to meet new people, face bigger obstacles and study harder than ever before!

Most importantly, I am looking forward to see what the future holds!