Wordnik

I believe wordnik.com can be used in an educational context, enabling users to discover the meaning of words and phrases of their choice. Additionally a list of blogs will be provided so users can put the word of their choice into context. I did an example of this as I searched tree.

Wordnik supplied a variety of definitions together with a list of blog posts relating to tree. Below the definitions the website provided Etymologies which indicates the origin of the selected word. The lists of blogs have been taken from major news articles in America such as Wall street journal and USA today. These provide reliable and useful examples and are ranked in usefulness to the reader. Overall I believe that this web 2 applications can be used in an educational context as it provides more useful information than a thesaurus or dictionary.You can use the related blog list to help research in relation to a particular word that has been searched. Additionally, along the top of the right hand side every word search provides a list like this:

If the user clicks on relate, an endless list of synonyms to hyponyms, rhyming words etc. can be provided. I believe that this aspect helps in an educational context as synonyms and hyponyms can expand the users vocabulary range and support a more advanced progression in education.

Overall the website was easy to navigate and use. By clicking on ‘About Wordnik’ at the bottom of the page the user can understand the use of synonyms, hyponyms and further information provided in order to ensure the context of the word is used correctly.

Social Media and Education Pros and Cons

In recent years social media has played an influential role in modern society, especially with children and teenagers. So much so that social media has been banned from many schools. Pupils are accessing social media during school hours and causing disruption to lessons. The whole social media revolution has many pros and cons, some of which I have listed below:-

Pros

• Raises student collaboration within a classroom and at home by having the ability to contact classroom peers regarding school projects, homework or help from each other.
• Encouragement of participation by pupils who do not participate regularly in the school environment, giving them the opportunity to express their thoughts through social media.
• Quick sharing of resources such as posting websites that are useful to pupils on a social media site.
• Useful for homework by requesting help via a social media site.
• Involves all parties i.e. the parent, teacher and pupil.

Cons

• Distraction during lessons.
• Can be abused for personal interactions such as general chat.
• Cyber bullying.
• Decrease human interaction within a classroom.
• Difficulty in monitoring the content being posted which can lead to appearance of innapropriate content that could be offensive to other users. 

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

The biggest social media phenomenon of 2014. What's it all about? Watch this video! Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. There is no treatment or cure. It’s inspiring that someone so young can have such a positive attitude despite that horrific diagnosis. The family took the heartbreaking news and used it to publicise a rare disease and raise funds for the ALS Association enabling the creation of clinical trials of drug therapy to prevent and cure ALS in the future.  A clinical trial of a drug that was set to be tested following 3 years of fund raising is now set to be released in 2 months thanks to the Ice Bucket Challenge. The challenge swamped worldwide social media as celebrities, family, friends and supporters signed up to the cause, all started by a 27-year-old who is now completely paralysed. Who'd have thought that Bill Gates and Barrack Obama would appear on the net throwing buckets of iced water over their heads? This family did! Having watched the video I was truly inspired and impressed how so much good could come from such a devastating event. Thanks to their efforts the sum raised for ALS will reach $160 million dollars by the end of 2014. Be Inspired!

 

Website Extensions

This post is a reference guide to help me through university. It allows me to choose reliable and useful websites when researching information. Each website extension is different however, the reliability of some are questionable, especially when referencing for academic work. Here's a list of website extensions and their meanings

Extensions are categories of Internet domain names.

•  .com - Commercial

The most widely used extension in the world. Most businesses prefer a .com domain name because it is a highly recognized symbol for having a business presence on the Internet

•  net - Network

Most commonly used by Internet service providers, Web-hosting companies or other businesses that are directly involved in the infrastructure of the Internet. Additionally, some businesses choose domain names with a .net extension for their intranet Websites.

• .org - Organisation

Primarily used by non-profits groups or trade associations.

• .co.uk

is the country code for UK. The .co portion of the extension indicates the domain name is for commercial purposes (similar to a standard .com extension). It is unrestricted and may be registered by anyone, from any country.

• .org.uk

is the country code for UK. The .org portion of the extension indicates the domain name is for an organization. It is unrestricted and may be registered by anyone, from any country.

Blog Review

http://www.creativeeducation.co.uk/blog/

I really enjoyed reading this blog and decided to add it to my blog list as I found the content interesting; it provided topics that aid teachers in dealing with the personal issues children may face in education. As I aim to become a teacher, I believe the content of this blog provides help in approaching topics teachers may find difficult, such as promoting body confidence and self esteem in a setting where bullying is prime. While there is a clamp down on bullying in the school environment, it cannot be denied that children still face the odd remark that may knock their self-esteem or body confidence. A blog post found here provides 5 steps teachers can use to help improve self esteem and body confidence. Additionally the blog covers topics such as teacher’s tips on how to keep the classroom quiet (found here). I found this amusing, reflecting back upon my experiences of my school years and how every teacher showed signs of anger if their classroom was not quiet when they needed it to be.

Overall I really like the layout and topics of the blog and I found it a useful tool which can be referred back to when I qualify as a teacher. As the blog is being regularly updated it is one I enjoy frequently checking on as the content always includes something new or different. The blog not only covers serious topics but includes amusing elements. It is an easy read and the content is not overwhelming. Navigation is simple, a category list on the side and a list of the latest posts allows me to look back to see if I have missed any posts. I would recommend this blog to others as it is useful, amusing and easily accessed.