Digital Fluency Intensive: Exam day

Most of the colleagues I have been doing the DFI course with over the last 9 weeks sat their 3 hour exam today. I decided early on in the week I would wait and study some more before taking the exam.

Over the 3 hours whilst the exam was taking place I went next door and went through parts of the course that I had been having difficulty with. This was really useful as I had 2 other colleagues with me who were doing the same thing and we managed to bounce a few things around supporting each other.

I decided to test myself and went on to the Apple Teacher Learning Centre where you have the option of testing yourself on your i-pad skills or your i-mac skills. I decided to test myself on my i-mac skills. I had time to complete 4 of the 8 mini tests and passed all 4.

Deep down while I was next door I felt like I had let myself down in way for not taking the plunge and sitting the exam. Especially when I went back in after the others had finished and the air was electric with nervous excitement. Everyone was discussing parts of the exam they found difficult/ easy/ confusing and I wasn't part of the discussion.

So I suppose what I am trying to say to anyone who is lucky enough to be given the opportunity to attend the DFI course, do it and definitely do the exam at the end. It doesn't matter if you pass or fail the first time, its all about the learning journey you take on the way.

Digital Fluency Intensive: Class Sites

In this lesson we went online and looked at different schools sites.

From a visual appeal we all tended to like the sites that were bright and colourful and grabbed our attention straight away. The size of the larger labels and buttons  really stood against those that were smaller and off to one side. Having an accessible Home button somewhere clear was also a big winner on the day.

Once we started to go into and explore the sites the ones that stood out were the sites where the students did not have to click too many buttons to get where they were going. The easier the site is to navigate for students, is obviously better, as this enables them to be independent learners.

Many sites we were unable to access as the privacy settings were not turned on to the correct links. This is no good for parents trying to access these sites to see what their children are up to at school. Something that is easily overlooked when creating a site but so important.

Opening up folders and sharing these folders to anyone with the link as soon as you start the school year is an easy and simple way to ensure your privacy settings are always right.

I got some great new ideas for my class site next year and look forward to playing around over the holidays and trying to implement what I have learnt during these lessons.