WAYS TO IMPROVE THE WEBSITE READY-STUDY-GO-AHEAD USING A LEARNING MANAGEMENT SITE (LMS).

In this post, we are going to analyse how to improve the website Ready-study-Go-Ahead. It is about helping students to cope with the demands of a job abroad, learning the main aspects for being able to work in sectors such as hotel, bakery, vehicle, restaurant and service sectors. The material combines professional and general vocabulary with cultural coaching and information on the work culture.  

From my point of view, I think that this page is very simple. Although it deals with the main aspects, we could improve it by doing several changes and adding some information. Using a learning management site we could organize better the learning process by establishing a calendar with deadlines. Furthermore, it would be useful to create a section with doubts and questions where students could interact and help each other. In addition, it would be a great idea to include online activities in order to assess the knowledge acquired for the learners.

CMS EXAMPLES

Now, I’m going to show you several Web sites built using a Content management System (CMS), such as Drupal, Wordpress, Joomla, PHP-Nuke, Zikula, SPIP, etc.

·      Sites created with Drupal:  -       http://www.salesianos.edu/alicante/  -        http://www.iesenricsolerigodes.com/drupal/    ·      Sites created with WordPress:  -       http://navarrosantafe.edu.gva.es/wordpress/  -        http://iesbenjaminjarnes.wordpress.com/    ·      Sites created with Joomla:     -       http://www.iesdoctorbalmis.com/    -       http://iesleonardoalacant.edu.gva.es/web/    -        http://cavanilles.edu.gva.es/  ·      Sites created with PHP-Nuke:     -    http://www.iesjaumeprimer.com/pphp/nuke/html/index.php  ·      Sites created with SPIP:     -       http://nsd.hhdc.net/  ·      Sites created with Zikula (mostly in Catalonia):     -        http://agora.xtec.cat/iessantjust/intranet/    -       http://agora.xtec.cat/iesnumancia/intranet/  ·      Sites using Mestre a Casa (official web offered by Conselleria):    -       http://mestreacasa.gva.es/web/ieslacanyada  -       http://mestreacasa.gva.es/web/fpabeniassent/  ·      Sites directly using Moodle as site and VLE:     -       http://fpaibi.edu.gva.es/aulavirtual/  -       http://www.iesalquibla.net/moodle/index.php    After having a look at these links, I find all of them practical and really interesting. But if I have to choose my favourites websites, these are those that at first sight I have found visually more attractive. For that reason I’d like to talk about the websites of IES Doctor Balmis, IES Leonardo Da Vinci and Salesianos. Although they haven`t been created with the same CMS they are very similar in respect to the structure and visual appearance. The most I like about them is that we can find all kind of information easily. They content a wide variety of data useful not only for students but also for parents, teachers and everyone interested in knowing something more about them. The WebSite of Salesianos is marginally more elaborated than the others. What I mean is that it has exploded almost all the possibilities that Drupal offers. It includes moving images, videos, several links and it is connected with Social Media.  In addition, you can download all kind of materials such as units, resources and documents about of the school management.

JOOMLA  

Do you know what Joomla is? Let me introduce you to this brilliant Web site.

Joomla is an excellent content management system that allows you to create your own Websites and wonderful online applications. It is the most popular Website due to several reasons. First of all, it is really easy to manage, but the most interesting aspect is the fact that it is freely available to everyone. For these reasons, it is well known in the school environment. It is also worldwide used to power Web sites of all shapes and sizes such as magazines, newspapers, corporate intranets and extranets, government applications etc.

If you want to discover how it works, be ready to download the latest version and install it in your computer. 

Once you go inside Joomla world, you we’ll realise the amount of extensions it also has. In my case I have found HTML5 Flipping Book as the most interesting one. It is a digital publishing software that enables creating publications in the form of eBooks, magazines, portfolios, brochures & catalogues.

Using HTML5 Flipping Book Component you will be able to create an attractive and realistic content with a variety of media files (images, audio, video, pdf) and HTML5 advanced features, including links to YouTube, Vimeo and other media websites. In addition, you can be sure that your online books or magazines are visible for mobile users as well.

 

SUBSCRIPTION TO A NEWSLETTER

I have joined the CBU Newsletter School of Sciences for several reasons. First of all, it is a newsletter in relation to Science and Maths. In addition, I have seen that it is an active one. In fact, the last post was on February. And finally, I have found really interesting that they are going to organise an event to celebrate Math Awareness Month this April. The theme is Mathematics, Magic and Mystery and I’d like to Know more about that.

CBU Newsletter

 

COMMENT SOME APPLICATIONS:

Now I’d like to highlight the most interesting tools among those I have shown to you in my LINO presentation.

1. MANGA HIGH

We all know how addicts teenagers are to online gaming. With this tool we can encourage our students to learn Maths doing something that they love, playing. My favourite one is “Algebra Meltdown”, where the fate of the world only depends on the speed of the student’s algebra skills. My strategy would be to tell him that at the end of the lesson they are going to play a game in relation to algebra for example, and the three best players will obtain some marks for the final exam. Despite the cute manga theme, this is a really serious maths learning site, and we also can find several resources and lesson plans.

2. DAILY NUMBERS: A DAILY MATH SKILL REINFORCEMENT ACTIVITY.

This is a lesson plan for whiteboards that we can use daily to reinforce maths skills. Using this methodology we can show students a more attractive way to practice the concepts explained previously. In addition, learners not only experience maths success on a daily basis, but also receive daily reinforcement in a wide variety of maths skills. And lastly, they achieve higher scores on state-wide tests.

3. NUCLEAR ENERGY

In this site you can find several science plan lessons for printing easily. It is divided in five units in relation to nuclear energy that can be taught in the classroom. In every unit it is explained the objectives. It also offers a variety of exercises and more resources.

4. ONLINE CALCULATOR

This a free online calculator for computers with which students will be able to perform not only simple arithmetic calculations and perform basic commands but also calculate the square root, work with trigonometric functions, perform scientific calculations, raise a number to a power, etc.

And the best thing is that learners can do all these operations without the needed of buying an expensive calculator.

5. POLLUTION

This is a really interesting e-book that can be used in the classroom for explaining in detail some concepts. So as a teacher, I can demonstrate my students the most important pages of the e-book with the content I want them to know.

APPS, TOOLS and Applications.

In this post I'd like to show you useful tools that we can find searching the Internet and apply in our classroom. These materials not  only makes our lesson catchier, but also easier to prepare it.

In the following link there is a presentation about interesting apps for tablets and computer, apart from free lesson plans and e-books.
 

LINO

The cloud. Advantages and disadvantages.

 

Nowadays, “the cloud computing” is becoming increasingly popular among internet users worldwide. Broadly speaking, the term cloud means the possibility of store and access data through internet, and also the programs you need. And at first sight, it seems to have exclusively benefits. But if you went in depth, you would realise that there are some disadvantages that should be taken into consideration as well.

 

Talking about the advantages, the most attractive one is the fact that it doesn’t involve a huge cost. In addition, it can be used by lots of people at the same time and wherever they stay. Not only does it offer a wide variety for the customers, but also it is an agile technology that makes easier work with it.

On the other hand, there are several disadvantages. To begin with, there is a general feeling of lack of control for business owners, who can’t do anything to solve the problem when the system goes down. Moreover, this system is not yet plenty of reliability and your privacy could be invaded.

 

Here I show you some links where you can obtain more information about the cloud computing and their positive and negative aspects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

http://sn.com.au/what-is-cloud-computing-its-advantages-disadvantages/

http://www.apexcloud.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-cloud-computing /

 

And finally, I’d like to say that I find the cloud really useful as I use it for several reasons. For example, I use Dropbox or Googledrive in order to share diverse kind of documents with colleagues, classmates and friends. Besides, I usually do collaborative tasks using Google Docs.