This was a great exercise to provide feedback across the internet. By engaging in such a process I was able to reflect on my own teaching and marking, as well as thinking about ways that I could be more constructive in my feedback. It is so powerful to think that feedback can be used and made accessible across long distances and opens up the opportunity to influence work all over the world. Provided this is managed within a safe and secure environment then this opens up a world of possibilities for children’s learning; allowing them to receive varying perspectives and feedback on their work from a number of individuals.

It was very interesting to explore the differences between the internet and the web and how this could be explored within the classroom. In addition it was fun to use resources such as X-ray goggles and Thimble, as well as exploring their use within the classroom. This is certainly something I am looking forward to teaching.

During this session, we looked in greater depth at how data can be used and explored within the primary classroom. The use of data within the classroom can be used to open up the possibilities of exploring cross-curricular links with computing, such as in science experiments or maths. With readily available software such as GoogleDocs there is little excuse for teachers to not explore data handling within the classroom, and we explored a number of activities that can be utilised within the classroom. Further, public data and maps can be used to explore subjects such as geography and history in novel and innovative ways to explore trends over time.

On a more individual level we also learnt how to explore internet databases about schools that may be useful in job searches. Considering that so much of data is important in education today, this was a very informative lecture.