Resources of my choice

so I finally started to put my VLE together and I found word press very easy. It was logical, easy to navigate and so straight forward to add links, embed codes, upload word documents & Power Points.
I started making a list of the resources I wanted to work with (as shown below), and set out creating the tailored packaged VLE. 1. Class marker 2.Pinterest 3. Quizlet 4. Todays meet 5. Facebook 6. Youtube 7. PowerPoint 8. polldaddy 9.Wikihow 10. Ted talks.11. thinklink 12.audioboom

For the sake of the blog I will go through a few of the application in a little details so in future if anyone is interested they can see the benefits and maybe challenges of said applications I will also include the links to the applications within the title. The first I came across was poll daddy, mainly because it is already available within the word Press site, however I don't feel it adds any value to the overall experience of the VLE, I can see the benefit of having the application for maybe different subject areas, but I don't feel it suited my area very well. All the same I did add some of the surveys and polls mainly for the sake of it, as they do break up the page well and provide a good way on completing a section.  Poll daddy was easy to use and embed due to the fact it is an application within word press so was fit for purpose so to say.

The next application I started to work with was Todays Meet, the main reason why I have added this to my VLE is it is so easy and simple not only to set up but for the users to log on and start engaging straight away. I have used it within my teaching practise and found the students engaged very well. It lends it's self well to engaging the students and making the site interactive, which was an important issue for me. I also used Facebook as an application within my VLE, this was again for ease of use and interactivity for the students. Dewey (2014) stated that "Facebook is not a physical country,” MacKinnon wrote at the time, “but with 900 million users, its ‘population’ comes third after China and India" how then can I as an educator ignore the power that Facebook has? I don't think I can, So Facebook was added. It was a debate on to have a class account or a class page? I decided on page, this is still very interactive and they are able to post and reply as and when they want. It will be a great tool so use week on week to provide a way of feedback not only to me but also to other users. Plus Facebook is user friendly and easy to access from any type of mobile technology.

Power Point has become one of the most valuable tools I have in my teaching practise box and has such has become a key element with my VLE. I have made audio PowerPoint's so the users are able to gain a lecture or chalk and talk style experience regarding the concepts under investigation. I find PowerPoint easy to use and embed and simple for users to open and engage with.  Along side the audio PowerPoints I applied the use of Ted Talks, I personally love Ted Talks and find then very useful to provide key ideas to students, a powerful talk and change anyone's outlook and most Ted Talks are very professional, they are easy to embed and again very easy to access for the users or students. Along the same thread was the application Audio Boom  it enables you to share audio content online or on other applications for example twitter or word press, this has I have found was not easy, the embed code was difficult to locate and then use, I finally gave up on embedding a sound clip as it used up to much valuable time, but I will be revisiting this in future as I feel (as a dyslexic) it is a valuable tool for both educator and student.

Pinterest is a good application and I feel better suited to some subjects  than others, I don't connect with it fully, I can the uses for it and I have added it to the VLE for the user to access and add pins if they wish, thus making the VLE interactive, Pinterest is a virtual inspiration board and while I do use in my personal life I have found it rather lacking for educational purposes. It is easy to use and very simple to create a board so users should have no difficulties with it.  The use of YouTube upon the VLE was also considered and I felt it added something valuable to the learners who are visual, I was able to source some very good video clips and provide resources for the concepts under investigation from a different perspective. All in all the resources I have chosen for the VLE I felt were of great value and use to the users, they enabled me to provide greater application of knowledge but through a means that most would not associate with learning and I think making learning fun and interesting is vital.