DFI SESSION 6

 Today we continued exploring  our class sites and discussing the importance of making it visible. The visual appeal is very important especially for the learner, who needs to be drawn in and motivated to explore and revisit learning. Furthermore we discussed the functionality and accessibility of our sites. We need to think about how learners are accessing the site. It should always be no more than 3 clicks to arrive at their learning. The simpler to access the information the better and easier for the learner. 

We discussed google site buttons and how to organise this. I noted and explored Pixabay which has stunning free images that can be used when designing ones site.

I find the Colourpick Eyedropper it be very cool. Once you have installed chrome extension 

then the colour will adjust colour values for text.

Google sites empower learning in our digital learning environments.

The purpose of the Learning Site is as follows.

We spoke about eliminating Spam on blogs. Never click on any suspicious links !!!

Never just delete a spam comment. First mark as spam and then delete it!

Eliminating Spam on Blogs 

All blogs in Manaiakalani schools  have the default setting that allows Anyone to comment.

Blog administrator settings include the teacher being sent an email notification when a student posts and when a comment is left on their blog.

The easiest way to quickly see what is happening on your students’ blogs is through Hapara Teacher Dashboard. A regular (ie daily) check here is necessary to identify spam early.

First thing in the morning is best practice as the spambots seem to operate on Northern Hemisphere time zones.

It is important to learn what to do and how to do it - if you get spam on one of your blogs.

We recommend you talk to your facilitator or  education programme leader if you are unsure and want help. We are available to support you and our schools.

STEPS TO ILLUMINATING SPAM:

If this is urgent and offensive, we suggest you take these steps- or ask our facilitator to do it for you:

1. Mark the offensive comment as spam BEFORE deleting it - to alert Google to investigate.  

2. Activate comment moderation on posts older than 14 days

3. Remove the Recent Comments gadget from the sidebar, reducing the potential for the spam to be seen by the child or whānau before it is stomped on.

4. Revert the post that attracted the spam to Draft, breaking the link with the spambot.  

Hapara Teacher Dashboard should be checked daily - that is why you have it!

Before school.  Spambots appear to be based in Northern Hemisphere time zones, so spam will generally arrive overnight.

I enjoyed sharing my class room site and seeing other colleagues sites too. I noted that I do need to focus on font and sizing with my slides, as this will have a greater visual appeal to the viewer.