Wow! This experience has truly opened my eyes to the digital world and the potential that Web 2.0 tools can play in helping educators reach all learners. The possibilities are endless. Each of the "things" we learned about holds the possibility of helping teachers and students organize information, yet many empower their users by allowing them the freedom to express themselves within their presentation or creation.
No longer am I afraid to take the first step. I am convinced that we must be utilizing these tools with our learners regularly. If we are not, we may be denying them opportunities for learning. We cannot teach in a box. We need to work together to share information, collaborate to create and most importantly, help one another along the way. These tools may scare some people, yet there's really nothing to be afraid of. The more we work to incorporate these tools into our teaching and allow students to utilize them in their learning, the more confident we will all become making it easier to accept and embrace change as it naturally occurs. We will look forward to celebrating the new discoveries and the new "things" as they become available.
Teaching today offers us so many more opportunities to reach our learners. I am looking forward to embracing my new found skills, incorporating my learning into my teaching and sharing with my colleagues and my students. I have a feeling this is start of many very exciting school days ahead! I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to take part in this amazing adventure!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Thing 22
This was a fun "thing"! It took a little creativity and trial and error on my part, but I enjoyed the learning process and can see many, many possibilities in making what I started "grow" throughout the school year. I'm excited to share this idea with my students and look forward to what they think we can do to build our wiki together. They never cease to amaze me with their incredible ideas! My efforts are a simple start, but the seed has been planted and together, with my learners, I hope to watch our wiki develop over time. I work with a population of students who thrive on challenges. I can really see this type of opportunity exciting so many of them as learners. It makes me very excited to know that I can now offer them this "thing" as a medium to work together to create and show what they know. Powerful stuff! Take a peek at my start here: https://explorewithus.wikispaces.com/
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Thing 21
Terri says it best for both of us on this "thing". I was one of her collaborating companions on our "Spice it Up a Notch" wiki. We were very excited to work on this project with many of our fourth grade students across the district reading different Nutmeg nominee books. It was a little tricky at first getting started. We needed permission from administration and the parents of students participating in the wiki project. We created a letter explaining what a wiki was and told about the "Spice it Up a Notch" wiki created by teachers at RESC. Once permission was granted, we obtained usernames and passwords for our students and explained that they could only post to the wiki AFTER they had conferenced with at least one peer AND had their work approved by a teacher. This helped us tremendously. The quality of the work our students were posting was excellent in comparison to many of the other wiki users. Unfortunately this was a bit of a downfall at first. Our students were a little disappointed with some of the posting that they came across. On the other hand, they were made to feel pretty proud of their "stand out" work. One way to combat this problem may be to try and set up a wiki and invite users to contribute. This way you know everyone who is participating and they would all have to meet your wiki posting expectations. This is something that could be really fun as a teacher who works throughout the district. It would give students across the district opportunities to collaborate with one another on common topics. Great possibilities!
Thing 20
Ebooks are fun. To me though, nothing beats a real book. I love tossing whatever it is I'm currently reading into my beach bag on a moment's notice during the summer. I don't have to worry about electricity or sand. With ebooks however, the possibilities are vast and right at my fingertips when I have a computer available. I can see ways in which ebooks could help our students who may struggle with reading. They could have the text read to them and learn or find as much enjoyment from the book as someone who could easily read it. No more barriers. The interactivity of many ebooks makes using them exciting too. I liked listening to excerpts of Mozart's music in the British Library online gallery. I was also able to look up words and leaf through the ebook at my own pace. These features make it very attractive.
I was unable to access the NHS collection of ebooks because I do not have a username and password, however I was able to access many ebooks that John Paterson and Martin Kellogg schools have available. It's nice to see these collections growing year after year.
I was unable to access the NHS collection of ebooks because I do not have a username and password, however I was able to access many ebooks that John Paterson and Martin Kellogg schools have available. It's nice to see these collections growing year after year.
Thing 19
I created a brief tutorial for students to learn about a web site that we use for a scavenger hunt project that we do at the end of our study about the Iditarod. There are two buttons at the top of the page that have many useful links to assist students in finding the answers to their scavenger hunt questions. The brief tutorial will familiarize the students with the web site and show them how to navigate their way through it.
Thing 18
Podcasting allows learning to be portable and readily available which is always fun. One podcast that I subscribed to is edutopia. This selection of podcasts has to do with technology. I like how easily the topics are organized and each "show" is rated by listeners. I really like the idea of students podcasting a news show about their school. We have had some fourth graders create and run a news program at John Paterson that has been broadcast "live" via our media distribution system. It would be fun to try this concept only creating and using a podcast as our medium for sharing.
Thing 17
Foot Notes
View more presentations from Melanie Kahl.
I have seen this presentation before and was so happy to come upon it again today. To me, it is inspirational. It makes me think of how important it is to allow creativity to be part of our lives, to appreciate the creations of others and to not be afraid to take risks.
Slideshare is a wonderful tool to use in and out of our classrooms. We can so easily search for presentations and tailor them to fit our needs and the needs of our students. This would be a great resource for us to utilize with students to share what they've learned about a particular topic. They could work independently or collaboratively to create their projects. Teachers could also post presentations "as is" from slideshare to their classroom blogs or post altered presentations for all to see at home or in school.
Thing 16
I chose to explore a bit with Easybib. Many of my students at the elementary level have difficulty citing their sources when doing research projects. I thought this may be a tool worth exploring to help them through this challenge. I found Easybib to be very easy to use and was able to quickly produce a works cited document which I saved on Google Docs incorporating the skills I learned in Thing 15. Hooray for me! I am excited to have learned so much about the many, many Web 2.0 tools so far. This opportunity has been a very rewarding experience!
Thing 15
How might you use this tool in your personal and professional life?
Oh, my goodness! I feel like "Sam" from the video! I too have tried to help students run a newspaper and found myself completely overwhelmed with retrieving documents from everywhere, wondering which is the most recent, frustrated because students accidentally edited the wrong version. THIS COULD BE THE ANSWER! Google Docs could really ROCK! I also think that as professionals the doors for collaboration are wide open. What a wonderful way to create a common working ground. This is a very efficient way for us to work together.
What issues come to mind about using this tool with students?
Issues that come to mind though are that each student would need an email address to log-in. I do now believe that this is currently possible, but I am hopeful that we will get there. This is VERY EXCITING!
Oh, my goodness! I feel like "Sam" from the video! I too have tried to help students run a newspaper and found myself completely overwhelmed with retrieving documents from everywhere, wondering which is the most recent, frustrated because students accidentally edited the wrong version. THIS COULD BE THE ANSWER! Google Docs could really ROCK! I also think that as professionals the doors for collaboration are wide open. What a wonderful way to create a common working ground. This is a very efficient way for us to work together.
What issues come to mind about using this tool with students?
Issues that come to mind though are that each student would need an email address to log-in. I do now believe that this is currently possible, but I am hopeful that we will get there. This is VERY EXCITING!
Thing 14
What did you join? Why?
Social networking has become a part of many people's lives over the past several years. I am familiar with it and am a user of Facebook. Many of my relatives, college friends, high school friends, old neighbors, friends from teams that I've played sports on and friends that live out of state or even the country are "friends" of mine that I enjoy keeping in touch with via this "thing".
Has your opinion about social networking changed since working on this Thing? What do you see as the educational possibilities (if any) for social networking?
I feel that it is our responsibility as educators to teach our children about social networking. There is so much it has to offer, yet if used inappropriately the consequences could be devastating. This is "stuff" we need to talk about with our students. They need to be aware that their network behavior is an image they are portraying. Discussions around the fact that sometimes too, even the "friends" that we are associated with whose posts may be visible to everyone can represent content we are not necessarily in agreement with. This becomes a serious dilemma for many. I feel that it is necessary for us to protect ourselves and teach our students how to protect themselves when using social networking sites such as Facebook. It concerns me to hear that many students who use sites such as these accept or request friend requests from/to people they may not even know. This is extremely dangerous. We need to help our students become more aware of their responsibilities and our expectations of them as their teachers and parents when joining social networks.
Social networking has become a part of many people's lives over the past several years. I am familiar with it and am a user of Facebook. Many of my relatives, college friends, high school friends, old neighbors, friends from teams that I've played sports on and friends that live out of state or even the country are "friends" of mine that I enjoy keeping in touch with via this "thing".
Has your opinion about social networking changed since working on this Thing? What do you see as the educational possibilities (if any) for social networking?
I feel that it is our responsibility as educators to teach our children about social networking. There is so much it has to offer, yet if used inappropriately the consequences could be devastating. This is "stuff" we need to talk about with our students. They need to be aware that their network behavior is an image they are portraying. Discussions around the fact that sometimes too, even the "friends" that we are associated with whose posts may be visible to everyone can represent content we are not necessarily in agreement with. This becomes a serious dilemma for many. I feel that it is necessary for us to protect ourselves and teach our students how to protect themselves when using social networking sites such as Facebook. It concerns me to hear that many students who use sites such as these accept or request friend requests from/to people they may not even know. This is extremely dangerous. We need to help our students become more aware of their responsibilities and our expectations of them as their teachers and parents when joining social networks.
Thing 13
Where did you create your account - Diigo or Delicious? Why?
I chose to begin my bookmarking and tagging experience with Delicious. It seemed to be a bit more novice in comparison to Diigo. Diigo is amazing and offers a tremendous range of "connectivity" features. Once I begin to master Delicious, I would like to take it a step further and take advantage of all that Diigo has to offer. Terri???
Reflect on how you think social bookmarking can be used in your teaching.
This "thing" is an incredible resource for teachers, students and parents. It can be used as a quick go to for locating trusted, content appropriate information. It is place where "information, knowledge and community unite".
I chose to begin my bookmarking and tagging experience with Delicious. It seemed to be a bit more novice in comparison to Diigo. Diigo is amazing and offers a tremendous range of "connectivity" features. Once I begin to master Delicious, I would like to take it a step further and take advantage of all that Diigo has to offer. Terri???
Reflect on how you think social bookmarking can be used in your teaching.
This "thing" is an incredible resource for teachers, students and parents. It can be used as a quick go to for locating trusted, content appropriate information. It is place where "information, knowledge and community unite".
Thing 12
Is tagging a useful way to organize your digital resources and why?
Tagging is a great way to universally "mark" the things you've located or found for future reference. Before tagging, I used to save the web addresses of things I bookmarked on different computers and email them to myself for future reference. Very time consuming. Tagging helps fix this problem.
What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages? What is important to think about before assigning tags to bookmarks or other Internet content?
One huge advantage is the time that is saved. You can search for what you're looking for so quickly. We all know the fantastic feeling we get when we find just what we're looking for almost instantaneously. Our students love that feeling too! I believe it helps them to be independent learners, keeps them on task and motivates them to work hard at what they're doing. Tags are powerful! As far as disadvantages, sometimes you may have to search a few different key words to get exactly what you're looking for. A solution to this may lie in the hands of the tagger. Keep your tagging logical and simple. Let your "searchers" know some basic rules you've established for your tagging. These simple guidelines may help save some time and frustration.
Tagging is a great way to universally "mark" the things you've located or found for future reference. Before tagging, I used to save the web addresses of things I bookmarked on different computers and email them to myself for future reference. Very time consuming. Tagging helps fix this problem.
What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages? What is important to think about before assigning tags to bookmarks or other Internet content?
One huge advantage is the time that is saved. You can search for what you're looking for so quickly. We all know the fantastic feeling we get when we find just what we're looking for almost instantaneously. Our students love that feeling too! I believe it helps them to be independent learners, keeps them on task and motivates them to work hard at what they're doing. Tags are powerful! As far as disadvantages, sometimes you may have to search a few different key words to get exactly what you're looking for. A solution to this may lie in the hands of the tagger. Keep your tagging logical and simple. Let your "searchers" know some basic rules you've established for your tagging. These simple guidelines may help save some time and frustration.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Thing 11
Review the widget you selected. Are you getting comfortable with embedding code? How can widgets enhance your instructional practices?
This was so much FUN! I am feeling more and more confident embedding code. Adding widgets to blogs makes working with them attractive, interactive and exciting. I can really see my students getting hooked very quickly. Choosing purposeful, content appropriate, educational widgets will really enhance our students' learning. Widgets such as these PBS teacher "Activity Packets" can cover a broad range within at topic such as this one under the topic of Earth Day. Each packet offers a choice of material which may interest different students in the same class or grade level, or teachers who work with students at multiple grade levels. They may choose to use a different packet for each grade they work with. I can see lots of exciting possibilities!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Thing 10
What is the value of Twitter?
While I don't think Twitter appeals to me as much as some other social networks such as Facebook or Ning, I can see how it would appeal to many users, especially those looking for real time status information. I can also imagine it to be very useful for people following or communicating with one another over great distances who want the ability to "check in" on each other's lives and day to day or moment to moment activities. As far as the usefulness in the field of education, I can see a "thing" like this breaking down walls or barriers. No longer does there need to be a delay with receiving information. Questions could be posed and answers found nearly instantaneous. Following blogs of interest or to accumulate information could be entertaining or helpful depending on your purpose. Monitoring and security would be two very important things to address.
Select one of the sites that you explored from The Best of the Web 2008 or Time's 50 Best Websites of 2009. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any educational applications for it?
Lulu was fantastic! The idea of being able to write, publish your work, and even sell it using the tools Lulu has to offer is amazing. The possibilities are endless! I have had several students who have wished to become published authors. We have found ways "in house" to help them accomplish their goals, but with Lulu the opportunities and choices are so much greater and frankly, more attractive! I'm looking forward to experimenting with Lulu more in the future.
While I don't think Twitter appeals to me as much as some other social networks such as Facebook or Ning, I can see how it would appeal to many users, especially those looking for real time status information. I can also imagine it to be very useful for people following or communicating with one another over great distances who want the ability to "check in" on each other's lives and day to day or moment to moment activities. As far as the usefulness in the field of education, I can see a "thing" like this breaking down walls or barriers. No longer does there need to be a delay with receiving information. Questions could be posed and answers found nearly instantaneous. Following blogs of interest or to accumulate information could be entertaining or helpful depending on your purpose. Monitoring and security would be two very important things to address.
Select one of the sites that you explored from The Best of the Web 2008 or Time's 50 Best Websites of 2009. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any educational applications for it?
Lulu was fantastic! The idea of being able to write, publish your work, and even sell it using the tools Lulu has to offer is amazing. The possibilities are endless! I have had several students who have wished to become published authors. We have found ways "in house" to help them accomplish their goals, but with Lulu the opportunities and choices are so much greater and frankly, more attractive! I'm looking forward to experimenting with Lulu more in the future.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thing 9
How do you see teaching and learning changing as a result of Web 2.0?
Teaching and learning will be ever changing as a result of Web 2.0. Technology today enables us to reach out for resources, to share information with people, to explore our creative side and the list goes on and on. For so many people, learning this way has become a way of life. Our students need instruction and exposure to this style of teaching and learning. They need opportunities to utilize these skills on a regular basis in order to compete in today's global economy. As their teachers, we must find and create ways for them to safely explore and share their learning.
What opportunities do you see emerging?
The opportunities are abundant! Every teacher dreams of having the ability to "give" their students the tools they need or want to succeed. Opportunities to use ipods, cell phones, laptops as tools for learning, sharing and creating are very exciting. The challenge for us as educators though is how to effectively incorporate or allow for this within our curriculum.
What can educators do to practice and teach ethical use of these interactive resources?
All students should be taught the importance of giving credit where credit is due in the appropriate format. I find that in our district, there is a need for consistency in our instruction on this topic. Our teachers, as a team, must work together to establish a common set of grade appropriate expectations to support our learners.
Teaching and learning will be ever changing as a result of Web 2.0. Technology today enables us to reach out for resources, to share information with people, to explore our creative side and the list goes on and on. For so many people, learning this way has become a way of life. Our students need instruction and exposure to this style of teaching and learning. They need opportunities to utilize these skills on a regular basis in order to compete in today's global economy. As their teachers, we must find and create ways for them to safely explore and share their learning.
What opportunities do you see emerging?
The opportunities are abundant! Every teacher dreams of having the ability to "give" their students the tools they need or want to succeed. Opportunities to use ipods, cell phones, laptops as tools for learning, sharing and creating are very exciting. The challenge for us as educators though is how to effectively incorporate or allow for this within our curriculum.
What can educators do to practice and teach ethical use of these interactive resources?
All students should be taught the importance of giving credit where credit is due in the appropriate format. I find that in our district, there is a need for consistency in our instruction on this topic. Our teachers, as a team, must work together to establish a common set of grade appropriate expectations to support our learners.
Thing 8
I chose this video because each year when we visit North Carolina, my kids always hope we will be lucky enough to see loggerhead turtles hatching from their nesting site. Great efforts are taken in North Carolina to protect these endangered species. One of my favorite childhood memories is seeing hundreds of tiny loggerheads hatch and miraculously make their way down the beach to the ocean water under the light of the moon. Although we haven't been fortunate enough to stumble upon this phenomena with our own kids, (we'll keep trying!) they were able to see what actually happens by viewing video footage about it on YouTube. And they continue to wish to one day see it all happen in person!
Thing 7
What do you like or dislike about YouTube?
The possibilities are just endless with YouTube. I love the fact that video can be captured and shared with the world. You can search for video on anything! The only apprehensions I have as with so many online resources are security settings and also the educational purpose. TeacherTube and SchoolTube may be safer options to start with.
Did you find videos that would be useful for teaching and learning?
There are countless valuable videos for teaching and learning. On a personal note, my washing machine was giving me trouble this week and I was able to find a video on YouTube that showed my husband how to replace a broken part. The video made completing the project so simple! (It's running again...like a charm!)
Is YouTube restricted in your building?
I believe teachers have access to YouTube, but students do not.
The possibilities are just endless with YouTube. I love the fact that video can be captured and shared with the world. You can search for video on anything! The only apprehensions I have as with so many online resources are security settings and also the educational purpose. TeacherTube and SchoolTube may be safer options to start with.
Did you find videos that would be useful for teaching and learning?
There are countless valuable videos for teaching and learning. On a personal note, my washing machine was giving me trouble this week and I was able to find a video on YouTube that showed my husband how to replace a broken part. The video made completing the project so simple! (It's running again...like a charm!)
Is YouTube restricted in your building?
I believe teachers have access to YouTube, but students do not.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Thing 5
I chose this photo because it reminds me of my yellow lab, "Katie", and her chocolate lab friend, "Molly". Thing 6
Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
I chose this picture because it is one my favorite places to visit. My family and I have visited this area for years and keep coming back. It brings us peace, happiness and allows us to explore the many ocean wonders. We just LOVE vacationing here!
Thing 4
What service did you choose? Why?
I am familiar with both Netvibes and iGoogle and have also used myYahoo. I tend to agree with the "mashable" article in that Netvibes is the one to beat. Although, I really like the features iGoogle has to offer as well. Netvibes allows you to customize your dashboard by topic and it's visual appearance is appealing with nice organization and clean lines making it quick and easy to locate information or sections you may be looking for in a hurry.
What are some of the items you included on your custom homepage?
I like to include the weather, driving directions, news events for my area as well as world news, email access and a favorites section which includes links to some of the sites/pages I visit most often.
What kind of widgets or links could you add to your homepage that would enhance instruction?
I could tailor my homepage to fit the needs of my students for the topic or cluster I work on with them. For example, when we are studying the Stock Market, there are several sites we sometimes toggle between to aid us in our research and assist us with real time findings. A "Stock Market" section could easily be added to include links to the sites we find most helpful during this instruction. As we move on to study new topics, the homepage could easily be altered to keep current with supporting our learning.
I am familiar with both Netvibes and iGoogle and have also used myYahoo. I tend to agree with the "mashable" article in that Netvibes is the one to beat. Although, I really like the features iGoogle has to offer as well. Netvibes allows you to customize your dashboard by topic and it's visual appearance is appealing with nice organization and clean lines making it quick and easy to locate information or sections you may be looking for in a hurry.
What are some of the items you included on your custom homepage?
I like to include the weather, driving directions, news events for my area as well as world news, email access and a favorites section which includes links to some of the sites/pages I visit most often.
What kind of widgets or links could you add to your homepage that would enhance instruction?
I could tailor my homepage to fit the needs of my students for the topic or cluster I work on with them. For example, when we are studying the Stock Market, there are several sites we sometimes toggle between to aid us in our research and assist us with real time findings. A "Stock Market" section could easily be added to include links to the sites we find most helpful during this instruction. As we move on to study new topics, the homepage could easily be altered to keep current with supporting our learning.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Thing 3
How might a blog support the work you do?
Using blogs with the work I do could certainly help with being able to communicate with my students more frequently and allow me to provide feedback on the assignments or reactions they post. I also like the idea of blogging enabling my students to communicate and collaborate between each other.
How might you blog with your students?
One idea that comes to mind would to be to set up a blog for students to comment or ask questions about a recycling video we made. Lots of information about recycling was shared in a play the students wrote, recorded and then shared with the rest of the third graders via their recording. With the addition of a blog, the students could not only receive feedback, but could also answer any questions their viewers may have had after viewing their performance.
What concerns do you have about blogging in education?
Some concerns that come to mind include, access, security and appropriateness of what gets posted. I'm hopeful though that as I learn more about blogging that these will be obstacles that can easily be overcome.
Using blogs with the work I do could certainly help with being able to communicate with my students more frequently and allow me to provide feedback on the assignments or reactions they post. I also like the idea of blogging enabling my students to communicate and collaborate between each other.
How might you blog with your students?
One idea that comes to mind would to be to set up a blog for students to comment or ask questions about a recycling video we made. Lots of information about recycling was shared in a play the students wrote, recorded and then shared with the rest of the third graders via their recording. With the addition of a blog, the students could not only receive feedback, but could also answer any questions their viewers may have had after viewing their performance.
What concerns do you have about blogging in education?
Some concerns that come to mind include, access, security and appropriateness of what gets posted. I'm hopeful though that as I learn more about blogging that these will be obstacles that can easily be overcome.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Thing 1 and Thing 2
Thing 1 and Thing 2:
I am excited to participate in this learning opportunity so that I may gain a better understanding of the many 21st century technology tools. I do realize that technology is ever changing and I am also aware of my need to keep current with what is available in order to challenge and enhance the education of my students. It is important to me to provide my students with as many challenging learning opportunities as possible. The idea of being able to express my thoughts and opinions for all to see gives me mixed feelings. On one hand, it is exciting to think that I have the ability to share information with virtually anyone. But, on the other hand, it makes me feel a little vulnerable. Although I would never mean to post something that may contain an error, the reality is that this could and probably will happen. If somehow my efforts make a difference in a positive manner, then it will all be worth the risk!
I am excited to participate in this learning opportunity so that I may gain a better understanding of the many 21st century technology tools. I do realize that technology is ever changing and I am also aware of my need to keep current with what is available in order to challenge and enhance the education of my students. It is important to me to provide my students with as many challenging learning opportunities as possible. The idea of being able to express my thoughts and opinions for all to see gives me mixed feelings. On one hand, it is exciting to think that I have the ability to share information with virtually anyone. But, on the other hand, it makes me feel a little vulnerable. Although I would never mean to post something that may contain an error, the reality is that this could and probably will happen. If somehow my efforts make a difference in a positive manner, then it will all be worth the risk!
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