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!
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