learning all i can

I am very excited about del.icio.us. What a great concept - now my “favorites” and “bookmarks” aren’t tied to one computer or server. I am embarrassed to admit that I was introduced to this social bookmarking site back in August, but I really didn’t “get it.” After viewing the creative commons video with Eric LeFevre, I finally understood that this would be so great for when I am working away from school. (I really must be a slow learner and obviously need things to be presented in an unbelievably simplistic manner!) So I’ve added some more sites since August 17, and you can check them out at my Delicious site.

My goal is to go in and import all of my favorites into this site and then I plan to “bundle” my tags which I think is going to be similar to creating file folders and organizing things much better. This is definitely doable!

These tools are really great, and I’m always amazed that anything so good is FREE. (Are we still capitalist??) I looked at several of the sites offered, and two of them really work for me. The first is Quizlet. This is a site that allows you to quiz yourself in a variety of ways. It would be great for learning vocabulary or, as is common in my World Cultures course, names and titles. For example, my students recently read a chapter about the political and cultural activity in Russia. They had to learn a lot of names such as Boris Pasternak, Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, etc. To these students, who did not grow up with these names in the news, they proved to be very difficult. Quizlet would be a fantastic way for them to learn these. The site allows you to type in terms, names, etc. and then you can choose to “familiarize,” “learn,” “test,” “play scatter,” etc. I can see this being very helpful to many grade levels and across the curriculum.

A second tool that I really liked is Ta-Da Lists. What a great thing to a list-maker like myself! This (free) site allows you to make lists to remind yourself, to organize yourself, etc. and post it on the web. Personally I found it fabulous, and I believe that it would be great for students as well. If they were working in a group, they could generate a list, and then as the tasks were completed different members could check them off - much like a wiki - but not nearly as complicated. A teacher could post the list if needed. The uses are endless and the benefits numerous. Can’t wait to use these with my students!

STRETCH TASK - SKYPING SHELLEY!

Ok - I did it.  I didn’t think I could but I did.  Skype will be so great for students to interact with other classes a world a way, or as the idea was suggested in the instructions, interview an expert on something.  Can’t wait to put this to use in my classes.

On a personal note, I’ll be using it to speak with one of my sisters who lives in Macao and a niece who will be going to school in Germany next fall.  What a great tool!

For my entrée into the 21^st century conference, I chose to “attend” The Electric Slide! – Twenty First Century Style

It was hosted by Kurt Paccio, a Technology Director and educator with over 14 years of experience, and Jim Gates, a public school teacher for over 32 years. I thought the title was interesting and wanted to see what it was all about. It was broken into 2 parts.

Part 1 was hosted by Kurt, and he introduced us to and instructed us in the application of sPresent.com. sPresent.com is a free web-based alternative to Power Point. I liked it a lot. It is very user-friendly. There are many benefits to sPresent.com which Kurt very wonderfully pointed out – 1. There are no compatibility issues. All students and educators alike should be able to access it no matter what system they are using. 2. It is great for sharing and collaboration. It can easily be embedded into all wikis and blogs. He did point out a few limitations: 1. It does require broadband as dial-up would just be too slow (however I believe most students here at WA would have high-speed internet access.) 2. It accepts jpeg photos only, and Kurt says TeacherTube and SchoolTube videos can’t be embedded yet – although YouTube is no problem at all. I believe the benefits outweigh the limitations and I look forward to using sPresent.com in the near future. It will allow me to move a level beyond powerpoint slide shows with video that can be embedded EASILY into the presentations. (I’ve had difficulty doing that with powerpoint in the past.) So I’m very excited about this new tool!

Part 2 was hosted by Jim, and introduced us to SplashCast.net. Unfortunately, Part 2 had a few problems. The link for ipod use did not work – kept saying URL not found. So I went to the audio only version but that proved very frustrating after awhile as he kept saying, “Watch as I …” or “Look at this!” Eventually I just went directly to the site and it does look promising. The link wasn’t really strong so it was sort of jumpy, but maybe it was just the connection at the time of day or maybe my computer at home wasn’t as strong as it is at school. What I saw I liked though. I think it is more like Animoto or maybe even BubbleShare. I will definitely consider it for future use in the classroom.

THING 12 - STRETCH TASK:

I’ve just finished reading “Why Wiki?” by Mark Wagner.   I agreed with so much of it!  First, he quotes Will Richardson and I have actually heard Will Richardson in person (thanks Shelley for the awesome opportunity to hear the Rock Star of the IT world!)  They both applaud and encourage the use of Wikipedia which I have had an aversion to for a while now.  Both Wagner and Richardson are bringing me around to see its good uses.  For example I liked in Richardson’s presentation that he showed the errors in the Physics textbook and then pointed out that yes wikipedia has errrors but they can be fixed very quickly unlike the printed physics textbook.   And I love Wagner’s concept of “white hats” versus “black hats” and his optimism that there are way more white hats out there than black.  I agree!  So perhaps I will start to allow my students to use it as a source.  (It would help if the Upper School history department would allow it.)

Secondly, I agree with Computer-Using Educator and bloggerDavid Warlick whom Wagner quotes, who says,  “Avoid training teachers to use  sophisticated web editing software.  Teachers are not web masters…they are communicators.  Help them to communicate.”  Amen brother!!  I could not agree more.  So if wikis are one of the easier tools to use for communication, then that is another reason to love them.  Because when I am doing a project with my students, I always have the practical constraint of teaching and processing content.  I cannot spend excessive hours teaching technology - but wikis seem to be relatively easy to facilitate.   After all, even I figured out how to do so for this course, so believe me they can’t be that hard!

These slideshow sites are wonderful - I found them much more user-friendly than I could have imagined. I can foresee all sorts of uses for these. I included two on my wiki page - Animoto AND Bubbleshare. I actually think the Animoto slideshow is better suited to this topic and to my middle school students. Bubbleshare, I think, would be great for younger students or even a lot of fun for personal photos. I have tried Comeeko before and found it a bit difficult to work with, but I’d like to use it again as I have several students who love to dream up political cartoons. It would be a great site to teach them to use.

To view my awesome slideshows with beautiful nature shots of China, just go to my wiki site, Sandstorm.

ENJOY!

OK I’ve hit a real snag. For two days now I’ve been exploring Flickr. I tried to download a beautiful photo I found of a Chinese mountain. (My next unit to teach will be China.) Of course, it would not let me - the site does not look like the one in the instructions - I have no “Available sizes” or “Download the Small size” choice. SO I decide that maybe the problem is that I’m not a member even though the instructions said we did not HAVE to join. I decided to join to see if I would get the same site. So great - now I have an additional email to monitor and additional password to keep up with. (It wouldn’t let me use my password of choice.) Still it does not look like the instruction sheet. Great - is there anyone out there who can help? Today is 3/26/08 and I am frustrated….

But…thanks to Shelley I should be able to fix this frustration as she has heard my plea for help. Thanks Shelley!!

NOW I think I have it. This is a photo I found that I really love. It is called Terrace Mountains, Southern China It was taken and shared by “slaqua.” I like it because in our curriculum, we discuss how many farmers around the world have to use every available amount of land they have - even mountainsides - to earn a living. This would give the students a great feel for one of these terraced hillsides, and it is beautiful too! Enjoy it yourself:

OK maybe not - but I now understand having read the instructions for Thing 11 that it is actually Edublog - not me and not flickr so just get to the photo through the link. (Alisha - I’m impressed because you have the actual photo - not just the link - so shout out to you!)

Flickr was frustrating for me as this was a very busy (and short!) week. I am accustomed to Picassa and not this tool, but I could definitely see using it in the future. Lots of uses for slideshows. powerpoints, photostories, etc.

Creative Commons is an absolutely fabulous site.  I love the whole idea of things being available for educational purposes because it’s not like we’re making money on these things.  It is so wonderful to know that so many things are out there and are completely available to be shared and used and viewed.  I truly was not aware of the “cc” mark before this exercise.  All I knew about was the copyright  “c” and I was always a bit intimidated and confused by that.  What was the rule regarding use, educational purposes, etc.  Now I will know what is available and what is off limits.   After viewing the films, I googled “music available for sharing” and was amazed at what came up.  I was able to listen to Nora Jones and John Mayer for free and I think of all the potential uses.  One thing that has been difficult for me in the past was getting good music for background in photostory so now I have more options.

I think it will be very helpful for students as they work on assignments and projects (and then later out there in “the real world” - wherever that is - when they work on business presentations, proposals, etc.)   I have used lots of digital images from the web in powerpoints, photostories, etc. and I really never gave too much thought to the copyright of those sources.  I certainly will be more attuned to them now.

I have never thought much about who owns my teaching materials.  I am fortunate to work in a school, and especially in a department within that school, that has been very gracious about sharing with one another.  I think we’ve been collaborative all along, and that just goes right along with the whole concept of the internet.  The uses of these things in Creative Commons for the most part will be entirely beneficial and positive.  Of course there will be those few who will no doubt abuse the system, and that’s really a shame since it will impact everyone.  But unfortunately that is true in most cases, so hopefully it won’t stop people from sharing and continuing to add things to the shared files for everyone to enjoy.  And hopefully the internet community will “police its own” so to speak and keep the system open and available.

I’m really not sure if we’re supposed to write about thing 8 but I will say that I liked creating the wiki much more than I ever would have imagined.  It was easier than I  thought (due to Shelley’s excellent instructions) and I think I could actually use this as a collaborative feature in my classroom.  I liked responding to colleagues’ burning questions and reading the responses to mine.  I could foresee my students applying this knowledge in some very useful ways.

Wikis - wow! I was just beginning to think I could handle blogging with my classes and now wikis. I love the fact that wikis allow and encourage the students to collaborate on a project. I can see where the students at our school could really benefit because they are so geographically spread out. That has always been an issue when I assigned group projects. So when I watched the introductory video about planning the camping trip I was actually encouraged. This seemed to be a simple tool to help the students plan and work together. Then when I viewed some of the sample wikis, I began to feel discouraged. There was nothing simple at all. They seemed so “busy” and I didn’t even know if I was viewing the right things. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be looking at or for. Is there ever a finished product? I really like Friedman’s The World is Flat, so I was hopeful about the site, Flat Classroom Project, but then not so thrilled when I went to it. Am I the only one out there who finds these sites totally overwhelming. I even went to some of the elementary ones and could not believe how chock-full of links and tabs and tags they are. Probably the best I viewed was Let’s Go West! but then it was for 3rd graders!

Another thing that seems great about wikis is that they get the students using synthesis and evaluation, and that is something that is important to me and allows for a higher level of work for the middle schoolers I teach. I definitely have concerns about content and appropriate use which the PBWiki video addressed with the topic of “digital citizenship.” That would be very important to me, and I have already heard some tales of inappropriate use by students. I do not relish any parent complaints about disciplinary issues relating to the use of these, so I know there is a lot of prep work that must go into setting these up. All in all this topic looks very interesting, and I will have to see what uses I could find for them. As I said earlier, a group research project that I do each spring may be suitable.

I also liked Mr. Monson’s Thousands Project as it was cleaner and less “busy.”  Again though. it was an elementary - 5th grade - project.  Basically he posts a new question each month and hopes to get a thousand answers from people all over the world.  He is emphasizing collaboration, geography skills, writing development and much more.  I like that idea as well as the fact that he started his site with directions for participants to be “responsible, respectful, and safe.”

One of the educational blogs that I added to my google reader is called History is Elementary.  Although I don’t teach elementary history, it was an interesting site with things more relevant to middle school social studies than many of the others I found.  After reading the site for a few days, I even discovered that the author is a history teacher right here in Georgia.

I have been able to see many uses of blogs in certain disciplines, but I guess I have been a bit reluctant to see the use in the social studies curriculum.  This site, however, has given me an idea.  On Wednesdays, she posts something she calls “Wordless Wednesday.”  She simply imports a photo and then asks a brief question and invites others to comment.  For example, this week she posted a shot of demonstrators on both sides of the abortion issue.  They are side by side, holding signs and placards with very different feelings expressed.  For her caption, she wrote,  “America: A Great Nation.”  The question she posed is “How does this image show America is a great nation…or does it?  Post your comments.”  I could easily see using something like this on a blog for my students to get them engaged in a topic.  Again, I am having trouble deciding what exactly I would do with the comments.  Should they each get a response?  A grade?  A reward?  Couldn’t I do it without a website - just in class, etc… All of these issues are a bit perplexing to me, but nevertheless I am excited to start having some ideas for beneficial use of all of this that I am learning.

There were many sites and blogs that caught my interest in this task. One that particularly resonated with me was A call for a textbook purchasing moratorium on Infinite Thinking Machine.  The writer, who makes a point that she is not against books at all, proposes that public schools are wasting taxpayers’ money with the purchase expensive of textbooks. The texts are static, expensive, and immediately out of date. She contends that the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program should take hold and prove that the amount of money spent per laptop would be significantly less than the amount schools spend each year on texts for each discipline. At the college-prep school where I teach, I couldn’t agree more. Our parents are asked to pay a HUGE sum each year for textbooks, some of which are barely used (that is from my perspective as a parent.) A laptop would be more cost efficient in the long run and much more current. I contend that in a school such as ours, we should be the first to implement such a bold move. We are not tied politically to any textbook publisher, and we want to be on the cutting edge, do we not? So I say that we should give it a try. In addition, our students would have a much lighter load each night for their homework assignments. (As a parent of a child in college, as well as one in this school, though, I see that even higher education has not adopted this policy so it might not work in the college-prep environment.  Sadly textbooks, and their high prices, are alive and well at the university level.)

Another site I can highly recommend is Critical Thinking and You Tube? You Bet!  Watch the short video called “Affluenza” and I think you’ll agree.

A colleague recommended Amateur Education and it is excellent as well.  (Thanks Alisha!)  Written from a student’s perspective, it describes some of the the problems with public education.  The student genuinely feels as if he is in prison instead of a rich, rewarding, learning environment when he is forced into a study hall even before the semester begins.  His arguments were very compelling.