Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Experimenting with Voice Thread
Here are some pictures of my extremely exciting Father's Day. I used these pictures to play around with VoiceThread. I hope you enjoy my photo story.
http://voicethread.com/share/551565/
http://voicethread.com/share/551565/
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Chapter 7: Fun With Flickr
Flickr is a program that allows you to upload photos for others to view or comment on. Chapter 7 of Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts provides a wide array of ideas for how to use Flickr in the classroom.
As I was reading this chapter, I thought of two chapters in particular. Our geography teacher does a summative assignment she calls "A Sense of Place." In this assignment, she asks students to take pictures of where they grew up, where they spent their time, and what places mean the most to them. Students then create a report based on these places and create a PowerPoint to guide their presentation. Instead of a PowerPoint, the teacher could have the students use Flickr to upload their pictures, describe what this place means to them, and then have them map it on Google Earth. This would allow students to have access to each other's pictures and provide a way for them to tell the world what their community is about.
The second teacher I thought of was one of our English teachers. She is constantly trying to find a way to have students write outside of their comfort zone. By using a random favorites picture from Flickr, this English teacher could have a constant stream of new ideas for her students to write a creative story about. A picture is worth 100 words, right?
Although I am not a librarian yet, I am excited to experiment with Flickr myself and share my findings with our faculty. I believe every department in our school could benefit from this web tool.
As I was reading this chapter, I thought of two chapters in particular. Our geography teacher does a summative assignment she calls "A Sense of Place." In this assignment, she asks students to take pictures of where they grew up, where they spent their time, and what places mean the most to them. Students then create a report based on these places and create a PowerPoint to guide their presentation. Instead of a PowerPoint, the teacher could have the students use Flickr to upload their pictures, describe what this place means to them, and then have them map it on Google Earth. This would allow students to have access to each other's pictures and provide a way for them to tell the world what their community is about.
The second teacher I thought of was one of our English teachers. She is constantly trying to find a way to have students write outside of their comfort zone. By using a random favorites picture from Flickr, this English teacher could have a constant stream of new ideas for her students to write a creative story about. A picture is worth 100 words, right?
Although I am not a librarian yet, I am excited to experiment with Flickr myself and share my findings with our faculty. I believe every department in our school could benefit from this web tool.
Chapter 6: The Social Web
I love that in the beginning of this chapter Richardson says "whether it's blogs or wikis or RSs, all roads now point to a web where little is done in isolation and all things are collaborative and social in nature" (emphasis added, page 85). One goal that I have with my students is to open up the world to them. I teach in a pretty homogeneous school, and I am constantly looking for ways to open up the diverse world to them.
I have personally used a wiki in my AP World History course for the last year. I found that my students were initially reluctant to post to the wiki, then increasingly posted more as time when on. My goal is to use wikis again next year, but encourage more peer to peer participation.
One portion of this chapter that I was particularly interested in was Twitter. I have never used Twitter, but what I knew about it prior to this chapter made me think that it was pretty unneccessary. In general, I am a one stop shopper. Also, I felt like I didn't really care what Oprah tweeted, and it was a total waste of my time. After reading this chapter, I was excited to see that some schools were using Twitter for formulative assessment. This is something that I would be interested in doing, if only our school didn't forbid the use of cell phones.
Another portion of this chapter and our multimedia course that I was deeply interested in was learning about Diigo. I have personally never used Diigo, but I am very excited about the possibilities. It seems like a great way to assign homework to a website reading and give directions to remind students what to do on a webquest, instead of using paper directions that students could forget to bring home for homework (as long as they have Internet access outside of school).
One thought that continuously crossed my mind while reading this chatper is that all of these social web devises are great, as long a you do something with them. The image of the teacher who keeps every single page of professional development information but never does anything with them comes to mind. As long as we pace ourselves and take them one step at a time, the social web will be immensely beneficial.
I have personally used a wiki in my AP World History course for the last year. I found that my students were initially reluctant to post to the wiki, then increasingly posted more as time when on. My goal is to use wikis again next year, but encourage more peer to peer participation.
One portion of this chapter that I was particularly interested in was Twitter. I have never used Twitter, but what I knew about it prior to this chapter made me think that it was pretty unneccessary. In general, I am a one stop shopper. Also, I felt like I didn't really care what Oprah tweeted, and it was a total waste of my time. After reading this chapter, I was excited to see that some schools were using Twitter for formulative assessment. This is something that I would be interested in doing, if only our school didn't forbid the use of cell phones.
Another portion of this chapter and our multimedia course that I was deeply interested in was learning about Diigo. I have personally never used Diigo, but I am very excited about the possibilities. It seems like a great way to assign homework to a website reading and give directions to remind students what to do on a webquest, instead of using paper directions that students could forget to bring home for homework (as long as they have Internet access outside of school).
One thought that continuously crossed my mind while reading this chatper is that all of these social web devises are great, as long a you do something with them. The image of the teacher who keeps every single page of professional development information but never does anything with them comes to mind. As long as we pace ourselves and take them one step at a time, the social web will be immensely beneficial.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Chapter 5: RSS
This chapter made me very excited for all the possibilities of using RSS feeds.
As a graduate student, the idea of having the latest research delievered to me on the paper I'm working on sounds amazing! Without taking much time out of my day, I could easily check to see if any late-break research has been released, instead of spending time every few days checking databases just in case something might have been published.
As a teacher, I am also energized to use RSS. I love the idea of having students create their own blogs and being able to quickly check them for content in one site. I think this would be a very beneficial tool to show many of my fellow faculty members who are hesitant to use blogging because they believe it would take too much of their time to offer.
One warning in this chapter that I can completely identify with is RSS overload. After our multimedia class each created blogs, I quickly began to follow each classmates' blog and quickly began to feel overwhelmed when I checked the feeds in my Google Reader. To try to cope with the overload, I decided to place the three blogs I am following this week in one folder. I'm hoping that will help me prioritze my feeds.
As a graduate student, the idea of having the latest research delievered to me on the paper I'm working on sounds amazing! Without taking much time out of my day, I could easily check to see if any late-break research has been released, instead of spending time every few days checking databases just in case something might have been published.
As a teacher, I am also energized to use RSS. I love the idea of having students create their own blogs and being able to quickly check them for content in one site. I think this would be a very beneficial tool to show many of my fellow faculty members who are hesitant to use blogging because they believe it would take too much of their time to offer.
One warning in this chapter that I can completely identify with is RSS overload. After our multimedia class each created blogs, I quickly began to follow each classmates' blog and quickly began to feel overwhelmed when I checked the feeds in my Google Reader. To try to cope with the overload, I decided to place the three blogs I am following this week in one folder. I'm hoping that will help me prioritze my feeds.
Monday, June 22, 2009
School Blog Comparison
I chose A Geeky Momma's Blog and Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages based on their names. When I first opened A Geeky Momma's blog I was surprised to see a reference to my very own Resources for Young Adult Teacher, Joel Shoemaker. Right away I was pretty sure this was a credible blog to reference. Upon further inspection I learned that this blog was by Lee Kolbert from Baton Rouge, FL. She claims to be a blogger, an educator, and a hockey mom. Her newest blog is about reading and getting teachers to share what they are reading to encourage others to read this summer. Throughout her blog, she provides links to many other resources for reading and about book choice. Unfortunately, there is not much information provided about Kolbert other than she is a hockey mom, educator, and blogger. When her blog is searched using Technorati, she has a pretty low authority level (37). However, despite these two credibility roadblocks, I believe her blog is a helpful source for educators who are looking to see what others are reading or are looking to discuss what they are reading.
Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages is a blog by Tom Turner who is a specialist/network manager for an elementary school in Florida. He is also a member of the Discovery Educator network. This blog is easy to navigate. Turner focuses on questions about a quality education and how best to teach students. He has a series of blogs on the worth of games in education where he refers to some popular games that are not advertised as educational, but in fact are very educational, such as Zoo Tycoon, Sim City, and World of Warcraft.
To be honest, I doubt if I will ever follow either of these blogs. It is not that they don't provide interesting points of view, but I also don't believe either to be groundbreaking. However, the Geeky Momma blog would be a good blog for educators to follow who are interested in summer reading lists and discussions. And Turner's Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages blog would be good if someone was looking for a differing opinion on gaming in education.
Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages is a blog by Tom Turner who is a specialist/network manager for an elementary school in Florida. He is also a member of the Discovery Educator network. This blog is easy to navigate. Turner focuses on questions about a quality education and how best to teach students. He has a series of blogs on the worth of games in education where he refers to some popular games that are not advertised as educational, but in fact are very educational, such as Zoo Tycoon, Sim City, and World of Warcraft.
To be honest, I doubt if I will ever follow either of these blogs. It is not that they don't provide interesting points of view, but I also don't believe either to be groundbreaking. However, the Geeky Momma blog would be a good blog for educators to follow who are interested in summer reading lists and discussions. And Turner's Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages blog would be good if someone was looking for a differing opinion on gaming in education.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Educator Blog Comparison
Both Will Richardson's and Karl Fisch's blogs are educational in nature. They both have high authority ratings from Technorati (409 and 225 respectively). Information is readily accessible on the purpose of the blog, the credentials of the authors, and how to contact the authors. This information is important for readers to be able to access in order to determine credibility of the authors.
Further, both authors are treated by their followers as authorities on their respective subjects, though occasional disrespect does occur. They both have other sites that link to their blogs, and they both update their blogs on a regular basis.
One difference in the two blogs appears to be popularity with the mass public. Fisch's blog tends to have far more comments per posting than Richardson's. However, both blogs have a very good following.
Overall, both of these blogs are reputable sources of information that I would feel comfortable using in an educational setting, perhaps at a staff professional development or as a one-on-one with administrators.
Further, both authors are treated by their followers as authorities on their respective subjects, though occasional disrespect does occur. They both have other sites that link to their blogs, and they both update their blogs on a regular basis.
One difference in the two blogs appears to be popularity with the mass public. Fisch's blog tends to have far more comments per posting than Richardson's. However, both blogs have a very good following.
Overall, both of these blogs are reputable sources of information that I would feel comfortable using in an educational setting, perhaps at a staff professional development or as a one-on-one with administrators.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Richardson-Chapter 2
This chapter was full of creative ways to use a weblog in the classroom. The possibilities seem to be endless. In my opinion, three of the most beneficial attributes of blogging found in this chapter are creating collaborative conversations, the development of higher-order thinking skills, and connecting learners around the world.
First, blogging allows the facilitation of collaborative conversations. This aspect is beneficial for all students because it allows them to think about content at their own pace. For the timid learner, blogging allows a safe space where she/he can participate in a conversation without the pressures of time or looking "cool" to peers.
Blogging also allows the development of higher-order thinking skills, such as critical thinking and analysis, that are so vital to the success of our students (and are stressed in the Iowa Core Curriculum). Bloggers can read what others have to say about a topic, take time to think about it, and respond analytically to posts in a professional manner.
Another aspect of blogging that is particularly exciting is the capability to connect to bloggers around the world. In our increasingly global world, it is important that all students recognize the interdependence of our world and learn to appreciate a global society. Blogging at this level allows for many diverse perspectives to be shared, analyzed, and appreciated.
There are a couple areas of concern that arise with blogging. First the fact that it could increase the digital divide between those of our students who have the Internet easily accessible and those who do not. Of course, this could be avoided if all blogging was done in school where all students had access. Then again, this takes away many of the benefits of blogging argued by Richardson, such as parental contact and student access to class documents.
A second area of concern is that many blog sites are blocked. Many teachers at my high school would like to start a blog for the classroom, but all free blog sites are blocked. This is extremely detrimental to the technological advancement of the students and staff of a school.
First, blogging allows the facilitation of collaborative conversations. This aspect is beneficial for all students because it allows them to think about content at their own pace. For the timid learner, blogging allows a safe space where she/he can participate in a conversation without the pressures of time or looking "cool" to peers.
Blogging also allows the development of higher-order thinking skills, such as critical thinking and analysis, that are so vital to the success of our students (and are stressed in the Iowa Core Curriculum). Bloggers can read what others have to say about a topic, take time to think about it, and respond analytically to posts in a professional manner.
Another aspect of blogging that is particularly exciting is the capability to connect to bloggers around the world. In our increasingly global world, it is important that all students recognize the interdependence of our world and learn to appreciate a global society. Blogging at this level allows for many diverse perspectives to be shared, analyzed, and appreciated.
There are a couple areas of concern that arise with blogging. First the fact that it could increase the digital divide between those of our students who have the Internet easily accessible and those who do not. Of course, this could be avoided if all blogging was done in school where all students had access. Then again, this takes away many of the benefits of blogging argued by Richardson, such as parental contact and student access to class documents.
A second area of concern is that many blog sites are blocked. Many teachers at my high school would like to start a blog for the classroom, but all free blog sites are blocked. This is extremely detrimental to the technological advancement of the students and staff of a school.
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