Sunday, April 19, 2009

Chapter 10 Tutorials

Many of the tools covered in this chapter were things that were explored throughout this class. It was good to have a quick review of what the tools are and how to use them. There were also new tools to be discovered.

One new tool that I discovered that I can see myself taking advantage of in the future is the web-based spreadsheet: Num Sum.

I also liked Class Blogmeister. I liked the flowchart that broke down how teachers can control students use of the blog and approve comments before they are posted.

Chapter 9 New Schools

One of the sections that stuck out most to me was The Vision and The Reality. I would like to see parts of David Warlick's vision of a middle school become a reality. He proposes teachers keep blogs to keep track of homework and reflect on topics being covered in class. The teacher also blogs about what the week will look like on Monday. This would be a great way for parents to keep track of what their child is studying. Many parents know that sometimes it is like pulling teeth to get your child to tell you what they are doing in school and if there is homework or not. He also suggests that many of the teachers keep wiki sites that serve as class textbooks, and that students construct their own study resources using team wikis. I think that there is potential for wikis to me used, but the idea of the wiki being the textbook concerns me. I think that the wiki could be a great resource, but would be a lot of work for teachers if they were having to create their own textbooks. Warlick also has the vision that all significant presentations and discussions be recorded and posted in podcasts that students, parents, educators and community members could subscribe to. Although I think that some classrooms and schools have a long way to go, I can see this vision becoming a reality.

This chapter also touched on a few of the issues keeping this vision from becoming a reality. Many teachers lack the knowledge of web 2.0 tools, already are busy with the demand of regular teaching tasks, and have a low comfort level with technology. Once you learn the technology you have to find ways to integrate it.

Not only is there the issue of teachers having the knowledge, there is the issue of having access to the technology needed to use these skills. Right now our school has one computer lab, one mobile lab, and three computers in a classroom for students. This leaves limited time for access to these tools.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Chapter 7 Online Safety and Security

This is one of my biggest concerns. When we were learning about wikis that was one of my concerns. I have questions about who can join a wiki and can you control what information gets edited.

The other month at school some students were logging on to the computers in my room and I saw that one of the students had changed there screen background into a picture of a ton of different guns, which in my mind is inappropriate. I think that there are many good security measures in place and with open and honest communication we can help prepare our students to make good choices.

I liked the survey used by Deer Park Elementary in Fairfax, Virginia which helps initiate conversation with students.
While I understand why schools block YouTube, there are many useful, educational videos on that site. Some of which I used to assist me with learning to use some of the Web 2.0 tools out there.

I appreciated the section on Other Alternatives and plan to check out some of the websites.

Chapter 1 New World, New Web, New Skills

As I was reading this chapter 3 things came to mind: 1) things are very different than they were when I was in high school, 2) boy, do I have a lot to learn, even with my newly gained knowledge from this class, and 3) what can I do to help students with Web 2.0 tools.

When I was in high school, my first typing lessons were on typewriters. My small town school was a little behind the times. My senior year, when writing my term paper, most of the research was done in books, with some research done from the internet. Now if I want to know something I open the internet and do a quick search. Teachers also had to open the school on the weekend so we could go in and type our papers, because few homes had computers in them; unlike today when almost all homes have at least one computer in them.

I found the section on Schools and Change interesting which brought me to my #3) what can I do to help students with web 2.0 tools. The fist thing I can do is continue to explore and learn. I hope other educators do the same. As this chapter stated if we want our students to have a chance in the workforce at all they need to know how to use Web. 2.0 tools. Not only will web 2.0 tools help students in the workforce, but they may motivate them to create and learn.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Week 9 Thing 23

Although I am done with the class I do not think I am done with my Web 2.0 journey. I have discovered and learned a lot from this class and have much more to learn. In the beginning this format was difficult for me because technology is intimidating to me. I feel that this class has given me some confidence in my tech. skills. I was lucky that my neighbor was talking the class as well to assist and encourage me along the way. As the class went on I enjoyed the format more.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Week 9 Thing 22

Wow, I did not know that there was such a thing out there. I love audio books and have bought some, and they can be quite expensive. I am excited to know that there are so many out there for free. I think that this is something I will take advantage of with my students. I teach special education and lots of times their interest level is higher than their reading level. What a great resource. I am not sure that I am a big fan of ebooks. I do not like reading from the computer screen so I am not sure I would like ebooks, but it is great that there are so many books at your finger tips.

Week 9 Thing 21

I am glad that you clarified that you do not need an iPod for podcasts. I had heard of of podcasts and was under the understanding that it was something you needed and iPod for. I checked out a few podcasts done by studnets. I found them to be an interesting way for students to share what had been going on in their classroom, share reports, and writing pieces. One of the podcasts I listened to about the solar system even had some pictures with it. I could see students enjoying this as a way to create projects.

Week 9 Thing 20

I have heard of Teacher Tube but never used it. It was easy to set up an account. It was great to look at some of the different videos. I posted one to my blog about fractions that is a rap video. We have been working on fractions in my classroom and thought this would be a great way to motivate and teach my students. I am going to take advantage of Teacher Tube in the future to introduce lessons or reinforce concepts. There are so many different topics and types of videos.
While taking this class I have also used YouTube and watched videos to assist me with some of the tools we have been using throughout this class.
If used appropriately these are both great resources.

Teacher Tube

Week 8 Thing 19.1

The Digital Pipeline was a little overwhelming to me. As you mentioned there are many things to access, which made it difficult for me to find all of the things that you mentioned. One thing that I found that was great was pre-made materials for teachers. I saw great money worksheets and activities. There are also great resources for parents. I spent a few hours pocking around the website, and hope to spend more time in the future.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Week 8 Thing 19

I loved LibraryThing! This site could be very addicting. I could have looked at books for hours. I will definitely use this site in the future for choosing books for pleasure reading as well as using it to choose read aloud books for the classroom. Some of my books were quite popular and others did not do so well. I definitely thought The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night would be more popular that it was. I did not see any discussion on my books, but read some discussion on other books. The discussion will be useful in choosing a book.

Week 8 Thing 18

Because I already had a Google account, I chose to use Google Docs. I explored Google Docs and created a brief slide show. It was so easy to use, which makes it a great tool in my book. I think that this may be a a better tool to use for kids to work on a group project than a Wiki. Just this week some staff members at my school created a tech. survey and emailed it to staff and had them complete it. There was a slight problem the first time they tried emailing the document, but once they got it to work it was easy to use. I thought it was great that it tallies the survey results for them. I can definitely see myself using this tool in the future.

Week 8 Thing 18

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Week 7 Thing 17

I visited Raven About Web 2.0 Curriculum Wiki. I ckecked out some of the features on the page. There is a lot of interesting tools and information. I joined the wiki and added a post about blogging. While on the wiki I read other posts about blogging and checked out Joni M's classroom blog. I loved her blog and think I would prefer that to a newsletter as a parent. I love how she has pictures of things going on in the classroom as well as student samples. As I stated in my previous post I may use a wiki to have studnets work on a project or to work on a professional development project.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Week 7 Thing 16

I think that Wiki's could be very useful for class group project. The students could communicate and edit a project on the wiki without their parents having to run them here and there. They may even be less distracted if they were not all in the same room together:) I watched the video on Wikis In Plain English and liked how they used the example of planning a camping trip. I agreed with them that sometime it is hard to keep track of all the emails and this is a better way. However, I have a few questions that I did not find the answer to. I was wondering if you can limit the people who join you wiki?...and if you can make some things so that they cannot be edited?