Other things I like to use would be blogs and YouTube. Unfortunately, both of these things have been blocked at my school in the past. I don't see random blogs becoming unblocked, but I have been fighting the good fight to get YouTube unblocked. There is a good chance that I will have my administrator convinced that YouTube has too much good information on it for it to be completely blocked. Once I get YouTube unblocked, then I can embed videos into my Moodle page. By the end of this year, I hope to get everything transferred to my Moodle page.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Blog Post #8
Web 2.0 is all about collaboration and I can definitely be on board for that. I think collaboration in the world of education is even more important. There is a commercial on TV for Sprint where the narrator says, "7 people are e-mailing a file called final final revised final." I always laugh because I remember having to collaborate like that in the past 5 - 10 years. Using Zoho's writer application that allows real-time collaboration is a dream.
Blog Post #7 Second Life
Second Life was hard for me to get into. I think Second Life is a great idea, but I just don't think it lives up to the expectations I have for it. I think Second Life is kind of like Diet Cola; it's not as good as the real thing, but it's close. For example, last Sunday we attended a ballet in Second Life. At first I was intrigued by the idea, but the novelty quickly wore off. The biggest problem I have is the lag and the poor graphics make it hard for me to suspend my disbelief. Video games and movies help suck you into the story with heartwarming characters and compelling story lines. Unfortunately, Second Life is not a movie, nor is it a video game. Thus, it has no main characters or any story to tell. I think Second Life will evolve and continue to grow in depth. Because it is a new medium, I think it will take time to attract more people to Second Life.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Blog Post #6 Communities of Practice
I believe that my school is a little behind when it comes to technology. The best example I have of this is all the fear and propaganda surround social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace. My first couple of years of teaching most of the teachers expressed their disdain for social networks. Teachers would say to other teachers, "Whatever you do, don't talk to students online, because you will get in trouble." I knew there was something fundamentally wrong with this concept, but I played along so as not to get in trouble. I just started teaching, so I didn't want to make any waves, right?
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was nothing inherently evil about social networking sites that were evil. What was important was the content. Thats when I decided to communicate with my students using MySpace. Using MySpace gave me a new way to reach my students, and gave my students a new way to contact me. I especially like to use these services to keep in touch with students that have already graduated. I really didn't see any difference as long as I maintained the same professional demeanor that I used in the classroom.
The main reason I think students should be connected to their teachers on social networks, is to teach the students online etiquette, or netiquette. Students need to be aware that what they post online creates a digital footprint, and once something is out there, it is hard to get it back.
Sources:
Blog Post #5 Social Media
The first video discusses social networking and social media and how they are different. Social networking is people getting together and talking, or sharing ideas. Social media is how the internet reshaped social networking.
The following video discusses how social media is transforming typical forms of media. The ability for anyone and everyone to be able to create and publish content online is unlike any form of media we had in the 20th century.
The greatest part of social media is the potential for any piece of information to be shared globally. As stated in the video above, news of the massive earthquake in China last year was first reported by citizens, and not major news channels. In real-time, people were uploading pictures to Flickr, video to YouTube, and messages to Twitter about the earthquake. This shift in media will usher in a new era; changing how we communicate as a community, as a nation, and as a planet.
Sources:
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Blog Post #4 21st Century Learning
In the standard classroom, each student is responsible for their own work, and thus receive their own grade. However, when you think how real life works, we often try to tackle assignments in groups. This old school style of teaching each kid on a individual basis often results in students competing with each other for the highest grade. Competition can be a great thing, when you want to compete. However, competition can create a negative atmosphere which can hinder the learning environment. Giving assignments that require groups can eliminate that negative atmosphere According to this post, "digital immersion has even affected the way they absorb information". Today, if students have a question, they have a myriad of places to go for an answer. Doing a google search, or posting on a discussion board to name a few. Sure, some places will provide the wrong information, but the point is that students like to communicate and interact with each other to get the right answer. It's time to adopt these technologies in the classroom so students can work collaboratively instead of competitively.
http://teachers.net/gazette/MAR09/portner/
http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/Social.html
Blog Post #3 Media Literacy
Media literacy has definitely changed rapidly thanks to the internet. Unfortunately, parents and educators aren't keeping up with the technology the way children are. As social networking becomes more popular, more children are becoming more comfortable with sharing their life in cyber space instead of face-to-face. We, as parents and educators, need to stay on par with these technologies and help teenagers understand that what is posted online stays online for anyone to see. More and more employers are using social networking sites like Facebook to screen applicants for inappropriate behavior.
Now, not all is bad with teenagers and the internet. Today's teenagers are learning via the internet. Playing games online, communicating through social networks, and creating their own content to be shared on YouTube are all examples of ways this generation is learning media literacy. Schools need to try to implement these new technologies into teaching literacy. No longer is literacy confined to reading and writing. The hard part will be trying to assess what makes a student literate with these new technologies.
Sources:
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Blog Post #2
Every summer I work at a 4-h camp as a volunteer. One year at camp I remember seeing nine-year olds toting cell phones around and thinking, "I can't believe their parents let them have cell phones!" At first this enraged me, but then I realized my thinking was skewed. The only reason I thought this concept was outlandish was because I didn't have a cellphone until I was 18. Therefore I thought everyone should have to wait until that magical age until they can have a phone. The more I thought about it, I realized that the only reason I didn't have a cell phone until I was 18 was because, until then, it was too expensive and the phone reception was terrible. That's when I realized that technology is changing so rapidly that we cannot expect today's children to grow up the same way we did.
One way I plan to better reach my students next year is to create my own podcasts. One thing I noticed about my students last year is that almost every student had an iPod or some kind of MP3 player. Last year I found myself repeating the basics of my class over and over with little effectiveness. By making podcasts my students will have 24-hour access to those basic concepts that I get so tired of repeating. Plus, students will be able to download the podcasts to their MP3 players. This works great for me because most of my students do not have Internet access or even a computer at their homes. I will post the podcasts in the course I created in Moodle. There is also a way to create a specific podcast channel in your Moodle class. The second link below describes how to set one up. If you do a little searching on the web, and in Moodle's community, you might even find a podcast that's already been created that you can use. Happy podcasting!
References:
Friday, August 7, 2009
Blog Posting #1 - Web 2.
I've always been a fan of technology, and I love seeing what the future holds. The term Web 2.0 is definitely a misleading one when you first hear it. A few years ago, when I first heard the term used, I thought it was going to be a massive software update for the internet. It reminded me of the mid nineties when AOL had several releases: AOL 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, etc. I was very confused on how the internet could be 'updated' because it is not a piece of software like AOL is. Now I understand that it means a change in the way interact with the internet. I've been using FaceBook, Flickr, YouTube, blogs and so forth for years now, not realizing that I had already been exposed to web 2.0.
One great new web 2.0 tool that I just learned about is Moodle. Moodle is an open-source community-based tool for learning. If you have ever used BlackBoard or WebCT, it is just like those, but it's free and open source. Moodle is all about community and sharing, which is at the heart of Web 2.0. On moodle you can search for courses that teachers have posted and you can download that course to use in your class. There are tons of premade courses with activities, discussion boards, power points, etc.
From the Web 2.0 phenomenon, I think the phrase open-source is an even better buzz word. Open source is different from the standard business model of software in that anyone can contribute to the development of the software. The best example of this would be to compare Microsoft Office vs. OpenOffice. Both packages include software for creating documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and such. MS Office costs $100 - $800 (depending on which model you purchase), OpenOffice is free. Microsoft has a limited number of employees that can develop, and update the software. With OpenOffice, anyone in the world can join the community and contribute to making the software the best it can be.
References:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9XfwBzt1mY
http://sourceforge.net/
http://www.opensource.org/
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