Thing 23

This has been an amazing and interesting journey that has opened my eyes to the myriad of free tools available to everyone - including educators. As a Jr. High teacher, I believe I need to make a special effort to be on top of new tools to introduce to students. A new techo-tool can be a great hook for a project that makes use of it! I think prior to this experience, I just assumed that anything worthwhile to use with students online, beyond a video link or website to view, came in an expensive software package. I could not have been more wrong.

I've always known that we must include technology in our curriculum to make it relevant to students' lives today and the future jobs for which they will be competing. But I wasn't aware of all of the free tools available. Free is fabulous! But the cost of technology still begins with decent equipment, and it becomes all but impossible for schools to afford the latest and greatest in these times of frugal budgets. Eventually the files become difficult for the older processors to load, and the students get extremely impatient. Many have the latest computer or Ipod with highspeed wireless internet at home. They aren't used to waiting when working on the computer and between slow speeds and blocked sites, I have several who prefer to do all of their computer work at home if possible. I would really like for everyone to be excited about using technology in school. There's no easy solution. Wouldn't it be nice if NCLB also contained funding for every student to get a laptop computer and regular upgrades? I can dream, can't I?

The other issue I see at school is the fact that our net-nanny blocks many of the tools - Flickr and blogspot are among those that will not even load. I'm not sure how we can solve this problem, but I will investigate and see if we can't get around it somehow. I'd like to offer blogging at school, so those without a computer at home woudn't have to write on paper. :-(

On a personal level, I will use Flickr for my photos. I'm especially excited about storing genealogical family photos and the potential to share with other family members. I also like the idea that they are safe from computer crashes! I can use it for school photos as well.

Professionally, I can see much potential in the tools. I have already used a blog for my students in their study of Romeo and Juliet. I'm very happy with how the experience is going with Literature and hope to try this format with other subjects in the future. I also plan to introduce my students to Google docs. Too many times, students have left their work on a flash drive at home and unless they remembered to save the work on the server, they cannot continue with the assignment. More than once there has also been a problem saving files to a flash drive. Google docs would definitely solve this! I can see the potential in wikis for students, but want to experience more of them myself. Once I get more familiar with wikis, I may also suggest that students form one to work on group projects from home.

I will be going back over these 23 Things often in the future because there is so much packed into them and I will continue to learn, reexamining the tools and exploring more of the many links. But I also need to remember that other tools will be evolving ,and it's up to me to keep up with new innovations. One way I can do this is with my blogline connections - especially the one covering what's new in Ed Tech! Once I find something useful, I owe it to my fellow faculty members to share the information - perhaps on a CMA Wiki - so we can improve learning for all CMA's students.

Thing 22

Here is a link to my wiki: http://cmawisdomhousewiki.wikispaces.com/ I created it for the three Junior High classrooms at CMA to have a place to share ideas about lessons, information for field trips, offer links for reprinting lost handouts, etc. I figured if I start on a small scale, I will be more likely to keep it up.

I experimented with placing links on a wiki page and found that there was an issue with my own laptop being unable to access a particular word file and open it. This bears trying on the MAC - will try that first, and continue my reflections afterward... I'm back, apparently the file has an issue because I can't view it on the MAC either. Will try it on my computer at school and if I still can't open it, will delete it. The other links and photos I put on the wiki seem to work fine.

As long as we can control who can edit the wiki, I have no problem with it. I can see great value to this as a great time saver over sending emails! I do have a reservation that some parents will not take the time to check the wiki, and may not even want any part of it. But it's worth a try, and my goal will be to get this wiki functional over the summer and try it out in the fall.

The main difference I can see in a blog and a wiki is the way the information is organized. Be-cause a wiki can limit which users login and edit the content, administrator control can be handled the same as a blog, where comments and posts can be pre-screened. The open style of a wiki can be useful for group projects, while a blog may be better suited to brainstorming or generating discussion. A wiki is a continually modifiable, easy-access web page, while a blog's journal-like style organizes and dates content so readers can see the exchange of ideas related to the particular blog topic.. The main difference, then, between a wiki and a blog becomes the layout and organization of information. A wiki becomes a continually modifiable easy-access web page, while a blog's journal-like style catalogs and dates content so readers can see the interchange of ideas related to the blog topic in question. A combination of the two, depending on the particular situation, will best suit educational needs.

Thing 21

I was really impressed with the use of the wiki for literature (specifically the book Turn Homeward, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty) done by Woodward Academy. They had included Chapter summaries, a vocabulary dictionary, a timeline of American history contemporary to the story (Civil War Era in this case), a list of expressions common to the time and area, and even a Reader's Theater in which 2 or 3 students "act" out a short scene by speaking lines like the characters would . The teacher provided the narration. This wiki definitley covered all the bases!

I would also like to try a classroom wiki to communicate with parents. I could place the daily work plan and handouts on there for students who are absent - or have just lost their paperwork. Study guides and links to online support in core subjects could also be included along with classroom news reported by the students. What a great way to hone writing and editing skills!!

I am a little put off by the idea that a class wiki could be edited by anyone and wonder if I would have Jr. High wiki saboteurs. I would have to monitor the contents very closely. After experimenting with Wikipedia, I found there is definitely more to editing a wiki than I realized. I had visions of people planting their cursor into text and editing away. It seems that with Wikipedia at least, they do ask folks to cite a resource for their edited information and try to head off misinformation.

Another problem I might encounter is parents being skeptical of allowing their children to contribute to a website viewed by the public. Even if the faces are not shown, and last names not used, some parents may not want to allow students to participate in an unsecured space. I'm also wondering if our net nanny will allow students onto wikis? I know they can use wikipedia, but will have to experiment and see. They definitely can't blog, and I'm finding that many of my students have trouble getting their parents off the computer so they can blog to me once a week! As a result, I will have to remember that having a computer at home doesn't mean the student necessarily has unlimited use.

Is it worth the aggravation? Absolutely! In a perfect world, there would be an unlimited budget for technology and every student in my class would have their own laptop to use. But this isn't a perfect world, and we need to learn to accept the fact that there will be problems with technology. However solving those problems together sure provides a great educational experience! :-)

Thing 20

I subscribed to 3 podcasts, but my favorite is "The Teachers' Podcast - The New Generation of Ed. Tech Professional Development" hosted by Dr. Kathy King and Mark Gura. In these podcasts, the hosts share the latest and greatest for educators using free web tools. I listened to 2 episodes and really liked the one telling about the tool "voice thread" which can take a Powerpoint to a new level by using audio. It seems that the format is similar to a Wiki, in that it can be critiqued and edited, but I am looking forward to exploring that - perhaps it is the answer to the Powerpoint marriage with student audio? And there are many past episodes to explore!

I preferred using the Itunes system because I am familiar with it. Although I have a PC laptop, our family desktop is a MAC, and I also have an Ipod Touch, so I already had an Itunes account - although I had never explored the podcast selections before. So, I downloaded the Itunes software onto my laptop for this assignment. I really liked the visual displays for the Itunes podcast selections. In my opinion, they were much more appealing and better organized than the selection lists on Podcast Alley. Also, with Podcast Alley, they provided a link to download their aggregator and didn't include links to any others that are popular. I thought they could have included options for a couple of the other most popular ones. I agree with the tutorial that Itunes is the easiest method to use when suscribing to podcasts.

The field is changing so rapidly, I think educators need an inservice at least every other year to keep on top of the latest and greatest tools available.

So many podcasts and so little time! Now let me go check out voice thread! :-)

Thing 19

I really liked a podcast from the Lower Merion School District covering how teachers can deal with the fear of technology and the snafus that go along with technological assignments. Several teachers related their personal stories of techno-disasters, how they handled it and what they learned from their experience. I think my favorite story was one where the principal was visiting a classroom, following along like the students on a laptop. The instructor sent the students to a website at a ".gov" address, and the principal typed ".com" out of habit, which brought up an inappropriate website. The principal started having a fit! Then when the truth was figured out, everyone - including the students and principal - had a discussion about what they had learned from the experience. http://www.lmsd.org/staff/techmentor/podcast/FearFactor.m4a

A podcast like this one is what I would share with colleagues who are afraid to use technology. The candid comments and great stories of trials and triumphs using technology have given me new inspiration to keep my focus on the fact that it is all worth it in the end because even a failure is a lesson learned! I will expect future trials, but try to look at them in a more positive light.

Another podcast I liked was a 2nd grade student-led Willoweb podcast covering solids, liquids and gases. The master of ceremonies was definitely reading a script, and he couldn't pronounce his R's, but that made it all the more charming. One student defined the 3 terms, another told a riddle related to states of matter, and still another gave a description of an experiment you can do with ice, salt, and string. Another interviewed a guest expert. The expert had the same last name as the teacher :-), but was also an engineer for the local natural gas utility. There were about 6 or 7 well thought out questions in the interview which was nicely done. I was very impressed with the integration of music into the background - very professional sounding. An added bonus was a demonstration video link done by 5th grader "Katherine". I noticed that Katherine's face was never shown. Only her hands as she performed the experiment and her voice explaining the actions were included. The 2nd graders all used first names only. I think this was well-thought out as an internet safety precaution. I also liked the fact that there was a printed agenda on the webpage along with the crawling sound bar, which was much more interesting to look at then the bar alone!
http://mps.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/shows/Willowcast35.html

It's obvious from what I have observed that even very young children can be involved in podcasts. The complexity (and teacher's expectations) increases with the students' grade level and experience, and I can see where they can learn to hone writing and speaking skills. I do think it would be exciting for my students to hear themselves, at least at first. But my concern is that this would eventually be considered lame without the visual aspect. My 7/8 graders seem to always want the visual - even if it's a slide show or still photo. I'm wondering if one can "marry" a Power Point for visuals and a podcast for sound? Defnitely something to research and find out about!

Thing 18

Found a great presentation about "25 tools" from the web which, with the exception of Slideshare, are not repeats of the ones we are learning in "23 Things"! That means MORE things to look into and learn! It's really mind-boggling what is available!

25 tools to entertain, educate, enthrall

View more presentations from Phil Bradley.

Professionally, I like the idea that there are many presentations out there ready to go, but there are so many! It might be faster to create and store my own that I'm sure will cover specific GLCE's. I can definitely get some great ideas from the site! I think the most useful part of this tool is its ability to store presentations - either mine or those of students. My presentations would be safe from computer mishaps and available all the time in one spot, accessible anywhere there's internet. My students have had a horrible time trying to save presentations on flash drives, so this would be a great alternative!

Thing 17

I am a consummate list-maker whose paper lists sometimes go missing, so I decided to explore "Remember the Milk" - a list making and reminding tool. I created an account to explore, and found that it can manage tasks by sending reminders pretty much anywhere - emails, SMS, and instant messages. I liked that you can set up events using a calendar. You can also store notes with tasks to keep all of the pertinent info together and schedule events to occur on a regular schedule. There are even maps to refer to, in case the things on your list(s) require(s) locating a destination. In addition, one can share, send and publish tasks and lists to select contacts or to everyone, and the tool can be used on a web-enabled mobile device.

I don't forget obligations very often, but I think it would be convenient to remind myself with an IM or email to make sure I recall a due date. I've scheduled some reminding to occur this week, so we'll see how that goes. I also think it might help me keep track of an ongoing grocery list, which after several days at home, seems to have sprouted legs and walked away! I can't find it to add items and can't recall what items were already on the list! I also think it might help me with something like a list of things to do to begin the school year.

I liked the fact that it included different categories for lists - work, personal, study etc.- to help keep the lists organized. This seems like it might be a good tool for students because of the "Study" tab. We give assignment sheets for the week ahead on Fridays, so on the weekend, my students could schedule their homework assignments to fit into their personal schedule for the next week.

Thing 16

A personal use for Google Docs, would be to upload all my genealogical documentation - photos, wills, deeds, baptismal certificates, etc. - in files by family name. When I want to share something with a newly discovered cousin, I won't have to search for files on my computer and send them as attachments because I can just include their email on my share list for the particular file of interest! In the past, I rescanned photos and documents because by the time I needed to access them again, the computer containing the scan was history. Google Docs fixes that problem.

Professionally I can share documents with colleagues and parents, although it still requires action on the part of the parent(s) to be effective, just liek an email. The point in the prompt regarding students needing email address is definitely a concern. When I started my Romeo and Juliet Blog, I was surprised how many of my 7th and 8th graders are not allowed to have email accounts because parents are concerned about it. Where it's good that parents are watching the email, I wonder how many of those kids have cell phones that text and do what the email would anyhow?

Thing 15

The concept of having selective information come to you instead of having to search for hours to find what you need is definitely fabulous. There will still be a time investment involved, but I see that if I manage the tags selectively, some great ideas can come right to me! I can also keep on top of the latest and greatest, both professionally and personally. Watching blogs and feeds is going to have to become a habit with me. Writing in blogs is no problem - I'm doing this one and another for my students. Hopefully the time I am carving out to accomplish this training can be replaced when I'm done with regular checking of all my new tools!

Thing 14

I found myself lost in exploring a sea of educational websites. There is an overwhelming amount of material out there, but the tags do help narrow the search process. Some of the sites I tagged to investigate later, and others are specific links I found while exploring. I also appreciate the fact that I can retrieve these from the web rather than a specific computer! Very handy - especially if your computer fries, which actually happened to me at school. Wish I had known about Delicious before that happened.

Thing 13

I can definitely see the need for a better system of keeping track of websites I like to use with certain units of study. I lost all my information when we had an electrical problem at school and my computer fried. Trying to find these sites again was not easy. There is so much out there on the web!
Tagging is definiely key to this tool and it could be tricky! A group would definitely have to have a system of tagging so they could find each other's tags. I can see this experience leading us to forming a CMA Wiki, which I think is a fabulous idea. I also think there could be "mini" wikis for each house.

Thing 12

Here is my widget!



Anyone who knows me or has been in my classroom will understand why I chose this one!

I am amazed at all of the tools, gadgets and gizmos out on the internet that are free! ALthough I don't recall really thinking about it, now that I'm making myself doso, I guess I have always assumed that anything on the computer that is worthwhile must be expensive and complicated. So not true! Now that I know these things are out there, I can embed the student-appropriate ones into my blogs. Now I have to work on students being able to blog in school so all can be included - there are too many kids that still don't have a computer at home.

Thing 11

I find that I am really careful about choosing words when commenting, because I don't want to seem critical. I've seen meanings misconstrued too many times when there are no facial expressions or vocal intonations accompanying the words. Comments should never criticize, but rather offer an alternative view, approach, or offer some other food for thought.

I personally like reading comments, because they provide an opportunity to look at something from another point of view. In my experience, there have been many times when a comment or suggestion has provided the perfect springboard for a wonderful idea. Commenting puts all of the heads of the learning community together! Think of all that knowledge being shared!

I am hopeful that students who don't like an oral discussion format will find freedon in using the written word to do so instead.

Thing 10

Here is my Thing 10 embedded video. I'm thrilled to be able to include comments and advice from my favorite mentor, Jim Fay! I especially liked this clip entitled: From Innocence to Entitlement.




In my Thing 9 blog entry, I expressed concern about policing kids on YouTube, but I now see how I can embed what I WANT students to see. Now the comment John made about embedding selected videos makes sense. I LOVE THIS!

Thing 9

I had such a great time looking at videos! I looked up a cartoon I remember watching in the morning before school in the late 50's early 60's. I have found one person in my adult lifetime that can recall this cartoon, and I actually found many of the "adventures" on YouTube! I really didn't imagine it! I also watched some old Carol Burnett outtakes (loved that show!) , Ma and Pa Kettle doing math (a hoot!), Tom Lehrer's "New Math" with animation (hysterical!), and Supermac's "My teacher follows me on Twitter" - (he never really talked about Twitter at all!?).

Then I checked out TeacherTube, which I had never heard of. What a wonderful resource! I watched several lessons, including Kindergarten music using a Smart Board. I plan to check it in the future for ideas, including additions that will spice up my lesson repertoire as well as finding resource possibilities for students - especially if they need support at home. Many of my parents can't help their kids with Algebra. Our current text has an online tutor students have been using at home if they feel the need, but it would be nice to be able to give them another resource to check as well.

Like everyone else, I've received tons of emails from friends which include YouTube links. I can't think of any that have been anything but funny! Although I didn't see anything crude or malicious on YouTube for this experience, I'm sure some creepy things exist out there if one would take the time to look for them. I regularly hear my students discuss this or that video they've viewed on YouTube, and I am sure they are looking at things they shouldn't, because if they realize I'm listening, all of a sudden the volume drops or the subject changes.

So we come back to that age old question: what is appropriate for the classroom and what isn't? The problem is, "appropriate" means something different to each person. Some 7/8 grade parents don't care what their kids watch, and others don't want them watching anything that isn't a G or PG! I think it would be very difficult to police an entire class on YouTube.

Thing 8

Here is a project I made during Thing 8. I decided to make one of my downloaded Flickr images into a postage stamp. LOVED all of the toys and spent much time exploring them. It's amazing how many free ways there are to personalize your photos in creative ways! The possibilities are endless. Of course I didn't try everything, but all the more reason to come back again in the future. I really appreciate being made aware of these tools!

I know my students would have a blast trying these out.

Thing 7

I really wasn't too surprised at the ease of setting up the Flickr account and uploading photos. I like the fact that photos can be public, limited public or private. It makes sense to store photos online - I know from first-hand experience. I have had a computer crash and lost photos.:-( For me as a genealogist, this could be a disaster because many of my photos are scans or photos of originals not in my possession! I need to move all of my family history pics online for sure! I also need to move some of the others - my mom's 80th birthday party, my mother-in-law's 90th birthday party, etc.

I have concerns about the types of photos my students might be exposed to. Even though many of them have likely checked out what's on Flickr, I still can't allow possible access to inappropriate photos. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the net-nanny has blocked Flickr images in the past, so I will have to see if it blocks everything from that site, or just certain search criteria.

Thing 6

I knew about Flickr because our net-nanny at CMA will not let students view this website. I can totally understand that thinking because people could post photos that others might find offensive - who could decide what is appropriate or not?

That being said, it was interesting to explore the site. First I looked at the shots uploaded from around the world on a particlar day. I also tried searching for photos of Japan, the next country my 7th graders will study, which was much more challenging. Some tags, like Japan, have thousands of photos, many of which I don't necessarily think are appropriate for that tag. For example, my search for Japan yielded a photo of a gal covering enough of a sign to make it appear that it said "Japan", but this "Japan" was a town in the United States! Then I played around with the map of Japan and locating shots from a particular area.

I decided to upload a photo from the Commons area that shows a castle in Scotland, because I have a trip planned to Scotland this summer.

Thing 5

Thing 5 turned out to be more challenging than I believed it would be. I had a lot of trouble with adding the bookmarklet!! Although I use Internet Explorer, there was no "Links" folder to select in "My Favorites" and I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out what I was doing wrong before I gave up and decided to ask Kaly. She was able to tell me how to handle it, and mentioned that she had written about that same problem in her blog. Had I taken a few minutes to look at her blog, I could have answered the question and moved on instead of getting frustrated! Lesson learned!

A question came up when I was adding a blog by copying and pasting. When I pasted the URL and selected "subscribe", a list of choices came up. These all appeared to be the same website, but with slightly different URL's. Some selections had different dates, both current and from past years. How do you know which one to select? I chose the first one and hope that will work out.

I can see where blogs can be a big help professionally because they can keep you on top of the latest on just about any subject you can think of. I can keep current on things at any and every level I choose: a certain subject, the Montessori world, the latest at CMA, at Choice Schools, at Wayne RESA, the State of Michigan, the United States and the World! I can also use blogging to communicate with parents and students. Although I do wonder how effective a parent blog will be, as I typically have several families who rarely check their email, or have no email address because they don't own or have access to a computer. In additin, like e-mailing, it involves parents taking the time to look at the item. An e-mail is more "in your face", and I wonder how many would choose to check or subscribe to my blog. If they don't choose to go there, it doesn't have the desired outcome.

On a personal level, I like the idea of using genealogy blogs to hobnob with my fellow family researchers. My hope is to look for blogs that include particular geographical areas I am researching or an ethnic group in my lineage. After belonging to a Genealogical Society for the past 20 years, I've learned how much help we family historians can be to one another. I can only imagine the ideas, guidance and assistance I might get from a blog of this type! My experience personally gives me every reason to believe this can also happen on a professional level.

That leaves only one problem...how am I going to incorporate reading all of these blogs into my already busy schedule?! :)

Thing 4

RSS is a great way of coordinating things! Bringing the desired information to you instead of wasting time logging in over and over to a website or blog to find there's nothing new is such a waste of time. This just makes so much sense! So far, it has been very easy to set up. However, maintaining it might be another thing altogether.

I think that reading all of the "feeds" could become time consuming if you follow a large number of them. I will need to shop around and choose sites/blogs to add that will provide the best sources of information for my particular needs. Since my needs are ever changing, I'm bound to have an evolving list of "feeds".

Thing 3

I found myself spending much more time than I thought I would exploring each of the blogs. Some I actually got "lost" in. Lots of great reading, interesting information and good food for thought.

I am astounded at the vast number and variety of blogs. I can see where this is a great way for large or small groups of people to share ideas and information. But it only works if people involved are willing to invest time reading and learning.

This is also the issue for students: How do I get them to "buy in" to using a blog the way it was intended. I am wondering how to word a blog assignment for my students since I know that many 7/8 graders will do the minimum requirement, whatever it may be, and not get all of the intended benefits from reading the blog.

Thing 2

I was really surprised how easy it was to create a blog! My initial thought about blogging is that I wonder how candid I will be willing to be, knowing my thoughts are out for all to see. I will keep this in mind as I continue to blog.

I can see where a class blog could help my communication with parents. I have all of their available email addresses programmed as a group and send message of general interest that way, answering individual questions as they come in. Sometimes the same question gets asked, and then I send out a notice to all. A blog would allow everyone to see all of the questions and answers, taking care of answering repeat questions before they even become questions! :-).

This would put responsibility on the parent to take time to look at the blog, which I think is fair, but not a sure thing. I also still meet parents every year that have no computer at home and no access at work. These are usually the folks I most need to talk to, and they also continue to be the most difficult to contact.

Thing 1

I can see that web 2.0 tools can be of great use for educators, not only in the classroom, but also on a larger scale, like connecting an entire district.

If we can bring these technologies into the classroom setting, perhaps we can begin to bridge the gap that prompts the student question, "How will learning this help me in the future?". These evolving technologies ARE already a part of their lives and their futures - we can't ignore that. Education needs to acknowledge and include this part of their world.