Thing 23

I certainly have gained some knowledge and have found some phenomenal resources to support my belief that students do not learn like they did when I started teaching 36 years ago. This program has supported the fact that the traditional way of teaching is not going to motivate the students of today. We need to adapt to “our users” in order to be successful in our chosen profession and to improve student leaning..

My education of Web 2.0 tools will continue through attending conferences, taking workshops, and through my own explorations. What I’m hoping is that this program will spike the enthusiasm of my peers so that they are willing to collaborate with me on integrating some of these tools into their classes. (Ready, Kim, Magie, Carol, Cindy, and Vita?) I have tried to comment on other participant’s blogs to let them know I am excited, willing and able to help them integrate all these tools into their teaching. I hope to be given opportunities to share my ideas at grade level and COP meetings and to provide some staff development offerings. Finally, I plan on continuing my Diigo and Delicious postings so that I can share my “finds” with others. I have even created a class on Diigo so that I can give these unique logins to students to use. This will allow them access to my resources anywhere they have an Internet connection.

One of my big take aways is the Web 2.0's concept of providing Web services and "moving away from place." I think, for our students and schools, this idea of your applications and data living on the Web, available where you are and on all types of devices, is powerful. In our schools, there are students who do not have a computer at home but use their friend’s, the school library’s, or the public library's computers. Applications distributed over the Web allow them access to the same software and storage of their data at any computer, no matter where it’s located. Another big realization for me is that the tools that our students will be using in the future are going to change drastically. I don’t believe we will continue to be using pens and spiral notebooks but rather cell phones, IPODS, IPADS, and devices like Livescribe. And I’m sure many that aren’t not even invented yet. A little disappointment for me is that I probably will not still be in education when this becomes a reality but maybe my grandchildren will teach old grandma a thing or two.

This program has also underscored my belief that we need to collaborate in all that we do. We can no longer keep our lesson plans in our locked file cabinet and only take them out when we plan to use them. Time is too short for educators to work in isolation and students are too sophisticated. I love to work with others on developing and implementing projects. The best lessons for me have been when I’ve collaborated with a media specialist, the Explore teacher, the computer teacher, and a classroom teacher/ s. Each of us has taken a component and worked with the students on getting the project steps completed. Then the students put all the pieces together into a well planned, thought out product. One of the best things about this method is that it exemplifies time management. One person cannot do it all.

In the Words of Mission Impossible – Your assignment, should you choose to accept it" is to take education truly into the 21st century. Technically it is the 21st century, but our schools are not there, and our challenge now is to reinvent schools for the 21st century for the sake of our students. It will not be an easy task to incorporate all these new “things” we learned plus many others we didn’t play with or those that aren’t even “invented” yet and still focus on assessments and standardized tests. However, we must accept the mission if students are going to succeed in the world of today and tomorrow.

Thank you Joan and Maureen for providing me the opportunity to accept the Mission!

Thing 22

I created this wiki a while back as I was trying to become familiar with different choices . I created this one so that students could react to a book they read. I found this choice to be a little confusing but want to persevere. I will need to "play" some more to see if it is a viable option for use with students.

Best School Year Ever Wiki

I think wikis are great. They allow me to share resources with others including parents and allow for sharing and collaborating among students and staff. The biggest issue for most web 2.0 tools is security, access, and respect of all contributors for each other's work. Each contributor needs to be able to critique and edit without being cruel or vandalizing other's entries.

A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of opinions, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Postings are usually presented in reverse-chronological order. A blog is best described as an online journal. It is usually created by one person who shares his/her thoughts and opinions on a consistent basis. It also lets other people comment on the opinions of the author. Some blogs have a specific purpose. For example, superintendents will often blog about their school districts or aspects of education. The possibilities, like with most web 2.0 tools, are endless.

A wiki is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) text editor. People are invited to be contributors and editors to these pages. Opinions, comments and resources can be shared as well as photos and videos.

To sum it up... a blog is where you really want to present your opinions and thoughts as we have all done on the ones we created for this project. A wiki is where you want to have lots of people collaborating on given topics, sharing resources and posing questions.

Thing 21

Wikis are a wonderful way of sharing and collaborating. I see it as a wonderful way for me to share training resources and curricular links with staff, parents and students. I used one with elementary students called "Spice it Up a Notch". It was created by teachers at a RESC. Classrooms were invited to join and comment on literary aspects of Nutmeg books. As part of their post students could add videos, add a sequel to the book, add images, add internet links to expand on topics such as the setting in the book among other things. As an example, one book took place near the Grand Canyon so the student was able to create a hyperlink to a site with more information and photos. What I liked a lot was the support materials that were included including a parent permission letter and a student contract for appropriate etiquette when using the internet. I also liked that the students didn't need an email account but rather were given a login and password unique for them. We, as the teachers, created those. We also did not allow anything to be posted without our approval.

The major hurdle with this particular wiki was that not all teachers edited or looked at their students posting of information and discussion questions. I found that there were many errors in several of the "posts" as well as some "silly - unthought out" questions. As with much of the Web 2.0 tools a big hurdle is access. Since not all students have the ability to "post" at home we would need to get creative to find opportunities for them to post at school.

Thing 20

As far as my opinion on e-books, the jury is still out. I still enjoy curling up with a good mystery book with my dog and my bag of M&M’s at my side. I also love going to the library book sales and weeding through all the treasures. Getting 20 books for 20 dollars has always been a great outing for me. However, I cannot deny the reality that eBooks allow greater access to books and information, along with the option of getting an electronic reader that will read the text for those with visual impairments or difficulty reading. Imagine allowing a student who is in 7^th grade reading at a fourth grade level to listen to the information in his/her social studies book instead of stumbling through trying to understand the material or just not attempting it at all. Ebooks are also a good way for giving access to all for resources that the school district doesn’t have enough of. It also allows you to read on many different devices and in many different places. In conclusion, I know my grandchildren will be reading on devices that aren’t even invented yet but I hope when they come to visit grandma and she’s turning pages in the archaic paper book they will think that’s neat too.

Thing 19

Screen casting for me was very intimidating. I had to work through several technical issues before I could even begin. Once solving those I was able to begin. I found it hard to keep my thoughts flowing along with inflection in my voice. I also lost a lot of the visual because I didn't have my "screen" large enough. I do think it has value for creating training snip its for teachers. To add to my frustration when embedding the code it would not play. I included it however in case someone out there has some magic advice. I also included the web link and attached the mov file.Hopefully, one of these will work. If not it sure gave me practice in all the options of this posting. Not sure if it might be easier to just create small videos using a flip camera. Something to pursue. Anyway, for your watching and listening pleasure.

http://screenr.com/6sO

Thing 18 - Podcasts

To start I went to Itunes and searcheds for a podcast on computers. The one I chose had some interesting advice for parents on kids and computers and the need to stay aware of what their child is doing on the computer.

I think this one would be good to post on our school's website as a parent resource.

Kids and Computers

I also like Radio Willow Web.
These are a group of elementary students who create podcasts on educational topics. Nothing better than kids teaching kids.

Other suggested sites, almost all of which are found on ITUNES.
1. Children’s Fun Storytime
Best for: Letting someone else read aloud to the kids for a change.
Why It’s Worth It: This new audio podcast, started this past December, features dramatically intoned readings of favorite kids’ stories like The Little Engine That Could and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
Where to Find it: On iTunes.

2. Poem of the Day
Best for : Poetry Month, of course. Perfect for a quick poetry break, or an ongoing writers’ workshop.
Why It’s Worth It : Here are audio recordings of poems by many of the heavy-hitters—Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound, Langston Hughes—so it’s easy to find a poem appropriate for your class.
Where to Find it : On iTunes, or at www.sonibyte.com

3. Sixty-Second Science
Best for: Daily blasts of entertaining, thought-provoking science news.
Why It’s Worth It : New theories on how some dinosaurs knew how to fly, how the sun sets our internal clocks, whether groundhogs can really predict the weather, and much more, all presented in a zippy radio-news format by the editors of Scientific American.
Where to Find it: On iTunes, or at www.sciam.com

4. The Science Show for Kids
Best for : Clear, accurate answers to kids’ real science questions, like “Why do we have five fingers?”
Why It’s Worth It: The Science Show for Kids is a five-minute audio podcast hosted by psychology professor David Brodbeck, who invites children to send in their burning questions. How do bees make honey? Are there really aliens? “If I don’t know the answer,” Brodbeck says, “I’ll find a scientist who does.”
Where to Find it: On iTunes.

5. The Teachers’ Lounge
Best for: Teachers. Hang out (virtually) with these two middle school teachers as they interview authors, talk about teaching challenges, and just plain chat.
Why It’s Worth It: The how-tos: how to deal with swearing; how to set up service projects; etc.
Where to Find it: On iTunes, or at www.podcast.net/show/67551

6. Bookwink
Best for: Video booktalks that get kids excited about reading a new book.
Why It’s Worth It: Former librarian Sonja Cole hosts 3-minute video booktalks for kids in grades 3-8. The Web site also includes lists of read-alikes for the books she talks about.
Where to Find It: On iTunes, or at www.bookwink.com

Okay.. Now a great use for my Flip Camera - Kim, here's our next foray into the world of movies!

Thing 17

Thing 17


I created a Zoho Show on Word 2010 primarily to see how this works. Again, like Google Docs I see this as a collaboration tool as well as a way for me to share information with others. I found the tool fairly easy to use although there were some features like spell check that I couldn't find. In might work better to create a "real" Powerpoint and then upload it to this tool. Another day!