I was talking with another teacher today about RSS and he said that he finds that RSS allows him to spend less time online because the information finds him (via Stumbleupon), instead of vice versa...what a great way of looking at it!
Then someone else, says, "It's like a remote control or tivo for the internet!" So true.
Here's a blog by Alisa Miller (100 Cool Things You Can Do With RSS)
I use these on my class wiki, for dictionary.com, famous quotes, iTunes top 10 (for them, not me) :) I also use it to grab great vegetarian and vegan recipes (building quite the repertoire...look out Giada. :)
Here's some more great resources available besides the more popular and heavily used Netvibes, Google Reader, and Technorati:
Stumbleupon: from their site: "StumbleUpon helps you discover and share great websites. As you click > Stumble!, we deliver high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences."
Daily Lit : from their site: "Read books by email (or RSS)"
Feedbooks : from their site: “Feedbooks is a universal e-reading platform compatible with all mobile devices where you can download thousands of free e-books, publish and share your own content, and create customized newspapers from RSS feeds and widgets.”
Protopage: from their site: "Use it to read your own selection of news and blogs, keep bookmarks, to-do lists, sticky notes, and much more"
Grazr: from their site: "Merge and filter multiple feeds into a single stream."
Pageflakes: from their site: "Pageflakes, the social personalized homepage, is revolutionizing how we how we start with and use the Internet. At www.Pageflakes.com, you can easily customize the Internet and make it yours using ‘”Flakes” – small, movable versions of all of your web favorites that you can arrange on your personal homepage"
Bloglines: from their site: "Your Paperboy Just Got Smarter. It's the same Internet minus the clutter"
Anything that makes this ridiculous amount of information available easier to navigate...I'm all for it!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Visual Literacy/Photo fun
I am a visual learner so when I first started to fall in love with web 2.0 tools and technology I leaned hard to this side so many of these tools appealed to me. So this post has A LOT of info...
I enjoyed the Gapminder, I thought it looked familiar and it’s because Google allows you to turn your spreadsheet into a Google gadget, called Motion Chart. Google bought Gapminder a little while back and now it operates under their ever growing umbrella of tools and toys.
I also liked the open source photo editing software available now. I’ve used these in my class a lot, but I hadn’t used the ones listed. I love the ones I use, but I can see benefits to all, I don’t like having to download a program which you need to do for Inkscape, but I loved its easy access to Open Clip art.
Here’s a few of my faves, I have used on my own and in class:
Photosynth
LunaPic
SumoPaint
Dumpr
Photofunia
Then there’s always seasonal or silly ones like this that my wife and I always send out to our family. This one you can cut your face and put it on a break dancing dog and email it to friends…too funny.
DogTime
As an aside, flickr is leading the way in web 2.0 photo slideshows and toys/tools for embedding…it’s the google for photos,J.
Picasa...Googles photosharing/editing software
Here’s a great link that has over 60 ways to use it.
3 more great sites…
PictoBrowser
FotoViewr
BigHugelabs
I love using Animoto..the pedigree of the creators speaks to its “cool factor” I wish they would give you more than the 30 second limit on free vids, but it’s a great way to create a quick video from pics of the day or whatever.I think that a great addition to this site is this great site called soundzabound (free creative commons audio for schools)
I also use audacity to record audio more than a minute long (that’s the default limit on Microsoft recorders) We used it earlier in the year for a buddy reading book club we tries with the Kindies at Ute. It didn’t turn out nearly as cool as I had hoped, but it got us recording our own audio, which was a learning experience.
Jing is great for a lot of things, tutorials being one of them, but I have used it throughout the year to record small group reading and writing lessons for absent students. I record them and then post the links on our wikispace. Example here
I’ve been able to accumulate close to 20 lessons now that I can access next year if need be. I’ve also been able to record sub plans and have them for the sub Example
Another thing I love about Jing is the capturing of screen shots…sometimes when using flash Wordle and graffiti creator the only way to save is to screen capture.
Here’s an alternative to Jing, it’s another screen capture tool. Screen Toaster
The rest of the tools looked awesome, I loved the integration of science with P3D, Blender is great, I just wish I could download it onto the schools computers. Like a lot of these tools, all I can do is introduce them to the kids and if they go home and create, more power to them. Google sketch looks fun; I’m excited to get into it as well. Boy Google is taking over the world…about time, huh?
So much to see and do! And all of it..FREE!!!!!
I enjoyed the Gapminder, I thought it looked familiar and it’s because Google allows you to turn your spreadsheet into a Google gadget, called Motion Chart. Google bought Gapminder a little while back and now it operates under their ever growing umbrella of tools and toys.
I also liked the open source photo editing software available now. I’ve used these in my class a lot, but I hadn’t used the ones listed. I love the ones I use, but I can see benefits to all, I don’t like having to download a program which you need to do for Inkscape, but I loved its easy access to Open Clip art.
Here’s a few of my faves, I have used on my own and in class:
Photosynth
LunaPic
SumoPaint
Dumpr
Photofunia
Then there’s always seasonal or silly ones like this that my wife and I always send out to our family. This one you can cut your face and put it on a break dancing dog and email it to friends…too funny.
DogTime
As an aside, flickr is leading the way in web 2.0 photo slideshows and toys/tools for embedding…it’s the google for photos,J.
Picasa...Googles photosharing/editing software
Here’s a great link that has over 60 ways to use it.
3 more great sites…
PictoBrowser
FotoViewr
BigHugelabs
I love using Animoto..the pedigree of the creators speaks to its “cool factor” I wish they would give you more than the 30 second limit on free vids, but it’s a great way to create a quick video from pics of the day or whatever.I think that a great addition to this site is this great site called soundzabound (free creative commons audio for schools)
I also use audacity to record audio more than a minute long (that’s the default limit on Microsoft recorders) We used it earlier in the year for a buddy reading book club we tries with the Kindies at Ute. It didn’t turn out nearly as cool as I had hoped, but it got us recording our own audio, which was a learning experience.
Jing is great for a lot of things, tutorials being one of them, but I have used it throughout the year to record small group reading and writing lessons for absent students. I record them and then post the links on our wikispace. Example here
I’ve been able to accumulate close to 20 lessons now that I can access next year if need be. I’ve also been able to record sub plans and have them for the sub Example
Another thing I love about Jing is the capturing of screen shots…sometimes when using flash Wordle and graffiti creator the only way to save is to screen capture.
Here’s an alternative to Jing, it’s another screen capture tool. Screen Toaster
The rest of the tools looked awesome, I loved the integration of science with P3D, Blender is great, I just wish I could download it onto the schools computers. Like a lot of these tools, all I can do is introduce them to the kids and if they go home and create, more power to them. Google sketch looks fun; I’m excited to get into it as well. Boy Google is taking over the world…about time, huh?
So much to see and do! And all of it..FREE!!!!!
Internet Safety/Parent Role
One of the greatest fears that we have as teachers integrating technology and web 2.0 in the classroom is the safety of our students and their responsibility on the net.
Introducing the students to vocabulary and terms that they may not be familiar with is a starting point, but parents need to be informed as well. Nowadays students are spending hours socializing and playing games on the net, so we need to acknowledge and encourage responsibility inside and outside the classroom.
The center for safe and responsible internet use has some great articles about this topic, focusing on myth vs reality. “The use of social networking sites does not appear to increase risk. Online interactions that do increase risk include talking online about sex with unknown people and posting sexually suggestive material. Social networking sites, which allow young people to control who has access to their personal information and limit communications to friends are far safer than chat rooms.”
A report released in February talks about this in more depth.
I don’t know everything about this, but the one thing that I do know is that in order for us to have serious converstaions based on facts not fears, we need to learn more and stay active in our children’s lives and social networks.
Here’s a short list of some great social sites that students and parents can use, which are web based and being used around the globe by students.
Imbee
Bebo
WeeWorld
Meez
Introducing the students to vocabulary and terms that they may not be familiar with is a starting point, but parents need to be informed as well. Nowadays students are spending hours socializing and playing games on the net, so we need to acknowledge and encourage responsibility inside and outside the classroom.
The center for safe and responsible internet use has some great articles about this topic, focusing on myth vs reality. “The use of social networking sites does not appear to increase risk. Online interactions that do increase risk include talking online about sex with unknown people and posting sexually suggestive material. Social networking sites, which allow young people to control who has access to their personal information and limit communications to friends are far safer than chat rooms.”
A report released in February talks about this in more depth.
I don’t know everything about this, but the one thing that I do know is that in order for us to have serious converstaions based on facts not fears, we need to learn more and stay active in our children’s lives and social networks.
Here’s a short list of some great social sites that students and parents can use, which are web based and being used around the globe by students.
Imbee
Bebo
WeeWorld
Meez
Friday, October 17, 2008
Web Based Learning...Pedagogy and shifts in thinking
This is not an assault on direct instruction more and observation of a shift I see in my classroom and school.
One of the major problems I have with directed instruction is that it limits the students in developing creative responses or questions that apply to their lives. I think that an awesome way of looking at it, Jennafer Dickey, says, "One major flaw with the directed instruction argument is that teachers are able to transfer knowledge to their students. This would be true if knowledge from someone’s brain could be downloaded into another person’s. Since that cannot occur, teachers cannot transfer information to students. The best a teacher clinging solely to a directed instruction approach could hope for was that their students were listening during the presentation and constructing their own meaning from the information being presented."
The constructivist model bases its philosophy on the fact that it is more important for students to become self-directed truth seekers or challengers of knowledge. Web Based Learning (WBL) is the future and direct instruction will not meet the needs of today's learners. This is one reason why I LOVE wikipedia and many are scared to death of it. I love the opportunity for students to read something and then challenge or verify the source; this is what active, authentic, learning is to me.
If someone today asked me what the capital of Argentina is, I would not think back to my high school professor's dissertation about capitals of the world; I would pull out my laptop or cell phone and find the information. This is what the world is, here is a great link to a video that a local Colorado instructor, Karl Fisch "put together" called shift happens. Most if not everyone has seen the original this is just an updated presentation. It is an example of this and other changes in our culture that we must embrace or get out of the teaching profession.IMO.
Making the Online Classroom a Learning Organization is a virtual online reference, but it applies to brick and mortar as well. “Personal mastery entails an on-going struggle, a creative tension, between personal goals and objective reality. Personal mastery lies at the heart of generative learning. Generative learners are more than skilled problem-solvers; they become goal-seeking visionaries as well.” Edward Volchok, Ph.D, Queensborough Community College/CUNY and Stevens Institute of Technology
I am also including a link to another article about how digital technology or WBL is used as best practices and constructivist modeling, The Demand-Driven Learning Model as a Standard for Web-Based Learning. “WBL grounded within the constructivist theoretical paradigm engages learners in active learning and encourages them to participate in, and interact with, the environment to construct their own personal meaning of knowledge.” “Sensitivity to what motivates learners: Content is challenging, yet within the learners' abilities. Material is aesthetically pleasing and technology facilitates learning.”
I don’t pretend to know everything, but I do know that I agree with these studies more and more each day as I implement the necessary tools and pedagogy that my students need in today’s learning environment.
One of the major problems I have with directed instruction is that it limits the students in developing creative responses or questions that apply to their lives. I think that an awesome way of looking at it, Jennafer Dickey, says, "One major flaw with the directed instruction argument is that teachers are able to transfer knowledge to their students. This would be true if knowledge from someone’s brain could be downloaded into another person’s. Since that cannot occur, teachers cannot transfer information to students. The best a teacher clinging solely to a directed instruction approach could hope for was that their students were listening during the presentation and constructing their own meaning from the information being presented."
The constructivist model bases its philosophy on the fact that it is more important for students to become self-directed truth seekers or challengers of knowledge. Web Based Learning (WBL) is the future and direct instruction will not meet the needs of today's learners. This is one reason why I LOVE wikipedia and many are scared to death of it. I love the opportunity for students to read something and then challenge or verify the source; this is what active, authentic, learning is to me.
If someone today asked me what the capital of Argentina is, I would not think back to my high school professor's dissertation about capitals of the world; I would pull out my laptop or cell phone and find the information. This is what the world is, here is a great link to a video that a local Colorado instructor, Karl Fisch "put together" called shift happens. Most if not everyone has seen the original this is just an updated presentation. It is an example of this and other changes in our culture that we must embrace or get out of the teaching profession.IMO.
Making the Online Classroom a Learning Organization is a virtual online reference, but it applies to brick and mortar as well. “Personal mastery entails an on-going struggle, a creative tension, between personal goals and objective reality. Personal mastery lies at the heart of generative learning. Generative learners are more than skilled problem-solvers; they become goal-seeking visionaries as well.” Edward Volchok, Ph.D, Queensborough Community College/CUNY and Stevens Institute of Technology
I am also including a link to another article about how digital technology or WBL is used as best practices and constructivist modeling, The Demand-Driven Learning Model as a Standard for Web-Based Learning. “WBL grounded within the constructivist theoretical paradigm engages learners in active learning and encourages them to participate in, and interact with, the environment to construct their own personal meaning of knowledge.” “Sensitivity to what motivates learners: Content is challenging, yet within the learners' abilities. Material is aesthetically pleasing and technology facilitates learning.”
I don’t pretend to know everything, but I do know that I agree with these studies more and more each day as I implement the necessary tools and pedagogy that my students need in today’s learning environment.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Geospatial literacy
The 6th graders at my school are studying Volcano locations around the world, focusing on the latitude and longitude of each location. We began the use by setting up three classroom accounts on Mapskip which is a global pincushion similar to Google earth, but does not require a download (helpful at school). After each person "tagged" their volcano and added 5 interesting facts, as well as a picture, we turned our attention to Google earth. We "tagged" the locations in Google earth and then created a virtual "tour" of our volcanic regions. The kids were blown away.
They had already fallen in love with being able to zoom in on their school and backyard, but now they saw the global aspect as informational and entertaining.
Geospatial literacy is an awesome tool that when applied in a school setting sets up productive authentic lessons and learning for students.
web2.0 class discussion post
They had already fallen in love with being able to zoom in on their school and backyard, but now they saw the global aspect as informational and entertaining.
Geospatial literacy is an awesome tool that when applied in a school setting sets up productive authentic lessons and learning for students.
web2.0 class discussion post
Monday, October 13, 2008
Webconferencing in Intermediate
"What an awesome tool!” That’s what the kids were saying last night as they held their own reading group web conference on palbee.com. I moderated and asked a couple of questions to get them thinking and discussing, but watching the learning process move outside our four walls and a window was awe inspiring1
"Can we do it again?" Was the last thing they said after their 65-minute conference on this free web2.0 tool.
I was so pumped, and proud of them for taking it and running with it. We did the lite version, which limits the number of participants, but I was able to embed it in our wiki so the access was fast and easy...with no usernames and passwords.
We will be using this one again and again!
www.palbee.com
"Can we do it again?" Was the last thing they said after their 65-minute conference on this free web2.0 tool.
I was so pumped, and proud of them for taking it and running with it. We did the lite version, which limits the number of participants, but I was able to embed it in our wiki so the access was fast and easy...with no usernames and passwords.
We will be using this one again and again!
www.palbee.com
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Students as publishers/collaborators
Making the students into editors fascinates me. I see it as a great tool for collaborating, but more importantly to have kids owning their writing.
These are not like the photo storytelling that's out there, just writing collaborations.
Here's a couple of great sites or links that I've picked up from my PLN the last few months that demonstrate this effectiveness.
http://ms1001tales.wikispaces.com/
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior
www.lulu.com
Please share more
These are not like the photo storytelling that's out there, just writing collaborations.
Here's a couple of great sites or links that I've picked up from my PLN the last few months that demonstrate this effectiveness.
http://ms1001tales.wikispaces.com/
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior
www.lulu.com
Please share more
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Social Networking
taken from m discussion post in an online teacher course..
Social Networking...where to begin? I love it, it seems like our district is moving in that direction albeit trudgingly with the blackboard system. I'm still hoping that the day will come when every grade level teacher is sharing consisitently.
I love the possibilities, I've been a member of classroom 2.0 and other similar circles, but I haven't been as quick to develop my page or start discussions like I would like. I'm rejoining many of these sites with a consistent sign in name to make myself more accessible and easily contacted.
I need to blog more...I don't share enough and I'm realizing this, so my new mantra is SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. :-).
Following great teachers on twitter is an awesome idea, I've been following this list (TOP 200+) for awhile and it's growing and getting better, and better each day. Every day that I learn more about all of this, I feel better equipped as an instructor. I've recently found myself though trying to slow down and really engage in the pedagogical aspect of these tools.
I hope this doesn't sound too ranty, but I really want to invoke a discussion this week...
If I'm having my 6th grade students blog, collaborate, embed, upload, download, create, share, critically analyze, explore, use, try, apply, authenticate, re-create, edit, post, learn, flatten and expand the world of their education...then what happens in middle and high school? That's not against the middle or high school teachers, but more of an observation of our federal, state, and local standards tha we expect our students to learn. If the trend is tools have a shelf life of two years...then will they be on their own to continue to use these strategies or will we put a MARK on the CAP and make this WEB 2.0 a part of their curriculum.
Speaking bilingually, trilingually, or whatever, does in fact include digital language and we need to acknowledge that today. :)
Publishing via video or webcast is a great way to get students engaged and serious about editing and publishing their projects.
www.Teachertube.com, www.Youtube.com and the newest www.Schooltube.com are great opportunities for students to publish and share...when I say "I'm publishing the best on teachertube.com"...kids go nuts. I haven't published anything this year because I need parent slips back form most kids, but the buy in is HUGE when they get to "make t.v."
Social Networking...where to begin? I love it, it seems like our district is moving in that direction albeit trudgingly with the blackboard system. I'm still hoping that the day will come when every grade level teacher is sharing consisitently.
I love the possibilities, I've been a member of classroom 2.0 and other similar circles, but I haven't been as quick to develop my page or start discussions like I would like. I'm rejoining many of these sites with a consistent sign in name to make myself more accessible and easily contacted.
I need to blog more...I don't share enough and I'm realizing this, so my new mantra is SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. :-).
Following great teachers on twitter is an awesome idea, I've been following this list (TOP 200+) for awhile and it's growing and getting better, and better each day. Every day that I learn more about all of this, I feel better equipped as an instructor. I've recently found myself though trying to slow down and really engage in the pedagogical aspect of these tools.
I hope this doesn't sound too ranty, but I really want to invoke a discussion this week...
If I'm having my 6th grade students blog, collaborate, embed, upload, download, create, share, critically analyze, explore, use, try, apply, authenticate, re-create, edit, post, learn, flatten and expand the world of their education...then what happens in middle and high school? That's not against the middle or high school teachers, but more of an observation of our federal, state, and local standards tha we expect our students to learn. If the trend is tools have a shelf life of two years...then will they be on their own to continue to use these strategies or will we put a MARK on the CAP and make this WEB 2.0 a part of their curriculum.
Speaking bilingually, trilingually, or whatever, does in fact include digital language and we need to acknowledge that today. :)
Publishing via video or webcast is a great way to get students engaged and serious about editing and publishing their projects.
www.Teachertube.com, www.Youtube.com and the newest www.Schooltube.com are great opportunities for students to publish and share...when I say "I'm publishing the best on teachertube.com"...kids go nuts. I haven't published anything this year because I need parent slips back form most kids, but the buy in is HUGE when they get to "make t.v."
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