Hindsight is 20-20

From Wikipedia, "20-20 Vision - the numerator refers to the distance in feet between the subject and the chart. The denominator indicates the size of the letters, expressed in millimeters?  In technology, 20-20 vision could refer to clarity of thought with the use of appropriate tools to serve a purpose.  Selecting and utilizing computer tools and related technology devices or apps that perform tasks simpler, faster, and easier.

Hindsight - we all have it.  We often see, too late, the consequence of our actions.  The clarity, the 20-20 vision, comes into focus after the event and upon reflection.

Foresight - we all have this too.  Peer into the future, dream big, reach for the stars.    So, what will technology, in the world and in education, look like in 2020?

What is my vision of what the world could be like in 2020?   

• The Read/Write Web will continue to thrive and drive our culture, our economy, and our learning.  All aspects of living, globally, will continue on the path of user-generated content - politics, journalism, retail, media, news, sports, entertainment, etc.  This web authoring by the masses will direct quality in both products and services
• Ubiquitous mobile devices will allow users to connect to any arena at any instant from any location.  Easily, simply, and efficiently permitting connections between opposite ends of the spectrum: the novice connecting with the expert, presidents connecting with the work force, wholesale connecting with retail, the elderly connecting with teens, the sophisticated connecting with unsophisticated, the rich connecting with the poor, the Eskimo connecting with the Asian.   
• The technology software playing field will be level, and applications will not be device-dependent or restricted by local drive space.  We'll all be in the cloud, driving further technological and cultural changes with the amount of collaborating, sharing, communicating, and new learning that arises.
• RSS aggregation is available through television networks, allowing homeowners to select their aggregator of choice.  Flat screen TVs are touch-sensitive and use infra-red technologies to sense hand motion commands from a 12-foot distance.
• Subscriptions to commercial site's blogs create an opportunity for advertising and marketing for small business, allowing local ads to display on home televisions (at low cost to the small business) depending on the key words, or tags, the homeowner uses.  Community growth from these local ads stimulates local economies, providing jobs, increasing the standard of living, and allowing support to increase for the poor, needy and homeless.
• World Album - online image storage reaches new heights as the world's largest web album illustrates the story of our civilization.  Encompassing all cultures, continents, and people, the album celebrates the richness of humanity in every field and endeavor.  From technology to the arts, from atop snow-encrusted mountains to the depths of the ocean floors, the World Album is hailed as the single biggest collaborative effort of all time.  (Digital copies available at www.worldalbum.org)

How will changes in the world affect education, and how will changes in education affect the world? 

• Online learning platforms will thrive - Moodle, Sakai, Blackboard, Elluminate, etc. will grow and provide affordable learning opportunities to all ages of learners.  
• A mix of face-to-face classroom time will be balanced with at-home, online learning.  Middle, high school, and college students will be in blended, or hybrid, learning environments with educators utilizing online platforms to deliver content in both F2F and online settings.
• No longer proprietory, learning management systems will be completed online and either free or shareware-driven.  Cost issues will be negligent as open-content, free courses are offered through public schools, charter and private schools, colleges and universities.
• Net Generation students will be our young educators, using technology applications to deliver content-rich media to learners.
• As learners create new networks and new learning, the web of connections will grow exponentially - this growth will increase the need for web filters, searches, pipes, and feeds that users can modify to suit their ow particular interests and needs.
• Internet Safety, Netiquette, and Copyright learning units exist in every curricula, in every classroom, and at every grade level.  Society demands it as technology drives nearly every aspect of our lives.
• Administration is technology-savvy and supports use of online applications via student accounts.  Safeguards still in place, teachers and students are permitted access to online tools to enrich learning, to create new learning, and to make connections with a live audience on the Internet.
• Technology infrastructures within district buildings are the focus of budgeting costs to support Net Gen learning strategies.
• Administration and school boards are tech-savvy and support web site creation, blogging, wikis, document-sharing, podcasting, vodcasting, voice threads, Skype, video-conferencing
• Wiki Model - School nation-wide and beyond adopt this model to create online spaces for students to collaborate, create, and learn.   Wikis are tagged and searched by learning communities, and wiki collaboration across state and countries reinforce cultural awareness and tolerance.
• School Cast - Schools also adopt podcasting and vodcasting as the premium media that students use to express their learning, demonstrate skills, and model tasks.  "iTunes Me" becomes the single richest collection of school podcasts and vodcasts made by learners at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
• Educational communities unblock Facebook and MySpace.  After extensive teacher training, social networking is permitted through district servers, allowing teachers to use informal learning strategies to support and enhance curriculum content.  Social learning becomes a rich resource for learners and academic success is proven through research studies.

How will your choices and innovations in the classroom affect others? 

• The world, including all classrooms, will become expert bloggers.  Everyone has a voice, especially young learners, and will use blogging extensively.  In the year 2020, it would be unheard of not to have a blog to express yourself, academically, personally and professionally.  RSS feeds among educators, classmates, friends, family, community and religious groups will create a personal learning community that support each other in dynamic, positive ways through the sharing of ideas, thoughts, feelings, and dreams.
• Conversation tagging becomes a crucial means of sorting and sifting through blog posts.  Apps that sift tags become a must-have on mobile devices.  Tag etiquette and protocol offer guidelines to bloggers to ease connections of shared interests
• The volume of conversations through blog posts and comments create such incredibly long threads that online servers are forced to back-up and upgrade monthly.  Donations to free blogging applications increase to support increased volume.
• Blogging becomes an interactive tool of choice in classrooms as students connect with experts in many fields - biology, space, literature, art, technology, construction, music, medicine, economy, business, etc.  Experts in all fields maintain classroom connections in global-wide efforts to groom newcomers to their fields.
• Game On - Gaming applications are created in every curriculum area to support key concepts, terminology, and practices.  Self-direction, competition, group decision-making, and collaboration skills improve globally with this gaming movement in education.  No longer commercially-driven, game developers support and promote prototype games in schools, gaining audiences and future sales.

How will being a teacher be different in 2020 than it is today?

• All educators are tech-savvy, using appropriate technology tools and applications to meet the Net Gen Baby's needs.  Educators are involved in the blog-o-sphere, maintaining connections with experts in the field and use the Wiki Model as a platform for student creativity and collaboration.
• Educators' classrooms are technology-laden work spaces where students are organized into project-oriented teams that tackle authentic, real-world tasks.
• Mobile devices are in every classroom, supported financially through real-world experts, as the importance of being stakeholders in their field's future becomes more evident.
• Social bookmarking tools such as Delicious and Diigo become a resource hub in academic communities.  Resources are tagged by age level, curriculum, and topic.  Teachers follow each others' bookmarks, creating an educator network rich with content and resources for students.  Students follow teachers' bookmarking applications.  As links are added and stacks are updated, site portions are highlighted, or notes are added, students are updated with class projects immediately.
• The Academic Library Association creates a global application for searching not only traditional reading materials but also online sites, blogs, wikis, and bookmarking tools.  This mashing tool, "Find It Now", becomes an instant success as it makes pertinent lists of resources while rating author credibility.  Research becomes as simple as entering a few key words.
• Cross-curricular projects exist at all grade levels and across all curriculum areas.  Because of the ubiquitous technology and seasoned technology leadership in education, students are provided ample tools and time to mimic real-world tasks through integrated technology projects.
• Big Shifts are still occurring as people's needs demand changes with technology use.  Fads drive app development, celebrities spark interest in media preferences, politicians connect with the masses via blogging, business products and services live or die through rating sites. 

Google is King

The Web as Application.  The Read/Write Web.  The Office Web.  The Cloud.

No longer are users denied software applications because of high cost or limited hard drive space.  Many applications that used to be installation-dependent are now offered online, often free to any user.  Whether at home, at school, or at work, the availability of word processing, presentation, spreadsheet, and database software online levels the technology playing field for any age group, organization structure, educational setting, retail or manufacturing business.  Local or global, English or French, north or south - the availability of these tools in the cloud offers a platform free of storage issues, compatibility issues, and accessibility issues.

Online productivity tools such as Google Docs, Think Free, Buzzword, Zoho, and Open Office have changed practices in the classroom and in the office.  Files can be created and shared, with multiple collaborators.  Presentations can be streamed, used for conferences, and embedded in partner applications.   Worksheets, and even databases, online provide financial data and graphic charts.   Most productivity suites offer file storage in the cloud with upload and download capabilities.  Most offer free services, with enhanced tools provided through paid subscriptions.

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences are listed as linguistic, mathematical, kinesthetic, auditory, graphic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.  Most people have not just one, but several, prominent learning styles.  

Highly linguistic learners rely on the written word for comprehension and are often strong in Interpersonal skills as well.  These online productivity suites of tools are perfect for learners who read and write well and can take advantage of collaboration and sharing capabilities that enhance efficiency in school or in the office.  But these tools also provide creative tools in spreadsheet and presentation files for the graphic and auditory learner.

My choice?  Google Applications:

• Security is a top priority - files, mail, everything
• Stay connected anywhere and on anything - laptop, desktop, or mobile device
• Real-time collaboration with multiple users
• Efficiency tools - calendars, invoices, scheduling, budgeting
• Invisible IT - rely on their techs, reduce yours
• Green - reduce school and company carbon footprints

Not only does Google provide the usual office applications - word docs, presentations, and spreadsheets - but their other applications provide a means to seam, embed and mash them all together to create new and dynamic learning.  Nearly any learning style is met through these tools:

• Linguisitic - Gmail, Docs, Sites, Blogger, Moderator
• Mathematical - Spreadsheets, Analytics, AdSense, Apps Scripts
• Kinesthetic - Presentations, Maps, Calendars,
• Auditory - YouTube, Voice, Translate, Video
• Graphic - Maps, Fusion Tables, Picasa Web Albums, Drawings, Chrome

Interpersonal and Intrapersonal - all tools provide the capability to work alone or with others.  Collaborate THEN share...Collaborate AND share.  Work together, work alone - Google provides the flexibility to do either and both.  Apps can be used before, during, and after work is created.

Save a Tree

"Computers will save time!" 

"Computers will save money!" 

"Computers will save trees!"

My classroom has been paperless since around 1998 when...

shared network drives made it possible to view student documents

student email accounts made it possible to transfer documents easily

partnering with Google Apps made it possible to work in the cloud collaboratively

curriculum software permitted performance on the computer, not paper

use of Moodle, a learning management system, as a platform

Has my role as a teacher changed with a paperless classroom?  Certainly!  Instructions for assignments or activities are posted on websites or learning management systems.  Content is delivered through modeling and video tutorials. Software applications allow creative expression from students, eliminating the need for poster board, markers, tape, and scissors.  More instruction time is devoted toward assisting students with folder and file management, traversing network drive paths, and file naming protocols.

Has learning changed in a paperless class?  Certainly!  Student-created content online is permanent in nature, creating a sense of importance and ownership.  Students take advantage of 24/7 availability of assignments, quizzes, audio and video resources, and collaborative platforms.  Family trips or absences are no longer road-blocks to learning because content, resources, due dates, and even the class itself is online and accessible from any Internet connection.

How is learning measured online?  Quizzes are created online and graded automatically.  Typing tests are taken online, immediately providing gross and net words a minute measures.   Essay responses, discussion forums, chats, wikis, blog posts, or any other writing is assessed using rubric criteria that measures critical thinking skills, and teacher feedback is privately given to students through learning management systems and grade book systems online.

The learning network has changed.  The paperless classroom network is connected through an online journey, wading through issues with technical skills and competencies.  The paperless classroom is not a relationship based solely on curriculum content.  Dependence on equipment requires an increased teacher-student relationship as skills using hardware and software are taught, shared, and mastered.  

• Moving tasks online necessitates instruction using the keyboard and mouse - touch typing speed and accuracy, keyboard commands, right clicking, scrolling, control-scroll, shift and control selections, marquee selections, escape and alt commands, function keys, etc.  
• Moving tasks online has required overcoming technical issues with network connectivity and access from outside of the classroom.
• Moving tasks online requires training on windows operating systems, windows and desktop management, window and tab browsing online, hyper-linking and site bookmarking, user id and password support, browser extension and plugin, software help assistance.
• Moving tasks online documents all activities with time stamps, removing late excuses from students.
• The dog can't eat homework that's online...

My classroom has saved time, money, and trees!

"Shift" is not just a service key...

Shift.   Tab.  Escape.  Backspace.  

Hail to the service keys on a keyboard!  

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Their function is often assumed, even hidden, from conscious thinking.  Sometimes hidden in education is content, curriculum, and teaching strategies.  Or rather, the assumption is that educational institutions are delivering content using methods that are best suited for current trends.

Shift.

Culturally, the Read/Write Web has become a constant transfer of information, a web of collaborative learning and active participation, a resource and a platform that impacts how educators design and deliver content.  

Shift.

The traditional vertical path, delivering content from the teacher down to student, no longer serves cultural needs.  Learning must become a horizontal approach that mimics real life.  Ideally, educators should guide learning activities that place teachers and students side by side, collaboratively building content, examining content, consuming content, and learning from each other.  

Shift.

These trends, this shift, forces educators to re-examine learning theories and methods of instructional delivery to help youngsters, the Net Generation, become responsible digital citizens in a world of collaborative, social learning networks.

Shift. 

Will Richardson  lists 10 Big Shifts occurring in education, shifts that may guide educators in adopting strategies that serve the needs of today's Information Age:

1. Open Content 
2. Many, Many Teachers, and 24/7 Learning  
3. The Social, Collaborative Construction of Meaningful Knowledge 
4. Teaching is Conversation, Not Lecture 
5. Know “Where” Learning 
6. Readers Are No Longer Just Readers 
7. The Web as Notebook (or Portfolio) 
8. Writing Is No Longer Limited to Text 
9. Mastery Is the Product, Not the Test 
10. Contribution, Not Completion, as the Ultimate Goal 

Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. 

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

How has this shift affected your teaching practice so far?   Shift - My practices revolve around analyzing content with text combined with videos, websites, podcasts, slide presentations, modeling, tutorials, games, images, or music.  Verbal conversation is then guided and focused on the big picture and the little pieces that contribute.  Shift - Conversation on content is created by everyone through websites, blogs, wikis, chats, movies, images, audio recordings and discussion forums - on platforms that allow all learners to read and respond to each other.  Teens have a voice.  Their thoughts count, they're being heard, and peers are listening.   This teaching methodology is empowering.

How do you expect it might affect you in the future?  The possibilities are exciting!  The shift in education is slow, but it is happening.  It has happened in my classroom, and continues to evolve.  Shift - When every classroom in my building is teaching through horizontal conversations that empower students, the online avenues to join cross-curricular groups would grow exponentially and create an incredible plethora of learning networks that would be astounding! 

Have your views changed since you started this course?   Certainly.  It has validated my concern about the need for educators to keep up with cultural and global trends with technology.  Shift - Educators must prepare students for living and thriving in a digital age.  Educators must include digital citizenship skills in their curriculum - netiquette, Internet safety, copyright.  Educators must recognize new literacies this shift demands of all users.

How can you use technology to facilitate this shift in your own classroom?  Shift - Shift - Shift - Students in my classrooms use Moodle, YouTube, Wikispaces, and Blogger.  They use Web 2.0 tools such as Wordle, Bubbl.us, Animoto, Xtranormal, Vocaroo, Make-A-Flake, QR Codemaker, and Aviary.  They use Greenshot, Audacity, Photo Story, and Movie Maker.  They use their voice, they use written reflections, they chat and they use discussion forums.  They create, edit, mix, remix, post, publish, and comment.  They create surveys and grade each other.  And often, they correct me.  They provide meaning, they guide content, and they enrich direction and focus.  They include me.  I include them.

Yes, Connectivism

Connectivism - a learning theory for the digital age?  Proposed by George Siemens and Stephen Downes, connectivism proposes a learning theory based on several premises: 

• learning occurs as "nodes" that connect to other "nodes", forming and reforming as networks dynamically change and as interactions occur
• learning is fluid and changes as new information is available
• learning is treated as the formation of connections, not as individual pieces of information stored in the brain's neurons
• content is important, as it ever was, but functions as a catalyst for making connections
• practices, attitudes, and beliefs and not just knowledge (content) become the focus of learning
• learning is not a process of just receiving and filtering, it's an active participation with others to make authentic connections with the content

This theory has arisen due to phenomenal technological advances that have changed the way people connect and network through online applications and tools.   The incredible growth of the read/write web and the instantaneous speed to communicate and connect makes networking online possible to a much greater extent than ever before.

Group B argues in their Wikispace that "...theory is a term used to define what is happening inside the mind of a student, while connectivism directly relates to the phenomenon occurring around the student. "

That's an argument against Connectivism?  That it isn't a learning theory because it refers to what's happening around the learner? 

• Connectivism refers to neurons in the brain (inside the learner) and the nodes that are created (inside the learner) and the connections made to other nodes (ok, outside the learner) to create new learning (inside the learner).
• Memorization and rote learning are acknowledged as essential; however, the connections to authentic real-world tasks through work and social networks online have changed careers and tasks globally.  Work skills are no longer dependent on worker's knowledge, memory and expertise, but are focused on communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.  These skills develop inside the learner, though evidenced externally through action.
• Innovative thinking in the work force fits into Connectivism.  Making connections is an internal skill, inside the learner, and mashing possibilities, outside the learner, is possible due to technology advances.
• Knowledge and learning are active, social practices that happens in real-world contexts through interaction and connection

Connectivism is all about what's happening inside the mind of the learner as knowledge and connections are made.  Connectivism is all about the learning that occurs as social networking and interactions validate useful information and create new learning or innovative practices.  Connectivism describes, in part, development of the learner's skill in deciphering and determining usefulness of new information as it fits, or doesn't fit, into prior learning.

Connectivism is about what's going on inside the learner.

Resources:

• Downes, S. Jan 5, 2011. "Connectivism" and Connective Knowledge.  Retrieved from The Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-downes/connectivism-and-connecti_b_804653.html
• Marquis, J. Dec 29, 2011.  Looking at Connectivism as A New Learning Theory.  Retrieved from Online Universities at http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2011/12/looking-at-connectivism-as-a-new-learning-theory/

 

Skype - VOIP at its BEST!

Skype is not just for Macs...any PC or any mobile device can download the free software and make Internet phone calls. And that's not all - Skype includes Instant messaging, text messaging, conference calls, and screen sharing. 

How can Skype let the educator professional make connections?

Connecting with peers from home, while building a lesson or looking for resources, is easy as a few clicks of the mouse. The app opens on start-up so if someone is trying to reach you, a bubble opens to let you know who's online.   Teachers rarely have time during the school day to talk, and sure, we could connect with cell phones or home phones.  But multitasking is a fact of life, and Skype is a great way to connect while working on your computer. 

• Conversation on-the-fly...Skype calls have come in during evening hours from work colleagues who see that I'm logged in. Talk moves back and forth from personal (how are the kids?) to professional (how do you weight grades  in Edline). Some conversations are short and to the point - so easy while working on the computer! Your hands are free, and you don't have to turn on the camera (do I see a green facial mask?!). 
• Unexpected assistance...I can recall a pre-arranged chat that a group member missed. The following evening, Skype rang in, it was Navita wanting to know what she missed. I caught her up-to-date with the project. She was grateful that I kept Skype open all the time; I was thrilled to be a part of a Web 2.0 experience that benefited an online colleague. 
• Conversation pre-arranged...Group projects assigned through online courses make Skype an invaluable tool. Classmates arrange Skype times through PLS's learning management messaging system, Sakai. During Skype meet times, everyone is also logged in to the course, looking at assignments, divvying up duties, and making arrangements for future Skype meetings. 

A great feature while Skyping is chat. Group manners, netiquette, allow a member to complete their verbal thoughts while others are posing chat questions as they listen to the speaker. This dynamic two-way communication enriches the conversation tremendously and sometimes poses insightful questions or comments that might have been lost to thought if the chat feature weren't available. 

How can Skype be used in the classroom?

• Three high schools in my district could use chat to connect students by grade level or discipline, by course or by unit study.
• High school dissections could be Skyped to elementary students.  Chemistry experiments, brainstorming, hypothesis statements, or theorizing could be Skyped within groups for a science fair project.
• Cross-curricular Alaska projects could be enhanced with Skype calls between rooms for role playing, for sharing resources, displaying costumes, or presenting artifacts. 
• Shop teachers who wish to enrich their first-year student's projects could Skype with another second-year shop classroom to learn tips or go over safety with tools. 
• Digital responsibility issues like netiquette, safety, and copyright crop up at all hours. Bonus points, or even required homework, could assign students a Skype call to a classmate to share when one of these issues happen on their personal time.
• Pen Pals in English or Foreign Language classes could connect via Skype and put a voice and face to their connection.

Connectivism, a new learning theory for the digital age, maintains that learning occurs through connections.  Learning occurs through nodes in a network and through the process of connecting nodes, discarding old nodes, and creating new nodes.  Skype, as a Web 2.0 tool for connecting learners online, allows these creations and connections to occur in a dynamic, live, and awesome-ly convenient manner!

Years ago, one needed software, 

an online account, 

a web cam device with a power cable 

and connection to your PC to make a phone call. 

Today, it's as easy as a quick download!

Get Skype now!
Use support if you're a Skype newbie

And look for me - Hazelnutcoffee1 - let's connect!

Quick and Dirty!

Check out

Quick and Dirty Tips!

Need a tip?  Get them at 
Quick and Dirty Tips...

lifestyle, pets, health, fitness, 

money, grammar, math, legal issues...

 ~ ~ ~

One of my favorites is Money Girl

 

~ ~ ~

How do I use Money Girl for high school accounting?

Podcast Powered By Podbean
(Visit l0u1se at Podbean) 

~ ~ ~

 Subscribe to Quick and Dirty

"Takin' on the Jellies, Dude!"

...as Crush would say to Marlin in Finding Nemo.  

 "Takin' on online photo-sharing!"

...as any Web 2.0 geek would tell you.

Monterey Bay Aquarium. Lackey, R. (2005, September 24).  R. Lackey's Photostream.  Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/octal/5493816868/in/set-72157626185752932/

Amateur photographers revel in online photo sharing sites, such as Flickr, Picasa Web albums, Photo Bucket, and others. 

Publishing pics online validates the artistic and creative efforts by young and old!

In the classroom, students can link to photo streams from users who travel around the world, capturing landscapes and wildlife in all their glory.  Images of natives from different cultures, at events one may never attend, are posted online for anyone to experience.  

Attribution licensed photos allow student to use images in Word flyers, Science lab reports, English book research, History timelines, Home Economics party planning, Foreign Language essays, Art Appreciation presentations, and more!

Appreciation, understanding and tolerance of 

cultural similarities and differences 

are highlighted and exposed through photo sharing.

Whether students are studying volcanoes, underwater life, 
desert habitats, tribal rites, or simply need images 
to practice collage, photo effects, or movie making, 
the Web 2.0 transformation makes it possible to share images.

What are you waiting for?  

Join online photo-sharing and take part in photographic communities of interest!  

Create an account, upload the picture stories you want to share, 

select your copyright preferences, and 
"take on the jellies, Dude!"

Wiki Wonderland!

• Is there a particular example of a classroom wiki which inspired you?  Yes, I spent an hour and a half one evening this week checking out The Flat Classroom Project.  These two ladies, Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay (Beijing (BISS) International School, China), did an incredible job collaborating globally as they challenged students to dig deeper into Thomas Friedman's "flatteners" from his book, The World is Flat. I'd like to wind up this year with activities inmy Web Page classes that model after this project.  But wow, the sites and tools they used are just a tad confusing!  Ning, Word Press, Blogger, Wikispaces - I'll have to spend a bit more time analyzing their purpose for each before I dive in!  Oh, by the way, Vicki Davis maintains the Cool Cat Teacher wiki!  How cool is that?
• What was most challenging about creating a wiki together as a group in
  Activity 4-C-1?   Trying to be consistent with each others' choices of font, size, color, and other format options.  Keeping the headings consistent makes the information more organized and easy to peruse and helps with the overall appearance of the wiki.  But I didn't want to change everyone's work because of my preferences.  I tried not to sweat the small stuff - the color blue is not that important, after all!
• What did you learn from the group wiki project?  The amount of resources collected was amazing!  When three people are searching for Internet Safety links for the wiki, the number of useful links that I've never seen (and I think Ive seen them all, of course) is incredible.  I loved being able to collaborate on the Delicious stacks we made.  So easy!  Make the stack, invite contributors, post the link on the wiki, and just simply tags sites as you find them.  Everything feeds and builds the resource for viewers.  Awesome collaboration with Chris and Kellie!
• Has your opinion of Wikipedia changed at all this week? No, but I was a fan from the start.  I'm a Wikipedia author, though I don't consistently contribute.  So I know how Wikipedia's soft-policing policies, like Neutral Point of View works.  For school projects, I have always encouraged students to explore Wikipedia along with other resources.  When I introduce new content, I often post a link to Wikipedia which defines "blogs" for instance, then as a class we follow the external links and resources listed to explore the topic further.
• Are you encountering resistance to using wikis in your class, either from others or from yourself? If so, how do you plan to respond?  Yes, I have one student, a gifted young man, who is very nervous about his work being erased.  I reassured him and explained about revision histories.  But he still looks very doubtful!  He's been my hardest sell all year, which I don't mind at all.  His questions, his doubts, his resistance, and his reluctance have helped me get focused as well as help me better explain my learning targets and purpose to the class.  You know who you are, Travis!

Wait!  Is it Wikipedia or WikipediA?   Hmm...

Protopage!

Visit my feeds @ Protopage!

Hitting a Brick Wall?

Pink Floyd - Premonition 

Discussion Summary:

Are we just a brick in the wall?  Are learners?  Has education hit a brick wall? 

From an article from the Huffington Post - Schools Fear Worst from Budget Cuts, there are many consequences to K-12 public schools across the country.   Cuts in technology, libraries, sports programs, arts, drama, and industrial arts are the first areas affected by cash shortages.

Jen sums up the cuts as a change in education, with "children at the core of these changes!"  She suggests that, as always, teachers "have a hidden agenda" and will guide students to live and work in the Information Age.  While a limit to free education should be initiated, who makes that call is a touchy issue.  Do teachers really need to "band together underground" to determine what students need to survive?

Kellie wants to rebel - "an educational revolution."  Chris and I are right with her.  Kellie also sees effects from these cuts in her own children who began in elementary school eager to learn and gradually lost motivation and interest as they reached high school.  The spark is gone.  She also expresses concern about complacently following testing policies, program cuts, and class size increases.

Brooke notes that the "state of a school...speaks volumes as to what the community is willing to invest."  Alternative school-wide fundraising efforts to continue supporting the CFF grant at her school include collecting aluminum from the community and cafeteria and maintaining a consultant staff who sell their gradebook and IEP information gathering applications.  Other solutions like early retirement and retirement incentives could bankrupt PSERS.  And as budgets keep getting cut and spending grows, Brooke urges "immediacy with reform".

Chris agrees with all of these responses to budget cuts.  He soundly responds with "Let's get rid of the tests!" that government officials couldn't pass.  How can educators differentiate and adapt to learning styles and personalities when high-stakes testing is standardized and students are expected to reach the same proficiency levels.  He also notes that districts are backed up into the [brick?] wall by legislators and have to make very tough decisions.  Or are they using the economic crisis as as excuse to make cuts?

Highlights of the discussion include:

• Jen K - "Our classrooms needs to be teaching 21st century skills to students whose jobs have not been developed yet!"
• Kellie D - "We are teaching kids to take tests...so far away from what they need."
• Chris L - Teachers, "YOU DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"
•  Brooke W - "No longer are we able to sit by and watch out kids flounder..."

Great discussion, everyone!  

WE ARE NOT JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL!

Yum!

The word connotes something good, something tasty, something that satisfies.  Using Delicious for online bookmarking is good, tasty, and a satisfying method of sharing links!

Free Images ~ Free Sounds  

Explore these two collections of links to sites that offer copyright-friendly images and sounds to use in any class project.  Whether you're looking for a landscape photo, a piece of clipart, a gif animation, beeps, honks, bells, or quacks, awareness of copyright is crucial. 

Right-Click, Copy makes it legal?  You may think it's fine to use anything off the web as long as you note the source.  You may think that a Google search makes it yours for the taking.  WRONG! 

Respect the artist's work, respect their decision to share or not to share, and pay attention to copyright notices on websites, on creative works, in Google or any search engine, and BE SURE it's available for reuse before placing it your project.

"Tag it, Bag it...Yum, Now It's Your Delicious!"

Your task to begin this project...

1. Using my stacks, tag at least two links from each stack.  Two image links, two free sounds links
2. As you are using these links to collect images and sounds for your movie, you'll see related sites.  Link to those sites to determine if they're "tag-worthy", a resource we all could use
3. You may also use Google, Bing, or Yahoo to search for other copyright-friendly resources for images and sounds
4. Find two new image sources, find two new sound sources
5. Tag them!  Share them! ...with me and with the class!

Blogging Tigers!

~ Web Page students created their Google sites in September.  I introduced blogging in October, beginning with creation of their own personal blogs.  Students blogged on their own sites for three months, then visited each others' sites to make comments.  We've since moved to a private blog in Blogger (tech and admin request that it stay private, ick).  As I review posts from the fall and recent blog posts, I can see that student writing skills and post design flare have improved considerably over the year! 

~ How did we approach blogging?  (My lessons are copied below if you care to read it.)  We explored what blogging is, we set up blog pages on their individual sites, we explored many blogs, and RSS’d our favorites using Google gadgets in their sites.  I used Delicious stacks to group blogs for students to jump from.  This took a few days of exploring as one link leads to another, etc.

~ In the forum discussions, many students made connections with each other as they shared their blog interests.  I learned a great deal about students as I saw their preferences, their interests, their reading habits, their computer and mousing skills.   Students felt a sense of community within the blogs as they took note of common authors and the comments and discussions that some posts prompted.

~ As our textbook recommends, I tried to get students to separate the wheat from the chaff quickly as they explored my blog links.  I hope my efforts helped students meet one of the 21st Century literacies (from NCTE) to “manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information”.

~ Student responses were insightful as they discovered communities that shared their interests, and many of them are still reading their feeds today.  Popular blogs include Digg, Boing-Boing, MTV, Fashion, Deadspin, MovieMix, LifeHacker, DailyKios, TheThinkingStick, Yogscast, and many others.

~This is a bit lengthy, sorry, but I’d like to share and welcome your feedback!  I know my Delicious blog stacks need some sorting; I just didn’t have time in the fall to add or delete blog links.

Step 1 - Read about blogging, view videos about blogging
Blogs.  What are they?
Explore these sites to get a feel for blogging:

1. Wikipedia
2. Blogs in Plain English
3. Word Press blogs
4. Ms Rice Popblog Delicious tags

Step 2 - Create a personal blog on Google Site

Use Microsoft Images for free clip art and animations!

Personal blog topics:  siblings, parents, chores, pets, dating, music, television, movies, yard, bicycling, cars, hobbies, make-up, bugs, wood-chopping, cereal toys, cell phone, iPod, night lights, privacy, sharing, conflict, responsibilities

School blog topics:  Web Page, computers, library, clothing, lunch, bus, sports, band, room temperature, 2-minutes, Red Ribbon, teachers, group work, vocabulary, bells, gym, science, English, Smart Boards, digital cameras

Monday, Oct 24

• Create two blog pages on website
• Create blog post #1 on Personal page

Tuesday, Oct 25

• Create blog post #2 on Personal page
• Create blog post #1 on School page

Wednesday, Oct 26

• Create blog post #3 on Personal page
• Create blog post #2 on School page

Thursday, Oct 27

• Create blog post #3 on School page
• Create blog post #4 on Personal page

Step 3 - Explore blogs, post response in Moodle Forum

** First, browse these links to find a blog that interests you. **

Popular blogs

Blog Directories

Cool blogs

Educational blogs

** Second, reply to this discussion **

1. Copy the Blog Facts text below
2. Click Reply and paste the text
3. Fill in the Blog Facts about the blog you selected. You should have 25-50 words in your reply

Blog Facts

• Blog Name:
• Blog URL:
• Blog Author(s):
• Blog Topic(s):
• Are Comments allowed?
• Why does this blog interest you?

Step 4 - Blog Connections post in Moodle Forum

While you're browsing blogs, look for RSS feeds.

• Would you subscribe to some of these blogs? Which ones?
• Would you follow it on Facebook or Twitter?
• Would you register, create an account?
• Blogs are about making connections with people who share your interests. Do you get a sense of community with any of the blogs?
• Are you tempted to become a part of that community by making comments? Or would you just want to feed the blog posts to keep up with the blog, sort of as a bystander?

Step 5 - What is RSS?

~ What is RSS?  Really Simple Syndication ~

Blogs (Wikipedia, Blogs in Plain English) are dynamic types of websites where people join a community to share ideas on topics of interest.  The popularity of blogging has increased incredibly...

• Technorati Blogging Stats Preview
• View more presentations from Eric Schwartzman

RSS is a way for users to "feed" blogs, to stay aware, to keep in touch with issues that interest them.

Assignment:

Google Site:

1. Create a page titled "Feed Me!"
2. Change the layout to a one-column with top and bottom frames.  These frames are for text.
3. In the middle frame, select Insert-More Gadgets
   1. Search for Simple RSS gadget
   2. Properties for the gadget - copy and paste four (4) blogs that you'd like to follow