I am with you! Ning could truly be a wonderful resource for a school staff... as well as an individual teacher's classes! It has all of the parts that we need including a working blog and safety from predators joining and/or student work being public. I am glad to know that others share my sentiments! Thanks for sharing!
I wanted to share this video with you all. It has completely transformed my idea for my future classroom. I will come back and edit this post with my notes from this film.
Aside from teaching, I am also an event planner. Due to the volunteer nature of most of the events I have assisted with managing, the coordinators have all worked separately at a distance and come together physically only for the actual event. In order for collaboration and understanding to occur from all sides, we have to use a web-based program for sharing files...etc. Zoho has been just that miracle we need to keep communication, organization, and accountability high to produce together what we could not do efficiently and quickly alone. Corporately and in distance learning, Zoho has become a familiar name. However, in the rheum of standard K12 public education, it is still quite unknown and unused.
Zoho provides the tools that could transform students' learning experience, while greatly lightening the teacher's workload! Two elements that we all strive for as educators!
"Zoho’s Office Suite offers a virtual powerhouse of tools for business people, students, and casual users. With solutions for projects, invoicing, forms, and so much more, Zoho is truly a dynamic resource." (Career Overview, 2008)
From composing a word document to creating a slideshow presentation, Zoho has a program for just about any kind of created visual aid you could use in the classroom as well as that your students could create to show their mastery of the content. Testing is even made simpler and faster though Zoho. Now teachers can upload and create assessments, conduct them, and then the application will even grade them! Groups within Zoho's applications can be created by anyone and also kept closed and secured between users. Zoho allows for student learning, surveying, peer collaboration, and even IM-style communication to occur. Several people can edit and collaboratively create one document!
A few lesson ideas I have thought of are: for the class to create 1 poem or narrative story together by each composing a few lines at a time; create informative visual-aid slideshow for a class presentation; and for all group assignments to be completed through Zoho so that I can monitor and assist as needed while allowing students be in charge of their learning. One of the biggest problems I face in group work is that all too often students are absent from class or one student takes the assignement home and leaves it there-- ultimately the whole group suffers. If Zoho is used, then the students can access it from school or home and the product is never in the hands of irresponsibility or unforeseen circumstances. Overall the possibilities of uses for Zoho in the classroom are endless! I close this post with some of those possiblities... and a play on what students Can do when given the resource of Zoho.
Students Can:
conduct the required surveying polls for middle school math and language arts.
collaborate together to build wikis, slideshows, data collection....etc.
create a pletura of products to prove their understanding of content
communicate with each other and their teacher
coordinate schedules and tasks to break up work loads
compose letters, documents, stories...etc.
critique each other's work and hold each other accountable
comprehend a world larger and broader than that that lies within the walls of the classroom
conduct group meetings online
catch up on work even if they are not able to be at the school
can achieve their goals together
can be better prepared for life and careers of the future
can feel success, accomplishment, and pride in their products
can have fun at school!
References
Career Overview. (2008, October 9). The ultimate guide to Zoho: 100 tips and resources to better use the web office alternative. Retrieved from http://www.careeroverview.com/blog/2008/the-ultimate-guide-to-zoho-100-tips-and-resources-to-better-use-the-web-office-alternative/
Judith. (2006). Using web-based office applications for group activities. Retrieved from http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:JK_yXfxE6I8J:tlt.suny.edu/Slides06/JudithGTLT06Zohowriter.pdf+using+web-based+office+applications+for+group+activites&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
In my search for Web 2.0 tools that I could realistically use in my current classroom, I am reminded of a powerful tool that is often forgotten. Podcasts can be created just on just about any recordable device- from a specialized voice recorder, to a computer, to a cellular telephone; and they can be posted to, and taken from, the internet through enumerable sites and with many differing production programs. One thing is common though, Podcasts are a wonderful and versatile education tool.
"Creating podcasts gives your students fun ways to show their understanding of course material." (Cassinelli, 2007)
The real power of audio podcasts comes not only from their publication for a potentially global audience via the Internet, but also from the ability listeners have to time and place shift when they enjoy podcasts. Using portable digital music players (including but not limited to an iPod), anyone can listen to a podcast in their car, at the gym, or while multi-tasking during some other activity. (Fryer, n.d.)
A summary of reasons to use podcasting in the classroom, as suggested by Wesley Fryer:
1. Podcasting is cheap
2. Podcasting invites a global audience
3. Audio podcasting encourages no-frills communication
4. Podcasting is digital storytelling
5. Podcasting provides a window into the classroom
6. Podcasting involves few privacy concerns
7. Podcasting can educate about copyright
8. Podcasting can be inneractive
9. Podcasting can be creative
10. Podcasting can be fun
(Fryer, n.d.)
I would add:
11. How to create a podcast is not difficult to teach, nor to learn. Therefore, students of all ages can partake in the initial recording without becoming stressed in mechanics.
12. Podcasting promotes both reading fluency and presentation voice-- to standards to master in public education.
In thinking of ways that podcasts can be integrated into the standard K12 classroom, I offer up the following suggestions to enhance your lessons:
-When teaching the influence of radio and how officials such as F.D.R. spoke to large populations at once, you can compare and contrast that period of history to today's use of social media streaming.
-Students can study and then re-create their own historical radio broadcasts of news, politics...etc.
-In the ELA drama unit, students can act out radio plays complete with sound-effects and dramatic voice.
-Students can compose and perform their own radio plays.
-Students can record themselves reading their notes aloud or retelling the story in their own words. Then they can listen back to it as a study mechanism.
-For those times when there is so many relatable topics to teach, but so little time-- students could create podcast lectures on the various topics and share them. All students would ultimately be teaching each other all parts of the content without boring lectures heard without depth of knowledge applied.
...etc... the possibilities are endless!...
Then, after the students have been completely engaged in their learning by creating- podcasting allows for them to find meaning through sharing and receiving comments on their work! Student collaboration could turn to critique as the podcasts are published. It takes a great deal of money, time, effort, and endless trials for a book to be published into what we see at the store. I find it hard to motivate my students to be good writers with such an extensive wait for a reward. However, if their work can be reviewed adn applauded by the masses quickly, then their motivation would sustain. MyPodcast.com allows for anyone to post their podcast to their own domain, and be able to control the comments if, by chance, any were inappropriate. I see myself creating a MyPodcast account for my classroom, then having my students load their work to it. They would review each other's projects, ask questions, thoughtfully respond, add to, and ultimately be fully engaged in creating their own learning; and all on one comprehensive domain!
Since podcasts can be put on ipods or the like, anyone can learn anywhere! Imagine the football team studying for their test while they are running drills.
To edit your podcast, check out the following free site: http://audacity.sourceforge.net (Windows)/ Garage Band (MAC).
Just for laughs, I can't help but include a humouous- yet strangely correct- way of defining podcasting.
References
Cassinelli, C. (2007, July 3). Integrating podcasting into your classroom. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExkMeQfuLGc
DigitalFilmmaker. (2006, February 24). Ask a ninja: Special delivery 1 "what is podcasting?". Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEmss2lg-ug
Fryer, W. Tools for the TEKS: Integrating technology in the classroom. Classroom audio podcasting. Retrieved from http://www.wtvi.com/TEKS/05_06_articles/classroom-audio-podcasting.html
If you look around my bookshelves in my home, you will find many spiral and hardback books compressed with handwritten feelings and ponderings; reflections and memories. Every time I move I find more of these such books... and I usually will open one or two- flip through the pages to reminisce, then it goes back on the shelf to collect more dust. A less personal level of my written thoughts can be found in boxes squeezed between textbooks; also never shared. This month, however, I have embarked on a new journey in my exploration in technology... yes, I have become a blogger.. and, even more 'risky,' follower of other Bloggers! And I like it!
Now that I have been working with this blog for a few weeks, and in the midst of constant research and study of Web 2.0 tools, I have great support and appreciation for the use of blogs in education... even that of the K12 public school learning environment!
The following video was created and produced by Sophomores in a public high school. It is very clear that their educational learning experience is positively transformed through blogging. May this be a persuasive tool for the adoption of blogging in classroom instruction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJETK3am1M
Top 10 Reasons to Use a Blog in the Classroom (with my personal notes inserted):
1. Literacy (Give students a reason to want to read. It is often a struggle to get youth to sit and read a book for even 15 minutes... but they might sit and read blogs for hours.)
2. Engaged Audience (Blogs are typically about things that actually matter for and relate to real life situations; therefore, the student is more apt to apply what they read and stay focused.)
3. Interactive (Blogs facilitate discussion with peers and professors without having to raise your hand, wait on someone to stop talking, or be cut off by the bell ending the period. Instead a student can respond as they think of it. Blogs also require the skills of comprehension, analyzing, and composition... all that are very vital standards in classroom learning.)
4. Addresses multiple intelligences/ learning types (We all know that students learn differently, but this does not mean that they can not all learn the same things. One may be more receptive to a video, while the other may understand printed text better. Blogs allow for all types of media, intelligences, and knowledge levels to be addressed.)
5. Promotes ESL participation (Not only do ESL students need to carry on conversation, they need to also be able to communicate their conversation through text. The later being the more difficult venture for ESL students. Blogs can do both. Furthermore, ESL students (like foreign language learners) can communicate abroad with no cost or travel.)
6. Electronic Agenda (The biggest problem I see in my current 6th grade classroom is a messy backpack/ notebook/ locker. Having a dashboard type of to do list makes for an organized community. I do suggest teaching students a great deal about tags and searching in advance.)
7. Distance Learning (In my particular area, the flu has caused innumerable student absences; which has proven to be a detriment to keeping students caught up. Blogs also remove the walls of the classroom to facilitate learning beyond. Students can comment from anywhere internet is available and bring the classroom to themselves.)
8. Learner Communities (This point is huge! The possiblities for a blog to be a learning community are endless in exponent and in number. A couple of possibilities suggested by Michael Wesch, would be for the teacher to post a topic question and have all students comment to the blog to answer it. Another would be for the teacher to provide the key words (possibly vocabulary) to know and then for the students to post their research... thus creating a comprehensive study guide. Instead of the teacher being the sole communicator of knowledge, the students actually begin to teach, inspire, and even analyze each other's learning. Students will pay more attention to their peer's comments any day over their teacher's! (2008))
9. Technology in the Classroom (It can not be said enough for how important it is for schools and educators to implement technology into their classroom.
10. Environmentally Conscious (no paper, no textbooks)
"[When blogging,] students are more careful about their writing." (Barry Wicksman, 2007 in an interview with CNN found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRyh4UeP-IY)
I agree with Wicksman to an extent, but would pose the great need for students to be educated on and responsible for netiquette well before any posting begins. Blogs that are read open for critique do carry more accountability. Students, regardless of age, are more conscious of their grammatical mistakes when they know that others will be reading it. It is also true, however, that youth have a hard time separating and understanding audiences. Often in formal papers that I receive, students have written in text language and slang. It is important for students to learn to write appropriately to various audiences. (Which could make for a wonder prelude unit.)
My one fear about bringing blogging into K12 education, was the security of the students. Therefore, I searched and researched for Web 2.0 tools that included secure blogs. There were many, however the one I feel most comfortable to adopt is Edublogs Campus. They understand the need for privacy and a secured network as they address in the following statement:
Administrators of Edublogs Campus can control access levels to every single blog, and decide if they want individual bloggers to be able to change their settings or not. For example, the vast majority of blogs can be private, but several can be kept open for parents, visitors or prospective students. (Edublogs Campus, http://edublogs.org/campus/features/)
Edublogs also make grading a cinch! You no longer have to worry with the stress of giving all group members the same grade when only a few of them completed the work. With this program, student activity can be assessed, charted, and even printed with ease!
I am planning ahead for the time when I will be able to fully implement blogs into my classroom. The ideas for lessons are swarming my brain even as I type this. I only wish my K12 educational institution would have had so much potential!
References
CNN World Reports. (2007, May 16). Blogging in education. [YouTube Video].Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRyh4UeP-IY
Edublogs Campus. (2009) Features. Retrieved from http://edublogs.org/campus/features/
Media Production Group, IST. (2008, July 10). A portal to media literacy [YouTube Video]. [With Michael Wesch]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4yApagnr0s
George. (Producer). (2008, January 31). Top 10 reasons to us a blog in the classroom. [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJETK3am1M
Flickr offers many wonderful avenues for social networking through photography. In researching how Flickr could be used in my 6th grade English/ Language Arts classroom, I found a wonderful lesson posted on the professional blog of teacher, Becky Spies.
As writing is the emphasis of middle school language education, it is an important element for students to develop a personal style of writing. Poetry education is one of them many avenues that we teach personalizing your writing though. Spies' idea is for students to take pictures with a digital camera and choose ones that they could write about. Then she has them post their arts to Flickr and add text within the picture that reflects the poem. My personal extension to the assignment would be for students to take pictures that tell a story or relate to a central topic. Then when posting text with them, make them be the lines of their poem. Finally, students would turn their album into a slideshow of poetic expression.
Another idea would be for the class as a whole to create a Flickr group and collaborate for one large slideshow representing topic given from the teacher. Students would create Flickr accounts then the teacher would invite them to join the group. The teacher would give the central topic, such as "a day in the life of a 6th grader", and students would each submit 1 picture with a brief caption. Then the slideshow would be reviewed and discussed as a group in the classroom. Out of that discussion, the class would write 1 collaborative poem based on all of the feelings and images expressed.
After 6 years in middle school education, I can see that Flickr would be of positive use to the arts and language classroom. Students would ultimately see that poems (like other writings) build from one line to the next, that in order to compose a lengthy and/ or comprehensive piece, you go at it one step at a time with constant revision, and most importantly that writing can be fun and doesn't have to be difficult!
References
Spies, B. (2007, January 30) Lesson plan using Flickr. Retrieved from http://edtp504spiesb.blogspot.com/2007/01/lesson-plan-using-flickrcom.html
This videos are real eye-openers to the world we are preparing our students for.... we, as the vast field of education, need to wake up and embrace the possibilities of media literacy promotion in our schools and classrooms on a daily basis. Who knows?! School might even become fun and interesting for students!
Andreessen, M. and Gina Blanchini. (2004) Ning. www.ning.com
Holcombe, A. [owner of photo] (2009) Ning in Education, retrieved October 11, 2009 from http://education.ning.com/
Ning is basically an online networking platform, much like Facebook, that allows for a more slected group of followers and directed topic of discussion. I would best describe by blending the following ingredients together: a standard personal informational website (such as a school website), a form for open discussion amongst members, and Facebook-style social networking and grouping. Whereas Facebook is one humongous overall network, Ning is more closed and specified based on the creator's needs and desired topic(s) of focus.
My school has just started the implementation of teacher websites where students can go for information and find homework...etc. However, with my higher level of technology awareness, I am feeling the need to create a Ning network specified just for my classes. I appreciate many features that Ning offers for educators, but one of my favorites is how students join the network and then can respond to questions, videos, articles, or anything that was posted by the administrator of the site.
I imagine a high school Language course where the content progresses with each grade level. The seniors or AP class (experts in the content) could be the administrators- the ones researching and creating the content; while the lower class(es) could learn from and respond to the content. The teacher would then move from educator to facilitator of education.... the title that the standards-based school model would support. The teacher would then monitor (and grade) all of the student activity and direct learning through forum questions.
Some might argue, 'why not just use Facebook?' My thought is that Facebook has a purely social context in which it is typically used. I find that all too often students do not understand how to interact formally in an environment that they only know as informal. I also do not want the liability that comes in knowing the personal lives of students, which is typically shared on Facebook. Furthermore, Ning can be a fully secured environment controlled by the administrator. No one could join and see & participate in discussion without being approved as a member.
For these reasons and beyond, I see Ning to be a powerful and professional social tool to create a more secure link between schools, homes, and the world that surrounds us all.
Every teacher knows that over half of the time spent testing is spent creating it and grading it! Valuable time that could be used more wisely through re-teaching missed concepts and moving on info future lessons. This time constraint that I mention is of great concern to me personally. After testing 100+ students, it may take days to get back their results. By that time, the students have put aside the tested content and moved forward... oftentimes moving forward without the mastery that they need. Dreamingly we teachers in this predicament think to ourselves, If only I could give a high-level questioning test AND have it graded over night?!; And thus, EasyTestMaker is created!
I don't mean to sound like a commercial, but I do want educators to notice the great value and ease that the program can add to their classroom learning environments. By giving students immediate feedback, teachers can re-teach content more efficiently. Furthermore, the program allows for varied tests to be created based on the same content. This is helpful for student's who are absent test day or who are needing to recover a low test grade (as standards-based instruction now requires).
The downfall to this program is that in order for it to be graded electronically, it must be taken by the students on the computer; which, in many k-12 classrooms including mine, is not the norm. However, the option to transfer your created tests to Word (the common word processor of public schools) is appealing.
As for my classroom, I plan to create my grammar and vocabulary exams within this program, print and administer them to students within the units of study, then combine them using the exam creator tool. Therefore, I will have all of my tests, pretests, and exams created, loaded, and ready to go. I further plan to use the program to help vary my assessments in an effort to prevent memorization of questions and promote student mastery.
This is an example of the way the screen would look in creating a multiple choice test:
Classtools.net Tarr, R. (2008) Classtools.net. Retrieved from http://classtools.net/
"Classtools.net allows you to create free educational games, activities and diagrams in a Flash! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet! No signup, no passwords, no charge!" (Classtools, 2008)
(http://classtools.net/widgets/venn_2circle_1/venn_2circle214601.htm) As a middle school Language Arts teacher, I am excited to be able to create various visuals to promote student learning. The image above, created through Classtools.net, is one that I plan to use in my classroom in my standardized units on the media and textual features. It is has been proven over and over again that when students can organize learned information in various forms through graphic organizers it shows mastery of the content at hand; And mastery is what every educator strives for! This Web 2.0 tool is excellent for educators! The creativity, ease of creation, versitality, and seemingly endless template choices make Classtools a winner for k-12 and beyond educators.
Grosseck, G. (2008). Using Del.icio.us in Education. INFOMEDIA, The International Journal of Informatics and New Media in Education. Retrieved October 10, 2009 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/212002/Using-delicious-In-Education.
Gabriel Grosseck composed and published an article entitled “Using Del.icio.us in Education. He spends the first half of the article introducing the site and its structure to novice users. For educational purposes, he highlights seven features of Del.icio.us that are helpful for use by educators and students alike. These features, in brief, are: Creating one’s on collection, managing marked information, personalizing, searching, researching for information, evaluation, and that of collaboration and communication.
“It is believed that [Del.icio.us’s] collective and spontaneous way of freely indexing Internet information offers a partial solution to the semantic Web… giving the power to the users.” (Grosseck, 2009) Grosseck’s discussion on the advantages and disadvantages can be summed up that while Delicious gives its users power to easily create their own learning or Internet environment and Tags, the versatility and lack of rules for Tagging also prevents a complete search while adding a level of chaos due to lack of consistency and control.
It was not until the very end of the paper that Grosseck began to discuss hoe the web service could support teaching and learning; however, the limited insight that he expresses is worth the wait for an educator new to such tools. Page after page he lists Del.icio.us’s powerful impact to the world of education. From management of research directed from student to teacher all the way to a mechanism for informal, formative feedback; Del.icio.us has the potential to make learning and teaching easier, faster, and more collaborative.
Emapey. (2008, July 19). Using De.icio.us in education. Message posted to Online Sapiens: http://onlinesapiens.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/using-delicious-in-education/
Emapey believes that “Delicious is one of the most useful Web 2.0 tools!” (Emapey, 2008) This remark is further proved thorough the extensive list of useful resources to promote and understand the program. (A list that seems to clarify and prioritize Google’s thousands of sites when searched.) The list provided at this site is very helpful to the Web 2.0 researcher.
I delved into many of the above listed as I pondered weather or not to change my shared findings, then I realized that the learner interested in the many educational uses of Del.icio.us would find it more helpful to know the specific topics available on the program, rather than only being able to review my particular choices.
LeFever, L. & S. The Common Craft Show.(2007, August). Social Bookmarking in Plain English.Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66lV7GOcNU
Common Craft’s video on Social Bookmarking highlights Del.icio.us as an easy and organized way to save and share your Internet research. The discussion on this video specifically uses teachers as the example. The downside to this video is that the images are not always clearly readable in that the images are merely paper under a camera. However, the benefits of such a short and simple film are: it presents the material in a smile way that anyone can understand; the material is concise and thus not overwhelming in content, relatable examples are given throughout; and lastly, this film leads its viewers through the simple process of making Del.icio.us a part of their own Internet environment.
As a classroom teacher, I could see myself posting this video to my website and explaining it to students, so that we could use Del.icio.us to organize our classroom Web research.
It is assumed, and rightfully so, that the public education system that we currently have is not properly preparing the students within it for the world ahead of them. The two articles above discuss how student-centered learning through PLEs (Personal Learning Environments) can transform knowledge acquisition and create more powerful learners ready for the life ahead of them. Are our the students in our classrooms who have mastered the memorization techniques needed to ace the test going to be able to create the proposals needed to sell their company's products one day? In essence, our current system of education creates programed robots before the needed creative visionaries.
My state of GA has recently moved to standards based education as a format to guide all classroom learning. These specific and detailed standards are assessed on the basis of project-based outcomes that combine critical thinking and analysis. On the other hand, the state is still assessing and promoting/ retaining its learners on the basis of fact-based standardized testing. Therefore, a problem remains that the system is flawed. Until the two sides of the same whole are in conjunction, the detriment to education will remain. (This, I imagine, is all too common for other states as well.)
It is my belief that the problem has been exposed to the majority, but that we are too afraid of the unknowns of the solution to implement it fully. Allowing students to be in control of their learning as opposed to the educator in control, would require both self restraint on part of the teacher and individual learning outcomes that would seemingly be difficult, if not impossible, to adequately assess.
Traditional educators, such as myself, are fearful of this open world of student exploration because we can't control the outcomes, fit the assessments into a grade-able rubric of right and wrong answers, or maintain an orderly environment. Yet we can see that our goals are to prepare students for the world and their careers within it; thus, learning must be open to variation and foster creative outputs. We are fearful that our students might actually learn knowledge that we ourselves are unaware of, that we might be perplexed by their findings, and that we will not be able to fairly and adequately assess them for the course numerical grade. I ask myself and my colleagues- which comes with more stress: not being in control of our student's learning and the behaviors and emotions that accompany enlightenment, or knowing that we are not preparing tomorrow's leaders for survival in a critical and creative world that awaits them? I admit that I have always been that teacher whose students sit in rows and spend their days listening to lectures, taking notes based on my professional knowledge, and complete definitive multiple choice tests. My personal excuses are that my time is stretched too thin as it is with over a hundred pre-teens, where maintaining control and teaching facts for the state tests are my daily goals. I find that I rarely get out of this daily cycle and I feel that I am trapped in the public education system, where data and multiple choice standardized testing reign as most important. I see the vast benefits of learning environments rich in exploration and creativity and experimentation... but I am currently blinded to see how I can meet the required benchmarks set before me. I believe that the teachers and educational gurus of today can be richly enlightened by the need for Personal Learning Environments, but their hands still be tied. Implementation and change can not fully occur until this revolution becomes real to the federal and state educational legislators and departments who dictate the run of our public school classrooms. Freedom of teaching is something that, I believe, most teachers long for in their heart of hearts... but a longing stress that many have to release in order to work within the confined environment of the public school classroom.
With evidence that PLEs and the like might just be the answer to raising student life-long achievement rates, paired with the sad reality that I work under a rigid system of teaching to the test- I dig into the possibilities to find my temporary solution. (An enlightenment that I, admittedly, did not come to discover until I was deep in the exploratory learning of my current graduate school program.)
Being that I teach 11-13 year olds, they are not at all versed in thinking outside of the box/ abstract thinking. As an experiment, based on the reminders from my graduate studies to promote student creativity and product choice, I gave my 6th grade language arts students a writing assignment in which their parameters were only limited by their imagination! Many looked at me like I was kidding them and waited for the given topic, length, and methods of writing to be handed to them. I admit, that I too was a little scared by the possibilities; but I pressed forward in my experiment anyway.
Now, in the middle of my classroom writing experiment, I am getting all kinds of creative products! Some are creating science fiction while others write memoirs; some are lengthy while others are seemingly too short to be a complete narrative. I admit that I am a little fearful of how I will grade these creations... I guess it will be based on student work ethic, the writing process, exploration of the topic, use of detail, plot development, how well they hook me as the reader, and other skills that a published author would be reviewed on. How ironic that those type assessment properties bridge their classroom world to the careers of the authors they read. It is just this kind of implementation of PLEs that is actually possible for the standard k12 educator. We can give students choices, allow for them to be creative, and promote self questioning without stepping outside of the boundaries set before us.
It is these type of teacher-led taste-tests that can grow leading to students to make higher-level inquires about their knowledge, explore their own brain-based learning strategies, and ultimately co-create their learning environments... much like they will be asked to do when solving their own life problems and also the work they will have to do in a collaborative teams in their individual careers.
Our society has made us to desire the one clean-cut easy answer to solve the problem; but
this is ultimately impossible. These questions of an educational solution that I am grasping to answer can not fit within a precise formula or yes/ no critique. It is my belief that those who are enlightened must speak up, those who are ready for change must do it in their own environments and share their outcomes, and those at top who can change legislation and formats to listen to those on the field and follow the examples of proven success. Maybe, if all three mentioned parts work together, then education can match up with the 21st Century!
These mentioned elements of a change in attitude, a unified cooperation towards the same goal, and a fearless exploratory vigor are all necessary in the heart and minds of educators to effectively teach today's student.
The following are a few RSS feeds (blogs) that I have found to be both interesting and enlightening towards my field of graduate studies in Educational Media Design and Technology.
Clive Shepherd is a man who has spent the last two and a half decades studying computer learning; which, in and of itself, is reason enough for a graduate school student of educational technology and media design to be interested in reading his notes. I am further intrigued because I see that he speaks from experience in another country besides myself- The United Kingdom, and for some time, I have heard of the UK's embrace of modern technology in K12 education... more-so than that of the United States in public education. By browsing this blog, one can quickly see that Clive enjoys seeking out the views of many of education's reformers and reviewing their proposals to enhance education as we know it. I am enlightened to piggy-back off of his gleanings and learn these truths for myself. His blog notes inspire me to think outside of the box that I am currently in, while showing me that there are men and women who are actively revolutionizing education... and I too can become one of those. Many of Clive's blogs have their foundation, or inspiration, in the review of another professional's blog, which give me a link to another source for reflection, contemplation, and study.
I was first drawn to this blog because it is referenced on several other blogs for education and technology; therefore, it is apparent that the publications in this blog are favored by many in my same field of study. After visiting and touring the blog myself, I have found that many of the "buzz" words of my field are apparent throughout: social networking, connectivism, and elearning just to name a few. Under the "teaching" tab, I found discussions that directly relate to my situation in a school system that does not embrace web 2.0 tools. As I read through these notes, I am relieved that there are people out there speaking out on my behalf, encouraged that I am not alone in my feelings, and saddened by the commonalties of a lack of participation. I appreciate that this blog gives me links to many articles of interest such as "Confessions of an Early Internet Educator" and "Distance Learning: Step by Step." Since starting this program of graduate school, I have become more comfortable with the idea of teaching k12 online as a career... and just at the time when GA is offering an online high school! Being exposed to such articles and the thoughts of other distant peers help me to more fully understand the field.
Solely on the basis of the title of this blog, I was sold! Then after browsing the site, watching the videos posted there, and reading the notes- I am still intrigued by much of it, while also distracted by the personal sections like a family beach trip...etc. The main reason I add this blog to my list is that there are many discussions about how government budget cuts directly (& negatively) effect education. Many of the postings read like news articles exposing the sad realities of school closures, laid-off teachers, and students lacking needed resources; all of which are also facing my state. Just recently, I have been shifted two years in a row based on teacher allotments and budget crisis. My heart and life are personally burdened by the governments decision to balance the budget on the backs of educators. For those reasons, this blog interests me.
I enjoy Carol's blog because I can quickly see that she is very focused on the use of technology in the k12 environment. My immediate excitement came when I saw that she, like myself, is experimenting with Twitter in the classroom. It is quite encouraging, and empowering, to see that Carol seems to be at the heart of my dealings in the classroom! After reading her "50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Education" blog, I find several techniques that I am going to implement with my few classroom followers! Furthermore, I appreciate how organized Carol's blog site is. She posts just about everything in a step by step outlined format that makes it easy to read and to follow.
My initial feeling when visiting this blog was discouraging in that the last post was in January 2009... obviously meaning that it is not kept active and up to date. However, after perusing the archives I see that it is still a rich source for information and ideas. Several free web resources are advertised that I had no idea even existed (not in cost-free form anyway). I greatly appreciate the softwares for assessment, as this is something I have desired to use with my students for some time but yet have not had the funds to do so. I also appreciate the many educational games listed... these can be posted to my own classroom website and assist in student remediation and enrichment. I believe that I will be able to use the contents of this blog to find printable, educational games, and assessment softwares that can ultimately make my classroom lessons more interactive with technology as well as take less time in the planning and creating stages that often wear me out as a teacher.
This blog provides up to the moment information about the newest technologies introduced and the uses of those already available. I strongly believe that it is important for those studying and desiring to implement technology to know what is available and understand the uses of applications. Technology is a fast-paced, ever-changing and developing culture that must consistently be kept up with. This blog is a great assistant in such efforts to stay informed! Several news articles are posted daily exploring the companies monopolizing our culture such as Microsoft, AT&T, Macintosh, and Google to name a few. Though aspects of this blog may not directly relate to my explorations and experimental research as a k12 educator, they are necessary and helpful to keep me, the technology student, well informed. I did find, however, a file within this larger blog that specifies the field of "educational technology." It is also by Ray Schroeder- a man whom I did not know of before this research, but of whom I have seen mentioned in many of the blogs I have been exploring. Turns out that his research and expertise have won him several remarkable awards in educational technology! Therefore, reading his notes and reflections would be an intellectually sound decision on my part seeing that I am a student of that field! As I explore, I find where he has investigated happenings and articles written in my own city's newspaper (Atlanta Journal)... thus, the content is relevant to not only my field of study, but also my location.
I am a graduate student at Full Sail University pursuing a degree in Educational Media Design and Technology. I will graduate August 6, 2010! I am also a full time public middle school teacher. I teach English/ Language Arts, Social Studies, and Reading.
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