What's Next?

Taking time this term to learn about Web 2.0 tools emboldened me to try out working online with my students. As much as I wanted to jump right in and show them Voice Threads, Wikis, Jumpcut, Go Animate and other such fabulous tools that I had come across in my journeys this term, I started off by using a Moodle. I posted an assignment for FSL that would require the students to use the internet to research the definition of conjugation and explain why it was important to learn how to conjugate verbs. They also had to search and find three websites that they thought would be helpful for them to practice conjugating verbs. I myself had found dozens of sites that I thought would be useful, but I wanted to see what they could come up with themselves. A week later, I sat down to mark these assignments and found the following:

1. Students didn't know how to upload a word document to Moodle (although they had been doing this for two months with their classroom teacher).
2. When saving their work, students were changing the extension of their document so that it could not be read. For example, a document should be saved with the extension, ".doc" and students were renaming the entire file.
3. Students did not know what a web address was, or where to find it on their browser page.
4. Students were not thinking critically about the websites that they visited.
5. Students were unaware of any other search engines other than "Google".
6. Students written work was not greatly improved by the use of a computer.

The last discovery shocked me. I was sure that written fluency would improve with the use of computers. This online assignment that I had given to my students certainly gave me much to think about in regards to written fluency and information literacy. That got me thinking, how can I use these observations to help students improve? I need to think about which tool will my colleagues be most likely to embrace? I have to think of my colleagues comfort level with technology, how much prep and maintenance will have to be put into this tool, the technology that we have available for use at our schools........ Hmmmm...... I need something that is fast, free, and easy to use and maintain that also creates opportunities to address these issues that my students are having with online learning and information literacy. That is when I decided what tool I should introduce and encourage. Are you ready for it?
Drum roll please..........................
The Web 2.0 tool that I would like to start with is Blogs and Blogging for the classroom. Below you will find my "case" for blogging. Enjoy!!

BLOGS AND BLOGGING IN THE CLASSROOM
WHY?
Even though blogging may begin as an extension of student's notebooks, with your encouraging comments and guidance, your students will begin to see that they belong to a global online community of learners.
Visit Mr. Kuroneko's blog to read about six reasons why you should get your students blogging, or if you prefer, check out this You Tube video that has students talking about why they love blogging in their classroom. In short, this is what blogging can do for your students:

* Create an authentic task and give purpose and audience to your student's writing.
* Provide opportunities for meaningful conversation amongst students and other readers.
* Give your students a global audience.
* Create learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
* Provide an educated guide to communicating on the internet.
* Weblogs promote literacy in your classroom (see article).
* Increase student's written fluency (see article).
* Free publishing!
* Provide a safe venue for sharing.
* Give your students a voice!



ARE YOU INTRIGUED YET?

Here's something to think about. When you are teaching writing, think about how you go about doing it. Mini lessons, peer editing, draft writing, and then finally, the finished product. Who reads it then? The author, his/her peers, his family, and the teacher. The result is that the piece of writing comes to an end, and usually ends with the teacher. That is a relatively small audience compared to world-wide publishing! Blogging allows for the same steps to be taken, but does not end with the teacher. Blogs are posted for the world to read and comment on. What, you don't think that your students will believe that others are reading their work? Well now, there is a widget for that! Have you ever heard of a site visitor feed or a cluster map? These add-ons allow blog authors to see who has visited their website! Visit Kathy Cassidy's classroom blog to see how she is using blogging in her classroom and see what visitors are stopping by to read her blog.
Come to think of it, there are many, many wonderful classroom blogs out there to visit. Here are a few that I think are particularly good examples of classroom blogs, don't forget to read the comments, sometimes the most powerful conversations happen in the comments section.
Mr. Miller's English 10 Blog
Mrs. Merk's Blog Titled: Wormbins
Mrs. McNamara's Class Blog
Just a few out of hundreds! If they can do it, you can to!

So, have I won you over yet? If you are sold on the idea of blogging and would like to start your journey into the Edublogosphere, here is a short video on how to start your own blog at Blogger.com.

Stepping Out

So, there you have it. My quick and dirty push for blogs in the classroom. Of course, this is just a start to my plans. I am quite fortunate to have many opportunities to share my Web 2.0 journey with colleagues in my district. Not only do I have access to an amazing TL networking group, I am also a member of a group of TL's that have been approved for a grant to explore and implement Web 2.0 tools into our libraries. I'm also the Literacy teacher at my school. With the role of Literacy teacher and Teacher-librarian, I am able to create opportunities to co-plan and co-teach with teachers, giving them additional support to bring these technologies into their classroom which will further increase the chance of a successful implementation!

Hope you enjoyed this week's post. I would really enjoy reading any comments about how blogs are being used in your classrooms. Please send me links to your classroom blogs as well as I am always looking to expand my cache of great reads!

Redefining Professional Development

This week's topic is Blogs & Blogging for Professional Development. How Web 2.0 tools have redefined the traditional model of Professional Development.

Professional Development used to occur within a school, district, or within a province. Time, money, educational resources and travel limitations would restrict what a professional could do for professional development. With the introduction of the internet and now with Web 2.0 tools, professional development is no longer bound by those limitations. Professional development has become a global collaboration event.

In my school district, we have a "learning communities fund" as well as grants for groups of teachers looking to participate in a professional development activitiy. Although I still believe that there is much to be said for face to face interaction, Web 2.0 tools have greatly increased the scope of a professsional's collaborative team. For instance, a group of teachers in the same district may get together to collaborate, investigate, and explore their teaching practice. That group may consist of 3, 5, or even 8 teachers. That is a lot of collaboration! However, that group is limited by school hours, professional development funds for release time, and extra curricular schedules. But imagine a global professional development opportunity where there is a potential for hundreds or thousands of teachers from around the world to collaborate and respond to one another's queries? That is where blogging fits in.

After reading Ron Lebensky's blog, I started to think about how a blog is like a virtual classroom. It is a space where learning and collaboration take place. There are no limitations like there are in a physical space, anyone can walk in that virtual door and become a participant. Ron refers to this space as a PLE. A Personal Learning Environment. He states that:
“ a Personal Learning Environment is a facility for an individual to access, aggregate, configure and manipulate digital artefacts of their ongoing learning experiences.”

Imagine that! A whiteboard, notebook, classroom, and portfolio in one! As a teacher, I keep a portfolio of my experiences and successes. My portfolio was created by me, alone, in my office and is only viewed by a small audience, usually only at job interviews. Now that I have created a blog, I have a collaborative portfolio that can be viewed and authored by many professionals!
Not only that, I have control over my PLE.

Now in saying that, I hit the web looking for educators that use blogging as professional development. I came across Joel's blog and one of his posts: 8 Ways Blogging Makes Me a Better Teacher. Now, being aware that professional development not only happens by reading the initial post, but by the dicussion that follows, I read to the bottom of the post to see how others reacted to Joel's musings. Trina commented,
"I’ve also found that writing about subjects on a regular basis makes me think about them more deeply, and in a more creative way. The results of having a topic running in the background in your brain on a regular basis can be profound."

Linking from another comment, I found myself at Lisa Huff's blog and really liked what she had to say about the power of blogs as scaffolding tools. Lisa says,
"Blogging teachers are thinking teachers, modeling the habits of mind educators ultimately hope to instill in students. Blogging teachers are models of literacy and 21st Century learning."

I think that not only do those "blogging teachers" become a model for their students but for other teachers. I know that reading other's blogs certainly have helped me become a better reflective practictioner.

As for the implications of this in my classroom, well, where can I start? First of all, reading and writing, and participating in professional discourse via blogs will help me become a more reflective professional, I will be a mentor and be mentored by educators on a global scale, I will have torn down the barriers that limited my professional development, and I will become a model for my students showing them that learning is a life-long activity.

If this has managed to whet your appetite for Web 2.0 and professional development. Here are some other sites to visit to continue your exploration!

Web 2.0 Tools and Your Own Learning- Video
Band of Bloggers- Blogging as a Reflective Practice
The Lonley Teacher- Blogging as the Solution for the Sometimes Isolated Teacher

KWL on RSS

Yes, the all-too favourite KNOW, WONDER, LEARN is finally making an appearance on my webspace! The amount of new information that is flooding my laptop (and mind) each week is really testing my ability to manage this information overload in different ways. This week, it is going to take the form of a quick and dirty KWL chart.

Know
Unfortunately, this column is going to be quite brief. Here are the things that I know about RSS.
* It stands for Real Simple Syndication
* Google Reader is an RSS
* You must sign up for a reader such as Google Reader to be able to "subscribe" to an RSS feed
* Many websites (including my own blog) have options to subscribe to their feed.
* RSS allow people to consolidate their blog list and or/website updates to one webpage.

Wonder
* What is an aggregator?
* Will I actually use an RSS on a regular basis?
* How easy will RSS be to use and maintain?
* How will RSS affect the role of TL's in the school?
* How can I promote/teach students and teachers how to use this tool?

Learn
* RSS will make my life easier by helping me manage the barrage of new information being posted on my favourite sites.
* An aggregator is a type of software that checks and collects feeds from the websites that a person has subscribed to.
* An aggregator is a way to recieve updates without the added nuisance of spam, advertisements or unsolicited emails.
* An RSS can also be used to locate other websites that are publishing information that have the keywords that are of particular interest to you.
* I have an aggregator on my Blogger Dashboard that allows me to check in with my favourite blogs while I am updating my own.
* RSS feed could help track student's weblogs.
* There are feeds already set up that you can subscribe to!
* There are sample RSS feeds made specifically for educators!
* RSS feeds can be used for on-going professional development
* I can check my friend's Facebook Status's on Google Reader!!!!
* According to 10 Steps to More Productive RSS Feed Reading, you have to constantly streamline your streamlining....

Although this was helpful documenting what I learned this week about RSS feed and blog aggregators, it really doesn't do much for you, my readers. So......if you would like to begin your own journey of RSS feed and blog aggregator learning, here are some great websites to get you started!

A Quick Start Guide for Educators- Will Richardson
Top Ten RSS Feed Readers
Adding RSS Feed to Your Teaching Tool Kit

I'll Facebook You Later.............

I do it, she does it, they do it, and even you do it! You don't have to be a social butterfly to have multiple social networks, even networks within networks.......OK, I'm getting a little ahead of myself now. I'll begin with the definition:
What is social networking? Simply put, a network is a group of people that are linked in some way. Maybe the group of people went to the same highschool, or university, or worked at the same company at one point in their lives. That is their link to one another. Social networking sites are websites created to foster social networks. These sites can be as SPECIFIC as the Techer-Librarian Ning or Flickr or as FLEXIBLE as Facebook or MySpace. I love the fact that through online social networking, I can have access to social networks that are half-way across the globe. So far, I have ventured into the world of social networking sites as a participant and as a reader. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring Facebook and Flickr and am now totally hooked on the Teacher-librarian Ning.......

Wait a minute......."Ning" that's a new word in my vocabulary, is it new to yours? If so, let me enlighten you.............
A "Ning" (which means peace in Chinese) is a relatively new site that has been developed for those who have not found a social networking site that meets their social networking needs. The purpose of Ning was to enable anyone to create their own custom social networking site that meets their specific needs. In EDES 501 this week, I followed a Trailfire that led me to the Teacher-Librarian Ning that had been created by Joyce Valenza, specifically for Teacher-Librarians to meet and discuss issues directly related to this unique role. Wow! Now, if you are familiar with Facebook, imagine a Facebook for Librarians! Many of the same useful applications but all the members on this Ning have very similar interests. What an amazingly powerful tool. I could go on and on about the great things that I am learning from this site, but, I have a better idea.........why don't you take a moment now to check it out? Don't worry, I'll wait............When you come back you can read my thoughts on some of the other social networking sites out there now and decide for yourself which ones (if not all) are best suited for your personal and professional goals. OK, see you later then!

Welcome back! Alright, now that I have your attention again, I thought that I should do a brief overview of some of the social networking sites that I have explored:
Facebook
Fun Factor: First of all, I am a huge fan of Facebook. Once on it, I was able to connect to so many people that I have lost touch with. It literally saved me hours of work finding high school alumni for my ten year reunion. Members can post and view pictures, notes, songs, videos, and links and search out long lost friends. Members can also keep updated on friend's status' and track birthdays with FB's birthday calendar. There are many fun (and useless) applications that can be added to your profile to personalize your page.

Ease of Use: It takes approximately one minute to sign up and be on your way. It is very user friendly.

Useful for Educators: Somewhat, yes it will capture their attention, yes they will think it is cool that their teacher is into Facebooking, yes you can post pictures, websites and other useful things. But, and it's a big but, other websites can do this and more and, as an educator, you can have more control over more things on other websites (a private blog for instance).

Downsides: Some past students have found me and added me as their friend (which I don't mind), in fact, I have added past teachers to my friend's list as well. BUT (there it is again), sometimes there are things that I rather NOT know about my students. Once you enter that realm you may find out more than you would like to know and then you enter the very grey area of professional ethics. As a new teacher, I would prefer to use a tool that I have more control over that is made specifically for my purpose in the classroom. Personally, I also have very little control over what people post on my wall and in their photo albums and I would prefer to keep my students out of that part of my life.

Flickr
Fun Factor: Very fun, very engaging. This social networking site not only serves it's purpose for connecting people with similar interests (photography), but it also is a great way to share multimedia. I've already discussed this site on my blog, so I won't go into much more detail as I already have.
Ease of Use: Very easy! Again, one minute to set up a few short steps to upload photos and instant access to public photos!

Uses for Educators: I've already gone on about this in a previous post, so feel free to search for it on my blog. But, there are MANY great uses for this just for the photos and photo tools. In regards to it being a social networking site, you can easily find others who share your interests/hobbies as they have posted or linked to photos of those interests/hobbies. Many of my grade six students do a country project every spring. Why not find a Flickr user that has actually been to that country OR who currently resides in that country? Awesome!

Downsides: Pssst! It's no secret, but not EVERYONE on Flickr is an educator or share our interest of keeping the site PG13, so there may not be content suitable for the younger audience (or even a more mature audience...........).


MySpace
Fun Factor: I did a quick tour of MySpace, I did not sign up for an account though. I found a friend's MySpace page and it looked very interesting and fun. More customizable than a Facebook page but I noticed that many of my friends, peers, and colleagues do not have accounts on MySpace. Hmmmm...........so, probably not for me. Do I really need another page to check and maintain weekly? The few friends that I did find hadn't updated their profile in at least three months.................

Ease of Use: Very easy to use. Templates, fast uploads make this fun and easy to use.

Uses for Educators: It is another way to connect to your students on their level however, I feel that there is always a danger of blurring the lines between professional and friend. Using it as a professional, it would be handy to search out people with similar interests/areas of study, but I still feel that there are other sites out there better suited for pro-d networking.

Downsides: Public access issue again. Pg13 please!

The Teacher-Librarian Ning
Fun Factor: Five stars! I absolutely love this site. It is the Facebook of Professional Development! In fact, I just attended a TL network meeting and told everyone about it and invited them to join : )

Ease of Use: Again, so easy! Less than a minute to set up and your customizable page has templates to choose from. You do not have to know HTML to change the look of your "page".

Uses for Educators: This site has unlimited potential for professional development. With separate forums for secondary TLs, middle school TLs and elementary TLs, you can connect to other educators with similar interests and pro-d goals. For example, just now I was browsing forums and other TL's pages and came across an animated video made by GoAnimate. I loved this video so much, I am going to take some time to learn how to use this great tool. In the thread below the video, several TLs are discussing how to use this tool.

Downsides: ANOTHER website to add to your toolbar, Diigo, and or Delicious account........ life is hard..........

Well, that is about it for me. Please feel free to comment on your experiences on these sites or recommend your favourite sites for me to check out.
Talk to you later!

A Whole Lot of Sharing Going On!

SOCIAL BUTTERFLY: MEDIA SHARING

Alright, so this week's topic is, for lack of a better word, VERY BROAD! Social media sharing. This topic covers what I have been learning about for the past two months and then some. Here are some of my thoughts on Social Media Sharing:

WHAT EXACTLY IS IT?

According to Wikipedia (sorry, I know it is not the "be all, end all" of research databases, but I'm new to the Wiki-world and am loving it!) "Social media are primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings.^[1][2] The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences." Simply put, it is the sharing of EVERYTHING with other human beings with the capability to not only share but to respond and construct meaning as a social interaction.
I have been doing just this by blogging, wiki(ing?), using Flickr, and just now, using Voicethreads.

SO, WHAT'S NEW?

">What's new? Voice Threads, that's what! Up until now, I had been exploring Web 2.0 tools that I had at least heard of. This week is the first time that I had ever heard of Voice Threads. So what is Voice Thread? Voice Thread is like Wiki, Flickr, and Podcasting in one! The purpose is to be able to upload an image and invite people to join you in a conversation about that image. You can also choose how you would like to participate in the discussion. You can type comments, record your voice, "doodle" on the picture, or even record a video of your discussion. I've posted my Voice Thread on this blog, so please, feel free to join in my discussion!

OK, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE?

">Yes! As a matter of fact, there is. Jumpcut. This is a social media sharing site where you can upload pictures, video, and audio and create movies. If you have ever used a program called Nero, you will love Jumpcut. It is very similar to Nero in how you edit your clips and add audio and effects to your product. You can drop in and visit my page on Jumpcut here.

ALL FUN AND GAMES? CLASSROOM APPLICATIONS.............

href="http://deeppersonalization.wikispaces.com/Participatory+Pedagogy">Participatory pedagogy: The idea that students will receive a richer educational experience through "interactive experience and communication".

I remember many things from my elementary and high school experience, but there are many things that I memorized for a test and then promptly forgot. I used to call it a "mind dump". I would cram the night before and then "dump" it onto my scantron or essay sheet and then move on to the next unit. Some of the most important, life altering lessons, I learned through interactions with my peers. Drama class, peer counseling, student council and other socially focussed activities.

What educators are trying to do by bringing social media sharing into the classrooms is combining the best of both worlds: the interests of their students, interaction and adult support. I could go on to list practical applications of Jumpcut and Voice Threads but, I would just be repeating myself. Blogging, Flickr, Wikis, and all other social media can be used in the same ways, you just need to choose the tool that best matches the interests and abilities in your classroom. It is the most recent way to differentiate your instruction. Many educators have embraced this idea with enthusiasm and energy.


KEEPING IT ALL STRAIGHT............

">Alright, so now I have all these great (and free) tools at my disposal. I know how to use them and I am ready to bring them into my classroom as well as share the tools with my friends......but wait, who is going to want to join the many communities that I just have to access ALL of these tools........ I came across this website, Emokoo. It seemed to be the answer to my Web 2.0 woes. It is ANOTHER community, but it integrates all other communities, such as Blogger, You Tube, and Flickr. A one stop shop for your social media sharing needs! I was very excited, except, when I tried to join, I was turned away with a message stating that they are no longer accepting new memberships at this time! Argghhhh! I tried to find another site that made the same promises as Emokoo, but I have yet to find another. I will keep you posted on the status of my quest...... In the mean time, I plan to share as must as I can on my blog so that I have a central place to send my new experiments.

Trial Voice Thread

What's a VoiceThread anyway?