http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=154
Sharon Betts
This series is about everything that Google has to offer in the terms of collaborative services. In order to use these services the student must login into their account, and make sure they have register for their services they want to use. Google offers such services as Notebook, Bookmarks, web history and Google Docs. In her first series she shows how easy it is for students to drag pictures from one window into Google Notebook. The picture appears in the notebook and has a link to where the picture came from. You can also add text from websites by copying and pasting information. Web History shows the history of where your notes came from. So as you drag or copy text into your notes it puts an entry into the Web History log. You can delete notes, print notes and export notes to Google docs for further editing. Google docs lets you collaborate with students or colleagues by sharing the document over the internet in a refined editor.
Using Google docs you can create presentations just like you can in powerpoint. It has all the normal features you would expect in a presentation program. As your running this presentation you can send the URL to other people and they can participate by asking questions or critique the presentation. Just like Google docs you can share your presentation with others for collaboration.
Page creator allows you to create webpage’s using a WYSIWYG editor. You can create links and insert pictures into the page. The editor allows you to change fonts, font colors and the overall look of the page. This would be great for publishing reports online as it integrates well with Google docs.
The final application she talks about is the groups application. This service lets you create groups that can be used for collaboration. You can also create a forum where members can upload files and write each other to collaborate in a discussion forum.
From what I have seen so far Google is offering great web 2.0 tools that just about everyone can use for free. Even if your not into the whole collaboration thing, you can use Google docs as an online document editor. The great thing about it is the ability to role back the file to previous revisions. Overall I feel that Google has a lot to offer to classrooms that wish to work collaboratively.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
If all my classes did this
Wendy Wolfe
http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=175
Covering:
Cartoon Creators: Toon Doo, Comic Creator
Graphic Organizers: Gliffy
Productivity Programs: Zoho
Basic Podcasting: GCast
Technology engagement with students increased especially with at-risk students. Students register on toondoo.com and can start creating cartoons with one click of a button. They can select different backgrounds, people and objects. You can also upload pictures and edit and crop them all on the website. After finishing the cartoons students can publish or save the cartoons for personal use. This is a great program for high school and middle school students, but can also be used for upper grade school students. Toondoo can be used to communicate ideas and thoughts, and can help engage students in discussion within the classroom. Another site readwritethink.org (http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/) hosts a comic creator that is simple for all grades to use. These comics are only in black and white and uses flash. The final product can not be published to the internet but can be printed out and scanned. This is a great site for younger students.
Gliffy – Graphic organizer; The site has free access for anyone. There is a subscription service that offers more than the free version. This is very similar to Inspiration. You can also create flow charts, floor plans, network maps. You can also type text onto the page. This might be beneficial to foreign language classes. You can also setup collaboration with other people. Just type in the email of the person that you want to collaborate with and it sends them an email. You can publish your final product public or privately.
Zoho – Online productivity suite; This is a great alternative to Powerpoint. This is especially useful for students that do not have Powerpoint at home. You have several backgrounds to choose from but you can also upload background from powerpoint slide shows. Pictures can be uploaded and inserted into slide shows. Students can save and publish their slideshow to the internet. It is not as robust as Powerpoint.
GCast- Podcast publisher; You can record podcasts on the phone and publish them to the internet. You can embed html code within your wiki site so visitors can listen to your podcast. Students can use this for foreign language assignments to oral histories. Teachers can use gcast to create presentations to assignments for students that are absent.
On the horizon Google Docs looks to be a good replacement program for Zoho as a word and presentation program. The plus is that this program allows for collaboration between many people.
http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=175
Covering:
Cartoon Creators: Toon Doo, Comic Creator
Graphic Organizers: Gliffy
Productivity Programs: Zoho
Basic Podcasting: GCast
Technology engagement with students increased especially with at-risk students. Students register on toondoo.com and can start creating cartoons with one click of a button. They can select different backgrounds, people and objects. You can also upload pictures and edit and crop them all on the website. After finishing the cartoons students can publish or save the cartoons for personal use. This is a great program for high school and middle school students, but can also be used for upper grade school students. Toondoo can be used to communicate ideas and thoughts, and can help engage students in discussion within the classroom. Another site readwritethink.org (http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/) hosts a comic creator that is simple for all grades to use. These comics are only in black and white and uses flash. The final product can not be published to the internet but can be printed out and scanned. This is a great site for younger students.
Gliffy – Graphic organizer; The site has free access for anyone. There is a subscription service that offers more than the free version. This is very similar to Inspiration. You can also create flow charts, floor plans, network maps. You can also type text onto the page. This might be beneficial to foreign language classes. You can also setup collaboration with other people. Just type in the email of the person that you want to collaborate with and it sends them an email. You can publish your final product public or privately.
Zoho – Online productivity suite; This is a great alternative to Powerpoint. This is especially useful for students that do not have Powerpoint at home. You have several backgrounds to choose from but you can also upload background from powerpoint slide shows. Pictures can be uploaded and inserted into slide shows. Students can save and publish their slideshow to the internet. It is not as robust as Powerpoint.
GCast- Podcast publisher; You can record podcasts on the phone and publish them to the internet. You can embed html code within your wiki site so visitors can listen to your podcast. Students can use this for foreign language assignments to oral histories. Teachers can use gcast to create presentations to assignments for students that are absent.
On the horizon Google Docs looks to be a good replacement program for Zoho as a word and presentation program. The plus is that this program allows for collaboration between many people.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Colabrative Editor for mac
SubEthaEdit is perhaps the first text editor for Mac that offered true/live collaboration. Check out their new version as reviewed in this article.
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/24/subethaedit-version-3-0/
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/24/subethaedit-version-3-0/
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Google Docs on iPhone
Seeing as our next section might deal with online apps or google docs....
Check out this link that was posted yesterday about it being optimized for an iphone.
http://feeds.tuaw.com/~r/weblogsinc/tuaw/~3/173466497/
Check out this link that was posted yesterday about it being optimized for an iphone.
http://feeds.tuaw.com/~r/weblogsinc/tuaw/~3/173466497/
Challenging Assumptions about Technology Professional Development
Podcast: Sylvia Martinez
Blog: http://blog.genyes.com
http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=183
Technology often requires changes in the way classrooms are managed. There are many assumptions in regards to professional development for teachers: Teachers are lacking technology professional development; Professional development for teachers must take place outside the classroom; Most teachers have participated in multiple professional development activities in the last year, and yet more than 80 percent say they needed more training on how to integrate it into their curriculum. Professional development inside the classroom seems to always be dismissed. Teachers need to have some sort of activity inside the classroom where the teacher is learning at the same time as the kids are. Teachers will then never be put in the situation where they are limited to teaching only what they were taught to do when they were in school.
Student-teacher interaction can serve to support teacher use of technology. A constructivist classroom consists of collaborative learning between the students and the teacher. The classroom is actively student-centered, project based. Students have a choice and options in the project they work on. They are democratic; the teacher is not the only source of the knowledge, construction of knowledge is a shared responsibility. They are reflective; students have time to process and discuss their learning with others. They involve risk-taking; mistakes are allowed and looked at as a path to understanding.
Encourage teachers to try new things in front of students. Students need teachers to show them reasons to use technology for appropriate educational purposes. Teachers need students to help them learn technology as a classroom tool. Teachers should learn to embrace technology not just in workshops but also outside of professional development.
I thought this podcast hit it home. Many times teachers need to be adaptive to the classroom. The use of technology in the classroom is one circumstance that teachers cannot always predict the outcome. Especially when you are preparing a work in progress such as a blog or podcast. These types of works are always evolving, and new tools are created almost daily to improve on the creation of such works. I have learned that I do better myself engaging with others sometimes, so it is natural that teachers that engage with students can also learn at the same time.
Blog: http://blog.genyes.com
http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=183
Technology often requires changes in the way classrooms are managed. There are many assumptions in regards to professional development for teachers: Teachers are lacking technology professional development; Professional development for teachers must take place outside the classroom; Most teachers have participated in multiple professional development activities in the last year, and yet more than 80 percent say they needed more training on how to integrate it into their curriculum. Professional development inside the classroom seems to always be dismissed. Teachers need to have some sort of activity inside the classroom where the teacher is learning at the same time as the kids are. Teachers will then never be put in the situation where they are limited to teaching only what they were taught to do when they were in school.
Student-teacher interaction can serve to support teacher use of technology. A constructivist classroom consists of collaborative learning between the students and the teacher. The classroom is actively student-centered, project based. Students have a choice and options in the project they work on. They are democratic; the teacher is not the only source of the knowledge, construction of knowledge is a shared responsibility. They are reflective; students have time to process and discuss their learning with others. They involve risk-taking; mistakes are allowed and looked at as a path to understanding.
Encourage teachers to try new things in front of students. Students need teachers to show them reasons to use technology for appropriate educational purposes. Teachers need students to help them learn technology as a classroom tool. Teachers should learn to embrace technology not just in workshops but also outside of professional development.
I thought this podcast hit it home. Many times teachers need to be adaptive to the classroom. The use of technology in the classroom is one circumstance that teachers cannot always predict the outcome. Especially when you are preparing a work in progress such as a blog or podcast. These types of works are always evolving, and new tools are created almost daily to improve on the creation of such works. I have learned that I do better myself engaging with others sometimes, so it is natural that teachers that engage with students can also learn at the same time.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Classroom 2.0 – or you live where?
Clarence Fisher
http://k12online.wm.edu/Classroom2.0.mov
Blog: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/
Classroom 2.0 is about redefining what is happening in classrooms. The world has changed. It isn’t about people telling us how to do things. It’s about us redefining what is happening in classes. It’s about us figuring out what we need to do to help kids succeed in their future. It’s more than using new tools. It’s really about changing what is happening in classrooms, regardless of your location. It’s about us….
We have to change the way we teach. We need to look at how we are teaching. We need to look at how students can collaborate between students in their classroom, other classrooms, or students from across the world. These tools let kids exchange ideas and viewpoints so they can make connections and learn together. Information is vital as well as their collaboration with each other in the classroom. Their bias and viewpoints are important to be a good citizen as well as a good thinker.
Curriculum needs to be looked at even though we don’t have a lot of control over it. Our relationship and what is in that curriculum needs to undergo constant change, and we need to decide what is important and what kids need.
Tools are very important in a web 2.0 classrooms. A number of companies offer free tools to schools. These tools include servers to host blogs, podcasts, and videos/pictures. Without them schools would not be able to afford setting up a web 2.0 classroom.
Building relationships is also important. Students can communicate not only with themselves but also with students across the country or world.
Our attitudes about what classrooms can be needs to change. We are no longer isolated to communicating within our small social circle.
Clarence believes current technology assessments suck. They focus too much on skills and not on connections or students learning from each other. Education informatics’ is something we are currently lacking in. We need a way to track student’s activities in classrooms. Where they are going, where they are commenting, who they are reading, which blogs they keep going back to, who visits them. Once we know these ideas a little better then can we change our practices in the classroom. He feels this is the missing piece as these new classrooms emerge.
I thought this was an interesting video podcast. It focused on the broad view of web 2.0. We as educators need to take a new approach to teaching when using web 2.0 in the classroom. While curriculum cannot always be rewritten, we need to find new ways of integrating the state standards into a web 2.0 world. Web 2.0 is about building relationships and collaborating with students or net citizens all over the world. Therefore assessment of such web 2.0 work needs to be revised from the typical classroom rubrics. Grading of students work needs to be based not necessarily on how much volume they produced, but by how they interact and learn collaboratively in this new environment.
http://k12online.wm.edu/Classroom2.0.mov
Blog: http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/
Classroom 2.0 is about redefining what is happening in classrooms. The world has changed. It isn’t about people telling us how to do things. It’s about us redefining what is happening in classes. It’s about us figuring out what we need to do to help kids succeed in their future. It’s more than using new tools. It’s really about changing what is happening in classrooms, regardless of your location. It’s about us….
We have to change the way we teach. We need to look at how we are teaching. We need to look at how students can collaborate between students in their classroom, other classrooms, or students from across the world. These tools let kids exchange ideas and viewpoints so they can make connections and learn together. Information is vital as well as their collaboration with each other in the classroom. Their bias and viewpoints are important to be a good citizen as well as a good thinker.
Curriculum needs to be looked at even though we don’t have a lot of control over it. Our relationship and what is in that curriculum needs to undergo constant change, and we need to decide what is important and what kids need.
Tools are very important in a web 2.0 classrooms. A number of companies offer free tools to schools. These tools include servers to host blogs, podcasts, and videos/pictures. Without them schools would not be able to afford setting up a web 2.0 classroom.
Building relationships is also important. Students can communicate not only with themselves but also with students across the country or world.
Our attitudes about what classrooms can be needs to change. We are no longer isolated to communicating within our small social circle.
Clarence believes current technology assessments suck. They focus too much on skills and not on connections or students learning from each other. Education informatics’ is something we are currently lacking in. We need a way to track student’s activities in classrooms. Where they are going, where they are commenting, who they are reading, which blogs they keep going back to, who visits them. Once we know these ideas a little better then can we change our practices in the classroom. He feels this is the missing piece as these new classrooms emerge.
I thought this was an interesting video podcast. It focused on the broad view of web 2.0. We as educators need to take a new approach to teaching when using web 2.0 in the classroom. While curriculum cannot always be rewritten, we need to find new ways of integrating the state standards into a web 2.0 world. Web 2.0 is about building relationships and collaborating with students or net citizens all over the world. Therefore assessment of such web 2.0 work needs to be revised from the typical classroom rubrics. Grading of students work needs to be based not necessarily on how much volume they produced, but by how they interact and learn collaboratively in this new environment.
Initiating and sustaining conversations: Assessment and evaluation in the age of networked learning.
http://k12online.wm.edu/kglogowskivideo.mp4
His Blog : http://www.teachandclearn.ca/com
Konrad Glogowski has used blogs in the classroom for 3 years. He has found that students have increased expressive conversations from before they started classroom blogging. He felt that it was necessary to have assessment of the students work be conversational that guide and engage. Themes should challenge students to extend their interests and develop new skills. The theme should awaken a sense of curiosity and there should be a forum where students can express ideas and ask questions.
Traditional rules of assessment cannot be used with blogging. Grades tend to disrupt the students flow and engagement. Once something is graded the student feels that the work has been done and that the task has been completed, thus stopping conversation. In a blogging classroom assessment and evaluation should encourage the student to continue their work and peruse further engagement of their topic or subject.
Students should have clear goals when blogging. Blogging is about a journey and being active in a community. Students should be able to share their ideas and use their time productive to complete a body of work. They should ask themselves what will set my blog apart from the rest of the blogs in the community. How can I support my peers? How will they support me? They need to become aware that they are not working alone. They are in a social community.
Feedback needs to be meaningful and immediate. Konrad would fill out a sheet on “How to grow a blog” that would provide feedback to students that was encouraging and positive. Students at the end of the unit would fill out a self-assessment sheet asking if they have provided enough information, performed enough research, what have I learned from what I have written and have they made a personal contribution as a research to the area they are writing about. Blogging should ask a student where am I now and where do I want to be?
This topic didn’t directly relate to my current job and what I am doing. But many people in the technology field do blog about current topics and what they are doing. I frequent other people’s blogs daily just to see what is new. I could see blogs in the classroom as being very engaging. Students can collaborate on each other’s work and strive to improve reading, writing, communication and research skills. I would definitely recommend that teachers take advantage of blogging whenever they can work it into their curriculum!
His Blog : http://www.teachandclearn.ca/com
Konrad Glogowski has used blogs in the classroom for 3 years. He has found that students have increased expressive conversations from before they started classroom blogging. He felt that it was necessary to have assessment of the students work be conversational that guide and engage. Themes should challenge students to extend their interests and develop new skills. The theme should awaken a sense of curiosity and there should be a forum where students can express ideas and ask questions.
Traditional rules of assessment cannot be used with blogging. Grades tend to disrupt the students flow and engagement. Once something is graded the student feels that the work has been done and that the task has been completed, thus stopping conversation. In a blogging classroom assessment and evaluation should encourage the student to continue their work and peruse further engagement of their topic or subject.
Students should have clear goals when blogging. Blogging is about a journey and being active in a community. Students should be able to share their ideas and use their time productive to complete a body of work. They should ask themselves what will set my blog apart from the rest of the blogs in the community. How can I support my peers? How will they support me? They need to become aware that they are not working alone. They are in a social community.
Feedback needs to be meaningful and immediate. Konrad would fill out a sheet on “How to grow a blog” that would provide feedback to students that was encouraging and positive. Students at the end of the unit would fill out a self-assessment sheet asking if they have provided enough information, performed enough research, what have I learned from what I have written and have they made a personal contribution as a research to the area they are writing about. Blogging should ask a student where am I now and where do I want to be?
This topic didn’t directly relate to my current job and what I am doing. But many people in the technology field do blog about current topics and what they are doing. I frequent other people’s blogs daily just to see what is new. I could see blogs in the classroom as being very engaging. Students can collaborate on each other’s work and strive to improve reading, writing, communication and research skills. I would definitely recommend that teachers take advantage of blogging whenever they can work it into their curriculum!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Wikipedia
For those not familar with www.wikipedia.com you should definitely check it out! Wikipedia is the fastest growing public encyclopedia around. Since it's creation in 2001 that have been more than 5.3 million articles created and translated into over 100 languages. The best thing about Wikipedia is the fact that it is a collaboration project that is always in progress. The name Wikipedia is derived from wiki (which is a type of collaborative site) and encyclopedia. Therefore everyday thousands of people login to Wikipedia to create new entries and modify existing entries with new information. It is a ever-growing encyclopedia! Visitors that add to the website do not have to have a specialized background to make an entry. Articles can be written by anyone, regardless of age, social background, or knowledge. Unlike paper encyclopedias, wikipedia can be updated with the latest information that may be hours, minutes or seconds old. Articles can also be reviewed by editors to make sure that the information that is posted is correct. Articles can also be back-reved to previous versions just incase someone attempts to vandalize the entry.
Teachers could definitely use this website with students for current events or history projects. Having access to such a site can be a big time saver. No longer do you have to run to the library to do research in an encyclopedia. All the work can be done in the computer lab or your own home.
Monday, October 8, 2007
engrade
www.engrade.com is a website where teachers can create an online gradebook. Parents, students and administrators may view the current status of their grade by registering on the site for free. Engrade's development costs and ongoing maintenance is funded through educational sponsors that display advertisements in the upper 1/3 of the webpage. Schools can also use this site to publish attendance reports, upcoming assignments and report cards in real time. Best of all this site is free!
I believe most school districts are going to online attendance systems. The district I left is planning on implementing such a system with infinite campus. My new district also has such a system in place called Pinnacle. Both parents and students can benefit from such a program as they will always know how they are doing. The downside of such a system is that teachers will routinely be required to enter grades and attendance online so parents can view it.
I believe most school districts are going to online attendance systems. The district I left is planning on implementing such a system with infinite campus. My new district also has such a system in place called Pinnacle. Both parents and students can benefit from such a program as they will always know how they are doing. The downside of such a system is that teachers will routinely be required to enter grades and attendance online so parents can view it.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
MynoteIT
www.mynoteit.com is a website where students and teachers can compose and share notes or audio clips with other students/teachers. The nice thing about this website is that it allows the poster to create tags on the notes. These tags make it easy for anyone viewing the notes to quickly search on them. Like del.ico.us you can join create bookmarks and share them with fellow students. You can also post questions to other classmates in an online forum when you have a question. This website allows students to keep track of assignments and create a to-do-list to make sure the work gets done. Students can also track their grades online so they know how they are doing throughout the entire course. An added benefit for those with mobile phones is the ability to post notes using a mobile web interface. Best of all this is freely available for teachers and students. I can see how this could be useful, especially for those students challenged with keeping good notes. Teachers could also post their powerpoint slides to this websites so students could review outside the classroom.
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