Here is my final Summative e-Book created with Google Docs and then with FlipSnack. Sorry ladies. Kevin told me you guys had been traveling so I just went ahead a did all the work. Not saying it couldn't be better... so if you want, please take the liberty to change the content and make it look better. You can always make a new flip book.
Kevin thanks for showing me FlipSnack. I use to use a site called Calamao but it started putting advertisement on the bottom of my PDF's. Things not appropriate for school.
Let me know if there is anything else I can do on this project to make it better.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
Sunday, 13 October 2013
Using Diigo for Learning in My Classroom
Diigo is a fantastic tool to use while conducting research because of it's ability to annotate web resources. While it saves all the notations you made in your favorites, it's true power lies in the fact that you can actually share content with other people who are parking on the same research. This of course is an effective tool for classroom research as well as in the business world, and for personal use. While we've been studying how to use Diigo, it came to my attention that not only is this a tool for teachers but considering I am a tech coordinator for a campus, I should actually try to use this to teach the teachers I work with. After, to a certain degree, the teachers are my classroom.
Frequently I am attempting to provide teachers with new resources. I find often they are bombarded with information and the amount of time to assess the usability of these tools is challenging. If I could get my teachers to all subscribe to Diigo, than when new resources become available, whether subscriptions the school is providing, or websites explaining new software we've obtained license a license for, I could highlight the key uses as well as provide sticky notes on the actual websites. Pushing this out to the teachers would give them a chance to skip directly to my highlights, giving them a concise and poignant summary of how they could use the content and showing them what is truly important to know.
The beauty of Diigo is the ability to share. Not only would they be able to see what I believe is important for them to know, but they would also be able to see feedback and thoughts from other teachers. In many ways, this would give me a more practical and useful way for teacher to share ideas about how to use the new softwares for subscription we are adapting.
The other beauty of Diigo is the fact that it allows for screenshots. Screenshots would allow me to make a collection of information for the teachers to see in my favorites on Diigo. They could click on my account and at any given time teachers could review all the content that I have shared.
And of course it goes without being said, that in through the process of doing this, teachers would also be learning how to use Diigo. I believe through this practical use of this service, they would actually be able to think of ways to apply this powerful tool to their classrooms as well.
Frequently I am attempting to provide teachers with new resources. I find often they are bombarded with information and the amount of time to assess the usability of these tools is challenging. If I could get my teachers to all subscribe to Diigo, than when new resources become available, whether subscriptions the school is providing, or websites explaining new software we've obtained license a license for, I could highlight the key uses as well as provide sticky notes on the actual websites. Pushing this out to the teachers would give them a chance to skip directly to my highlights, giving them a concise and poignant summary of how they could use the content and showing them what is truly important to know.
 |
| Using Diigo to make notes on a web page |
The beauty of Diigo is the ability to share. Not only would they be able to see what I believe is important for them to know, but they would also be able to see feedback and thoughts from other teachers. In many ways, this would give me a more practical and useful way for teacher to share ideas about how to use the new softwares for subscription we are adapting.
The other beauty of Diigo is the fact that it allows for screenshots. Screenshots would allow me to make a collection of information for the teachers to see in my favorites on Diigo. They could click on my account and at any given time teachers could review all the content that I have shared.
And of course it goes without being said, that in through the process of doing this, teachers would also be learning how to use Diigo. I believe through this practical use of this service, they would actually be able to think of ways to apply this powerful tool to their classrooms as well.
Monday, 7 October 2013
My Public Service Announcement
Wow! I totally get what you mean by a clear, concise, and poignant message to be captured in 30 seconds! I have worked hard before, but almost 8 hours of work that shows itself in just 30 seconds!!!
Therefore, if I have 30 seconds to make a point...it most certainly be a pertinent topic, stating a fact/reality, tugging on the emotional aspect of the human mind, and presented with an impact. That's what successful billboards and advertisements aim to do.
With regards to bringing this into our classroom, what an intelligent way to teach relevance, research, authenticity, and MAJOR annotation skills? However, I fell victim to visiting sites which then took 'more' time than was necessary. Then, I needed to find out if they were credible sources...except for the obvious names, I am still not certain about some of the sources and really needed to just 'keep on my focus topic.' So, this is certainly a skill that needs to be pointed out, modelled, and finessed or research can get stressful. The idea of filling out the PSA template was the BEST, focused guide -thank you Kevin! Otherwise, I could have gone off target (distracted)at several points.
With Animoto, while I realise my PSA didn't come out as poignant as I initally designed and planned...I felt this was due to the lack of 'character spaces' that was in this case, not available. However, I guess this is exactly what you mean by with this amount of time, and only these many words...how would you make a point to be remembered? Digital Story telling tools give us background, sound effects, font effects, the internet at our disposal for information and images....so decompress ALL that to make a point!
Here is the link to my PSA.
Here is the link to my PSA.
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Children Belong in School
This was a really fun assignment, although also quite time-consuming. The part I envisioned taking the most time was the making of the video, but in actual fact it was finding appropriate photos. Finding appropriate photos for my theme was a little difficult, then when I thought I'd found the perfect ones, they would be copyrighted. Aargghhhh! It took hours of trawling the websites Kevin recommended before I found ones I could use (at one point, I jokingly had an inner debate about whether it was ethical to go out onto the streets of Kathmandu to take some photos myself. I didn't obviously.)
The final product is one that I am proud of. It might not be the most 'put-together' PSA out there, but, having never made a video before, I taught myself how to use we-video (thanks for the recommendation Kevin!) and imagined ways I could use it in my classroom. Slow and lost internet connectivity were maybe my biggest frustrations, but that seems quite churlish given the content of my PSA.
This learning activity came at a perfect time for my students and I, as after our autumn break we are starting a persuasive writing unit. The objective of the unit is to persuade a village in Nepal to use the new water system that the Finnish government provided them with (article here). A simple and effective way for students to present to these villagers would be through a PSA, and I may include that option in the final choices of summative assessments. Furthermore, we used Diigo as a class to read the article mentioned above. I created a group for that class, shared the article, wrote guiding and check-in questions throughout and asked students to highlight unknown words. It worked like a dream! My students were also very happy to be introduced to this software as it will help them immensely with their research and when they do group research.
A class I'll definitely use PSAs in is grade 6 advisory (homeroom) class. This year our service learning project is to clean up our school and parts of Kathmandu. We have a core group of students who are in charge of videoing our litter picking outings and other activities throughout the year and creating a PSA to share with the school seems like an ideal learning opportunity, both for the grade 6 students and the rest of school.
The final product is one that I am proud of. It might not be the most 'put-together' PSA out there, but, having never made a video before, I taught myself how to use we-video (thanks for the recommendation Kevin!) and imagined ways I could use it in my classroom. Slow and lost internet connectivity were maybe my biggest frustrations, but that seems quite churlish given the content of my PSA.
This learning activity came at a perfect time for my students and I, as after our autumn break we are starting a persuasive writing unit. The objective of the unit is to persuade a village in Nepal to use the new water system that the Finnish government provided them with (article here). A simple and effective way for students to present to these villagers would be through a PSA, and I may include that option in the final choices of summative assessments. Furthermore, we used Diigo as a class to read the article mentioned above. I created a group for that class, shared the article, wrote guiding and check-in questions throughout and asked students to highlight unknown words. It worked like a dream! My students were also very happy to be introduced to this software as it will help them immensely with their research and when they do group research.
A class I'll definitely use PSAs in is grade 6 advisory (homeroom) class. This year our service learning project is to clean up our school and parts of Kathmandu. We have a core group of students who are in charge of videoing our litter picking outings and other activities throughout the year and creating a PSA to share with the school seems like an ideal learning opportunity, both for the grade 6 students and the rest of school.
My Public Service Announcement - China's Air Pollution
Well, hope you guys can enjoy the video I made. Not the funnest thing to look at... I promise living in Shanghai has it's positives as well! It's not all doom and gloom :). Actually I have noticed over the past 4 years living in this city, that the air is slowly getting better. As for some other cities, I have seen it decline.
Anyways, this was a fun assignment to work on. I was taken back by how long it actually took to do. Part of this is me needing to use a VPN in China and the connection not being as quick as I would like, but simply editing and putting everything together took some time. Yes, I cheated and made my video over 3 minutes. I realize now if I had stuck to just the 1 minute expectation, it would have gone way quicker.
To create I used iMovie on my Mac and then uploaded to YouTube.
Let me know your thoughts....
Again, this assignment would be great for students to do research and than post what they learned in a compelling way. Kevin, you asked earlier which of the videos on the plastic bags were more persuasive. I actually thought the one with all the images was. I guess they both had just as much research involved but seeing the still images helped it sink in more than the video.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
Is it Blogging or Not?
As the discussion for blogging goes on and whether we need to be teaching students how to blog continues, I would like to bring a few thought to the table.
First, I think that the use of blogging in a classroom is a great tool and one worth using. The ability to be able to post opinions and have other comment on those thoughts is great. I do believe that blogging needs to be taught in school but maybe not the way some would think it needs to be taught. I would challenge that simply giving an assignment where students post a paper or a "one time" blog post is NOT blogging or teaching students "how" to blog.
For me, blogging is a constant habit of journaling online. The actual formality of how one writes is not as important. While keeping thoughts concise and to the point is key, knowing how to be persuasive as well as opinion driven, it is the consistency of how often one writes and the ability to keep a continual voice and/or authority on a subject.
As I mentioned on a comment I wrote to Sarah's post, Andrew Sullivan in his video mentioned that you are not actually blogging unless you are posting more than 2 times a day. If you do anything less than this, he suggests it's simply a webpage. I completely agree with this.
I applaud teachers that could actually find a way of implementing an environment of true blogging for their students. The most natural way would be allowing the kids to actually create a blog site and posts regarding a particular subject they are found of, and to keep the site going for a period of time.
I've seen a ton of teenage boys that like to play "tech support" or give buying advice on gadgets. My wife has been wanting to do a blog site for healthy eating and recipes - especially where to buy the needed groceries in Shanghai. Another example of a blog that caught my attention was a photographer in Kuwait who was taking a picture every day for 365 days and posting his thoughts on the images. I found myself going back to the photographers site daily to see his new posts and even after the year of pictures, I chased down what his new endeavors where. Blogs can contain many different forms and subject matters. But to really be blogging - it needs to be something that brings the reader back for more.
Again, if a teacher could find a way to capture students interests and have them keep a blog going throughout the semester, for example - that would be truly blogging. Anything else is simply a one time paper online.
Let's consider really using the rich format of blogging in our classrooms as a tool to teach our students to have a persuasive voice, provide new and compelling thoughts daily, and to be experts in their own way. That's true blogging!
First, I think that the use of blogging in a classroom is a great tool and one worth using. The ability to be able to post opinions and have other comment on those thoughts is great. I do believe that blogging needs to be taught in school but maybe not the way some would think it needs to be taught. I would challenge that simply giving an assignment where students post a paper or a "one time" blog post is NOT blogging or teaching students "how" to blog.
For me, blogging is a constant habit of journaling online. The actual formality of how one writes is not as important. While keeping thoughts concise and to the point is key, knowing how to be persuasive as well as opinion driven, it is the consistency of how often one writes and the ability to keep a continual voice and/or authority on a subject.
As I mentioned on a comment I wrote to Sarah's post, Andrew Sullivan in his video mentioned that you are not actually blogging unless you are posting more than 2 times a day. If you do anything less than this, he suggests it's simply a webpage. I completely agree with this.
I applaud teachers that could actually find a way of implementing an environment of true blogging for their students. The most natural way would be allowing the kids to actually create a blog site and posts regarding a particular subject they are found of, and to keep the site going for a period of time.
I've seen a ton of teenage boys that like to play "tech support" or give buying advice on gadgets. My wife has been wanting to do a blog site for healthy eating and recipes - especially where to buy the needed groceries in Shanghai. Another example of a blog that caught my attention was a photographer in Kuwait who was taking a picture every day for 365 days and posting his thoughts on the images. I found myself going back to the photographers site daily to see his new posts and even after the year of pictures, I chased down what his new endeavors where. Blogs can contain many different forms and subject matters. But to really be blogging - it needs to be something that brings the reader back for more.
Again, if a teacher could find a way to capture students interests and have them keep a blog going throughout the semester, for example - that would be truly blogging. Anything else is simply a one time paper online.
Let's consider really using the rich format of blogging in our classrooms as a tool to teach our students to have a persuasive voice, provide new and compelling thoughts daily, and to be experts in their own way. That's true blogging!
Sunday, 29 September 2013
Should Teachers Use Classroom Time to Teach Kids How to Blog?
Why Blog? How early to effectively Blog? What to Blog?
Let’s understand this
weB LOG shall we? Let’s back up and reflect some....
As a starting point:
Inventions, creations, opportunities, events ... life
in general evolves because the human faculty is not only the breeding ground
but also the impetus of life as we know it. There is the natural train of human
thought:
Thought – idea – perception – curiosity – plan of
action – excitement – uncertainty – recognition - success – failure – reaction –
recovery – resilience – accomplishment -adjustment – CYCLE repeats.
Personal train of MY thoughts, please FEEL FREE to
fill in this process.
Blogging allows an open forum whereby thoughts can be
voiced, transferred into action, put down on paper, or simply ‘put down.’ For
those who have ACCESS...
there is not a thought/voice/action that needs ever to
be put down.
One reaches
one’s reasoning through an interactive, informed, enriched, and opinionated
discourse – one that can be achieved via blogging. Is this not what we hope to
achieve as educators when we talk about maximising ‘student engagement?’
An article by Lorrie Jackson in Education World simply
describes blogging as:
“a
method of online journaling. Take a look at any blog and you'll immediately see
the connection between it and a traditional diary.”
Therefore, thoughts, comments, answers to situations, or questions
about issues are posted…only this time, the recipients extend to a global
audience. A database that can nurture you or caution you...either way you are
on a more instant, connected journey of not only self-discovery but also of
self-enhancement. As part of this journey,
Einstein intuitively knew that thinking is
speculative and how personal beliefs and theories distort what we observe. Once
he observed jokingly, “If the facts don’t confirm your theory, change your
facts.”
I believe ‘success’ and ‘value’ are resonated in most
schools’ core philosophies.
Moreover, as Andrew Sullivan goes on to bluntly
putting,
“…don’t fool
yourself…um…when you’re blogging, when really you’re just putting
stuff up
online,” and that,
“…a blog to
live really has to be probably 4 or 5 times a day.”
What does a live, vibrant, engaging conversation look
like? Answers to ‘Should teachers take out classroom time to teach Blogging?’
To, ‘Why I, an 8 year old, should be allowed to have my own mobile phone.’ Or
to, ‘How can you help me understand what the stance on vaccinating my new baby
in light of some vaccines adverse effects?’ Blogging, as Sullivan continues to
explain,
“is a dialogue, not a monologue.”
Is your immediate circle of friends/colleagues knowledgeable
to sufficiently answer these entries? Or can you be heard without going through
a complicated web of
bureaucracy?
THEN, DO BLOG.
Take the time in which you have
today’s future for more than 6 hours a day in your classroom to avail of this instant
platform.
Start off small, start off true, start off simple. Be
present. Be open. Be safe. Set an example. These are entries that spark, engage,
and challenge our minds in order that
we evolve to the potential inherently
wired in us.
Resources:
Einstein’s Insights into Human Nature
http://www.dailygood.org/story/241/einstein-s-insight-into-human-nature/
http://www.dailygood.org/story/241/einstein-s-insight-into-human-nature/
How To Blog Like Andrew Sullivan
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Teach students how to blog - they'll thank you for it.
Would you expect a student to read Shakespeare before teaching them to read? No.
Would you expect a student to solve an equation before teaching them how to count? No.
Would you expect a student to analyze a country's undemocratic government before teaching them about democracy? No.
Would you expect a student to write an essay before teaching them how to write? No.
So, how can we expect a student to create a meaningful, purposeful and authentic blog without first teaching them how to blog?
21st century students are the pioneers of technology, Anne Mirtschin argues on her educational technology blog. Never again will a group of students be at the forefront of such change. Therefore, as educators we must guide and nurture students towards being responsible digital citizens. How do we do this? By explicitly teaching students the hows, the whys, the whats of online behaviour of course!
A senior student was applying for university in the United States. Coming from a rural village in Nepal, she clearly couldn't afford to pay for a university education in the States, so she applied for some scholarships. Having observed her online presence from a distance, the school counselor suggested that she might like to Google herself, as the scholarship providers surely would. Shock. Horror. The first three pages of Google were her ask.fm profile, her FaceBook profile, her Twitter feed, her Tumblr profile and so on and so on. This student wasn't lucky enough to be taught how to be a responsible digital citizen and how to leave a positive digital footprint. Not only were her different social media profiles open for all to see, but the content surely wasn't the image she wanted to project of herself. She immediately either deleted these accounts or changed the privacy settings and thanked the counselor profusely. Had one of her teachers (science, English, maths, computer science - it doesn't matter) taught her how to behave appropriately online, she wouldn't have had to learn this valuable lesson about cyberspace.
Teachers often bemoan the lack of hours in the day. Oh, if only we could have a 26 hour day, they say. Only 181 direct teaching days this year? But how on earth am I going to cover all of the skills and content these students need?! What? Now you want me to give up precious class time to teach students how to blog? Actually, yes.
Explicitly teaching a student how to blog involves more than just how to set up a blogger account, how to create a new post, how to comment on others' posts etc... So much more. It improves writing skills, persuasion, arguing, questioning, reflection and proofreading, so it really is worth incorporating it into class time.
Having trouble engaging students in your persuasive writing unit?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
Are your students proofreading skills lackluster?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
When the audience increases from one to thousands, it suddenly seems more important to make sure they're/their/there are spelt correctly.
Do your students see reflection as challenging or, even worse, pointless?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
Reflection becomes embedded when students can share their work easily with parents, teachers and one another. Comments spark natural reflection.
Do your students struggle with debating respectfully?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
If a teacher takes class time to teach students how to comment respectfully, even if it is disagreeing with the bloggers argument, students will become skillful (and respectful) commenters.
So, teachers, I implore you to take the time in class to teach your students how to blog. Not only will it improve engagement, writing and arguing skills, but it will teach them the life-long skill of being a responsible digital citizen. They'll thank you for it.
Works cited:
http://murcha.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/keeping-students-cybersafe/
Would you expect a student to solve an equation before teaching them how to count? No.
Would you expect a student to analyze a country's undemocratic government before teaching them about democracy? No.
Would you expect a student to write an essay before teaching them how to write? No.
So, how can we expect a student to create a meaningful, purposeful and authentic blog without first teaching them how to blog?
21st century students are the pioneers of technology, Anne Mirtschin argues on her educational technology blog. Never again will a group of students be at the forefront of such change. Therefore, as educators we must guide and nurture students towards being responsible digital citizens. How do we do this? By explicitly teaching students the hows, the whys, the whats of online behaviour of course!
A senior student was applying for university in the United States. Coming from a rural village in Nepal, she clearly couldn't afford to pay for a university education in the States, so she applied for some scholarships. Having observed her online presence from a distance, the school counselor suggested that she might like to Google herself, as the scholarship providers surely would. Shock. Horror. The first three pages of Google were her ask.fm profile, her FaceBook profile, her Twitter feed, her Tumblr profile and so on and so on. This student wasn't lucky enough to be taught how to be a responsible digital citizen and how to leave a positive digital footprint. Not only were her different social media profiles open for all to see, but the content surely wasn't the image she wanted to project of herself. She immediately either deleted these accounts or changed the privacy settings and thanked the counselor profusely. Had one of her teachers (science, English, maths, computer science - it doesn't matter) taught her how to behave appropriately online, she wouldn't have had to learn this valuable lesson about cyberspace.
Teachers often bemoan the lack of hours in the day. Oh, if only we could have a 26 hour day, they say. Only 181 direct teaching days this year? But how on earth am I going to cover all of the skills and content these students need?! What? Now you want me to give up precious class time to teach students how to blog? Actually, yes.
Explicitly teaching a student how to blog involves more than just how to set up a blogger account, how to create a new post, how to comment on others' posts etc... So much more. It improves writing skills, persuasion, arguing, questioning, reflection and proofreading, so it really is worth incorporating it into class time.
Having trouble engaging students in your persuasive writing unit?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
Are your students proofreading skills lackluster?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
When the audience increases from one to thousands, it suddenly seems more important to make sure they're/their/there are spelt correctly.
Do your students see reflection as challenging or, even worse, pointless?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
Reflection becomes embedded when students can share their work easily with parents, teachers and one another. Comments spark natural reflection.
Do your students struggle with debating respectfully?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
If a teacher takes class time to teach students how to comment respectfully, even if it is disagreeing with the bloggers argument, students will become skillful (and respectful) commenters.
So, teachers, I implore you to take the time in class to teach your students how to blog. Not only will it improve engagement, writing and arguing skills, but it will teach them the life-long skill of being a responsible digital citizen. They'll thank you for it.
Works cited:
http://murcha.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/keeping-students-cybersafe/
The World is At Our Fingertips
At the beginning of this school year, I learnt excitedly (keyword) from my daughter first, and later in the upcoming Weekly School Newsletter, that all Grade 5 students would be getting their own laptops! Also, at Elementary level, it is mandatory for the homeroom teacher to attend all IT (Information Technology) classes along with their students. Each student, teacher, and parent have to sign the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) which highlights responsible use of the Internet, citing resources other than those originally posted, and respectful online behavior to an internal and global audience. Signed and dated.
This is an authentic document by the school. We have been signing this for the past 3 years. The school preaches, practices, and adheres to technology and its uses to resonate its 5 CORE values - Integrity, Compassion, Excellence, Respect, and Responsibilty - all merging to inspire each student to be 'a passionate learner' (taken from part of American School of Dubai Mission statement).
I can vouch from my own daughter's change in behavior toward a more independent, resilient, experimental, and mature approach to the positive, powerful, meaningful, and connected use of all the tools that have come her way: Last year the school hosted their own Google Summit. It was open to public. My daughter was representing Voicethread. She had her presentation to go, excited voices surrounding a unit of discussion, comments, instant teacher feedback - an ongoing dialogue that was captured and featured.
Diigo has indeed created a location that safely allows for information to be archived, bookmarked, annotated, shared for any kind of research or collaborative purposes. Its features have only sprouted from what was, by us, comfortably used and done - underlining in pencil, jotting quick sidenotes, making 'dog ears' in case there wasn't a bookmark around, and cutting and gluing pictures. If these earlier procedures are able to be reproduced in order for us to be more efficient so that room can be further made for future creativity and strides... then it is one that has supported and enhanced our ongoing learning community.
For this to trickle successfully into the classroom, a school preps itself, its teachers, the students, and the parents to support student learning. Acknowledging/addressing the technological strides 'out there' and bringing it 'in house' completely resonates with Sarah's thoughts in her post, "I predict that the educator groups in this Community will change research I do for my own professional development."
It is a concerted effort. The constance of CHANGE and the VARIETY within our teaching and learning community make it imperative that a shared and viable vision is at the end of the rainbow.
This is an authentic document by the school. We have been signing this for the past 3 years. The school preaches, practices, and adheres to technology and its uses to resonate its 5 CORE values - Integrity, Compassion, Excellence, Respect, and Responsibilty - all merging to inspire each student to be 'a passionate learner' (taken from part of American School of Dubai Mission statement).
I can vouch from my own daughter's change in behavior toward a more independent, resilient, experimental, and mature approach to the positive, powerful, meaningful, and connected use of all the tools that have come her way: Last year the school hosted their own Google Summit. It was open to public. My daughter was representing Voicethread. She had her presentation to go, excited voices surrounding a unit of discussion, comments, instant teacher feedback - an ongoing dialogue that was captured and featured.
Diigo has indeed created a location that safely allows for information to be archived, bookmarked, annotated, shared for any kind of research or collaborative purposes. Its features have only sprouted from what was, by us, comfortably used and done - underlining in pencil, jotting quick sidenotes, making 'dog ears' in case there wasn't a bookmark around, and cutting and gluing pictures. If these earlier procedures are able to be reproduced in order for us to be more efficient so that room can be further made for future creativity and strides... then it is one that has supported and enhanced our ongoing learning community.
For this to trickle successfully into the classroom, a school preps itself, its teachers, the students, and the parents to support student learning. Acknowledging/addressing the technological strides 'out there' and bringing it 'in house' completely resonates with Sarah's thoughts in her post, "I predict that the educator groups in this Community will change research I do for my own professional development."
It is a concerted effort. The constance of CHANGE and the VARIETY within our teaching and learning community make it imperative that a shared and viable vision is at the end of the rainbow.
Monday, 23 September 2013
Supporting Learning in the classroom - Do Voicethread and Diigo do this?
For me, the discussion question that Kevin posted is key: "Write a post in our shiny new shared classroom blog about using Diigo to support learning in your classroom".
There are so many new types of technology that I meet on a daily or weekly basis (Voicethread, Google Hangout, Diigo, Diigo Groups, Blogger, Linoit from this course alone...), it is tempting to try them all out as soon as possible and let your students be the guinea pigs. What works? What doesn't? What's fun? What engages them? And it's easy to forget what our focus should always be: Which technology(ies) allows you to support learning in the classroom?
Voicethread
As an ESOL teacher, I can confidently argue that Voicethread (VT) does support learning in the classroom. My students need practice in the art of discussion, questioning, listening and self-assessment and I believe VT allows for this.
Discussion
As previously mentioned by all four of us, VT is the ideal technology tool for allowing every student to play a role in discussions. While typical discussion behaviours are evident in classroom discussions (Silent Suki, Ridiculous Rashad...), they may be less obvious in online discussions as everyone has their one spot for talking, with the confidence that they won't be interrupted. Furthermore, students that don't participate often may have the confidence, in private and with the time to prepare, to shine.
Questioning
If teachers set the expectation that students should listen to each others' posts and question them, then VT is an ideal technological tool to improve student questioning. All too often questioning is seen as the teacher's job and responsibility, but it is an important skill that students should acquire. With explicit teaching and practice, VT may be the appropriate environment to improve this skill.
Listening
Often we see that students lack listening skills. Whether they are quite clearly not focusing on what others are saying, or that they are focusing but only because they're waiting for the chance to add their thoughts, listening is a skill that needs to be explicitly taught. VT would allow teachers to assess students' listening skills (have they added 'pushback' comments? have the responded to comments that others have made about their discussion point?); focus on this in class by replaying the VT discussion and discussing; by explicitly teaching; and finally by assessing the listening skills learnt.
Self-assessment
In the ESOL classroom, using VT to self-assess is, in my opinion, the main advantage. Students can record themselves, listen back, assess themselves against a fluency rubric and re-record. This activity could be used throughout the year, to show growth to both the teacher and the student.
Diigo
Why did I create a Diigo account back in January, use it for a few days and then forget about it? Who knows!!?? I guess I didn't fully understand what it could do, maybe I was a little intimidated about a new (to me) technology...Anyway, this weekend I collated the hundreds of bookmarks on my four devices and added them to Diigo. Wherever I go, whatever device I am working on...they'll be there! Simple but life-changing.
Highlighting and Sticky notes (Annotation Practice)
One of the best features of Diigo, in my opinion, for supporting learning in the classroom is the highlighting and sticky notes feature. Both features can be used by teachers to draw students' attention to certain parts and, like the example from Paulo's article "Using Diigo to organize the Web for your Class", using sticky notes to set assignments within articles. I appreciate this function because it not only makes students' focus on certain sections of an article, but it also shows students authentic ways to use the software. I like the example that Kevin gave during our Google Hangout from the ESOL teacher at his school. She uses Diigo for students to highlight difficult or unknown words and use sticky notes to ask questions. These questions and queries can then be reviewed in class. If the article is a part of a group, students can use different highlighting colours to show which word belongs to which student, and they may even be able to answer each others' questions.
Diigo Groups
Joint first for best feature is: Diigo Groups. The fact that the teacher can create groups for separate classes, in which articles are shared with others makes for an excellent collaboration tool. Students can learn from each others' research, articles and annotations to develop their understanding of a topic. It is also clear if certain students are relying on their peers to do the research for them, as they won't have bookmarked any articles. Furthermore, it is a handy tool for teachers to bookmark a list of relevant articles for a topic or a theme, all in the same place. I would argue that Professional Development is another path for supporting learning in the classroom. The different discussion groups that I'm involved with at school (supporting students in services, assessment, PBL...) could all use Diigo groups to share research/articles and collaborate with thoughts and arguments. Definitely something I will use in school.
Final Thoughts...
The Diigo Community was a feature I hadn't explored previously. I predict that the educator groups in this Community will change research I do for my own professional development. When I was researching for Diigo articles, I came across some really interesting articles (some Diigo related and some not), bookmarked them, annotated a few and easily shared them with colleagues in my department and school.
To finish, both VoiceThread and Diigo can be used to support learning in the classroom. VoiceThread ensures collaboration and an improvement in listening and pronunciation skills, as well as self-assessment. Diigo is an efficient way to share research and annotate. I hope to use both authentically in my classroom.
There are so many new types of technology that I meet on a daily or weekly basis (Voicethread, Google Hangout, Diigo, Diigo Groups, Blogger, Linoit from this course alone...), it is tempting to try them all out as soon as possible and let your students be the guinea pigs. What works? What doesn't? What's fun? What engages them? And it's easy to forget what our focus should always be: Which technology(ies) allows you to support learning in the classroom?
Voicethread
As an ESOL teacher, I can confidently argue that Voicethread (VT) does support learning in the classroom. My students need practice in the art of discussion, questioning, listening and self-assessment and I believe VT allows for this.
Discussion
As previously mentioned by all four of us, VT is the ideal technology tool for allowing every student to play a role in discussions. While typical discussion behaviours are evident in classroom discussions (Silent Suki, Ridiculous Rashad...), they may be less obvious in online discussions as everyone has their one spot for talking, with the confidence that they won't be interrupted. Furthermore, students that don't participate often may have the confidence, in private and with the time to prepare, to shine.
Questioning
If teachers set the expectation that students should listen to each others' posts and question them, then VT is an ideal technological tool to improve student questioning. All too often questioning is seen as the teacher's job and responsibility, but it is an important skill that students should acquire. With explicit teaching and practice, VT may be the appropriate environment to improve this skill.
Listening
Often we see that students lack listening skills. Whether they are quite clearly not focusing on what others are saying, or that they are focusing but only because they're waiting for the chance to add their thoughts, listening is a skill that needs to be explicitly taught. VT would allow teachers to assess students' listening skills (have they added 'pushback' comments? have the responded to comments that others have made about their discussion point?); focus on this in class by replaying the VT discussion and discussing; by explicitly teaching; and finally by assessing the listening skills learnt.
Self-assessment
In the ESOL classroom, using VT to self-assess is, in my opinion, the main advantage. Students can record themselves, listen back, assess themselves against a fluency rubric and re-record. This activity could be used throughout the year, to show growth to both the teacher and the student.
Diigo
Why did I create a Diigo account back in January, use it for a few days and then forget about it? Who knows!!?? I guess I didn't fully understand what it could do, maybe I was a little intimidated about a new (to me) technology...Anyway, this weekend I collated the hundreds of bookmarks on my four devices and added them to Diigo. Wherever I go, whatever device I am working on...they'll be there! Simple but life-changing.
Highlighting and Sticky notes (Annotation Practice)
One of the best features of Diigo, in my opinion, for supporting learning in the classroom is the highlighting and sticky notes feature. Both features can be used by teachers to draw students' attention to certain parts and, like the example from Paulo's article "Using Diigo to organize the Web for your Class", using sticky notes to set assignments within articles. I appreciate this function because it not only makes students' focus on certain sections of an article, but it also shows students authentic ways to use the software. I like the example that Kevin gave during our Google Hangout from the ESOL teacher at his school. She uses Diigo for students to highlight difficult or unknown words and use sticky notes to ask questions. These questions and queries can then be reviewed in class. If the article is a part of a group, students can use different highlighting colours to show which word belongs to which student, and they may even be able to answer each others' questions.
Diigo Groups
Joint first for best feature is: Diigo Groups. The fact that the teacher can create groups for separate classes, in which articles are shared with others makes for an excellent collaboration tool. Students can learn from each others' research, articles and annotations to develop their understanding of a topic. It is also clear if certain students are relying on their peers to do the research for them, as they won't have bookmarked any articles. Furthermore, it is a handy tool for teachers to bookmark a list of relevant articles for a topic or a theme, all in the same place. I would argue that Professional Development is another path for supporting learning in the classroom. The different discussion groups that I'm involved with at school (supporting students in services, assessment, PBL...) could all use Diigo groups to share research/articles and collaborate with thoughts and arguments. Definitely something I will use in school.
Final Thoughts...
The Diigo Community was a feature I hadn't explored previously. I predict that the educator groups in this Community will change research I do for my own professional development. When I was researching for Diigo articles, I came across some really interesting articles (some Diigo related and some not), bookmarked them, annotated a few and easily shared them with colleagues in my department and school.
To finish, both VoiceThread and Diigo can be used to support learning in the classroom. VoiceThread ensures collaboration and an improvement in listening and pronunciation skills, as well as self-assessment. Diigo is an efficient way to share research and annotate. I hope to use both authentically in my classroom.
Friday, 20 September 2013
Technology - What's the Hold Up?
Without a doubt, there are many great resources at our fingertips. Thanks Kevin for introducing some very useful tools to us. From Google Cirles to Voicethread, our options are truly endless.
I am fortunate to be at a school that has plenty of tech resources. We have multi-user WordPress sites for teachers to have an online presence; Moodle; Apple Remote Desktop for observing and interacting with students; PowerSchool for grading, commenting, and taking attendance; ManageBack for IB classes; a multitude of online subscriptions and services, etc. Being a 1to 1 laptop school, technology truly becomes more of a second nature thing instead of something pushed. I find that typing is really no longer taught. The students just know how. If classes want to use GarageBand or iMove - well, the students just know how. Even softwares such as Adobe Photoshop, well students simply know the basics are are able to use it when properly guided.
I am curious how many of you feel that tech is becoming easier and easier to use. So what's the hold up? Being a tech coordinator for my campus, while I see teachers using technology everyday, there is still a level of pressure, anxiety, and sense of obligation. I think it's important for us to have a balance and really understand when it's beneficial for us to use modern technology in the classroom.
Let us not forget, a text book and a pencil was at one time as innovative as using an iPad in a classroom. I don't know if any of us feel pressure to use a pencil anymore. Textbooks... well that's also pretty standard and expected. However, you bring an iPad cart into the room and the teacher can't help but feel overwhelmed.
One thought I have is that technology is to make our lives simpler and easier. The problem is that the more we make like "convenient" the more we expect ourselves, or are expected, to fill up our free time with more. This doesn't necessarily leave our lives simpler or easier but busier than ever.
Well, where do you all sit with this? Does technology inspire you or overwhelm you? Is it easy for you to integrate these new and useful tools into your room or simply want to take a time machine back into the stone ages?
I am fortunate to be at a school that has plenty of tech resources. We have multi-user WordPress sites for teachers to have an online presence; Moodle; Apple Remote Desktop for observing and interacting with students; PowerSchool for grading, commenting, and taking attendance; ManageBack for IB classes; a multitude of online subscriptions and services, etc. Being a 1to 1 laptop school, technology truly becomes more of a second nature thing instead of something pushed. I find that typing is really no longer taught. The students just know how. If classes want to use GarageBand or iMove - well, the students just know how. Even softwares such as Adobe Photoshop, well students simply know the basics are are able to use it when properly guided.
I am curious how many of you feel that tech is becoming easier and easier to use. So what's the hold up? Being a tech coordinator for my campus, while I see teachers using technology everyday, there is still a level of pressure, anxiety, and sense of obligation. I think it's important for us to have a balance and really understand when it's beneficial for us to use modern technology in the classroom.
Let us not forget, a text book and a pencil was at one time as innovative as using an iPad in a classroom. I don't know if any of us feel pressure to use a pencil anymore. Textbooks... well that's also pretty standard and expected. However, you bring an iPad cart into the room and the teacher can't help but feel overwhelmed.
One thought I have is that technology is to make our lives simpler and easier. The problem is that the more we make like "convenient" the more we expect ourselves, or are expected, to fill up our free time with more. This doesn't necessarily leave our lives simpler or easier but busier than ever.
Well, where do you all sit with this? Does technology inspire you or overwhelm you? Is it easy for you to integrate these new and useful tools into your room or simply want to take a time machine back into the stone ages?
Welcome to the Learning with Web 2.0 Tools Course
Dear Blogger,
Welcome to the course blog for Teaching and Learning with web 2.0 tools. You are here to help us learn from each other using this public writing forum. A blog is just a place to write online that others may or may not see. But the verb to blog has, some argue, a meaning all its own among writing genres.
Welcome to the course blog for Teaching and Learning with web 2.0 tools. You are here to help us learn from each other using this public writing forum. A blog is just a place to write online that others may or may not see. But the verb to blog has, some argue, a meaning all its own among writing genres.
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