Delicious Bookmarking

Delicious is a fantastic way to keep track of your bookmarks.  Want to learn how to get started?  Watch this...

Technology Standards in Education - The Big Picture

After going over the technology standards in our Ed Tech virtual class, I understand how important it is for us to take the initiative in giving our students access to technology and the skills to use it in all areas of their lives. Without technological knowledge and proficiency, our students will be left behind.  Their social lives, academic work and professional careers will require them to understand and use technology (even manufacturing requires a great deal of interaction with technology these days).  We need to make technological exploration and implementation part of their DNA (and teach them what is appropriate in different arenas) so that it is a spring board and not a road block.

In a high school social studies setting, I will have a great deal of opportunities to use, teach and learn about technology in my classroom...

• Teacher's Blog 
• Students check their assignments
• Students comment on a link or follow-up question to deepen in-class discussion
• Parents see what's going on in their kids' classroom
• Google Applications
• Students learn skills like word processing, spreadsheet, etc., to create a project
• Students learn how to collaborate online
• Students get practice with presentation skills
• Podcasts or Videos
• Students create presentations & see/hear other students' work
• Teacher Classroom Presentation
• Can incorporate music clips, video clips, art images, newspaper images, etc., all into a lesson or unit about a specific subject
• Internet Research
• Students explore more areas about a subject when working on a project

The list seems really endless.  However, with freedom given to high school students must come clear citizenship expectations/guidelines to make sure the exploration does not go awry.

A huge thank you goes out to Barry for helping us make the link from what we've done to how it applies.  Also, a big thank you for helping us understand how this helps our own marketability! 

Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

My experience creating my Google Spreadsheet was mostly positive, probably because I use Excel almost daily.  I had a couple of hiccups:  1. My computer wouldn't let me use the shortcut (ctrl+key) commands, because instead of going to the Google menu, it was going to the browser menu.  2. It took a few minutes for me to figure out how to get the labels on the graph axes, but the help file explained it.   Unlike when using Excel, Google Spreadsheet didn't make me want to heave my computer out the window...easier & more intuitive.

Getting the raw data into my new spreadsheet was easy...


Getting the calculations & graph to work took a little longer since I had the issues, but they were also very easy to work around....


The analyzed data indicates that most students did better the more tests they took, with the exceptions of Katherine's dramatic spikes & Walter & Queen's nearly level scores.  As an instructor, I would:  1. Think about whether I thought they knew the materials & were having trouble with test format or test anxiety.  2. Figure out more ways to assess all students' progress & understanding.  3. Give them extra help to manage the material and the assessment format(s).

My Favorite Web 2.0 Tools

My understanding of Web 2.0 is as a paradigm shift because using it...

• Moves us from a single person working on a single computer to a collaboration of people working on one system
• Allows us to shift from working one by one to all working simultaneously
• Bridges the distance between us through its connectivity

I chose to explore Delicious as my Personal Productivity tool and found it to be fantastic and extremely easy to use (and FREE).  Delicious revolutionizes the idea of a bookmark by...

• Allowing users to collect all bookmarks in one place
• Letting users tag bookmarks with as many words as wanted/needed (for easy recall later)
• Giving users the opportunity to keep some bookmarks private while sharing others with the public or with individuals
• Providing access to the largest group of bookmarks in the world

As for its use in teaching/learning, Delicious allows users to create huge groupings of resource materials in one area that is accessible from any computer, anywhere.  Teachers can facilitate their students by sharing their bookmarks with their students, while Delicious bubbles up additional bookmarks with related topics.  The convenience of a single location may be trumped by quick access to other sources.

I also chose to explore TokBox as my Screen Recorder tool and can see how useful it can be, especially for a large group.  (The more complex Video Meeting & Video Conference components are pay services, but the Video Chat service is free.)  While most video chatting services work with individuals, TokBox works by...

• Allowing up to 20 people to chat at one time
• Providing the opportunity to upload contacts from Yahoo, Facebook, emails, etc.)
• Working with Facebook & Twitter so that the user only has to issue one or two invitations
• Allowing users to search & share YouTube videos while chatting
• Enabling users to text chat (on the screen) at the same time as the video chatting

As for its use in teaching/learning, TokBox allows classes/meetings/projects to take place, even if all participants are in separate places (like a beach in Fiji).  It also allows a much larger group of people to interact at one time.  A teacher could chat with a student (or students could chat with each other) at any time to help with project, or a teacher could chat with a parent who cannot make it to meetings during school time.

The more we learn about these opportunities, the more potential I see for a classroom to be great on so many levels.

The Convenience of Google Reader

My group explored the convenience of Google Reader.  Together we explored its features (and then explored Google Document by simultaneously writing our summary of Reader). Basically, Reader allows you to keep track of a great deal of information in one convenient place, including:

• Blogs
• YouTube links
• RSS links
• Any website or group you join

In addition to wrangling different sites, Reader also has some clever features to make using it much better and more fun...

• One button to add a subscription (no going to the website to subscribe)
• Ways to categorize the links (i.e. create professional, personal, family, etc., groups)
• Whole post (not just a link to the site) is displayed without having to leave Reader 
• Recommends sites
• Can make notes about sites & star posts
• Can track trends of your subscriptions
• Can browse for subjects

Especially since starting school (while working too), my "spare" time is limited.  This will probably continue once I'm teaching.  While I only follow a few websites or blogs, Reader makes this much quicker, because I don't have to search all over the web (or look through those pesky bookmarks) to find the sites.  While I find it pretty easy to navigate (or at least can ask Google for help with the help button), I don't check it frequently.  However, when I do, I can get a little overwhelmed by all of the posts (even though I only have 7 subscriptions).

Secrets of Success - Radiolab

Secrets of Success - Radiolab

Some of you are probably sick of hearing me go on about the radio show Radiolab.  If so, please ignore me & check out this episode anyway.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Radiolab, it's a public radio show produced through WNYC.  The concept is that "boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience," and it usually takes a scientific approach to dealing with various subjects.  I always have more questions & a less-clear point of view at the end of each show. 

This linked episode is a relatively short (25 min.) but deep conversation with Malcolm Gladwell about ability & what makes people great.  It certainly has some good points and is entertaining too.   

I think it is important for us to look at the multitude of factors that make people successful, because that will enable us to help more students achieve that success.  Certainly, everyone cannot be great in everything, but there are usually a variety of things combining to lift people up.  It seems a little lazy to me that we often attribute genius over hard work to some success.

If you like this, then you should check out the Radiolab website (or their podcasts through iTunes).  They have all of their shows archived & up for download in a variety of ways. Here's the web address:

http://www.radiolab.org/

OTEN Conference (Incl. Yodio post)

The OTEN Conference basically made me feel much better about my technological deficiencies.  All three speakers I saw stressed that we as educators do not need to know everything about all technology to bring it into the classroom.  Instead, we should bring technology into our classrooms and have students teach us how to use it better.  We should experiment with new technology and look at that as a way to play.

This got me thinking about the question...why do some teachers balk at the idea of learning new technology?  Is it because it's unfamiliar territory that is hard?  If that is the case, then we should want to learn it in order to be good models.  We ask our students to willingly tackle hard unfamiliar material, and we should be doing the same thing.  If they see us eagerly learning in the same way we ask them to learn, that may be a skill that they will take more seriously.

To check out my Yodio review of the keynote and the 2 sessions I attended:

Blogs as Tools

Thinking about blogs a bit more, I see how useful they can be for teachers and students, on a multitude of levels.  The use of blogs, along with a variety of other activities, can give an opportunity for all students to find a voice.


For Teachers...

• Blogs provide a convenient location to post all students' homework, extras on class topics (i.e. links to music clips, video clips, & anything that might interest students), post-class discussion topics, etc.
• Teachers can post a video or audio clip for students to check out before coming to class, thus allowing instant discussion without wasting precious class time viewing or listening to the piece.
• This opens up an excellent discussion forum where teachers can better assess their students' understanding of the material and concepts without the students feeling "tested."
• Communication with parents is quicker and more easily accessible.

For Parents...

• Parents have a direct link to the teacher and classroom.  They can see assignments and what goes on in their children's classes.
• In addition, parents can see the discussions and idea development from all students, not just from their own child's perspective.

For Students...

• Students gain more technical literacy and proficiency.
• Blogs provide a format for their ideas without the strict academic writing structure of a formal essay.  Students are able to spend more time formulating ideas and less time worrying about format.
• Time is set aside for discussion and reflection.  In this format, all students' opinions matter.
• In addition, this type of discussion helps students learn from and teach each other, which brings a much deeper understanding of the material and allows different points of view.  They can see the collective picture better and find correlations to other areas of life.
• Some students find this format an easier place to speak up than the face-to-face setting in the classroom.  In addition, students are able to do this work at their convenience and in a place they are comfortable.

Bio (First Blog Ever!)

Today begins my foray into blogging.   While this is new territory, I am a bit scared but mostly excited.  The beginning must start with my bio...just a little bit about myself. 


I grew up the only child in a Montana ranching family that raised race horses.  We moved around a lot trying to find the best place for such a life (Montana, Wyoming & Louisiana) until my parents came to their senses and switched careers.  Because of those moves, I developed a wanderlust and an ability to easily adapt to new situations.  Between high school and college, I backpacked through Fiji, Australia, New Zealand & the Cook Islands.  (I also just learned that there is now a phrase for that - a gap year.  Back then some people just thought I was crazy.)  I went to college at the University of Vermont & then worked my husband through law school in Topeka Kansas before moving to Oregon.  In all of those places, the common thread has been my interest in culture and society, particularly how it all comes together.


I am beginning my MAT degree at Willamette University so that I can be a high school social studies teacher.  Having a degree in Comparative Religion, I am primarily interested in world studies, humanities and history.  My goal is to help students break from some of the compartmentalized learning they encounter and to teach them how everything ties together.  No one institution in any society is separate from the other parts, and students deserve to learn how to think for themselves and see the broader picture.


In school, I found that social studies can be excruciating if the teacher is boring.  I hope that my students will leave my class with the power to see that the past directly affects our lives and will also leave with a desire to see what lies beyond their worlds.  Really, I would be happy if my students leave my classroom with a few "ah ha" moments and a sense of adventure.  (I would love to bump into one of them in some far-flung corner of the globe.)