BP 14 - Final Cell Phones Are Not Evil

Here is a link to my webpage to view my podcast titled Cell Phones Are Not Evil.

BP14 20091004 iGoogle Screen Shots

BP13 2009103 Media Asset 2

Here is the link to my webpage that has the video under Podcast. Classtools.net Random Name/Word Picker.

BP8 2009102 Researching and Blogging about Web 20 Tools

Blabberize allows digital pictures to be animated to talk (blabber). I can use this in the classroom with middle and high school students. The student can take still pictures of people or animals and then create a story allowing the animal or person that have been blabberized to tell the story. Blabberize can also be used for a debate between to people or politicians for example.  To use blabberize, upload a picture to the site, then place the mouth over the mouth of the picture and adjust to include the chin area. If the computer does not have a built in mic, a headset with a boom mic will be needed for voice recording. One the voice recording is complete. Select the play button and the picture will talk. Blabberized pictures can be placed in PowerPoint slides for presentation.

Blabberize logo retrieved from www.blabberize.com

BP12 2009103 Researching and Blogging about Web 20 Tools

BioCube is  used to summarize an important person in history or a character in a book.  The student will answer the questions about the character for each of the 6 sides that help create the bio-cube.  Once they have answered all the questions, the student will print out the bio-cube.  Bio cubes can be used for classroom trivia.  A student can read clues from his or her bio-cube while the class tries to guess the person’s name.   It can also be used for test or quiz review.  Students can also exchange bio-cubes with one another.   The Bio-Cube activity can be used with students in grades 6 - 12 or younger depending on their typing and computer skills.

BP11 2009103 Researching and Blogging about Web 20 Tools

Sendsteps is a software that allows the audience to vote from their cellphones via SMS. The results of the poll appear within a PowerPoint presentation.  I think that this Web 2.0 tool could prove rather useful in an educational setting.  90% of high school students have cell phones.  Most of the bring them to class.  This could be an interactive way to get them to participate in a class discussion.  The teacher could ask a question and have the students respond via SMS to the answer choice that they think is best.  The teacher could also use the student's poll results to assess where the students are in their learning of the content that is being taught or was previously taught.  I think this is a great tool to help encourage classroom participation especially if it allows the student to remain anonymous when he or she answers the questions.

Sendsteps logo courtesy of http://www.sendsteps.com/

BP10 2009103 Researching and Blogging about Web 20 Tools

Random Name/Word Picker is an interactive site that is used by the teacher entering the names of his or her students students.  Upon pressing the fruit machine button (which works like a slot machine), it will randomly select a student's name to answer a question.  This is a good tool to use to ensure that every student gets the opportunity to participate in class.  As a teacher, this tool will also assist me in not overlooking any students because I was continually calling on the same students.

One way that Word Picker can be used is with vocabulary words.  The teacher would input a list of words and the student's can take turns defining the words or correctly spelling the words.

BP9 2009102 Reflective Media

Below is the link to my website that contains my podcast on Web 2.0 tool Ronin.
Podcast

BP7 2009102 - Lesson Plans Using Flicker

One lesson plan that I found online is for use for elementary students, but it can be adjusted for upper grade levels. The students would work in groups to find pictures for new verbs (ie. run, jump, sing, dance) that they were learning. This activity involved students using the Internet and Flikr’s search to locate pictures that illustrated the verbs that they were learning. The students would create a slide show from the pictures that they have selected for each of the new verbs.

Flickr can also be use to teach geometry. Students can locate pictures or take pictures of buildings, bridges or other objects that illustrate shapes and angles that are used in geometry. For example, the student might use a picture of the Pentagon located in Virginia, because it is shaped like a pentagon. The teacher could create a class group in Flickr, upload pictures for the students to access and identify the shapes and angles.

References

Tolstova, E. (n.d.). Lesson plan with flickr. Retrieved October 12, 2009, from
http://www.scribd.com/doc/19387797/Lesson-Plan-With-Flickr

BP6 2009102- Web 2.0 Tools

 Blogr is a Web 2.0 tool that I could use with my students. I also chose this site because it allows for the uploading of video, podcasts as well as still images. I like to do blogging with students because it helps them to improve their writing skills. It also allows for research, critical thinking and the sharing of information. Blogging also allows the students to have a voice and to discuss what they are learning and have learned. How I would use Blogr is I would assist a teacher in creating a blog for use with his or her class. For example, for Environmental Science class I assisted the teacher in creating a blog for Earth Day. The students were asked to blog about what is means to “Go Green” and how have they made changes if any towards going green. Another blog assignment was the student was to blog about their environmental footprint and what changes they could make to reduce waste.

Blogr also supports video which will come in handy when I do podcasts with foreign language students. It would be great to posts the student’s podcast to the class blogr site.

References:

Blogr logo obtained from www.blogr.com

BP5 2009102 - Researching and Blogging about Web 2.0 Tools

Ronin, www.roninapp.com, is a web based invoicing software that I could use with the special education students that run the Snack Shack. The Snack Shack sells snacks to students and faculty in the morning and again during lunch.  However, the faculty is often billed for their breakfast purchases monthly.  This software could help assist with the billing process.  Which to date, is a pen and paper process.   The Snack Shack does not have a cash register just a till.  I would use this software to teach the students alpha/numeric data entry skills, invoicing and some light accounting skills. One of the great things about Ronin (beside the fact that it is user friendly) is that it can be accessed from any computer anywhere.  All the student will need is a laptop or a desktop with Internet connection.  This web based software would allow the Snack Shack to invoice patrons via email and it would make it easier for the students to track accounts that are delinquent.

Once the software has been approved for purchase, I would first train the teachers that work at the Snack Shack  and then I would train the students on how to use Ronin.  I would follow up with additional training as needed.

References:

Logo graphic obtained from www.ronin.com

BP4 2009101 - Uses for Social Bookmarking in Education

Social Bookmarking is yet another Web 2.0 tool toward 21^st Century skills.  Social bookmarking does things that bookmarking in a web browser does not do.  It allows for sharing and online access from any computer anywhere.

Delicious has many educational possibilities (Muir, 2005):

1.    Websites for student research or projects

2.    Book recommendations

3.    Professional research

4.    List of Books you would like to read

5.    Placing web links on your school webpage

6.    Students find resources at home and access them at school and vice versa

7.    Share what you are reading or view what your peers are reading on the web

8.    Website collections tagged by school topic

Bookmarking allows for online access to bookmarks from any computer anywhere. Bookmarks are organized using keywords or tagging.  Tagging helps sort the bookmarks for easier access.  “Tagging” is another name for keywords. The keywords assigned to a link are decided by the user. Some keywords are more commonly used and are sometimes suggesting by the bookmarking software.  The descriptions serve as reminders or notes to self.  Bookmarks can be shared with other users or groups.  Bookmarks can be shared by giving users the URL directing them to your page or by RSS feed.

Examples of social bookmarking sites include Delicious.com, PortaPortal.com, onlywire.com, bonzobox.com, citeulike.com, and buddyMarks.com.

In the classroom, a teacher can have a collection of source sites as a part of a bookmarking group, thus giving the students a live link to select instead of fumbling through typing a long URL into the address bar

Social bookmarking also lets students choose from a variety of acceptable links, making for productive research that still allows for variability. (wiki.classroom20.com/socialbookmarking)  Additionally, students can search for information using keywords to bring up lists of Web sites related to their topic that others have compiled.  This way they can find information that they might not have thought to look at (Solomon & Shrum, 2007).

Another way that social bookmarking can be used in education is among educators.  Teachers of the same grade level or even Media Specialists (Librarians) can set up an account using Delicious (for example), to share classroom resources, links to class blogs, and content area grade level activities.  This school year, I plan to start such a bookmarking group starting with the media specialists at the three elementary schools that I work at.  I think that it will benefit them greatly to be able to share resources and increase communication with one another.

References:

Muir, D. (2005). Simply delicious. Retrieved on October 8, 2009 from http://personal.strath.ac.uk

Social bookmarking (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2009 from

http://wiki.classroom20.com/Social+Bookmarking

Solomon, G., Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0 new tools, new schools. Washington,

DC: International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

BP3 2009101 - Anti-Teaching

     Studies have shown that students perform better in class, and on tests when technology is used in the classroom. Students want to be engaged. When technology is used in the classroom the teacher then becomes a facilitator and students can take ownership for their learning experience.
Technology and the use of Web 2.0 tools allow students to be creative and to hone their higher order thinking skills. Web 2.0 tools also allow students the opportunity to create, share, collaborate, explore and evaluate their work and the work of others.

      During the MLT class, I completed an online test to determine my learning style or MI. My results were: Intrapersonal 80%, Bodily/Kinesthetic 75%, Interpersonal 70%, Visual/Spatial 50%, Naturalist 45%, Verbal/Linguistic 40%, Logical/Mathematical 35%.

     Students each have their own learning styles. Technology makes it possible to target the right approach for each student in order to provide individualized and differentiated instruction (Solomon & Shrum, 2001)

     As a instructional technology teacher, I am looking forward to learning more about PLEs and how they can be used in the classroom. I am familiar with course management systems such as Blackboard, D2L and Moodle.

     As mentioned in the video Schools Out – Personal Learning Environments, the classroom has remained the same since the 19th century. The teacher stands in front of the classroom and presents or distributes information to students. Students memorize the information at best to prepare and pass a test. Passing a multiple choice test does not mean that you fully understand the information that was previously taught. Many teachers teach the test instead of teaching to the student. In the real world, assessments are performance based. Project based learning is a great way to assess a student’s understanding and level of learning. It is time for a new school. It is time to reform education and the classroom environment. In the new school, teaching should be student centered and less teacher centered. The student should be allowed to be creative and to have ownership of his or her learning. When it comes to using technology the students are ahead of most of their teachers. Teachers need to catch up and should be offered staff development opportunities geared towards integrating technologies. Teachers should integrating technology into their curriculum on a weekly basis. Death by PowerPoint is not what I mean by technology. Key components in the new school involve students creating movies, photostories, blogging, social network sites, podcast, RSS feeds, webquests, CPS systems, website creation, collaborating, anything other than an assignment that ends in the student creating a PowerPoint. There would be greater use of open source software such as GoogleDocs and Open Office. Students would be allowed to be creativity. Each student would have their own laptop for use during the school year.

     School systems lose many students each year because they are bored with school or don’t see the benefit of what they are being taught. It is time for a change. Technology is a vital part of creating the new school. For many students, VLE and CMS is the answer.

BP2 2009102 - RSS Feeds

The five RSS feeds that I chose are:

Virginia Tech, because I like to keep up with Hokie Sports and campus events.

Mac World because I like to stay informed on just about everything MAC.

Black Enterprise because I am an entrepreneur and I like to read about effective and efficient ways to run a business.

Hampton University because that is my alma mater.

eSchool News – to keep with technology news as it pertains to education.

Edutopia – keep up with trends and success stories in public education. I also get a lot of ideas for new things to implement in the classroom.

BP1 2009101- Blogging In Education

Blogging in the classroom can allow teachers to display what it is going on in their classrooms.  It can be used to display student work, post upcoming events and even allow parents to posts comments.

Blogging can also be used to help improve students’ writing skills.  The teacher could post a question and the students have to research and respond to the question.  The student can also respond to another student’s post.  Blogging can improve communication, foster collaboration, and higher order thinking skills among students.