Online social networking does not appeal to me. I am a “people person” and I am more inclined to walk down the hall or pick up the phone to make contact. My sister began this years ago with MOO’s and MUD’s. Her specialty is technology and writing and I find her available as a contact whenever I try a new toy. On FaceBook – she has constant messages. I joined Twitter and got an instant reply from her. She is more likely to be communicating online - with instant messages popping up from students – than leaving her office (except for the string of meetings in higher ed).
FaceBook is the model I’ve used in the past – I saw many interesting groups to join – but as a faculty member – I have to be careful about what I model. I know we recommend that student teachers “clean up” some of their easily accessible sites before applying for jobs.
ClassRoom 2.0 and Ning were both interesting – I saw a few groups of interest – but I’m too impatient to wait for responses. I saw one example on NING of a group affiliated with the University of Chicago Charter Schools that looked like an interesting model. In Classroom 2.0 – I checked out the Home Economics group (that was my undergraduate major) – but there were no posts.
A forum discussion in Classroom 2.0 on preservice teachers caught my attention – it addressed the difficulty of moving teacher candidates from the student role to the teacher role. I think it might be more difficult in some of the social networking environments and models that they have used in the past. It may seem that as “teachers” we are invading their “student” territory. I experienced that on the phone with one of my sons last night. I mentioned finding him in Twitter – and he expressed having started an account – but never following up. I also suggested posting my pride of his college 4.0 (2nd semester in row) on my FaceBook page – but said I didn’t want to embarrass him. His response was that noone would notice! So – back to my question – are we invading territory that our digital natives need for themselves? Social network sites that are limited to teachers may be the answer – but it goes back to the discusson in the Willard article – how do we monitor?
December 17, 2008
I found this on my Google Reader – Educblogs feed – http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/2008/12/16/quick-start-tips-for-new-skype-users/
I’ve had the opportunity to sit in on Skype meetings – and I’ve talked to friends who use Skype to communicate with their kids to save on long distance bills. This was very helpful and is one of my next challenges!
December 16, 2008
WOW! Pageflakes was fun. I’m sitting here keeping up with my Facebook crew – I’ve “twittered” a few friends – and I’ve got some great music playing. Now I need to see if I can integrate my xmradio account? I’m not thrilled with the picture feeds – I need to develop my own pictures to post. The video feed is one I still need to explore a bit more. With a bit of adjustment – I could see using this as a home page for a teacher and include homework assignments – or a department in-house communication page. Right now – I have to check Thing 21 as completed on my to-do list – and tomorrow (after I finish all of my homework!) I need to figure out the sticky note option.
December 16, 2008
Google docs is great! I’ve been trying to clean up my KSU email account and my hard drive – and the multiple emails with various versions of the same project were everywhere!
I’ve tried to use Kennesaw Files – but access is limited to KSU folks – and isn’t really functional for working with folks in the public schools. And it is good for work – but not other projects!
I couldn’t wait to share Google docs with a friend – but he wasn’t as interested as I was. I quickly figured out how to do several functions in document, spreadsheet and presentation formats. Quickly – that is – after I realized the receiver for my wireless keyboard had fallen off the desk and that was the reason things wouldn’t work the way I expected. I had to stop myself from jumping into the holiday newsletter when an invitation from Google and some templates popped up.
I loved the ease of inserting video into my presentation slides. I clicked on insert and it already went to YouTube and identified some videos that matched my slide title! The sharing part would be helpful when I’m working on a presentation – the other presenters can add in their slides and we can give each other feedback. This will save some of my email space – I won’t have different versions stacking up.
I tried to post my department newsletter – but the format I have is too cumbersome – I have trouble cutting and pasting items when I update each month – I may have to cruise google docs for a newsletter template that would work better. Maybe I could try writing the articles – and then cut and paste into fancy template later. Since I send it out electronically – we could begin to include links to video clips of some of our activities.
The spreadsheet had a neat function – it could generate a form that would help populate the spreadsheet. I need more time to play with that.
December 16, 2008
I found this article and recognized a kindred spirit – the challenges of cyberspace and digital immigrants! http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2008/12/16/stewart
December 16, 2008
Here is my attempt at a podcast: KennesawBrown practice podcast recorded on Audacity, converted by LAME and stored on G-Cast.
I’ve enjoyed podcasts for a while through I-tunes. I took a podcasting course from KSU ETC and had fun creating a podcast – but I haven’t had time to follow-up. I subscribe to the Sequoyah Library audio books – and never have time to listen to them. If I could remember to charge my MP3 player – I could listen to them in my “free time.”
I would like to provide podcasts from good sources to supplement the online course I teach. I would also like to develop a few podcasts to provide variety for my students. And there are podcasts that can help me keep current with my professional development.
My favorite podcasts were the free tuition ones from MIT and the ones from PBS.
December 15, 2008
I’ve received links to You Tube videos and done some searches before. I’ve included a link to 2 favorites for fun: The Ron Clark Academy presidential debate video: There are multiple versions – video by a member of the audience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj5eWRzDhNI or the CNN version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgEGtYWonds
and a music video about segrated special education classrooms What\’s so funny about goin to the resource room?
I’ve had less experience with Teacher Tube – but I found this interesting link: Pay Attention http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=40c570a322f1b0b65909&page=1&viewtype=&category= that addresses the digital native. This includes the references for the data.
I also added a few of these to my Del.icio.us account for future use http://delicious.com/KennesawTeacher Some videos were too specific or included a “sales pitch”. The length of the video clips is a challenge – I have several old videos that I have converted to DVD format so I can use them later. I learned how to do i-movies and FINALLY have a mac in my office so I can get back to trying to use that as a vehicle for selecting small sections of video to illustrate a concept. The video on You Tube about the RTI process http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkK1bT8ls0M&feature=related was very well done and gave me ideas on how to develop my own.
December 15, 2008
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Have you noticed the CC logo on any websites you visit? Did you wonder what it meant? I never paid attention until Thing 10 activities. Now I see that it is on several websites I visit – along with a lot of other letters I never noticed before (RSS, etc).
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Do you think CC will impact the way students learn and create projects? How? It is helpful to explain and reinforce the concept of ownership for web material. I realize I’ve been guilty of assuming if it is on the web I can use it. The procedure for linking the source credit is helpful.
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Do you use digital images, audio or video clips from the web in your teaching (or professional practice)? I’ve used a lot of images for my presentations and onine courses. I tend to use Microsoft clips (now I’m curious if these need to include a source code?). I have also used images from other sources – and now I know to look for the CC label – or check on whether it is “public domain.”
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Do you ever share content on the web? I’ve always been hesitant to share too much on the web – my KSU personal web page is vey bland since I can’t seem to decide on a theme or way to “protect” my property. At one point, my online vita on this page included links to ppt presentations.
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Who owns your teaching materials? Technically – I own the materials I develop – but there are pieces that come from other sources. I have opened my WebCT Vista to peers since I want feedback.
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What are some potential negatives for using CC? I was frustrated since I couldn’t find images that matched my needs. I think my area of specialization may be too limited – I tend to go to medical sites for many images.
December 15, 2008
Complete a blog post reflecting on your initial thoughts about Web 2.0 and its role in 21st Century teaching and learning. Consider the ways in which Web 2.0 tools might change (or have already changed) your professional practice. How might you be able to use these new tools to to engage today’s “digital learners?” Why would you want to? How might you be able to use these tools to support your own learning?
I thought I’d start this section with a Web 2.0 video I discovered at TeacherTube that addresses the digital native: Pay Attention I’ve seen this data before – and it always reminds me that I am what Wikipedia describes as a digital immigrant.
I’ve played with some of the Web 2.0 tools before – but did not have the time to master them to the level of really integrating them effectively in my online course or webpages. My pre Web 2.0 (even pre-Web) history can be found at my blog page About KennesawBrown: http://kennesawbrown.edublogs.org/about/ and my recent attempts in dealing with Web 2.0 at my latest wiki page http://babyboomermeetsweb2.pbwiki.com/FrontPage
I thought I had it figured out until I discovered this link from Apple addressing the differences between digital natives and digital immigrants: http://www.apple.com/au/education/digitalkids/disconnect/landscape.html and I discovered that my learning style is really aligned with the digital native style! I struggle with remembering (maybe that is age related) all of the accounts, passwords, processes, etc. – but my biggest problem is multi-tasking (right now I have at least 8 windows with different applications running) so I can cut and paste – search etc. Recent research, however, seems to prove that multi-tasking is really counter-productive since the brain can typically only process one task at a time and you lose more “time” getting back on track as your switch from task to task. I guess my hyper style is typical of the digital native learner – and I can see how we can overload our students with too much at once in our quest to provide multiple sources for them to choose from.
December 15, 2008
Library Thing might be just what I need to organize my professional library at work. At home, I tend to be a library person – I check out books rather than buy them. When I do buy books – I tend to donate them to our local library when I finish since I hate to see them gathering dust (ok – so now you know – I’m not the best housekeeper!).
Library Thing would be helpful if I were teaching a children’s literature course – or doing professional development in this area. It would help teachers share reviews and target audiences.
Now I want to search and find a similar site to organize my eclectic music collection. I guess i-tunes might be a starting point?
I found the Del.icio.us account very helpful. I have different “favorites” on the various computers I use – and I’m still trying to find time to organize them into meaningful folders. I like the tags that help me organize – and I keep finding new material to add – now I have to import some of my “old” favorites as well. http://delicious.com/KennesawTeacher
December 13, 2008
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