Of all of the tools to which I have been exposed throughout this course I would say that blogging is definitely the one that I will use the most during my teaching career. I think that blogging allows users to fold in a lot of other Web 2.0 technologies, like podcasting and photo-sharing, into one place and it allows readers to comment on those posts. As a teacher I would like to be able to continue discussions with my students outside of the classroom and I think that a blog would be the best technology to use to do that. Blogging will also give me the opportunity to reflect upon lessons and make any additions after the fact and post them for all of my students to access, see, and ask questions about.
When the school year starts in September I am going to require that my students sign up for my blog and make a habit of looking at it on a daily basis for a few minutes. I will most likely require that they post a certain number of comments per month on posts that they find interesting, have questions about, or would like to find out more about.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
New Literacies for the 21st Century
There are two great challenges for educators to overcome in their quest to make their students more familiar and adept with using Web 2.0 technologies that are currently available and those that are coming in the future. First, schools need to allow students and teachers to actually use these technologies in the school and in the classroom. My school blocks all blogs, so that effectively prevents teachers from using blogs to keep students informed throughout the day or from teaching them how to use one effectively. Schools need to be more adaptable and quicker to respond to change.
Second, teachers need to realize that, while our students keep us young and up-to-date on the latest technologies, this does not necessarily include changes on the web. Many students have little knowledge about how to set up a website, start or blog, or record a podcast. They can learn these things very quickly and easily, but typically only do so when required by a teacher for a project. Teachers need to recognize this and make sure that they take courses, such as Web 2.0 technologies, from time to time to keep themselves informed about the power and potential of the web.
In order to teach our students how to use these technologies teachers need to be willing to give their students assignments that require use of Web 2.0 tools and demand their usage. By making additional information available on a teacher-created blog or website, and making it clear that students must check these forums, teachers will make their students become familiar with these tools in a positive and productive way. There are so many different ways that teachers can positively influence their students now beyond the 45 minute class period each day. Education can become more diverse and fulfilling for teachers and students if they use Web 2.0 technologies.
Second, teachers need to realize that, while our students keep us young and up-to-date on the latest technologies, this does not necessarily include changes on the web. Many students have little knowledge about how to set up a website, start or blog, or record a podcast. They can learn these things very quickly and easily, but typically only do so when required by a teacher for a project. Teachers need to recognize this and make sure that they take courses, such as Web 2.0 technologies, from time to time to keep themselves informed about the power and potential of the web.
In order to teach our students how to use these technologies teachers need to be willing to give their students assignments that require use of Web 2.0 tools and demand their usage. By making additional information available on a teacher-created blog or website, and making it clear that students must check these forums, teachers will make their students become familiar with these tools in a positive and productive way. There are so many different ways that teachers can positively influence their students now beyond the 45 minute class period each day. Education can become more diverse and fulfilling for teachers and students if they use Web 2.0 technologies.
Podcasting
I have to admit that podcasting is pretty cool and surprisingly easy. When I was in high school I worked for the school television station and I forgot how intimidating it can be when the recording starts and it's just you and a microphone and silence. The first podcast I created was a primer for my AP students on the class itself. If you would like to listen to it you can find it here: Welcome to AP US History. The URL for my MyPodcast page is: http://mansersapush.mypodcast.com/index.html and you can find my podcast there as well.
I enjoyed looking around and listening to different podcasts, especially at the University of Virginia site because they have podcasts organized by the topic so it's really easy to listen to what you want. As a matter of fact, I'm listening to a podcast while I'm writing this post. For my students, I would have them answer potential essay questions using podcasts. This would force them to organize their answers before they dictated them. The biggest problem I have with my students is getting them to organize their essay answers before they write them. By creating a podcast they would have to organize their answer beforehand, which would hopefully lead to a more coherent and well developed response. This would meet the NETS-S standards of "Technology Operations and Concepts" because my students would have to learn how to podcast before they could do it and also "Creativity and Innovation" because they would be taking what they had learned in class and would be applying it to their podcasts.
I enjoyed looking around and listening to different podcasts, especially at the University of Virginia site because they have podcasts organized by the topic so it's really easy to listen to what you want. As a matter of fact, I'm listening to a podcast while I'm writing this post. For my students, I would have them answer potential essay questions using podcasts. This would force them to organize their answers before they dictated them. The biggest problem I have with my students is getting them to organize their essay answers before they write them. By creating a podcast they would have to organize their answer beforehand, which would hopefully lead to a more coherent and well developed response. This would meet the NETS-S standards of "Technology Operations and Concepts" because my students would have to learn how to podcast before they could do it and also "Creativity and Innovation" because they would be taking what they had learned in class and would be applying it to their podcasts.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Online Photosharing
This is a picture of my 5th period class from the 2006-2007 school year. Once I got the hang of Flickr I didn't mind using it. The one thing that I would like to see Flickr add is the ability to upload more than one photograph at a time. Facebook allows this and it is so much easier to upload 50 pictures at once instead of having to do it one at a time. That way you can click upload and walk away from your computer while Facebook uploads all of the photos. The upside to Flickr is that you can see more photographs and add them to your favorites or to your album, which you cannot do with Facebook, unless you are friends with that person.
There is a paper that I ask my AP students to complete during the year that asks them to analyze a series of Depression era photographs and then discuss what New Deal programs attempted to solve the problems shown in the photograph. I could make this an online assignment and ask my students to post their comments about the photographs and that way they could learn from each other's ideas. This would satisfy that NETS-S standard of "Communication and Collaboration" because they would be exchanging ideas using Web 2.0 technologies.
There is a paper that I ask my AP students to complete during the year that asks them to analyze a series of Depression era photographs and then discuss what New Deal programs attempted to solve the problems shown in the photograph. I could make this an online assignment and ask my students to post their comments about the photographs and that way they could learn from each other's ideas. This would satisfy that NETS-S standard of "Communication and Collaboration" because they would be exchanging ideas using Web 2.0 technologies.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Social Bookmarking
I have to say that everything I have done in my Web 2.0 course so far I have liked and will continue to use after the course is over. I am not so sure about switching over to Social Bookmarking though. Perhaps after I have worked with it a little more I will find it easier to use than the standard web browser bookmark section. I know that if I bought a new computer, etc. I would definitely use Delicious to save all of my bookmarks, but right now I think the regular bookmarks on the web browser is easier to use and organize.
In class, however, I would use social bookmarking as a year long assignment and I would break my students into groups and ask that each group contribute one website per unit to the course social bookmark page. This way we would add 4 or 5 new websites at the completion of each unit and by the end of the course we would have plenty of great web resources to use in future years. This would satisfy the NETS-S standard of "Technology Operations and Concepts" because my students would become familiar with social bookmarking and, by the end of the course, understand how it works and how it is applicable to their own learning.
In class, however, I would use social bookmarking as a year long assignment and I would break my students into groups and ask that each group contribute one website per unit to the course social bookmark page. This way we would add 4 or 5 new websites at the completion of each unit and by the end of the course we would have plenty of great web resources to use in future years. This would satisfy the NETS-S standard of "Technology Operations and Concepts" because my students would become familiar with social bookmarking and, by the end of the course, understand how it works and how it is applicable to their own learning.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
RSS Feeds
I had a terrific experience on Bloglines and learned about a bunch of blogs that I didn't even know existed because of their recommendations. Bloglines and Google Reader have made my internet usage experience completely different. All I have to do now is go to two websites and most of my internet viewing is taken care of!
I added CNN.com and the Daily Kos as feeds on this blog and it was incredibly simple. I liked how Blogger gave you the chance to check and make sure that you had entered the correct URL and that these were the sites that you actually want to add.
My school district does not allow students to access blogs in school, but in a perfect world I would add a news sites like CNN.com, FOXnews, and network news sites like ABC and then ask my students to check them on a daily basis and compare the major stories that each site posts. I would then ask my students to judge the political leanings of the sites based on the types of stories that they are highlighting and the content of those stories. This would meet the NETS-S standard of Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making because students would be asked to make decisions about the kinds of internet sites that they should turn to for information.
I added CNN.com and the Daily Kos as feeds on this blog and it was incredibly simple. I liked how Blogger gave you the chance to check and make sure that you had entered the correct URL and that these were the sites that you actually want to add.
My school district does not allow students to access blogs in school, but in a perfect world I would add a news sites like CNN.com, FOXnews, and network news sites like ABC and then ask my students to check them on a daily basis and compare the major stories that each site posts. I would then ask my students to judge the political leanings of the sites based on the types of stories that they are highlighting and the content of those stories. This would meet the NETS-S standard of Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making because students would be asked to make decisions about the kinds of internet sites that they should turn to for information.
Wikis
I have to say that creating my Wiki was very easy. The URL for my wiki is: http://mansersapush.pbworks.com/
The best way to use the Wiki for my AP US History class would be to ask my students to create pages for the 1000 or so terms that they need to know for the AP exam. This way they could add to each other's definitions and create links between the pages so that they can learn better how different historical events are interconnected. This activity would definitely meet the Communication and Collaboration standard as well as the Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Decision Making standard for NETS-S since my students would be working with each other to answer questions about the most important historical events and persons in American history.
In terms of my own wiki experiences I have used Wikipedia a lot of the past few years, but I had never checked the history. I searched Ronald Reagan and saw that his page had been changed 5 times today!! I was really surprised at how much his page is changed.
The best way to use the Wiki for my AP US History class would be to ask my students to create pages for the 1000 or so terms that they need to know for the AP exam. This way they could add to each other's definitions and create links between the pages so that they can learn better how different historical events are interconnected. This activity would definitely meet the Communication and Collaboration standard as well as the Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Decision Making standard for NETS-S since my students would be working with each other to answer questions about the most important historical events and persons in American history.
In terms of my own wiki experiences I have used Wikipedia a lot of the past few years, but I had never checked the history. I searched Ronald Reagan and saw that his page had been changed 5 times today!! I was really surprised at how much his page is changed.
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