Twitter is a “free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send “ updates” or “tweets” (text based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website”(Stevens, 2008). Gabriella Grosseck and Carmen Holotescu (2008) see Twitter as a mashup of personal publishing and communication.Twitter has drastically changed how information is created and shared. Since Twitter began in 2006 it has morphed from an “alternative” form of communication to being used by mainstream young people to now being utilized more by the general public. Through these changes, many sites have been developed to enhance the world of Twitter. Some of these sites are Tweetdeck (groupings), Twellow (directory), Twitter Notifier, Twitty Tunes, and many more (Stevens, 2008). Twitter is more interactive than blogging. (Stevens, 2008) and can be used with several different apps such as Firefox. Delicious, Flickr, Facebook, Google, etc.(Stevens, 2008).
REFLECTIONS
When I began my journey into the “bird monster” land I had never seen nor experienced such a creature. I really tried to become engaged in the world of Twitter but as many people would say, I just didn’t get it. Stevens says that to understand the attraction of Twitter you have to “have your finger on the pulse of what is pumping the lifeblood through the Internet” (Stevens, 2008). I guess my pulse finder needs to be repaired because I just couldn’t see the attraction. I tried. I signed up for a Twitter account the first week of class and signed up to follow the people that had been assigned. I faithfully checked my account for the next two weeks of class. I did find that there were some intriguing comments that I wanted to follow. My frustration was with not being able to keep up with the Tweets. My job does not allow me time to check my account during the school day and by the time I could check it at night nothing made sense to me. I could not find the beginning of a conversation and coming in half way through did not make sense. The problem is you can only see the most recent tweets and when the page is full the rest are gone. So unless you are constantly checking your Twitter account a piece of information that was referred to may be gone. In a world where a person barely has time to go to the washroom and rarely gets lunch I do not have time to “follow” people on Twitter. Another problem, for me, was that I was not interested in hearing about personal conversations that I was not a part of. It felt like I was eavesdropping on private conversations. The information meant nothing to me because there was no context for me. I realize that if you have time to keep up and include yourself in the conversation it will have meaning but once again I do not have the time when needed.
Not being one to give up easily, I persevered and tried another approach to seeing the benefits of Twitter. I turned to the Trailfire to help me understand this bird monster. After viewing the Trailfire, I was less confused about the technical aspects of Twitter but still did not see the point of it. So the next step was to listen to Mack Maile’s Elluminate session about Twitter. I found listening to Mack very enlightening. I was beginning to see the relevance of the hashtags and learn some of the abbreviations but I still had trouble “getting it”. Then I went to the Leading and Learning Conference in Red Deer this past Friday and Saturday where Will Richardson and Alec Couros were two of the guest speakers. They both included information about Twitter in their sessions and I can now understand the appeal. It is still going to take some time to cultivate a group of people I want to follow (my own PLN) but at least I now see the interest and the relevance. Since coming home from the convention I have been following Alec and Will and even though I do not really care about how good Alec’s limo driver could discuss politics, I am trying to see something beneficial. I can now see the appeal of Twitter to a generation of people who are constantly “connected” to their digital world. Being connected to a PLN allows people to constantly know what is going on in the world that they are passionate about and increases a person’s digital social presence (Dunlap and Lowenthal, 2009). I will continue to follow Alec Couras and Will Richardson because I now feel like I have a connection. Maybe for me it was about needing to make a connection first. Even Will Richardson in a 2008 blog post titled “On the Twitterialization of Blogging, Networks, etc.” said that he only followed people whom he had met in person.
As with all Web tools there are positives and negatives. Grosseck and Holotescu (2008) see Twitter as beneficial for promoting individual’s blogs, marketing/PR, endorsing politics, keeping aware of the news and networking. Stevens (2008) says that one of the benefits of using Twitter is the immediacy of the information giving a person a sense of connectivity. However, Stevens (2008) also laments about the time consumed keeping up with Twitter and sees one of the biggest flaws of Twitter is it frustrates people whose lifestyle does not revolve around having the time to maintain their Twitter accounts. This is echoed by Will Richardson in a 2008 blog post titled “On the Twitterialization of Blogging, Networks, etc.” where he talks about “Twitter Guilt”. He refers to the guilt one feels when they do not read others posts because they are not interesting etc. He talks about needing to block out the “noise” on Twitter so that he can find relevant posts. In the same post Will also wonders if we are dumbing down reading and writing. He admits that since he started using Twitter he reads less and blogs less. Is the easy access to 140 character, grammatically incorrect, spelling challenged posts going to impact the literacy of the future generation? I guess we will wait and see if we have another “whole language” fiasco.
It seems as though Twitter has changed to a bird monster that just needs to be understood and tamed.
PERSONAL USE
I do not know if I will use Twitter in my personal life. It may be one of the tools that I am now aware of but does not fit my lifestyle or occupation. It is very time consuming and almost seen as addictive (Grosseck and Hotescu, 2008). However, if I chose to use Twitter I could use it to follow or engage in conversation about:
1. The news as often things are reported as soon as someone hears about an event and you do not have to wait for the next newscast.
2. The trends of movies and books
3. Travel ideas and deals
4. Real estate (constantly looking to increase our holdings)
5. Wines
6. Restaurants
The key will be to cultivate a PLN that I am engaged in. Will Richardson in his 2008 blog post titled “On the Twitterialization of Blogging, Networks, etc” says that the people he follows he knows and has met in person. I have learned from my experience that I need to feel a vested interest in the people in my PLN. Right now I feel like I am a bytstander watching the bird monster. I do not fully understand it and therefore see it as a monster. Once I engage with it more I will hopefully want it for a pet.
I can see Twitter as being used as the social barometer for gauging the public outcry surrounding political announcements, events, people and issues. I can see the appeal of people wanting to keep up to date information on celebrities, politicians or global issues. It is the notion of creating a constantly connected PLN to maintain a watchful eye over the interests of humanity that puts a person’s mind at ease.
As an aside, can you imagine the influence on public perception by the microblog posts of celebrities or people with large numbers of followers? If someone with a large number of followers tweets about something they enjoyed like a movie, book, restaurant, travel destination, etc., that one small Tweet could create a feeding frenzy. Just imagine the power of social media and a FOAF.
PROFESSIONAL USE
Twitter has many possibilities for use in the classroom. Twitter can be a “real time” way to teach students to connect with the world. Will Richardson (Leading and Learning Conference, 2009) advocates for a need to teach students about creating an online or digital presence. Students need to learn to participate in the digital world and we as educators need to provide a safe environment for learning this new literacy. Students need to learn to access everyday experts in the field they are passionate about. Stevens (2008) as well as Grosseck and Hotescu (2008) and Dunlap and Lowenthal (2009) would agree with Richardson (2009) and suggest that using Twitter in the classroom can:
1. Enhance the dynamics of classroom conversations by giving everyone a voice anytime, anywhere (even the shy students)
2. Create bonds between students in the class as well as beyond the classroom between people of any age or walk of life that are passionate about the same things
3. Get a sense of the richness of the world
4. Provide instant assessment and feedback as Twitter is always on.
5. Track people, events, words, etc.
6. Be used to disseminate assignments, announcements, etc
7. Be a source of information
8. Track conversations between people
9. Facilitate project management
10. Support reflection
11. Be more efficient than RSS feeds
12. Encourage fact and perception checking
13. Augment research and reference checking
14. Encourage metacognition
15. Force a person to analyze and synthesize their thoughts into a succinct statement
16. Address issues in a timely manner
17. Create writing for a real audience
18. Connect learners with a community of professional learners
19. Maintain ongoing relationships and makes connections to people who may have otherwise never met
However, when using Twitter in the classroom teachers need to be aware that there are potential issues. The disadvantages of using Twitter according to Grosseck and Hotescu (2008) are:
1. Reinforces poor grammar and spelling
2. Twittering during a lesson can be too distracting
3. Time consuming
4. Potential response rate is limited
5. Addictive
6. Not going to enrich deep or meaningful learning
7. On call 24-7
8. Allows much faster spreading of rumours
9. Privacy
10. Spam
Teachers can also benefit from using the power of Twitter to develop PLN’s for Professional Development. Grosseck and Holotescu (2008) discuss that Twitter can be used to build a true educational community to share ideas, resources (lessons, assessments, books), best practices, philosophies, etc. Teachers need to be cognisant of the possible disadvantages of the tool but will also benefit from using Twitter in the ways mentioned above.
Before using Twitter in the classroom Grosseck and Hollescu (2008) and Dunlap and Lowenthal (2009) recommend to:
1. share with the students the language of microblogging and what it all means
2. think carefully about the purpose of it’s use and what topic to support.
3. not be afraid of re-tweeting something so that people who have just logged in are up to speed
4. learn and teach Twitter self-discipline.
5. be flexible and prepared for the direction that the tweets can take you.
6. be very open about what worked or didn't, and why/why not.
7. consider trying Twitter use on a pilot or trial basis, with a selected group
8. use a mix of the old and the new (it must be meeting the intended learning objectives of the lesson by alternative routes).
9. include students in the evaluation of the approach.
10. remember Twitter is a network of people. Be willing to share, engage and provoke thought
11. encourage students to participate – don’t demand
12. model effective Twitter use
13. build Twitter use into assessment
14. continue to actively participate in Twitter yourself
I realize that my comments in this blog post may be viewed as me being reluctant to use Twitter but I would rather be honest than use this blog as a work of fiction. Not every tool is going to be seen as useful. A person needs to pick and choose the ones that suit their needs. I have tried to see the benefits of owning a bird monster and even tried living with one for a while but right now a bird monster just doesn’t feel right.
REFERENCES
Couras, Alec. (Nov. 20, 2009) Leading and Learning Conference in Red Deer, Alberta.
Dunlap, Joanna and Lowenthal, Patrick. (2009) Tweeting the Night Away: Using Twitter to Enhance Social Presence. As retrieved Nov. 18, 2009 from http://www.patricklowenthal.com/publications/Using_Twitter_to_Enhance_Social_Presence.pdf
Grosseck, Gabriela and Holotescu, Carmen. (2008). Can We Use Twitter For educational Activities? As retrieved on Nov. 18, 2009 from http://adlunap.ro/eLSE_publications/papers/2008/015.-697.1.Grosseck%20Gabriela-Can%20we%20use.pdf
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Richardson, Will. (Nov. 21, 2009) Leading and Learning Conference in Red Deer, Alberta
Richardson, Will. (2008) On the Twitterialization of Blogs, Networks, Etc. As retrieved on Nov. 20, 2009 from http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/on-the-twitterialization-of-blogging-networks-etc/
Stevens, Vance. (2008). Trial By Twitter: The Rise and Slide of the Year’s Most Viral Microblogging Platform. As retrieved Nov. 18, 2009 from http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/past-issues/volume12/ej45/ej45int/?wscr
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Am I an Ostrich or Just a Chicken?
Wikipedia (2009) defines social networking as building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. The power of this social interaction is discussed by Will Richardson (2009) in his book Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts as the collaborative construction of knowledge. For me the question is, are teachers promoting the use of Social Networking just to use the sites or is there a better way to reach the intended objective? I want to further the education of my students but in a way that is productive and meaningful to both the students and myself. Which brings me to the title of this blog post, Am I an Ostrich or Just a Chicken? I am not sure of my own feelings about SNS and I am hopefully going to sort them out as I write this post.
REFLECTIONS ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
The research on social networks is fraught with mixed messages and conclusions. Is using social networks good or bad for a person? Cecilie Murray (2009) talks about how social networking increases communication amongst people. Nancy Baym , an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence says that the fears about using social networks are not supported. "There's no compelling evidence that spending time on social networking sites and expanding our social circles damages the close relationships we have." "People think if you're hanging out on Facebook, you're not having quality face-to-face time. That is not supported" (Jayson, 2009). Research found in Scientific American (Jayson, 2009) suggests that being part of a social network is good for you. It offers additional resilience, greater life satisfaction and reduces the risk of health problems. Keith Hampton, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia says, "we're not replacing everyday personal social networks with everyday online social networks. We're not substituting online for offline. We're augmenting" (Jayson, 2009).
However, in the same article Sharon Jayson (2009) says social networking sites can cause obesity, musculoskeletal problems, loss of privacy, being negatively influenced by a FOAF, overwhelming commercialism and addiction. (Did you know there is actually a residential treatment center in Washington for Internet addiction?)
I don’t know what to think. Am I afraid of the complications of using social networking sites or do I just want to keep my head in the sand so that I do not have to deal with the issues?
I began this journey knowing that social networking sites existed, knowing that my own children (now young adults) were on Facebook and that many of my friends and relatives were joining the Facebook revolution. I, however, preferred to talk to people on the phone or face to face. (I do not know if this is really a reason or just a justification for my resistance). I knew that I was missing out on things: information about people (OK gossip), photos of events, inside jokes, invitations to things, etc. This of course forced me to get with the 21st century and join Facebook. The first week of class I set up an account with a very strict privacy structure and then found out that there were FOAF who were being suggested as people I could add. My policy is I do not add people who I would not pick up the phone and call. I feel that these people do not need to know what is going on in my life and I certainly do not need to know what is going on in theirs. I stuck with my strict privacy settings. I check my Facebook every couple of days and my children are thrilled to have their mother “creeping” around their Facebook sites. I have not added any gadgets to my site although I know I can add photos, videos, word clouds, etc. I honestly have not taken the time but know when I am finished this class I will add photos and videos but probably not other gadgets as my friends will hassle me about showing off.
Next, I watched the trailfire, listened to Mack Male’s elluminate session and did some research on Social Networking sites. Then, I asked friends and colleaugues which sites they used and why. This was interesting as most are on Facebook because of its popularity and therefore a greater likelihood of someone you want to connect with being on this site. However, there were others on MySpace, LinkedIn, Ning, etc.
Ning is another social networking site I joined the first week of class and I love it. I am a part of the Classroom 2.0 group. It has helped on several occasions to get information for this course through an online chat or reviewing former posts. I am a follower on the Classroom 2.0 site and hope to make more use of Ning in the future
In both cases I am connected to people who have similar interests, my friends or relatives and my educational colleagues. I have morphed from a chicken into a ……?
PERSONAL USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
I am not a chicken anymore. I think I have morphed into a bluebird. I am now a member of Facebook and Ning. I am sold on their value and I will continue to use social networking sites as a method for maintaining connections with people of similar interests. I will use them to share information as well as create knowledge through a collaborative process.
I will use Facebook to maintain connections with family and friends. I can post media to share with others and view my friends or relatives posts to acquire the news in their lives. I have found that I do not need to update my status as frequently as my kids do but the odd post allows me to connect with friends and family that I would not see very often and reconnect with high school friends who live far away. I can share photos, videos or podcasts of my grand-daughter or our latest vacation, add links to other sites for a Voicethread, Animoto, word cloud, etc. One of my next projects is to plan my 50th birthday vacation with friends. We can share information through Facebook and make the decisions together.
Being on Facebook also allows, the mother in me, to snoop around my kids sites and use this information to begin conversations that we may not have had otherwise. I know they know where I got the information, as I am always very upfront about this, but it is sometimes a conversation starter that goes deep.
In the future, I want to use Ning for personal reasons. I would like to join an online book club and scrapbooking group, if one exists. If one does not already exist then maybe it can be a new Ning group that I create.
Social networking sites can also be used for disseminating information about social causes. This information can be about the cause’s goals or objectives, updated news, rallies, etc. It would be a quick method for getting news into the hands of the people who want it most.
Once again so many ideas and so little time!!!!!!!!!!!
PROFESSIONAL USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
The big question for many school districts is: should we allow the use of social networking sites in schools? Some Districts see the potential issues of using social networking sites as far as security, privacy, authoring, potential viruses, etc. Other districts feel that we need to use these tools and teach students the proper use and etiquette of these social networking sites (Davies and Merchant, 2009). Researchers like Cecilie Murray feel that “what better way to learn the skills of communication, collaboration and protective online behaviour “ (Murray, 2009) than through SNS.
This is where I get bogged down. I keep telling myself that I should allow students to use Social Networking because we need to teach them about Internet safety etc. but selfishly I do not want to get involved in the issues of their personal Facebook sites. Am I being an ostrich? Maybe I just think that if I do not see it I will not have to deal with it? I know that I can set up Facebook pages with strict privacy settings for class use only but that is when I keep asking myself what is the purpose of using SNS and is there another way to achieve the same goal without the inherent problems of using something as popular and notorious as Facebook. After all, if I set up Facebook sites for class use only, then the privacy settings do not allow for input from others. Such parameters do not allow for social networking and collaborating with people other than your classmates. A class Facebook site may get members of the class, who would not normally address each other in class, talking but is there another format that would allow this to happen? Danah Boyd (2008) maintains that social networking has not caused people to build new relationships but been about socializing inside pre-existing networks. Which leads me back to, what is the point of using social networking sites? If I can use another tool which allows for the same collaboration and has fewer potential issues then I am going to take the path of least resistance and use the other tool. I agree that as educators we need to use tools to increase collaboration and knowledge creation. My question is; are social networking sites the best medium to use? (If you do choose to use social networking Cecilie Murray has some great advice.) Can the purposes of authoring content and collaboration for creating knowledge be achieved in other ways which are not as contentious with Tech Departments and parents. I do think that we need to “develop policies that strike a balance between safety and freedom while still allowing teachers to use the tools that are a part of everyday life for today’s students” (Murra, 2008) but my preference would be to use a blog or a wiki set up through an agrator so that I can censor the contents. A blog can be used to do all of the things that social networking sites like Facebook do and even more. Blogs have more gadgets and therefore stimulate even more creative methods to create knowledge.
Ning, on the other hand, is a great tool for use in the classroom as well as for Professional Development. In the classroom it allows you to create a social “networking forum to
share a wide variety of media in a completely private environment.” ” Students can discuss issues, disseminate information, collaborate on projects, embed media, personalize pages, embed blogging groups and online chat” (Classroom 2.0, 2009).
Lynne writes on the Ning Classroom 2.0 site that she sees “social networking as a revelation for an educator” (Classroom 2.0, 2009). She feels that social networking sites have decreased the isolation that teachers feel, taken education out of the hands of experts and put it into the hands of lay teachers to create their own knowledge about what works and what does not (Classroom 2.0, 2009).
I have used Ning to gather ideas for using Web 2.0 tools in my and my colleagues’ classrooms. With Ning you can join an already established group of like minded people seeking answers to similar questions or you can create a new group to facilitate a discussion in an area not yet developed. I am modeling the use of the tools that I find out about through my contacts on the Ning site and also finding ways to entice my colleagues into using a Web 2.0 tool. Hopefully the positive experiences of some of my colleagues will motivate others to pursue this technology.
I think my post this week has explored my change from a chicken to an ostrich and then to a blue bird. I guess the end of the morph is yet to come. Maybe I will end up a dove.
REFERENCES
Boyd, Danah. (2008). Social Networking is here to stay, Now What. As retrieved Nov. 12, 2009 from http://trailfire.com/joannedegroot/marks/295595
Davies, Julia. Merchant, Guy. (2009). Web 2.0 for Schools: Learning and Social Participation. New York, NY: Peter Lang
Jayson, Sharon. (2009) Asretrieved Nov. 11, 2009 from http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-09-27-social-networking_N.htm
Murray, Cecile. (2009) As retrieved Nov. 11, 2009 from
http://www.slav.schools.net.au/synergy/vol6num1/murray.pdf
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Wikipedia As retrieved on Nov. 13, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking
REFLECTIONS ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
The research on social networks is fraught with mixed messages and conclusions. Is using social networks good or bad for a person? Cecilie Murray (2009) talks about how social networking increases communication amongst people. Nancy Baym , an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas in Lawrence says that the fears about using social networks are not supported. "There's no compelling evidence that spending time on social networking sites and expanding our social circles damages the close relationships we have." "People think if you're hanging out on Facebook, you're not having quality face-to-face time. That is not supported" (Jayson, 2009). Research found in Scientific American (Jayson, 2009) suggests that being part of a social network is good for you. It offers additional resilience, greater life satisfaction and reduces the risk of health problems. Keith Hampton, an assistant professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia says, "we're not replacing everyday personal social networks with everyday online social networks. We're not substituting online for offline. We're augmenting" (Jayson, 2009).
However, in the same article Sharon Jayson (2009) says social networking sites can cause obesity, musculoskeletal problems, loss of privacy, being negatively influenced by a FOAF, overwhelming commercialism and addiction. (Did you know there is actually a residential treatment center in Washington for Internet addiction?)
I don’t know what to think. Am I afraid of the complications of using social networking sites or do I just want to keep my head in the sand so that I do not have to deal with the issues?
I began this journey knowing that social networking sites existed, knowing that my own children (now young adults) were on Facebook and that many of my friends and relatives were joining the Facebook revolution. I, however, preferred to talk to people on the phone or face to face. (I do not know if this is really a reason or just a justification for my resistance). I knew that I was missing out on things: information about people (OK gossip), photos of events, inside jokes, invitations to things, etc. This of course forced me to get with the 21st century and join Facebook. The first week of class I set up an account with a very strict privacy structure and then found out that there were FOAF who were being suggested as people I could add. My policy is I do not add people who I would not pick up the phone and call. I feel that these people do not need to know what is going on in my life and I certainly do not need to know what is going on in theirs. I stuck with my strict privacy settings. I check my Facebook every couple of days and my children are thrilled to have their mother “creeping” around their Facebook sites. I have not added any gadgets to my site although I know I can add photos, videos, word clouds, etc. I honestly have not taken the time but know when I am finished this class I will add photos and videos but probably not other gadgets as my friends will hassle me about showing off.
Next, I watched the trailfire, listened to Mack Male’s elluminate session and did some research on Social Networking sites. Then, I asked friends and colleaugues which sites they used and why. This was interesting as most are on Facebook because of its popularity and therefore a greater likelihood of someone you want to connect with being on this site. However, there were others on MySpace, LinkedIn, Ning, etc.
Ning is another social networking site I joined the first week of class and I love it. I am a part of the Classroom 2.0 group. It has helped on several occasions to get information for this course through an online chat or reviewing former posts. I am a follower on the Classroom 2.0 site and hope to make more use of Ning in the future
In both cases I am connected to people who have similar interests, my friends or relatives and my educational colleagues. I have morphed from a chicken into a ……?
PERSONAL USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
I am not a chicken anymore. I think I have morphed into a bluebird. I am now a member of Facebook and Ning. I am sold on their value and I will continue to use social networking sites as a method for maintaining connections with people of similar interests. I will use them to share information as well as create knowledge through a collaborative process.
I will use Facebook to maintain connections with family and friends. I can post media to share with others and view my friends or relatives posts to acquire the news in their lives. I have found that I do not need to update my status as frequently as my kids do but the odd post allows me to connect with friends and family that I would not see very often and reconnect with high school friends who live far away. I can share photos, videos or podcasts of my grand-daughter or our latest vacation, add links to other sites for a Voicethread, Animoto, word cloud, etc. One of my next projects is to plan my 50th birthday vacation with friends. We can share information through Facebook and make the decisions together.
Being on Facebook also allows, the mother in me, to snoop around my kids sites and use this information to begin conversations that we may not have had otherwise. I know they know where I got the information, as I am always very upfront about this, but it is sometimes a conversation starter that goes deep.
In the future, I want to use Ning for personal reasons. I would like to join an online book club and scrapbooking group, if one exists. If one does not already exist then maybe it can be a new Ning group that I create.
Social networking sites can also be used for disseminating information about social causes. This information can be about the cause’s goals or objectives, updated news, rallies, etc. It would be a quick method for getting news into the hands of the people who want it most.
Once again so many ideas and so little time!!!!!!!!!!!
PROFESSIONAL USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING
The big question for many school districts is: should we allow the use of social networking sites in schools? Some Districts see the potential issues of using social networking sites as far as security, privacy, authoring, potential viruses, etc. Other districts feel that we need to use these tools and teach students the proper use and etiquette of these social networking sites (Davies and Merchant, 2009). Researchers like Cecilie Murray feel that “what better way to learn the skills of communication, collaboration and protective online behaviour “ (Murray, 2009) than through SNS.
This is where I get bogged down. I keep telling myself that I should allow students to use Social Networking because we need to teach them about Internet safety etc. but selfishly I do not want to get involved in the issues of their personal Facebook sites. Am I being an ostrich? Maybe I just think that if I do not see it I will not have to deal with it? I know that I can set up Facebook pages with strict privacy settings for class use only but that is when I keep asking myself what is the purpose of using SNS and is there another way to achieve the same goal without the inherent problems of using something as popular and notorious as Facebook. After all, if I set up Facebook sites for class use only, then the privacy settings do not allow for input from others. Such parameters do not allow for social networking and collaborating with people other than your classmates. A class Facebook site may get members of the class, who would not normally address each other in class, talking but is there another format that would allow this to happen? Danah Boyd (2008) maintains that social networking has not caused people to build new relationships but been about socializing inside pre-existing networks. Which leads me back to, what is the point of using social networking sites? If I can use another tool which allows for the same collaboration and has fewer potential issues then I am going to take the path of least resistance and use the other tool. I agree that as educators we need to use tools to increase collaboration and knowledge creation. My question is; are social networking sites the best medium to use? (If you do choose to use social networking Cecilie Murray has some great advice.) Can the purposes of authoring content and collaboration for creating knowledge be achieved in other ways which are not as contentious with Tech Departments and parents. I do think that we need to “develop policies that strike a balance between safety and freedom while still allowing teachers to use the tools that are a part of everyday life for today’s students” (Murra, 2008) but my preference would be to use a blog or a wiki set up through an agrator so that I can censor the contents. A blog can be used to do all of the things that social networking sites like Facebook do and even more. Blogs have more gadgets and therefore stimulate even more creative methods to create knowledge.
Ning, on the other hand, is a great tool for use in the classroom as well as for Professional Development. In the classroom it allows you to create a social “networking forum to
share a wide variety of media in a completely private environment.” ” Students can discuss issues, disseminate information, collaborate on projects, embed media, personalize pages, embed blogging groups and online chat” (Classroom 2.0, 2009).
Lynne writes on the Ning Classroom 2.0 site that she sees “social networking as a revelation for an educator” (Classroom 2.0, 2009). She feels that social networking sites have decreased the isolation that teachers feel, taken education out of the hands of experts and put it into the hands of lay teachers to create their own knowledge about what works and what does not (Classroom 2.0, 2009).
I have used Ning to gather ideas for using Web 2.0 tools in my and my colleagues’ classrooms. With Ning you can join an already established group of like minded people seeking answers to similar questions or you can create a new group to facilitate a discussion in an area not yet developed. I am modeling the use of the tools that I find out about through my contacts on the Ning site and also finding ways to entice my colleagues into using a Web 2.0 tool. Hopefully the positive experiences of some of my colleagues will motivate others to pursue this technology.
I think my post this week has explored my change from a chicken to an ostrich and then to a blue bird. I guess the end of the morph is yet to come. Maybe I will end up a dove.
REFERENCES
Boyd, Danah. (2008). Social Networking is here to stay, Now What. As retrieved Nov. 12, 2009 from http://trailfire.com/joannedegroot/marks/295595
Davies, Julia. Merchant, Guy. (2009). Web 2.0 for Schools: Learning and Social Participation. New York, NY: Peter Lang
Jayson, Sharon. (2009) Asretrieved Nov. 11, 2009 from http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-09-27-social-networking_N.htm
Murray, Cecile. (2009) As retrieved Nov. 11, 2009 from
http://www.slav.schools.net.au/synergy/vol6num1/murray.pdf
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Wikipedia As retrieved on Nov. 13, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking
Sunday, November 8, 2009
LIFE IS A HIGHWAY OR IS IT????
Life can be one glorious open road or it can be filled with pot holes, breakdowns and car wrecks. This week has been a mix of smooth sailing and complete gridlock.
Multi media sites allow a person to create, view or comment on computer based programs that engage many of the senses. Sites like Voicethread and Animoto are web based programs that allow people to not only create multi media but to share it bringing people together through posting, commenting and the feedback process. Voicethread allows a person to “collect multiple voices and viewpoints in a single media package” (Friedman, Adam and Lee, John., 2009, pg. 5). This package can use various digital mediums like photos, word documents, video clips and other digital artifacts (Wilson, Brad. 2008). Voicethread has sometimes been referred to as an “audioblog” (Wilson, 2008). Animoto allows a person to make video from either still photos or from video clips. To this video you can add text and music.What kind of a journey are you having?
REFLECTIONS OF MULTI MEDIA SITES
I began this week heading out on the open road with the wind in my hair feeling great about the world. I started with a tour of the sites in the trailfire left by Joanne. I was familiar with Animoto and with Voicethread after seeing a presentation about them at a conference I had just attended. However, I had never used either program. After seeing the demonstrations at the conference and watching the trailfire I felt confident that I could conquer both of these programs. Once again what seemed easy was more challenging and frustration prevailed. The journey was far from the simple Sunday drive I had envisioned.
I started creating my video on Animoto by selecting the pictures I was going to use. I downloaded them to my computer and then to the Animoto program. Finding the images and exporting them was easy. All I had to do was follow step one on the Animoto site. It was step two that was challenging. Trying to find appropriate music on a website that was not copyright restricted and free was hard. Once I finally found something my computer would not let it download. After sitting in complete gridlock for two hours later I gave up and came back to it two days later. After enlisting the help of my daughter, (a technology native) I was able to get the music downloaded and move on to step three. At the right you will see the link to my video.
The Voicethread was easy to construct. I had just done a lesson with my grade 3’s on foreground, midground and background in a composition. I found a picture that illustrated the concept and then asked two students (with parent permission) to comment on it. I had one type her comments and the other record hers. Smooth highway driving here!!!!!!!!
PERSONAL USE OF MULTI MEDIA
Using multi media in my personal life would be like sharing a roadmap of all of our travels with an interactive piece at each stop on the map. I would use multi media in many of the same ways as I described the use of Videosharing in a post earlier in this blog. To me Animoto is very similar to Windows MusicMaker which is the program I used in my Videosharing project. I could also use Animoto to prepare a presentation for a wedding, anniversary or as a keepsake of a memory such as my granddaughters first steps.
I can think of many times I could Voicethread to preserve memories or share greetings. I could use Voicethread as a digital storytelling medium (Wilson, 2008) to capture many different people’s perception or stories of one moment in time such a vacation, wedding or family event. Voicethread could also be used to send greetings or messages to friends or relatives.
Now that I have experienced how easy it is to navigate these highways I am ready for more driving adventure.
PROFESSIONAL USE OF MULTI MEDIA
Multi media use in schools could range from smooth highway driving to avoiding pot holes or complete gridlock and car wrecks depending on the teacher and the students using this tool. Multi Media sites would be a way for schools to share information about their school, augment curriculum, engage students in creative ways to demonstrate knowledge, increase student participation (Wilson, 2008) and share professional development. In order for these activities to flow smoothly schools and teachers need the proper technology and the in-servicing to use these tools effectively.
There are many advantages to using a program like Animoto. This interactive web based program builds creativity and collaboration amongst the students and staff. Creating and sharing Muti media programs like Animoto could be used to celebrate teams, events, activities, groups, etc. As well, Animoto would be a way to capture snapshots of time for nostalgic purposes. These creative and collaborative expressions would be seen as a progressive and unique way to showcase the technology use of the school as well as the school itself. Multi media presentations like Animoto could be used to showcase aspects of the school at PT Interviews, Meet the Teacher, or it could be used as a marketing tool in the community.
Voicethread could be used in the school to enhance student engagement, promote collaboration and develop higher order thinking skills. Voicethread could be used as a story starter, to record student’s perceptions and ideas, for digital storytelling, to celebrate events or activities, to assess understanding of something visual or to enhance the discussion of a concept.
The potholes or cons of using multi media like Animoto or Voicethread are having the necessary hardware, software, teacher training and time. Another possible pothole is FOIP. With the restrictions placed upon the schools by the FOIP legislation we have to be very careful how we use student images both inside and outside of the school.
No matter where, how or by whom multi media is used the access to free Internet software makes the use of multi media an easy, breezy ride down the highway of learning!!!
REFERENCES
Friedman, Adam. Lee, John. As retrieved on Nov. 3, 2009 from http://www.edci.purdue.edu/vanfossen/colloquium/papers/voicethread%20paper%20ackerman%20final.doc
Wilson, Brad. As retrieved on Nov. 3, 2009 from
http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:8mK-syPzCSIJ:scholar.google.com/+voicethread&hl=en
Multi media sites allow a person to create, view or comment on computer based programs that engage many of the senses. Sites like Voicethread and Animoto are web based programs that allow people to not only create multi media but to share it bringing people together through posting, commenting and the feedback process. Voicethread allows a person to “collect multiple voices and viewpoints in a single media package” (Friedman, Adam and Lee, John., 2009, pg. 5). This package can use various digital mediums like photos, word documents, video clips and other digital artifacts (Wilson, Brad. 2008). Voicethread has sometimes been referred to as an “audioblog” (Wilson, 2008). Animoto allows a person to make video from either still photos or from video clips. To this video you can add text and music.What kind of a journey are you having?
REFLECTIONS OF MULTI MEDIA SITES
I began this week heading out on the open road with the wind in my hair feeling great about the world. I started with a tour of the sites in the trailfire left by Joanne. I was familiar with Animoto and with Voicethread after seeing a presentation about them at a conference I had just attended. However, I had never used either program. After seeing the demonstrations at the conference and watching the trailfire I felt confident that I could conquer both of these programs. Once again what seemed easy was more challenging and frustration prevailed. The journey was far from the simple Sunday drive I had envisioned.
I started creating my video on Animoto by selecting the pictures I was going to use. I downloaded them to my computer and then to the Animoto program. Finding the images and exporting them was easy. All I had to do was follow step one on the Animoto site. It was step two that was challenging. Trying to find appropriate music on a website that was not copyright restricted and free was hard. Once I finally found something my computer would not let it download. After sitting in complete gridlock for two hours later I gave up and came back to it two days later. After enlisting the help of my daughter, (a technology native) I was able to get the music downloaded and move on to step three. At the right you will see the link to my video.
The Voicethread was easy to construct. I had just done a lesson with my grade 3’s on foreground, midground and background in a composition. I found a picture that illustrated the concept and then asked two students (with parent permission) to comment on it. I had one type her comments and the other record hers. Smooth highway driving here!!!!!!!!
PERSONAL USE OF MULTI MEDIA
Using multi media in my personal life would be like sharing a roadmap of all of our travels with an interactive piece at each stop on the map. I would use multi media in many of the same ways as I described the use of Videosharing in a post earlier in this blog. To me Animoto is very similar to Windows MusicMaker which is the program I used in my Videosharing project. I could also use Animoto to prepare a presentation for a wedding, anniversary or as a keepsake of a memory such as my granddaughters first steps.
I can think of many times I could Voicethread to preserve memories or share greetings. I could use Voicethread as a digital storytelling medium (Wilson, 2008) to capture many different people’s perception or stories of one moment in time such a vacation, wedding or family event. Voicethread could also be used to send greetings or messages to friends or relatives.
Now that I have experienced how easy it is to navigate these highways I am ready for more driving adventure.
PROFESSIONAL USE OF MULTI MEDIA
Multi media use in schools could range from smooth highway driving to avoiding pot holes or complete gridlock and car wrecks depending on the teacher and the students using this tool. Multi Media sites would be a way for schools to share information about their school, augment curriculum, engage students in creative ways to demonstrate knowledge, increase student participation (Wilson, 2008) and share professional development. In order for these activities to flow smoothly schools and teachers need the proper technology and the in-servicing to use these tools effectively.
There are many advantages to using a program like Animoto. This interactive web based program builds creativity and collaboration amongst the students and staff. Creating and sharing Muti media programs like Animoto could be used to celebrate teams, events, activities, groups, etc. As well, Animoto would be a way to capture snapshots of time for nostalgic purposes. These creative and collaborative expressions would be seen as a progressive and unique way to showcase the technology use of the school as well as the school itself. Multi media presentations like Animoto could be used to showcase aspects of the school at PT Interviews, Meet the Teacher, or it could be used as a marketing tool in the community.
Voicethread could be used in the school to enhance student engagement, promote collaboration and develop higher order thinking skills. Voicethread could be used as a story starter, to record student’s perceptions and ideas, for digital storytelling, to celebrate events or activities, to assess understanding of something visual or to enhance the discussion of a concept.
The potholes or cons of using multi media like Animoto or Voicethread are having the necessary hardware, software, teacher training and time. Another possible pothole is FOIP. With the restrictions placed upon the schools by the FOIP legislation we have to be very careful how we use student images both inside and outside of the school.
No matter where, how or by whom multi media is used the access to free Internet software makes the use of multi media an easy, breezy ride down the highway of learning!!!
REFERENCES
Friedman, Adam. Lee, John. As retrieved on Nov. 3, 2009 from http://www.edci.purdue.edu/vanfossen/colloquium/papers/voicethread%20paper%20ackerman%20final.doc
Wilson, Brad. As retrieved on Nov. 3, 2009 from
http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:8mK-syPzCSIJ:scholar.google.com/+voicethread&hl=en
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wiki World
REFLECTIONS ON USING WIKIS
I have visited Wiki World for an occasional change of flights but never for an extended visit. I have never really stayed long enough to experience the culture. I have visited Wikipedia to look up a definition because it was more current, accessible and easier than finding a dictionary. Wikipedia definitely has its advantages. It is the most common Wiki used but it is far from the only Wiki in use. A Wiki refers to “a social computing system that allows a group of users to initiate and evolve a hyper-linked set of web pages using a simple markup language” (Turner and Wang, 2007). The beauty of wikis is that anyone can simultaneously read, post or edit a topic anytime, anywhere (Will Richardson, 2009). Wikis facilitate information sharing and allow people to collectively develop, refine and improve a body of knowledge. I myself have never participated in creating, editing or contributing to a wiki but look forward to learning about the wiki culture.
I began my stay at Wiki World visiting several sites. I visited Wikibooks, Wikijunior, the Flat Classroom project, Welkers Wikinomics, Planet Math and a few described in the textbooks. Some of the websites had restricted access so I could only see the home page but the ones I could get into were intriguing. They had a great depth of potential and seemed as though they would add another dimension to the learning of students.
I then watched the links in the Trailfire left by Joanne. But the more I saw the more confused I became. I understand the difference between the chronological set up a blog and the more interactive hyper-linked pages of a wiki (Mindel and Verma, 2006). What I found though was that several wikis merely posted information but were not interactive. They may have been collaborative effort in the initial set up of the pages but when you look at the history of the site there is no interaction on several of the pages. To me then it is just a website not a wiki. Or am I missing something? Is having one page a collaborative page, where people are interacting, enough to call the site a wiki?
I wanted then to try my hand at designing a truly interactive wiki to post and share book reviews. I began by asking an English teacher on staff to give me some book summaries. I then designed a wiki to facilitate the sharing of short narratives on the books the students were reading. My idea was that students would initially post a description of the book they were reading and as other students read the same book they could update the description adding their own ideas about the features of the book. (Eg. Use of Literary techniques, character analysis, etc.) The summaries posted, were just as I suspected, quite shallow in their depth of analysis. My hope is to cultivate a space where students can analyze character development, plot design and themes. The wiki would encourage students to share ideas about what they had read and help them develop critical reading, thinking and writing skills. This wiki is only in its development stage but I have included a link to it in my blog (even though I had not gotten the type of writing that I wanted). I am hopeful that students will find it interesting to see how others perceive a book that they have both read. As well, I hope that the discussion that is created will enhance not only the student’s understanding of the complexity of the novel writing process but that the Wiki will also act as a repository for book reviews to help stimulate further reading.
Wiki World is now another place on my list of must visit again locations. During my next visit I can create more wikis or join a wiki already in existence.
PERSONAL USE OF WIKIS
Visiting other worlds helps you to learn about their cultures. Once you are home then you can appreciate and maybe even adopt the positive things about the culture you visited. After visiting Wiki World, I can see myself reading, joining, contributing and even creating wikis.
I can see myself reading, joining and contributing to wikis about scrapbooking and cooking (Wikibooks). I would enjoy building and sharing collective knowledge in these areas.
Creating a wiki as a means to facilitate ownership in the committees that I am currently involved in also peaks my interest. Creating a Wiki for a non-profit organization would allow all stakeholders to collaborate about philosophy, rules, issues, projects, etc. The wiki could act as a site to compile up to date information about programs, dates and schedules. Through a wiki all members would have an opportunity to have input into all activities of the organization.
A Wiki for the book club I belong to is another great idea. The book club site would be similar to the one I set up for school. It would allow people to contribute to discussions about plot, characters, theme, etc. I could also see myself setting up a wiki where I could share scrapbooking ideas with my “Chicklets” (group of scrapbbookers).
On-line collaboration about community or global issues could also be done using a wiki. A wiki could be a forum for finding out the most current information, allow you to take part in the building of knowledge about a prevalent issue and be a place to ask questions to test the possibilities of solutions to an issue.
So much to do, I may have to cut my vacation short.
PROFESSIONAL USE OF WIKIS
The culture of Wiki World can also be assimilated into my professional life. Wikis are a successful way to have students and staff collaboratively build and share knowledge (Davies and Merchant, 2009). They can read, write, edit, refine and rewrite information (Mindel and Verma, 2006) in order to push others to expand their definitions, knowledge and opinions. Wikis can be used in many facets in the school from parent organizations to school administration to classrooms to PD.
However, the use of wikis is controversial. There are champions for the use of wikis and there are people who believe that wikis can not be trusted (Ferris and Wilder). The champions believe that wikis encourage teamwork and collaboration to build collective knowledge (Davies and Merchant, 2009). Some people believe that wikis encourage people to seek information that is honest, responsible, neutral and accountable (Davies and Merchant, 2009). Proponents of the use of wikis say that wikis prompt people to read, think and write critically, verifying all of their information in the process. These people believe that the collective public wisdom of wiki development looks after protecting the accuracy and credibility of the wiki (Davies and Merchant, 2009). Wiki doubters turn to events like the false posting that libeled a prominent journalist to prove that wikis are a battleground of crap (Ferris, Wilder). They seek to highlight the inaccuracy and difficulties made possible by the use of a wiki. No doubt there are issues with vandalism, authorship, authenticity, reliability and inaccuracy but these are minimized by the truly collaborative nature of wikis. Will Richardson (2009) writes about Alex Halavais a Professor at University of Buffalo who wanted to test the reliability of information on Wikipedia. He created errors in thirteen sites all of which were fixed within a few hours. This helps to reinforce the credibility of sites like Wikipedia and point to the collective positive impetus of wikis.
Once the decision has been made to use a wiki there are many other issues to be addressed. Some of the decisions center on the access to the wiki (read/write or read only unless the person is an authenticated user), structure ( single page or multi-age format) and number of people working on the wiki (Mindel, Verma, 2006).
The use of wikis in the classroom is a strategy to enhance the true collaborative sharing of knowledge in any subject. Students can write by themselves and then edit each others work or write as a group; some students are good technical writers others have more creative ideas. Wikis can be used by students to work collaboratively to complete research, work on science experiments etc. All of these activities cause students to read, write and think critically, as well as, to work as a team. Wikis could also be used as a means to scaffold activities for struggling students or students who were absent
Some helpful tips for using a wiki in the classroom involve having small groups, delegating one person to be the editor and having each topic on a separate page (increases the access to many students and increases the ease for collaboration and editing) (Mindel, Verma, 2006).
Professional development could be enhanced through the use of wikis. A wiki could be used to collaborate on curriculm or pedagogy. Teachers could use wikis to co-create lessons, assessments, calendars of activities, etc. or to enhance the strategies that they use in their classrooms. As teachers try to define the uses of particular strategies they will push each other to expand their repertoire of teaching knowledge, strategies and beliefs.
The school could also use wikis for school or classroom newsletters, input for policy writing and school goals, generating of projects, interactive school calendars, schedule for Parent/Teacher interviews, sign-up for helpers for school activities, etc.
The biggest issue for me is using the accurate tool and not using technology just because we believe it is going to make us a “cool” teacher. The technology needs to enhance what is currently being achieved. Speed and ease should not always be the driving force. The driving force should be the purpose of the activity. Is using technology effective? Will using technology deliver the outcomes that I want?
My week at Wiki World is almost over and I have learned many new things and at the same time opened up many questions. I think I will need to reflect upon my visit and then return.
REFERENCES
Davies, Julia. Merchant, Guy. (2009). Web 2.0 for Schools: Learning and Social Participation. New York, NY: Peter Lang
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Turner, David; Wang, Chien-min. (2007). Extending the Wiki Paradigm for Use in the Classroom. As retrieved on Oct 18, 2009 from
http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/ITCC.2004.1286462
Wheeler, Steve; Yoemens, Peter; Wheeler, Dawn. (2008). The Good, The Bad and The Wiki. As retrieved on Oct. 18, 2009 from
http://w4d.org/images/6/68/The_good,_the_bad_and_the_wiki.pdf
S. Pixy Faris, Hilary Wilder. Uses and Potential of Wikis in the Classroom. As retrieved on Oct 18, 2009 from
http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/AcademicStudentAffairs/CentreforEducationalDevelopment/e-Learning/E-LearningFileStore/Filetoupload,134940,en.pdf
I have visited Wiki World for an occasional change of flights but never for an extended visit. I have never really stayed long enough to experience the culture. I have visited Wikipedia to look up a definition because it was more current, accessible and easier than finding a dictionary. Wikipedia definitely has its advantages. It is the most common Wiki used but it is far from the only Wiki in use. A Wiki refers to “a social computing system that allows a group of users to initiate and evolve a hyper-linked set of web pages using a simple markup language” (Turner and Wang, 2007). The beauty of wikis is that anyone can simultaneously read, post or edit a topic anytime, anywhere (Will Richardson, 2009). Wikis facilitate information sharing and allow people to collectively develop, refine and improve a body of knowledge. I myself have never participated in creating, editing or contributing to a wiki but look forward to learning about the wiki culture.
I began my stay at Wiki World visiting several sites. I visited Wikibooks, Wikijunior, the Flat Classroom project, Welkers Wikinomics, Planet Math and a few described in the textbooks. Some of the websites had restricted access so I could only see the home page but the ones I could get into were intriguing. They had a great depth of potential and seemed as though they would add another dimension to the learning of students.
I then watched the links in the Trailfire left by Joanne. But the more I saw the more confused I became. I understand the difference between the chronological set up a blog and the more interactive hyper-linked pages of a wiki (Mindel and Verma, 2006). What I found though was that several wikis merely posted information but were not interactive. They may have been collaborative effort in the initial set up of the pages but when you look at the history of the site there is no interaction on several of the pages. To me then it is just a website not a wiki. Or am I missing something? Is having one page a collaborative page, where people are interacting, enough to call the site a wiki?
I wanted then to try my hand at designing a truly interactive wiki to post and share book reviews. I began by asking an English teacher on staff to give me some book summaries. I then designed a wiki to facilitate the sharing of short narratives on the books the students were reading. My idea was that students would initially post a description of the book they were reading and as other students read the same book they could update the description adding their own ideas about the features of the book. (Eg. Use of Literary techniques, character analysis, etc.) The summaries posted, were just as I suspected, quite shallow in their depth of analysis. My hope is to cultivate a space where students can analyze character development, plot design and themes. The wiki would encourage students to share ideas about what they had read and help them develop critical reading, thinking and writing skills. This wiki is only in its development stage but I have included a link to it in my blog (even though I had not gotten the type of writing that I wanted). I am hopeful that students will find it interesting to see how others perceive a book that they have both read. As well, I hope that the discussion that is created will enhance not only the student’s understanding of the complexity of the novel writing process but that the Wiki will also act as a repository for book reviews to help stimulate further reading.
Wiki World is now another place on my list of must visit again locations. During my next visit I can create more wikis or join a wiki already in existence.
PERSONAL USE OF WIKIS
Visiting other worlds helps you to learn about their cultures. Once you are home then you can appreciate and maybe even adopt the positive things about the culture you visited. After visiting Wiki World, I can see myself reading, joining, contributing and even creating wikis.
I can see myself reading, joining and contributing to wikis about scrapbooking and cooking (Wikibooks). I would enjoy building and sharing collective knowledge in these areas.
Creating a wiki as a means to facilitate ownership in the committees that I am currently involved in also peaks my interest. Creating a Wiki for a non-profit organization would allow all stakeholders to collaborate about philosophy, rules, issues, projects, etc. The wiki could act as a site to compile up to date information about programs, dates and schedules. Through a wiki all members would have an opportunity to have input into all activities of the organization.
A Wiki for the book club I belong to is another great idea. The book club site would be similar to the one I set up for school. It would allow people to contribute to discussions about plot, characters, theme, etc. I could also see myself setting up a wiki where I could share scrapbooking ideas with my “Chicklets” (group of scrapbbookers).
On-line collaboration about community or global issues could also be done using a wiki. A wiki could be a forum for finding out the most current information, allow you to take part in the building of knowledge about a prevalent issue and be a place to ask questions to test the possibilities of solutions to an issue.
So much to do, I may have to cut my vacation short.
PROFESSIONAL USE OF WIKIS
The culture of Wiki World can also be assimilated into my professional life. Wikis are a successful way to have students and staff collaboratively build and share knowledge (Davies and Merchant, 2009). They can read, write, edit, refine and rewrite information (Mindel and Verma, 2006) in order to push others to expand their definitions, knowledge and opinions. Wikis can be used in many facets in the school from parent organizations to school administration to classrooms to PD.
However, the use of wikis is controversial. There are champions for the use of wikis and there are people who believe that wikis can not be trusted (Ferris and Wilder). The champions believe that wikis encourage teamwork and collaboration to build collective knowledge (Davies and Merchant, 2009). Some people believe that wikis encourage people to seek information that is honest, responsible, neutral and accountable (Davies and Merchant, 2009). Proponents of the use of wikis say that wikis prompt people to read, think and write critically, verifying all of their information in the process. These people believe that the collective public wisdom of wiki development looks after protecting the accuracy and credibility of the wiki (Davies and Merchant, 2009). Wiki doubters turn to events like the false posting that libeled a prominent journalist to prove that wikis are a battleground of crap (Ferris, Wilder). They seek to highlight the inaccuracy and difficulties made possible by the use of a wiki. No doubt there are issues with vandalism, authorship, authenticity, reliability and inaccuracy but these are minimized by the truly collaborative nature of wikis. Will Richardson (2009) writes about Alex Halavais a Professor at University of Buffalo who wanted to test the reliability of information on Wikipedia. He created errors in thirteen sites all of which were fixed within a few hours. This helps to reinforce the credibility of sites like Wikipedia and point to the collective positive impetus of wikis.
Once the decision has been made to use a wiki there are many other issues to be addressed. Some of the decisions center on the access to the wiki (read/write or read only unless the person is an authenticated user), structure ( single page or multi-age format) and number of people working on the wiki (Mindel, Verma, 2006).
The use of wikis in the classroom is a strategy to enhance the true collaborative sharing of knowledge in any subject. Students can write by themselves and then edit each others work or write as a group; some students are good technical writers others have more creative ideas. Wikis can be used by students to work collaboratively to complete research, work on science experiments etc. All of these activities cause students to read, write and think critically, as well as, to work as a team. Wikis could also be used as a means to scaffold activities for struggling students or students who were absent
Some helpful tips for using a wiki in the classroom involve having small groups, delegating one person to be the editor and having each topic on a separate page (increases the access to many students and increases the ease for collaboration and editing) (Mindel, Verma, 2006).
Professional development could be enhanced through the use of wikis. A wiki could be used to collaborate on curriculm or pedagogy. Teachers could use wikis to co-create lessons, assessments, calendars of activities, etc. or to enhance the strategies that they use in their classrooms. As teachers try to define the uses of particular strategies they will push each other to expand their repertoire of teaching knowledge, strategies and beliefs.
The school could also use wikis for school or classroom newsletters, input for policy writing and school goals, generating of projects, interactive school calendars, schedule for Parent/Teacher interviews, sign-up for helpers for school activities, etc.
The biggest issue for me is using the accurate tool and not using technology just because we believe it is going to make us a “cool” teacher. The technology needs to enhance what is currently being achieved. Speed and ease should not always be the driving force. The driving force should be the purpose of the activity. Is using technology effective? Will using technology deliver the outcomes that I want?
My week at Wiki World is almost over and I have learned many new things and at the same time opened up many questions. I think I will need to reflect upon my visit and then return.
REFERENCES
Davies, Julia. Merchant, Guy. (2009). Web 2.0 for Schools: Learning and Social Participation. New York, NY: Peter Lang
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Turner, David; Wang, Chien-min. (2007). Extending the Wiki Paradigm for Use in the Classroom. As retrieved on Oct 18, 2009 from
http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/ITCC.2004.1286462
Wheeler, Steve; Yoemens, Peter; Wheeler, Dawn. (2008). The Good, The Bad and The Wiki. As retrieved on Oct. 18, 2009 from
http://w4d.org/images/6/68/The_good,_the_bad_and_the_wiki.pdf
S. Pixy Faris, Hilary Wilder. Uses and Potential of Wikis in the Classroom. As retrieved on Oct 18, 2009 from
http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/AcademicStudentAffairs/CentreforEducationalDevelopment/e-Learning/E-LearningFileStore/Filetoupload,134940,en.pdf
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Land Of Podcasting
This week’s adventure is truly a ride into the unknown. I know nothing about Podcasting and look forward to the journey to this new land.
REFLECTIONS ON PODCASTING
The journey into the land of Podcasting is like visiting a foreign country. I look forward to the intrigue but I am terrified about how it is going to turn out. Podcasting is the popular name for digital audiorecording. Podcasts are media files that can be distributed via the Internet and played on computers or handheld devices, like iPods or other digital audio players ( Jham, Dureas, Strassler, Sensi, 2007). There are many vehicles for digital audiorecording but because of the popularity of iPods this is the most common. Hence the name Podcasting has been coined. Using iPods is commonplace with students because students are more mobile. The idea of having access to information anytime anywhere is very attractive to them (Jham et al, 2007).
Digital audirecording seems relatively straight forward. I started by following the trailfire and listening to some of the Podcasts suggested by Joanne. Some of the Podcasts were intriguing while others were mundane. Upon reflection, it seemed to be not only the relevance of the topic to me that determined my level of engagement but also the enthusiasm of the person delivering the message.
I then read the chapter on Podcasting in Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts (Will Richardson, 2009) and listened to some of the Podcasts suggested in the book. I learned that Podcasts are inexpensive and user friendly to create or access, and simple to use (Jham et al, 2007). I thought I can do this. Anyone can pick a topic, think about a script and with an audio recording device record what they have to say. The person then uploads this recording and voila you are on air. Sounds easy but then so does brain surgery – cut a person open, poke around a bit and sew them up – how hard can it be?
Once again with my imaginery copy of “Podcasting for Dummies” in my hand I began this unfamiliar process. First, I had to write a script. Thinking of a topic that you think others might be interested in is challenging, when you feel your life is dull. For me when in doubt, cover this with humor. Second, for someone who makes their living standing in front of audiences everyday giving directions and explaining processes it is amazing how you can stammer and stutter when you know someone will be hanging on your every word. But I got through that with sweat soaked armpits. Then came the actual publishing process. Oh my!!!!!!! If you are not a techie this can be daunting. I viewed the Common Craft video “Podcasting In Plain English” (2008), the video “How to Embed a Podcast Into Blogger” recommended by Annabelle Pendry, “How to Download Audacity and Lame Encoder To Record Podcasts” (2009) by Tish Washington, read the helpful posts by Bruce and Pam, reread the publishing section of the text by Will Richardson (2009) but still had difficulty. Not one to give up easily (as I tell my students, I do not play games that I can not win) after four hours I triumphed. The fruits of my labor are posted at the end of this blog post. I hope you get a giggle from either the content of the Podcast or the sheer terror in my voice.
I now feel like I can make a couple of Podcasts for personal reasons and then demonstrate this technique to staff, encourage staff to subscribe to PD Podcasts, implement Podcasts in my teaching, have students listen to and create Podcasts and enjoy this new found phenomena myself as I catch up on what is happening on the highway of life..
PERSONAL LEARNING OF PODCASTING
When I thought about how I could personally use Digital audiorecording I cried. This was a technology that could help me to touch the hearts of two people I love very much, who are slipping away from me. My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a year ago and her progression has been all too quick. Podcasting will allow me to record a quick message that I can send to her. She can then listen to the message over and over, as she forgets what you have said, as soon as it has left your lips. This technology will allow me to connect with her and help my mom to keep us with her if only for a few moments at a time. I hope my dad can help her to mange the technology and she can play it as often as she would like.
For my dad, who suffered a major stroke just shortly before my mom’s diagnosis, it will be about sharing memories of his new great granddaughter. Neither, my mom or dad is able to drive now so we do not get to see them very often. Telephone calls are OK with dad, as long as they are initiated by us, as he still has very limited fine motor skills in his right hand. Being able to share Kaydee’s new voice (just noise now) and eventually rhymes, songs and stories will again help to keep connected. This technology was available before, in the way of audiocassettes and CD’s, but this makes it so much easier that I am sure Kaydee will eventually be creating the recordings herself. Podcasting will be a mutually beneficial journey as it will teach Kaydee about the importance of family connections, remind my own kids about the connection with their grandparents and enhance my parents view into their great-grand-daughter’s and grandchildren’s lives. (Oh did I mention that our family is multiplying as we found out that now our other daughter is expecting.)
As well, I would like to have my dad share his wealth of knowledge of our family history. My dad has spent countless hours researching our family history back twelve generations. With my assistance, his vast historical expertise could be recorded. He would be so proud to share his wisdom knowing that it would be passed down to future generations.
Personally, I have never owned an iPod and have never seen a real need for one. Now I have an iPod as the first item on my list for Christmas gifts. My children, who are all strapped for cash this year, are going to load RSS feeds to music, news, scrapbooking and recipe sites on it for me. (My family is learning too – without having to pay tuition.) Then I can listen to Podcasts in the car, running on the treadmill or getting ready in the morning. I can now be more connected to the global picture and explore issues beyond school, university courses and housework, on my terms and at my convenience. The journey is looking like it will end well.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OF PODCASTING
Digital audiorecording is another Web 2.0 tool that can be used to engage learners in new ways. Students are more inclined to be motivated to participate in learning that is relevant to them. In the article by Catherine Gewetz a boy named Herrara states, “when I step out of school, I have a pretty high-tech life. When I step in school, I feel like I’m not me anymore. I have to jump into this whole old-fashioned thing where everything is restricted” (Gewertz, 2007). Students are engaged in technological pursuits on a daily basis outside school, and yet, when they come to school this technology is not utilized. If we can harness the enthusiasm created by using technology and teach concepts through the student’s medium of preference we can increase learning. Podcasting could be one of these creative ways to engage 21st century learners and build that highway wider, longer and with more overpasses.
To create this highway in the classroom, students can create Podcasts to:
1. demonstrate learning
a. audio books or dramatic productions for their peers or younger students
2. as a method of formative or summative assessment
a. If you can explain it you truly understand it.
3. enhance the learning process for gifted students
To widen the highway in classrooms teachers can create Podcasts to:
1. demonstrate an activity or impart knowledge
a. second language learning
b. science experiment explanation
c. enhance auditory skills
2. scaffold learning
a. for enrichment activities
b. to augment slower learners
To build more overpasses in the classrooms teachers or students can create an archive of concepts explained by students for teaching purposes in the future:
a. for struggling students who did not understand the initial explanation
b. for students who were absent
More interconnecting highways can be created through Podcasts for Profesional development. Accessing Podcasts would help to turn teaching from an “isolating experience to a real on-line community connection” (Nikolov, Roumen, 2007). Staff could access Podcasts to gain knowledge in a new area or further their knowledge in their area of expertise. As well, they could create Podcasts to share knowledge with colleagues and others. For example we had a staff member who created a Podcast of how to use the attendance section of our new Student Information System and then emailed that information to all staff
Highway twinning could be achieved by providing information on the website via Podcast or creating a school wide radio talk show for morning announcements and noon hour entertainment. These activities would allow technology to sparkle and students and teachers to demonstrate how they are keeping up with the technological shift in the global picture.
However, the discussion should focus not only on the creation of Podcasts but also on the use of Podcasts to develop critical listening skills. The increase in visual stimuli in our society is creating learners who rely predominantly on their visual skills. Podcasts are a strategy that could be used in the classroom to enhance the development of auditory skills. Having students critically listen to Podcasts developed by others and then use this knowledge is a powerful motivator to pay attention to what is being said. The modeling of how to create “voice” and impart a message can then be transferred into the creation of their own Podcasts which other students will then be required to critically listen to. I see the use of Podcasts as developing a skill that is under utilized but getting at it by using technology as the motivating factor for students. For as Catherine Gerwitz states, students enjoy using technology that facilitates their learning, uses more learning styles and allows them to be creative (2007).
Many good things could come out of allowing students to use Podcasting Students can learn to develop critical listening skills, develop voice, enhance their individual creativity and increase their connectedness with their immediate and global world. But there are also some possible negative consequences. Staff have to be very careful when allowing students to be on the air. Concerns of confidentiality, appropriateness, innuendo and side jokes are possible pit falls. Inevitably there will be something said or implied that will be questionable no matter how hard a teacher tries to prohibit such action. Teachers just need to be cognizant of these possible areas of concern and do their best to address these possible issues so they hopefully do not happen.
The drawbacks to using any new technology are teacher knowledge (time), access to the technology (money) and teacher motivation (will).The frustration is that none of these are in my control. I need the district to buy the water and the trough, give me the time to fill it up and then I can lead the horses to it and hopefully they will drink.
I know I have benefited from this week’s journey and my school will benefit from it as well. How far the learning will spread is up to the individuals. Let’s hope their Podcasting journey is a bump free ride into a land of vast possibilities.
REFERENCES
Gewertz, Catherine. (2007) Outside Interests. As retrieved on Oct. 14, 2009 from http://wandersen.pbworks.com/f/EducationWeekOutsideInterests.pdf
How To Embed A Podcast Into Blogger. As retrieved on Oct. 15, 2009 from
http://www.slideshare.net/Paty.Savage/how-to-embed-a-podcast-into-a-blogger
Jham, Bruno. Duraes, Gabriela. Strassler, Howard. Sensi, Luis. (2007) Joining the Podcast Revolution. As retrieved on Oct. 14, 2009 from http://www.jdentaled.org/cgi/reprint/72/3/278
Nikolov, Roumen (2007)Towards Web 2.0 Schools: Rethinking the Teachers Professional Development. As retrieved on Oct 14, 2009 from
http://dspace.ou.nl/bitstream/1820/1064/1/Nikolov-R-paper-IMICT07.pdf
Podcasting In Plain English (2008). As retrieved Oct 12, 2009 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-MSL42NV3c
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Washington, Tish (2009). How to Download Audacity and Lame Encoder To Record Podcasts. As retrieved on Oct 15, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lDya7buKbM
REFLECTIONS ON PODCASTING
The journey into the land of Podcasting is like visiting a foreign country. I look forward to the intrigue but I am terrified about how it is going to turn out. Podcasting is the popular name for digital audiorecording. Podcasts are media files that can be distributed via the Internet and played on computers or handheld devices, like iPods or other digital audio players ( Jham, Dureas, Strassler, Sensi, 2007). There are many vehicles for digital audiorecording but because of the popularity of iPods this is the most common. Hence the name Podcasting has been coined. Using iPods is commonplace with students because students are more mobile. The idea of having access to information anytime anywhere is very attractive to them (Jham et al, 2007).
Digital audirecording seems relatively straight forward. I started by following the trailfire and listening to some of the Podcasts suggested by Joanne. Some of the Podcasts were intriguing while others were mundane. Upon reflection, it seemed to be not only the relevance of the topic to me that determined my level of engagement but also the enthusiasm of the person delivering the message.
I then read the chapter on Podcasting in Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts (Will Richardson, 2009) and listened to some of the Podcasts suggested in the book. I learned that Podcasts are inexpensive and user friendly to create or access, and simple to use (Jham et al, 2007). I thought I can do this. Anyone can pick a topic, think about a script and with an audio recording device record what they have to say. The person then uploads this recording and voila you are on air. Sounds easy but then so does brain surgery – cut a person open, poke around a bit and sew them up – how hard can it be?
Once again with my imaginery copy of “Podcasting for Dummies” in my hand I began this unfamiliar process. First, I had to write a script. Thinking of a topic that you think others might be interested in is challenging, when you feel your life is dull. For me when in doubt, cover this with humor. Second, for someone who makes their living standing in front of audiences everyday giving directions and explaining processes it is amazing how you can stammer and stutter when you know someone will be hanging on your every word. But I got through that with sweat soaked armpits. Then came the actual publishing process. Oh my!!!!!!! If you are not a techie this can be daunting. I viewed the Common Craft video “Podcasting In Plain English” (2008), the video “How to Embed a Podcast Into Blogger” recommended by Annabelle Pendry, “How to Download Audacity and Lame Encoder To Record Podcasts” (2009) by Tish Washington, read the helpful posts by Bruce and Pam, reread the publishing section of the text by Will Richardson (2009) but still had difficulty. Not one to give up easily (as I tell my students, I do not play games that I can not win) after four hours I triumphed. The fruits of my labor are posted at the end of this blog post. I hope you get a giggle from either the content of the Podcast or the sheer terror in my voice.
I now feel like I can make a couple of Podcasts for personal reasons and then demonstrate this technique to staff, encourage staff to subscribe to PD Podcasts, implement Podcasts in my teaching, have students listen to and create Podcasts and enjoy this new found phenomena myself as I catch up on what is happening on the highway of life..
PERSONAL LEARNING OF PODCASTING
When I thought about how I could personally use Digital audiorecording I cried. This was a technology that could help me to touch the hearts of two people I love very much, who are slipping away from me. My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a year ago and her progression has been all too quick. Podcasting will allow me to record a quick message that I can send to her. She can then listen to the message over and over, as she forgets what you have said, as soon as it has left your lips. This technology will allow me to connect with her and help my mom to keep us with her if only for a few moments at a time. I hope my dad can help her to mange the technology and she can play it as often as she would like.
For my dad, who suffered a major stroke just shortly before my mom’s diagnosis, it will be about sharing memories of his new great granddaughter. Neither, my mom or dad is able to drive now so we do not get to see them very often. Telephone calls are OK with dad, as long as they are initiated by us, as he still has very limited fine motor skills in his right hand. Being able to share Kaydee’s new voice (just noise now) and eventually rhymes, songs and stories will again help to keep connected. This technology was available before, in the way of audiocassettes and CD’s, but this makes it so much easier that I am sure Kaydee will eventually be creating the recordings herself. Podcasting will be a mutually beneficial journey as it will teach Kaydee about the importance of family connections, remind my own kids about the connection with their grandparents and enhance my parents view into their great-grand-daughter’s and grandchildren’s lives. (Oh did I mention that our family is multiplying as we found out that now our other daughter is expecting.)
As well, I would like to have my dad share his wealth of knowledge of our family history. My dad has spent countless hours researching our family history back twelve generations. With my assistance, his vast historical expertise could be recorded. He would be so proud to share his wisdom knowing that it would be passed down to future generations.
Personally, I have never owned an iPod and have never seen a real need for one. Now I have an iPod as the first item on my list for Christmas gifts. My children, who are all strapped for cash this year, are going to load RSS feeds to music, news, scrapbooking and recipe sites on it for me. (My family is learning too – without having to pay tuition.) Then I can listen to Podcasts in the car, running on the treadmill or getting ready in the morning. I can now be more connected to the global picture and explore issues beyond school, university courses and housework, on my terms and at my convenience. The journey is looking like it will end well.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OF PODCASTING
Digital audiorecording is another Web 2.0 tool that can be used to engage learners in new ways. Students are more inclined to be motivated to participate in learning that is relevant to them. In the article by Catherine Gewetz a boy named Herrara states, “when I step out of school, I have a pretty high-tech life. When I step in school, I feel like I’m not me anymore. I have to jump into this whole old-fashioned thing where everything is restricted” (Gewertz, 2007). Students are engaged in technological pursuits on a daily basis outside school, and yet, when they come to school this technology is not utilized. If we can harness the enthusiasm created by using technology and teach concepts through the student’s medium of preference we can increase learning. Podcasting could be one of these creative ways to engage 21st century learners and build that highway wider, longer and with more overpasses.
To create this highway in the classroom, students can create Podcasts to:
1. demonstrate learning
a. audio books or dramatic productions for their peers or younger students
2. as a method of formative or summative assessment
a. If you can explain it you truly understand it.
3. enhance the learning process for gifted students
To widen the highway in classrooms teachers can create Podcasts to:
1. demonstrate an activity or impart knowledge
a. second language learning
b. science experiment explanation
c. enhance auditory skills
2. scaffold learning
a. for enrichment activities
b. to augment slower learners
To build more overpasses in the classrooms teachers or students can create an archive of concepts explained by students for teaching purposes in the future:
a. for struggling students who did not understand the initial explanation
b. for students who were absent
More interconnecting highways can be created through Podcasts for Profesional development. Accessing Podcasts would help to turn teaching from an “isolating experience to a real on-line community connection” (Nikolov, Roumen, 2007). Staff could access Podcasts to gain knowledge in a new area or further their knowledge in their area of expertise. As well, they could create Podcasts to share knowledge with colleagues and others. For example we had a staff member who created a Podcast of how to use the attendance section of our new Student Information System and then emailed that information to all staff
Highway twinning could be achieved by providing information on the website via Podcast or creating a school wide radio talk show for morning announcements and noon hour entertainment. These activities would allow technology to sparkle and students and teachers to demonstrate how they are keeping up with the technological shift in the global picture.
However, the discussion should focus not only on the creation of Podcasts but also on the use of Podcasts to develop critical listening skills. The increase in visual stimuli in our society is creating learners who rely predominantly on their visual skills. Podcasts are a strategy that could be used in the classroom to enhance the development of auditory skills. Having students critically listen to Podcasts developed by others and then use this knowledge is a powerful motivator to pay attention to what is being said. The modeling of how to create “voice” and impart a message can then be transferred into the creation of their own Podcasts which other students will then be required to critically listen to. I see the use of Podcasts as developing a skill that is under utilized but getting at it by using technology as the motivating factor for students. For as Catherine Gerwitz states, students enjoy using technology that facilitates their learning, uses more learning styles and allows them to be creative (2007).
Many good things could come out of allowing students to use Podcasting Students can learn to develop critical listening skills, develop voice, enhance their individual creativity and increase their connectedness with their immediate and global world. But there are also some possible negative consequences. Staff have to be very careful when allowing students to be on the air. Concerns of confidentiality, appropriateness, innuendo and side jokes are possible pit falls. Inevitably there will be something said or implied that will be questionable no matter how hard a teacher tries to prohibit such action. Teachers just need to be cognizant of these possible areas of concern and do their best to address these possible issues so they hopefully do not happen.
The drawbacks to using any new technology are teacher knowledge (time), access to the technology (money) and teacher motivation (will).The frustration is that none of these are in my control. I need the district to buy the water and the trough, give me the time to fill it up and then I can lead the horses to it and hopefully they will drink.
I know I have benefited from this week’s journey and my school will benefit from it as well. How far the learning will spread is up to the individuals. Let’s hope their Podcasting journey is a bump free ride into a land of vast possibilities.
REFERENCES
Gewertz, Catherine. (2007) Outside Interests. As retrieved on Oct. 14, 2009 from http://wandersen.pbworks.com/f/EducationWeekOutsideInterests.pdf
How To Embed A Podcast Into Blogger. As retrieved on Oct. 15, 2009 from
http://www.slideshare.net/Paty.Savage/how-to-embed-a-podcast-into-a-blogger
Jham, Bruno. Duraes, Gabriela. Strassler, Howard. Sensi, Luis. (2007) Joining the Podcast Revolution. As retrieved on Oct. 14, 2009 from http://www.jdentaled.org/cgi/reprint/72/3/278
Nikolov, Roumen (2007)Towards Web 2.0 Schools: Rethinking the Teachers Professional Development. As retrieved on Oct 14, 2009 from
http://dspace.ou.nl/bitstream/1820/1064/1/Nikolov-R-paper-IMICT07.pdf
Podcasting In Plain English (2008). As retrieved Oct 12, 2009 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-MSL42NV3c
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Washington, Tish (2009). How to Download Audacity and Lame Encoder To Record Podcasts. As retrieved on Oct 15, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lDya7buKbM
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Just as I was falling down the rabbit hole into a world of swirling Web 2.0 tools and feeling totally overwhelmed, a hand tattooed with the word “del.icio.us” reached down and grabbed me. I was saved by social bookmarking.
REFLECTIONS ON SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
I had never heard of social bookmarking before I read Will Richardson’s (2009) book Blogs, Wikis, Podacasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. The idea of being able to create bookmarks that could be accessed from any computer seemed like a dream come true. I have had countless moments of utter disappointment when I have needed a piece of information from a site bookmarked at home, when I was at school, or vice versa. The idea of being able to access all sites any time, anywhere seemed too good to be true. But it wasn’t. I logged on to Del.icio.us, signed up, added the link to my tool bar and immediately began searching sites, tagging them and then building my own folksonomy. Who needs Dewey Decimal? I can now organize my information using my own system that makes sense to me, not some dead guy.
Then, because I am a doubter, I logged on the next morning at school and voila there they were. This was going to be great. I have already used the del.icio.us site numerous times and I no longer have to worry about emailing sites to myself so that I can access them in whatever room I am teaching the next day, filters not allowing my information through, etc. I have even saved my Ning and Facebook to del.icio.us and it has simplified my life. I feel like I am getting into a hot tub with a glass of good Chardonnay.
I can retrieve what I want based on my tags, follow popular sites as defined by the number of followers that actually use the site not just by the number of hits (something people stumbled on that was not any good). Next, I started adding subscriptions to travel destinations, scrapbooking sites and recipe ideas. I have now added networks so I can glean the work that others have done locating sites that would be helpful to me. I can not wait to continue sharing social bookmarking with colleagues and friends.
I wonder, did our very wise Instructor Joanne purposely choose the week we were discussing organization to throw us this life line called social bookmarking?
PERSONAL USE OF SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
Discovering social bookmarking for an anal, uptight, over organized person like myself, is like putting a climber on the top of Mount Everest. I have not stopped telling people about the endless possibilities. I can search, tag, retrieve, sticky note, highlight, send to friends, enlist the work of others, etc. (Muir, David). My life is great today!
I have set up tags for vacation destinations, scrapbooking sites and recipe ideas. Best of all I can share my work with others and they can share with me. My friends are all turning 50, and yes we are still functioning mentally and physically, so we plan a vacation each time one of us reaches this milestone. We can now send information about possibilities to each other without saving the site and then emailing or Facebooking it to each other. I also have a group of friends who scrapbook together once a month. We can now share layouts and ideas (which we often scraplift from sites online) without again having to save and email out the site where we got the ideas from. And the biggest bain of my existence, cooking everyday, I can now find recipes myself and tag them for future retrieval or rely on others to find new recipes for me and again share them with friends.through del.icio.us.
I am now recruiting my own network. I will use this just to find information for my personal use but I can see how others could use this site to share information on issues of a larger global scale. The creation of a group for sourcing and sharing of information about issues of social consciousness has enormous potential. I can totally see why the site is called del.icio.us, because it simply is.
PROFESSIONAL USE OF SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
Del.icio.us has countless applications in the school setting for both staff and students.
For students it could be organizing possible sources of information for research projects or personal interests, having more ideas of where to look for information in the form of the tags chosen for other documents, connecting with people finding information pertinent to them or sharing resources such as favorite book titles or authors with others (Muir). For staff it could be a method for organizing their professional resources, sharing resources with colleagues or used in instruction.
Teaching students research skills is always difficult. Some students have an extensive amount of background knowledge and exposure to research techniques. Other students have a limited background and limited research skills. The tool del.icio.us will make scaffolding the research process much easier for teachers. Many teachers have experienced giving out a research assignment and having the majority of students begin immediately knowing what they need to do and how to start finding the information required. Then we have those students who lack research skills. Del.icio.us will help all of these students. The high achievers can start searching, bookmarking and networking. The students less familiar with the research process can access sites that the teacher has bookmarked for them and then follow the tags of these articles. The students who are at the middle of the journey can begin to find their own information, bookmark it with tags, follow the tags provided by the teacher and then eventually access the information gleaned by their peers. The downside of this process is that lazy but skilled students may just rely on others to seek out the pertinent information retrieved by others. For these students a teacher would want the topics to be dissimilar from their peers or not allow them access to the network the other students with the same topic are using. Just as with any tool, its success depends on how it is used.
For me the benefits of social bookmarking outweigh the possible pitfalls. Being able to have universal access to a student’s research will simplify their lives, allow continuity in access to work and alleviate the excuse of forgetting their research at home or school.
I believe social bookmarking will be a tool that will help students to organize their on-line world using a folksonomy that makes sense to them. As well, sites like Diigo will allow students to not only bookmark sites but store actual copies of the document which they can manipulate with sticky notes and highlighting (Richardson, 2009). Social bookmarking will also aid students in critically identifying quality sites. On del.icio.us sites are identified by the number of subscribers not just the number of hits, like google searches. This means the sites are marked by the number of actual people that follow the site not just the number of times someone opened the site but then closed it because it was not helpful.
Social bookmarking could also be used at the school and jurisdiction level. It could be used as a method to update sources of information on classroom blogs or school websites. The folksonomy used would allow access to the required information quickly easing the sorting process (Muir). Social bookmarking could also be used to collaborate with agencies or peers in other schools. This collaboration could be done as a class project or as an enrichment activity with gifted learners (Tsai, 2008).
Social bookmarking has great potential for staff professional development. Sites like del.icio.us would foster accessing materials for curriculum development any time any place and facilitate collaboration with peers anywhere in the world.
Social bookmarking has allowed me to organize my online world as well as opened up a whole new list of possibilities for my students. I feel like I am now holding onto a helpful hand and slowly climbing out of the hole. We shall see what next week brings.
REFERENCES
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Broitman, Robert. (2009). Ultimate Guide to Delicious Bookmarking As retrieved on Oct. 1, 2009 from (http://www.interactiveinsightsgroup.com/blog1/ultimate-guide-to-delicious-social-bookmarking/
Muir, David. Simply Delicious Online Social Bookmarking or Tagging for Teaching. As retrieved on Oct 1, 2009 from http://personal.strath.ac.uk/d.d.muir/Delicious1_2.pdf
Tsai, Maggie. (2008) As retrieved )ct 1, 2009 from
http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/649749:Topic:191499?page=1&commentId=649749%3AComment%3A192195&x=1#649749Comment192195
REFLECTIONS ON SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
I had never heard of social bookmarking before I read Will Richardson’s (2009) book Blogs, Wikis, Podacasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. The idea of being able to create bookmarks that could be accessed from any computer seemed like a dream come true. I have had countless moments of utter disappointment when I have needed a piece of information from a site bookmarked at home, when I was at school, or vice versa. The idea of being able to access all sites any time, anywhere seemed too good to be true. But it wasn’t. I logged on to Del.icio.us, signed up, added the link to my tool bar and immediately began searching sites, tagging them and then building my own folksonomy. Who needs Dewey Decimal? I can now organize my information using my own system that makes sense to me, not some dead guy.
Then, because I am a doubter, I logged on the next morning at school and voila there they were. This was going to be great. I have already used the del.icio.us site numerous times and I no longer have to worry about emailing sites to myself so that I can access them in whatever room I am teaching the next day, filters not allowing my information through, etc. I have even saved my Ning and Facebook to del.icio.us and it has simplified my life. I feel like I am getting into a hot tub with a glass of good Chardonnay.
I can retrieve what I want based on my tags, follow popular sites as defined by the number of followers that actually use the site not just by the number of hits (something people stumbled on that was not any good). Next, I started adding subscriptions to travel destinations, scrapbooking sites and recipe ideas. I have now added networks so I can glean the work that others have done locating sites that would be helpful to me. I can not wait to continue sharing social bookmarking with colleagues and friends.
I wonder, did our very wise Instructor Joanne purposely choose the week we were discussing organization to throw us this life line called social bookmarking?
PERSONAL USE OF SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
Discovering social bookmarking for an anal, uptight, over organized person like myself, is like putting a climber on the top of Mount Everest. I have not stopped telling people about the endless possibilities. I can search, tag, retrieve, sticky note, highlight, send to friends, enlist the work of others, etc. (Muir, David). My life is great today!
I have set up tags for vacation destinations, scrapbooking sites and recipe ideas. Best of all I can share my work with others and they can share with me. My friends are all turning 50, and yes we are still functioning mentally and physically, so we plan a vacation each time one of us reaches this milestone. We can now send information about possibilities to each other without saving the site and then emailing or Facebooking it to each other. I also have a group of friends who scrapbook together once a month. We can now share layouts and ideas (which we often scraplift from sites online) without again having to save and email out the site where we got the ideas from. And the biggest bain of my existence, cooking everyday, I can now find recipes myself and tag them for future retrieval or rely on others to find new recipes for me and again share them with friends.through del.icio.us.
I am now recruiting my own network. I will use this just to find information for my personal use but I can see how others could use this site to share information on issues of a larger global scale. The creation of a group for sourcing and sharing of information about issues of social consciousness has enormous potential. I can totally see why the site is called del.icio.us, because it simply is.
PROFESSIONAL USE OF SOCIAL BOOKMARKING
Del.icio.us has countless applications in the school setting for both staff and students.
For students it could be organizing possible sources of information for research projects or personal interests, having more ideas of where to look for information in the form of the tags chosen for other documents, connecting with people finding information pertinent to them or sharing resources such as favorite book titles or authors with others (Muir). For staff it could be a method for organizing their professional resources, sharing resources with colleagues or used in instruction.
Teaching students research skills is always difficult. Some students have an extensive amount of background knowledge and exposure to research techniques. Other students have a limited background and limited research skills. The tool del.icio.us will make scaffolding the research process much easier for teachers. Many teachers have experienced giving out a research assignment and having the majority of students begin immediately knowing what they need to do and how to start finding the information required. Then we have those students who lack research skills. Del.icio.us will help all of these students. The high achievers can start searching, bookmarking and networking. The students less familiar with the research process can access sites that the teacher has bookmarked for them and then follow the tags of these articles. The students who are at the middle of the journey can begin to find their own information, bookmark it with tags, follow the tags provided by the teacher and then eventually access the information gleaned by their peers. The downside of this process is that lazy but skilled students may just rely on others to seek out the pertinent information retrieved by others. For these students a teacher would want the topics to be dissimilar from their peers or not allow them access to the network the other students with the same topic are using. Just as with any tool, its success depends on how it is used.
For me the benefits of social bookmarking outweigh the possible pitfalls. Being able to have universal access to a student’s research will simplify their lives, allow continuity in access to work and alleviate the excuse of forgetting their research at home or school.
I believe social bookmarking will be a tool that will help students to organize their on-line world using a folksonomy that makes sense to them. As well, sites like Diigo will allow students to not only bookmark sites but store actual copies of the document which they can manipulate with sticky notes and highlighting (Richardson, 2009). Social bookmarking will also aid students in critically identifying quality sites. On del.icio.us sites are identified by the number of subscribers not just the number of hits, like google searches. This means the sites are marked by the number of actual people that follow the site not just the number of times someone opened the site but then closed it because it was not helpful.
Social bookmarking could also be used at the school and jurisdiction level. It could be used as a method to update sources of information on classroom blogs or school websites. The folksonomy used would allow access to the required information quickly easing the sorting process (Muir). Social bookmarking could also be used to collaborate with agencies or peers in other schools. This collaboration could be done as a class project or as an enrichment activity with gifted learners (Tsai, 2008).
Social bookmarking has great potential for staff professional development. Sites like del.icio.us would foster accessing materials for curriculum development any time any place and facilitate collaboration with peers anywhere in the world.
Social bookmarking has allowed me to organize my online world as well as opened up a whole new list of possibilities for my students. I feel like I am now holding onto a helpful hand and slowly climbing out of the hole. We shall see what next week brings.
REFERENCES
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Broitman, Robert. (2009). Ultimate Guide to Delicious Bookmarking As retrieved on Oct. 1, 2009 from (http://www.interactiveinsightsgroup.com/blog1/ultimate-guide-to-delicious-social-bookmarking/
Muir, David. Simply Delicious Online Social Bookmarking or Tagging for Teaching. As retrieved on Oct 1, 2009 from http://personal.strath.ac.uk/d.d.muir/Delicious1_2.pdf
Tsai, Maggie. (2008) As retrieved )ct 1, 2009 from
http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/649749:Topic:191499?page=1&commentId=649749%3AComment%3A192195&x=1#649749Comment192195
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