I've used YouTube and Zamzar before, so I spent the majority of my time on this task exploring TeacherTube. Because I've really enjoyed the CommonCraft videos that have been part of the Library2Play program, I was curious to see if they had any videos on non-tech subjects that could be used in the classroom.
Well, here is one about electing the president of the United States, and it is excellent (in keeping with CommonCraft tradition.)
This video would be a great addition to any social studies classroom. Pair it with this great flipchart on the electoral college from Promethean's website (free login required to download) to use with an Activboard, and you have an instant, engaging lesson. Even though it can take a while to search through and find them, there are wonderful resources out there that take advantage of the visually engaging styles that our students need. Happy video surfing!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Thing #19 Web 2.0 Awards
Wow! I had no idea that there were so many Web 2.0 award-winning tools out there. I decided to explore LiveMaps because I had already explored the other mapping tools listed. LiveMaps is powered by Microsoft, and it allows a typical interface to get driving directions. I tried a couple of places, and the directions they gave were accurate. Collections are an interesting mix of places that people have marked with photos, weblinks and descriptions. Some of the places are helpful (like restaurants with links to reviews) and others are just strange (like a photo of an accident that happened on an interstate highway which closed the lanes for a few hours). You can switch between road, aerial, and bird's eye view. This could be very helpful for geography students who would like to explore a particular region in depth. You could also have students use this tool to plan a virtual field trip, and they could add their own descriptions to the collections with the research that they conduct.
Thing #18 Online Productivity Tools
I am a big fan of the open source movement, especially for use in the field of education. I use several open source tools, including GIMP for photo editing, Firefox for Internet browsing, Thunderbird with the Lightning add-on for email and calendaring, and Audacity for audio editing. Because we have Microsoft Office installed on our school computers, that is the Office suite that I use, but there are plenty of advantages to using Open Office. One advantage is that it is compatible with most other document types, so it is not too difficult to work with Microsoft products at school and Open Office at home. The other huge advantage is cost--free is good, especially when trying to bridge the "digital divide."
I am impressed with Google's efforts with Google Docs, but I am quite nervous about storing my documents out in cyberspace instead of on a couple of trusted hard drives. No offense to Google, but I also wonder what their angle is with providing so much storage space for free. On the other hand, they have provided some very useful tools for students to share and collaborate on documents. I really like their spreadsheets feature that allows you to publish a dorm and collect answers online, having the results dumped right into the spreadsheet. Just a few short years ago, doing that required special servers and the help of your network admin. With Google Docs, you can set it up on your own in a few clicks for free.
I am impressed with Google's efforts with Google Docs, but I am quite nervous about storing my documents out in cyberspace instead of on a couple of trusted hard drives. No offense to Google, but I also wonder what their angle is with providing so much storage space for free. On the other hand, they have provided some very useful tools for students to share and collaborate on documents. I really like their spreadsheets feature that allows you to publish a dorm and collect answers online, having the results dumped right into the spreadsheet. Just a few short years ago, doing that required special servers and the help of your network admin. With Google Docs, you can set it up on your own in a few clicks for free.
Thing #17 Rollyo
This was the first time I had ever heard of Rollyo, so it was fun to play with this tool. Here is my "Edubloggers" roll, in case you are interested in searching some of my favorite edublogs.
I can see how this would be extremely helpful in the classroom in order to limit the amount of irrelevant information students retrieve from traditional search engines. I also like the fact that you can publish a link to a roll so that it is easy for students to find without having to know a separate username and password. Being limited to 25 sites could be a problem for upper grade levels where using more sites might be more beneficial.
I've also read this post on Alan November's blog about using Google to create a customized search. I'll have to try that next and compare it to what I've learned about Rollyo.
Happy searching!
I can see how this would be extremely helpful in the classroom in order to limit the amount of irrelevant information students retrieve from traditional search engines. I also like the fact that you can publish a link to a roll so that it is easy for students to find without having to know a separate username and password. Being limited to 25 sites could be a problem for upper grade levels where using more sites might be more beneficial.
I've also read this post on Alan November's blog about using Google to create a customized search. I'll have to try that next and compare it to what I've learned about Rollyo.
Happy searching!
Thing#16 Wikis
I had some experience using wikis before completing the tasks in this activity. So, I went into the task mostly looking for great curriculum applications and perhaps finding the "best" wiki interface. Each wiki software has a slightly different layout, so I don't think there is one "best" wiki interface. It's probably best to just pick one and go with it. My school chose to use the open source code that Wikipedia uses since the students are probably already familiar with that format.
As far as curriculum ideas...Well, there are too many to count. I was very impressed with Mr. Miller's English 10 Wiki sample. I liked it because the guidelines were very clear for the students. I also liked the idea of using wikis for professional development collections of resources, like Library Success and the AASL 2007 presentation by Loertscher. So often, we have great ideas in face-to-face meetings that never go beyond our own, personal dog-eared notebooks. Collecting these ideas in a wiki would serve not only as an archive, but it would also allow those who were unable to attend the face-to-face meeting to still contribute.
As far as curriculum ideas...Well, there are too many to count. I was very impressed with Mr. Miller's English 10 Wiki sample. I liked it because the guidelines were very clear for the students. I also liked the idea of using wikis for professional development collections of resources, like Library Success and the AASL 2007 presentation by Loertscher. So often, we have great ideas in face-to-face meetings that never go beyond our own, personal dog-eared notebooks. Collecting these ideas in a wiki would serve not only as an archive, but it would also allow those who were unable to attend the face-to-face meeting to still contribute.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thing # 15 Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the Future of Libraries
I have always seen the library as a comfortable place to go to be literally surrounded by knowledge as I stand among the stacks of books. I also liked that you could stand in the same section (or on the same floor) and run into people with the same interests. With all of the technological changes, we do expect information to arrive instantaneously to our computer screens at the click of a button. I so appreciate that future-thinking librarians in the Library 2.0 movement are spending time thinking about the best ways to have the traditional library meet our ever-changing needs. I was amazed at the effort on the WebTools4u2use wiki to pull together such a great collection of Web 2.0 resources. I will definitely keep that site handy.
Since I am not a librarian, I let my mind wander a bit as I was reading all the perspectives on Library 2.0 to "Classroom 2.0" I like the idea of having flexible classrooms to allow for more field trips and more time for hands-on projects. Technologies and libraries in this 2.0 environment would need to facilitate a variety of research and communications needs, with learner safety and high-quality information as top priorities. Classroom 2.0 should definitely be integrated with Library 2.0 so that we all help one another as lifelong learners.
Since I am not a librarian, I let my mind wander a bit as I was reading all the perspectives on Library 2.0 to "Classroom 2.0" I like the idea of having flexible classrooms to allow for more field trips and more time for hands-on projects. Technologies and libraries in this 2.0 environment would need to facilitate a variety of research and communications needs, with learner safety and high-quality information as top priorities. Classroom 2.0 should definitely be integrated with Library 2.0 so that we all help one another as lifelong learners.
Thing #14: Technorati & How Tags Work
I really enjoyed the video of the Technorati execs talk about their site. One notable quote from the video was that the site is about "connecting people directly with people." I also liked their philosophy of providing a mechanism through which people can get news from real people--news that is not filtered through the gatekeepers of traditional mass media.
I have used Technorati to find blog posts about conferences that I was not able to attend. For example, do a search on NECC08 to find blog posts in Technorati's directory that are tagged as containing information about this year's NECC conference. With the site redesign, I can see that it will be much easier to do more than just search, especially when finding news stories and other current events to include in class discussions. Prominently displayed on their home page are categories for both rising blog posts and news stories by attention. How helpful to see these at a glance. From their "what's popular" page, I found one interesting blog post from TechCrunch about a new search engines called Cuil. Unfortunately, some of the other things that are popular right now are definitely not appropriate for K12 students.
Used appropriately, I think that tags can be a useful tool. I kind of like the idea behind "folksonomy" in that end users decide the labels and categories for information. I can also see the usefulness of a blogger, or other content creator, to tag his own work. This could help the blogger organize his own collection, as well as direct others more easily to topics of their interest. On Technorati, I was surprised to find that a tag search for my keywords yielded much more appropriate results than a general blog search. It will be useful to take advantage of all the search types to find the most amount of information.
I have used Technorati to find blog posts about conferences that I was not able to attend. For example, do a search on NECC08 to find blog posts in Technorati's directory that are tagged as containing information about this year's NECC conference. With the site redesign, I can see that it will be much easier to do more than just search, especially when finding news stories and other current events to include in class discussions. Prominently displayed on their home page are categories for both rising blog posts and news stories by attention. How helpful to see these at a glance. From their "what's popular" page, I found one interesting blog post from TechCrunch about a new search engines called Cuil. Unfortunately, some of the other things that are popular right now are definitely not appropriate for K12 students.
Used appropriately, I think that tags can be a useful tool. I kind of like the idea behind "folksonomy" in that end users decide the labels and categories for information. I can also see the usefulness of a blogger, or other content creator, to tag his own work. This could help the blogger organize his own collection, as well as direct others more easily to topics of their interest. On Technorati, I was surprised to find that a tag search for my keywords yielded much more appropriate results than a general blog search. It will be useful to take advantage of all the search types to find the most amount of information.
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