Mod12: Podcasts and Lesson Planning

Ever since I got my first ipod I have been interested in podcasts.  I have enjoyed all different types of podcasts; language, comedy, international news, how to, and even free audio books!  What I have enjoyed during this Mod is exploring the world of podcasts for educational purposes.  I enjoy using authentic examples when working with more advanced students, it encourages them to use their real life experiences in the classroom.

The podcast that I found is an introduction and brief history of the American Civil War. I think it would be a great introduction to this topic in class.  It could also be used as a grammar exercise for the the past tense. Another way it could be used is to answer a teacher generated question sheet such as a cloze sentences, or writing out specific date or numbers mentioned in the piece.

There are many interactive learning activities to be done with podcasts.  The above mentioned are just a few of my ideas... what are your ideas?!

Mod11: eMails, ePals and so much more!

When I first heard about ePals, I was excited about the idea of the opportunity my student would have to be able to "write" to their own personal ePal.  What I didn't realize is how much MORE ePals has to offer.  After exploring the site, I think it is am amazing teacher resource and very user friendly. 

I like that ePals has partnered with National Geographic to create collaborative global  projects.  One of the best thing about these projects is that they are already standard based and they offer suggestions such as how much time you should spend on the project, paring options, modifications, and customizing.  But more important than all those FREE fun suggestions is this (you may want to sit down for this)... FREE LESSON PLANS.  Not only are they free but they have so much detail, and other outside resources to draw from, all right there on the site!...If your heart is now pumping with excitement, you are not alone.  But lets not wait any longer to check it out here!

There are so many other great interactive, tech savvy  applications to take part in.
It is nice that they use a format which all students can participate in form K right through till 12. 

I hope to be able to aid my students in finding ePals, and maybe along the way find an ePal teacher as well!

Mod9-2: I wonder if...

King penguins by wili_hybrid
Attribution-NonCommercial License

I wonder if... people know how EASY it is to create a fun comic strip in BUBBLR?!  Well I now know just how easy it really is.  Check it out here I wonder if...!

If I were teaching younger kids this would be used to introduce learning about animals.  It is set up to show the different types of animals.  Each slide names the type of animal shown, a beautiful picture of the animal ( merci FLICKR) and a fun fact that will help the kids relate and even remember some characteristics of each animal type.

I think it would be a lot of fun for the kids to look at.  The pictures are so wonderful, I think it will really capture their attention. 

I wonder if...I will be able NOT to use this in my coming classes.  It was SO easy to make.  All these pictures at my fingertips.  Simple to put together and most importantly FUN to create!

I wonder if... others will enjoy my creation?

Mod9: one, two, three...FLICKR!!!

Antigua, Guatemala by szeke
Attribution License

Creative Commons is an easy to create copyright tool for the common persons documents, songs, pictures, presentations, etc.  

Creative Commons has six different types of license offers for “licensors” to customize how much access they would like the public that is using their material to have.  

I find it more easy to understand the differences of each license in this table I have constructed for you! I should really copyright it!

Tweet...Tweet...Tweet...

The world of micro-blogging, 140 characters or less… that is smaller than a text.  How can this tool possibly be useful within the classroom? Although I signed up for Twitter over two years ago, I rarely ever used it, simply because I felt like there was no purpose.  However, after reviewing how useful it can be as a resource and also as a classroom tool, I guess you can say I have seen the “twight”?

Micro-blogging allows for constant, quick interaction and feedback, live!  With the instant gratification sensation that students are constantly exposed to, Twitter is a great tool to feed this sensation.  Because Twitter is never closed, constantly being updated, commented on, replied to and refreshed, by millions of people around the world, someone is surely currently “tweeting” something that your students are passionate about. 

Making learning relevant by using a technology tool that they associate with socializing is essential in incorporating a successful learning environment.  In my future classroom I could see using Twitter for a variety of assignments.    Some of the ideas I found in this presentation really interested me. 

§  Anagram games: posting 5- 8 letters and seeing how many different words the students can create

§  An internet scavenger hunt, with findings posted through links on to Twitter.  This could be used for collecting information on a new topic, the findings could be shared and celebrated the next day in class to kick off a new unit. 

§  Tweeting chapter summaries.  Lets be realistic, we text about our lives in 160 characters or less on a daily basis, students will learn how to summarize chapters in 140 characters as well. 

§  Tweeting with the experts.  Being able to propose questions directly to an expert in the field is such a valuable resource and exciting experience for the students.

§  Creating a Twitter account for historical figures.  For example, George Washington could tweet about his wooden teeth and how it feels to be the first President. 

§  Students can create a Tweet Story.  Each student contributes one Tweet, 140 characters, collaborating in building an original class Tweet story.   

§  Finally, Teachers can post Tweets that need to be revised, students can offer what parts need to be revised and explain why. 

Twitter is also a great tool to develop an educator’s professional career as well.  The networks created within the Twitter community are great resources.  As this article explained, Twitter is like a more social RSS feed.  People are constantly posting new information that you can filter and read for knowledge, quickly.  Twitter has many filtering options similar to an RSS feed. 

Twitter has already made strides for educators and in the classroom with students.  I am just excited to implement the Twitterverse into my classroom and professional life for fast paced knowledge at my fingertips. 

And I also LOVE this! 

Mod6: RSS... Reading @ Super Speeds

When I cam across this blog post, I thought to myself "wow, this would have been very useful for my other grad class", and just as I finished thinking about how helpful it would be, I also realized that using this web site, and others like it would have lowered my grade.  Why? Well, the teacher was not as forward thinking as those tech savvy teachers we have been encountering during our blog searches and the teacher wanted everything on paper.  This assignment was stressful and boring, both for us creating it, and most likely for the teacher grading it.

The unit our group was creating was based on habitats which is exactly what this post is about.  Entitled, "Draw that Habitat", the admin of this blog did a fantastic job of explaining how teachers can use this tool, and also how to change its usage based on how many computers you have available, etc.  Check out this post here.  Like I said in my comment, I like that this tool incorporates a familiar character which most young students would have watched on their own TV during recreational times.  Incorporating a fun recreational character into the classroom and learning environment may led to a more enjoyable and meaningful learning experience for the student.  

As I continued reading ilearn technology I also realized that  this blog is great to have in my RSS.  This blog is a great idea generator for topics in the classroom.  ilearn technology basically spells it all out, which is a huge time saver, and its all on the web, which makes it fun for both teachers and students.  

I know RSS doesn't stand for Reading @ Super Speeds, but after learning more about why and how to use it, I think it is a proper re-name.  I am very excited about using my RSS feed to stay more informed on a very general level; news, technology, teaching, travel blogs and more.  But I like that I can read my RSS on a broad level, or only specific blogs.  The versatility of this tool is exciting and I think will help me as en educator stay educated and up to date.  

Mod4-2: A Facebook-like teaching tool...ahhhhh!!!

While reading about Ning in our text my blood literally starting pumping.  My brain started buzzing just thinking of all the ways it could be used.  I, like many other people, am quite addicted to FB, and just thinking that there is something out there that can be used professionally is simply EXCITING(for lack of a more appropriate term, you will see this word a lot in this posting)! 


I did a few searches and clicked on the ones which had a decent amount of members (100+).  I found a 

few accounts which sounded really interesting, but kept running into roadblocks like the site was inactive or it was being re-modeled or it was private.  So I spent a good amount of time on two sites which are very popular and FULL of exciting information.


The first is classroom20.  With over 50,000 members you are guaranteed some sort of activity to be happening.  This Ning site is "social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and Social Media in education".  The site has a very familiar feeling to which made it easy to navigate.  They have a group feature which focuses on special interests.  One group that caught my eye was "cell phones in education", how exciting is that?! I read through some of the postings, and was thrilled to see how some schools have already implemented the usage of phones into students everyday learning.  There is also a post about the discipline in the school, and the steps they take if students abuse their privilege.  I only took a few minutes to view Classroom 20 but what I did se made me excited to be a future educator during this time.  This site alone made me feel as if implementing technology into the classroom is completely do-able, and is ALREADY being done... EXCITING!


The second site I checked out was eflclassroom2.0.  I also spent some time checking this site out and was once again excited.  I found a forum on teaching and stereotypes.  There were a lot of interesting discussions going on and some interesting links worth spending your time on checking out.  This site also has a large amount of members, although it seems like there is one main person who is doing most of the contributing, while the other members are  participating by adding information and thoughts to the main idea.  The layout of this network was much more busy than what I am use to, however, it had plenty of links which could bring you to other social networks to keep completely connected. 


WOW! talk about a new world opened up! This is SO EXCITING.  I am really looking forward to using this on a daily basis... it gets my brain thinking and excited about surfing the net... unlike FB...which now, seems... kinda boring.  

Mod4-1: A learner is like a...

A learner is like a vehicle (please bare with me on this one… I am in no way poetic and thus, much better at stating the obvious). 

Learners need to be re-fueled with knowledge, constantly.  They can choose through which technology they want to re-fuel; phone, computer, TV, video games, ipad, etc.  They, now, have options as to where they want to access their knowledge; on-line journals, databases, blogs, social networks, etc.  And like our vehicles, learners need to refuel often to function properly. 

In fact according to the Siemens article, the knowledge of the world is doubling every 18 months, meaning that what we knew in September 2009 is now obsolete.  This also means that what we knew about learning and learners 18 months ago has changed. The way in which younger learners are learning is changing because of the increasing amount of exposure to technology and the effect if has on the wiring of their brain. 

Learner’s brains are becoming wired differently and thus the foundations of the learning experience need to change.  This is where the idea of collectivism comes into play.  More on the principles of collectivism can be found here.

As auto companies are constantly coming out with new vehicle models, the learning models are also changing.  As Siemens said in his blog about the impact of social media on learning  “content leads to conversation”, and I would like to add, conversation leads to learning.  He continues on to say that working together and collaboration, through technology, will be one of the new ways in which learning will occur. 

Alas, vehicles may not be the best analogy to describe a learner.  But one thing is for sure; vehicles bring us from point A to point B in our lives and so does learning.

Mod3: Technology, Technology and TECHNOLOGYYY!!!!

At the age of 23 I sometimes feel like I am already going through my mid,mid-life crisis.  I like to think that just because I know my way around computers, iphones and Facebook, that I'm "with it".  But what about ipads, twitter, nooks, kindle, new video games, new touch technology, etc,etc,etc.  Sometimes I just feel like I cant keep up, or afford it.

I watched 21st Century Education in New Brunswick and was EXCITED.  I was excited to see that they are so tech forward and actually thinking about what their current students will encounter during THEIR lifetime.  If their not doing anything else, at least they are being EXPOSED to the technology they will be working with in their future.  Not everyone can afford these technologies, but it is probable that the companies they will work for will have them, and lets not forget about that handy dandy resume.

This video threw out some astonishing stats:
-Technology will experience 20,000 years of growth this century
- The top ten jobs today didn't exist in 2004
- 2nd graders can type up to 60wpm using twitter, fb and txting

I would be interested in sitting in on a typical day and doing typical homework in a New Brunswick school.  It would be an eye opener to experience how they are moving their students forward into a RELEVANT world.

The second video I watched was RSA Animate- Changing Education Paradigms.  If you were ever going to spend 11 minutes doing anything, check this video out!  First of all it is visually stimulating and it hits on our, not so modern,  educational system HARD.

He focuses on some hotly debated topics like:
- reforming how schools are organized
- the "plague" of ADHD and the debate of medicating/anesthetizing children to go through their schooling sedated
- the fact that the "work hard--> do well--> go to college--> get a job" model is no longer true/relevant and kids KNOW it.
- the idea of DIVERGENT THINKING.  Meaning the ability to see many possible answers to one question.

This video brought up some serious topics in todays educational system.  It made me think about my personal thoughts on these topics as an educator and it also brought up some ideas that I had never REALLY thought about.  For example: that schools function much like a factory (see video for more) and that kids are "produced" in batches based solely on their date of manufacture.  There were some many "ah-ha!" moments for me in those 11 minutes that I watched the video a few more times just to re-live it all over again.

The two videos were both showing the possibilities and problems in todays schooling.  Mostly that the WAY in which we are teaching our students is completely IRRELEVANT in the world that they WILL encounter.  Which poses a tough task to all educators; learn about the technology, implement it into the classroom, meet state standards, do all students have access to the technology at home?, will the school system support you?, what about that budget?, will your student's parents understand WHY you are so focused on re-vamping what their child's schooling?, and lets not forget, politics.

I am personally simply excited about the fact that there IS a movement towards change and that I might be able to experience it or even be a part of it during my teaching career.  I just need to keep up.  This is an exciting time to be living and I need to take full advantage of it.  No mid, mid-life crisis for me...Not concerning technology anyway...

Mod2: Safety First Kids

Blogging assignment numero dos: 
post a comprehensive list of things to teach students about safe blogging


After checking out some informative sites, reading through a few blogs and different schools online safety policies here are some straight forward fundamentals to safe blogging:

• Never offer any personal information including your last name, contact information, home address, phone numbers, school's name, e-mail address, last names of friends or relatives, instant messaging names, age, or birth date.
• Assume what you publish on the Web is permanent. Anyone on the Internet can easily print out a blog or save it to a computer. 

The above mentioned fundamentals and others can be found here.

• Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.

The above mentioned fundamentals and others can be found here.

One of the interesting lists I found on multiple sites were not only safety procedures but also blogging guidelines:

• Keep blogs positive and don't use them for slander or to attack others.
• Use common sense
• Make your posts and comments worth reading by doing your best work.
• Reread everything you type for mistakes and errors!
• Use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• Work towards expressing yourself in thoughtful, clear, detailed writing every time you post.
• Always provide photo credits to their sources (go through Creative Commons).
• Write in your own words. If you occasionally want to use the words of someone else, use quotes and give credit to that person.

The last six guidelines come from a blog, which you can access here.  

Interested in learning more about cyber safety? 
Learn how to be a good CYBER CITIZEN
National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Learn about the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

Mod2: The Beginning is a VERY Good Place to Start...

Although this is not my first time blogging, it is the first time I am blogging for educational purposes.  In the past I would consider my blogging more like journaling.  I hope that from this course I will have my own "online portfolio" of how to use the internet and all it has to offer within my classroom.  


The first blogging assignment :  
"post an entry on your blog describing three ways that you could or are using blogs in your own teaching and mention the standards from your field that student blogging would meet"


In the beginning I think that I would start my students out by having them complete simple tasks, in order to get aquatinted with the site and ease them into the blogging world, by posting assignments and and commenting on/ responding to the classroom blog.  Also as a launching point I would like to have a listing of listening links which they could click to listen to/ watch and post comments about.  


Once the students are acquainted with the idea of blogging I would like each student to start their own blog.  Giving them their own space will allow the students to take ownership and (hopefully) pride in the way their blog looks, the content they write and post, and comments they make.  We have all experienced how it feels when someone comments or "like"s a picture, post or comment on FB.  I would hope that blogging would in the classroom would have a similar effect.  


Finally, I would like to use blogs to bridge the gap between the classroom and home.  Using the internet is a great tool for parental communication.  Using the blog as a one stop information spot where parents can become informed as to what is happening in the classroom, see their own child's best work, and look at pictures is extremely useful and an advantage for both the teacher and the parent.  


The above mentioned uses of blogs in the classroom meet the  k-12 TESOL standards of
Listening
Listening is an active skill. By highlighting an assortment of listening tasks across standards, the need to involve students in active listening and purposeful listening skills development becomes clear.
Reading
English language learners process, interpret, and evaluate written language, symbols, and text with understanding and fluency. Learning to read in a second language may be enhanced or hindered by students’ level of literacy in their native language. Students who have a strong foundation in reading in their first language bring with them skills that can be readily transferred in the process of learning to read in English.
Writing
English language learners use written communication for a variety of purposes and audiences. Writing can be used to express meaning through drawing, symbols, or text. English language learners may come with writing styles influenced by their home cultures.

I am looking forward to being able to learn more about blogging.  I am also excited to take what has been traditionally used as social technology and see how it can be transformed into social learning technology.