Week 4 - Blog Posting #8 -Reflection on Blogging

This is the 8^th blog for my ETC class, and it’s supposed to be all about my reflections on blogging and what Web 2.0 tools we used. Before taking this class, I had never written a blog, let alone, set up a net vibes account, or a social bookmark, or web quest. But I have now!

My favorite Web 2.0 tool by far is net vibes. I love how much time it saves me from checking all my emails, and looking to see if there is new info posted on my favorite sites. I saw no drawbacks with net vibes.

My second favorite tool that we used during this class was the web quest. I loved creating a lesson that I could put online. I just wish I had started it sooner because I feel like I rushed it at the end. Originally, I tried creating the web quest on Garden Flow because I have found that the previous web.me pages I made were blocked on the school computers. Despite this though, on Monday of next week, I am actually going to have a few of my fifth graders try the web quest. So I really will be attempting to use it in the educational setting. I have to make a confession though. There are a few problems that could hinder the implementation of using it with my classes. One being that there are only 4 computers in my class for my 26 5^th graders. A second being that the Internet connections are super slow at school. The biggest problem I will face is getting the site unblocked since personal WebPages, which is what I used to create my (I have to tell you a secret though. I was given a temporary bypass code to blocked sites, so it is my hope that it will work on Monday.)

I also really liked that we have had to set up a social bookmark in this class. I have found it useful when I am on other computers and I want to find specific sites, without having to look them up. One drawback that I see with social book marks are that you have to make sure you don’t allow your personal sites (bank, email, etc.) don’t get posted in the public feeds.

The other tool that we learned about in this class was blogging. I had never blogged before, but I learned that I liked it. It was almost therapeutic being able to reflect on the things we were learning about. Yet, I remember reading a link on Dr. D’s twitter that shared the story of the teacher who lost his job because of his blog. Because of this instance I think blogging is something that should be only written and shared on a professional and not personal level.

Signing off.

Tessa

Week 4 - Blog Posting #7 -Second Life

So today I, I being Majestia Nayar in Second Life, checked out both the Bloom’s Taxonomy and the Multiple Intelligences areas.

First, I went to the MI area. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Koru/58/212/0 There was a self reflection mirror and meditation area to represent intrapersonal thinking. Then I went to the musical intelligence area where there were a number of steel drums, bells, and a harp to show musical ability. I think that by touching the objects you were supposed to hear the different sounds and patterns, but I couldn’t figure it out. There was tree, a swing and animals in another area to represent naturalistic intelligence, puzzles to solve in the math intelligence area, things to manipulate in the spatial intelligence area, a library for linguistic intelligence and group seating area to show interpersonal intelligence. I thought it was neat how they had represented all of the intelligences through the settings.

The second place I visited was the Bloom’s Taxonomy. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teaching%204/208/175/25I liked how it had the stairs showing the levels of thinking, and as you clicked on each step it would describe the different levels of thinking. There only seemed to be two areas to represent Bloom’s Taxonomy, so I ended up flying around. I found an area that taught about the chemistry of water, a place to learn about world journalism, and also an accounting area.

When I was in the accounting area of second life, the first contact that was made by a fellow named Marshall Oleander. He said “Hello. I’m here for the orgy.” How’s that for learning about accounting/multiples in numbers?! Actually I found it sad that in an area that is to promote thinking and learning, there is this idea of “hooking up.” I am not a fan of many of the areas on SL because it is all about looking at nude avatars or watching nude avatars. It seemed so weird about being approached about an orgy on SL in an educational area.

I almost logged off after that moment, but I ended up going to the ISTE area. I found that this has been the most useful area I have found yet on SL. When I first got there I walked around. I found a board that displayed meeting times for ISTE members. I then saw Scott who is a greeter/go to guy in the ISTE. I asked him about meetings and he told me that the next on is on Thursday. I would love to see this next meeting time, but I have to go to an alumni band event that night. I did become a member, and I did check out an archived version of one of the ISTE Eduverse Talk series. http://www.iste-eduverse.org/ From watching this video I learned about the 4 C’s with Social Media and saw how ISTE is using Ning.

Overall, I am still not a huge fan of SL. I see that there could be a great potential for promoting learning on SL. I just wish that the porno side of SL would not be promoted in educational areas. It is such a drawback.

Week 3 - Blog Posting #6 -Communities of Practice

Communities of Practice

When I was growing up, helping the community and being active in my community was of key importance in my household. Even if my siblings and I weren’t up for being involved, it was and still is my Mom’s duty to be a community promoter. Literally. Like a mafia boss, she has connections. She cannot avoid connections because it is her jobs to promote and make connections in our hometown. My mom is the director of our city’s Chamber of Commerce. Everyday people, businesses and community leaders are contacting my mom to get and share information about what is going on in our community. She plans dinners, writes newsletters, promotes events, plans events, helps businesses, and shares information with people from many different states.

When I read the definition of Communities of Practice, I thought of my Mom and her career. “Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly,” (Wenger, 2006). Businesses that are members of Chamber of Commerce regularly share information at monthly meetings and through newsletters. Often times new and old businesses want to share the great things they are doing. Just like how a community of practice shares passion for something they do, business members in a Chamber of Commerce share their passion of their business. Also, a Community of Practice and a Chamber of Commerce both seek input from others, they seek new ways to communicate and they share strategies. In my mind my Mom’s career is an excellent example of a community of practice.

Even though my Mom’s job is very involved, it does have its limitations. “Most connections in the real world are hidden. Your network may have huge potential, but it’s only as valuable as the people and the connections that you can see,” (Leelefever, 2007). The business member who attend monthly meetings and the planned events see to have better connections among their business compared to the Chamber members who don’t attend meetings and events as regularly. So what could help the people who cannot attend these meetings? Social networks. Social networks are changing the way people interact. Social networks are allowing others to see contacts with others more easily and are showing the connections between others that may be hidden by things like distance and/or scheduling conflicts.

Resources

Leelefever. (2007, June). Social networking in plain English. Retrieved on September

18, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc

Wenger, E. (2006, June). Communities of practice: a brief introduction. Retrieved on

September 18, 2009 from http://www.ewenger.com/theory/

Week 3 - Blog Posting #5 -Social Media

Social Media

When I hear the word social media, the word social sticks out most to me, and I first think about social networks like Myspace, Facebook and Ning. On these social networks people can have connections with one another. I believe that the shyest person and the most outgoing person both desire to fit in with others--to feel a part of a group. That’s why you see book clubs, Soccer Mom’s, poker groups, football parties. Yet, our desire to interact does not stop in the physical world. We like to interact in the many things we do, including online.

Social networks are changing the way we interact with one another. “It used to be hard to get people to assemble and easy for existing groups to fall apart. Now assembling latent groups is simple, and the groups, once assembled, can be quite robust in the face of indifference or even direct opposition from the larger society” (Shirky, 2008). People are using these things to go beyond just communicating, people are collaborating and sharing information to create things as a group. Social networks are allowing people to collaborate quicker, without having to plan every interaction. According to the Collective Intelligence video, In my 2007, myspace had 375,000 new accounts everyday (2007). This statistic is evidence of how people like to interact with others.

Not only are social media outlets allowing us to collaborate and interact, they are allowing people to support each other in ethical ways when we see injustice. Gordan Brown in his video claims “What we see unlocks the things we cannot see. What we see unlocks the invisible ties and bonds of sympathy that brings us together to become a human community. We do have moral sense that we have a duty to act when we see things that need righted” (Brown, 2009). The pictures that Gordan displayed in the video all were examples of how pictures affect people to help and support others in difficult situations. Social media. Is it here to stay? Absolutely.

Resources

Brown, G. (2009, July) Gordon Brown: Wiring a web for global good. Retrieved on September 15, 2009 at http://www.ted.com/talks/gordon_brown.html

Psbobj (2007, May). Collective intelligence-the vision. Retrieved on September 16, 2009 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQe8dWTbE2U

Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody: the power of organizing without organizations. London: The Penguin Group.

Week 2 - Blog Posting #4 -21st Century Skills & Lifelong Learning

Life Long Learning

“If you’re not willing to be dedicated to learning something new everyday, then you are not willing to do what it takes to succeed” (Gitomer, 2008). Basically, I think this should be the motto for life long learning. I loved that the Jeffrey Gitomer video shared the 12 points of how to be a life long learner. Some of the points made that stood out to me were: Attend new seminars, join toastmasters or public speaking group, and spend 30 minutes everyday learning something new. Though I don’t always do it myself, I see that there is much value in taking 30 minutes every day to find out something new. Also, I found that his stress on toastmasters to be very intriguing because when I was in junior high my parents made me join a student club of toastmasters. I did learn a lot from learning how to present and prepare speeches. I also find that it is important for teachers to attend seminars and workshops to learn and stay updated on the various things going on in the educational field. According to Ruth Reynard, “The problem with all of what we currently do in the general scope of education is that we, the educators, hold on to how we learned and how we process information and knowledge rather than thinking through the realties of how new students and future students think and process and the challenges they will bring to our courses,” (Reynard, 2008). Too many times, I have witnessed many of my colleagues, teach the same grade, the same subject area at the same school as they started teaching at, without ever moving to a new building and/or teaching a different subject area. Many times these teachers teach the same way they have always taught without changing anything about their subject areas, style or approach. Compared to teachers who attend training and workshops, I find that people view teachers who resist learning as less credible.

Collaboration is another thing that I believe is a key aspect of life long learning. From reading Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, I was reminded of the importance of groups. “Many jobs that we regard as province of a single mind actually require a crowd,” and “When we change the way we communicate, we change society” (Shirky, 2008). Personally, I find when working with others I am challenged, and I am forced to decipher meaning of various topics when I interact with others who may have different thoughts and opinions from my own.

So what does it take to be a life long learner? This is what it takes: Dedication, personal challenges, persistent training, analysis of self and others, communication and collaboration with others.

Resources

Gitomer, J. (2008, April 19). Life Long Learning. Retrieved on September 14, 2009 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh6yd6wfCgU&feature=player_embedded

Reynard, R. (2008, April 24). 21st century teaching and learning. The Journal. Retrieved on September 14, 2009 from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2008/04/24/21st- Century-Teaching-and-Learning- Part-1.aspx?Page=1

Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody: the power of organizing without organizations. London: The Penguin Group.

Week 2-Blog Posting #3-Media Literacy

Media Literacy

Geek Speak. The computer/media/technology terms like, blogging, wikis, uploading, downloading, forums, twittering, social networking, role-playing games to some may be the lingo of "Geek Speak." To some these words are familiar, and to others these terms are alien. Yet, these words/things we as educators should know and should teach to our students because they are part of the media/technology being utilized today. These terms all incorporate media literacy, which includes collaboration and communication.

When I think of literacy, I am reminded of reading skills of my own students. I have students who read above an 8th grade level, yet I have some who below a 1st grade level. Obviously there is a wide range of reading skills when it comes to my students' skills of reading fluency and reading comprehension. Ultimately though the goal for these students is to increase and improve their literacy skills.

I think there should be a similar goal of increasing media literacy for our students. Similar to reading literacy, Media Literacy requires some skills of reading. Beyond needing reading skills, students need to know how to give feedback to others, receive feedback, write, use and navigate around various sites. We should promote the importance of collaborating though technology. Web 2.0 tools are used "to connect people in order to boost their knowledge and their ability to learn" (Alexander, 2006).

The people to people connections are a huge part of the media literacy of today. And many educational institutions are utilizing media in their curriculums, along with social networking. Yet, as teachers we need to approach utilizing social networking in our classes in a mindful way. "students may perceive instructors' attempts to incorporate such social technologies for educational purposes as intrusions into their space. Innovative teachers who wish to adopt social software tools must do so with these attitudes in mind" (McLouglin & Lee, 2008). Though we should be mindful of "intruding" on our students personal lives, it is best to incorporate socialization through the medias we present and utilizing within our classrooms. Facebook, Ning, and myspace are some well know social networks.

Sharing information is also a huge part of media literacy. "Our social tools remove older obstacles to public expression, and thus remove the bottlenecks that characterized mass media. The result is the mass amateurization of efforts previously reserved for media professionals" (Shirky, 2008). Wikis, blogs, emails, social networks are all tools on the internet where information can be shared.

Though I have not gone to far in depth on media literacy, I hope the message is clear. In today's day in age we should promote and use "Geek Speak." By using technology and Web 2.0 tools we are promoting finding and sharing information, collaboration and reading and writing skills. Ultimately, it should be our goal to increase and improve our students media literacy skills.

Resources

Alexander, B. (2006,March/April). Web 2.0: a new wave of innovation for teaching and learning? EDUCAUSE. Retrieved on September 13, 2009 from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm0621.pdf

McLoughlin, C., & Lee, M. J. W. (2008, June/July) Future learning landscapes: transforming pedagogy through social software. Journal of Online Education, volume 4, issue 5. Retrieved on September 13, 2009 from http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=539&action=article

Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody: the power of organizing without organizations. London: The Penguin Group.

Week 1-Blog Post #2 - Learning 2.0

Week 1-Blog Post #2-Learning 2.0

With all of the technologies that kids are using outside of school like text messaging, videogames, movies, computers, online activities, is it any wonder why student sometimes seem so disengaged from just reading a textbook and silently answering textbook questions on notebook paper?

When I watched the Learning to Change, Changing to Learn I was not shocked that the educational industries were ranked 55 out of 55 in regards to IT intensiveness. I loved how the video said, “We have a classroom system. We could have a community system” (Floyda007, 2008). Obviously as teachers we need to help this change towards being able to find information, being able to be creative, and being able to work and communicate with other students.

This past weekend, my husband came across a new sarticle online from our local newspaper, The News Herald. This article is called, “Popular Social Networking Tools Untapped By Most Area City Schools,” which just as the title tells it did mention how most schools in our area firewall and block social networking sites at our schools. Yet, it did share how Chardon School District is using Twitter to inform parents and students about events and news going on within the district. Students get twitter updates on the homework that is due. Also, Chardon is building a facebook page. I was very excited to see that there is a district in my area that is using social networking to help their district. Chardon Local School District is actually utilizing social networks to share information.

Despite, that many schools systems are slow to change, there are teachers, administrators, and schools, like Chardon School District (mentioned in the previous paragraph) that are trying to change their ideas on how to work with students. I found evidence of this from watching videos on http://www.mobilelearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation. One of the videos I watched was called “The Takeover of Locke High School” (Brown, 2009). It shows how a whole school is suggesting that we as teachers need to care for all students, despite personalities, appearances, background, etc. Another video that I watched called “Education the Mobile Generation” where schools were using hand held computers like Novas and iphones for researching, creating stories, almost every classroom activities, without a problem of space. A strong message from this video was, “Bottom like these hand held devices need to be used for achievement, not just for technology sake” (Brown, 2009). In the video featuring George McKenna, George suggests that we should know our students, including in a way where we can call our students to check on them. Though McKenna did not seem to have strong feelings about technology, it makes person wonder if using technology (i.e. text message, email, twitter, etc.) can make a similar personal connection like a phone call. I would think these technologies could help with personalizing education.

References

Brown, S. (Producer). (2009). Education in the mobile generation. Mobile Learning Institute: A Nokia Pearson Foundation Alliance. Video retrieved from the Mobile Learning Institute Web site: http://www.mobilelearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation/films/film-elliot- cathie.html

Brown, S. (Producer). (2009). Personalizing public education. Mobile Learning Institute: A Nokia Pearson Foundation Alliance. Video retrieved from the Mobile Learning InstituteWebsite: http://www.mobilelearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation/films/film- george-mckenna.html

Brown, S. (Producer). (2009). The takeover of Locke High School. Mobile Learning Institute: A Nokia Pearson Foundation Alliance. Video retrieved from the Mobile Learning Institute Web site: http://www.mobilelearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation/films/film-steve-barr.html

Floyda007. (2008, May 15). Learning to change-changing to learn. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tahTKdEUAPk

Klepach, S. (2009, September 6). Popular social networking tools untapped by most area schools. The News-Herald. Retrieved from http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/09/06/news/nh1380365.txt