VoiceThread

My voice thread! (Sorry, it's a little on the random side...)

Warlick - Chapter 3

The transition of the view of digital technology as "cool" to "cool and useful" and then to "cool and totally essential" is happening. It was "cool" to read this chapter and see that I recognized some of the sites listed as those that I use on a consistant basis and others that I used infrequently, and others that I had never heard of.

While this chapter was chock full of information and things to do, I decided that the best way to tackle this is just as Warlick suggests: Go try it. I am going to try to maneuver through a couple of these web based programs this summer.

I am especially interested in the Flickr and tagging information of this chapter. Many teachers at my school downplay the value of Internet literacy because there are so many visual aspects rather than text. True...there is a much larger portion of the screen dedicated to graphics and photographs rather than an exclusive page of text as one would see in a novel, but with smart maneuvering such as adding tags and using tags to aggregate useful information, we emply a much higher level of thinking than the simple delivery of information from teacher's mouth to student's ears.

Warlick - Chapter 1

The fact that we deny the possibility of future opportunities as our first instict upon hearing new knowledge speaks very loudly about our current mindset. I am guilty of this as well. When someone says to me something about new development technologies, I usually skoff that person off as gullible unless they are a credible source. I read the passage about teleportation in chapter 1 aloud to my fiance, and we both laughed as he is a Star Trek fan and grew up fantasizing about being able to zap from place to place. Our grandchildren or children or even our generation may be able to do that in the near future! So crazy.

I think the biggest impact that this chapter had for me was that our children walk into technology with an open and curious mind. We have trepidations that can compare to our grandparents who might refuse to use a computer or cell phone. We laugh at them, but now we are being laughed at.

Too many people think that technology usage is "hard" and takes a set of skills beyond their abilities which is a pessimism that needs to be corrected as the level of technology available now and in the future is all about making communication easier and more efficient.

I like how Warlick was able to turn around and reflect about his earlier editions without a mocking tone. Rather, he was reflective and applied what he knew now to what he may know in the future. A lesson for all of us...

Richardson - Chapter 7 (aka...I am excited)

Previously, I had thought of Flickr as just an online storage space for when you want to upload pictures to clear out your memory card on your camera. I thought that there probably wasn't a whole lot of difference between Flickr and uploading pictures on Facebook.

After reading chapter 7, I am intrigued at all the possibilities for instruction and curriculum emersion for my students. Considering that we are making huge pushes to differentiate our instruction so that our differentiated students can benefit from our instruction, the incorporation of a picture based application is appealing. Flickr opens doors for students who are visual learners and to whom aesthetics are appealing.

I like the idea of connecting with people from around the world through the use of Flickr as well as the idea of using Geobloggers to learn more about their origins from pictures that have been uploaded. I also hope that the pictures that we are all taking on Sunday can be used in Flickr or some other similar web2.0 medium.

Richardson - Chapter 6 (aka...homework for myself)

I think that del.icio.us and Furl are next on my learning threshold. I understand the concept, but I am a visual learner and need to see these links and tags in action. From what the chapter discusses with students being able to add tags to their own links, this sounds like it's good stuff that goes hand in hand with the RSS feeds that I hope to pilot this year. I like the idea of being able to give my students very specific tags to use while they are in the research phase so that I can track what links they make.

The big research project for my class is in February and March, usually. I think this is good timing because if I am going to set the students up with their own blogs, rss feeds, and del.icio.us accounts, they are going to need some "professional development" in learning to use the tools before being expert enough to be off and running.

Then again, I may just be talking about me. They will probably catch on to these tools very quickly because web2.0 is part of their growing up culture whereas this is all brand new to me.

Richardson - Chapter 5 (aka...the revolution)

I opened my book and saw that chapter 5 was all about RSS feeds. Big deal, thinks me. I just recently set up an RSS feed for my personal blogs that I like to watch, and for the past few days, I've had a good time watching my interests be organized and presented to me. It's nice.

After reading chapter 5, however, I feel like I've been hit with a brick. The ideas presented are so fantastic and would change EVERYTHING should they be integrated into schools. My mind started automatically reeling about the possibilities. These are the things that ran through my head:

1) Our school district frowns upon student e-communication. Students are not supposed to have their cell phones out during school. Nor are they supposed to check emails or even pass notes. Social interaction sites like Facebook and YouTube are blocked. BUT (and this is a big but) blogs are not blocked. I am not sure why, and I haven't questioned it for fear of the tech department blocking blogs. I am able to check blogs of all types through our school internet. I can even post messages. So much for blocking communication.

2) Because of the blogs being available, I know that my students would have access to them. For now.

3) If students were able to have their own blogs to use for class assignments and interactions, I'd be incorporating all kinds of 21st century learner traits, and the students would enjoy their assignments more.

4) The major concern with each student having their own blog would be the monitoring for appropriate content, but according to chapter 5, I could set up an RSS feed that would let me monitor the content ebb and flow.

5) The RSS feed would also make grading so much more easier. The aggregator would let me know if a post had not been made or if something were ready for assessment.

6) My students do research not only in my class but in most of their classes. An abundance of time is wasted upon finding information sources. An RSS feed set up for a particular kind of informaiton would virtually nullify this problem.

So many good things! I am so excited to set this up for my fall classes!

Educator Blog Comparisson

To compare two educator blogs, I looked at the Moving at the Speed of Creativity blog and the Fischbowl blog.

I think both of these blogs do a great job of presenting current issues that are relevant for educators and those interested in education and technology. I feel like the informaiton presented on the websites is at an overwhelming amount, but I have to remind myself, that often, blogs are not for knowing everything that ever was on the blog as you would a website or a book. Rather, they are like a newspaper where it's not necessary to read every last back issue of a newspaper to know what the current events are and to be able to participate in discussions about current events. It seems like both of these blogs hold up positively to scrutiny, but I really feel like I need to follow them for more than a few days to determine my own personal evaluation results for them. They are both highly regarded amongst my professors and some other educators that I've spoken to, so for personal recommendations, they both hold up well.

School Blog Comparisson

For the school blog comparison, I took a look at the extreme science blog by Miss Baker's biology class as well as the Lewis Meriweather Elementary School blog.

The biology blog was focused for one teacher's classes so that her students and families could interact with her curriculum and activities. Posts revolved around assignments and intriguing questions along with class polls and projects. The content of this blog leads me to believe that Miss Baker is an expert teacher and well versed in her curriculum content. The content is very reader friendly and is updated frequently which contributes to a community based upon communication. I would use this site as a credible source for information considering the fact that Miss Baker and her students do an excellent job in investigating their questions. Their blog posts and interaction communicate a sincere voice for learning in this field.

The elementary school blog really is impressive in many aspects. It is highly organized, comprehensive, and easy to use. (I have actually talked to my principal about making a version of this type of blog for our own school. He is obviously engaged in the idea and on board with this!) Family members, students, and faculty in this school are going to have much success in interacting and being active members of their school's community.

Alrighty, I'm inspired. After reading through Chapter 2 in BW&P (Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts), I feel pretty excited to go back to my school and experiment with blogs in a few different aspects. Our school website is pretty tired and rarely updated. I don't believe that any classes employ blogs for student use or for communication purposes. Oh, and I'm pretty sure that I taught my principal how to use Amazon last year. Soooooooooo...we need a little e-spruce.

I just sent my p-pal some links of examples from Chapter 2 so that he can see some of what I'm talking about when I throw around this lingo. I think this could also somehow be tied into my poster project.

I love that I'm excited about this. For those of you who know me, you know that I tend to be sarcastic and a tad pessimistic, but really! I really, really am excited about this. Let's hope the p-pal is as receptive to new ideas as we are. I'll post later about any new developments...