Distance Learning

I am sometimes amazed at how far technology has actually taken us. For me, I could not have gotten my masters degree without distance learning. I finished my M.ed and never even saw the campus. It is amazing the relationships you can build just by using online tools such as blogs, wikis, or educational tools such as moodle or blackboard. I even had one teacher teach the entire class via a wiki (Thank you Jeff Utecht) and it was amazing. We got to chat when needed, see revisions in real time and all of our projects were listed with clear directions. With email being more relevant than telephone we were able to use that medium as well. Skype was also very helpful. When I took the class, we had arranged times to talk on skype to touch base and have questions answered. I am a true believer in distance education and wonder how well it would work out for say, middle school students. What traits would they need be good distant learners? Just a thought..

Voki - A talking Avatar

Now I may be being repetitive here as I'm sure there are many 2.0 users that are already aware of this application, but I just had to take a minute to tell you how cool I think it is. While searching edublog on an unrelated topic, I ran into the following post Adding a Voki Speaking Avatar . Now this is a neat toy and widget, I created mine quickly and easily with lots of options, I didn't have my handy dandy skype head phones so I just used one of the prerecorded voices and typed in what I wanted it to say. Now that is impressive. I can see so many uses for this. I already like mine and can not wait to have more time to customize it and add my own voice. Adding the code for the widget was easy and they give you three different sizes to choose from. Now think of all the fun I'm having. Can you imagine how much fun our students would have at all different age ranges and abilities. An avatar that you create that can talk using your voice or what you type in at the keyboard. If you have ever seen a students/childs laptop, the first thing you may notice is how customized it is just for them. I can see students adding this to websites, presentations, their wonderful my space account the works, they can even email it to friend. I see a lot of potential and am trying to find time to see if I can do a podcast with my avatar from voki. If you have a minute, drop a comment and take some time to play :)

Thank you Cool Cat Teacher

I just had to extend my thanks to Vicky at Cool Cat Teacher for her wonderful post on 8 Reasons Why Bloggers Don't Share their Blog: A Call for You to Share Your Link. I think your 5th reason really resignates for me, "A Feeling of Being overwhelmed - When I started, I often wondered, "what can I add?" There's too much. I cannot do this. I don't have the time.". I am always worried about what I am writing about and if it will be relevant to other readers in the blogsphere. I currently have over 1000 feeds in my google reader, so yes, I get a little overwhelmed sometimes. You helped me to see I am not alone and I thank you. You have also connected me to some great blogs, just in watching your comments, I have found great bloggers who I have a great deal in common with such as:
Connected the Dots
urbanteachertales
Avenueforlearning
R.O.F.L.M.A.O.
and
OnionSkin along with many other's I have added to my reader. What a great idea, Thank you so much!

Just When I Thought I Was a True Web 2.0 User

I find myself realizing that I still rely on my old habits, my old ways of doing things. I still create my documents in word, and my spreadsheets in excel, directly on my laptop. I have 40 page paper's due for some of my master's classes yet, I keep them on a hard drive, safe and sound. So while I love to blog, love my wiki and am constantly playing with 2.0 tools, I am not always using them in the way they were meant to be used. I wonder if anyone else claiming to love 2.0 can say the same... I find myself, with a laptop that is not my own, and a 20 page paper due in two days, I'm just waiting around, could be working on my edits, BUT, did I put in on the one of google's coolest tools, Google Docs, No, I did not, so I sit here waiting and wishing I had saved my paper to my usb port. Again, I'm not realizing the potential. I promise in the future to do what I preach, use web 2.0 technology to it's fullest abilities! Iwill post my paper to Google Docs and I will use my del.icio.us account and stop using the bookmark tab. Confessions of a web 2.0 user :)

The Power of Blogging Recognized in Politics

Well as I was getting my dose of what I consider TV news, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, I caught his interview with David Perlmutter, a professor at the University of Kansas. They were discussing his book "Blog Wars". During his interview, Mr. Perlmutter talks about the power of the Internet and blogs and their impact if any on the political process. Now I use the Internet for my needs, news, education, learning, blogging, but it never truly occurred to me that politicians are using blogs as a way to reach online social networks, and that they realize the power of these networks. In researching this a little, I found the following regarding Obama's online presence at a blog at the Washington Post.

"Barack Obama is very interesting in this regard. It is interesting to watch in his online efforts, and he's raising a ton of money online. He has to go to fewer $1,000-a-plate dinners than John McCain does. Campaigns are paying attention to that. He's also able to bring in newer voters, as he certainly did in Iowa. If you look at the entrance polls in Iowa, the spread of young voters between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, was the widest in the history of entrance and exit voting. I think that had a lot to do both with the qualities of Barack Obama the candidate, but also with the campaign's outreach through online social interactive media."

It is enlightening to know that politicians realize the power of an online presence and social networking. It is undeniable proof that social networks are and can be extremely powerful. In doing a Google search for blogs, Obama, Google comes back with 13,400,000 hits. Now I realize these are not all blogs, and some are posts but wow, that is impressive.

Blogging is changing the face of elections. Politicians actually hire professional bloggers and keep them on payroll according to the interview.

Is it possible that social networking could help candidates win elections? Are they/we that powerful? If so, I need to get it right so I can land a teaching position :)

Using Podcasts for Assessment

I personally think a podcast is a great way to assess a student’s knowledge. Talk about alternative assessment which is more meaningful and relevant. Teacher and peer reviews can be added to the assessment process via a podcast interview on a project. The question answer format and the prompting that is required to produce the podcast would allow teachers to get a true sense of the students understanding of the content. Podcasts would also reduce paper tests and quizzes which may save a tree of two. I believe podcasts can enhance the assessment process. We are now assessing content as well as performance. How well can the students speak into the microphone and discuss their projects clearly? This is a very important skill we all need to learn and the earlier the better. I think podcasting provides a great medium for authentic assessment. This is definitely an assessment tool I can and will use in my classroom when I get one. By asking the students questions about their projects I can not only see what they know but hopefully learn something myself. As an added benefit, a podcast is much harder to misplace than a paper test and can be made available for us to listen to for grading at our convenience. This is the true power of assessment in a networked environment. A teacher has the task of staying diligent about checking online content. I believe it makes assessment easier, as we can see when something was submitted, and assess it under the conditions that we stipulate for that content. That is where a good rubric would come in very handy. Nothing fancy, but a check list of what you might want to see in a multimedia presentation or internet project. Rubrics can be created quickly and easily with such online free tools such as “rubistar".

It was great to listen to how involved the students were in their projects when listening to the podcast of Jeff Utecht’s 5^th grade class. When teachers and parents are asked about what they think about their students work, they have stated that they are amazed at how well the children are able to present their information. The student’s internet and researching skills were obviously very important as the students needed to learn how to sift through a lot of information quickly and be able to pull out pertinent data. The students showed and developed higher level skills and thinking that can be applied to the real world. The beauty of today’s society is that I think that every technology teacher that has stayed abreast of up and coming technologies has already begun to teach these skill sets, that is scanning content, presentation skills and higher level thinking. I would like to believe that all teachers across all curriculums are staying aware of changes in technology which in turn affects the skills we need to teach our children. I can dream can’t I? Check out this great post I found from Kelly BlackWell on “Using podcasts to enhance teaching and learning in the classroom”.

Ning...Ning...Ning... Yet Another Tool?

I recently decided to increase my network presence and after reading many great blogs, I decided to create a page on ning, click on the picture to check out my page. Well I do like it's many capabilities. I uploaded some personal photo's, downloaded an image from flickr, added a video and my first podcast. It appear to be robust and connects you with other social networks quickly. But I don't think it is as great as I had previously thought. The text editor is extremely limited. You cannot change font's, colors or sizes unless your great at html and it has been a while for me. When you join a social network, you are prompted to create your own page again. How many pages does one really need on the internet? Google ads show up on the right side of your page unless you are willing to pay the $19.95 premium service fee. I leave ning with mixed feelings. Is it really the great tool I thought I had found? I'm still not sure. If your a ning user, I'd love to hear what you think... The center of learning and technology lists ning as one of the 100 top tools in education. Do you agree?

Teaching in a networked world

When teaching in a networked environment, passions for and uses of learning grow in a way that has little to do with demographics. Therefore the flexibility provided by the educators becomes especially important and the new meaning of access to education is quite individual enabling individuals in making their own decisions regarding their private and public lives. And in making these decisions comes great responsibility and it is up to us an educators to teach the extreme importance of proper conduct and internet safety in a networked environment. The students need to understand that the world can and will be there audience and they must write accordingly. A friend of mine just posted a link to a podcast where it is evident that students are abusing the use of the internet. It can be found at: http://www.storiesofus.com/previews.html.

In another article, , thanks Jeff, you see how negative endorsements can severely affect students in the academic setting.”University throws Facebook at Revelers”.

In its capacity as a tool, Internet and networks are but a ripple on the surface of our educational institutions. It is allowing us to expand our capacity as intellectual being and helps to challenge, us. Networking and the internet are without precedent in the educational history of mankind. The importance of networking in education has been finally been seen, particularly the use of wikis and blogs. A wealth of resources and techniques now exist which serve as a source both for exciting examples of new teaching practices, as well as easily accessible methods for adoption into various formats of teaching and learning. Not only is it changing the way we think, it is changing the way we teach and the way our students learn. The internet and networking technologies have allowed teachers and students keep up with their minds. It lets us try our ideas as soon as they come up with them.

Web 2.0 and Personal Learning Networks

I'm adding more thoughts on the article“Web 2.0 a Social Movement” by William Birdsall. In reading the article again, I found the following:

“Web 2.0 has increased the participatory role given to users of the Web in its development and use. Tim O’Reilly, who is often given credit for coining the term Web 2.0, talks about development principles that include: “an architecture of participation;” “harnessing collective intelligence;” “rich user experience;” “trusting users as co-developers;” development in a state of “perpetual beta”; “the wisdom of crowds” (O’Reilly, 2005).

These crowds have become our own personal learning networks, our communities. We use blogs and wiki’s and subscribe to feeds. Feeds in themselves change how we interact with the internet; we are having pertinent information given to us. We are no longer searching endlessly for that information. Imagine the potential for students. Have you ever seen an 8^th grade student in a computer lab or library try to perform nettrekker and google searches and come back frustrated as can be. I have. We are removing a piece of frustration and giving back to our students the time they need to digest information instead of having them spend all of their time searching for information. None of this would be possible without web 2.0. And where does that leave us in education, where do we focus when it comes to web 2.0 and professional development, lacking indeed.

Personally having become a web 2.0 user of late, I am amazed at the amount of tools that are out there and the amount of information I have already learned and accumulated via these tools. In eight weeks I have played with at least 10 different tools, and I haven’t even begun to touch the surface. Web 2.0 has allowed me to connect to people all over the world, via my blog, my wiki, my twitter account, and various other bookmarking and networking tools that I have found. I am thrilled to be a part of such a large and growing community.

OBSTACLES TO OPPORTUNITIES - K12 Online Conference

Well, If you have never had the chance, every educator interested in technology integration and concerned with the obstacles found in school administration, restriction on access, how to complete a task that is more meaningful to your students, then I highly recommend the presentation by Brian Cosby on Turning Obstacles into Opportunities. This presentation shows how students who are weak in certain areas such as English, writing, pronouncing, mathematics can all be helped with the use of technology integration.

He shows us exactly how powerful blogs and wikis can be to a students educational experience. Students spend more time thinking about what they are going to write, they are not just regurgitating information, but actually processing it and forming an opinion. The have an audience and get feedback about their thinking”.

Free online software is available to help practice skill sets and hopefully your school budget has allowed for a video camera or web cam as he also shows us how ESL students excel with pronouncing words when they are being recorded. What a motivating factor. In another example we are shown how web cams in the classroom helped to include a student with cancer that could not attend class. By using the web cam, she was able to be an active part of the classroom experience. I think the think I found the most amazing was the students ability to publish, broadcast and make production decisions when producing their own digital videos. Their publications on bullying and being an individual were and are truly inspiring.

I think this is the way of the future, or at least I hope so. Innovative teachers who realize that we can teach students more, or help them reach their true potential with technology integration. It is our duty as educators to find mediums that help our students to think, to actively engage in thinking. If they can post their thoughts or put them on video, how much more exciting. Let's put our text books down for a minute and see what other tools we have to help our students process information. Use your web 2.0 tools if you can. They provide powerful mediums for learning and collaboration.

Is Computer Technology a Priority Anymore?

With one semester left towards my masters in computer technology education, I am starting to wonder if I made the right choice. I know I did for me. I love technology and I love to teach. I used to be an Unix engineer so it all made sense. Other passions include science, but just didn't make sense as I am so comfortable and interested in technology. Well, as I research technology in school districts, I start to wonder if they make it a priority? Is technology the first thing to go when funds drop or things need to be shakin up? It appears it just might be that way. I am conversing with a friend in Virginia who just had 3 computer technology teachers layed off due to budget cuts. As for the state I live in, New Hampshire, It appears there dedication to technology is deep, that is if you read the NH Office of Education Technology's website. Yet, as I search for a position as a Computer Technology Educator, there are exactly two jobs within an hour of me. If you do a search for science or english, you get 15 to 20 jobs easily. While I realize that these content area's are extremely important, in this day and age, is technology not equally important? When is computer technology going to become and integral part of our school systems and curriculum? How much longer do we have to wait for school districts to realize that technology is our children's future, and they are doing them a great injustice by not integrating it into their curriculum in a much larger way?
I wonder...

digital identities

It is my hope to contribute to a new thought rather than be redundant. I started thinking about this after reading a blog from BudtheTeacher a week or so ago. So who are we when we are online, what prompts us to make the choices we make about what information we do and do not post online? Am I making the completely wrong choice in having my name, state, and school in my profiles? I wonder.

I have decided for now to give out a lot of information about myself. I hope it does serve my purposes. I am looking to market myself for a computer technology position and really want my network presence to help my cause. I think that even after I do land my dream job. I will continue to update my profiles. I like hearing from and collaborating with people who have similar interests as I do, people I can connect with and use as resources. I think this is a lot easier to do if you know where I am located and what I am about, my likes, dislikes, the point in my career, etc…

I think that in this day of internet connectivity or should I say heaven, we redefine ourselves my being a part of a web 2.0 community such as a wikis or blogs. I think that people posts make us think and that their reactions give us a sense of what they see in us or even what we see in them.

I found a great article “Thinking about Digital Identities” that states the following:

“There exists today a very useful tool for monitoring online identity, which helps to clarify some of the complexities that participants in the digital world face, where, “It's an uncanny situation; the creative act becomes a dispersion of self.” (Miller 29) That tool is an RSS newsreader, also known as a feed aggregator. In short, it is a piece of software that continuously pulls information you have requested towards you, delivering it to your desktop. Mine is called FeedDemon. It is a tool for wrangling identity:

• It delivers what I write about in my own self-controlled space (my blog, for example). It confronts me with my professional, performed self.
• It delivers me as performing on other people's spaces, mainly via comments I have written. These are representatives of my identity where I have actually gone myself and actively participated elsewhere, generally in my professional persona, but not always.
• It delivers me as performing on other people's spaces, but as they perceive me, such as through quotes they have pulled from my own writings, but also from information drawn from private emails, phone calls, in-person conversations and chat.
• It delivers other people's reactions to me, their agreement and disagreement, their misunderstandings and even deliberate mis-quotes. If I then respond to these issues, FeedDemon delivers those responses as well.
• It notifies me when someone has simply mentioned my name, my blog or my business.
• It notifies me when someone has bookmarked something I have written, or that someone has written about me, without the person who actually bookmarked the article commenting at all.
• Today all this information is primarily text, but increasingly, audio, photographic and video information can be wrangled as well.”

Well now this brings me to a whole new thought, Feeds controlling digital identities. I find this to be a particularly interesting thought. I happen to agree with, we are all participating in all of this discussions and conversations and we decide what and who that content is coming from, is no wonder that without even realizing it, we are redefining our digital identities almost every day.

On a final note, I did come across an interesting profile on Mr. Educator new to the blogging community that stated:

“I am intentionally anonymous on this blog because I believe who I am is not as important as what I do and believe. This blog, however, is not solely intended to be my space to rant...rather, I hope that discussions about education and other topics of interest can take place”.

Well, I do not know if I agree, but it does leave me to think…

My podcast on digital identities