Thing 5
Wow. I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of information that I received after subscribing to only five feeds. Having Google Reader manage all this info helps, but I just don’t know if I will have the time to even skim over all these blogs, podcasts, etc. with any kind of regularity. I suppose that managing the sheer amount of information gets easier with some practice and that over time I will have a better idea of what I am looking for.
However, I did find a couple blogs that interested me on TechLearning Blog. One dealt with internet safety and the other with digital citizenship. In I Can’t Wait Until Thursday to Join Fifth Graders for Lunch! Cheryl Oakes talks about the Internet Safety Project that is being implemented in her school district. She shares some wonderful reasons for having the project and calls for parent support to reinforce the principles taught in school. Ms. Oakes also shares some suggestions for introducing the topic to students (links to some videos) and a link to a comic generator where students can create their own comic strips on internet safety.
In the article, What is Digital Citizenship? Wesley Fryer argues that while internet safety is receiving a fair amount of attention, digital citizenship is not. Fryer defines digital citizenship as the “rights and responsibilities which accompany technology use”. Through the ProTechT 2008 Project, he and eight other teachers are coming up with ways to help students be more ethically responsible for what they say and do through digital technology. I thought that the brainstorming activity that he initially did with the students generated a huge amount of interest on this topic (see the 27 questions). And as he points out, we as educators are not really prepared to answer all of these questions. that our students have. Fryer urges us to build upon the ProTechT project in our own schools and communicate openly with our local communities and school boards about the importance of digital citizenship.
Thing 4: How Blogs Are Used in Education
After reading five or six of the suggested educational blogs, I noticed a few things that most of the blogs had in common. First of all, reading these blogs was similar to reading an article in a magazine or an editorial in the newspaper. I guess the biggest difference would be that they have not been edited or screened by anyone so one has to be a careful when using information from blogs (and to take them with the proverbial grain of salt).
Secondly, I saw that there is no formal code or format stating how blogs should be written. Any opinion can be expressed; however, the most enjoyable blogs for me to read were those whose authors backed up what they wrote. I especially appreciated the links that were included within each blog. It gave the writers’ opinions or viewpoints more validity. Most of the blogs that I saw were free of horrific spelling and grammatical errors (at least most of the ones written by adults). I think that this a different experience from what others have had after reading over some the blogs of other participants in this course.
Thirdly, it is now more apparent to me how blogs can facilitate learning. I thought that Anne Davis did a beautiful job of explaining our role as educators in A Rationale for Educational Blogging: “Teachers need to address writing for a public audience, how to cite and link and why, how to use the comment tool in pedagogical ways, how to read web materials more efficiently as well as explore other ways to consider pedagogical uses of blogs.” I think that the most important point that we need to impress upon our students is that they need to carefully proofread their work before posting it for the world to see. Duck with a Blog shows the blog in action with young students, and it is delightful to read the interactions that the second graders have with each other.
Thing 2: Thoughts about Web 2.0
I have never “blogged” before this course. I never really understood the point of blogging and never really gave much thought to the importance of it. Shortly after I signed up for this course, I received the March 2008 issue of Real Simple which featured an article on the best blogs. Their description of blogs in general is priceless and pretty much sums up my previous feelings about them: “To be sure, a lot of them - maybe most - are of interest to two people: the blogger and the blogger’s mother.”
As I work on completing Thing 3 I’m starting to come around to the idea of blogs, though.
After viewing Michael Wesch’s A Vision of Students Today, it is apparent that today’s students are changing, and we as educators will have to adapt our methods of teaching in order to reach our youth. David Warlick paints quite a picture in his article, A Day in the Life of Web 2.0, and using daily blogs, subscribing to and creating podcasts, and editing wikis even sounds exciting!
I certainly see the worth of subscribing to blogs where I can share strategies and materials with fellow teachers and share information with my administrators. I’m particularly interested in creating a class blog where my students can discuss a novel that we are reading and interact with each other on-line (instead of answering the traditional x number of study guide questions for each chapter). I think that this is a far better way of engaging my students, especially pre-teens whose interest tends to wane.
I know that the idea of podcasting is not new but I have never thought about using them to view class discussions, performances, and PTO meetings. This is a great resources for parents, teachers, and students.
The only problem with web 2.0 that I see (beyond my own limitations) is sorting out what is truly relevant and what is not. There is a massive amount of information on the web about any given topic, and I think that you have to be very selective about what you use. This screening process is a quite daunting, and if I have trouble deciding what is worthy of using in the classroom, I’m sure that my students might have this problem as well. However, I’m sure that my great network of K12 Learning Web 2.0 friends will point me in the right direction.
Oh, and if you want to find out what blogs Real Simple thinks are worth a second glance, go to:
Thing 1: Response to Lifelong Learning
In response to the 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners, I certainly feel that all of the habits apply to me in some way. However, there were four that I felt were especially applicable. I listed the first habit, Begin With the End in Mind, as my easiest one. That is exactly how I like to tackle tasks. I always try to figure out where I want to go or where I want my project to end, and then I add the details later (actually working out the specifics is usually the more challenging part of the task for me).
Habit three: Viewing Problems as Challenges and seeing obstacles as learning opportunities is probably my biggest challenge. I don’t particularly like it when things don’t go my way (well, who does?!), and I need to remind myself that I have the ability to problem solve. Once I slow down and think about how I want to handle the problem, I am usually able to work it out on my own (see habit one above).
Habits six and seven: Using Technology to Your Advantage and Teaching/Mentoring Others are the habits that I selected as most important. Because my students use laptop computers in my classroom each day, I really have to use technology to my and my students’ advantage. Otherwise, the point of our whole program would be lost! I am pretty well versed at using a variety of software programs in my lessons (and trouble-shooting some hardware issues), but I don’t know much about this whole web 2.0 stuff. I’m excited about the opportunity to participate in a class like the k12 learning one because I can see where the future of education is headed, and I want to be prepared! I also think that teaching and mentoring others will be very important for me because once I teach someone a process, I am much better at understanding and remembering the steps myself. Who knows…maybe I’ll be able to teach my colleagues a thing or two after this course!
