Wilisons Journey into Web 2.0

The world IS changing for learners today. Children these days want immediate feedback. They have the world at their fingertips, literally. All it takes is the click of a mouse.

Simply looking at the way children play gives us a glimpse into this shift. I mean, even stuffed animals now have a web component.

I feel fortunate to work at Epstein where this shift has already been recognized. Many of us are participating in this course or will participate soon. The media and technology staff has asked us to evaluate our personal use of technology and the technology teachers are working hard to help us incorporate as many tools as possible into our daily learning- google earth, web based research, images for slide shows etc. Our students today will be expected to know how to navigate and put to use all the tools Web 2.0 has to offer. With this encouragement, they will be confident in this role.

It is extremely important that we begin to teach children to be effective and responsible web users. Just as we teach them about stranger danger, we need to make them aware of issues that can come up on-line.

 Where do I go from here????

 I have already begun using tools from this course in my classroom.  Flick’r was a source for creating a science lesson, Google Docs became a way to create a sign-up for the culmination of our nutrition unit, teacher tube demonstrated strategies for taking the DRP. 

 My favorite tool, by far, was the Wiki.  I have enjoyed seeing everyone’s pages and working on my own.  My goal is to begin a wiki for my class.  I will spend time creating it this summer and will ask the children (with their parents help of course) to create their own pages in the first weeks of school.  Then, throughout the year, we can add photos, video, presentations etc.. that the students create. 

I found the exploration of Classroom 2.0 and NING to be interesting to explore. The set up of the home page is easy to navigate although it is so full of options that it does take time. Tags make using the site even more friendly.

I have to say that this is the first assignment in a long time that I did not enjoy. Maybe it was that this was a tedious task that really required putting together all the resources we have been gathering or maybe it is just that I am doing it at the end of my spring break-hmmm…

Google Docs is a great tool for someone without Microsoft Word, like me J I am always struggling to read the documents people create and email in Word since my computer only has Works. Using Google Doc really solves this problem.

Ok, another evening spent enjoying the wonders of the internet. YouTube is just plain fun. I have seen videos on YouTube before but I never really went to the site with a scavenger hunt in mind. It was fun to browse the site and see what I could find. There were videos from the new musical about Cam Jansen. I saw this on David Adler’s website and now, I was able to see a scene. There video snips from serious to funny about Colonial America. Adding a little humor always makes learning more enjoyable. I saw a woman tell me “How To” make a Matzah Lasagna. That was on the menu for tonight… and of course I turned my focus to Kazakhstan and international adoption, two of my favorite topics. I enjoyed hearing the Kazkhstan national anthem while seeing a slide show of the country and I cried tears of happiness as I discovered a video documenting my friend’s adoption of her daughter 4 years ago. Then it was time to wrap it up so I could do other things for the night before it got to late.Now, how could this exploration of YouTube be useful to me as a teacher. The first videos I checked out were certainly topical and will make their way into my classroom. I can easily link the video on Colonial Tools to research that my students are viewing. They would enjoy the video as much as I did. I can already hear their shouts across the lab telling their friends to, “check this out, it is so COOL!”On TeacherTube, I viewed short videos in Hebrew, on shared writing, and on the E-mazing Race. All interesting ways to share information with a greater audience. I like that this site makes things a bit safer and narrows down the topics to things related to education.

Logging on and using Evoca to create a short pod cast was far easier than I expected. I really liked the feature that allows you to use a phone and call in the audio. It was especially convenient that using the phone number associated with your account puts the clip automatically into your space. I was able to listen to my own pod cast immediately- how cool is that?Have a listen:

I reviewed the Podcast from Universtiy of Wisconsin entitled Personal Stories Show Commitment to Diversity. The pod cast itself was very monotone and boring. Needless to say, I didn’t last long with that one and soon moved on.

What 43 things I only signed up for 23 J Seriously, this is another creative idea. Each year, we are asked to set goals at school. I guess I am pretty bad, I set the goals but do I really go back and look at them again before the end of the school year. Using a site like 43 Things might motivate me to keep track of and reflect upon my goals more regularly. The ability to then connect with others who are trying to reach similar goals or receive support from the outside world could well motivate me to strive to meet the goals. I think this site would make it seem as if someone else is working with me to meet the goals by allowing me to see what others have done to reach the same milestone. Maybe I should be joining…

Setting up a modified 43 Things site, perhaps in the form of a wiki, and asking children to go back and reflect on how they have measured up with their goals would be beneficial to most students. It could also be used as a way for them to display their successes. If for instance the goals were writing oriented then sharing monthly writing via the site or if it was reading, a you tube video or auditory segment that could recorded over time might provide the children with an opportunity to chart their own progress. The nice thing about this type of a forum is that it would not need to end at the conclusion of a school year but rather could remain open for longer periods of time as an on-line portfolio.

So maybe, once I have achieved the first 23 things I will raise the bar and go for 43 after all…

The Library Thing is an incredible idea. The thought of connecting to others, virtually, over books is certainly an exciting prospect. I found it interesting to search for some of my favorite books and authors and see how the books were tagged. Some of the tags gave me food for thought and a new perspective on how others view the books. One thing I really do wish they had (or perhaps they do and I just couldn’t figure it out) was a way to read a snipit of the book or at least a summary to trigger interest in the title or a memory of whether or not it is a book I have read.

When searching the groups on Library Thing, I found several groups that might be beneficial for professional application or personal use. There were at least 2 groups that explore children’s fiction or children’s literature. I saw people posting questions and asking for recommendations on a particular topic. If I were looking for a book to target a subject or work on an author study with student, these groups could provide valuable resources. Personally, books have really helped me talk to my daughter about difficult topics she might otherwise avoid. Using tried and true recommendation from other readers would be very beneficial.

With my students, I could see using Library Thing as a way for the children to track their reading throughout the year or over a few years. I would make sure to have them write recommendation for most of the books they add to their listing. Having a real life application and perhaps reading what their peers have written would be one way to motivate young readers.

Ok, so I finally know what all of this del.icio.us stuff is about! I was wondering how many weeks it would be before I “got” it. Really, I have learned about so many cool things over the past few weeks!

Exploring del.icio.us was really interesting. Connecting to so many other people’s favorites made exploring the web for specific information faster and more accurate. I can see playing with this quite a bit over the upcoming summer months. I don’t think this will do me much good for overcoming my addiction to blogs though. On the other hand, it will give some insight and a jump start in working to set up a new classroom in a new grade level. The internet is so full of ideas and now, I have a way to search and narrow down to the most helpful sites others have shared.

The experience of using del.icio.us was really painless. All I did was visit my favorite education sites hit a button and tag away. I intended to be working on the light task and before I knew it, I had basically completed the stretch one! What more can I say?