Web 2.0

Coming to the end. Like Gena, I am relieved that I do not have more assignments, but I am sad not to have the challenges before me. I have learned a lot and have become more self-confident approaching new sites. I know that if I stare at them long enough, I will discover how to unlock their applications or their next steps to the process that I am trying to complete.

I have signed on to Skype, and have connected with my daughter via its video linkage. Cool!

I have surveyed Google Docs and want to use it more, but will need some guidance. When I upload a document the formatting gets screwed up. It takes  a lot of time to reformat it. I guess it would be best if I just composed the document on Google Docs, or is there a way to avoid the formatting snafu?

I love Google Books. I found back issues of Life Magazine with the old advertisements and great photos. I do not think it is possible or permissable to cut and paste items for educational use. Too bad.

Here’s a web address for a Life Magazine from the year when I was ten years old:

http://books.google.com/books?id=bVYEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Life+Magazine+1955&as_brr=0&cd=2#v=onepage&q=Life%20Magazine%201955&f=false

It has been a great ride, Sarah. I look at all that I have learned and the blog and wiki that I have created. Impressive! Thank you, Sarah.

If I develop a website dedicated to citizen education in schools, I will definitely want to add videos from YouTube. They will enliven the site and broaden its depth.

I particularly like the ethnographic analysis of YouTube. I believe the popularity and widespread use of YouTube (along with the growth of Web 2.0 tools) is definitely impacting global consciousness. I may be a Pollyanna, but I believe they are a positive force for  the future.

Here is one of my favorite YouTube videos.

Validation

I surveyed the podcasts and downloaded two of my favorites: This American Life and This I Believe.

And now I am a podcaster! I created a podcast that explains Crefeld’s definition of progressive education. I learned from the experience. The initial podcast had too much editing. I was doing it extemporaneously in my office. There was hallway noise to be deleted and jumbled phrases to be redone. The ultimate podcast was a hodpodge of segments.

I was happy with the structure of the podcast, but unhappy with the result. Therefore, I typed out a script, found a quiet room, and re-recorded the podcast. Now the podcast is more presentable.

I can see how this tool can enhance blogs and wikis. It adds vocal sound and humanity to dry prose.

Here’s my podcast:

Podcast10.0124

Wow! These are powerful tools. I used FLICKR to download photos and then Rockyou to create a slide show.

I can see these visual tools being very helpful to me in creating a professional wiki and a presentation for staff development. They are visually compelling, and with careful work, they can be thought-provoking

They sure took a lot of time to learn, though. I think I spent six hours creating and recreating the slide show. Now I think I will know how to do it more efficiently in the future. It is good to know these tools are out there, and I imagine there will be new tools created that will be even more user-friendly and powerful.

I viewed Day 3′s presentation by Jen Wagner, If You Host It, They Will Come, and found it quite useful. It gave advice on how teachers could create and coordinate online, collaborative projects. Among her suggestions were

• Clarifying goals and purposes of the project
• Where your project invitation might be hosted on the Web
• How you might announce it to the Web world and entice collaborators. One of the promising sites was Global School House. Here you could post your proposed collaborative project or join an existing one.
• How to collect the data that you solicit
• Making sure you thank all contributors.

Then the presentation highlighted some collaborative projects and gave their web addresses. I was most attracted to Life Round Here. This site was seeking student-created videos that captured what life was like in their schools.

I am impressed with the multiple opportunities for collaborative learning and creation.

I went into the 2009 conference and was overwhelmed with the diverse topics being discussed, and then I realized that the topic that most interested me was Connecting Classrooms Across Continents. This was a major presentation of Kim Cofino and Jen Wagner at the 2008 conference.

I found it, and it was very worthwhile. The presentation covered the following topics

• The diverse Web 2.0 tools that can be used for connecting classrooms, including wikis, blogs, Skype, photo albums, podcasts, and other applications. I got excited about the diverse means that were available to support cross-continent communication.
• Helpful reminders that the collaborating teachers need to clarify the purpose and span of the collaboration. There are many curriculum design, logistical and technical considerations that must be worked out between the teachers for a successful collaboration. Kim and Jen helpfully listed these reminders as an attachment to their presentation.
• The existing networks to facilitate classroom connections. There were many listed in an attachment to their presentation. Again, I came upon Flat Classroom Projects (which I had discovered in my November blog post). I like its premise and its organization. This looks like a very promising network for our students and teachers. Maybe we should do an inservice on it.

Despite myself, I am getting in to this on-line conference. I like how I can engage in it at my own pace and pick and choose what I want to “attend.” I find it most useful when I have a specific topic or question that I want to pursue. Otherwise, I get overwhelmed with information. The other frustration is that every web page seems to be organized in a different way. Navigating through each one is like traveling through a foreign country where I need to quickly learn the language, the perspectives, the infrastructure,  and cultural assumptions of the land.

I can see how a Ning has great power for sharing ideas. I am already on Facebook as a way of keeping up with happenings in my extended family. However, I do not post many updates myself and only check on others’ happenings occasionally. Maybe if I find a Ning that focuses on a particular hobby of mine, then I will consult it more regularly.

On the educational front, I can see our teachers joining Nings that focus on specific areas or challenges. For example, I would like to find a Ning of teachers who are exploring ways to use the SmartBoard to encourage kinesthetic, interactive student learning.

As a former English teacher, I particularly like the English teacher’s creative use of Facebook for students to extend their learning of To Kill a Mockingbird. I love how it encourages them to get deeply into characters and imagine their multi-dimensions. How could we do the same at Crefeld, where we have blocked student access to Facebook?

I was initially put off by Kim Cofino’s presentation. She came across to me like a yuppie-vagabond-cheerleader educator. Then I stuck with it and began to appreciate what I could learn from her. I was struck by the diverse student clips, and I was stimulated to think about two particular opportunities.

First, I want to pursue with my teachers the opportunity to connect classrooms across continents. I am convinced this will be a powerful learning experience for students and staff. Kim stated that she and a colleague did a presentation on this topic last year. How can I find it?

Second, I like her recommendation that we grow our own PLN–personal learning network. How can we do so, and how can we find like minded souls on topics of our choice? What is the best format for sharing. Is it blogs or wikis? No, it seems that Nings have the most flexibility and richness for interchange. Is there a directory of Nings?

Wow! These wikis are impressive for what they can accomplish educationally! I visited three wikis:

• Flat Classroom Project is an exciting opportunity for collaboration between students and teachers in classrooms around the world. I like how they focus on one social issue and then share diverse perspectives.
• Welker’s Wikinomics enables students to flesh out a curriculum online. It seems the teacher creates the curriculum outline and the students fill in the blanks, refining each others’ contributions. The students also contribute analyses of economics in the news.
• Adam Controy’s Google Earth Wiki is a great professional development resource. Google Earth is a powerful tool for teaching, and this site helps teachers learn from each other how to use the tool. I also like the list of Resources that it displays for teachers–helpful definitions and examples of web tools to enhance teaching.

I love how the wikis tap multiple perspectives in the creation of a better final product. They also encourage global understanding and creativity.

I would like to incorporate a number of these tools and processes into the wiki that Pat and I are developing on the subject of citizenship education. Meanwhile, I will encourage certain Crefeld teahers to investigate the Flat Classroom and Google Earth wikis. With Sarah Blattner’s help, we might be able to incorporate these resources into their courses. Can I find the money to encourage these initiatives? I believe we would need more computers. We would also need money for teacher stipends–to encourage them to spend the time learning the web tools and creating the curriculum that incorporates the tools.

I do not like reading on the Internet, and therefore I am finding it challenging to review various blogs. There is a lot of prose to  wade through. However, there is one blog that I love because it has short, pithy and humorous readings. It is  called Quote of the Day. I like today’s quote: “Reality is nothing but a collective hunch.”

Since I  must try my hand at PermaLink, let me suggest that you check out Thomas Friedman’s Op Ed site. I particularly liked his latest piece on global climate change entitled Trucks, Trains and Trees. However, what I just created is not a PermaLink. It is just a link. When I clicked on the title of the article, it did not highlight.

Let me try another site. The Huffington Post has an interesting analysis by John Bohrer on why increasing numbers of voters are turning on Obama. They feel betrayed by him because the economic recovery is not helping them. He claims this accounts for a rage and anger at the Tea Party demonstrations and the Town Hall meeting disruptions.

Well, I believe I have been successful in creating links and PermaLinks. Yipeee.