Sunday, October 18, 2009
ETC BP16_2009103_Media Asset
Edu2.0 is a fantastic online learning management system tool available to educators for free. As we progress further into the 21st century, online learning management systems will become more prevalent and necessary.
Go to http://www.edu20.org/ to create and customize your school on this easy to use site, and join the movement for the future of education.
ETC BP15_2009103_Web2.0_Response to Classmate
@ ThereseLL
Thursday, October 15, 2009
BP11_20091015_WebTools5_Sketchfu
Alright, so I know my last post concerned a web drawing tool for use for the art classroom. Here I am going to blog about a similar, yet at the same time, very different web drawing tool. I am also going to compare and contrast the two tools a bit.
In my last post, I sang the praises of ArtRage2. While that tool is terrific, I found another free online drawing tool that may trump AR2 in some ways.
Sketchfu is an online web tool and service where you may start a drawing immediately, without even signing up for anything. If you want to "publish" your drawing later, you will want to sign up, but all you have to enter is a sign in name, a valid email address, and a password. What you get in exchange is a really cool drawing tool with a built in movie like feature that plays back exactly what you drew, line for line. (Hopefully I will be able to upload my finished pic to my blog as well as the video portion.)
The process of playing back your video after creating a quick little mini art work is the best part of Sketchfu. Besides the ability to create your own drawings, the service also includes features like Browse drawings, Browse people (and you can create a profile), and "Best of Sketchfu,"where the highest rated drawings are posted. That's another neat thing about Sketchfu. You have the ability to publish your creations to the site right away, which allows other viewers to find your work, comment on it, and even rate it!
Other great features include the ability to name your creations, the ability to link directly to other services like Blogger, Facebook and Myspace, direct RSS feeds, ability to email content, and so much more! You can customize the speed of your drawing play in the drawing window.
And if you like to collaborate, you can even allow others to add to your drawing! (Or turn that feature off if you so desire.)
The actual drawing ability is limited, unless you own a drawing tablet (I do not!), so compared to ArtRage2, the drawing is not as smooth. However, you don't feel limited in Sketchfu like you do in AR2, because there are no "extras" dangled in front of you for the small sum of $25. There are no pay options in Sketchfu, making it an awesome deal for the classroom. (No whining from students....why can't I add glitter, Mrs. Lunsford? Answer....because it costs Twenty-five dollars!)
I could see using Sketchfu as a teaching tool, a collaborative tool, or as a "free draw" tool. The only drawback is that the students might want to sign up for the service. I could get around that by having kids only sign in under one school created name. And no posting without my approval. The kids could use naming conventions such as Title_Name, so I could identify the students work under our school sign in.
I'm really excited about this tool! If you are an art teacher, surely check out Sketchfu.com, it is AWESOME and so very, very much fun!
http://sketchfu.com/drawing/388073-eye-yi-yi-
1 comments:
- thodkinson said...
-
Therese,
Great selection of this tool! I actually showed this one to some of my students this past Friday and they thought it was great. I agree that the features are nice, and you offer a good suggestion to work around students having to create an account. Though not an art teacher, I can see the benefits of this being used in an art classroom, or any class that integrates art into their curriculum.
ETC BP14_2009103_Web 2.0_Quizcenter
Save time and trees!I'm not exactly sure when it started, but I have become a "green" teacher. I have always supported reducing, reusing, and recycling, but as a teacher, it pains me to see how much paper is wasted on a daily basis. Even before I started teaching in a computer lab I would limit printing and copying as much as possible. If I can reduce the size of a document so that I can fit two on a page, I've saved money. Quite simply, I pride myself in my use of electronic documents whenever feasible, and I preach this to my colleagues as well.
At this point, the only time I'll really use a large quantity of paper is for a test. With this in mind, my latest goal has been to find a way to limit or eliminate the use of paper for this task, and move my quizzes and test to an online format. While there are many sites out there that provide resources in this area, one of my favorites is the Quiz Center at DiscoveryEducation.com.
A free service, teachers can create a custom classroom account to create and store quizzes and class rosters. Besides the benefit of reducing paper use, other benefits include flexibility, efficiency, and ease of use. Since the Quiz Center is web-based, students can take quizzes from home, which can be helpful if a student misses class time for any reason. The process is efficient, once the quiz is set up and saved, as results are stored online and can even be emailed to the teacher. The benefit of instant feedback is incredibly important, as students don't have to wait to see results, and thus, they can make instant corrections.
I am looking forward to using online quizzes as much as possible in the near future, and I hope more teachers will too. We can save a lot of trees that way!
Visit http://school.discoveryeducation.com/quizcenter/quizcenter.html for more information.
ETC BP13_2009103_Web 2.0_Classtools
Rarely do I come across a tool that I feel I should share with the entire faculty at my school. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about sharing things with others, but most of what I find is best shared with specific groups or departments, or simply too difficult to figure out for some. Also, because of the barrage of emails that teachers get on a daily basis, I don't like to diminish the significance of those tools that I do share.
Classtools.net is one of those teacher tools that I immediately made a note to share with my colleagues. For one, the simplicity of the site is wonderful - everything you need is right on the home page. Classtools.net provides flash templates (17 of them) that teachers can easily use in their classrooms to supplement their lessons. From Venn diagrams to flash card games, teachers can either save the template to their computer as an HTML file or even embed the tool into their class web page or blog.
Truly, if it wasn't so easy to use, I wouldn't bother sharing. There are over 20 subjects with sample templates from other teachers on the site. There is no cost or account to set up in order to use the templates.
Having just taught a lesson the other day on comparing and contrasting, I would definitely use the Venn diagram tool in a follow up lesson. Also, since I do a lot of cooperative learning, I would use the student selector often. The tools at this site allow low-tech teachers to use high-tech tools, which is what the students of today need.
Give this great tool a try at http://classtools.net/
ETC BP12_2009103_Web 2.0_Edu20
As a teacher that is always searching for the latest and greatest tools to use in my classroom, I often sort through hundreds of resources before I find one that will suit my needs. A few days ago, I discovered a Web 2.0 tool that may just revolutionize how I manage my class.
This year, I am teaching a middle school career education and technology course. I am fortunate to have full use of a computer lab for my course, but I have yet to find my niche as far as utilizing the available technology to manage the class. Enter edu2.0, a completely free, online learning management system. Again, as one who embraces technology for everything it can give, this is exactly what I have been looking for to bring my students into the 21st century and to rethink the way students learn.
Until now, I have had to use separate tools to post assignments and to get students into the new generation of learning. With edu2.0, I can send messages privately to students, customize my school's page to fit my needs, post lessons and quizzes online, and keep my grade book all in one place.
The benefits of this tool will surely aid students as they continue to grow through the rapid advancement of the use of technology in learning. Certainly, my middle-schoolers will be far ahead of their peers in terms of being savvy with learning management systems and web-based schooling.
Check out all edu2.0 has to offer at http://www.edu20.org/
This year, I am teaching a middle school career education and technology course. I am fortunate to have full use of a computer lab for my course, but I have yet to find my niche as far as utilizing the available technology to manage the class. Enter edu2.0, a completely free, online learning management system. Again, as one who embraces technology for everything it can give, this is exactly what I have been looking for to bring my students into the 21st century and to rethink the way students learn.
Until now, I have had to use separate tools to post assignments and to get students into the new generation of learning. With edu2.0, I can send messages privately to students, customize my school's page to fit my needs, post lessons and quizzes online, and keep my grade book all in one place.
The benefits of this tool will surely aid students as they continue to grow through the rapid advancement of the use of technology in learning. Certainly, my middle-schoolers will be far ahead of their peers in terms of being savvy with learning management systems and web-based schooling.
Check out all edu2.0 has to offer at http://www.edu20.org/
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
ETC BP11_2009102_Week 2 Reflective Media Asset
The following 60-second video highlights TypingWeb.com, a free Web 2.0 tool that features typing training:
Visit http://www.typingweb.com/ for more information or to sign up.
ETC BP10_2009102_Flickr Lessons
As a reading teacher, I constantly struggle to find ways to teach important concepts such as making inferences, drawing conclusions, and making predictions. As creative as I can be with my lessons, the concepts themselves remain a challenge for the students. Though environmental factors and socioeconomic status may play a part in the academic shortfalls, there is certainly more that I can do to encourage growth.
There is no doubt in my mind that even the lowest of my readers can still achieve success on the X Box 360 or PSP they have at home. Though I would like to blame the video game industry for making print media insignificant, I would rather embrace the available technology and try to create a more engaging environment for my students. In this case, I choose Flickr, the online photo sharing site by Yahoo.
Using Flickr, I envision a lesson focusing on making inferences. To start, students would perform image searches and save their images to Flickr. From there, students would analyze the photos to infer what the setting and situation is. They could then add text to the photos to add dialogue. My goal would be to have students infer who the characters are, where they are, where they came from, what they are doing, and why they are doing it.
Enhancing students' creative thinking skills in this case would be wonderful. Students may be used to using magazine photos and images in text books for this type of activity in the past. Now, though, the addition of technology and the ability to modify photos will increase student interest in the activity. Once engaged, students will be more likely to commit to the task and get something out of it.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
ETC BP8_2009102_Web 2.0_Classmate Response
Post by Full Sail University classmate, Beckie Lamborn: A Web 2.0 tool that I find interesting and one that will help me in my professional studies is the iWeb. I never thought I would be able to create a web page, but with our Full Sail program it was the first tool we were asked to use to create a bio of ourselves. Uploading iMovies, Garageband audio files, and setting up a blog were among the assignments that I navigated while learning some of the features of the iWeb tool. The iWeb will be useful in education to set up communications with parents and family about art that is happening in the classroom and at school.
The iWeb allows a teacher like myself to create a site on my own computer, and then export and upload it to the web. The site can always be republished and updated, and it is user friendly for a teacher. The blog pages are formatted so the most current blog entry is accessible first followed by a list of other blog entry topics. The blog posts are shown with a title and blurb so the reader can push on a link to read further. There is a comments box that readers can use to respond to the author’s posts. Parents and teachers could share dialogue about the projects or events going on in the classroom.
A website has multiple pages. The home page is where the site is introduced, and in preformatted websites one navigates to other pages using the links that are listed along a bar at the top. It is important to activate the link back to the home page on a website, so the reader can find his or her way back to the introduction page.
Another feature of a website is that the author can subscribe to RSS, (Really Simple Syndications). This is a feature that I am still learning about. The web page can link newspapers, journals and writings and ….”have the latest news and features delivered directly” (Schrum, p. 197). Having an RSS feed on your website is an attractive feature that allows you to have the news you want regularly delivered right to the sight instead of having to navigate from site to site.
As described in an article by Microsoft Corporation, if the author subscribes to a current syndication the feed will provide constant updates keeping your sight fresh and making it more likely to be visited by readers. Having a relevant feed is also helpful. For example a site on harbor cruises might benefit from a syndicated weather report subscription, or a real estate investor could benefit by having a subscription to a realty company.Authors of websites can also provide RSS channels for readers, so that any updates you put on your website will be fed directly to the readers. This way readers won’t miss an update if they don’t get a chance to check a website regularly(2009).
An art website might have an RSS feed to the local museum.
Resources:
Microsoft Corporation (2009). RSS Feeds: Benefits for You and Your Samll Business.
Retrieved October, 2009 from:
http://www.microsoft.com/australia/smallbusiness/themes/sales-and-marketing/rss-feeds- vista-outlook.mspx
Schrum, L. & Solomon, G. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Washington D.C: ISTE.
Spiderweb image from Pics4Learning.com manipulated in Power Point by Beckie Lamborn. Retreived from: http://pics.tech4learning.com/index.php? search=qsearch&query=spider+webs&sfield=1&sorder=desc&viewmode=2&page=5&mult=1
My response to her post:
Hi Beckie,
I too have found iWeb to be an amazing tool! It is absolutely easy to use, and for teachers, like you said, will help with the ever-important task of communicating with parents. Not only is it visually appealing (of course, it's Apple!), but the purpose of the pages are clear and easy to both edit and view. As far as communicating with parents, the blog is definitely a new and useful feature to keep the lines of dialogue open.
ETC BP7_2009102_Web 2.0_SpanishPod
Yet another Web 2.0 tool that I want to share can be found at http://spanishpod.com. This tool, although it could prove useful for students, would be a great tool for educators themselves to learn Spanish. As a teacher in Florida, the need for teachers to be trained in strategies for teaching English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) is a high priority. Rather than simply learning those strategies, I have always thought it would be a huge advantage for me to actually learn to speak Spanish.
ETC BP6_2009102_Web 2.0_Kidoz
As an educator in this era of electronic media, I often debate with myself where to draw the line between what is safe and what is best. Of course, my number one job as a teacher is to maintain student safety, and I take that position very seriously. On the other hand, though, when it comes to opening doors for students to the world outside the school, I sometimes question how “safe” they really are, even with all of our firewalls and security measures.
ETC BP5_2009102_Web 2.0_TypingWeb
In considering which web 2.0 tools would be most important to implement in my classroom, it would be hard for me not to include TypingWeb. As technology advances, so does the need for students to learn proper typing skills at an early age. At my current school, all students are engaged in at least 20 minutes of computer use daily. While much of this time is spent with “point-and-click” programs, especially in the primary grades, the need to develop typing skills at this level is becoming ever more important.
Typingweb.com is a free online typing program that offers tutorials in keyboarding for typists of all skill levels. Users can sign up for a free account and have their progress saved and charted. You do have the option to participate in individual lessons without creating an account, however these results will not be stored. TypingWeb also offers a typing certificate, which users can print for their records and which displays the skill level obtained.
Ideally, TypingWeb would be a staple in my classroom on a daily basis. If it were up to me, I would encourage teachers as low as third grade to incorporate these lessons into their instruction. More than just looking into the long term, where computer skills in general will be in high demand, but for educational progress to be made, students will need to rely on their ease of use of the keyboard to complete countless tasks to make the grade.
ETC BP4_2009102_Educational Benefits of Social Bookmarking
As a classroom teacher, I am often bringing my work home with me. Quite frequently I will come across a great resource online and, in the past, have had to write down the url or copy and paste the link into an email to myself. Thanks to Delicious, the social bookmarking site, I no longer have to continue such practices.
This idea seems so simple, yet it is still so new. Regardless, the availability of this resource is here and it is time to utilize it the best way possible. The simplicity of the idea is certain to benefit both educators and learners immediately. Rather than just “saving” bookmarks, “social bookmarking simplifies the distribution of reference lists, bibliographies, papers, and other resources among peers or students” (Lomas, 2005, p. 2). This is done through the process of tagging, which is a much more user-friendly method, especially for young students with little research experience. By eliminating cumbersome organizational methods such as a folder system, the process is more representative of modern search methods. “Thus, you benefit from the research of others, while having a far more dynamic and helpful system of organization” (Jackson, 2009, para. 3).
Social bookmarking in the educational field, besides simplifying the research process, can also help students recognize diverse points of view. This vital communication skill is key for a student’s social development. Importantly, according to the University of Florida’s Center for Instructional Technology and Training website (2009), social bookmarking “allows for the classification of information based on a person’s perspective and based on organizational structures and, [therefore] provides a constantly evolving list of resources.”
References
Jackson, L. (2009). Sites to see: Social bookmarking. Retrieved October 10, 2009, from http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/sites/sites080.shtml
Sunday, October 4, 2009
ETC BP3_2009101_Anti-Teaching
To say that education in our time is significantly different than in our parents’ time is an understatement. The more I attend training workshops and conduct research, the more clear I am about the direction we must go in regard to teaching students. As a whole, we are not there yet. In part, however, teachers are piecing things together to rethink the way we teach.
ETC BP2_2009101_Google Reader for Education
Thanks to Google Reader, I am now receiving feeds from six different educational news sites. These subscriptions will allow me to keep up with trends in education and be able to participate in current discussions on hot topics in our field. The benefits of this participation will certainly include personal and professional growth, as well as hopefully making an positive impact on my students while implementing shared strategies.
Listed below are the six subscriptions I have added to my Google Reader:
- BBC News - Education - UK Edition
- Education Week American Education News Site of Record
- Educational Technology (University of Illinois at Springfield)
- NY Times - Education
- US Department of Education
- Washington Post Education
Rather than explain my reasons for choosing each of the above subscriptions, I will address the group as a whole, since my rationale is consistent across the board. I probably checked out about a dozen feeds, but narrowed down my list to these six based on factors such as number of weekly posts, global viewpoint, notoriety, and relevance of topics.
In order to get the most out of following these feeds, the average number of weekly posts was important, as more participation will give a broader viewpoint. Personally, I am interested in a more global viewpoint, so adding the BBC feed was crucial. The major news sources, such as the NY Times and Washington Post should help with the "big picture" also. Another motivation of mine is to follow the trends that are impacting our country's leadership, so the US DOE feed is key. To get specific information about technology, I'll be looking at the UIS feed closely.
This course has just begun and I am already geared up for following these news feeds. I have always been an information seeker, but I will admit my efficiency has not been the best. Hopefully this process will help.
ETC BP1_2009101_Educational Uses of Blogs
If you are a chronic "texter" like many of my students are, you are certainly poised to enter the world of blogging. This age of electronic communication is giving our students (and us educators) an unprecedented advantage in the field of education. Though we must impart the language skills necessary for effective (formal) communication in the educational environment, the mere interest-level and proficiency with texting alone will open up the possibilities of what we can do to an amazing number.
From an educator's standpoint, using blogs can greatly enhance your level of communication with students and colleagues. Perhaps most important, at this time, is the ability to stay informed of developments in our field. According to educatr.com, "You no longer have to wait for monthly or quarterly magazines to stay abreast of the most current trends in education, technology and business." In terms of sheer convenience, blogs allow us an unmatched level of it. From one place (your computer), you can manage information, communicate, research, share and more.
From a student's perspective, blogs can generate a whole new approach to school. Blogs require a much more active and involved role of the student, which can greatly enhance their overall educational experience. Since participation in blogs requires a certain level of literacy development, the motivation for a student to enhance their reading and writing skills will be sparked. According to educatr.com, "They [blogs] are even being used by math teachers to spark interest, extend student thinking, or have them reflect on math concepts or real-world math applications."
As one that is constantly impressed and wide-eyed by the advancements in technology, I can say that blogging, along with similar advancements in technology, will change the way teachers teach and students learn in the very near future. With the current requirements for my online master's class at Full Sail University, I will be immersing myself into the concept of blogging, and I'm excited to see how my life is changed because of it.
From an educator's standpoint, using blogs can greatly enhance your level of communication with students and colleagues. Perhaps most important, at this time, is the ability to stay informed of developments in our field. According to educatr.com, "You no longer have to wait for monthly or quarterly magazines to stay abreast of the most current trends in education, technology and business." In terms of sheer convenience, blogs allow us an unmatched level of it. From one place (your computer), you can manage information, communicate, research, share and more.
From a student's perspective, blogs can generate a whole new approach to school. Blogs require a much more active and involved role of the student, which can greatly enhance their overall educational experience. Since participation in blogs requires a certain level of literacy development, the motivation for a student to enhance their reading and writing skills will be sparked. According to educatr.com, "They [blogs] are even being used by math teachers to spark interest, extend student thinking, or have them reflect on math concepts or real-world math applications."
As one that is constantly impressed and wide-eyed by the advancements in technology, I can say that blogging, along with similar advancements in technology, will change the way teachers teach and students learn in the very near future. With the current requirements for my online master's class at Full Sail University, I will be immersing myself into the concept of blogging, and I'm excited to see how my life is changed because of it.
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