The War!

I definitely could see how I could use any of the videos from the PBS podcast series "The War". In English, students usually complete a war unit and read various books that relate to wars throughout history whether it be The Things They Carried, The Kite Runner, Biloxi Blues or Black Hawk Down. I would use any of these podcasts to supplement the readings. There are funny podcasts dealing with how soldiers had to watch their language during war time (Lapse into Bad Language).e) and then there are some that are heart wrenching tales of the war describing how one man felt when he knew he had actually killed a man the first time(I Killed Men). It doesn't necessarily matter that students may be studying events from other wars because the stories told in the PBS podcasts can relate back to almost any other war that occurred throughout history. In addition to using the podcasts in a war unit as supplementary texts, I could also use them as "pen drops"; have students view the podcasts, and spend 5 minutes writing their reaction to it. A small group discussion would then follow in order to get students' thoughts flowing. I could also see that these podcasts can tie into a war unit in a social studies class!

ePal!

After viewing the ePals website, I can think of many ways I would use this site in my classroom. Many school districts have a problem with allowing teachers and students access social networking site such as Facebook, Twitter, and even site like YouTube. While I understand the dangers that the administration sees in allowing access to these sites, I think there is a huge disadvantage as well. With a site like ePal, teachers would be able to do many of the things they want to do but can't.

For example, the ePal Learning Space is, "a virtual workspace optimized for creating, sharing, managing, and collaborating on educational content". This portion of the website allows teachers to safely email students, set up blogs, wikis, and other media tools while being able to monitor the content their students are subjected to. In addition, teachers can upload files (i.e. Word or PDF's) so that they will never hear the excuse of "I lost the original copy of my assignment so I couldn't do it," and also the most famous, "I didn't know that was due." Parents can also utilize this learning space by joining different communities or just checking to see what their children are doing in a specific class. With many built in language and content filters, the ePal Learning Space provides a safe environment for students to collaborate with their peers and teachers.

I can definitely see myself using the Learning Space to keep in contact with parents, to create wikis for my students, and also to set up blogs. With wikis and blogs, I could give my kids extra out of class help or step by step directions for assignments they are having problems with. The good thing about this program is everything is structured and the school district has the option to monitor the collaboration between students, teachers, and parents. I would definitely use this program in the classroom.

Wonderful World of Flickr

I can't say enough about how I would use FlickR in the English classroom! Sites like these excite me because they can be used in a multitude of ways. One way would be in the form of digital storytelling. After collecting my photos from flickr, I would use websites such as animoto to compile my pictures so that they would be able to tell my story. For example, instead of using PowerPoint to create a picture slideshow, I could use animoto instead, and set all my flickr pictures to music (with transitions included) easily to tell whatever story I wanted. Here is a one I made about pie eating just for fun!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

In addition to using flickr for digital storytelling, I could use flickr as a final project for my English students. For example, bighugelabs takes photos from flickr and allows the user to create movie posters, magazine covers, cd covers, or even a comic book! After reading a novel, one of my final projects could be to create one of the previously mentioned objects in order to summarize the essence of the book. Here is a movie poster I made using flickr for the novel Catcher in the Rye:

Would you go see it?

I find that students are very enthusiastic when they use technology they are familiar with for final projects. I have used imovie before and their products turned out well so I have no doubt in my mind using flickr for a final project would turn out awesome products!

Creative Common What?

Because we live in a digital age where information is readily accessible, there has to be certain laws that protect information. There is a ton of information out in cyber space including social security numbers, passwords, banks records, and loads of other things considered sensitive. But what about other forms of information that people don't necessarily what other to have access to? In this context, I am referring to art-ranging from music, to books, to paintings. Because we live in a digital age, artists constantly have to deal with their copyrighted artwork put online (sometimes leaked against their will) without them having a say.
Fortunately however, Creative Commons, a United States non profit,developed a system of copyright licenses that allow these work to be distributed legally.


Currently, there are 4 types of creative commons licenses:


1. Attribution: the author or artists allows you to use their work and derivatives to distribute, display, and perform their work as long as you give them credit. 

This picture taken from Flickr is an example of an attribution creative
common license. Notice the credit is given to the artist Domino and
it is stamped directly on to the picture. 

2. Noncommercial: the author or artist allows you to use their work and derivatives as stated above as long as you are not seeking some sort of gain for commercial purposes, hence the term "noncommercial"

3. No derivatives works: the author or artist allows you to use their work as stated above but you are not allowed to use any 
derivatives associated with the work. 


4. Share alike:the author or artist allows derivates to be distributed only under a license that is identical to their work. 


(In these cases, the term derivative simply refers to any transformation, adaptation, or reproduction done to a previous piece of work). 


Although this isn't the end all be all to protecting copyrighted material online, it definitely helps the artist out and can be an even bigger help in the future!

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

With new technology coming out faster than you can blink, there are several opportunities for educators to not only use these resources for their own professional development but also for teaching. With social networks such as Facebook, Plurk, and Twitter, there has been s surge of information shared between educators about various topics. I believe that a social network such as Twitter can in fact help enhance the teaching experience. For example, Richard Byrne, a fellow blogger from Free Tech 4 Teachers, suggested  that with a social network like Twitter, teachers essentially, never have to spend another lunch alone, as it happens across many different schools. Because resources like Twitter exist, teachers no longer have to stay confined to a lonely classroom at lunch but instead, can create their own   Personal Learning Network that will enable them to connect to teachers not just in their building, but around the country and perhaps even around the world. A tool like this is essential I believe because it will help teachers share ideas about lessons (what worked and what didn't work), share their frustrations in the classroom, and even obtain feedback about ideas they have for the classroom. The Langwitches blog, also contains a short presentation about how and why teachers can use Twitter for their professional development and how they can get started using Twitter.

 In addition to using something like Twitter for professional development, a teacher can use it as a teaching tool in the classroom. For example, when reading Romeo and Juliet, students could make Twitter accounts for two or more characters and dialogue a conversation as it pertains to the play in order to switch the language into modern day English. Another activity? Using Twitter during lectures so that students who are less likely to speak out in class for have that platform where they too can ask questions. These are just two ideas and there are several other ways to make these social networks learning friendly. If the technology exists and students know the technology, why can't it be adapted into a lesson?

Awesome Blog

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal is offering 20 students up to $100,000 top stop school to focus on their business ideas. Thiel says that if the students choose to complete school,  they can go back at a later time. The number one reason for Thiel's decision? He doesn't believe students are learning much from higher education and they are not being prepared well enough. Because students are not willing to risk the financial aspects of starting their own business their are more willing to choose a "safe job" over their own projects.

I thought this article was interesting overall because it let me see that people other than educators are taking notice of the education problem that exists today. Students are so worried about their futures that they are willing to take the safe job because it provides a steady income but because of this, their dreams are flying out of the window. I'm interested to see which students are chosen for this project and see what they come up with.

from Education Change

PayPal Co-Founder: I'll Give $100,000 To Teens Who Drop Out Of School

UB English Ning

The UB English Education Ning can be a useful tool for me in many ways. First, it helps me keep in contact with any fellow English Ed. majors that I have met over the course of time, and it gives up a sphere where we can communicate. Secondly, we can post our ideas and get feedback for them...without any pressure, or obtain ideas (beg, borrow, and steal). The UB Ning is a place where we can share our success stories, horror stories, and works of art that our students presented to us. It is an awesome educational tool.

The Learner

A learner is like an canoe. While it will still be a canoe able to drift around in the water, in order for it to reach a specific destination, the canoe needs to be filled with a team of people directing where the canoe will wind up. In addition, the number of people can shift, teams can shift, and strength and speed will change over time, but as long as there are people rowing that canoe, it will eventually reach it’s destination. I can relate this analogy back to the theory of connectivism, which states, “Connectivism is the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories...[it] is driven by the understanding that decisions are based on rapidly altering foundations,” (George Siemens, 2005).

In my analogy, the people in the canoe symbolize the information change that occurs over time because of the informational flow of data. Siemens argues that, “Connectivism presents a model of learning that acknowledges the tectonic shifts in society where learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity,” (2005). Because the canoe is now filled with people, it represents that “tectonic shift” and the rowing the canoe is no longer an individual activity. Consider this analogy when comparing social networks. If there are twenty teachers without any type of social network, than they stand alone, possibly drifting like the empty canoe. However, once you present the idea of connectivisim to the equation, because of a network such as a blog or wiki, the teachers can work together and "stay current and continue to learn from each other," (Siemens The Impact of Social Software on Learning). Connectivism clearly has shaped the way we learn!

Sources:

Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age George Siemen

The Impact of Social Software on Learning

Are you paying attention?

I found the video, "Pay Attention", to be informative and thought provoking. The video asks the viewer to question whether he or she is paying attention to the way students learn in this day and age. Because of the influx of ways technology can be used in the classroom, the video inspires educators to integrate these mechanisms into their lesson plans. According to the video, only 28% of students find school actually meaningful, and only 21% find their coursework interesting. In order to give students a boost and make school a place where students can feel as if they are actually learning, technology needs to be incorporated into the classroom.

The video gives good examples of just how technology can be used in the classroom, ranging from using text messaging as a simple way of communicating and gathering data, to the use of podcasts. I recently created my first podcast and I can honestly say, I not only learned the technology, but I also picked up a lot of information along the way from my peers about using technology in the classroom. Rather than having to sit and sift through articles about ways to use technology, I learned from a podcast, and the information stuck with me.

Because we are now a society where we are indeed "digital learners", it is imperative that we update our teaching styles to reflect this because if only 39% of our students believe school work will have any bearing on their success in their later life (see the video), than as a society as a whole, we will not be successful.

Blog # 2...Safety Blogging

According to my Mom, the world was a much safer place when she was growing up. Now I’m not completely sure if I agree with that comment, but I know there may be more threats that exist in the world because of the Internet. While an awesome tool, if one is not safe, there can be major unhealthy consequences to a person’s actions. Since this weeks main focus is on blogging, here are a few tips that we can teach our students to use to ensure blogging safely:

Publicity, Publicity, Publicity: A lot of people don’t realize that most of the things that are published on the net become public domain. Be careful of pictures that you post and information that you publish. Anyone may be able to see these pictures and take them (sometimes illegally) and anyone can read your blog (which can be really bad if you have a blog about something you do that’s embarrassing during your free time and your teacher stumbles across it).

The Password issss….Yours and yours alone. If you give out the password to your blog, it may fall in the wrong hands and your page may be hacked or even deleted. Make sure you don’t give out your password.

To Comment or Not to Comment…That is the Question….You can always delete the bad comments but students should remember…..although you delete yours, someone can easily copy and paste your comments and they will live on in cyber space. Also, you don’t want to break your sites “terms of service” by using foul or indecent language so hold your tongue and follow the commenting rules….press delete not reply.

Be Careful Where You Visit….Make sure you are visiting an age appropriate blog and not one that is filled with indecencies. If students are blogging for school than there should be no reason they are on a blog that deals with anything inappropriate, once again, violating the “terms of service”.

Blogging should be a fun experience if done the correct way. Stay clear of trouble and you will have the ultimate blogging experience.

-Amanda

Blog # 1...Why Blog in the classroom?

In a world today when students are more influenced by athletes, singers, and movies stars, it is hard to capture the attention of a pupil with school and assignments, and it is even harder to keep their attention. With new emerging technology, it has become somewhat easy, but challenges still lie ahead.

And the number 1 culprit?  Ironically, it’s technology.

             While helpful, technology can still be a hindrance to an educator, mainly because students use technology for reasons educators would deem wrong. For example, a teacher would not have a problem with a child texting after school. But when the student texts during class, or even worse (gasps) submits an essay written completely in texting jargon it is there the problem arises.

            Luckily, educators have begun to incorporate new strategies into their lessons in order to somewhat repair the damage that has been done the psyche of students by incorporating tools students may use on the outside of the classroom for fun into their lesson, in order to engage students and make their learning experience slightly more authentic to their actually lives.

            On technique that educators can incorporate is blogging. Blogs or web logs as some call them, are an interactive websites maintained by an individual or individuals who provide news, video, commentary, and other types of media to the public on a regularly scheduled basis.  The use of blogs in the classroom could help students gather information about their local community as well as the world at large. For instance, if a student had to complete a report about local clubs in his or her community, he or she could turn to their blogging community to gather information about specific clubs and their practice (almost as if they were gathering information for an ethnographic research paper). In turn, because they were able to gather this information by reading these blogs, they could then become bloggers themselves and through their own written word, report back on their findings. This option will help students with their creative and writing capabilities and would also satisfy a few standards in a few academic areas. If this project were in fact for an ethnographic study for English Language Arts (my field of course), than it would satisfy standards 1 and 2 which state respectively, “Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding,” and , “Students will read, write, listen, and speak for literary response and expression.” Students will be able to practice writing and through their comments to each other, they can actually learn from each other. Also in the end, students will save many trees, as they will be able to upload their work onto their blog rather than print it out and hand it in. This will minimize:

1)    The random papers that students carry around the entire semester

2)    The  missing homework assignments

3)    The missing paper that you as an educator want to use at the beginning of the year as an example for your next group of students but can’t because it has strangely enough disappeared.

Clearly in this case, blogs are winners.

            Besides focusing on improving the writing and sharing between students, blogs can also be used by teachers is the “class portal”.  I have seen several schools use it and it is a tool that can be used to minimize the land I like to call the “Land of I Didn’t Know/ I Forgot”.  When I was a student, I had an agenda and I wrote down all homework assignments and there was no question as to what was expected of me in school. The new harsh reality nowadays is that students don’t write down homework, they don’t remember when things are due, and parents are so busy they don’t really know what’s going in their child’s school. A class portal is a tool usually run by the teacher that can list EVERYTHING from due dates to homework assignments, to the syllabus to class notes. A class portal would be the end to the “Land of I Didn’t Know/I Forgot”. And parents can always check the portal so they can feel like they have some knowledge of what is going on in their child’s academic career.  

            Finally, I’d just like to say that it’s up to educators to incorporate technology in the classroom to guide our students to better academic futures!


-Amanda