The Longer Road Traveled

It's been a challenging road traveling through new Web 2.0 terrain while continuing down the ole' education turnpike. There's been technical potholes and 'traffic' jams along the way, but the destination was interesting a beneficial for the kids. When they ask "Are we there yet?" you can honestly say "Nope, this trip never ends."

The presentation is finished and the files uploaded to WikiSpaces. All we need are citations and a late night bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. Almost forgot, I still need to finish the homework from the last summer class. I knew that euphoric feeling wasn't going to last long. I bid you farewell with this newly discovered picture. Enjoy :-)

Final Project Day

I'm so excited as we approach the final hour for final presentations. I can not wait to see the class presentations and hear about how the lessons went, what was learned and the pitfalls that occurred. It is hard to imagine how teachers can go back to a classroom after completing this course and NOT integrate and change the way they engage students. I keep asking myself: Why don't all students have the knowledge at graduation to compete in today's ever limited work force? Are we negligent by not teaching them with the tools available today? What needs to change? Always more questions than answers, but I continue to look and ask, what if.......

Reflections on Day #6

I realize this is a bit past Day 6, but wanted to still comment on how valuable day 6 of our class was for me.
It was nice to revisit everything we had covered in the previous 5 days. There was sooooo much. It gave me a chance to make a note of the tools and ideas I wanted to try and incorporate into my classroom and my instruction.
Learning about screencast, jing, and download helper.net was valuable, especially when putting my presentation together for our final class.
We discussed Rubistar and that was so helpful when creating my rubric for my comic strip project. I have used Rubistar several times since our last class. This is a great site. I have recommended it to several teachers in my building.
I enjoyed the time devoted to sharing our project ideas with each other. Not only was it nice to hear everyone's thoughts, but it helped to validate that my project idea was headed in the right direction. I appreciated the advice and suggestions from the group.
Jeff's overview of the project and questions to ponder was very helpful. I have found myself returning to these thoughts and questions as I create my final presentation.
I enjoyed day 6 and found it helped to piece the class together and make sense of all that we had been exposed to in the previous 5 days.

On Monday, I will be doing a class skype with my 7-14 FACS group. Last week in class we worked on reviewing the PA standards for child development for 9-18 months old. Then I selected a category for each student to develop questions for the class skype. I sat with each student and rephrased, or restated questions for a good interview question. Students then rehearsed their particular questions with partners. Finally, I had then sit at the computer, to practice for Monday's Skype. I am going to try to record the Skype so I can show it to other sections. Next week I am going to have a forum on Moodle, with responses to the activity as well as what they learned. This week, I typed a rubric to grade the students on the skype activity. At this point, that is where I'm at with my project.

Where for art thou Romeo Web 2.0??

I want to create the most exciting and riveting Romeo and Juliet Moodle site, that incorporates a few of the best Web 2.0 tools for collaboration. I am finding that the information I want to use, is primarily to help them build anticipation, find resources, and gain background information. A lot of the materials I have from other teachers and from publisher's teacher resources, is pencil and paper activities. Ultimately, I feel I need to re-create some of these and/or make them collaborative via Google Docs, or forums. This project is a bit more difficult than I imagined. I need to keep it simple for my students sake, but I need to elaborate on it for the projects sake. It continues to be a work in progress. My other concern is, we are not starting this novel until the second term. Therefore, I am not going to have student feedback. @Jeff, can you remind me if that is necessary?

Final Project

Please use our blog to share your progress on the final project with your classmates.
Let us know how your project is progressing and if you need any help with any part of your project. I would like everyone to post your idea, status of your project, etc....

As we approach our last class, please review the Moodle site to make sure you have finished all the discussion forums.

I have added a page to our Wiki (http://2010ltms600.wikispaces.com/FINAL+PORJECT) for question and answer to any question anyone may have. Of course, you're welcome to email me as well.


Please register for the Ed Tech Clinics Showcase on November 11. The registration form is available at http://tiny.cc/1z10u . It’s a great opportunity to see some of the class projects from all of the other ETC courses. It will be a great evening of sharing and exploring other projects that reflect changes in learning.

Happy computing!

How to do 11 Great Web 2.0 tools

In class, we never had time to expand and refine our learning with details on how to do many of the steps required to master or at least understand how to... Please visit the home site of Free Technology for Teachers for additional how to reference guides.

How to Do 11 Techy Things in the New School Year -

Hello class! Follow my blog. Marty :-)

Day # 5 Reflection

Today's reflection is about what I might do different this year in my classroom because of what I have experienced in my LTMS 600 WEb 2.0 tools class this summer. Well........I am feeling right now that I do not know. But I am going to make sure whatever I chose, that it will be focused on the students' learning, not just another new technological gimmick. I have really found it interesting that what the general education community seems to perceive as Web 2 experiences are really Web 1 learning options.

Having an Instrumental Music Classroom, my direct instruction is still face to face. But, I am very interested in making the Web 2 components that I do implement in my class into something, that will further the learning and encourage my kids to go "deeper" in their own practice. Big task - looking forward to it!!!!

Thanks for listening...

Wikitydipitydoo

We're finally in a web 2.0 world, but we're just beginning to skim the surface of web 1.0 tools. I'll admit, I'm guilty of a web 1.0 classroom. I use my smartboard religiously and let my students come up to it and interact just like I used to on the blackboard in school. I graduated with my MA in Special Education in December 2008. That wasn't too long ago. At that time we were making the shift into 2.0, and would you believe that I didn't learn anything about incorporating 1.0 tools?!?! Fortunately I feel comfortable with technology and I do embrace it, and our tech department is also very eager to help us learn. It really needs to be a movement from within to get on our administrators and have them get on their superiors to make sure we are being taught with the times. We need to stop turning a blind eye to what is already years ahead of us. How far will schools get behind? How long until school is no longer the driving force for education? Or is our global connection, the web, our new school system?

Day 5 Reflections

Traditional education is facing a major "disruptive innovation" called personalized learning and education is going to be hit by a huge wave and washed up on the beach if we don't change the way we do business! I enjoyed this video and now realize through each video clip, presentation, blog or discussion in class, that school 1. is not good enough. Not to sustain us and our students in the 21st century. Why would we want to settle for good enough? I am feeling frustration with not quite knowing how this is all going to play out and how I can play a role in the obvious transformation that needs to happen. I will remain optimistic and enthusiastic for my students and do my best to incorporate as many new web 2. tools as possible into my classroom.

Appreciated the attention given to policies and digital citizenship. Devoting time to deciphering policy information, interpreting laws and discussing copyright and fair use was important, since teachers need a code of best practices to follow to help them do their job and be as effective as possible. I learned that copyright laws have nothing to do with protecting the creator and have everything to do with promoting creativity. Interesting and informative presentation from IU12, using Ellumination and Skype.

Joanna Hess LTMS 600-0

The term "disruptive innovation" was a new one for me.... I found it quite interesting and often in the past have thought..... why replace systems, equipment, etc that are fine. But both in industry and education, it is imperative to keep making forward leaps for continued success. I thought a key statement in the video was "it is very difficult for an existing, successful organization to become dominant in a new market". Also, " it is easier to create a new organization , or buy one, than to turn around an existing organization". I thought the parallels that this speaker made with industry and education were excellent.
I enjoyed further looking at AUP's, CIPA and COPPA's, and the video that accompanied the topics. It felt good to get up and dance!!!
I'm not feeling as stressed out about all the new web 2.0 tools and look forward to trying some.
Posted by joannehess at 3:18 PM

LTMS 600_03 Class Blog: Webucation Age

LTMS 600_03 Class Blog: Webucation Age: "Often times things come at a price. School districts spend millions on bettering instructional tools every year. Many teachers never even us..."

I know, isn't it amazing that so much of this is free for the use! I love that and want to take advantage of it!
Posted by joannehess at 4:30 PM

LTMS 600.02 ~ Summer 2010: Google Earth

LTMS 600.02 ~ Summer 2010: Google Earth: "I have been working with Google Earth for a few days now and I just want to say how frustrated I am with it. I think it is an awesome tool ..."

I know... I worked hours last night... a simple close it out, and start again helped mine to work. If I only knew that when I was working on it, it would have saved me sooo much aggravation. They say the struggle is part of learning, so I guess I finally learned!
Posted by joannehess at 4:35 PM

Webucation Age

Often times things come at a price. School districts spend millions on bettering instructional tools every year. Many teachers never even use them, or don't know how, or don't find them useful. Web 2.0 is giving educators countless FREE resources that can change the face of their instruction, and change the kind and quality of student work. Larry Ferlazzo's Blog provides countless web 2.0 tools for educators. Many of them are free, or offer a free version that you can then purchase upgrades for. It is worth checking them out. If you find one you like that isn't free, I bet you can find one you like that is free. Tweet about it maybe and watch what flocks your way. They always say that if you know the right people you can get anything...well now you have the world at your fingertips so start making your personal learning network.
Posted by Laurie at 2:03 PM

Day #4

What are some tools that you saw that would fit well with your instructional goals? Do you have any unanswered questions regarding the use of those tools? If you are pretty comfortable with one of the tools that you saw today, consider letting us know that in your blog post, so that others might contact you with their "how-to" questions.

I am still deciding what would fit best with my educational goals. I would love for my students: to improve their personal performance, to increase their productivity while practicing at home, and ultimately to be able to perform selected works in a large group. I am leaning toward a tool like google docs to tie together a lot of class information, including surveys and game results from the other LTMS I am taking this summer. But I am not 100% set on that tool. I still need to make sure that something like Edmodo does not fit the bill better.

I do feel like I am trying to digest too much information at once, and just need to stop and breathe for a minute or two...

Looking forward to tomorrow's discussion..

Goodnight!
Posted by ARApgar at 9:39 PM

Technowork

My brain is spinning again. We used A LOT of Web 2.0 tools today. Anxious to get my Google Earth project done right, much time was spent playing and perfecting the tour process. To my chagrin, the audio button was not functioning correctly. I tested the microphone -- works great. For some reason Google Earth doesn't pickup my mic! Grudgingly, I went to my iMac and all worked well. PC's get no respect.

There are many Web 2.0 tools that are fun to work with, but which one(s) will help with the curriculum? I really think Moodle is the link that will tie or mash all the other tools together. As stated in class "it takes a lot of work ahead of time", but in the end the students will have a great experience.
Posted by Marty ;-) at 5:52 PM

7thFACSwarwick: August 3, 2010 Web 2.0 tools This morning was expl...

7thFACSwarwick: August 3, 2010 Web 2.0 tools
This morning was expl...: "August 3, 2010 Web 2.0 tools This morning was exploration of more web 2.0 tools of our choice. I checked out Wordle which is a tool for gen..."

Webucation Age

Often times things come at a price. School districts spend millions on bettering instructional tools every year. Many teachers never even use them, or don't know how, or don't find them useful. Web 2.0 is giving educators countless FREE resources that can change the face of their instruction, and change the kind and quality of student work. Larry Ferlazzo's Blog provides countless web 2.0 tools for educators. Many of them are free, or offer a free version that you can then purchase upgrades for. It is worth checking them out. If you find one you like that isn't free, I bet you can find one you like that is free. Tweet about it maybe and watch what flocks your way. They always say that if you know the right people you can get anything...well now you have the world at your fingertips so start making your personal learning network.
Laurie C.

Reflections on Day 4 of LTMS600-03

Can I say my brain is full!!!
Loads of good stuff was presented today.
Instructables was intriguing. Because much of the subject matter in my class is hands on and active learning, I can see this tool being used as a mini-demonstration for a refresher of a technique previously taught or for students to review if absent. It could also be used as an independent activity for advanced or speedy students to explore while waiting for other students to finish a class activity.
The various timeline tools such as Dipity, XTimeline, and Timetoast have possibilities in my classroom. I have wanted to set up a class timeline for years, but the set-up time deterred me. I am exploring the idea of requiring each student to post 2 finds to a class-created timeline and allow the timeline to constantly be edited and updated so they could see the evolution of events and products in the field of FCS. Examples could include: when did Home Ec change to Family & Consumer Science, the first credit card, the first TV dinner, the first cake mix, coupons, rebates, the sewing machine, the dishwasher, the microwave, etc. etc. etc. Imagine the class discussions that could stem from why these inventions and products evolved...convenience, cost, time periods (during wars, women went to work), dual income families, less time to spend in kitchen, family dynamics, and today we are slowly seeing a shift back to more home cooking due to the economy...the topics of conversation are endless. These could be turned into blogs. I also would like to challenge my students to create a future invention, service, tool or product that families or individuals might need and where they would place it on the timeline of the year 2010. This activity would certainly blend several disciplines together (history, science, sociology, reading), not to mention I believe it would address quite a few rungs on Bloom's ladder.
I also liked and plan to explore and use Wordle, Edmodo, Wallwisher and Dabbleboard.
Do I have unanswered questions in regard to using these tools? That would be a resounding Yes, but I must say I am starting to gain a little bit of confidence with my ability to move around within these various web tool sites. I am not as afraid to explore as I was the first day of class and I can always ask my colleagues for help and advice.
Today was my favorite day of this class so far. I appreciated the time spent exploring web tools of our choice and sharing our discoveries. Extremely helpful.

Mid-point

We are about half-way between our first three days and our next three days. I hope all are enjoying the warm weather and working/living in A/C or a shady grove.

PLN - Growth is happening all around us as posts and reply's to the many forum discussions are ongoing. If you are not sure about anything - many of your classmates will certainly be open to helping.

Our next class will begin with a review of the previous three days and homework due.

Don't forget to continue to explore the many wonders Web 2.0 tools have to offer.

Reminder to LTMS 600-03 group:

Just a reminder about the Book discussions. As you're reading our text, we're looking for your discussions in the forum, "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts ~ Book Discussion Forum" Tell us what interested you or what surprised you or what you think you'll be trying with your students this year.

We're looking for an active discussion. This is your personal learning network. Learn from each other.

Other discussions/posts ongoing you should be participating with:
Clay Shirky - Wolfram Alpha - Great Discoveries - Posting to your personal blog - As well as creating accounts for upcoming sites.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on the discussions.

LTMS 600-03 First Week Thoughts:

I wanted to publicly share how impressed I am with how far our group has come in the 3 short days we have been together. We’re opening our minds, thinking out of the box while accepting and learning new tools for instructional delivery. A lot of light bulbs are lighting up in class!

The concept of realizing technology (the term) is getting a bad rap is a growing trend in our discussions. We continue building the connection that embedded technology needs to be ambiguous just as any other “old school” tool. However, these new tools, we are finding out, allow for a new set of skills and standards to be addressed in the hopes of providing students with the Global connections they need for the future.

Another accomplishment was an understanding of teaching the appropriate use of the tools while providing students with additional learning opportunities. While some have to look at this style of learning and assess the merits to decide if this is something for them, others are ready to give it a try! Time and the never-ending passion for learning will bring all to the same understanding as we continue to build our personal learning networks (PLN).

Yes, working together, we can begin to look at how and what we currently do that should be modified to meet the learning styles of students in our classes today.

I am looking forward to our future classes with the continued discussions and debates.

Blogs

I have not followed many blogs yet, but I plan on changing that now. I do know that my wife follows quite a few and really enjoys the interaction and opportunity they present.

I thought that the blog we read "Ilaw" was very thought provoking and informative. I was challenged to continue to dig deeper into my own thoughts and opinions about the possibilities and uses for this forum in a classroom setting. Also, the kids are already doing this, so what now grab the excitement and refocus them in a setting that promotes literacy, opinion building and open discussion/debate.

As for interacting with students via blogs, you must make sure things are covered and supported by your home administration!

ISTE 2010: Easy: Not Free

Interesting! I am amazed at how everyone wants something to make their job "easier". I never went into teaching thinking it would be easy. Instead of all of the stuff received in "Vendors' Hall", I'd rather spend the time chatting with fellow educators and sharing ideas and talking about successes in the classroom. All of the advancements in technology are great and they have their place, but we are teaching people and a free t-shirt is not going to help me to reach my students and be effective in my classroom.

article

The main point I got from the article was that ... the bottom line is to use technology but make sure you know what the purpose is and that students are really LEARNING from the technology you use. Also, try not to think about the negative aspects when you decide to use technology.

I read the Fisch article in regards to his list of expectations for his incoming algebra students first because it was already popped up. I completely agree with his opinion in regards to the list of expectations given to parents and students at the beginning of the school year for courses in that most of them sound very negative. I feel this gets everyone off on the wrong foot.

An iPad for Everyone: Is the iPad ready for 1:1?

The blog "An iPad for Everyone: Is the iPad ready for 1:1?" found here wonders whether the new Apple iPad is appropriate for educators. Given institutions that have run with the device the blogger presents the benefits to using an iPad in a classroom setting include the following:

• Long battery life - enough to power students throughout the entire day;
• No OS boot time and no need for peripherals;
• Many applications or apps to use.

The blogger states that the "iPad is going to change the way we think of computing in schools."

Review of RSS Readings

Please post your thoughts about two blogs you read and what you thought about them.