Sean & Liz

Twitter May Endure, but...

I think that my major hold back from Twitter is that I am not a net-worker. I don't do it well in person and I do it even worse online. I think that in order to use it well, you need to have a good handle on how to net-work effectively.

I do see the value of using Twitter to stay informed in the area of your profession. The trick to this is finding people or corporations or businesses or groups to follow that would add pertinent information and resources to your repertoire. This is where I get stuck. How do I find the people or groups or whoever who would have information and resources that I would be interested in professionally? I imagine I could start by searching for tags that relate to the topics I am interested in? I'm just not sure.

Where I don't have any interest in using Twitter for is a social networking site. I am a Facebook user and like the options of sharing photos and videos along with the "status" updates that people provide. I think where Twitter will endure is more for a professional networking solution.

The Digital Writer's Workshop

Jackie Gerstein of Boise, Idaho presented a talk about operating a digital writer's workshop. Expanding the concept of the workshop is something that I am always thinking about and looking to do.

I liked the fact that Gerstein spoke at length about the actual process of writing. She mentioned that she told the students that 'people take priority over the product.' This is a great sentiment, and one that I share. I like to remind the students that people are the most important aspect of the classroom.

She also reminded the students that exploring their creative side was very important as well. Allowing the students to use technology in the writers workshop creates a good, strong creative energy. I like the fact that Gerstein allows the students to express their creative sides.

Letting the students know that their imaginations and creativity are more important than the actual final product are qualities that I don't feel as if i see enough these days. Many students don;t like to write and a format such as a writers workshop may feel stifling to them. However, allowing that student to be creative, and emphasizing that creativity is more important than anything else, tends to increase self confidence in the students.

Another Cool Tool for School

The newest cool tool in my tech toolbox is useful for brainstorming, organizing, and mind mapping. Bubbl.us provides opportunities for sharing ideas, collaborating, and editing. Tasks involving brainstorming or semantic mapping can be visualized using Bubbl.us. I used it in conjunction with a problem-solving activity with one of my social skills groups. I also made an initial attempt to summarize my 21st century learning in this course with the aid of this tool. Check out two examples that I embedded in wikis: Savoring Satisfying Sections and Social Communication.

iPod in the classroom

This presentation, by Kern Kelley, is particularly interesting because it addresses the use of the ipod Touch in the classroom. Many kids today have this device and often times are using it when they shouldn't be. Why not take advantage of their desire to use the technology?

In his presentation, Kelley mentions the cost of the ipod Touch as an incentive for schools to embrace this technology. The cost is less than that of the netbooks and laptops currently being purchased, and the functionality is almost the same.

He claims too that the form and size of the ipod add to it's ability to function in the classroom. Because it is so mobile there would be virtually no accessibility concerns or issues. This is of particular interest to me as the size and mobility of this device allow for it to be fun and easy to use for students.

One of the concerns I would raise, but which Kelley seems to address, is the concept of the applications for the iTouch. Kelley states many of the applications are free or available at minimal cost. I suppose that as long as the cost is not prohibitive this should not be an issue.

Will the schools be monitoring use of the iTouch? I'm guessing yes, but this cannot be done 100% of the time. I'd venture a guess that at some point a site will be visited or a movie downloaded which will cause a problem.

Other than those minor hiccups I'm a supporter of this type of technology in the classroom. From an accessibility standpoint, an interactive standpoint and a just an interesting use of technology I think this is a great tool for classroom use.

Ways of Working: How students can leverage Web 2.0 tools to their own advantage

In the presentation, Ways of Working: How students can leverage Web 2.0 tools to their own advantage, Chris Betcher described numerous ideas for utilizing Web 2.0 tools to enhance the learning value of real world events such as the Sculpture by the Sea held in Sydney, Australia. He provided research strategies to implement prior to attending the event to make the experience at the event more meaningful for his students. Through the use of Netvipes, he showed how students could build their own newspaper by pulling in RRS feeds from twitter, flickr, blog and news searches pertaining to the upcoming event. At the event, he recommended that students use their phones to collect media (images and video) and voice recordings for creating presentations. He suggested collecting geolocated pictures: RunKeeper can track your progress as you walk and take pictures documenting where your are when you take a picture. After the event students are encouraged to create presentations and tell stories about their experiences using tools such as Voicethread, Animoto, Comiclife, and photostitching. Skype was utilized for videoconferencing to gain further insights after the event. It was also interesting to learn about how students extend their learning by creating scuptures in virtual worlds online. I enjoyed viewing this presentation, particularly since my son is currently studying abroad in Australia. As they showed videoclips of Sculptures by the Sea, I imagined him touring there.

Quick and Easy Classroom Applications

After viewing the K12Online presentation, Little Kids, Big Possibilities, by Kelly Hines I have successfully utilized Wallwisher with my language and social skills groups. The students enjoyed posting their comments to summarize speaker and listener roles and rules, sorting observations of effective and ineffective usages of nonverbal communication cues, and brainstorming vocabulary pertaining to emotions. My students also enjoy creating Wordles, another tool mentioned in this presentation. It was encouraging to quickly and effectively apply new tech tools after viewing the presentation.