Social Networking, EduWiki and Quizlab

We had a great discussion about Social Networking and the impact it could have on education. There is so much out there that kids have access to, we need to start using the social networks as a tool for stimulating students learning. I took a look at some of the videos on social networking that were presented by kid on EduWiki, and I really was impressed by the song that was created by the teenagers. They're wondering when educators are going to start incorporating their information and thoughts interactively within their subject areas. They do want to learn but not the "old way". They really came across strongly with their point of view. If you haven't watched this video, you should. Education has been static and seems to take eons to change direction. We should be embracing technology and using what the kids use in order to prepare them for the workplace environment they're entering.

The resources we looked at, Voice Thread, Soda Constructor, Vyew, and Jing Project were all of some educational value. I really like Voice Thread and Ning. I could see using VoiceThread in the classroom, especially when trying to get a point across. What better way than to illustrate it and comment on it. I can also see this a a way to preserve family information. Students who are asked to create a family tree could do it here and have the voices of their ancestors recorded with a little bit of biographical history. There are a lot of ways students could come up with for using this program. Soda Constructor is one I'd leave to the mathematicians, or students who are creating a project and want to test it out before making it. I like Ning because it has the potential to bring in only those class members the teacher invites. This is very helpful, especially when reading up on the limitation of items published on the Internet. The fair use law would come into place here. I also liked Jing because I could see myself creating a mini tutorial about our library program and how to access the features from the web at home. This way anyone could have access to the information when they needed it.
Quizlab was an eyeopener for me. I was able to create a quiz and take it based on the DVD I used with the fourth graders about researching on the Internet. There was a lot that was covered within a short space of time and all of it pertinent to their learning. One teacher had them take notes and collected them for a grade. This is a great tool for teachers and I'm going to pass it on to my staff.
Web quests are a great way for students to learn and construct meaning for themselves. I found in evaluating the web quest on Reader's Theater that this would be fun to do, except some of the links had linkrot. The evaluation tools were helpful when looking to see if the ones I found were good. I liked WebQuest.org because it was easy to search for the type of web quest I was looking for, by putting in the subject area and grade level. QuestGarden is a very useful tool for creating your own web quest and they've updated it so it's easier to make one. Best WebQuests rated the best of the web quests that are out there, which is great for looking for a really pertinent one. They gave the information about what a web quest should look like. I liked Zunal as it led me to one on the library this weekend. After looking at it, I wouldn't use it as it's meant for older students. I could adapt some of the resources to the fourth grade, however.
This session had so many places for me to explore for resources that I really appreciate all the effort it took to make all of us aware of what's available to use. Thanks!

Social Networking, Internet Safety & More

Social networking happened to be the main topic of our class Tuesday. Creating the Facebook account was a new experience for me. I'm not one to go out creating profiles of myself, and this was really an eye opener. I took a look at some of the groups created by others, and some were not very impressive. Some were looking for friends, and others were announcing places to go to meet for a party. Others had blatant vulgar language within their headings. Many of them were young and exercising their freedom of speech rights. With the discussion we had about cyberbullying and Internet safety, I wonder how many of them had been taught about Internet safety.It really brought home the need to be educating students about Internet Safety, chat rooms, instant messaging, acronyms and cyberbullying. I was amazed at Leet speak and how fast the kids can pick it up and their parents don't know what they're saying. It reminds me of speaking "Pig Latin" when I was young, although it wasn't as sneaky. The shows 20/20 and Dateline have been really good at putting specials on TV about the dangers of Internet predators. I do know there have even been programs in our community for parents to come to, discussing the dangers of the Internet for children. The presentation raised the awareness that we all need to start educating our students about Internet safety and cyberbullying. That is actually a new topic of discussion in our lives, as that issue popped up with the advent of the computer. When Edward Bulwer-Lytton said, "The pen is mightier than the sword.", he was completely right! Words have more power than people realize. They can be used to build a person up or ruin a person's life. How sad that someone had to lose their life because of a few words written to them via email, text message, podcast, wiki, note, or blog. I'm sure glad there is a place to go for students who are being harassed to go to! I'll be sure to recommend it to students as a place to go. Introducing ISafe at the elementary is a way to approach the issues. I really liked the sample activities we were given in class. They are of the type I can use with the 5th and 6th graders. It really brought home the fact about using the Internet safely. We took a look at Tapped In Calender and subscribed to it, but it didn't work for us. It's a website that allows teachers to discuss issues with each other. One must be able to follow protocol to participate in the discussions. The calendar feature is great as it lets us see what topics will be under discussion, the times noted as well. I was glad to see we could change the time to cental standard so we wouldn't have to do the conversion in our heads! I can see it would be useful to use as educators.

I liked the Spyware/Malware information given to use about the use of Facebook. Once again it points out the need to be careful about the maliciousness of internet predators. We have to assume what we put out there can be seen by everyone. It reminded me of the commerical about the girl hanging up her picture on the high school bulletin board and then everyone coming to take it. She tried to take it down, but it was too late. We also need to be careful about what we put up. Thanks for the website about the Malware removal program. That will come in handy.

The educational websites we were directed to were interesting. I really like BrainPop and BrainPop Jr. I wasn't sure if there was anything related specifically to the library, but there was, and it's a good activity under the reading heading. I can incorporate that one when we talk about choosing the right books to match the reader. It talked about the "5 Finger Test", (raising a finger up for every word you don't understand or can't read fluently), and choosing the right book to read. The clips are short and engaging. The students would enjoy the "hook" as much as I would giving it to them. In my estimation, BrainPop was the best tool I've seen to use with students this round.

KerPoof was one I felt was for the student at home who wanted a place to do his/her own picture or movie. It's a place to start, but the teacher who used it would really have to already know the program to be able to write a good lesson plan for all to do. Maybe an art teacher could use it with his/her class, or the technology instructor wanting to introduce animation.

Book-My-Lesson has potential for teacher to jump onto the bandwagon and offer their services for one on one lessons. It's just getting started and I didn't see a lot of instructors listed for classes. One neat thing was a waiting list area created for filled classes. MyICourse is one that I can see people wanting to start an online course would be able to use. I don't see students using it to create courses, just teachers as yet.

All were useful to learn about. The most eye opening ones, though, were about Internet safety and cyberbullying.

The pen is mightier than the sword. (2008, January 3). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:52, January 17, 2008, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=The_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword&oldid=181983808

Knowledge Newtwork & More

We had the opportunity to share our internet search engine comparisons via presentation. Many of us found we liked a certain one, but again, there's no one single seach engine that does everything. What was really made apparant to me was that we need to promote more than one single search engine to our students. I asked a group of fourth graders if they knew of any search engines. They didn't know what I was talking about until I mentioned Google. Then they said Yahoo. I need to teach them a few more appropriate ones.
Looking at Knowledge Network was interesting. I liked being able to search Filamentality for lessons without having to create another web page. I started creating one at home so I could access one site, but didn't have a microphone. I could see having Filamentality as a curricular place where students could create one themselves. There was a wealth of material here, but I like the Thinkfinity website for educational lessons better. At least it's good to know where to go for more information.
Taking the quizzes was interesting and fun. I'm glad we had the opportunity to explore the fun side of the internet. I'm sure students would love to take some of those quizzes, too. I think for it to be relevant educationally, teachers would have to put some in there for students to do. However, it is a way to get to know the students a little better personally, what makes them tick, their likes and dislikes. It can build a sense of community, and we all had fun sharing what we found, building relationships with one another in class. We got to know another side of each other. It's already one of those memorable moments!