Thing 23 – The Journey Continues

The machine is us

Web 2.0 really opens up the potential of the Internet and put power of expression squarely in the hands of its users. It moves its minions from individual one way posters to a collaborative interactive online community.

Has 23 Things changed how I view education in the digital world? Not really. I have always seen the Internet, with its immediacy of information, as being the future centerpiece of classroom. However, 23 Things has opened my eyes to online tools and the potential usefulness of their application.

Over the past 10 weeks, as I was exploring these many things, I have been making notes and bookmarking sites (on my computer and in Delicious). I have enjoyed learning more about Web 2.0 and its potential to create more interaction amongst its participants. During the upcoming school year, I firmly expect that a situation will arise where I can directly apply knowledge that I gained through 23 Things.

I have enjoyed being a part of 23 Things. The self paced delivery all of information of this online course makes it very easy to schedule into a sometimes hectic summer vacation period. I have enjoyed reflecting on what I have learned, as well as reading others’ posts and comments. The content and format kept me interested and wanting to learn more.

Management of user names and passwords has been difficult, as I have signed up for so many online applications. It's ironic that in order for me to keep my online blog/e-mail/wikis/Delicious account access straight, I have acquiesced to writing them on a piece of notebook paper. This may not be very high-tech, but it's simplicity of function serves me well.

Should it come about, I would be interested in participating in 23 Things, part 2. For now though, I will be content to practice the Web 2.0 applications learned as a result of this class.

Thank you, RESA23, for the time that you have put into developing and managing this course. I have appreciated the comments you've shared and help you've provided my students by making me more aware of what I can do as their teacher.

Thing 22 – Create a Wiki

Wow! Setting up a wiki was really….fast. I guess that’s why they call it a “wiki.” I liked how the wiki online was setup to easily import code and images/video.

Using a wiki seems straightforward enough. A wiki is different from a blog in so far as the wiki can be set up to allow other people to add to/modify your work. Where a blog and wiki both originate from an individual’s idea, the wiki lets others contribute to make the wiki inclusive of the uses; the wiki’s progress is defined by those using it. A blog’s progress is driven by the origin author and readers will comment on what is posted. Think of it another way: although both blogs and wikis fall under the heading of Web 2.0, a wiki is a solid 2.0 application, while the blog still retains a Web 1.1 feel to its use.

I can see that wikis are best used for collaborative projects and blogs are useful in raising issues and stating information/opinion.

My wiki can be found at https://buckman-wikiworld.wikispaces.com/

Thing 21 – Learn about Wikis

I was looking at Mr. Monson’s Fifth Grade Wiki: Thousand Things from the long list of educational wiki's. (http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis) He posts a question each month for people to answer and hopes to collect 1,000 things on his list. This got me to thinking about creating a second grade wiki that was slightly more substantial: create a wiki where people can suggest their favorite word for the month. For example, in September the class could collect interesting verbs. This provides an open ended use of wiki's. That would benefit the children's vocabulary and word choice.

Another idea would be to set up a wiki on insect information partnered with another classroom in our district or the state. The students could work in teams to add, edit, and is still useful information about the insects all of their choice.

A hurdle that might stand in the way is the amount of time that the wiki would take to manage. Computer access and time in which to work on the wiki's, would be an additional hurdle. Would these wiki be of benefit to my students short of them participating in a wiki? Fortunately my administrator has also taken these 23 Things online, and I'm certain would be open to the idea of establishing a wiki with my students. Is it worth the fight? Well, if using a wiki benefits my students learning, the answer is, of course “yes.’

Thing 20 – Finding and Subscribing to Podcasts

This “thing” could not have come along at a better time. I upgraded some of my personal electronics, and now have had to learn how to negotiate iTunes for my family. It has not been as difficult as I expected it to be. On iTunes. I was able to find several podcasts that were interesting. The UI of iTunes is very intuitive. I have subscribed to weekly podcasts through iTunes of Grammar Girl, BrainStuff, NPR: Technology Podcast, and TechStuff. I am trying to be connected to interesting popular podcasts that will keep my mind active.

I also did some searching in the education and podcast network. It is fairly easy to find material that will is of interest to me. However, there was not a very helpful description, and I had to get deeper into the search in order to find out if the podcast site was what I had expected. I'm able to hear the podcasts over my computer without problem. However at this point, I do not know how to load podcasts from EPN to my mp3 player. Being able to listen to podcasts on the go is really useful when they are longer in length and require additional time to their listening.

Thing 19 – Learning about Podcasting

The podcast produced by the Eagan High School Honors Chemistry Class got a “nod of the hat” for producing the most creative podcast around a topic of science. The Chemistry of Hand warmers and the Chemistry of Adhesives were outstanding. “This I Believe” is a great application of an NPR production for use getting high school students to communicate thoughtful and persuasive prose. Both podcasts are well produced and interesting to listen to.

The other extreme is the “TechPodZone.” The information covered by the hosts can be useful, but their informal presentation style could use a tightening up. Additionally, the quality of some podcast recordings makes it difficult for the listener to concentrate on the message that they wish to share.

One fact that I did discover in looking for podcasts: many podcast sites have stagnant content. Many were up to date, having podcasts that were new only a few days ago. But some have not had content added to the site for a year or two. Possibly, since many were teaching staff, personnel have been moved around, and they were no longer it in a position to put together weekly, biweekly or monthly podcasts. However, it is a bit of a drag to be interested in a particular podcast only to have production of new material stop.

Having attended a class on podcasting at Wayne RESA, I would really like to begin producing some with my students. Due to other initiatives that are taking place at my school, last year I was unable to start podcasts with my students - this year isn't looking good either. Hopefully we can work this in for the good of all.

Links to Podcasts:

Eagan High School Honors Chemistry: http://www.eagan.k12.mn.us/fletcher/acn/projects.xml
TechPodZone: http://www.psucast.com/techpodzone/
This I Believe: https://digitalvoices.wikispaces.com/file/list

Thing 18 – Slideshare

The presentation that I embedded was titled Presentation Tips. It was created by the Graduate School of Education at the University of Buffalo. Spartan, but well done, this slideshow drove home the fact that brevity is best when giving a slideshow presentation. He slideshow clearly stated what we need to remember when creating presentations. The subject matter is not very glamorous, but useful nonetheless.

Presentation Tips

View more presentations from Jennifer Austin.

With the many slideshows that have been uploaded to Slideshare, it was hard to stay on topic. I quickly found myself wandering around the site, very unfocused, looking for the best of the best. Some people spend a lot of time wandering through YouTube; I can see me doing the same thing at Slideshare.

This site can be extraordinarily useful for finding premade slideshows that correlate with your curriculum or personal objectives. Many of the slideshows would provide a good springboard for developing your own slideshow presentation using your own content.

Thing 17 – Online Productivity

I had a chance to look at the online productivity tool called Zoho Show. In a nutshell, it is an online presentation tool, in the tradition of Microsoft PowerPoint, but with a twist. While you can still make slides, import images, change formatting and change the order of the slides, this tool allows you to do all of this online. One obvious advantage is that if you are working on a presentation with a group of colleagues, each of the colleagues can log onto the site and add/arrange information on the actual presentation at their leisure. No need for sending drafts back and forth. (Zoho also has a suite of productivity tools very much like Google - it may be something to look into.)

Zoho Show can produce a very inviting slideshow. The user interface is fairly intuitive and easy for most to grasp. Once completed, the slideshows can be made public or kept private, as well as being able to make a link that you can paste onto your website from which people can launch a presentation. Also, Zoho Show has an awesome feature which allows a user to invite people to view the slideshow online, while the speaker conducts the slideshow from a remote location. There is facility for interaction through dedicated instant message-type system. Distance learning “on the cheap.”

Applications are obvious: a slideshow repository for presentations given where Internet access is provided. Zoho Show would be an outstanding site for teachers to take their classes when they are instructing their students on how to assemble a persuasive slideshow presentation. Since it is being done on line, students could work on their files from any computer at school, and also work on their slideshow presentations at home (if available). The cost savings for school districts that currently use software centered slideshow presentation could be substantial.

Now, the downside: 1. there is currently not a way to export the slideshow into Microsoft PowerPoint format, 2. animation support could be better, 3. the clip Art Library is good but could use many more images. This being said, it's still a fantastic way to make an effective and visually pleasing slideshow presentation without the need to purchase dedicated software.

Thing 16 - Explore online collaboration with Google Docs

How might you use this tool in your personal and professional life? What issues come to mind about using this tool with students (ie, they need email addresses to log-in)?
I can see this application coming in handy when I am working on a document with colleagues. Depending upon the number of people who need to edit (put their own stamp on). A project, this would reduce the amount of e-mail copies and versions going back and forth between the principle parties. This could be used with parents as well, however. At this time, I am unsure of any situations where this would be needed. This really has great application for any sort of collaborative project between individuals separated physically by location.

As far as using this with students, I am always reticent, giving very young students are powerful tools to use, such as e-mail. Our districts acceptable use policy does not allow for elementary, and to the best of my knowledge middle school, students to have e-mail accounts. If we wanted to use this application, you had to find a way beyond the AUP. That could entail setting up some sort of proxy or having parents sign up for up individual e-mail accounts that their child could use. Doing this would mean that the controls would be off and the students would have the expectation of conducting themselves in an appropriate manner having an email account. I'm not sure that I'm ready for that to happen.

I am disappointed in the facts of that uploaded files do not retain the formatting from the original document. Uploading a document which had a table filling the page found that same table spread in unusable format, which would have required me to spend a lot of time redoing. Even after I downloaded a document from Google Docs as a Word file, I still had to spend some time cleaning up the formatting in my Word document. Does Google wish us to start, finish and manage our documents solely within Google Docs?

Having that said, this is a powerful tool to having your disposal, especially when interacting with colleagues or parents.

Thing 15 - RSS Revisited

RSS is getting easier to do. Keeping up with the feeds, on the other hand, is not as easy. I did view some feed late last week. After reading them, I somehow deleted them and couldn’t go back to mine them for all their usefulness.

I’m sure it will get better and become habit, especially after I show my bride how to do subscribe to feeds detailing areas of her interest. This, like other areas of life, will require further practice to become fluid.

Thing 14 – Bookmarking with Delicious

Delicious seems like a useful site to have on Web 2.0. If the Internet is everywhere, with Delicious, your bookmarks can be everywhere, too. In a previous blog, I already lauded how a colleague discovered this site and was now “all about that.” The most interested she is in using this technology, the better that technology will translate back and forth between herself and her students. Being able to tell someone about a site that I found, and then walk over to the nearest Internet connection to bring up the resource will be a huge leap beyond having to say “I’ll email you the link.”

To find out what I have been bookmarking, visit SFBuckman.

Thing 13 – Social Bookmarking and Tagging

Tagging is essential for organizing the variety of items found on Web 2.0. It’s just common sense for this digital age. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. Even though you're not able to reduce the amount of hay (items) in the haystack (Internet), by using tags, you have coded the location of each needle (bookmarked item) before it’s added to the haystack making it easy to retrieve a desired needle.

The advantages are all those that you would have with an organized file cabinet: proper place for every paper, hierarchical work flow, common understanding of system norms and standards, ability for reorganization of information. The disadvantages come from use of folksonomy and independent thinkers who tag things their way with flagrant disregard to norms established for the good of all.

I imagine it would be important to put some time into really thinking through the tags that should give your sites. The more precision that is used within tagging process, the more successful others will be when they are searching for sites that you have tagged to be useful.

Thing 12 – Blog Widgets

Well, I must say that I am making progress. The widget, but I choose to embed was the RetroNix Clock. I really do like the reproduction of the Nix vacuum tubes in this widget. He reminds me of watching real tubes numbering up and down in my high school electronics class. They used a huge amount of electricity compared with today's standards, but I get a say: “I love those tubes.”



I am becoming more comfortable with adding items to my blog. It is even becoming “fun” to add more information to my blog. There is still an air of comfort, being safe in the knowledge that my blog is not being read by hundreds of other people. While that day may come, it's good to know that I can still ride with my training wheels for the time being.

I do not belong to any other online communities at this time. However, I do read a few musical bulletin boards. I can understand why social networking sites are so popular with the kids today. There are lots of advantages to sitting in front of a keyboard and safety one's own home in sharing information across the ether of the Internet. For everyone's sake, I do hope people still get out and press the flesh once in awhile. There's something very visceral about being face-to-face with another human being.

Thing 11 - Community 2.0

I think leaving comments on blogs as an opportunity to contribute to a collective intelligence of the group. Think of comments as being a helpful person when you hear your neighbor, muttering to himself that he “wishes he had the right tool for the job.”

Commenting within online communities is important, because it is a way to share our voice. Everyone has something that can be helpful to others. Blogs are a way in which people can state an opinion, ask for help, gather resources, and just have fun communicating with others. This might be a positive for students who share their writing because they would benefit from the reflective critiques and positive words generated by people leaving comments.

What I find distasteful is when a person leaves comments that are not productive. I have read comments that were obviously written when the person obviously angry, upset, drunk or emotional. If one wouldn't say these things to someone in person, they shouldn't be writing them down in comments on blogs. Fortunately, the behavior of people commenting is, on the whole, very respectful and pleasant to read.

The best information I can take away from your articles is 1. to keep posts appropriate and relevant; 2. not to take the posts too seriously! and 3. limit comments to 3-4 lines at max (this last one might be hard…. but I'll try).

Thing 10 – Embed and Download Video

For Thing 10, I could have added an educational video as this probably is the case with most educators. However, I decide to add this contest video. In April, the Fox Sports Cable Channel in Detroit runs an “April in the D” song contest. The winner of the contest would have their song used by Fox Sports in promotional ads during the month of April.

A friend of mine heard of the contest and suggested that we enter. The deadline in three weeks was short, but achievable. It took about two weeks to write, record, and master the tune. Only after the song was complete, did we read the fine print, and realize we needed to produce a video. We hurriedly organized a trip through downtown Detroit, video recording anything we thought would be useful. About eight hours of video editing later, we had this video.

We didn't win the contest, though we learned a lot in the process of making the video and had a great deal of fun.

About three months later, I was searching YouTube for any other entries that had been posted. Although I probably shouldn't have been, I was surprised to find that Fox Sports had posted our video! This just may be my 1 minute and 44 seconds worth of fame.



BTW, I was able to download a video. Nice trick.

Thing 9 – Online Video

YouTube: The best of the best, but worst of the worst, and in the mediocre in between. YouTube, like anything else, is what you make of it. On the whole I like what I see. YouTube gives people a voice for their visual creativity.

I have found a wide range of instructional videos for software, appliances, music equipment, Web 2.0 applications, as well as teaching videos that correlate wonderfully with grade level content expectations. There are several videos that I would show my students tomorrow, if it wasn't for the fact that YouTube is restricted in my building. As the web continues to develop, and as educators/school board members/parents gain a greater understanding of the power that this form of media has for learning, I believe that we will see YouTube-type videos being used more frequently in our schools.

The downside is, and there is always a downside, that the message being presented in some videos is lost due to the poor production quality and/or the poor planning that went into the project. However, I do give credit to everyone who uploads anything of original content. People who post videos are motivated individuals who are acquiring skills through their use of this media. It is a way to get ideas noticed and, as illustrated in the YouTube video “Free Hugs Campaign” may even motivate others to act for the betterment of all.

Thing 8 – Fun with Images

I enjoyed Flickr Memory – I always liked Husker Du-type (Jeopardy) games. Being able to choose the topic and then play is nice for developing game strategies and visual discrimination in the young children with which I work. Sudoku with Flickr may be a site that will be a future favorite of my wife.

Flickr Montager was fun, but if the image was too finely detailed the picture final montage would be hard to see due to the pixilated quality of the final product.

I really enjoyed exploring Big Huge Labs’ website. There are a lot a fun and creative things to do. CD Covers, Wallpaper, Trading Cards, Captioner, Jigsaw, Movie Poster, Cube (for math, of course); there are so many fun, creative things to do. I can see how I might want to use some of the items within my classroom this year to spice up projects or assignments. These sites are so simple to use, with a little bit of instruction the students could easily use them to create. I have bookmarked this site for me to explore more deeply.

Imagegenerator IS expansive, is not as user friendly, but does have some niche applications. The best way that I can characterize this site is that it offer a few things well, then does them the over and over by changing some aspect of each page. There is a lot, but not enough to keep my interest.

I am glad that I have had this opportunity over the summer to preview these resources for once I start my new school year, I fear that I will not have the time to “play” with them. They can be very time consuming, not to mention the addictive nature that they have for those of us who are void of any natural artistic ability.