The Final Reflection!!! YIPEE!!!

Each class I have taken in my TL-DL journey has been rewarding in its own way and this class certainly is no exception. However, I need to say that this class has the potential to impact the program that I offer as a TL in my school the most out of all my previous classes. Even though I have had experience using many of the web 2.0 tools we explored in the class, my knowledge and comfort level has deepend immensely. Several tools I had tinkered with personally and had not really considered the learning implications in the educational environment. This class has really been the light bulb for me. It has made me think of how I can be using various tools with both students and teachers.

 

I think I need to ask myself a few questions about each of the web 2.0 tools as I plan to use them with teachers and students.

            1. How will this tool engage students?

2. Will this make the teachers’ life easier or more difficult?

            3. How can I use this with teachers?

            4. How can I best implement this tool?

 

I’m sure there are many other questions that will cross my mind as I plan for the future, but I think this is a good start. I don’t want to make it too complicated because if I do, then I (and others) won’t buy in and use it to it’s full potential.

 

Well, I have some serious planning to do as I re-look at what I am doing in the school and how I can further push technology integration in my school. It will be interesting to see what is happening in a few months and what new tools are available in the next year as we think ahead to web 3.0 (or whatever they’ll call it)!

 

It’s an exciting time to be a t-l and I am so fortunate to be in the position that I currently am in. Who knows what the future holds, but all we really can do is embrace the moment and use these tools to get our students excited about learning. It’s easier than it sounds! It's been a great journey and I'm certain that this is still only the beginning!

“That’s all folks” (for now)

Elmer Fudd

DB

Tried & Tested 2.0 Tools

So I’ve written about the new tools I had the opportunity to explore, what about the tools that I’ve already used and revisited this term? Rather than give a brief  overview of each tool, I thiought I’d focus on a couple that really stood out for me.

 

1. Podcasting
1. This is the tool in which I feel I should be using more than what I currently am. It’s a wonderful tool that can be used throughout the curriculum. What I really find appealing is that podcasting really lends itslf well to the various types of learners that we find in all our classes. For those reluctant writers, why not have them create a podcast where they can tell us what they have learned?
2. Garage Band. To me, this is the ultimate creative tool that Mac offers in their iLife suite. If you haven’t had a chance to play with a Mac and explore, Garage band, I highly recommend you do so. You will easily get caught up in the application and have a tonne of fun creating your next podcast.
3. Where I’d like to go with podcasting is having students create more frequently in the class but secondly, I’d really like to get in the habit of creating a professional podcast that could be posted on the school virtual library page. Perhaps on a  weekly basis to start. I’d like to offer tips, hints, news that would be helpful for teachers. The topics could vary widely but I’d like to focus on technology as my first target area. I’d keep the podcasts to 2-4 min. in length so it doesn’t take much time out a teachers day but it could offer some assistance in what they do in the class.

 

2. Wiki’s
1. This is another tool like podcasting that I’d really like to be using more. I’ve been involved in and created a few wiki’s  for various purposes, but I’d really like to get into the habit of using them more frequently in the class with students as we become more inquiry based in our school and our learning. Wiki’s provide a great opportunity to take collaboration to the next level for both students and teachers

                                               i.     Student collaboration – I’d like to start up my Language Arts group using a wiki again like I did a few years ago. The students loved the forum for discussion and really were engaged and held one another accountable for the work they were doing.

                                             ii.     Virtual Library – Last year I spent quite a significant amount of time developing my library webpage. Now that I’m a year wiser (or at least a year older), I’d like to revamp my webpage and make parts of it wiki based.

 

The greatest obstacle I have found to using some of the web 2.0 tools is the initial set up with students. The community that I am currently in is not overly technologically literate. Many families don’t have computers and as a result, students may not have email addresses. For some applications, students are required to have email accounts and this requires some set up on my part with students. Moving forward, I think I am going to have all my students set up a google account and then we can eliminate some of the bumps in the road that we face.

 

Bottom line….I need to make the time to use these more often in my school!

DB

Reflection 2 - New 2.0 Tools for Me, DB!

Hilights & Lowlights of Learning 2.0

 

Rollercoaster? I wouldn’t necessarily say that. I’m not the type of person who gets overly worked up about things. Sure, I get agitated with the best of them, but I think I have a decent balance and background knowledge that I wasn’t “floored” by any of the web 2.0 tools that we explored. I guess that I could break down my learning into a few categories and sub categories.

 

New Tools for Bussiere

 

1. VoiceThread
1. This was certainly my favourite new web 2.0 tool that I explored this term. I was pretty hesitant when I first looked into it but after about 10 min. of exploring, I came to the conclusion that it really is as easy as it looks. The ease in which I set up an account and created my first voice thread wasn’t comparable to any other application I’d explored before. I can see the definite hook for students to create a voicethread. As an educator, it a simple application that could be used in nearly any subject. I  am currently working with a gr. 6-8 Language Arts group and I have a few ideas on how students will be creating a voicethread in the near future.

 

2. Social Networking with Facebook
1. This was relatively new to me as I set up a facebook account in the summer knowing that I’d be exploring this in the fall for this class. If I didn’t have to become more familiar with it due to this class, I’m not sure I would have started an account. Now that I have an account, I periodically check my account to see what is going on but I would have to say that it’s not really something I’m “in” to. Facebook would have to be my least favourite of the web 2.0 tools that we explored in the course. I can see how social networking sites such as facebook can be used in and educational setting, however I won’t be spending any of my teaching time with students on this one. I guess I still see Facebook as a friend collection competition. The educational possibilities of other web 2.0 tools far outweigh those that I see with Facebook.

 

3. RSS  & Blog Aggregates
1. Last year I set up Vienna as my RSS tool of choice. I did not use this very often and when I did, it was to catch up on personal interest websites. As I did some more investigating on this topic, I set up Google Reader as my new blog aggregate. I found this to be much more effective as I could customize my information more easily and access my RSS from any computer anywhere. I found this very helpful in following some of my new favourite blogs that pertain to web 2.0 tools and technology in education. This will definitely be something I will continue to use in the future both as a student and an educator.

 

4. Social Bookmarking with del.icio.us
1. First of all, I want to know why the heck they didn’t set the name up by syllables (de.lic.ious rather than del.icio.us)? I’m sure there is some logic to the name but I don’t get it! Anyhow…..This is the web 2.0 tool that I don’t think I spent enough time with. I kind of skimmed the surface of the idea of social bookmarking but I think that if I invest the time into better setting up my account, I will really find that I won’t be able to live without it. The way I have my bookmarks organized on my computer(s) is pretty good so I guess I was kind of thinking “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”. However, I can definitely see the benefit of having access to my bookmarks anywhere in the world at any time. As well, I need to get into the habit of using “tags” to categorize and organize my electronic life a little better. Perhaps this is a Christmas Holiday project for when I feel I need to get away from family visits?

 

5. Photo Sharing with Flickr
1. This was the web 2.0 tool that really made me think about how and where I store items on my computer. What happens if my computer dies and I haven’t backed my information up recently? What if I can’t recover the pictures of my kids from Christmas? Here’s where Flickr (and photo sharing) made me think. I don’t have an external hard drive that I back my files up on regularly. I simply rely on my jump drive (which can only hold so much info). Not only can I safely store all my pictures online, but I can organized them by tags as well as make them available to others. I love the idea of doing this, now I just need to find the time to do it! Another Christmas holiday project!

 

Well, there you have it, the new tools and what I think in a nutshell. Overall, the learning curve was not that steep in any of these tools. Instead, I just need to make the time to invest in further exploring and playing with each of these tools to see how they can impact student learning as well as make my life a little easier!

Part II fini! Next, Part III!

 

DB

“I get by with a little help from my friends” The Beatles

As it has been in the previous 4 classes I have completed in my TL-DL program, I certainly could not have done this without my classmates and for that I am very grateful. Sure much of our learning takes place from our professional reading, research and experimentation, but the conversations that take place in our discussions on Web CT (or whatever the official name of it is these days) are truly some of the most valuable and memorable moments in the class.

 

Discussions

I really enjoy the non-threatening manner in which our formal and non-formal discussions take place. Upon beginning the class, many of us are complete strangers and find out a small glimpse of whom each person is through their introduction posted in the first week. By the end of the course, as a direct result from following classmate’s blogs, I have gained a much better understanding about the person behind the words. The voice that each class member has conveyed in their blog and discussion postings has given us a glimpse into their personality, style, work ethic & tendencies, style of learner, and professionalism that makes them the unique individual they are. I am always amazed by the amount of work, research and thoroughness that individuals put into their on-line conversations. It always gives me something to strive towards and makes me think just a little deeper.

There have been no shortage of “hmmm….I hadn’t thought of that”, or “I’m going to have to look into that a little further” moments in every inquiry discussion we have explored. It is interesting to see how different individuals look at, interpret and guide their discussions in their own way. For example, the “Getting and staying organized in the web 2.0 environment” was looked at through a different lens for everyone. From tags, to tools, to RSS, to digital devices, each individual was eager to share their challenges, frustrations, successes and learning’s so others could learn.

 

Blogs

WOW! Where do I start? I could spend my entire Christmas holidays going through everyone’s blog in great detail (but I won’t) to see what else I could be doing and how I could improve my teaching and library program from what they have learned, experienced and shared. Thankfully I have access to these amazing resources that everyone created so I can access them as I need (and I’m sure I’ll need them). The honesty and thoroughness in which classmates constructed and posted their blogs will surely save my sanity (at times) down the road. I have a flood of ideas from my own experimentation in each of the web 2.0 tools and probably a million more ideas from how others see each of the tools being used in schools for both student learning and teacher learning. It was very interesting to see how teachers and t-l’s at all different levels (from early elementary to adult ed) had some similar learning implications for some tools as well as completely different implications for other tools. The context in which we use each web 2.0 tool may vary, but the ability for each tool to impact and improve what we do, is certainly common to all.

 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

What else is to say other than a huge thanks to everyone in the class who has made this an enjoyable and rewarding journey. Thanks Joanne for leading us in a very worthwhile exploration of how technology can and is shaping our educational system and personal lives today and in the future! I know that I wouldn’t have made the time to learn about some of these tools without this experience. Now I can’t imagine not teaching students how to use an application such as Voice Thread in my teaching!!

That’s it for now, but there’s more to come so hang tight!

DB

Part II - Drum Roll Please......

Well, after much contemplating, I’m going to have to go with BLOGGING as the tool I would like to first introduce to my staff. There are several reasons I’ve chosen blogs as the web 2.0 tool of choice and here’s a few of them.

1. Each teacher at our school has the space on our school webpage to have a class webpage and when this was created, each teacher also was given a blog page to link to their class webpage. The nature of this blog is to simply post information for the public/students to learn about what is going on in the classroom. The only people that are able to comment on this are those who have access to edit the school website. This is simple blogging. However, from here, teachers may branch out to include students in blogging by introducing them to sites such as class blogmeister.com, blogspot.com, or edublog (other blogs could be used as well).  

2. You can start small and expand your blog as your comfort level grows. Teachers may use a blog as a posting of informational items to begin and then expand it to collaborate with peers, have students respond to blogs, have students create and post blogs, etc. The possibilities are nearly endless but it doesn’t have to be too complex in order to achieve the purpose that the teacher sets out.

3. Access. Teachers can access their school blog from anywhere they have internet access. This goes without saying that this is truly one of the great benefits of web 2.0 tools. It really is anytime, anywhere learning for anyone who is involved in the blog, from publisher, to reader to commenter. From a parent perspective, it is great to be able to check out what students are doing at any given time. Depending on how the blog is being used, a parent (or anyone if the settings are set up to allow) can easily visit the class webpage and see student work, teacher informational postings, etc. As well, students are able to access this from home as well, so they can check on assignment due dates, events, offer comments on other student blogs, offer peer editing advice, etc.

4. Student learning benefits of blogging. There is something to be said about having your work published so it is accessible on the internet for the teacher, peers, classmates, family, or the entire world (depending on the settings the publisher chooses). Often, students take more pride and ownership in their work if they know that their audience is more than just their teacher. Teaching with Web 2.0 “Writing can be transformed from a one-on-one communication between teacher and student. With the use of a school-centered blog students can also receive advice and corrections from their peers.....Both blogs and wikis promote peer editing. This gets students more involved in the writing process, thus strengthening writing, editing and communication skills.”

5. Student engagement. Technology in general provides a tremendous hook for many students. The school I teach at is in the core of Regina and many students do not have exposure to technology at home as many others may in better socio-economic communities. I have worked to a great degree with classes integrating technology into the curriculum and just as much research states, student engagement greatly increases and classroom management issues decrease when students are working with technology. Using Technology to Enhance Engaged Learning for At-Risk Students by Barbara Means states that “New technologies can provide meaningful learning experiences for all children”. The last course I took I did an action plan/proposal for a 1 to 1 Laptop Program for our school. In my research, I found the studies overwhelmingly stating that student engagement greatly increases when students are given technological tools to assist in learning. The inquiry method fits so well with technology and blogging is just one avenue students and teachers can explore with technology.

I am sure that I have have just touched the tip of the blog iceberg, however in my school environment where I have a limited amount of technologically literate teachers (and students to a certain degree), I feel that blogging would be a good starting point for many teachers.


The Greater Plan

I’ve already started this with our staff by offering “lunch & learn” technology sessions. We began with having teachers become more acquainted with the school website. 2 sessions have been offered for teachers where we learned some of the basics of setting up a class webpage and setting up a blog page linked to their webpages. I was really surprised with the number of teachers who turned out to learn about this wonderful tool. This has provided a great springboard for teachers to make information more accessible and learn together in a non-threatening environment (Oh, and it also helped that we fed them too!). From there we have explored iBooks and how we can use these in our classes and have students create and publish their learning. They have really loved this and it has become a great link with our school literacy goal.

I’d like to continue to introduce different technological tools with teachers through these lunch and learn sessions and I feel pretty good about teachers being receptive to the opportunity to learn more and collaborate with myself on a regular and ongoing basis. I was really impressed with the ease of VoiceThread, so perhaps I’ll explore this next with students and teachers. I’ll leave that one for a little while though as I don’t want to overwhelm teachers, especially when they may not be too tech savvy.

Here’s for the future of 2.0 in my world!

DB

Blogs vs. Wiki’s vs. Podcasts vs. VoiceThread. And the Winner Is……….WHOA! Back up the bus Bussiere!

When considering which web 2.0 tool I would like to introduce to my staff, the 4 that really stood out from the others were blogging, wiki’s, podcasting and voicethreads. When considering which would be the first to roll out, I think I need to consider several factors.

1.     Comfort level of staff using technology

2.     Which tool would staff embrace and not see as a steep learning curve

3.     Most bang for our buck (meaning the ease the tool is integrated into the curriculum with the least amount of prep)

4.     Time investment by staff

5.     How the tool benefits student achievement

6.     Grade level

 

That being said, there is a lot to consider when making a choice of which tool to use with staff. Being in a Pre-K to grade 8 school, not all web 2.0 tools are as easily implemented as others. So, how do I decide? I think the first step is to make all teachers aware of the tools available.

 

How do I do this without taking up too much of their valuable time?

I think I would like to post an example of each of the tools on the Virtual Library Web Page and tour teachers through each example. From there, it would be nice to give a brief overview of each tool and give teachers time to think about the learning implications for each tool.

 

As of this moment, if I were to decide which tool to use, I’m not quite sure which I’d choose. I’m still deciding.

 

The answer will be posted soon!

DB

QualiTy PD (get it? it rhymes! If you say it like a rapper, it sounds way cooler!))

I’ve blogged. So what! Anyone can blog, can’t they? What’s the purpose of my blogging? Have I simply shared my thoughts in my course with the instructor and classmates? Is it just a simple practice of reflection using an on-line journal rather than the traditional paper and pen method? While I have been focusing on how to use blogs in the classroom, I have somewhat pushed the idea of blogging for professional development on the back burner. So, here I am. The course is nearly over and I have learned many things that I can easily take into my world as a t-l. The focus has been on student learning but have I made the connection with and blogged for the purpose of professional development? I’d like to think I have to a certain degree.

 

 

Resources

 

Will Richardson has posted on his Weblogg-ed blog a posting called Blogs for Professional Development. In this blog Richardson links to and gives praise for Karl Fisch’s blog “The Fischbowl”. Richardson makes specific reference to Fisch’s explanation of a staff development program using blogs to reflect upon and share progress on school goals with the focus being on technology. As you scan through the page, you’ll see the list of teachers (colleagues) who have blogs and regularly update their pd as a result of this focus. It creates another way for teachers to share and reflect outside their 4 walls of the classroom.

 

Online Education Database has posted their top 100 education blogs. This list is very helpful because it categorizes the blogs so you can easily seek out which blogs appeal to you. The categories include Learning, Library & Research, Technology, Teaching, etc. I took a quick spin through some of the links and there are some excellent blogs that you could easily subscribe to an follow for professional development. Of course you’ll find links to well known blogs such as Weblogg-ed and Warlick’s 2 Cents Worth but there are numerous other blogs that may not be as popular or share the same large following that Warlick & Richardson have. When you get a chance, check a few of them out!

 

Edublogs must be one of the most comprehensive resources blogs availble. It hosts links to educational blogs on a wide variety of topics for all levels of educators. It not only offers many resources but also offers support, feedback & discussion, forums, etc. on blogs. It reminds us that we are not alone in this and that others are in the same boat and they are trying to support us however they can.

 

What does it mean for educators?

 

Quite often I have heard the same statement from teachers saying that there just isn’t professional development opportunities on a particular topic, or perhaps there just aren’t enough hours in the school day to meet with colleagues and share best practices or meet to plan units together. Well, here’s where blogs can help out. No longer do we have to worry about distance or time. We now have an amazing amount of wonderful resourceful people available through blogging. There are blogs that cover almost every imaginable topic available for teachers where we can reflect on, share, and have conversation with  others on the topics that are important to us. Whether that be on a web 2.0 tool and how to use it in the class, or on classroom management techniques and challenges. Blogs are so much more than a reflection tool, instead, you can regularly be updated by your RSS aggregator on the topics that matter most to you. You don’t have to go out looking for ideas or re-invent the wheel (a task that teachers are all to familiar with).

 

Another wonderful use of blogging is that it can assist in professional research especially for continuing education students or for those who are keen to keep up to date with the latest in educational research. As one develops their subscription to various professional blogs, current and latest trend research is at your fingertips without ever having to visit your local library. As mentioned earlier, the research does not have to be in your own world, instead, you are able to actively read, contribute and comment on research around the world as it is shared. Anytime, anywhere learning continues to evolve!

Wrapping another blog up!

 

I never would have imagined how much professional blogs could have assisted in my own professional growth and learning. Prior to this term, I hadn’t really thought of blogging with the purpose of pd. Now, I must say, I’m a little addicted! I’ll approach research with a different lens when it comes to taking other classes, and even in my daily seeking of professional material or ideas. There are so many wonderful, credible resourceful educators out there and they have done so much for others by blogging and sharing using this powerful web 2.0 tool. I’d really like to initiate a professional blog for colleagues in the near future. Perhaps we can begin to tap into this wonderful resource and become more web 2.0 with-it while we’re at it!

 

Signing off, a dejected Riders fan,

DB

 

P.S. Congrats to the Stampeders & fans on their Grey Cup victory tonight!

I can't think of a catchy title for RSS!

Kicking it off

I started off this week in the same place I have been for many of my blogs. First I took a look at the Common Craft video RSS in Plain English. Quickly into the video, I realized I’d already watched this in a previous week (which one, I’m not sure) but I found it a good refresher anyways. I wasn’t sure that I’d have much to say about this topic as to me, the information seems pretty straight forward. The main point is that the simplicity of setting up an aggregator can really save people great amounts of time. As Lee Lefever explains in RSS in Plain English, rather than going out to look for new information on the web, subscribing to your favourite websites and blogs can change this process and as a result have the latest information automatically brought to you. Of course, as I did more exploring, I learned more (go figure!).


What’s the difference between aggregators?

There are all kinds of aggregators out there and they all do the same basic thing but with different layouts. Vienna has been the aggregator that I have been using for the past year. Vienna was designed for Macs only and since I’m a Mac guy, this is what I was initially used. As I began exploring this topic more I started to check out some of the other aggregators such as Google Reader. The more I used Google Reader, the more I like it! I really like the fact that it can be used as a tool to share blogs/news stories with others. The tabs at the bottom of each story/blog that you have subscribed to give you the option to add notes, and share with other individuals who you might think will benefit or be interested in.

Another wonderful thing about Google Reader or Bloglines and other web based aggregators is that it doesn’t matter where you are or what computer or hand held device you are using, you can easiy access all you subscriptions as long as you have internet access. This is another reason I am moving away from using Vienna which is set up on a particular computer. With more and more of our information being stored online, it makes me wonder if we need to have large hard drives on our personal computers anymore. There is always the chance of your computer crashing and you losing valuable material but if you save everything to web based applications, your data is always secure (isn’t it?)!

As we have explored the various web 2.0 tools over the past 2 months, sharing seems to be a common theme. Having important information automatically delivered to you can be beneficial in so many ways whether it is your favourite news website, favourite blogs, students blogs, wiki’s, photo sharing sites, etc.


Educational Implications

Professional - Let’s say one of your professional goals is to stay on top of top news stories or blogs that are relevant to your teaching. Rather than adding a site to your bookmarks and continually checking to see if anything of interest has been posted, you can subscribe to that site and have new stories, blogs and updates automatically delivered to your aggregator. This simplifies the process of always searching to see what is new at your favourite sites and blogs.

There are definitely some websites that I know change daily (news & sports pages) and I still prefer to visit the homepage and scan through the items that are of interest to me rather than have all the stories sent to my aggregator. Where I really see aggregators used to their potential is in those sites that are not updated quite as regularly as news pages. This way, you don’t always have to go back to the website/blog and see if anything is updated which can take a significant amount of time since only some pages within a website may have been updated.

Students - Aggregators could be used by students as they work on projects where they are collecting information from the web. If each students set up a google reader account, they would be able to subscribe to sites that would be of interest and assistance when they are collecting information. The possibilities are numerous with students, perhaps they just read a great book from an author. They could subscribe to that authors website to keep up to date with new materials that the author may be working on. A great feature I discovered within Google News is that you can search a particular topic and subscribe to all stories on that topic and have them automatically sent to your aggregator. So much for all that wasted time by students frivolously searching the internet for relevant and current information. This could really streamline the process for students of all ages!

Another wonderful benefit suggested in web 2.0 new tools, new schools is that these subscriptions are free and you can just as easily unsubscribe as you can subscribe.


Professional Readings

• Sharon Housley offers a list of possibilities on how RSS feeds can be used positively in the educational field at a variety of different levels on her website RSS Specifications.
• Will Richardson on Weblogg-ed offers 123 postings on RSS which include uses in education, thoughts on various aggregators, educational implications for using RSS and various other great articles.
• David Parry from the University of Albany offers an article called The Technology of Reading and Writing in the Digital Space: Why RSS is crucial for a Blogging Classroom. This article looks at the importance of RSS in the class for technologically immersed classrooms and how this can really improve writing and reading skills with students. This article is valuable for all educational levels as he looks at how “RSS alters the transmission (reading and writing) of digital knowledge” and as a result, we must change the way we teach students how to read and write using the web.
• The Educational Development Centre at Carleton University offers a gread pdf that gives a great overview of RSS and includes a short list of advantages and disadvantages of using RSS in education. http://edc.carleton.ca/files/Repo/file_69/RSS%20in%20Education.pdf


Wrapping it up

As always, I’ve learned something new. I can’t say I’ve really used RSS for it’s full potential yet, but I think I’m on my way. I'm certainly going to use RSS more as I continue my classes when I am collecting research on topics. I think this will assist in cutting down on time doing research and collecting relevant materials. I haven't played with the Google News function that I mentioned above much so this is one I definitely will play with in the future. I have a keen Social Studies teacher at my school that I think I will start out with professionally. I can see students setting up a Google Account and setting up Google Reader as they embark upon inquiry based learning in the new year. This is a project I'm looking forward to assiting with!

Well, another week and another tool to further explore!

DB

"About Face! At Ease Soldiers of Learning"

The Facebook Factor

Well, I’d avoided signing up for a Facebook account as long as I could. When I received the outline for this class, I realized that in order to be prepared for this portion of my learning, I needed to set up an account and get started exploring Facebook. So in the spring I started my Facebook account and began my social networking journey. To be honest I’ve been skeptical of the whole Facebook thing from the get go. Here are my top reasons for my skepticism.

1. Time. It’s another thing that would take up more time in an already busy schedule. Between a hectic school schedule, spending time with my family, running kids to evening and afternoon activities, and trying to maintain a fitness schedule (running a few times a week), sometimes there isn’t enough time in the day to fit “extras” in.

2. The friend competition. From my limited exposure to Facebook (prior to obtaining an account), I viewed Facebook as little more than a competition by participants to accumulate the most “friends” (a term I use very loosely with Facebook). I’ll get into this a little more a little later in this post.

3. Using it as a communication tool. When I wish to communicate with my “friends”, I usually use more traditional methods such as the phone, email or face to face visits. Call me crazy but these work for me.


So, what do I think about Facebook after using it over the last few months?

I haven’t strayed too much from my original thoughts on Facebook. I’m not sure I personally see the value of a Facebook account. I see people I know who have hundreds of so called “friends” in their profile and I wonder what the purpose of this collection of friends really is. Are these really your friends? Doubtful. In my experience, I’ve collected 40 some “friends” mostly through invitations initiated by others, not myself. Do I consider these people my friends? Not really. Most of them are people that I went to high school with. In most cases, I didn’t even have anything to do with many of these individuals and I would hardly consider them my friends. So, what’s the purpose of adding them to my list of “friends”? I also have 10 people who have sent me an invitation to be their friend who I for the life of me can’t figure out who they are. I’m guessing they went to my high school but I haven’t bothered to pull out my yearbook to check. I figure if I don’t remember them of the top of my head, they really don’t play much of a role in my life. So, if I don’t respond to their invitation to be their “friend” and choose to ignore them, am I offending them?

Is on-line social literacy an important new literacy as Stephen Abraham suggests in “Scaffolding the New Social Literacies”? There are all kinds of arguments both for and against such social networking sites. Is it a relevant new literacy for students today? Absolutely! How does it fit into school? Good question. There are many websites, blogs and wiki’s that suggest different uses for such sites as Facebook, My Space, Bebo, Twitter, etc. that give suggestions on how to use such social networking sites for educational purposes.


Educational Implications (Educators)

Whenever I think of educational implications for web 2.0 tools I usually think first about student use in the classroom and then later think about what it means professionally for teachers. This time, I’d thought I’d tackle what Facebook means for educators and how teachers could use such social networking sites for professional development opportunities.


Professional Learning Communities

I could see how teachers could create a “friend” list of professional colleagues. From there, you could post messages and regularly communicate with others about educational topics from planning to sharing of resources and beyond. Nings are another tool that can accomplish this same goal. I’m not sold that Facebook is the tool of choice for this sort of communication. The structure of Facebook is set up to be a much more social setting. Could you personalize your page so it is more educational? Certainly but I’m not sure it would be worth the time invested in doing so unless others are planning on doing the same. Ning’s are more suited to this sort of on-line collaboration (Ning's in Education).


Social Networking & Safety

An issue always at the forefront of discussion when it comes to web 2.0 tools is that of safety for users (particularly students when we are using the application in an educational setting). Social Networking Sites: Safety Tips for Tweens and Teens is a website that is published by the American Federal Trade Commission. It offers some precautionary information for people to consider when using social networking sites such as Facebook. Included are also several links to websites that offer other safety and precautionary information when exploring the web.


What I’d Like to See in Facebook

Here’s my two cents on Facebook and how I’d like to see it evolve for me to get the most out of it.

I’d like to see “friendships” evolve into communities where common likes, interests, information are shared. Some topics possibly…
a. Entertainment ideas
b. Restaurant info
c. Book title sharing
d. Parenting practices
e. the sky is the limit!
I’m sure it is possible to do many of these things through other web tools (such as Shelfari), but it would be nice to be able to include this on the Facebook page. Perhaps this is possible and I just haven’t explored it enough.


Wrapping it up

I still am skeptical about creating such social networks for students using tools such as Facebook and MySpace largely due to the inability to control some of the content that is available on individual pages. I fear that this tool will not be used to is educational potential because of the “social” focus of the application. Can it be fun? Addicting? Useful? Absolutely, but I’m not sure if an educational setting is the proper place for it. There are so many other Web 2.0 tools with much more learning potential in my humble opinion.

DB

Checkin' out the new digs!

I can't get this paint off my hands!

VoiceThread Part II

 

Well, here I am again. Another Sunday, another blog. What’s that? You don’t sense the excitement in my voice? Hmmmm…….Okay, as I mentioned a few days ago, I haven’t spent as much time exploring VoiceThread as I would have liked (&*#$@* painting) to but I think I’ve come up with a few ideas on what to do with it and where to use it. My original plan was to have my kids put together a VoiceThread slideshow of our new house that is being built, but here I am on Sunday night, they’re in bed and I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to say and do on my VT. I’m sure it won’t be half as interesting as if my kids did it but I’ll take you on a tour instead (at least there are some pictures of my kids in it).

 

 

Educational Resources

 

I did a quick search on google and found all kinds of sites that have educational uses for VoiceThread. VoiceThread ning is a relatively new website that has been created for educators to share their experiences using VT in the classroom. There are only a few members to date, but I’m sure this will grow as VT is used more frequently.

 

Moving at the Speed of Creativity (one of my favourite blogs) by Wesley Fryer posted a blog on why VT has become one of his favourite web 2.0 tools to use recently. The article provides some great arguments on why educators should use VT and provides several links for educators to further explore VT.

 

What would a list of good resources be without a wiki on the current topic? Here’s a wiki created by Colette Cassinelli titled VoiceThread 4 Educators Wiki. In the true sense of technology, this educator is using a powerful web 2.0 tool to collaborate with others about a web 2.0 tool (smart eh! Joanne…feel free to award bonus marks for that web 2.0 connection). I love the fact that she has organized her sidebar by grade level (not too broad of a grade span) as well as included links for library, admin, ed tech, best practices, etc. A pretty handy and useful site if I do say so myself.

 

There are countless other fantastic sites that have suggestions on how to use VT in the class at a variety of different levels. I can’t wait to tell teachers about VT and help them integrate it into the class. You could use this in any subject area and is a great way to tap into the multiple intelligences to meet different learning styles.

 

 

My World

 

I have been busy working with several classrooms this fall putting together ebooks. This has been a great experience and we plan on doing several others as the year goes on. Now that I’ve been exposed to VoiceThread, I think I may revamp some of my initial plans (which I’m sure will drive a few teachers crazy) and do some digital story telling using VoiceThread. I could easily post this on our school webpage so the world could see how our students are learning and what they are learning. The wheels are turning as we speak. I’m really starting to regret not spending more time on this tool during the week. I know that my kids would have love this too!

 

 

Reflection

 

I can’t get over how easy this VoiceThread thing is! When we talk about how so many of the web 2.0 tools are so easy to use, this really redefines simplicity in my mind. Here is an application that literally takes minutes for even the most web-paranoid individual to use. Uploading your photo’s is probably the most complicated part of VT and once you figure out how to do this, a few simple clicks will get you on your way and published.

 

VoiceThread has some great tutorials as well if you do need any assistance getting started. Hats off to the creator of VT in making sharing easy as pie!

DB,

The latest VoiceThread fan!

Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?

VOICETHREAD>>>>THE BEGINNING>>>>

This was an interesting week for my professional learning (and it still is). It’s been a busy week, we are preparing our house to put it on the market in the next few weeks and we’ve been busy painting, touching up, cleaning, purging, and selling things madly. With report cards on the near horizon, the pile of marking grows and the preparations for report cards begin. To add on to this, I needed to explore a tool I have never used before (which is a first in this class). Well, I have to admit that I probably should have spent more time playing with VoiceThread, but you know how it goes, not enough hours in a day after school and hauling kids around to evening activities. Never-the-less, I did manage to dip my feet into VoiceThread and found that it was pretty easy to use. Here’s what I’ve discovered in my short exploration of VoiceThread so far……

In the beginning…
1. I created my account.
2. I looked to commoncraft for a video about voicethread and found nothing.
3. Disappointment set in.
4. I watched a little baseball.
5. I procrastinated more.
6. I painted the living room and main hallway in our house.
7. I went back to VoiceThread and “fiddled”.
8. I uploaded pictures.
9. I added a vocal comment to a picture.
10. I said to myself…”that’s it?”
11. I came to the conclusion after a few more minutes of searching around the website that…. “yes, that is it”.
12. Left it at that.
13. Next day uploaded a few more pictures and explored some of the other options in making comments on pictures.
14. Looked at a few voicethreads posted on the website.
15. Came to the conclusion that this is really easy and pretty cool.
16. Thought of how this could be used in the class……hmmm…..still brainstorming ideas….I think I’ll try it out with some kids tomorrow.
17. Shut the computer down thinking "soon it's the weekend and I have a lot to do" and "crap, it's halloween tomorrow".
18. Went to bed.....zzzzzzzz......(ok, I obviously did this before I went to sleep, but I think you catch the drift)

DB

In the wiki wiki wiki wiki wiki room….

My Wiki Experience

It seems like such a long time ago already since I was introduced to wiki’s. Back in fall 2006, I was taking EDES 545 and our class held much of its discussion and assignment posting on a wiki. This was my first experience using a wiki and I remember feeling some anxiety over using this “new” technology. I really didn’t have a choice whether I used a wiki or not and so I dove right in. While using the wiki as a primary vehicle for communication in our class, I wanted to test out a wiki in my classroom (at the time, I was a grade 5/6 classroom teacher). I set up a wiki for literature circles for my class. I organized it so we were studying 6 different novels and each group had 4-6 students in it. It took some work on my part to set the pages up for each novel but other than that, the process went quite smoothly. My class had not heard of wikis yet and this was something that I told them they were going to be the “guinea pigs” for. Before I go any further, I have to let you know that the class I had this year was your dream class that I’m convinced you only see in your career once. Anything I threw at them, they embraced and ran with, especially when it came to technology. Literature Circles with the wiki. Well, my class really loved working on the wiki and it was amazing how they held one another accountable for their work more through technology than they did face to face. Students even explored and commented on other group’s wikis about their novels, which was quite interesting. Almost all of my students in the class had Internet access at home and many of them did additional work on the wiki outside of class time (which was not required since I set the wikis up with sufficient class time to complete all work due to not all students having access at home). I was extremely pleased how this worked out for my class and I even invited other teachers (including the t-l) in the school to comment on the student wikis.

Another forum of wiki that I have been involved in is a wiki that teacher-librarians in my school division have established called the learning library. The purpose of this wiki is for all t-l’s to contribute towards a resource page that all teachers can access at any given time. The hope is that it will become an ongoing resource page that continually evolves and grows so teachers don’t have to spend hours researching on their own. I find it interesting that in the teaching profession that there are still a great number of teachers that do not want to share their resources with others. This is another forum for teachers to open up and share what they are doing in their classrooms throughout our system. To date, I would say that this resource has not been used much due to a few reasons. First, many t-l’s that were introduced to the learning library wiki are not very wiki savvy and have not gone back to the page since it was introduced at a t-l meeting late last year (even though everyone was given the opportunity to log in and contribute together in a group). Second, time. Need I say more? Finally, I don’t feel too confident that this wiki has been shared by t-l’s with teachers in their schools. Why not? I’m guessing it is linked strongly to the t-l’s comfort with the wiki as well as time. I think it provides a wonderful opportunity for teachers and t-l’s to collaboratively plan and research but getting people to use it is the real challenge.


Research

There is no shortage of professional literature that states the many benefits of wikis for educational purposes. Wikipedia alone, in my mind, is an amazing resource that has seemingly endless amount information on any possible topic. What I find great about wikipedia is that the information is current and continually updated, so you don’t have to wait for the next publishing of the world book encyclopedia to be issued to have the latest and greatest information (which on some topics is out of date by the time the encyclopedia’s are printed). The whole idea of having an online collaborative resource from people anywhere in the world at any given time is truly an ingenious invention. Wikipedia’s page on wiki offers a good overview of the basics of a wiki.

The concept of offering the ability to edit a page by anyone some may feel is opening a can of worms.
“Most people, when they first learn about the wiki concept, assume that a Web site that can be edited by anybody would soon be rendered useless by destructive input. It sounds like offering free spray cans next to a grey concrete wall. The only likely outcome would be ugly graffiti and simple tagging, and many artistic efforts would not be long lived. Still, it seems to work very well.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIKI)
A person who maintains a wiki post is faced with the challenge of keeping up with revisions on a wiki to ensure the material is appropriate and correct. Otherwise, a wiki could be “graffitied”. Control of editing a wiki can be given to specific individuals who register with an account but some argue that this goes against the true purpose of a wiki.


Free You Say?

Yup, it’s true. Just like so many other things on the World Wide Web, you can create your own wiki through several websites. Here are a few of the most popular. In brackets I've included the link for the page associated with education for each site.

wikispaces
pbwiki (pbwiki education)
wetpaint (wetpaint education)
wikidot (wikidot education)

I took a little time to explore the above wikis and what they have to offer for educators like us. In the past I have only used wikispaces personally and professionally and I have found it to be an excellent site to use, navigate and teach with. It is very user friendly and students have had nothing bad to say about using it.

Wetpaint was the one website that really stood out from exploring their educational page. I found a variety of ready made templates that you could use for a variety of purposes such as posting class information (syllabus), daily updates, assignments, etc., as well as group work wikis for students. As I think ahead into the school year, I may venture out of my wikispaces comfort zone and try wetpaint. Each of the wikis mentioned above have great educational possibilities and they are all ad free when used for educational purposes, a nice touch so students aren’t distracted by other information on their page.


Educational Implications

Students learning from and with one another. This is what wikis promote. We speak so frequently about collaboration as professionals and how beneficial it is to us in the field of education but do we live this in the class? Sure we all do group projects from throughout the year and we know who contributes to the projects. This is another means to have students publish their thoughts, learning’s, opinions, and frustrations through the World Wide Web. A collaborative approach that is as simple as edit, write and save can empower students to learn from one another in a different way. As the video “Wiki’s in Plain English” by commoncraft states, wikis are the best way to organize and coordinate input.

Richardson’s chapter on Wikis in Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms offers a great overview of wikis and how they can be used in the classroom. He also offers some insight into Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia and what challenges we face within schools with such resources.


Closing Thoughts

There are so many ways to use wikis in our classrooms and the ease of creating this powerful learning tool is about as easy as it gets for even those who are not web 2.0 savvy. I’m looking at setting up a few wikis to link on my virtual library webpage in the not too distant future. I’d like to set one up for my senior literature group as well as one for a creative writing project with a class. It would be interesting to try wikis in a variety of ways to see how learning outcomes are affected when using this technology. Darn, another good idea I need to try out. You’d think the hamster would get worn out by now wouldn’t you?

Darryl

There ain't no bun in my hair lady!

What is a virtual library? Joyce Valenza describes it as the following.  “Your library Web page is your second front door. It meets your students where they live, and play, and work, with 24/7, just-in-time, just-for-me support and intervention. It creates online signage for students and staff. It projects the image of the librarian as a 21st century teacher and information professional. The effective library Web page pulls together, in one unified interface, all of a library's resources--print and electronic.”

 

“The library website represents the library program. It offers guidance and instruction while it fosters independent learning. It models careful selection. It offers valuable public service and can redefine “community.” The site supports reading, learning, and the building of knowledge.” Valenza’s webquest on school library websites (http://schoollibrarywebsites.wikispaces.com/) provides a great resource on what to look for in a virtual library website.

 

Here’s my 2 cents on a few sites I explored.

Springfield Township

Right from the first page, this website is appealing for students particularly. The graphics are student friendly and really shows how technology is front and centre for this school. Now granted they have Joyce Valenza as their t-l, of course this will be the standard that we all strive towards in offering a virtual library that is student and teacher friendly with constantly updated information for users. There is an amazing wealth of resources available through this page. One of the things I really like about the page is that many of the links are either converted to or are in the process of being converted to wiki’s. This is a great idea as not only the t-l is contributing to the contents of the pages but others are invited to do so as well. Currently, my school division is in the process of establishing a resource page wiki for t-l’s and teachers to access throughout our division. It has been slow going as many of our t-l’s are not comfortable with or familiar with wiki’s (even after in-service). As a result, the majority of the contributions have come from only a few t-l’s in our system. Hopefully this will change in the near future. Have a peek and see what you think. Learning Library

Grandview Library

It was interesting to explore this site after visiting the Springfield High School website. It was great to see a K-3 school with an active virtual library that is being used. Too often we think of the “older kids” when we think of those who access a virtual library. Having students get familiar with technology early is a great asset. Getting them involved in a virtual library at this age is invaluable. If we can teach students to access virtual libraries at an early age, then they get to know and rely on having the valuable resource that this can be throughout their academic journey (however long that may be). Wiki’s again came up as a tool that is being used through virtual libraries. It really helps emphasize the importance of collaboration at all levels in schools. I also loved the idea of the blogs with the kids being audio and video blogs. Typing at this age is a challenge (trust me I’ve been trying this lately, but that is a whole other story); so setting up voice recordings (podcasts) is a great idea. Time would be the challenge for this one!

Bessie Chin Library

Upon first glance, I could honestly say that this is not a virtual library that I would spend a lot of time exploring. To begin, I found the layout very unpleasing to the eye. It looks as though there is just a bunch of links pasted in 3 columns. The text is small there is not much to draw the reader in to explore further. There are many useful links on this page for high school students (the intended audience) and for those who are using it and familiar with it, I’m sure it does the job. Personally, I need something else that grabs my attention more. Icons, rather than text may be helpful in drawing students in to use the virtual library more easily. I would challenge that the page is a little text heavy and that this may scare away users that are not text reliant. Without spending too much time exploring, I did not find that there were a tremendous number of resources for teachers, but instead it was geared more towards students. The more I played with the website, the more information I found. There is no doubt that there is a vast amount of information that one can access through this virtual library, however, I still get hung up a little on its visual appeal. Will it get used if it is not visually appealing to students? Research shows that students of this generation need something to catch their interest quickly or they will click away and look for something more appealing.

Parkcrest Media Centre

Tracy has done a good job creating a user-friendly virtual library for her school. The bubbles on the left side of the page make it easy for the user to quickly find what they are looking for. The topics are well organized and she really has created links for many important and useful tools available to students and teachers in her school. This is a good example of one of those sites that you know someone took a lot of time to create and you hope that the intended audience is using it. I like the fact that she has attempted to keep the site light on text and easy to navigate. This is so important when you have a variety of grade levels and reading levels accessing the site on a daily basis.

 

Maybry Middle School

This one may not be specific to virtual libraries, however I did want to share this school website with others.  Set up like an online magazine, Maybry Middle School website truly has it all going on. There is certainly no lack in visual appeal for the website and it is very user friendly. There is a definite sense of professionalism on this webpage and it is actually required by teachers to keep a webpage current. Technology is definitely a focus at this school. However, there is not a webpage for the resource centre. There is only a page that shows the media specialist’s pictures and a paragraph describing them and the services they provide along with a link to their blog. Interesting that a school with such a push on technology does not have a virtual library as an expectation for the school.

Reflection

As my wife peeked over my shoulder and looked at my typing, she immediately asked me if I’d looked at Joyce Valenza’s website. Our conversation then went in the direction of that 4 letter swear word in education…TIME… Yes, her virtual library is what we should all strive towards but when do we get the time to do this? Certainly not while we are at school. So it falls onto our lap of doing it on our own time. If this is the case, hopefully you have access to the school website from home otherwise you’ll be putting in some mighty late nights! Support….do you have a technology consultant/specialist who can assist you in designing, planning and publishing your website? Know-how….do you have the know how to create a webpage?

 

Our school division moved to a website publishing system called Drupal last year. Drupal provides a template that is the same for all schools. Within the school website, each teacher has the ability to have their own webpage(s) and a blog. It is a pretty easy system to use for even the technology rookies on staff. It’s not flashy but you have the ability to do many of the things you could using a program such as Dreamweaver. I have played with it a fair amount and am still in the process of tweaking it to what I want my library webpage to look like and include. Unfortunately TIME is getting in the way again and preventing me from updating it as much as I would like to. The good thing about Drupal is that I can work on my webpage from wherever I want, whenever I want. Here’s the link to my current virtual library webpage: Wascana Virtual Resource Centre

Educational Impact

The power that an effective virtual library website has on student learning can be tremendous. As many libraries are understaffed, there is not always a t-l available to help students or teachers when they need it. The need for a virtual library is now essential. If students are linked to virtual library that holds most of the information needed in their studies, the need for the face-to-face contact is no longer as great. Don’t get me wrong, there is no replacement for face to face interaction, however, many of our students today are so “wired” that they want to be able to visit a website that can help guide them in their journey as effortlessly as possible. The same can be said for teachers. Collaborative planning will not and cannot be replaced by a virtual library, however a virtual library can save teachers tremendous amounts of time as they organize and research for their teaching.

 

So, what makes a good virtual library website?

Content and Design are the 2 categories that need to be considered when making an effective virtual library website.

Content

1. Information access & delivery
2. Teaching & learning
3. Books & reading
4. Program administration

Design

1. School/curricular: Is there evidence that the site supports learning and school goals?
2. Navigation: Does the site facilitate access? Is it clear and logically organized? Intuitive?
3. Aesthetics / Appeal for the Audience
4. Level of Interactivity: Opportunities for collaboration, feedback, involvement
5. Freshness

 

Wow! There is much to consider when creating a virtual library but the possible payoff is tremendous if students and teachers know what information is available and how to access it properly.

 

“If you build it, they will come”

Field of Dreams

…but you still have to teach them what to do when they get there!

 

 

Here is some of the literature I accessed during this weeks learning.

 

Audrey P Church (2005, March). Virtual School Libraries - The Time Is Now! MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 12(2), 8-12.

Baumbach, D. J. (2005). The school library media center web page. Knowledge Quest, 33 (3), 8-12.

Braxton, B. (2004). Putting your school library online. Teacher Librarian, 31 (4).

Jurkowski, O. (2004). School library website components. TechTrends, 48 (6), 56-60.

Valenza, J. K. (2005). The virtual library. Educational Leadership, 63 (4).

Warlick, D. (2005). Building web sites that work for your media center. Knowledge Quest, 33 (3).

 

Websites of interest:

 

Regina Public Schools Virtual Resource Centre Homepage 

 

Darryl’s virtual resource centre

Posting my story again

Just thought I'd try posting my podcast another way with images (a video podcast). I kind of like this one better since it adds the visuals.

darryl

Whew! Just a little more!

Did I learn a lot?

Yup! I learned the quirkiness of different blogs and podcasting tools and that things don’t always go as planned (yes, even with technology). Rather than regurgitate what I stated in the previous post, I’ll just say…read the previous post, I think it’s clear where my learning took place.

So, what do I do now?

Well, I have a few ideas of where I want to take podcasting.
1. Create a professional podcast for our school staff. I could include helpful technology hints for teachers without taking up too much time (2 minutes max.) to the school website (resource centre page).
2. Post mini-lessons on-line for my literature groups
3. Have students create podcasts to emphasize using voice in their writing.
4. Student presentations posted to website for all to listen to.
This is a brief list of where I’d like to start. I’m feeling rather ambitious (since it’s a short week this week) so perhaps I’ll start one this week….I think I’ll start #3 this week by having my senior literature group choose some favourite Easy Books and record them using Garage Band.

Professionally, I would like to see more of my staff simply use technology. I am hosting some technology lunch & learn sessions starting next week and I see podcasting fitting nicely into this plan. As for student learning, any time I have used Garage Band with classes in the past, they have been so excited. They have a blast creating and listening to themselves on the computer. Student engagement, I feel, is the greatest factor to success when students are using tools such as these. The more I can do to get technology into their hands, the easier it is for me to get them to learn. It truly is a great hook and motivating tool for many of the student I teach.

Till next time,

DB out!

This blog is too long....this blog is too short....this blog is just right

Before I begin, I feel the need to apologize for the title to this blog. I have no other excuse other than I couldn't come up with anything really creative tonight.

The Beginning (or at least somewhere in the middle)

Where to begin with podcasting? Probably one of the most familiar and widely used web 2.0 tools out there. I’ve had some experience with creating podcasts in the past few years, but I would hardly consider myself an expert on the subject. Primarily I’ve tinkered around with creating a podcast through a program called Garage Band that can be found on Mac computers (yup, another Mac plug from me). If you haven’t had the opportunity to play with Garage Band, get your hands on a Mac and have a blast. It is a fun application that cannot only help you create podcasts, but entire musical scores as well. It is extremely easy to use and once you start, you’ll find time vanishing before your very eyes (or finger tips).

Enough about Mac’s. To try something different with podcasting, I thought I’d try out audacity. I found the simplicity of audacity as the first major benefit to the application. For those will little or no experience, Audacity was very non-threatening and simple to use. All you really have to do is click the record button and start your podcast broadcast! However, I became bored with it quickly so I returned to Garage Band where there was more “stuff” to play with!

The Research

“Podcasting in Plain English” offers some great introductory information to the rookies of podcasting. The major points I took away watching the video were as follows.
• Time does not matter with podcasting. When you download a podcast (or subscribe to one) you can then listen to it whenever you want, wherever you want. It is at your disposal on your demand.
• Podcasting is easy to do (to both post and listen). All you need is a computer, microphone, video camera (optional), and a computer that is networked to the Internet.
• There are all types of topics for all types of people available through podcasts
• You can subscribe to podcasts so you automatically receive new shows from the publisher.
• Listen to podcasts on computers and mp3 players.
• You can access podcasts anywhere once you’ve downloaded them!

The apple education website offers some great info on podcasting and how it can be used in education. It also speaks to the opportunity to spark student interest by enabling them to tap into their creativity digitally. They also offer an excellent video series on podcasting in education. I found these very useful as they gave a much more thorough description of podcasting that you would find in “Podcasting in Plain English”. The first video is an introduction to podcasting, the second is “Meeting Standards” which addresses how podcasting is used in education to meet curriculum goals with specific examples from an educator from Mayberry Middle School. The final episode is from an administrator’s standpoint of podcasting. Now, obviously there is a strong Mac bias in these videos and they talk specifically about Garage Band and how to “fiddle” with a podcast. The videos are a little on the long side, but they are very informational. I would not necessarily recommend these videos for the first time podcaster, especially if you are not using a Mac.

Another helpful site is PoducateMe.com. This site offers a guide to help educate readers on the benefits of podcasting in the class and the how to’s of podcasting. This site is also very thorough and offers pages and pages of information of how to make and publish podcasts. I would say that there is too much detail here for the average podcaster, but it definitely gives you the opportunity to read more if you wish to.

Guides and Tutorials.com (ttp://www.guidesandtutorials.com/podcasting-in-education.html) offers many examples of how podcasting has been used and is being used in K-12 schools in America. There are many good examples that provide ideas for those new and experienced in podcasting.

Play Time for Darryl & Kids!

As I’ve mentioned above, I have had the opportunity to play with podcasting before and when I explore different tools to publish podcasts, I always seem to return to my application of choice, Garage Band. What I really love about Garage Band is that there are so many pre-recorded sounds available to add to your podcast. Now, there is a drawback to having so many tools at your disposal, TIME! Time very quickly passes when you’re playing with different sound effects that you can add throughout your podcast. Oh well, it’s not like I’ve wasted time on less productive things in the past! So I played. I’ve inserted various special effects into my podcast so hopefully you can pick up on them as you have a listen (I know, you’ll probably be hysterically laughing too loudly to hear them the first 5 times through).

I did run out of time to add pictures to my podcast so they would change as my podcast played. This is on my things to do for the future. I had the pictures picked out but again; time wasn’t on my side (it wasn’t on the turkey’s side this weekend either).

Challenges / pains in the rear

The first challenge to consider when using garage band is how you are going to save your podcast and export it. It took a little refreshing (since I hadn’t done it since last school year) but I remembered that I must convert it to an mp3 file. So, first I had to export my podcast to itunes, then in itunes I had to convert the file to an mp3 from an m4…something or other (as you can see I don’t get too hung up on names…visual recognition is big for me). This is when the pain in the rear began.

Pain in the rear!

I’m not sure if I’ve exhausted all my efforts yet or not but far as I could tell, I could not directly upload my podcast onto my blog in blogspot. So, after watching a quick 2 min. tutorial (can’t say I’m a big fan of these as I usually find more than 1/2 of the info a waste of my time) I did come to the conclusion that I had to first upload my podcast to an online file storage site. I was very selective in what I chose (the first one listed), box.net. So, I had to create an account and then upload my mp3. When uploaded, it provided me with an address to include in my blog so I could link to my podcast. Unfortunately there was not an icon put into my blog. Instead, my title to my blog became the link to my podcast via box.net. Once you click on this, you had the choice to download or listen to my podcast. I’m not overly pleased with how this worked but I’ll have to live with it for now. I’m sure there must be a better way to access my podcast through my blog but the literature on blogspot doesn’t support this. Hmmm….so I’m left scratching my head (once again….thankfully not as a result of lice).

Final thoughts

Pain in the read aside, I found this a very valuable exercise. I can definitely see the learning possibilities using a blog (another post as this one has already gone on too long).

Darryl

Story-time with the Bussiere's

Here's my podcast that I created with my kids this weekend. Hope you enjoy it 1/2 as much as we did making it!

To have a listen, just click on the title of this blog (Story-time with the Bussiere's)

Darryl

Where the heck did I leave the phone?

Back in the day.....

Remember that time saving button the “handset locator” they invented years ago to put on cordless phones to help locate the phone when you left it behind the couch pillows? You press the button and the phone beeps so you can find it easily. Brilliant invention wasn’t it? Think of all the time and frustration it saved you from searching high and low, between couch cushions and under stacks of newspapers, mail or magazines. Well, today it’s something different and it will save you even more time!!!

“If I could only remember that website that I have bookmarked on my home computer, it would be so useful right now. I could pass it on to the teacher so they could check it out”. Have you ever thought this? Perhaps it was for yourself or a friend, or family member. Way back in the dark ages (2004’ish), we were stuck with our bookmarks on one computer and remembering a url was completely dependent on your memory at any given time. No longer is this the case. Sites such as delicious and furl have enabled you to access all your favourites from any computer or personal device that is hooked up to the internet. In these social bookmarking sites, attaching tags to your sites with key words enables you to share and collaborate with others regardless of your purpose. Oh, and did I mention it’s easy?

Delicious

I found immediate success and pleasure working with Delicious. I found the process very easy to follow and easy to manage. It is quite easy to organize my bookmarks how I would like them to be organized and the time I spent with it is certainly worth it when I access the net on a computer other than my home or work computer. This does not happen often, but I definitely see the power of being able to access such information wherever I am. I can certainly see myself using my delicious account more as I use my iPod touch more often in the school day & beyond. As I travel from class to class as a t-l. I am now able to access websites very efficiently and effectively with a few simple clicks. For example, I have bookmark folders and tags attached to each website for different subject areas at different grade levels. This way if I am in a grade 4 class that is studying pioneers, I can quickly access my bookmarks through any computer to find a website that may be relevant for students or teachers working in this area. Then, as I move to a grade 8 class to teach about authenticating websites, I can easily access my information literacy sites in this area of study. As our role as t-l’s continues to evolve, the importance of being able to access information from any place at any time becomes of the utmost importance. Delicious will definitely impact the effectiveness and timeliness of materials I can access.

Unfortunately I could not say the same for Furl. Apparently Furl doesn’t accommodate Mac users that use Safari as their primary browser. This was disappointing as I am a Mac user that does 75% of my web surfing using Safari. I am also of the thought process that if I can’t figure it out in the first few minutes, I’ll abandon exploration and find something that is easier to manage. In today’s technological age, why waste time with something that isn’t user friendly? It’s kind of like writing code to create a website instead of using a free, simple web creator to make your own website.

My Learning

The most valuable learning that I took from researching and “playing” with social bookmarking sites such as delicious, is that not only do I benefit by organizing my bookmarks by using tags, but I now have access to bookmarks of other individuals. As an educator this is extremely helpful and can drastically cut down on the amount of time you may spend looking for appropriate and applicable websites. The “social” aspect of social bookmarking can be an incredible tool as your bookmarks and others are now public and not limited to a select few. For a great overview of social bookmarking, check out the You Tube video “Social Bookmarking in Plain English”. Now of course you do have the choice to keep your bookmarks private if you do so wish, so you don’t have to worry about any privacy issues that may arise whatever those may be.

The educational benefits are far reaching. “It’s quickly becoming a popular way for teachers and students to store, classify, share, and search links, all of which are gathered by many users.” Donna DesRoches states in her article “All Together Now
Social bookmarking offers a new way to store and share Web sites
By” published in the School Library Journal (Jan, 2007). Social bookmarking creates another opportunity for students and teachers to collaborate on-line. You are now able to access other individuals professional resources without having to contact them immediately. Another benefit is that you are able to create social bookmarking communities with individuals who have similar interests. By establishing these communities, you know those in your community have similar interests or purposes in the collection of their bookmarks.

Wrapping It Up

"7 Things you should know about Social Bookmarking" offers a good overview of social bookmarking for anyone new to this organizational and collaborative tool. In addition to this, wikipedia’s social bookmarking site also gives a good introduction and offers several links to further explore social networking sites.

I’m busy attaching tags as we speak to my already large collection of bookmarks in my delicious account so wish me luck and happy social bookmarking & tagging to all!

Darryl