Dear Administrator,
I have been working with a new technology tool called WebQuest and thought you might be interested to know how it works and how it could be used in the classroom. WebQuest is a discovery learning tool that allows teachers to set up a task for students to complete independently or in small groups using the internet. Really, this program could be used in any content area. Teachers simply write an introduction and define the task. Tasks may be simple or layered with many steps. Similarly, students may all complete the same sequence of steps or may to have individual roles for group assignments. The teacher has a lot of flexibility in setting up the assignment! The teacher clearly outlines the sequence of steps for completing the assignment under the "Process" tab. She can include any links to resources students might need to complete the assignments here as well. The teacher can also include her rubric or other assessment information to let students know exactly what her expectations are and how they will be graded.
Students complete the assignments largely on their own using the resources and steps provided. There are some real advantages to this program. First, because students are working on their own they can move through the Quest at their own pace. Second, WebQuests offer students a safe, controlled, teacher-directed way to get a feel for navigating and locating content on the internet. Finally, students seem to find this "teacher-less" learning exciting, challenging, and motivating. There are many fun and creative ways to frame your Quest that students will find enjoyable. Plus, when they play an active role in discovering their own learning, the knowledge seems to really stick with them! I hope you will try this new program and stop by to see how we are using it in our classroom.
Sincerely,
Ms. Kim
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Chapter 9 Reading Response
This chapter, once again, opened my eyes to the massive changes the Read/Write Web makes possible. Also, the Richardson draws attention to the disconnect between traditional educational models (closed, independent, passive, lecture) and the world students will most likely enter when the enter the work place (open, collaborative, active, conversation). To be responsible educators it is time to embrace the changes technology has brought about inside the walls of the classroom. We need to become advocates to bring the power of technology to our students so that they can come to see themselves as active participants in the process of creating, cataloguing, and refining the body of knowledge amassed on the internet.
The concept I found most interesting in this chapter, was the idea that to navigate today's technological world students need training in "new literacies" (Richardson, 130). Because internet content can be published by anyone, students need to learn to become critical readers. They cannot simply passively accept what is written as they might with a textbook. Students must also learn to become publishers, learning how to post their unique ideas and insights to the web. Due to the highly collaborative nature of the internet, students must also learn new ways to communicate and connect with people. Finally, due to the sheer volume of content available online, students must learn how to manage (collect, store, retrieve) internet content. To be truly literate, students will need to learn more than the basics--they will need RSS, social bookmarking, etc.
Under the this "new literacies" framework, the role of the teacher shifts dramatically from the traditional model. Actually, the role of the teacher becomes much more similar to the role of the student. Teachers, rather than distrubuting knowledge serve as guides who model the processes of learning through editing, publishing, connecting, communicating, and taking part in the learning conversation alongside their students. Most exciting to me is the number of alternate teachers the internet allows us to contact and learn from. Technology gives us the power invite the knowledge of thousands of experts right into the classroom.
The concept I found most interesting in this chapter, was the idea that to navigate today's technological world students need training in "new literacies" (Richardson, 130). Because internet content can be published by anyone, students need to learn to become critical readers. They cannot simply passively accept what is written as they might with a textbook. Students must also learn to become publishers, learning how to post their unique ideas and insights to the web. Due to the highly collaborative nature of the internet, students must also learn new ways to communicate and connect with people. Finally, due to the sheer volume of content available online, students must learn how to manage (collect, store, retrieve) internet content. To be truly literate, students will need to learn more than the basics--they will need RSS, social bookmarking, etc.
Under the this "new literacies" framework, the role of the teacher shifts dramatically from the traditional model. Actually, the role of the teacher becomes much more similar to the role of the student. Teachers, rather than distrubuting knowledge serve as guides who model the processes of learning through editing, publishing, connecting, communicating, and taking part in the learning conversation alongside their students. Most exciting to me is the number of alternate teachers the internet allows us to contact and learn from. Technology gives us the power invite the knowledge of thousands of experts right into the classroom.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Chapter 6 Reading Response
Chapter 6 focuses on another shift made possible by new technology tools--learning has become a more social process, a "continuous conversation among many participants" (Richardson, 86). Learning is no longer an isolated effort. Rather, through access to the Read/Write web, we have access to "complex networks of resources to tap into, allowing us to find more information, more teachers, and more learning" (Richarson, 86).
Particularly, new social bookmarking services such as Diigo and del.icio.us, can allow us to create organized lists of websites to use as our own personal resources for building an individual learning library. We can also use these programs to connect with others who have bookmarked these sites and gain access to other sites that they have bookmarked and categorized using "tags" in their own "personal libraries." In this way we can connect with others who have interests similar to our own AND we can benefit from the reading and researching others have done on the web. This is a great tool for helping us navigate the overwhelming (and ever-increasing) mass of content on the web. It's a new way to find the best information out there more efficiently--as Richardson points out, it's almost like letting someone else do some of our research for us!
Personally, I saw the most potential for using Diigo as a bookmarking program in the classroom. This program allows you to highlight portions and add comments by posting notes. This could be a great tool for directing students' attention to important portions of a lengthy texts, adding clarifying notes, asking thought-provoking questions, or making comments to encourage connections. Also, if students create blogs or class wiki's this could be a great tool for offering feedback. Finally, I enjoy the idea of creating a class archive of resources for a topic of study using these programs. Older students could even contribute the websites themselves!
Particularly, new social bookmarking services such as Diigo and del.icio.us, can allow us to create organized lists of websites to use as our own personal resources for building an individual learning library. We can also use these programs to connect with others who have bookmarked these sites and gain access to other sites that they have bookmarked and categorized using "tags" in their own "personal libraries." In this way we can connect with others who have interests similar to our own AND we can benefit from the reading and researching others have done on the web. This is a great tool for helping us navigate the overwhelming (and ever-increasing) mass of content on the web. It's a new way to find the best information out there more efficiently--as Richardson points out, it's almost like letting someone else do some of our research for us!
Personally, I saw the most potential for using Diigo as a bookmarking program in the classroom. This program allows you to highlight portions and add comments by posting notes. This could be a great tool for directing students' attention to important portions of a lengthy texts, adding clarifying notes, asking thought-provoking questions, or making comments to encourage connections. Also, if students create blogs or class wiki's this could be a great tool for offering feedback. Finally, I enjoy the idea of creating a class archive of resources for a topic of study using these programs. Older students could even contribute the websites themselves!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Movie Maker: A "Tail" of Two Huskies
This is my first attempt at digital storytelling with Windows MovieMaker. I found the program fairly easy to use, although I struggled somewhat to get the volume of my voice loud enough. I really enjoyed using the program and I think that students would love it. It really lets you be creative and even an amateur can produce something that really is pretty special!
Chapter 8 Reading Response
I might not have believed how easy it really is to create a podcast if we hadn't tried this in class! It really was very easy to do using the free Audacity program. Students could definitely use this program with relative ease. Also, it seems like this program would be relatively easy to use with students from an instructional perspective. Probably it would take less time and teacher support than other programs such as MovieMaker to get students started on creating and publishing their work.
I could see a lot of possible uses for podcasting in the classroom. Something I would definitely pursue is creating a weekly class news podcast with students. We would start simply, by announcing special events, and projects, and featuring "student of the week" interviews. Gradually, these could become more elaborate. Students could generate podcasts based on their own ideas and interests. They might also use podcasting as a medium to share their poetry or creative writing pieces. They might interview faculty or staff members at their school or others within the community. This would give students the opportunity to work together collaboratively to produce and publish. Also, because they will need to prepare a script, students will have a natural context for practicing their writing. Because they will need to read their scripts to create their podcasts, they will be gaining practice in reading fluency. Teachers might choose to teach students some basic principles of journalism and encourage them to examine other news sources such as newspapers and television news broadcasts. Finally, the podcasts are a wonderful way to communicate student learning with parents!
I could see a lot of possible uses for podcasting in the classroom. Something I would definitely pursue is creating a weekly class news podcast with students. We would start simply, by announcing special events, and projects, and featuring "student of the week" interviews. Gradually, these could become more elaborate. Students could generate podcasts based on their own ideas and interests. They might also use podcasting as a medium to share their poetry or creative writing pieces. They might interview faculty or staff members at their school or others within the community. This would give students the opportunity to work together collaboratively to produce and publish. Also, because they will need to prepare a script, students will have a natural context for practicing their writing. Because they will need to read their scripts to create their podcasts, they will be gaining practice in reading fluency. Teachers might choose to teach students some basic principles of journalism and encourage them to examine other news sources such as newspapers and television news broadcasts. Finally, the podcasts are a wonderful way to communicate student learning with parents!
Technology Autobiography Revisited
Although I can’t say this class has completely eliminated my technological anxiety, it has certainly gone a long way to expose me to some of the possibilities for using technology in the classroom. I have had opportunities to work with many new technology tools— Windows MovieMaker (digital storytelling), Flikr (photosharing), Audacity(podcasting), WebQuest(teacher-directed web-learning tool), etc. Also, I gained a better understanding of how search engines work. Strangely, I had never really given this a thought. However, I found it very interesting to consider how your results can be influenced by the search engine you use. I also found that your choice of search engine may depend on the purposes of your research. For example, Technorati, a search engine for blogs; Snap, gives a snapshot of every site listed; and Clusty, an engine with helpful organizational tools for conducting research. Many of these search engines could be especially helpful for connecting students with quality sources for online information.
Similarly, this course has taught me the importance of teaching students to be critical consumers of internet content. It is crucial for students to understand that not all internet sources are created equal. Further, just because it's on the internet doesn't make it true. Students need to learn to evaluate web sites and sources so they don't get caught up in biased or incorrect information. It's particularly important for me as an elementary school teacher to spend time teaching students to evaluate web sources with a critical eye, as they will be more inclined to accept anything they find on the internet as "true."
Finally, I think the most important insight I have gained from this course is that while many of us are still not entirely confident with new technology, it is certainly here to stay and will play an important role in the lives of our students regardless of our personal feelings toward it. Additionally, new technologies can expand the classroom in valuable ways. Students can publish content to reach a larger or even unlimited audience, they can connect with peers and various experts or professionals from across the world. They can find new creative outlets and access powerful new tools that can enhance and motivate learning. For all these reasons, it is time for us to embrace technology in the classroom. Its possible uses are limited only by our own creativity and that of our students. I think I have begun to see the true potential of technology--not simply a tool for completing a specific or specialized task, but a resource for expanding our social and intellectual worlds. We can use new technology to push ourselves into a lifetime of learning as both the consumers and producers of knowledge.
Similarly, this course has taught me the importance of teaching students to be critical consumers of internet content. It is crucial for students to understand that not all internet sources are created equal. Further, just because it's on the internet doesn't make it true. Students need to learn to evaluate web sites and sources so they don't get caught up in biased or incorrect information. It's particularly important for me as an elementary school teacher to spend time teaching students to evaluate web sources with a critical eye, as they will be more inclined to accept anything they find on the internet as "true."
Finally, I think the most important insight I have gained from this course is that while many of us are still not entirely confident with new technology, it is certainly here to stay and will play an important role in the lives of our students regardless of our personal feelings toward it. Additionally, new technologies can expand the classroom in valuable ways. Students can publish content to reach a larger or even unlimited audience, they can connect with peers and various experts or professionals from across the world. They can find new creative outlets and access powerful new tools that can enhance and motivate learning. For all these reasons, it is time for us to embrace technology in the classroom. Its possible uses are limited only by our own creativity and that of our students. I think I have begun to see the true potential of technology--not simply a tool for completing a specific or specialized task, but a resource for expanding our social and intellectual worlds. We can use new technology to push ourselves into a lifetime of learning as both the consumers and producers of knowledge.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Chapters 3, 5, & 7 Reading Response
Chapter 3-
The focus of my post on Chapter 2, "connective writing" did not address my one critique of the chapter. While I agree that this is a form of writing students should learn and would certainly benefit from, it seems that preparing students for this type of sophisticated writing would require a great deal of scaffolding and teacher support. I did not find Richardson’s short section entitled, "Scaffolding Blogging," in Chapter 2 to be a sufficient guide for teachers trying to begin blogging with students. I found that Chapter 3 was somewhat useful in providing useful tips that would be applicable to helping students as well as teachers who are new to blogging. Finally, I thought Richardson might be underestimating the capabilities of elementary students. With enough supports and scaffolds, I have no doubt that certainly upper elementary students could blog in the true sense of the word. I also considered blogging as a possible extension for students who are gifted and talented.
Chapter 5-
I am unfamiliar with RSS technology and as a result, I felt like I was in the dark as I read this chapter. I wish that I had been able to take the author’s advice to read the chapter over several weeks as I experimented with RSS tools, but given the time constraints of the class, this wasn’t possible. However, I can see that RSS technology is just as exciting as the new publishing tools, allowing internet consumers to become efficient navigators of the overwhelming swell of available online content. Students will certainly need to develop a level of competence with this virtual information “aggregator” to manage in the new world. I was also excited by the prospect of making our world increasingly paperless, to save trees and protect the environment. Finally, I think that RSS could go along way in producing a generation of well-informed citizens dedicated to continuous and life-long learning. As the author says, RSS has “become the foundation of the personal learning curriculum I’ve constructed for myself” (pg. 72). Admittedly, half this chapter sounded like Greek to me, but I plan to get started with RSS as soon as possible!
Chapter 7-
Until our class Flickr project I had really never considered the potential of Flickr to be used as an educational tool. The power of photographs to convey learning is, I think largely ignored (particularly as you get older). I can certainly see many creative applications for Flickr in the classroom—the different directions our class’ Flickr presentations took particularly impressed me. You can use photography to give students a better awareness of diverse cultures or a better understanding of geography. Most exciting to me, is the possibility of using Flickr to engage students in creative, artistic, and expressive enterprises (something largely forgotten in our current testing mania). I love the idea of letting students come up with a story or poem based on a photo or to supplement a poem with images. The images a student selects can be a tool for gauging their understanding of the poem.
The focus of my post on Chapter 2, "connective writing" did not address my one critique of the chapter. While I agree that this is a form of writing students should learn and would certainly benefit from, it seems that preparing students for this type of sophisticated writing would require a great deal of scaffolding and teacher support. I did not find Richardson’s short section entitled, "Scaffolding Blogging," in Chapter 2 to be a sufficient guide for teachers trying to begin blogging with students. I found that Chapter 3 was somewhat useful in providing useful tips that would be applicable to helping students as well as teachers who are new to blogging. Finally, I thought Richardson might be underestimating the capabilities of elementary students. With enough supports and scaffolds, I have no doubt that certainly upper elementary students could blog in the true sense of the word. I also considered blogging as a possible extension for students who are gifted and talented.
Chapter 5-
I am unfamiliar with RSS technology and as a result, I felt like I was in the dark as I read this chapter. I wish that I had been able to take the author’s advice to read the chapter over several weeks as I experimented with RSS tools, but given the time constraints of the class, this wasn’t possible. However, I can see that RSS technology is just as exciting as the new publishing tools, allowing internet consumers to become efficient navigators of the overwhelming swell of available online content. Students will certainly need to develop a level of competence with this virtual information “aggregator” to manage in the new world. I was also excited by the prospect of making our world increasingly paperless, to save trees and protect the environment. Finally, I think that RSS could go along way in producing a generation of well-informed citizens dedicated to continuous and life-long learning. As the author says, RSS has “become the foundation of the personal learning curriculum I’ve constructed for myself” (pg. 72). Admittedly, half this chapter sounded like Greek to me, but I plan to get started with RSS as soon as possible!
Chapter 7-
Until our class Flickr project I had really never considered the potential of Flickr to be used as an educational tool. The power of photographs to convey learning is, I think largely ignored (particularly as you get older). I can certainly see many creative applications for Flickr in the classroom—the different directions our class’ Flickr presentations took particularly impressed me. You can use photography to give students a better awareness of diverse cultures or a better understanding of geography. Most exciting to me, is the possibility of using Flickr to engage students in creative, artistic, and expressive enterprises (something largely forgotten in our current testing mania). I love the idea of letting students come up with a story or poem based on a photo or to supplement a poem with images. The images a student selects can be a tool for gauging their understanding of the poem.
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