Week 13: Reflection on reading

I love this, "The worth of a learning management system ultimately is measure by the same yardstick as every other educational tool: student performance."
This is what it is all about, we use and try new tools to see how they effect learning. If we use them correctly and they have positive benefits then we continue to use them. Very simple. I feel that this pretty much sums up this course. We have learned so much about what we can use to ultimately improve our learning environments. We are all striving to provide the best opportunities for our students. The tools are there, we need to learn them, use them and monitor their effectiveness.
Waymack and Ross have not accumulated sufficient data to confirm the positives of LMS but they have been able to credit the LMS with improving learning environments, "the climate is better, the overall feeling of being engaged is better."
That's what we want, enthusiastic, motivated, and engaged students.

Week 13: My Thoughts

Just off the top of my head I think that on-line learning is great. It embraces the whole idea of making education accessible to all. It permits those who have time or distance constraints to continue to seek educational possibilities. It opens up the parameters of discussions making it possible to collaborate and discuss with colleagues or professionals that one would not have the opportunity to given a classroom situation. I know I always approach topics with the pros and cons, and given there are a few cons to consider, but in the long run I think that they do not measure up to all the enriching benefits that is offered through this method of learning and instruction. Now I will do the readings and comment later on what the professionals have to say!!

Week 12: Podcasting - Reflections

I learnt a lot this week presenting the topic and then leading and managing the discussions. I think that it is a great experience to oversee and direct the group discussions, it gets you really involved trying to push the thinking further, something that we always try to do with the students but it is different when dealing with adults. Some great ideas and additions were made to the subject. Thanks to all those who participated and shared their thoughts.

Week 12: Topic Presentation - Podcasting

I know that I am posting this a few days early but we will be away for the next couple of days and I thought I would put it up in order to ease my mind and scratch one more thing off my list.

This was another new tool for me, so once again there was quite a learning curve. I did quite a bit of reasearch and contmeplating at length on how to go about presenting to the group, in the end I decided to pool the information I researched into a parred down simplified version of "Podcasting for the Techno Challenged" powerpoint. I chose a wikipage which I discovered to base my presentation on. I have scaled it down in order to provide the basics. I have included the url at the end of this post, as well as in my references, please view it for further information.

So here we go, I hope that this powerpoint serves it's purpose which is basically to inform you on what a podcast is, how to create a podcast and how to incorporate it in your teaching or library.
Please view it and respond to the discussion questions.
You can access the powerpoint through slideshare at

http://www.slideshare.net/agrannary/podcasting-101-for-the-techno-challenged-3469259


As a further note, as I was about to post my discussion I discovered another amazing tool which I will try in the future. I thought that I would mention it here as it relates to my topic, it is called Slidecast. Slidecast combines both podcasting and powerpoint, allowing a voice over to accompany your powerpoint. It is a very effective tool and totally makes the powerpoint much more engaging for the viewer. Slidecasting is free and is an option available through slideshare. You can view this tutorial for a preview.

http://www.slideshare.net/jboutelle/slidecasting-101

Podcating in Schools article
http://lis5313.ci.fsu.edu/wiki/index.php/Using_Podcasts_in_Schools

week 11: vimeo

Thought I would try both tools, vimeo seemed to give better quality, I think that I maight ry it again today and see. Both tools were really easy to use, could become a new hobby and great for sharing with extended family, already sent some off to Grandma in Quebec.
Here is the vimeo video
http://vimeo.com/10275913

week 11: youtube trial

That was fun, we spent the afternoon at the beach and I filmed the kids just being crazy. The whole process is quite easy, but I am not satisfied with the quality of the video. Perhaps it is because it was taken with a camera, not a video camera, I am not sure, anyone out there who knows how to improve the picture/sound quality?
Here it is my first you tube!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izca5NIJz_4

Week 11: Video and sharing, my thoughts

I really liked last week's lesson on photo sharing, it related well to our life as we try to communicate and keep in touch with extended family on the opposite end of Canada. So this week learning about video is exciting for two reasons, one to further enrich our communication with family and second now I know what to do with the silly little videos that the kids keep taking with the camera! I am definitely going to enlist their help with this lesson! I thought I was a great director/producer when we learnt animoto, I can't wait to see what I come up with here!

Week 10 Social Networking beyond text: reflections

Just watched the Ted video on photosynth, amazing what technology can do. I am supposing that the minute you share these pictures you would automatically loose ownership of them as they are being imported or shared with millions of users. That kind of disturbs me a little. I am wondering what kind of repercussions could come of this, ie copyright etc. I am totally enthralled with the idea of this tool, makes everything so real and complete.
I think that my initial reaction to social networking was a little strong. I remain a little apprehensive but I don't want to be guilty of not trying something because of fear. Discovering new things is exciting and \i think that is what is so enthralling for our students. They can use these tools and create incredible products. I remember as a student trying to create or replicate artwork and even though I tried my best it still was not up to par. These tools address this and make everyone walk away with a feeling of being a professional. It is quite and exhilarating feeling. So although I still approach things with caution I will not let it stop me from trying the next new thing.

Week 10 Social Networking beyond text: Picasa

I still have the reading to do, but I jumped ahead to the fun part, the activity and just tried Picasa. This is great, I figured it out in honestly, less then 5 minutes. It was so easy that I was sure that I had done something wrong. I can see myself using this tool on a regular basis to send pictures to Grandma way back in Montreal. It has always seemed like such a task to send the pictures the old way, with the camera software, but this is a piece of cake, I can even get my eight year old to do this. It could actually become his responsibility, he will be in charge of keeping Grandma up to date.
Take a look, really basic right now, but with more playing around, can do great things. I am excited!!

christmas

Week 10 Social Networking beyond text: my thoughts

Honestly I have not yet read any of the articles or research nor, have I yet to experiment with the new tools suggested in this lesson. This is my gut reaction or opinion to social networking. I am doing an experiment to see if the articles will sway my opinion. Here it goes, I am not a huge fan of social networking. There I said it, it may be the taboo thing to say but it is how I feel at this moment. Now I am not an idiot I do get that there are alot of pros to social networking, I am just not convinced that this tool should be an integral part of school curriculum. Therefore, perhaps I should clarify, I am not a fan of social networking being used in schools. I think that there needs to be alot more in place before we can incorporate such a loose tool in classes. I don't even think that the majority of school districts have any kind of protocol for its' use. So how are we supposed to stand alone and lobby for it to be used. I for one am not ready to be the fall guy if something goes wrong.
Now socially, out of school I think that facebook, etc. are entertaining and perform certain tasks that save time and facilitate communication. I continue to think however, that it is somewhat overused and tedious. Who really wants to know when I am having coffee or that I have gone to the beach. I also think that some people lose a little perspective when using this and sometimes they make some poor judgement calls. Teachers facebooking parents on a social level, in my opinion, is not a great idea. It could lead to gossip and possible negative ramifications for all those involved, especially the student. I think it is fantastic to use when communicating with close family and friends, but really do we need to keep everyone updated on our daily lives? There is such a thing as too much information. I recently received a friend request which I accepted and they got a whole page of very inappropriate clubs that they were a "fan" of.
So in the end does it fulfill a need or serve a purpose? Yes I think that it does. But we need to remember to use things in moderation and perhaps not jump on the bandwagon. But then again perhaps I am a Nervous Nilly, and play things too cautiously, but once something is out there, you can not get it back.
Now, I will set about doing the readings and see if I gain a new enlightened perspective. I'll keep you posted.

Self reflection on Wiki assignment

Self Reflection on Wikis

I am without a doubt convinced that wikis have a place in the schools and the libraries. They are convenient and easy and engaging. The students love them and are hooked when they are using them. I agree that we cannot hold back on what is new. Denying or refusing to use the tools does not serve the best interest of the students.

Our focus for our wiki project was the idea of incorporating video games in the library. I understood and agreed with the author that there are pros to gaming. They have research supporting their value and that is not to be ignored. My concern is that I am not convinced that they should be mainstreamed into a school library as a full time focus. I am not refuting that they appear to have some educational value but I am not convinced that the library should be the forum for this learning situation. My concerns center around who will be responsible for managing this learning tool. If it is Internet based how will this be governed? Will video games become recommended curriculum and therefore be on the learning resources lists?

I must admit that perhaps I am a little biased to the idea of incorporating video games into schools and libraries. I am not a fan of them. Honestly, I feel that students on the majority already get more than enough video game play within their own homes. School in my opinion is a wonderful place to encourage face-to-face social interaction. Face to face interaction provides the student an opportunity to learn much needed social skills, that some of them lack. Some students have great difficulty with reading people’s emotions by detecting the clues that facial expression and body language give them. They have difficulty inferring because they can’t read or pick up on the clues. Video games are controlled and manipulated by them. They have the ability to start over if it is not going well. Life is not like that and I think that it gives them a distorted version of what real life interaction is like. I am of course generalizing, not all students are like this. However, many colleagues have spoken of this phenomenon where they are faced with students who want instant attention, focus, stimulation and gratification. Is this a result of video game playing?

Could video games fulfill a valid role in education, I think that it is possible. However, as an educator trying to teach a desired learning outcome, before relying on video games as a teaching tool, I would personally research equally effective alternative teaching methods. I could see video games serving as an enrichment or incentive program. I believe strongly that video games need to be closely monitored in terms of content and time spent playing. It is true that students learn through play but there are alternatives that could and should be considered first.

This course has opened my mind to the possibility of using many new web 2.0 tools, blogs, animoto, voicethread, and podcasts, all of which I think have a great educational value. They are engaging and require students to focus and provide a final product, encouraging students to take ownership and pride in their work. These tools are easily implemented into my teaching. I can see them working as book clubs, summaries, research projects, collaboration, recitals and reader’s theatre. Video games, however, I think I still need some convincing that they should be promoted as a valid teaching/learning resource. I am very excited about trying some of the above-mentioned tools, however, I will hold off for now on the video games.

Week 9: Social Networking Services: Refelections on Readings

Once again, when considering anything new I always tend to focus on the pros and cons. My initial response to social networking I must admit was a little negative. I was reluctant to let one more thing invade and/or manipulate my time. Being a bit of a perfectionist I always feel compelled to address, respond to all those who reach out to me, so now I was opening myself up to more possibilities. After reading the research and the opinions, I still feel a little guarded about my privacy and my time but I am now more open to realizing the potential that social networking can provide.
Recently someone, who was looking for my siblings and me, contacted me; she connected with me by searching on Facebook. She had pictures of me and my siblings from when we were very young. As my parents were divorced and my father past away my siblings and I lost contact with my fathers side of the family. She wished to return the photos to me and we managed to connect and make arrangements all through Facebook. It all happened very quickly, in one night we made contact, reminisced and made arrangements for the photo delivery. Not having the medium of Facebook I am positive that the whole process would have taken much longer and would have been more labor intensive perhaps to the point that it would not have occurred. Therefore, I am thankful for the ease and swiftness that Facebook provides.
Evan Williams' talk provided insight into how beneficial Twitter has become. It was originally created to be a broadcast medium of where you were and what you were doing. It has morphed into more of a means to keep current on what is happening in the world today at this very moment. It is instant dispersal of information, eliminating the need to wait and watch the 6:00 news, as our parents did.
Michael Stephens stated many different ways in which he saw twitter being used at a conference
i.e. Commentary, social plan maker, reporting, keeping in touch, discovering and exploring new ideas - inspiring creative thought, and making observations and connections.
So yes social networking does work and does fulfill a need however, I still feel the need to point out the benefits to good old-fashioned conversation. In moderation, I think social networking is great. However, I think that if it becomes the soul way in which one communicated then that could be a cause for concern or focus. There is something to be said about the art of conversation. I think that the youth today need to see role models interacting with each other, face to face conversation provides them with the opportunity to practice their social manners, being able to notice emotion and body language to better interpretate the situation. I think that one flaw of social networking is the void of emotion, which is present in oral speech; emotion allows us to infer and pick up on things, which help us, understand things more clearly.
I had an interesting thought or possible research possibility. I was wondering what effect, if any, there was between the rise in social networking and social anxiety. Conversation provides companionship or can at times be very therapeutic, if we are no longer gathering on the porches or kitchens to share and bond then where are we doing this, hopefully not in the therapist’s offices. Just a thought!!

Week 9: Social Networking Services cont'd trial of tag clouds

I have done some reading and listening promoting, supporting and explaining the realm of social networking tools available today. I was interested in tag clouds and thought that they would be great visual tools to use in the classroom. So this is my trial at a tag cloud which visually represents the concept of social networking based on an article by By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service, Socialtext Adds Tools to Manage Its Twitter-like Stream


http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/190685/socialtext_adds_tools_to_manage_its_twitterlike_stream.html

This is the link to the tag cloud
http://tagcrowd.com/pdf/1267647847_cloud.pdf

I think this tool would work really well to initiate thinking with children, to give them direction when they are tackling an article or reading passage, visually pulls out the main words, ideas.


Wanted to add a tag cloud for the referred to resource ALA Techsource on Twitter, love that Library was so predominate!!
http://tagcrowd.com/pdf/1267648501_cloud.pdf

Week 9: Social Networking Services

Alright I do have a basic understanding of the idea of social networking, what I need to get over is my fear that I am not keeping up. Already I have a hard enough time trying to get to all my e-mails, now I have to check my social networks. Where does everyone get the time? I don't get it, I know that I have alot going on but don't most people. I wonder sometimes if our society is getting a little additcted to "wanting to be in the know"? Our need to be current may be driving our stress levels up. Anyway I will do some further research and be open to all the pros and cons and experiment with a few tools and let you know my thoughts.

Week 7 and 8

I have taken a hiatus from the blog during the reading weeks, not to say though that I have not been playing. My family is totally into making their very own mini movies with the animoto, I was experimenting with vimeo, cool, alot like animoto. As well I have been researching podcasts as that is my topic for presentation. I really like the potential that can be achieved with podcasts. It would be great with the written output challenged student. More experimenting needed.