Terminology - I've got lots to learn

Well, I went to NECC determined to learn to Twitter. I have an account, but I can't say I have been successful yet!

Here are some of the new terms that I heard and am trying to learn:

Twitter, Tweet, etc.: Tweets are text based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to other users - known as followers - who have subscribed to them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, SMS or external applications. (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter)
Ning: a site that lets you create your own social network (like Facebook or MySpace).
Back-Channeling: the practice of electronically passing notes among some or all of the audience/students during a lecture or discussion. Common back channeling devices are Meebo and Twitter.
Voice Thread: a way to have a group discussion about video, documents, etc. that is recorded and saved. (www.voicethread.com)

Web 2.0 - 2 Workshops I Attended

Well, I spent quite a bit of my time trying to get a grip on how to use Web 2.0 tools in the district with students. The challenges for me are security, educational value, cost, and ease of use. Free tools are wonderful - but I have to make sure that if I get 600 teacher and 8000 students using the tools, that the tools will continue to be there once they have become a part of their learning process.

Web 2.0 - The Ripple Effect (presented by Cheryl Lemke, the Metri Group)

I took away three things from this:

1. Don't duplicate bad teaching pedagogy digitally. Notice in the diagram below, the typical class discussion is the teacher asking questions, the students answering questions. If the interaction was truly a sustained discussion, it would look more like the diagram on the right. Unfortunately, it is easy to blog duplicate the same problem when blogging. Be sure that your blogs are open ended and allow for sustained discussion.

2. Voice Thread (http://www.voicethread.com/): new term to me - it is a way for participants to record their observations instead of typing them. Very interesting options for students, particularly those who may have trouble with the written word.

3. Scratch: this is an incredible free resource for younger students to do some simple programming. I've got it downloaded and look forward to playing!

Classroom 2.0: What is Web 2.0's role in Schools? (Steve Hargadon)
Well, this turned out to be a debate about back channeling - in this case, there was a panel of 7 experts discussing different aspects of Web 2.0. On the screen was a Chatzy discussion - everyone in the audience could participate via their laptops. What was interesting was how abrupt the tone of the conversation was on the chat. It did not match the verbal discussion at all! I wonder if this is typical...
It would be interesting to see if you could set this up in a high school classroom where there is a class dicussion going on, but students are able to use their cell phones to post to a "back-channel".

Skype Me!

This workshop was very interesting!! I went into the room knowing nothing about this software. Once, I loaded the software, it was Skype time. This allows you to talk and see the person on the other side. Just need software, email, and a web-cam. But, e-mailing will work. I was able to meet and talk to a Technology Coordinator from Illinois. It was great!
Now, I can talk and see my friends and family from other states and not leave the building.

On Sunday, I attended another workshop on Portfolio's. It was also interesting. I am going to use this in my class next semester.

Then, it was exhibit time!!!

I was lucky enough to see an Elvis impersonator. I spent a few minutes there to take a few pictures. The workshop exhibits include Adobe Illustrator, Tech4Learning -Frames, Onsourse Lesson Planner and many others. The exhibits were marvelous. My wish list consists of: Smart Board, small Dell PC, and a web cam for the Skype.

It was a great learning experience.

paula roberts

Second Life

My workshop on Second Life was absolutely fabulous! There were only about 8 participants and 6 facilitators ( I particularly liked the one from Australia...). We were able to create our SL account, avatar etc. It is so cool to fly and jump around in visiting the different locations in SL. I also learned about all of the educational communities in SL. This is an awesome place to visit, and I highly recommend it to all.

Thinkfinity...

So during one of my many walks around the Exhibit hall...I stopped at Thinkfinity.......

Well the only real reason I stopped was because I saw Eric Close from "Without a Trace".....If you read Thomas's blog you will know that he works with the Verizon foundation and was there. Well as I was standing near him...I took the time to learn about Thinkfinity. I had no idea this was out there. They provide so many resources for teachers and they are free. Sometimes they say things are free and they really are not, but these are. I ended up checking out the website and found some great lessons that I can use among other resources. They are truly providing great resources to help our students.

And I did meet Eric Close...

http://www.thinkfinity.org/

Learning about Flash...

On Monday, I attended an all day workshop on successfully creating Flash based animation for the classroom. What can I say but, WOW! This was a basic course with Flash and it allowed us to import images, use motion animation techniques and work with video, etc. I hadn't done a lot with Flash before this and so it was a lot of new information. I definitely learned a lot and will be looking for more opportunities to learn more about Flash. One of the great things about this course was that the instructor really knew a lot about Flash. It helps when the instructor is really knowledgable like he was. He also created a moodle site for us to join that contained all the information that we used in class and other resources in order to help us in the future. There are actual science support files for us to use and view as well. I can defintitely see myself using Flash animation in science to create things that go with what I am teaching. Bottom line: this workshop got my mind going with the possibilities with Flash and can't wait to do more with it.

Distance Education

Have you heard of child prodegy, Adora Syitak? She has been described as the world's youngest author and distance learning instructor and could be found at this year's NECC conference in the exhibit hall at the Promethean booth. She was available to tell her story which included how she got her start with video conferencing. Interestingly... it all began at TISD through the efforts of Paula Yezak who first heard about her through her appearances on several television news programs. Paula initially worked with her to find equipment for her home and to arrange her very first video conference with our elementary TISD GT students. To learn more about this amazing young individual contact Paula and/or visit Adora's web site at:

http://www.adorasvitak.com/Main.html