H1N1 and you. Implications for teaching.
As I sit here in emergency waiting to get checked out I am beginning to see the scope of how this flu is affecting.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Using Tech to Enhance Teaching
I like working with computers. I love to travel and enjoy hanging with my friends. I'm into Web 2.0 and playing squash. Can't wait for the summer to come to our cold,cold, country.
Contributors
Become Tech Savvy! Use Twitter and other Social Media Tools to Increase Your Skills
Hey there! I'm back and I'm set to do some more posts, screencasts, podcasts of the things I have learned about using tech in teaching. I hope that you find some of the ideas on this blog useful and can use it in your daily instruction. As part of my professional growth plan, I will be using my blog to become a more reflective practitioner of education (Doesn't that sound official?). Anyways, getting back to what this post is really about: TWITTER
I discovered it a few months ago. It really is quite a powerful tool for networking and sharing information. At first, I was the same as everyone else, I thought "so what?". Who wants to use only 140 characters to communicate an idea anyways? The stream of information that pours onto a first time user of this service is chaotic to say the least. In fact, its overwhelming and trying to make sense of the twitter stream is impossible at first.
I discovered it a few months ago. It really is quite a powerful tool for networking and sharing information. At first, I was the same as everyone else, I thought "so what?". Who wants to use only 140 characters to communicate an idea anyways? The stream of information that pours onto a first time user of this service is chaotic to say the least. In fact, its overwhelming and trying to make sense of the twitter stream is impossible at first.So my first piece of advice for those of you who want to try Twitter is to get a good Twitter client ( a piece of software that works with the Twitter service). My recommendation for this is Tweetdeck
It really helps the user to make sense of what is going on in the community. That's the important thing here folks. This is a community, and it is a live conversation. The next piece of advice is to use a hashtag or # sound sign when you do a search on a topic of conversation. This allows you to track results of conversations going on about a given topic. Tweetdeck allows you to do this quite easily and this is why it is such a powerful twitter client.
It really helps the user to make sense of what is going on in the community. That's the important thing here folks. This is a community, and it is a live conversation. The next piece of advice is to use a hashtag or # sound sign when you do a search on a topic of conversation. This allows you to track results of conversations going on about a given topic. Tweetdeck allows you to do this quite easily and this is why it is such a powerful twitter client.
One search I use quite regularly is #edchat. Edchat is where educators from around the globe come onto to twitter to share educational tips and discuss issues that affect teaching practice. A lot of what is discussed is related to using tech in teaching. The one thing that I have found is that the atmosphere or conversation on edchat is quite inviting and friendly. I have learned a lot from these educators and they have posted links to resources I might have not found otherwise. It also gives a perspective into how education is approached in different parts of the world.
So this is just one way I am using web 2.0 tools to build my skills as a tech teacher and life long learner. To end this post I thought I'd leave you with a Common Craft Video that explains Twitter in plain English. Next post a Tweetdeck tutorial!
Video Slideshows
I like slideshows for projects, but I hate when student make slideshows. Let me explain. Every time a student presents a powerpoint, they end up just reading directly from the slide. Itès frustrating. So, when I read this post it cought my interest, so i adprted it for my own needs.
Here is an excerpt:
"In this assignment you will be studying one particular aspect of WWII and creating a video Slide Show (with voice over) detailing the information to the class."
I provided links and questions to answer. The students had 5 classes to finish the project.
I needed more time. The project really caught my Grade 12's interest and some of them really put some solid work into it. The best part was that students that were not even familiar with MovieMaker had very few technical difficulties. the learning seemed to be richer. We shall see.
Get the Flash Playerto see this player.
(download)
Get the Flash Playerto see this player.
(download)
Posted by Geoff Haacke
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Remembering that Tech in Teaching is Linked to Learning
Jared Nichol, who is the author, of Journey''s in 2.0 teaching had a great post about his experiences using tech in his classroom. This week he is talking about how the learning outcomes in the curriculum certainly did not cover all of the aspects of the project he was working on with his students. It really helps us to think why and how we use tech in our teaching and the difficulties of using it effectively in education when technology is changin all the time.
You can find Jared's post here:
http://2pointohteaching.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-are-teachers-assessing-with.html
If you are using tech in your classroom how are are you assessing the students' work? How do you design your projects? These are the things we have to be diligent about when using technology in education.
Senteos and other Interactive voting systems
Today I will be reporting on the Senteo interactive voting system. I just received about fifteen of these clickers and I am trying to integrate this new piece of tech into my teaching as smoothly as possible. If you haven't heard of this system before here is what they look like:
Each student gets a handheld remote aka "clicker" and with some teacher created questions you can have the students answer the questions by voting on the answers and submitting the results directly to your computer. So, it sounds like it is the old fashioned multiple choice test all over again given with a high tech twist. While some of this is true the Senteo application can be a really useful tool in the classroom. I have used it on many occasions to start discussions, poll student opinions about issues, and do review and testing of major concepts learned in class that day or that week.Case in point, we are doing a unit in cyberbullying in our classroom and I brought in a guest speaker to talk about the dangers of this growing phenomenon. I put together a questionairre that the students had to answer after listening to our guest speaker and handed it out in class. Everyone was given a clicker and I set the test to use Anonymous Mode so that we could poll the students results without picking on any one individual for their answers. To speed the survey up I gave everyone a set of questions and we didn't even use the Smartboard until we saw what the results were. The purpose of the survey was to get everyone involved in the discussion. Normally you have one or two students who are keen to give answers in class but now everyone is participating because they want to know how they compared to the rest of the class in terms of understanding and thinking.
It was interesting for the guest speaker and myself to see the results because then we could see where some of the misconceptions students had about the internet and what their beliefs were about cyberbullying. This tool really helped to focus our discussion and made it informative and fun for everyone.
My weaker students also enjoy doing these kinds of assessments in class because of poor writing skills which often hampers their communication.
Another important feature of the Senteo is that the questions can be developped in Word, which is a great time saver. If you had some previous assessments already created than they could easily be imported and ready for use with the Senteo software in minutes.
At the Teacher2Teacher conference in Bow Island, AB. I learned how to do some real time assessment with these tools as well. Senteo has a an instant question feature that allows you to review with the kids immediately and will display the results of who is and is not grasping a concept in class. It can certainly help you focus on who needs more help and those students who are independent and can move on to more challenging concepts.
You can also test to make sure the assessment is working correctly using the clicker simulator that comes with the software. It is a virtual clicker that works exactly like the real thing so you can simulate the testing experience.
By the way, all the results as I have mentioned earlier are stored in the Senteo software and will even calculate running averages and how the students performed against the rest of the class. All the results can even be exported to Excel document where the data can be put into a gradebook or made accessible for some other piece of software.
Its a great tool, and I am hoping to find other ways to use it in my classroom. How do you use your Senteo?
Tech Tips For Teachers Episode 2
Hey there everyone!
This is episode 2 of Tech Tips for teachers. I am just giving a brief rundown of digital storytelling and photostory 3 for windows. If you have any comments please let me know!
Blogging InDepth from Journey's in 2.0 Teaching.
Jared Nichol is a fellow teacher from the Cold Lake area and he hosts a blog called Journey's in 2.0 Teaching. If you want to see a great post about blogging in the classroom from creation to evaluation you should check his post here. It basically shows how Jared has been using blogs in his classroom with writing and the rubrics he has been using to help evaluate the learning taking place in his classroom. I think it is a fantastic post and if you are new to blogging and want to learn more about it you should send him a quick email.
As for me I am into exploring all the ways 2.0 can help me. By the way did he tell you he's a Mac Addict?
Cheers Jared!
Check out his blog!
First Post From a New Contributor
Hi there! Geoff Haacke here! I am a teacher at Pierceland Central
School (one of the few results you get from Googling me). I have
experimented with both blogs and wikis and will be sharing my
experiences with these as well as my experiences with my SMARTboard.
Also, I have done a LOT of Professional Development on using
Technology in education and hope to share my thoughts.
Filed under //
new contributor
Posted by Geoff Haacke
Comments [2]
Screencasting!
What is Screencasting? Well screencasting is capturing what you do on your computer to show to others so that you can visually explain how to do some thing or how it would benefit them. Instead of creating a step by step instruction booklet, you can simply show them in a short video, narrated by you on how to do something. Its an incredibly neat tool and I am going to try and compile some of the things I have learned to share with others in my school and division.
I have just been experimenting with some screencasting tools. The one I have been playing around with is Jing from TechSmith.com. If you want to try Jing you can find it at Jing. I made one this evening(click the link below to view):
Tell me what you think! You only have five minutes of recording time so you must be sure to use your time wisely. I tend to ramble so I had to go and redo it a few times.
Other sites and apps you can try:
- SnagIt- a capturing tool also by Techsmith
- Camtasia Studio- Techsmith's high end capturing tool (very cool but pricey!)
- Screentoaster.com- Lots of features!
Well, I hope this works out and let me know what you think. I'll be working on other screencasts for the future.
Cheers,
Lee
The More I Find the more I Learn.... Why Web 2.0 is an Exciting Place to be in Education
It seems that since the explosion of the World Wide Web all those years ago, we have been trying to find a useful way to gather all the information on the Internet and use it for something good. It seems that there are new and exciting tools that allow us to create, share, and learn. As a teacher, I struggle to keep up with all of the new tools we can use with our students in the classroom. Never, at any one time have we had such a great number of tools to promote and enhance learning in the classroom. We are now in a world with Moodle, GIMP, Interactive Whiteboards, Podcasting, and Digital Storytelling. All of which are just a sampling of tools to help us create and share learning. We have blogs and wikis and screencasts. There is such an incredible amount to learn and it is hard to pick a direction to head into first.
If I can give one piece of advice, don't be afraid to try any and all of these tools. Even if you are not an expert in a program yourself you will be learning and engaging with your class. Don't be afraid to ask for help! Thanks to the Internet there is a great community of people who are willing to help you solve your problem or answer your question. The Internet is something that has always been there for our students, and it is impossible for some to even imagine what the world was like without it. We're the ones who have to play catch up.
Just this evening I was looking at some presentations from Google Docs shared by Tom Barett, and as I clicked through the great information and examples he had to share. I was able to learn more about how I could apply these tools in my own classroom. I am genuinely excited to try these new tools in my class.
Thanks for listening to this week's ramble about tech in the classroom. Web 2.0 is an exciting place right now for teachers. It makes me wonder what the impact of Web 3.0 will have on education in the very near future.
If you have a twitter account and want to contact me you can follow me @leewin on Twitter. Send me a tweet.
I'd be happy to learn what tools you are using in the classroom right now and what success or failure you are having with these tools.
Cheers
Lee Winik
Filed under //
digital storytelling
GIMP
google
google docs
Moodle
podacsting
twitter
web 2.0
web resources
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