By now, with the size of the internet and the number of new and useful sites and tools that are popping up every minute, everyone can appreciate the value of social bookmarking tools to keep track of links. For teachers, there is great potential fir using these tools, eg. from sharing specific links with students that you want them to use for a project to collaborating with other teachers in your discipline around the country to create a rich hub for useful, subject specific, web resources. Here is a list of Top 10 Social Bookmarking Tools for Educators.
I use Delicious to quickly tag everything I come across of interest, but I at this point I need to spend some time organizing it and getting more out of it than a mere repository of links which follow little rhyme or reason at the moment.
I had heard great things about Diigo, so I signed up. The first time I tried to use it, I was so overwhelmed by the number of features it has and options in the toolbar that I haven't touched it since. Some people say there is a place for both Delicious and Diigo. And then there are also all the other tools that I haven't explored yet.
So, what bookmarking tool do you use? Please answer the poll question and comment below if you'd like. Any tips on using either tool or any others would be appreciated. (Eg. How do you categorize your tags? Is it better to have a lot of tags or a select few?) And if you'd like to build on your bookmarking network, include your username so that others participating in this discussion can add you.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Week 6 Reflections
Though frustrating at times, I enjoyed exploring Powerpoint, Screencasting and Voicethread this week. See individual posts for reflections on these tools.
I think the most valuable thing I got from my PLN this week is a keynote speech by Chris Lehman by Mr. Byrne.
I also asked for ideas via Twitter regarding a screen capture/ snapshot tool. Got a couple replies back, thanks Susan, Sue and Steve. I wanted a snapshot tool that would also act as an editor so you can add text, arrows etc. to screen shot afterwards. Most tools were not free or were free but had stamps on them. I concluded that the best option for now is probably to use the regular Snipping Tool I use (came with Windows Vista) and then edit in a program like Word, Powerpoint or regular picture editor. Any additional ideas welcome...
Clif's PD for the Holidays blog post was also useful. Clif (Clif's Notes blog) has a huge PLN, I like how he's listed all his resources here so people can connect with him in the different sites... Might be a good exercise for a blog post, at least so you can keep track of your own identities in the different social sites you have signed up for. Here's a related post on building a PLN from EdTrekTech and a poll question, I like this segment from the post:
One thing I still don't understand about Twitter is all these # marked comments, sometimes it feels like you're reading a different language the way some people communicate with each other. What does all this mean, when people follow #whatever? I will investigate it this week... I will also start a discussion about Delicious versus Diigo, so that will hopefully provide me with the opportunity to become more involved with my PLN and also hopefully get more out of it.
I think the most valuable thing I got from my PLN this week is a keynote speech by Chris Lehman by Mr. Byrne.
I also asked for ideas via Twitter regarding a screen capture/ snapshot tool. Got a couple replies back, thanks Susan, Sue and Steve. I wanted a snapshot tool that would also act as an editor so you can add text, arrows etc. to screen shot afterwards. Most tools were not free or were free but had stamps on them. I concluded that the best option for now is probably to use the regular Snipping Tool I use (came with Windows Vista) and then edit in a program like Word, Powerpoint or regular picture editor. Any additional ideas welcome...
Clif's PD for the Holidays blog post was also useful. Clif (Clif's Notes blog) has a huge PLN, I like how he's listed all his resources here so people can connect with him in the different sites... Might be a good exercise for a blog post, at least so you can keep track of your own identities in the different social sites you have signed up for. Here's a related post on building a PLN from EdTrekTech and a poll question, I like this segment from the post:
"Building a PLN is hard work and it requires diligent, active, and participatory excellence. Many times questions may go unanswered. Many times blog posts may receive no commentary. It is one thing to “take” from your PLN. That’s the easy part. It is a totally different thing to have your PLN “give” to - or work for - you. The latter requires a much more significant depth of relationship."Right now I feel like I'm taking from my PLN and hardly giving. The article leads to the point that meeting people from your PLN in person helps to deepen that online relationship much more. You can tell that a lot of the people who are very involved in Twitter discussions in the edtech field (Stephen Ransom who wrote the blog post above calls them the "super stars"- you all know who this refers to...) have met in person and have all these inside jokes and know each other's families, etc. I guess you could also achieve that level of relationship exclusively through online interactions, but there seems to be great added value in meeting your PLN contacts in person. The poll results thus far showed that 78% of people who replied agreed that "a PLN more responsive when you have met the folks within it face-to-face".
One thing I still don't understand about Twitter is all these # marked comments, sometimes it feels like you're reading a different language the way some people communicate with each other. What does all this mean, when people follow #whatever? I will investigate it this week... I will also start a discussion about Delicious versus Diigo, so that will hopefully provide me with the opportunity to become more involved with my PLN and also hopefully get more out of it.
Trying out Screencasting
Screencasting was a lot more frustrating than Voicethread, mainly because every time you mess up, you have to start the whole thing over from the beginning. I figured out after trying it a few times that you can export the screencast at the end and then edit it with Windows Movie Maker, so I could cut some "mess ups" or long silences out, but it was time consuming and though its easy to delete segments, it would be difficult to add things in. It was the first attempt though, and I have to say that the end result is pretty neat.
I can definitely see myself using it to show students how to use a technology feature before we use it in class or to show them something I want them to try for homework (eg. creating a blog, editing the class wiki, using Google Earth, giving them a virtual tour of all of the class' digital resources, etc.) I intend to practice a bit more with it, the Pause button is definitely a time saver, because I was spending too much time during the screencast waiting for different windows to open. Once I discovered the Pause button, I would pause the screencast, then wait for the desired window to open, and resume the screencast. It went much smoother like that!
My screencast was created using Screencast-o-Matic and uploaded to YouTube.
I can definitely see myself using it to show students how to use a technology feature before we use it in class or to show them something I want them to try for homework (eg. creating a blog, editing the class wiki, using Google Earth, giving them a virtual tour of all of the class' digital resources, etc.) I intend to practice a bit more with it, the Pause button is definitely a time saver, because I was spending too much time during the screencast waiting for different windows to open. Once I discovered the Pause button, I would pause the screencast, then wait for the desired window to open, and resume the screencast. It went much smoother like that!
My screencast was created using Screencast-o-Matic and uploaded to YouTube.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Trying out Voicethread
Had my first go at Voicethread today and I have to admit that, once you get past the initial stage of total awkwardness watching and listening to yourself, it's actually pretty fun! I had to record some of the sound clips so many times, because being foreign sometimes I get the pronunciations totally wrong and my accent comes out funny, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Anyway, great tool, would definitely use it in my class as a more interactive alternative to powerpoint or as a homework assignment to have students answer questions on a specific topic before we are about to start it in order to get feedback on the preconceptions they are coming in with. Any feedback/ comments welcome of course. I think I was looking at the wrong place the whole time I was filming, I guess I should have been looking at the camera instead of the screen, it's hard to do when you're so self-conscious about what you look like when you're speaking... haha. Well, here it is...
I am also posting this powerpoint of ways to use Voicethread in the classroom that I am pretty sure has been posted before, but just in case people missed it. It was created by Tom Barrett- ICT in My Classroom blog.
Browsing through the Science category voicethreads, I found this one on Newton's Third Law of Physics that I thought was well done.
I'm off to try Screencasting now...
I am also posting this powerpoint of ways to use Voicethread in the classroom that I am pretty sure has been posted before, but just in case people missed it. It was created by Tom Barrett- ICT in My Classroom blog.
Browsing through the Science category voicethreads, I found this one on Newton's Third Law of Physics that I thought was well done.
I'm off to try Screencasting now...
Powerpoint Presentation Sharing
I created my powerpoint presentation for an Introductory Biology high school class learning about Cellular Respiration. It is a basic overview of the process and includes some brainstorming questions. The role play and lab mentioned will be explained further in the screencast I will create and share in the next few days.
When I uploaded my presentation to SlideShare, I realised it does not enable animation effects, animated gifs or video. That messed up a lot of my slides! I searched through all the other presentation sharing tools to come up with one that supported these extras. Slidesix did not show animations either, SlideServe did support slide effects but not video or animated gifs. I finally found SlideBoom, which allowed for everything I needed even with the free basic account. Here is the final product. If you know of other presentation hosts that allow for animations, etc. please comment below. I am very impressed with SlideBoom!
When I uploaded my presentation to SlideShare, I realised it does not enable animation effects, animated gifs or video. That messed up a lot of my slides! I searched through all the other presentation sharing tools to come up with one that supported these extras. Slidesix did not show animations either, SlideServe did support slide effects but not video or animated gifs. I finally found SlideBoom, which allowed for everything I needed even with the free basic account. Here is the final product. If you know of other presentation hosts that allow for animations, etc. please comment below. I am very impressed with SlideBoom!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Guiding Principles Revisited
For me, the key to successfully integrating technology into my teaching is to provide my students with a unique experience for learning, taking on challenges, interacting with data and collaborating with a wider audience that would otherwise not have been possible.
I realize that while learning technology skills will be invaluable to my students through out the rest of their academic and professional careers, I am a Science teacher first and I can't lose sight of the learning objectives by getting distracted with the newest educational technology fanfare. I really liked a quote I heard the week on a keynote speech by Chris Lehman: "Technology needs to be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary and invisible, we need to not think about it, it just needs to be there."
Guiding Principles for Integrating Technology into My Teaching More Efficiently:
1. RESEARCH: I need to know what's out there, keep up to date with emerging educational technologies and be aware of what tools the students seem comfortable with or are using/ learning in other subjects.
2. NETWORK & COLLABORATE: I will continue to network with other teachers who are already integrating technology into their classrooms successfully to get ideas and recommendations. This will include keeping up with Educational technology blogs and trying to give as much as I take, by replying to people's blogs and comments and asking questions.
3. FOCUS ON THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES FIRST: When planning for teaching a subject unit, I need to start with the learning objectives and then consider whether any could be taught more efficiently (eg. in terms of time, depth, student engagement) using technology, then find the tool that would be best for the job.
4. HAVE A PLAN: I need to make a plan which includes: the time frame needed for the tech-enhanced learning experience, what its execution/management would require from teacher and students, the degree of technology expertise among that specific group of students, any extra requirements to keep in mind: cost/ equipment/ class time, how I will wrap up the project and what form of assessment I will use (it would be important to include in the assessment process an opportunity for students to evaluate their learning- what they got out of the experience, what they would change, etc.)
5. TIME BEST SPENT?: Before embarking in the project I need to ask myself again whether it would be realistic and if its the best use of time, or whether learning objective could be taught achieved best using other more traditional tools that the students are already comfortable with. I also need to be aware of technology overload, I don't need to use every technological tool, every day, for every subject I teach. I need to streamline and aggregate my websites, blogs, wikis etc. so students don't get confused.
7. EVALUATION: I need to take time after the completion of the project to evaluate my own teaching practice critically by asking myself: How successful was the integration of technology in this particular Unit? Would I do use it again? How could it be improved next time? It is important that students reflect on their own learning experience as well.
If at the end of the technology-enhanced learning experience the students are more excited about the Science they learned than the technology they used, I will know that I have integrated the technology into my instruction efficiently.
I realize that while learning technology skills will be invaluable to my students through out the rest of their academic and professional careers, I am a Science teacher first and I can't lose sight of the learning objectives by getting distracted with the newest educational technology fanfare. I really liked a quote I heard the week on a keynote speech by Chris Lehman: "Technology needs to be like oxygen: ubiquitous, necessary and invisible, we need to not think about it, it just needs to be there."
Guiding Principles for Integrating Technology into My Teaching More Efficiently:
1. RESEARCH: I need to know what's out there, keep up to date with emerging educational technologies and be aware of what tools the students seem comfortable with or are using/ learning in other subjects.
2. NETWORK & COLLABORATE: I will continue to network with other teachers who are already integrating technology into their classrooms successfully to get ideas and recommendations. This will include keeping up with Educational technology blogs and trying to give as much as I take, by replying to people's blogs and comments and asking questions.
3. FOCUS ON THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES FIRST: When planning for teaching a subject unit, I need to start with the learning objectives and then consider whether any could be taught more efficiently (eg. in terms of time, depth, student engagement) using technology, then find the tool that would be best for the job.
4. HAVE A PLAN: I need to make a plan which includes: the time frame needed for the tech-enhanced learning experience, what its execution/management would require from teacher and students, the degree of technology expertise among that specific group of students, any extra requirements to keep in mind: cost/ equipment/ class time, how I will wrap up the project and what form of assessment I will use (it would be important to include in the assessment process an opportunity for students to evaluate their learning- what they got out of the experience, what they would change, etc.)
5. TIME BEST SPENT?: Before embarking in the project I need to ask myself again whether it would be realistic and if its the best use of time, or whether learning objective could be taught achieved best using other more traditional tools that the students are already comfortable with. I also need to be aware of technology overload, I don't need to use every technological tool, every day, for every subject I teach. I need to streamline and aggregate my websites, blogs, wikis etc. so students don't get confused.
7. EVALUATION: I need to take time after the completion of the project to evaluate my own teaching practice critically by asking myself: How successful was the integration of technology in this particular Unit? Would I do use it again? How could it be improved next time? It is important that students reflect on their own learning experience as well.
If at the end of the technology-enhanced learning experience the students are more excited about the Science they learned than the technology they used, I will know that I have integrated the technology into my instruction efficiently.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Creative Commons
This is the second part of the post that I set out to write last week for answering my own questions about Copyright issues in education. I want to make a few notes about Creative Commons to basically "think out loud." The first time I heard about Creative Commons (a few weeks ago) I was really confused as to what it referred it, I thought it was somehow part of Copyright Law. Now I understand that Creative Commons is a non-profit organization which has set out to accomplish what Copyright has fallen short of accomplishing: promoting creativity.
Creative Commons enables authors of media works to give up the rights they are granted by copyright law- partially or fully. Anyone can sign up for free Creative Commons licenses through their site or several programs like Flickr.com.
Useful sites:
If you haven't already, check out the Creative Commons Search feature on the Google Search bar/ drop down menu... very handy!
Creative Commons enables authors of media works to give up the rights they are granted by copyright law- partially or fully. Anyone can sign up for free Creative Commons licenses through their site or several programs like Flickr.com.
Useful sites:
- A listing of the 6 types of Creative Commons licenses
- A directory of organizations with CC licenses
- Compfight.com- A search tool which makes it easier to find Creative Commons images hosted on Flickr, also allows you to search for images that can be used for commercial purposes.
- Jamendo.com- Creative Commons music.
- 30+ Places to find Creative Commons Media
If you haven't already, check out the Creative Commons Search feature on the Google Search bar/ drop down menu... very handy!
Week 5 Reflections
This week I explored an area which I hadn't invested much time in before, using real data sets in my teaching. I particularly like the idea of "network projects" where students themselves collaborate in the data reporting such as the CEISE Project for Human Genetics. As it states on page 67 of our textbook, "In these projects, the use of real-time internet resources and using students as information resources for data reporting has the potential to enhance student understandings of scientific phenomena." Being actively involved in the project and being held accountable for the data would give students a sense that what they are doing has a purpose and they would be more likely to take ownership of their learning. I can see how using real data sets in the classroom would take a lot of prep though, I would want to make sure that I am comfortable with the data sets I have the students analyze and that I have thought through what I want them to get from the exercise and how the best way to achieve this goal is (ie. how much teacher guidance they would need, class time versus at home time, group work versus individual, assessment, reporting of results, etc.)
I have compiled everyone's link contributions of real data/ inquiry sites here so that they are easy to copy all at once: http://sharetabs.com/?realdatainquiry
Thanks to Rob for directing me to the WISE (Web-based Science Inquiry Environment) website, it's awesome, most valuable thing I've learned all week! I'd come across it before but never stopped to explore it until I read Rob's blog post. That is exactly what I had in mind when thinking about how important it is to network/ research what's out there before reinventing the wheel (because I'm definitely the type to waste hours making something that is already available- and for free!). There are some great inquiry-based projects like the "Mitosis & Cell Processes" one where students investigate the link between the cell cycle, cancer and potential cures. I also like how you can create and share your own web-based inquiry projects and run projects alongside other teachers so students from different classes can interact.
Other useful tools I learned about from my PLN this week that I could use in my teaching:
Free poll generator (via to 2c worth blog) would be a great tool to use to get a feel for how much students know about a topic before we start it, or to get the class' opinion about a controversial matter we are getting ready to discuss (eg. "Would you pay extra for organic food to avoid GM food?" or when discussing the characteristics of living things... "Would you consider a person in a vegetative state who is kept alive by a heart lung machine to be living?" etc)
IzzyTodo (via Free Tech for Teachers) webtool for building to-do lists, keep multiple lists and add targets. Can be used by students to set goals for themselves. Objectives can be broken down into smaller goals. Also Track Class- online planner for students to keep track of assignments. And I just caught wind of Google Tasks from @jutecht as another to-do list tool, which I have to check out since I love everything Google.
I am really impressed with what Miss Baker continues to do with her blogging. She is redoing her site, now called "Extreme Biology" and there are some recently published posts written by her students. I like how below each one there are discussion/ thought-provoking questions and you can see other students' replies to them.
Thanks to Patti for suggesting Teachers 2.0 social network, for teachers helping teachers learn and teach using digital technologies. The problem I see with these social networks right now is that they are not getting much action during the summer, so although I've signed up to a couple, I can't really tell how active they are on a regular basis or how useful they are going to be for me.
Kind of useless but just plain fun... www.befunky.com- cartoonize yourself! This is me eating a lobster in Boston...
I have compiled everyone's link contributions of real data/ inquiry sites here so that they are easy to copy all at once: http://sharetabs.com/?realdatainquiry
Thanks to Rob for directing me to the WISE (Web-based Science Inquiry Environment) website, it's awesome, most valuable thing I've learned all week! I'd come across it before but never stopped to explore it until I read Rob's blog post. That is exactly what I had in mind when thinking about how important it is to network/ research what's out there before reinventing the wheel (because I'm definitely the type to waste hours making something that is already available- and for free!). There are some great inquiry-based projects like the "Mitosis & Cell Processes" one where students investigate the link between the cell cycle, cancer and potential cures. I also like how you can create and share your own web-based inquiry projects and run projects alongside other teachers so students from different classes can interact.
Other useful tools I learned about from my PLN this week that I could use in my teaching:
Free poll generator (via to 2c worth blog) would be a great tool to use to get a feel for how much students know about a topic before we start it, or to get the class' opinion about a controversial matter we are getting ready to discuss (eg. "Would you pay extra for organic food to avoid GM food?" or when discussing the characteristics of living things... "Would you consider a person in a vegetative state who is kept alive by a heart lung machine to be living?" etc)
IzzyTodo (via Free Tech for Teachers) webtool for building to-do lists, keep multiple lists and add targets. Can be used by students to set goals for themselves. Objectives can be broken down into smaller goals. Also Track Class- online planner for students to keep track of assignments. And I just caught wind of Google Tasks from @jutecht as another to-do list tool, which I have to check out since I love everything Google.
I am really impressed with what Miss Baker continues to do with her blogging. She is redoing her site, now called "Extreme Biology" and there are some recently published posts written by her students. I like how below each one there are discussion/ thought-provoking questions and you can see other students' replies to them.
Thanks to Patti for suggesting Teachers 2.0 social network, for teachers helping teachers learn and teach using digital technologies. The problem I see with these social networks right now is that they are not getting much action during the summer, so although I've signed up to a couple, I can't really tell how active they are on a regular basis or how useful they are going to be for me.
Kind of useless but just plain fun... www.befunky.com- cartoonize yourself! This is me eating a lobster in Boston...
Copyright and Fair Use
In terms of coping with copyright issues, teachers fall into three categories according to the Media Ed Lab at Temple University: "See no evil", "Close the door", "Hyper-comply". I am definitely the hyper-comply type, always paranoid that I'm using something I shouldn't or in a way that's against some sort of law. Which one are you?
It is ironic that when you think Copyright, the first things that come into mind are… “prohibited, infringement, illegal, fines, stay away from”… when in theory the purpose of copyright according to the US Constitution is “to promote creativity, innovation and the spread of knowledge.”
Copyright law is actually very vague and most of the warnings/ threats that are attached to copyrighted materials (eg. fines, jail time, hell, etc.) are unwarranted and not backed up by the law. The basic principles behind copyright are:
I see the Fair Use Doctrine as a type of amnesty clause for using copyrighted materials, Fair Use principles applied to media literacy education are...
Teachers can:
1.Make copies of newspaper articles, TV shows and other copyrighted works, use them and keep them for educational purposes.
2. Create curriculum resources which include copyrighted materials.
3. Share, sell and distribute curriculum resources they have created which include the copyrighted materials.
Students can:
4. Use copyrighted works in creating new material.
5. Distribute their works digitally if they meet the transformativeness standard.
That's the theory anyway, the fine print/ factors used by judges when determining whether a copyright infringement is protected under Fair Use are:
Select resources pertaining to copyright, fair use and teaching (worth checking out):
"Copyright, What is Copyright?" Musical Video
It is ironic that when you think Copyright, the first things that come into mind are… “prohibited, infringement, illegal, fines, stay away from”… when in theory the purpose of copyright according to the US Constitution is “to promote creativity, innovation and the spread of knowledge.”
Copyright law is actually very vague and most of the warnings/ threats that are attached to copyrighted materials (eg. fines, jail time, hell, etc.) are unwarranted and not backed up by the law. The basic principles behind copyright are:
- All tangible creative works are protected by copyright right when they are created.
- Citing or quoting the source doesn’t necessarily mean you are in the clear when using copyrighted material.
- When in doubt, ask for permission to use.
I see the Fair Use Doctrine as a type of amnesty clause for using copyrighted materials, Fair Use principles applied to media literacy education are...
Teachers can:
1.Make copies of newspaper articles, TV shows and other copyrighted works, use them and keep them for educational purposes.
2. Create curriculum resources which include copyrighted materials.
3. Share, sell and distribute curriculum resources they have created which include the copyrighted materials.
Students can:
4. Use copyrighted works in creating new material.
5. Distribute their works digitally if they meet the transformativeness standard.
That's the theory anyway, the fine print/ factors used by judges when determining whether a copyright infringement is protected under Fair Use are:
- purpose and character of your use (eg. personal use more likely to be "forgiven" than commercial)
- nature of the copyrighted work (eg. use of factual vs creative, published and out of print works more likely to be considered fair use)
- the amount and substaintability of the portion taken (eg. was more taken than was actually needed?)
- the effect on the use upon the potential market (eg. does the new material take away from the potential market of the original work?)
Select resources pertaining to copyright, fair use and teaching (worth checking out):
- Unlocking Copyright Confusion wiki- From the Media Ed Lab at Temple University, this collaborative wiki aims to end "copyright confusion" and includes information for teachers, resources for reasoning fair use, discussion forums on the topic, a Q&A space, best practices, case studies...
- http://copyrightfriendly.wikispaces.com- A very useful resource, includes a HUGE collection of sites from which to obtain copyright "friendly" media.
- Great chart detailing Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers: What you CAN do, and the fine print...
- To teach students about Copyright issues, you can find lesson plans and materials for discussion here, and copyrightconfusion.wikispaces.com has links to songs and videos to learn about these issues.
"Copyright, What is Copyright?" Musical Video
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