When we use technology in the classroom, the most basic question is what technology do we use. However, there are also the questions of how and why to be answered. Sure, in a basic computer skills class, the answer to those questions might be centered upon learning how to use a program--such as Word or PowerPoint or Excel. Yet, once students have a familiarity with a tool, we should start to focus on how they can use that tool to convey what they know, and how they can use that information to create an end product.
In his article Technology-Transformed Learning Environments, David Warlick lists and describes 5 characteristics that a technology-infused learning experience should have.
1. The learning should be "fueled by questions." Whether these are questions based on student interest, questions encountered while researching, or questions presented by problems that students encounter, they wind up more successful at the task as they work to find the answers and creative solutions to these questions and problems.
2. "Students are engaged in a way that provokes conversation." Whether this conversation is with classmates, teachers, experts, or the data itself, students are working with the material as a two-way street, and learning and growing from the process.
3. "The learning situation is responsive to the learner’s actions." Whether students are getting feedback from classmates or teachers, or responses such as blog comments, they are hearing back about the final product that they have created, and getting genuine responses about its impact.
4. "The learning experience compels a personal investment by the learner and contributes to the learner’s identity." I think that all students are more engaged and successful with tasks when they feel a connection to the material, and see how it is affecting themselves and others. Technology and web 2.0 offer a much wider area for them to cast their nets and see the effects.
5. "The learning results from significant opportunities to safely make mistakes." It is an ever-present concept that we learn from our mistakes, and this goes back to something I said in my previous blog post. Students will never learn as much as they are capable of if we go about blocking anything and everything that *might* abuse or have issues with on the internet. What we need to do is supervise them, and help them learn to use some of these tools effectively, and Warlick is saying the same. Making mistakes and having the help available to navigate through them will be extremely beneficial when mistakes are made later on, and no one is there to hold their hand.
As I think about the web 2.0 tools we have talked about this semester, blogs and VoiceThread are the two tools that spring into my head at the moment as being usable in my class in the near future, and that address many of these ideas of Warlick's.
Blogs and VoiceThread would be a great way to address questions. A teacher could pose a question as a starting point for commentary on either of these tools, and through collaboration or individual responses, students would raise further questions that they could then research, or try and answer for their classmates. Responses would both answer portions of the discussion/research, and lead to more questions to continue with. Similarly, as these questions are created within answers, students are holding a conversation, and giving feedback to their classmates at the same time. They are carrying on conversations, validating and encouraging others' opinions, helping others to develop/change their arguments, being able to show why their position is important while at the same time hearing the positions of others, and having the opportunity for processing time before giving an answer. I think doing this activity first within a single-class group would help students feel better about mistakes, as their main audience is a set of people that they are already familiar with. In addition, the online format gives them a chance to think about and formulate their answer before typing in a text comment, or deciding they are ready to turn the microphone on and record.
While I think that connecting with other classrooms and communities is an ideal direction in which to head, when we are introducing our students to some of these tools, working with the limited group of their classmates at first may be the best way to go. We all started riding a bike with training wheels on, and this is part of what Warlick is getting at with his fifth point. Mistakes can be good, but perhaps we should show our students that on the smaller scale, before immediately jumping to the BIG picture and letting them sink or swim as they learn the piece of technology, the class information, AND the life skills all at the same time.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Four Things the Net Generation Needs to Know
As we go through the school year, we are following a certain curriculum in our classes. Whether that curriculum is something that we have helped create, or something that was given to us to follow, we know the basic topics that we are covering in our subject area. Our curriculum map outlines what we are teaching...but was isn't in there that should be?
Upon reading the article Four things every student should learn...but not every school is teaching, I find myself agreeing with the four things that Alan November says we should make sure that our students, the "Net Generation," know--global empathy, social and ethical responsibility on the web, the permanence of information posted on the web, and critical thinking about the information found online.
When a new idea, theory, method, or resource appears on the educational landscape, it is often a good idea to take notice of it, but how much we address it will often depend upon its usefulness and longevity. In my opinion, technology and the internet have long since proven that they are becoming required and interwoven with our everyday personal and professional lives. As such, it really is a necessity for us, as teachers, to make sure that we are helping our students learn to navigate the web 2.0 world.
One comment that particularly struck me was when November referred to social networking sites such as FaceBook. Just because we block them at school does not mean the kids are not going to use them at home. Now, I don't think that means we need to open up any and every website for their unsupervised use at school. Yet, I often think that we should allow them more access in general while at school, so that we can help and guide them in responsible internet use. We shouldn't be banning everything in a preemptive strike to keep them safe. We should proactive showing them how to use it safely...and there is a difference!
The permanence of the information posted on the internet is still something that I find myself having to think about some days. I remember being surprised when I first learned that "the Internet" is being archived nearly continuously. It's similar to the tangible items of diaries and photographs. If you don't want someone to see it, don't write about it or provide evidence. The same is true of the internet. I can even see making the parallel with the tabloid magazines and TV shows. Those celebrities sure don't want all those personal photos and videos surfacing, but...if you make them, and leave them laying around, you never know who will find them and what they will do with them!
Critical thinking about the information on the internet is SO IMPORTANT! All through this class, we have been bringing up the idea of Wikipedia and how inaccurate it sometimes is. We OWE it to our students to emphasize the idea of checking their information, and looking at where/who it is coming from. One of the best things about the internet is that everyone can contribute. Yet, one of the worst things is that everyone can contribute! Take what you read with a grain of salt, if you've only seen it one place, and it doesn't look like a very reputable site.
And finally, global empathy. This is the skill that seemed most easily addressed in my class, as a foreign language teacher. I am constantly trying to relate my experiences in other countries and with other people to my students' lives, and make them aware of those differences. And any time I get a foreign exchange student in my class, I make sure that we ask them about customs and concepts in their home country. Allowing for, knowing about, understanding, and embracing differences between cultures is so important anymore, and will help students so much in their lives and future careers. I think that this is the skill I would most like to try and find web 2.0 tools to help integrate more into my classroom next year. Perhaps we could pair with a classroom in a different country and share blogs or voicethread commentary on certain customs. I could also see exchanging pictures on Flickr or creating a wiki where two classrooms could share their views side-by-side.
Upon reading the article Four things every student should learn...but not every school is teaching, I find myself agreeing with the four things that Alan November says we should make sure that our students, the "Net Generation," know--global empathy, social and ethical responsibility on the web, the permanence of information posted on the web, and critical thinking about the information found online.
When a new idea, theory, method, or resource appears on the educational landscape, it is often a good idea to take notice of it, but how much we address it will often depend upon its usefulness and longevity. In my opinion, technology and the internet have long since proven that they are becoming required and interwoven with our everyday personal and professional lives. As such, it really is a necessity for us, as teachers, to make sure that we are helping our students learn to navigate the web 2.0 world.
One comment that particularly struck me was when November referred to social networking sites such as FaceBook. Just because we block them at school does not mean the kids are not going to use them at home. Now, I don't think that means we need to open up any and every website for their unsupervised use at school. Yet, I often think that we should allow them more access in general while at school, so that we can help and guide them in responsible internet use. We shouldn't be banning everything in a preemptive strike to keep them safe. We should proactive showing them how to use it safely...and there is a difference!
The permanence of the information posted on the internet is still something that I find myself having to think about some days. I remember being surprised when I first learned that "the Internet" is being archived nearly continuously. It's similar to the tangible items of diaries and photographs. If you don't want someone to see it, don't write about it or provide evidence. The same is true of the internet. I can even see making the parallel with the tabloid magazines and TV shows. Those celebrities sure don't want all those personal photos and videos surfacing, but...if you make them, and leave them laying around, you never know who will find them and what they will do with them!
Critical thinking about the information on the internet is SO IMPORTANT! All through this class, we have been bringing up the idea of Wikipedia and how inaccurate it sometimes is. We OWE it to our students to emphasize the idea of checking their information, and looking at where/who it is coming from. One of the best things about the internet is that everyone can contribute. Yet, one of the worst things is that everyone can contribute! Take what you read with a grain of salt, if you've only seen it one place, and it doesn't look like a very reputable site.
And finally, global empathy. This is the skill that seemed most easily addressed in my class, as a foreign language teacher. I am constantly trying to relate my experiences in other countries and with other people to my students' lives, and make them aware of those differences. And any time I get a foreign exchange student in my class, I make sure that we ask them about customs and concepts in their home country. Allowing for, knowing about, understanding, and embracing differences between cultures is so important anymore, and will help students so much in their lives and future careers. I think that this is the skill I would most like to try and find web 2.0 tools to help integrate more into my classroom next year. Perhaps we could pair with a classroom in a different country and share blogs or voicethread commentary on certain customs. I could also see exchanging pictures on Flickr or creating a wiki where two classrooms could share their views side-by-side.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Delicious<-->Browser: Sharing your links
So, I was just reading my classmate, Trish's, blog and she said she was transferring her bookmarks from her browser to Delicious one-by-one, and she wanted to know if anyone had a faster solution. Seemed like there MUST be a faster solution, as even Deliciousitself would realize that this would be a slow and annoying process. So, I checked out the Bookmarks tab in my Firefox browser and then the Delicious page itself, and found a few options.
**I should note, I have not yet actually tried these two methods, but they look like they should be pretty easy to implement.**
1. In Firefox (which is my personal default browser), go to the Bookmarks tab on the top of your Firefox browser. Then, click on the option that says "Get Bookmarks Add-ons." If you scroll down the list of possible add-ons, about the 20th one says it's for Delicious, and will sync your bookmarks between Firefox and Delicious.
2. Go to Delicious, and click on "settings" on the top right of the screen. It will take you to another screen where the second section down is "Bookmarks" and one option is "Import/Upload Bookmarks" which says it will transfer a copy of the bookmarks in your browser.
Hope these work, and that it helps someone! :-)
**I should note, I have not yet actually tried these two methods, but they look like they should be pretty easy to implement.**
1. In Firefox (which is my personal default browser), go to the Bookmarks tab on the top of your Firefox browser. Then, click on the option that says "Get Bookmarks Add-ons." If you scroll down the list of possible add-ons, about the 20th one says it's for Delicious, and will sync your bookmarks between Firefox and Delicious.
2. Go to Delicious, and click on "settings" on the top right of the screen. It will take you to another screen where the second section down is "Bookmarks" and one option is "Import/Upload Bookmarks" which says it will transfer a copy of the bookmarks in your browser.
Hope these work, and that it helps someone! :-)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
I used GoogleDocs!
So, I hope to use GoogleDocs in larger ways than this, but I found a quick, easy use for it this week at work. The teacher websites that we can create at work are based upon saving a Word document as a webpage, and copying over the HTML code. Now, this doesn't allow for very much flexibility, and we only get the one page, no subpages. Also, to include any images or documents, we are limited based on space the school has/pays for, and we have to take those images/documents to someone in the building capable of uploading them, and have them put up when they have time.
After our DC trip, the students are doing a cross-curricular assignment that was due this past Friday. Many of them were coming to me for copies of the assignment sheet, having lost it. I wish I had thought about this earlier, but I was able to copy the assignment into a GoogleDoc, and provide a link to it on my page. That way, they can get it at home, when they realize last minute that they do not have it.
It's a basic use of GoogleDocs, but a convenient one that was able to immediately help a few people out. And it was extremely easy to do!
After our DC trip, the students are doing a cross-curricular assignment that was due this past Friday. Many of them were coming to me for copies of the assignment sheet, having lost it. I wish I had thought about this earlier, but I was able to copy the assignment into a GoogleDoc, and provide a link to it on my page. That way, they can get it at home, when they realize last minute that they do not have it.
It's a basic use of GoogleDocs, but a convenient one that was able to immediately help a few people out. And it was extremely easy to do!
Thoughts on Delicious
As I keep messing around with Delicious, I'm finding more aspects of it that I like. I believe it was Sarah E that said she was trying to use the inbox. I checked that out, and while I do wish you could send a bit of a message (if you can, I haven't figured it out), you can send bookmarks right to individual users. If the person uses Delicious, this is a great way to do things. If you send it to their email, then there are extra steps for them to get it to Delicious. If you send it right IN Delicious, they just have to add it.
However, that said, if someone does NOT have Delicious, I just noticed a "send" tab when I was tagging a link in Delicious. It offers options to email the link to someone, or post it to your Twitter account. These are nice options to have right in the Delicious program itself.
Also, in my network "friend" list, I see that it has sections and flags to denote who you are following, who is following you, and whether you are following each other. It's kind of nice to know those separations, and have a visual cue that someone is not seeing your link list, in case you specifically want them to. And, there is the option to make links private for yourself or hide them from some people, which can also be a bonus.
I may just have to make a personal account for Delicious and start transferring my long, jumbled, and untagged list of firefox bookmarks over there.
Also, for students, I see this as making things easier for them working between home and school. They can get online for a few minutes in one place, and have the sources that they found available in the other class. In addition, so often students are working on multiple projects at one time, this would be a great way for them to have one location to save links in, yet be able to tag them for the appropriate class. They don't need 4 different link locations, but can have one list and search it by "history project," "english project," etc. And if it's a group project, they can subscribe to each other's feeds, or share links between each other, which definitely helps to promote the 21st century skills of networking and collaboration.
However, that said, if someone does NOT have Delicious, I just noticed a "send" tab when I was tagging a link in Delicious. It offers options to email the link to someone, or post it to your Twitter account. These are nice options to have right in the Delicious program itself.
Also, in my network "friend" list, I see that it has sections and flags to denote who you are following, who is following you, and whether you are following each other. It's kind of nice to know those separations, and have a visual cue that someone is not seeing your link list, in case you specifically want them to. And, there is the option to make links private for yourself or hide them from some people, which can also be a bonus.
I may just have to make a personal account for Delicious and start transferring my long, jumbled, and untagged list of firefox bookmarks over there.
Also, for students, I see this as making things easier for them working between home and school. They can get online for a few minutes in one place, and have the sources that they found available in the other class. In addition, so often students are working on multiple projects at one time, this would be a great way for them to have one location to save links in, yet be able to tag them for the appropriate class. They don't need 4 different link locations, but can have one list and search it by "history project," "english project," etc. And if it's a group project, they can subscribe to each other's feeds, or share links between each other, which definitely helps to promote the 21st century skills of networking and collaboration.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
My Delicious Account
And speaking of accounts, both personal and professional, I forgot entirely to include my Delicious username in any of my other posts. I can be found at schultzjm03.
Personal vs. Professional....All these accounts
So, when we first started this class and I saw the list of sites we were going to be using, I was really dreading having to sign up for everything and having all these new/different accounts. As we progress in class, I'm thinking....
1. I am enjoying most of these web 2.0 tools a lot more than I thought I was going to, and just might end up using them after class more than I thought I would (or at all)!
2. We really are starting to reach out and find ways to connect, and I hope I can continue to do this after class ends, when I don't have an assignment "to connect" each week.
3. Now that I'm learning all of these tools....I have to remember to check them! :-) I'm already getting better, and things like tags, subscriptions, and the RSS feed are helping a lot.
4. I find that as we sign up for new things, or I look forward to web 2.0 tools that I already use...I have been, and intend to continue, to sign up with a "uww/teacher" identity. You so often hear about teachers getting in trouble online, that I really want to avoid that. It's NOT that I do anything inappropriate elsewhere online in my personal life. I try to be extremely careful about that. Yet, I find myself wanting to keep personal and professional still separate here. I'm liking Delicious a lot so far, but I think that if I use it for personal bookmarks, I will end up with another account. Sure, kids end up knowing a fair amount about us and our interests/lives. Yet, even if it's something totally innocuous and innocent, I don't necessarily feel the need for them to know exactly which sites I bookmark and visit for fun.
1. I am enjoying most of these web 2.0 tools a lot more than I thought I was going to, and just might end up using them after class more than I thought I would (or at all)!
2. We really are starting to reach out and find ways to connect, and I hope I can continue to do this after class ends, when I don't have an assignment "to connect" each week.
3. Now that I'm learning all of these tools....I have to remember to check them! :-) I'm already getting better, and things like tags, subscriptions, and the RSS feed are helping a lot.
4. I find that as we sign up for new things, or I look forward to web 2.0 tools that I already use...I have been, and intend to continue, to sign up with a "uww/teacher" identity. You so often hear about teachers getting in trouble online, that I really want to avoid that. It's NOT that I do anything inappropriate elsewhere online in my personal life. I try to be extremely careful about that. Yet, I find myself wanting to keep personal and professional still separate here. I'm liking Delicious a lot so far, but I think that if I use it for personal bookmarks, I will end up with another account. Sure, kids end up knowing a fair amount about us and our interests/lives. Yet, even if it's something totally innocuous and innocent, I don't necessarily feel the need for them to know exactly which sites I bookmark and visit for fun.
Delicious vs. Diigo
So, this class finally got me to join up with Delicious and see what it's all about. I have friends that have been using this for a while, and talk about it all the time. I have to admit, my initial thought was "Ok, that's great, but I can put bookmarks in my own web browser, what's the big deal?" I DO very much like the buttons that have been placed in my navigation bar, but I had those before for local bookmarks in Firefox.
Well, the obvious benefit of Delicious being web-based is that I can get at my bookmarks everywhere. More and more, I'm seeing this as a bonus, because it's becoming so much easier to get access elsewhere. And more than once since we have started this online MSE-PD program, I've been in one place finding resources, and ended up having to email myself the links somewhere else to use them. Delicious would have been a perfect fix for that! I also see this as a bonus for doing any sort of research in class. I find it's best to give students a few "starter" websites when we do research, or if we are doing a web-quest, perhaps there are places they have to go. Delicious might be a way that I can set up this portion of an assignment from work or home, and then have the students access that list at each of their own computers--saving time, and paper (if I were to print them out instead).
When I first opened up Diigo, I was assuming it was going to be nearly the same as Delicious, but the introduction presented some really great tools that Delicious does not have. Being able to highlight, and having it save is great. And being able to highlight in multiple colors is even better. I may want students to separate their focus for any number of reasons, and different colors would be a real visual cue. In addition, I like the idea of the sticky notes. This would be both a way to get a students' attention, or to place a question for them right IN the reading. Or, if that website is being used as a resource, maybe a sticky note/highlighting could be used to find my/their way back to a specific quote of interest.
The part of Diigo that really struck me, was that you can take a screenshot of the website and have it saved along with your bookmark. For sites such as news, blogs, and even perhaps wikis, that can change frequently, having a picture of the specific screen that you found interesting would be really useful. Sharing news coverage of a current even with a class, or even just showing something "cool" or "fun" to friends would be made so much easier this way.
I'm looking forward to using Delicious as I have already set up my account and a few bookmarks, but I think that I may just have to try Diigo out as well. There seem to be a few additional features on Diigo that would be very worthwhile--both in personal and professional use. The fact that both offer the option to network with other users is a big plus.
I think, even if these are not tools that I could use IN school, due to technology restrictions, these would be something that I will look into as resources for students to peruse outside of school. It would certainly be easy enough to set up a link on a school webpage, or have them set up accounts if they were interested. They could check from home, and find a tagged, relevant list of web resources waiting for them.
Well, the obvious benefit of Delicious being web-based is that I can get at my bookmarks everywhere. More and more, I'm seeing this as a bonus, because it's becoming so much easier to get access elsewhere. And more than once since we have started this online MSE-PD program, I've been in one place finding resources, and ended up having to email myself the links somewhere else to use them. Delicious would have been a perfect fix for that! I also see this as a bonus for doing any sort of research in class. I find it's best to give students a few "starter" websites when we do research, or if we are doing a web-quest, perhaps there are places they have to go. Delicious might be a way that I can set up this portion of an assignment from work or home, and then have the students access that list at each of their own computers--saving time, and paper (if I were to print them out instead).
When I first opened up Diigo, I was assuming it was going to be nearly the same as Delicious, but the introduction presented some really great tools that Delicious does not have. Being able to highlight, and having it save is great. And being able to highlight in multiple colors is even better. I may want students to separate their focus for any number of reasons, and different colors would be a real visual cue. In addition, I like the idea of the sticky notes. This would be both a way to get a students' attention, or to place a question for them right IN the reading. Or, if that website is being used as a resource, maybe a sticky note/highlighting could be used to find my/their way back to a specific quote of interest.
The part of Diigo that really struck me, was that you can take a screenshot of the website and have it saved along with your bookmark. For sites such as news, blogs, and even perhaps wikis, that can change frequently, having a picture of the specific screen that you found interesting would be really useful. Sharing news coverage of a current even with a class, or even just showing something "cool" or "fun" to friends would be made so much easier this way.
I'm looking forward to using Delicious as I have already set up my account and a few bookmarks, but I think that I may just have to try Diigo out as well. There seem to be a few additional features on Diigo that would be very worthwhile--both in personal and professional use. The fact that both offer the option to network with other users is a big plus.
I think, even if these are not tools that I could use IN school, due to technology restrictions, these would be something that I will look into as resources for students to peruse outside of school. It would certainly be easy enough to set up a link on a school webpage, or have them set up accounts if they were interested. They could check from home, and find a tagged, relevant list of web resources waiting for them.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wikis as a way to share resources and build and find connections
In my first post about Wikis, I shared a link to a Foreign Language specific wiki, which relates to my own curricular and interest areas. After a little more searching, I found a few wikis that are essentially lists of links that can be edited by members. What's interesting about these lists is that they are specifically designed to help teacher find connections and resources, and to build their Personal Learning Networks. A quick glance makes me feel that these wikis could be exceptionally useful in leading to other sites, and I would love to add links that others can use. In addition, these wikis are also geared toward building your Delicious bookmarks, and your twitter connections, which will both come in handy during this class!
Twitter4Teachers has an alphabetical list of different interest and content areas. Once you choose an area, it gives you a list of twitter accounts that discuss those areas, so you can find one that is of personal interest.
Delicious4Teachers is also split up by content/level and is geared towards helping educators connect with others via blogs, websites, and Delicious links.
Of particular note to those of us in the online class is that both of these wikis are in PBWorks, so we already have an account to view and edit them!
I'm really looking forward to exploring some of the resources listed on these pages!
Twitter4Teachers has an alphabetical list of different interest and content areas. Once you choose an area, it gives you a list of twitter accounts that discuss those areas, so you can find one that is of personal interest.
Delicious4Teachers is also split up by content/level and is geared towards helping educators connect with others via blogs, websites, and Delicious links.
Of particular note to those of us in the online class is that both of these wikis are in PBWorks, so we already have an account to view and edit them!
I'm really looking forward to exploring some of the resources listed on these pages!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Google Docs
I have to admit, I am much more impressed with Google Docs than I thought I was going to be. Getting into a standard word processing document was really easy, and it definitely does work just like you'd expect Word or Open Office to. After a bit of familiarization, the tools for inviting people, sharing documents, and starting new documents, forms, and presentations were easy to use. I was looking at the presentation section a little ahead of when our group needs to be doing that, and it reminded me very much of PowerPoint (which I'm sure is the point!).
This seems like a great tool for collaboration, sharing documents without having to email files, and perhaps providing a way for students to save a file and work on it elsewhere, even if they do not have a flash drive with them, or multiple students may need to look at the sheet between class sessions.
The similarity between menus, tools, and navigation on Google Docs and programs like Word and Open Office is also a real bonus. Even for someone who is not experienced with Google Docs, it is fairly easy to find what you are looking for. I had never used it, and most things were right where I was expecting them to be!
The invite to view/edit feature is also really useful. The control it gives you over your document is quite useful. If a final product is being shown to someone, they have no reason to need to edit, so there is the view option.
I think my favorite feature may be the option to view revisions, and then revert back to any of them. I think this is KEY when working on something with others. It's easy enough to make a mistake on your own, and cut out something you wanted. When working with others, that possibility increases. By providing all previous versions, and access to them, Google Docs has created an excellent back up system.
Teachers and students could use all of these features to work together, and share final products. It really just takes the basic Microsoft Office suite, and makes it easier to share with others.
This seems like a great tool for collaboration, sharing documents without having to email files, and perhaps providing a way for students to save a file and work on it elsewhere, even if they do not have a flash drive with them, or multiple students may need to look at the sheet between class sessions.
The similarity between menus, tools, and navigation on Google Docs and programs like Word and Open Office is also a real bonus. Even for someone who is not experienced with Google Docs, it is fairly easy to find what you are looking for. I had never used it, and most things were right where I was expecting them to be!
The invite to view/edit feature is also really useful. The control it gives you over your document is quite useful. If a final product is being shown to someone, they have no reason to need to edit, so there is the view option.
I think my favorite feature may be the option to view revisions, and then revert back to any of them. I think this is KEY when working on something with others. It's easy enough to make a mistake on your own, and cut out something you wanted. When working with others, that possibility increases. By providing all previous versions, and access to them, Google Docs has created an excellent back up system.
Teachers and students could use all of these features to work together, and share final products. It really just takes the basic Microsoft Office suite, and makes it easier to share with others.
New blog to follow/Learning to use Delicious
While I was looking for my Wiki, I happened to come across the blog Vamonos. A quick glance shows that it looks promising, and as of today, is moving from being a Blogger journal, to residing at http://lisibo.co.uk/. This blog seems to be fairly active, and focused on Spanish teaching and learning, sharing resources, videos, and ideas.
Also, with the addition of the wiki and this new blog to my PLN, I am learning to use the "Tag" feature from Delicious in my Firefox toolbar, to add these links to my list on Delicious.
Also, with the addition of the wiki and this new blog to my PLN, I am learning to use the "Tag" feature from Delicious in my Firefox toolbar, to add these links to my list on Delicious.
Wikis--Links, Uses, and Differences, Oh My!
In searching for a Wiki to follow/join/participate in, I found myself wanting to find a Wiki that was centered on Foreign Language/Spanish teaching. After doing a few searches and trying different key words, I found the Wiki Language Links. It was started as a resource for student teachers, and now has areas for student teachers, beginning teachers, and experienced teachers.
I like the fact that it has links to resources, language-specific resources, and a discussion area for teachers to share ideas. This sharing makes it useful for professional development and professional use. These interactive features, and information sharing aspects, are what make wikis so useful to educators. Also, the ability to edit helps create a community where people can share information and answer questions, instead of just looking for help. It makes me want to look for a particularly active Wiki that interests me, and be part of it. The more dialogue and sharing there is, the more useful the Wiki will be. Teachers can share anything from moral support, to organizational suggestions, to specific lesson/unit plans and ideas. There are so many ways to use a Wiki professionally. Finding the right one is probably the trick.
As I think about it, I think that that may be the biggest difference between blogs/RSS feeds and wikis. You read what comes to your RSS feed. You can make comments on a blog. But, with a wiki, you can be part of a group that shares and works together. I think a really successful wiki would be one where the end result is creation, and not just comments replying back and forth.
I like the fact that it has links to resources, language-specific resources, and a discussion area for teachers to share ideas. This sharing makes it useful for professional development and professional use. These interactive features, and information sharing aspects, are what make wikis so useful to educators. Also, the ability to edit helps create a community where people can share information and answer questions, instead of just looking for help. It makes me want to look for a particularly active Wiki that interests me, and be part of it. The more dialogue and sharing there is, the more useful the Wiki will be. Teachers can share anything from moral support, to organizational suggestions, to specific lesson/unit plans and ideas. There are so many ways to use a Wiki professionally. Finding the right one is probably the trick.
As I think about it, I think that that may be the biggest difference between blogs/RSS feeds and wikis. You read what comes to your RSS feed. You can make comments on a blog. But, with a wiki, you can be part of a group that shares and works together. I think a really successful wiki would be one where the end result is creation, and not just comments replying back and forth.
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