Okay, so the professor who made the video I posted in "Embedding Video" is going to be a keynote speaker at a small conference outside of Oklahoma City this March! I want to go! I may cancel class to go, in fact (or move it). Anyone want to meet up there? ;->
http://www.uco.edu/heartlandconference/index.html
Here's what he's up to now: http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/video-uses-student-voices-to-explore-new-directions-in-education/29288
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Reflections on Blogs
Well, I have so many ideas for blogs now I have to put myself in check. I want to write a blog for those who want to "do" education after school or as part of homeschooling (http://lightingthefireresources.wordpress.com/--how's that for marketing?), I'd like to write another one for educators (I am finding that these are two very different audiences), and then I'd like to use them in the classes I teach.
This is the first step, I think, to using more tools like this for my writing students (like wikis). I am interested in using blogs to have students chart their progress in research projects (rather than writing them out in a spiral bound notebook that will either never be filled or will go into the landfill when we're done), but I think they could also be used as group projects, with four or five students creating a team of blogs on certain essays or texts that we are reading and creating their own reading groups (ideally that would continue on after the semester and perhaps move to new and different reading they are doing).
Long ago, when I taught a course on Women's Literature (a general education course that was offered as one of several that could fulfill a "gender" requirement) I decided that my goal in that course was going to be to make the students so excited about reading that they would continue to read books by and about women even after the course was over. We watched films, students taught portions of each story, we didn't take the literature too seriously, but we did read it critically and enjoy it together. That's the sort of feeling I hope to duplicate with these exciting, fun tools. Even if they aren't writing academic essays after college is over, I want them to continue to write--blogging may be a first step towards that goal.
This semester I have learned how to introduce a blog, that the title is important, that you can manage a blog and a blogroll with Google's "reader" tool and RSS feeds. I learned how to market my blog, which I plan to do soon. I also had some great conversations about how to use blogs in a way which forwards our educational goals, not simply adds a technology for the sake of doing something new. The most important thing I learned, though, is that I love this stuff, and I want to continue reading. I've read Tapscott's MacroWikinomics, and now I am reading The World is Open (a response, I am guessing, to Friedman's The World is Flat). Exciting times for educators!
This is the first step, I think, to using more tools like this for my writing students (like wikis). I am interested in using blogs to have students chart their progress in research projects (rather than writing them out in a spiral bound notebook that will either never be filled or will go into the landfill when we're done), but I think they could also be used as group projects, with four or five students creating a team of blogs on certain essays or texts that we are reading and creating their own reading groups (ideally that would continue on after the semester and perhaps move to new and different reading they are doing).
Long ago, when I taught a course on Women's Literature (a general education course that was offered as one of several that could fulfill a "gender" requirement) I decided that my goal in that course was going to be to make the students so excited about reading that they would continue to read books by and about women even after the course was over. We watched films, students taught portions of each story, we didn't take the literature too seriously, but we did read it critically and enjoy it together. That's the sort of feeling I hope to duplicate with these exciting, fun tools. Even if they aren't writing academic essays after college is over, I want them to continue to write--blogging may be a first step towards that goal.
This semester I have learned how to introduce a blog, that the title is important, that you can manage a blog and a blogroll with Google's "reader" tool and RSS feeds. I learned how to market my blog, which I plan to do soon. I also had some great conversations about how to use blogs in a way which forwards our educational goals, not simply adds a technology for the sake of doing something new. The most important thing I learned, though, is that I love this stuff, and I want to continue reading. I've read Tapscott's MacroWikinomics, and now I am reading The World is Open (a response, I am guessing, to Friedman's The World is Flat). Exciting times for educators!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Preparing the "Master Blog"
Okay, so I am planning to begin the "master blog." My working title is "Lighting the Fire: Resources for Generation Education" but that may be too wordy, too general...help? I want to review resources for the parents of kids who are schooling independently (or "afterschooling") and weave in discussion about how the world of education is changing (I think that the increase in homeschoolers and virtual schoolers is merely a small part of a larger sea change).
Anyway--ideas?
Anyway--ideas?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
How to Market Your Blog
Marketing a blog is a sticky issue when you are using them in education, I would think. While a blog I might wish to write on educational technology and culture might require marketing, someone writing a blog for his first grade class might not want to really market beyond the families of his students. In the latter case, all one needs to do, probably, is send the link home with the kids and showcase it on "Back to School" nights.
I am considering writing a blog on the changes we are seeing in education. If I do that, I would certainly want like-minded and well informed (and perhaps not like-minded but at least well informed) people to join the conversation.
This article (on a blog) goes through the steps rather nicely. The first thing is to choose the name of the blog carefully. You can all see that this step is something I unfortunately missed with this blog. I do have someone in my household who is very good at titles, though, so I will take advantage of that resource. Investing in a domain name is probably a good idea.
The other really important tidbit I found in this article is something called "permalinks," ta dah! These allow someone to bookmark a particular post rather than having to search the entire blog for that one thing they recall reading a few months ago. I'll have to go look into that. Blogger is supposed to have this already included, but I don't see it, so if anyone knows how to apply it, I'd love to know!
The full article is here: http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/1064/how-to-market-your-blog-and-keep-your-readers/
Finally, here's an article I found on "unusual" ways to market your blog. http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/06/07/5-uncommon-ways-to-market-your-blog I didn't really find them that uncommon, but they do go beyond the way you set your blog up.
I have really enjoyed these assignments, and I am looking forward to seeing what you all have found in your searches. I think I may begin that new blog. I'll have to start thinking about it!
I am considering writing a blog on the changes we are seeing in education. If I do that, I would certainly want like-minded and well informed (and perhaps not like-minded but at least well informed) people to join the conversation.
This article (on a blog) goes through the steps rather nicely. The first thing is to choose the name of the blog carefully. You can all see that this step is something I unfortunately missed with this blog. I do have someone in my household who is very good at titles, though, so I will take advantage of that resource. Investing in a domain name is probably a good idea.
The other really important tidbit I found in this article is something called "permalinks," ta dah! These allow someone to bookmark a particular post rather than having to search the entire blog for that one thing they recall reading a few months ago. I'll have to go look into that. Blogger is supposed to have this already included, but I don't see it, so if anyone knows how to apply it, I'd love to know!
The full article is here: http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/1064/how-to-market-your-blog-and-keep-your-readers/
Finally, here's an article I found on "unusual" ways to market your blog. http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/06/07/5-uncommon-ways-to-market-your-blog I didn't really find them that uncommon, but they do go beyond the way you set your blog up.
I have really enjoyed these assignments, and I am looking forward to seeing what you all have found in your searches. I think I may begin that new blog. I'll have to start thinking about it!
Managing Multiple Blogs
So in searching for help on managing multiple blogs, I came across this article from The Chronicle of Higher Education (which is a great paper, by the way, and the ProfHacker column is always good).
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/tools-for-managing-multiple-class-blogs/22893
What is even more helpful than the article, though, are the comments below. One mentions a blogging rubric, which I will probably work with and customize for my class. It's from a blog called "Sample Reality: Pedagogy and the Class Blog":
Also, the comments discuss Word Press blogs and the "semi-private" setting which allows only the instructor to read student posts. So I poked around and found that in Blogger, those choices are under Settings-->Permissions. This would take care of some of the privacy issues if that is a concern.
My concern, as always, is time. If I have students using blogs, I have to read them all, which means I should make some adjustments that week about posting in their discussion forums. I am getting used to Google's "reader" but it still seems very crowded to me and I'm afraid I will miss things. I am, however, really interested in seeing whether the blogs are a useful tool for students to track their own progress.
I could use the "team blog" option, but I don't think that would give me the results I want at this point, but it does give me some good ideas for my more advanced classes. I can allow students just to post and not have administrative control, although I would also probably allow them to have their own blogs too, if they wished. One of the great things about technology in the classroom is the freedom it gives students to "co-create" learning experiences and to help others learn. Restricting them only to a team blog seems to fly int he face of that, although if we worked on it as a class project it might really be fun.
So, in the end, I suppose my current, very tentative management plan is to have specific required posts on the blogs (thought they will be free to blog more often). I will have a rubric for grading those posts up at the beginning of the term. In addition, I will set up two separate email accounts in Google so that I can separate the blog readers. (My school signs up thirty student in composition and usually about 10 drop by the fourth week, so we're talking approximately twenty blogs per class).
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/tools-for-managing-multiple-class-blogs/22893
What is even more helpful than the article, though, are the comments below. One mentions a blogging rubric, which I will probably work with and customize for my class. It's from a blog called "Sample Reality: Pedagogy and the Class Blog":
Also, the comments discuss Word Press blogs and the "semi-private" setting which allows only the instructor to read student posts. So I poked around and found that in Blogger, those choices are under Settings-->Permissions. This would take care of some of the privacy issues if that is a concern.
My concern, as always, is time. If I have students using blogs, I have to read them all, which means I should make some adjustments that week about posting in their discussion forums. I am getting used to Google's "reader" but it still seems very crowded to me and I'm afraid I will miss things. I am, however, really interested in seeing whether the blogs are a useful tool for students to track their own progress.
I could use the "team blog" option, but I don't think that would give me the results I want at this point, but it does give me some good ideas for my more advanced classes. I can allow students just to post and not have administrative control, although I would also probably allow them to have their own blogs too, if they wished. One of the great things about technology in the classroom is the freedom it gives students to "co-create" learning experiences and to help others learn. Restricting them only to a team blog seems to fly int he face of that, although if we worked on it as a class project it might really be fun.
So, in the end, I suppose my current, very tentative management plan is to have specific required posts on the blogs (thought they will be free to blog more often). I will have a rubric for grading those posts up at the beginning of the term. In addition, I will set up two separate email accounts in Google so that I can separate the blog readers. (My school signs up thirty student in composition and usually about 10 drop by the fourth week, so we're talking approximately twenty blogs per class).
Monday, January 10, 2011
Using Blogs as a Teaching Tool?
I really like the idea of a blog focused on a specific project. I think they could be used to really wonderful effect in the classroom. Right now I am thinking about having the students in my first year writing course blog about their writing process, what they are learning about doing research, citation, plagiarism, etc. and giving them points toward participation for completing those posts. My concern is keeping up with them all, but if I don't overdo the number of required posts and set some time aside to look at all of them in one sitting (one class per sitting), I should be all right. The idea would be that at the end of the term they can look back and remember all the things they have done and learned. If they want their friends and family to see what they are up to, they can just point them to the blog.
I love the idea of having a blog to keep the parents in touch with what's happening in their classrooms, but I teach college-aged students and adult students, so that kind of application isn't of value to me personally. I do, however, think I might begin a blog that reviews or explains the great books I've come across while homeschooling my daughter. I'm sure there are lots of those blags out there already, but this way when someone asks me "What did you use for..." I can just send them to the blog.
Also, if I ever get to teach Creative Writing again, what a great way to brainstorm ideas or set up readings! It would be terrific to list all the writer's events taking place locally, too.
To add to the "if I ever get the chance" list, I think I could do a great blog on a historical or literary "road trip."
I've signed up for all the rss feeds, but is that just the link to other blogs or does it inform you when there are new posts? So far I'm not getting any messages, but perhaps I'm not looking in the right place...
I love the idea of having a blog to keep the parents in touch with what's happening in their classrooms, but I teach college-aged students and adult students, so that kind of application isn't of value to me personally. I do, however, think I might begin a blog that reviews or explains the great books I've come across while homeschooling my daughter. I'm sure there are lots of those blags out there already, but this way when someone asks me "What did you use for..." I can just send them to the blog.
Also, if I ever get to teach Creative Writing again, what a great way to brainstorm ideas or set up readings! It would be terrific to list all the writer's events taking place locally, too.
To add to the "if I ever get the chance" list, I think I could do a great blog on a historical or literary "road trip."
I've signed up for all the rss feeds, but is that just the link to other blogs or does it inform you when there are new posts? So far I'm not getting any messages, but perhaps I'm not looking in the right place...
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Blogging--Back to the Beginning?
I ruthlessly swiped this from William's blog. (Thanks, William!) It's just such a great history of social communication/news I couldn't resist.
Embedding Video
Okay, so I have added a few gadgets to this site. I played around with the video bar, but apparently I can only subscribe to entire channels on YouTube that way. I did discover that on Blogger you can now upload your own videos directly into your blog, but this one is from YouTube, "A Vision of Students Today" by Dr. Michael Wesch. His website is: http://mediatedcultures.net/ksudigg/. It's a few years old, but I really liked it when it came out and I still like it. It points out how our students today often come from a very different world and have a different way of experiencing things.
I have to say, though, the sign that says "I will read eight books this year," broke my heart. Heather, I read your blog today and the video you posted has a student saying "Nobody reads books," and from the other side of the room, my eight year-old chimed in, "I do!" Whew. ;-> She probably read eight books this week. Limiting screen time has its perks.
I have to say, though, the sign that says "I will read eight books this year," broke my heart. Heather, I read your blog today and the video you posted has a student saying "Nobody reads books," and from the other side of the room, my eight year-old chimed in, "I do!" Whew. ;-> She probably read eight books this week. Limiting screen time has its perks.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Journal Article (2)
The second article I read was "The Top 20 Teacher Blogs" from Instructor (New York, N.Y.: 1999).
While it is a bit dated, all the sites I checked out were still up, and they were terrific. I loved the first-grade teacher's blog MRS. CASSIDY'S CLASSROOM BLOG classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337), which reaches out to classrooms around the country and the world and interacts with other first-grade students and their teachers. What a great use of a blog.
http://www.sciencefix.com/ is another great blog which incorporates video of science experiments for middle-school students.
Also, in reading and digging around, I learned what a backchannel is--a new term for my toolbox, lol. I'm sure most of you already knew about this, but I didn't. For those of you who might not know, it's all the responses that are happening when someone is speaking--basically all the talk in the room other than what the speaker is saying. Apparently this is getting pretty big at tech conferences.
While it is a bit dated, all the sites I checked out were still up, and they were terrific. I loved the first-grade teacher's blog MRS. CASSIDY'S CLASSROOM BLOG classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337), which reaches out to classrooms around the country and the world and interacts with other first-grade students and their teachers. What a great use of a blog.
http://www.sciencefix.com/ is another great blog which incorporates video of science experiments for middle-school students.
Also, in reading and digging around, I learned what a backchannel is--a new term for my toolbox, lol. I'm sure most of you already knew about this, but I didn't. For those of you who might not know, it's all the responses that are happening when someone is speaking--basically all the talk in the room other than what the speaker is saying. Apparently this is getting pretty big at tech conferences.
Journal Article (1)
This was fun--I found a few articles on blogging which interested me.
Here's the first one:
My niece does not use much technology in her school life except for the phone she takes there herself. She also cannot tell me much about any of her courses except art. Now, it may be that she's just not interested in school right now (she wouldn't be the first teenager to think about other things instead), but there is obviously some kind of disconnect, and I wonder whether a connection might be made or strengthened if her experiences inside of school in terms of technology better matched her life outside of it. It is such an important part of her life--what if her counselor texted? If her math teacher texted a question for the next day's class ? Would it become uncool to text or would it help remind her that midterms are coming up?
Of course, using technology is not enough. There must be a thoughtful, interesting reason to use the tools. As a literature professor, I love the idea of using author's blogs to help create an immediate bond between the students and the writer. I wonder whether there are authors other than children's authors who blog and check in frequently. I'm going to research this a bit.
Here's the first one:
Johnson, Denise. "Teaching With Authors’ Blogs: Connections, Collaboration,
Creativity." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 54(3). November 2010.
Creativity." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 54(3). November 2010.
Having just spent a week with my thirteen year-old niece who texted even between the moment her bowling ball was sent down the alley and the moment it came out of the ball return, this passage really jumped out at me:
Most students use online networks to extend friendships, but only a small number use those network to explore interests or find information beyond what they have access to at school or in their community (Ito et al., 2008). This lack of engagement with online networks as a learning resource suggests new ways of thinking about the role of classroom teachers.As Richardson (2009) explained, “If we continue to simply pass paper back and forth in our classrooms, we are not preparing students for the world they are entering” (p. 30). What would it mean to really exploit the potential of the learning opportunities available through online resources and networks? Exploiting the potential use of authors’ blogs in the language arts curriculum can result in establishing an authentic learning environment that creates powerful connections, collaboration, and creativity that promotes learning and challenges thinking.
My niece does not use much technology in her school life except for the phone she takes there herself. She also cannot tell me much about any of her courses except art. Now, it may be that she's just not interested in school right now (she wouldn't be the first teenager to think about other things instead), but there is obviously some kind of disconnect, and I wonder whether a connection might be made or strengthened if her experiences inside of school in terms of technology better matched her life outside of it. It is such an important part of her life--what if her counselor texted? If her math teacher texted a question for the next day's class ? Would it become uncool to text or would it help remind her that midterms are coming up?
Of course, using technology is not enough. There must be a thoughtful, interesting reason to use the tools. As a literature professor, I love the idea of using author's blogs to help create an immediate bond between the students and the writer. I wonder whether there are authors other than children's authors who blog and check in frequently. I'm going to research this a bit.
Hello, Classmates!
Hiya! I am really excited to take this course. I am starting to tiptoe towards the full MS in CSE program, but I work full time so it'll have to be in bits and pieces. Did I mention how excited I was? ;->
Things not great in terms of funding in California, so I haven't been able to really engage in much professional development unless I pay for it myself. I've earned a certificate in online teaching from UCLA (I think I was the last individual to earn it as they require you to bring your own cohort now), but honestly, this field changes so quickly that I feel the need to just keep going. I really enjoy learning new things, and I feel as though it helps my students in the long run as well.
Okay, so I never really made it back to disscuss Tapscott. One idea that really appeals to me is open source and how it is going to change the way many institutions are structured. Rather than an inflexible, top-down heirarchy, open source encourages ideas and innovations from the folks in the trenches (bottom up rather than top down). Can anyone see this happening in education at all?
I think it's a natural offshoot of Peter Elbow's "teacherless classroom" (yes, I'm dating myself) which is more like our "guide on the side" taken to extremes. (He supposedly taught a graduate seminar without ever identifying himself as the instructor, making the students teach themselves while he was there to keep things on track).
I'm really excited about this class and also about another one I want to take later--"Big Thinkers"--has anyone taken that one yet?
Things not great in terms of funding in California, so I haven't been able to really engage in much professional development unless I pay for it myself. I've earned a certificate in online teaching from UCLA (I think I was the last individual to earn it as they require you to bring your own cohort now), but honestly, this field changes so quickly that I feel the need to just keep going. I really enjoy learning new things, and I feel as though it helps my students in the long run as well.
Okay, so I never really made it back to disscuss Tapscott. One idea that really appeals to me is open source and how it is going to change the way many institutions are structured. Rather than an inflexible, top-down heirarchy, open source encourages ideas and innovations from the folks in the trenches (bottom up rather than top down). Can anyone see this happening in education at all?
I think it's a natural offshoot of Peter Elbow's "teacherless classroom" (yes, I'm dating myself) which is more like our "guide on the side" taken to extremes. (He supposedly taught a graduate seminar without ever identifying himself as the instructor, making the students teach themselves while he was there to keep things on track).
I'm really excited about this class and also about another one I want to take later--"Big Thinkers"--has anyone taken that one yet?
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