educator

Flickr will be very useful next year.  There are great photos and great ideas for using them.  I can definitely see using this tool with vocabulary.  Students with different learning styles will benefit from seeing the actual word and a visual of the word in action.

The picture I chose could be used in a lesson about God or nature.  It is a demonstration of how God’s power is manifested in nature.  I found this photo on Flickr.  The picture is called “I Love the Beach”. 

Creative Commons will affect me professionally in that it gives me another tool to use in presenting lessons.  I can also get to pictures that are not copy righted in one easy place.  It will be a great way to create and share.  I don’t think it will affect me personally in that I don’t use this type technology in my personal life.

I have not noticed the CC logo on any websites.

CC will impact student projects.  They will be able to access images and use them in a creative way with out the worry of copyright restrictions.

At this time I do not use digital images, audio or video clips form the web.  I plan to after this course.

I never share content on the web, except blogging.

Not applicable

At this time I see no potential negatives to using CC.

I read The Discovery Utopia Project.  It was interesting the way students used wiki for their project.  It seems to be a great way for  student to share and create.  Allows students to collaborate at school and at home.

Let’s Go West was well put together.  It used pictures and words to tell the story.  Well organized, and creative.

Primary Math was very well put together.  The students used video, music, pictures and words to show numbers in everyday life, as well as symmetry.  They left space to update as needed.

Room 15 Wiki is a great way to see how to use Wiki in the classroom.  Its run by students, for students.  They use blogs, podcast, and useful websites.  There are samples of student work.  Its a work in progress.  Its edited and updated by students.  Its a great way to get students actively involved in their learning.

Turn Homeward Hannalee.  Students used this book to create a great web page. It was well organized with useful information about the story.  There were slide shows with great pictures about the book.  The teacher and students used Media Player to play act scenes from the book.  Time-lines, summaries, interviews and maps were also used by students.  The students used many forms of media to make this an interesting and interactive web site. 

I had never heard of Wiki before this task.  It is an amazing tool.  I can see the benefit of using it in the classroom.  It is a great way to allow students to learn and teach.  It allows them to create and maintain their learning.  They share information and self correct as they move forward.  It also allows for input from parents, and others who might be interested in the educational process.   Right now I am not sure how I would use this tool in the classroom, because it is so new to me.  However, I hope to use it in the near future.

Task #1

How is blog reading different or the same as other reading?

Blogging seems to be different in that its a collaborative activity where as reading is oneway and more passive in terms of interaction.  When you blog you can share news on the web easily.  Blogging can be used as a discussion tool.  It is two way communication.  You read each others blogs, forming a community that can inspire, enlighten and motivate each other.  Everything can happen in real time.  Unlike with a book that can inform, but can’t give you immediate feedback. I found the blog entitled “Rationale for Educational Blogging” very interesting, because it shows how blogs provide for interaction and information. Student and teacher learn from each other.

How can blogging facilitate learning? 

Blogs can be shared between students, teachers, and school administrators, as well as others on the web. You have the latest data at your disposal. Teachers can share lesson plans and integrate lessons. Strategies and ideas can be shared, that help educators to present lessons in a new and fresh way.  It appears that students write more indept when writing blogs, because they know they will be read.  They seem to care more about their writing. Students become more involved in their learning. After  reading the articles and watching the videos on Web 2.0, I can see more clearly the value of blogging.

What do you notice about blogging in general?

It is growing globally.  Each day more and more people are blogging.  About 1.4 blogs are created every second.  Japanese is currently the number one blogging language followed by English, Chinese, and Italian.  It appears that if we are to stay up to date with what’s current we must learn to blog, and become active participants.  Its seems to be an excellent tool  for today’s digital learner. With blogging you can also incorporate other technologies, such as pod-casting, and tagging.  Today it seems to be the best way to share ideas across the globe and build communities of learning . Article, “State of the Live Web 2007″

I found the blog about, “Why I don’t assign homework” to be very interesting.  It does seem to be true that students who are strong in a  subject are more likely to complete homework assignments, where as students who need the practice seem not to take homework very seriously .  I do believe students need to practice concepts at home, where they have a better chance of getting some one on one help.  But all to often that help is not there, so students don’t get the reinforcement that homework is intended to give.  I am not sure about the solution, but homework needs to be reevaluated.

I liked the blog about “Power Point Reform” .  Power Points can be very boring.  It was great to read suggestions on how to make them more relevant and interesting.  I plan to incorporate some of these techniques the next time I use a Power Point.

The blog about “5th Grade” was a little sad.  I liked his attitude, but can’t help feeling  that he is being damaged by his relationship with his brother.  The good thing about the blog is that a school counselor or teacher can read it and and provide some support and strategies for Patrick.

The “Second Grade Missing Duck” blog is just to sweet.  It gave me so much hope.  If second graders can blog, than I can to. I especially like the one about the duck going to Hawaii.  Really creative and funny.  I am sure the students, teachers, and parents got a kick out of reading these.  For the second graders this type of reading might be more interesting than reading a book.  What ever works ( within reason)to get students excited about reading is alright with me. 

Initial thoughts about Web 2.0 and its role in 21st century teaching and learning:

It’s an emerging technology that connects people and ideas.  Information is at your fingertips.  Allows for collaboration, creativity, and contributions between people around the world. Provides tools that can be used to share ideas and information.  Its a web of people that will build life long friendships, while becoming life long learners.  Allows for change and continued learning.

Consider ways Web 2.0 tools might change your professional practices:

Can use tools to access varies medias, such as blogging and podcasting.  Large amount of information easy to access.  Latest data at my finger tips, making it possible for me to be more current. I can share ideas with collegues and vice versa.  Blogs can be shared with parents, students, administrators, thereby keeping everyone informed on what is going on in my class room.  Can share lesson plans to learn about topics being taught by my student’s other teachers. Share strategies and ideas with collegues, to integrate topics across subjects.  Students write their own blogs and share. Writing more indepht.  Student activily engaged in their learning.  Web 2.0 opens the lines of communication for everyone concerned.  There are few limits to what is possible.

How might you use to engage today’s digital learners and why:

Students write their own blogs and share. Writing more in depth.  Student actively engaged in their learning. Students can benefit from reading each others blogs. Students can use podcast to communicate with parents about classroom learning.

How to support your own learning:

I can use to access the lasted information I need to plan lessons.  Can blog, to share ideas and or collaborate with peers and other experts.  Can link to other bloggers and create a community of life long learners.  Can use to inspire and motivate each other. 

Which habit might be more challenging to employ as part of my K12 Learning 2.0 experience.

#6.  Using technology to your advantage:  There is so much new technology, that it can be a bit overwhelming.  I tend to rely on what is most comfortable.  Change is not always comfortable.  I must step out of my comfort zone and explore the wealth of new technology.  This will allow me to integrate more technology into the learning experience.

Which habit would be easiest or most resonant for you as a life long learner?

#7.  Teach mentor others:  I agree that learning deepens when we teach others.  I am a curious person who likes to learn.  I think this will aid in over coming my hesitation about cutting edge technology.  I enoy the art of teaching, and always learn more after I prepare a lesson, or teach a lesson.

Which habit do you think would be most important for you as your work through this course?

#5. Create own learner tool box:  I have very little in my tool box.  I do have books and videos.  I need to include the new technology in my tool box.  This will help bring me into the 21st century, and provide the resources needed to teach the digital learner.

Welcome to your brand new blog at Edublogs.

To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.

There’s stacks of great supporting material too! Take time to view our some helpful introductory videos, read through our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) or stop by The Edublogs Forums to chat with other edubloggers.

If you’ve got 4 minutes and 55 seconds, we’ve also put together a video introduction that you might like:

You can also subscribe to our brilliant free publication, The Edublogger, which is jammed with helpful tips, ideas and more.

And finally, if you like Edublogs but want to be able to simply create, administer, control and manage hundreds of student and teacher blogs at your school or college, check out Edublogs Campus… it’s like Edublogs in a box, all for you.

Thanks again for signing up with Edublogs!