Thinking it Through

I find it useful to reflect on what I’ve learned about implementing technology, because I plan to become more involved with other Web 2.0 technologies in my classroom. In no particular order, here are some things I’ve discovered:

1. Always, always, always begin with your standards/benchmarks/goals when planning a technology lesson, and ask the important questions, especially whether or not technology provides the best way to teach this standard, and whether it is worth the time (yours and the students’ time) to pursue this particular objective using technology.

2. Start small, test drive everything, and move up to bigger projects.

3. Budget a bit more time than you think you’ll need to get your project accomplished.

4. Use good teaching:  be clear with the kids about the goals for the project, provide rubrics/checksheets/etc., model the processes involved, provide checkpoints/feedback along the way, and allow some time for wrap up discussions.

Using one web based technology application has made me more likely to try others. I am finding that my “learning curve” has taken a big jump, making me eager to use other technology and comfortable with the common features many of them share. When I use one technology, I find myself seeing other ways to apply that technology to my curriculum.

I spent a little time today reviewing my goals from CEP 810. One goal was “…to use technology to build a classroom community of collaborative learners who use technology as a tool for enhanced learning. Students will use technology in a variety of ways that offer opportunities for problem solving, creativity, and real world application. “  I find that I am coming closer to achieving that goal in my own classroom. I find that some days and weeks in my room are “power technology” times where students are using technology to analyze, synthesize, collaborate, and work cooperatively. Another goal I listed was stated:  ”I would like to become more proficient at implementing technology in the classroom setting by analyzing the goals for the learners, considering the needs of the students, and matching appropriate technology to students in the classroom setting.” I think I’ve become more proficient, but I also think I’ve just scratched the surface. I would like to continue to keep this as a professional development goal. I also stated that “I would like to model active learning for my students by seeking out new technologies and finding for ways to implement them in meaningful classroom activities.” Certainly I’ve been doing that in all three certificate classes!

For my future professional development, I plan on continuing in the Ed Tech Masters program. I would like to keep these same goals as I think they are broad enough to allow for continued growth as a teacher and a learner. In addition, I would like to become more involved in working with other teachers and encouraging them to become more proficient with Web 2.0 tools. I also see great potential in digital storytelling, and I would like to add that to my list of tools to help students develop digital portfolios. I am going to continue to learn more about developing online classes and resources when I get some training in January on Blackboard. The certificate classes have certainly launched me into my “second career” as a teacher who is also an educational technologist!

While I have yet to wrap up my TechQuest project (it probably won’t be completed until just before or just after the holiday break), I’ve gained some insights and expertise with the uses of podcasting in the classroom. Here are some things I’ve discovered, experimenting with podcasting and pursuing this TechQuest.

First, I’ve discovered that creating digital products is intrinsically motivating for most kids. The fact that eighty percent of the kids thought writing a podcast script would be fun before beginning the project was a pretty good indicator. My research into podcasting indicates that podcasts are wildly popular, both as a method for instructional delivery and as a creative medium for students to produce projects. I think the difference between podcasting and other simple presentation tools is this: podcasts create a larger audience, and they are instantly available for sharing anywhere, anytime. This gives kids the freedom to show them off to anyone, peers or adults. It creates audience for written scripts, as well as providing students with a chance to use technology in a way that is personally satisfying and very creative. One question I want to add to my TechQuest “post” survey is whether or not students will download and share their podcasts with anyone else. I will be curious to see if these projects get a much wider audience than just classmates.

 I think other teachers will benefit from learning about podcasting as a motivational tool. Much of what we teach students in school has to be documented for evidence of progress in some way. Web 2.0 tools such as podcasts can be a way of demonstrating what students learn, as well as the purposes outlined in the paragraph above. In this era of “digital natives”, it is imperative that we find ways to engage students with their learning, and using digital tools provides us with a ‘head start” to doing just that.

Another benefit to using podcasts is that they can be embedded into different media for other uses. For example, they can be blogged or placed on iTunes or another RSS aggregator for wider distribution and more feedback. They can be incorporated into digital portfolios as evidence of student learning. Of course, kids can just download them to their iPods or MP3 players to share with mom and dad!

I will be teaching biography third and fourth quarter as well, and I plan to repeat the project. I want to develop a handout of simple icons and directions for Audacity, especially documenting the “save” process so students end up with their projects saved in the right folders. I also plan to introduce podcasting to my science and social studies classes, now that I’ve had a chance to use and troubleshoot Audacity. I also liked using the Survey Monkey to document the change in student’s attitudes before and after their projects. In the future, I’ll give some consideration to using it again as an anecdotal record of student attitude change, or possibly to show skill development before and after creating a digital product. I’m enjoying exploring ways of teaching with Web 2.0 tools, and I’m looking forward to further implementation in my own classroom.

My First Podcast

EDUCATIONAL NEED OR OPPORTUNITY

In my first draft of my TechQuest project, I stated that “I would like my TechQuest to involve all students in activities that are intrinsically motivating, allow them to work collaboratively, require them to respond to a task using reading and writing in an application that requires higher order thinking.” I mentioned the disconnect I see from students who are struggling readers and writers with their assignments, especially the longer term ones that involve some research and higher level thinking. My first blog entry details what I think is the need to engage and motivate all students, especially the struggling ones, in meaningful tasks involving reading and writing. I see the inclusion of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom as an opportunity to motivate students and provide opportunities to work collaboratively on such tasks.

HOW I PLAN TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE

I would like to expand the opportunities for use of Web 2.0 tools in my classroom to address these needs. Wanting to begin small and locally, I decided to test the use of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom by using Audacity for podcasting in my reading class (“Biography and Autobiography” is the course title). Students will learn to use Audacity to create podcast scripts that involve them in reading their selected biographies, looking for important details/turning points in their characters lives, coming up with character descriptions and themes that fit the lives of their chosen person, and creating original podcasts to share this information with others in the class. Audacity is free software, and it is already located on the P: drives of our computers. Our tech people can download it easily to the laptop carts, which makes it ideal for partner work. Students are not stuck in the computer lab, but can move about freely while working with the laptops and “spread out” in the hallway and classroom areas. I plan to give students practice developing podcast questions first (again, more reading and writing practice) by modeling the process using the Jackie Robinson story. Students will then try it in partners using the Eleanor Roosevelt story. Both selections are in our literature books and would be used for class anyway. This “to, with, and by” approach is advocated by many reading specialists for helping students master new skills involving reading tasks, and I’m sure it will work well for teaching students an approach to developing written material for podcasting.In order to gauge the impact of using podcasting as a tool to increase student motivation for writing, I developed a pre and post survey to give to students on reading, writing, and podcasting. The intent is to gain a picture of student’s perception of themselves as readers and writers, get information about how they feel about reading and writing, and find out what they think about reading biographies. I will compare their results before and after introducing podcasting. I also included a question about how they feel about using technology to complete a school project. The link for these surveys is listed below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=uHJMiZx_2fsSU9_2bmG7nJMHFQ_3d_3d

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XoRAyHmqVyLidzqjxZTwog_3d_3d

RESEARCH AND RELEVANT RESOURCES

The research I conducted relating to my topics is listed in TechQuest blog entry #2 (see below). Ideas and materials are included there, with a link to my Google Page on podcasting resources.

PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION

I plan to implement this project in several stages:

1.       PRE WRITING ACTIVITIES:

A.  Technology, reading, and writing survey (Survey Monkey)

B.  Introduce the idea of podcasting by having students listen to a sample student podcast I created on Jackie Robinson. After reading the Jackie Robinson story, students will be given a script with questions and listen to the podcast. We will discuss what kinds of questions make a good podcast.

2.       DEVELOPING PODCASTS: After reading the Eleanor Roosevelt story, students will work in partners to develop ten questions that could be used in a podcast for Eleanor Roosevelt. Attention will be paid in prewriting lessons to theme and character traits.

3.       READING AND RESEARCH: While students are working in class, 18-20 minutes daily will be given to silent reading biographies they have selected (with guidance) from the school library. Students will periodically journal notes about character traits, important events, and themes.

4.       CREATING AND SHARING:  Students will write podcast scripts based on their famous person. Using these scripts and working with a friend, they will use Audacity to create podcasts in a mock interview format, with one student taking the role of the famous person.  A rubric will be used for scoring the podcasts (given out before writing) and the class will listen to the podcasts. Podcasts will be uploaded to iTunes and a link will be placed on my classroom blog site for students to access and share their work.

Items 1, 2, and 3 will be completed before our session ends, while item 4 will take place after the holiday break as a culminating activity. The post survey will be given after completion of the podcasts.

THE FOUR COMMON PLACES OF EDUCATION 

The teacher:  This project will help me develop the use of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. Once the basic skills are demonstrated, I will act as a “guide on the side” and a coach for my students as they develop their work. I will be learning new skills about incorporating music tracks into Audacity, and posting podcasts to the web and my blog. By using the pre and post surveys, I hope to gain insights into how Web 2.0 tools can impact student motivation to read and write. 

The learner:  This project is directed at seventh grade students in a heterogeneously grouped reading class on Biography and Autobiography. Students will have about seven weeks of a ten week card marking to learn and practice the skills for implementation. Learning strategies include a variety of methods over the seven weeks.

 Subject matter:  Students will be making overall connections to their own lives as they read their biographies by contributing to entries in a journal. Attention to universal themes and inferences about character traits will be emphasized. A list of these will be made available for reference in class.  These observations will often be “ink-shared” with others who will react to what students write. They will also be learning technology skills related to podcasting, as well as improving their reading skills through daily practice and response.

Context/setting:  Students will work in class to complete these podcasts. They will spend about an hour a day receiving instruction, reading their books, and working on activities related to the podcast.  Support will be provided in class with deadlines given for specific tasks to help move students toward project completion.

I will begin working with my students on this interesting project right after we return from Thanksgiving break.

RESULTS OF MY SEARCH

The original idea for my techquest project was to look at the connection between student motivation to write and the use of a Web 2.0 tool like podcasting. Specifically, I want to see if scripting podcasts (or videocasts) improves the motivation to write, especially with struggling writers. My problem of practice/opportunity focuses on student motivation to write. I am hoping that podcasting (as well as other Web 2.0 tools) would make writing more enjoyable (and therefore more sustainable) for all students. Melissa’s comment about a possible lack of research seems to have some basis in fact. If I’m summarizing correctly from my efforts, there isn’t a lot of research yet about the impact of these Web 2.0 tools on student learning, simply because they are so new. Combining my efforts with our SIG Podcasting project for Group 2 helped a lot, though. I found some resources that would be applicable for my TechQuest that went along with the SIG work, as well as a number of things that I didn’t use on the SIG. One study I particularly zeroed in on was from a doctoral dissertation. The title of it,   The effects of technology use on student writing proficiency and student attitudes toward written assignments in a ninth-grade language arts classroom by Heidi Lynn Kessler Lyons seemed at first to hone in on what I wanted.  It turned out to be more of a study of computer use, and not Web 2.0 tools, but I found it interesting that the conclusion was that computer technology, when utilized in a writing classroom, can enhance student writing proficiency and promote positive attitudes towards writing. Still, I needed to find some research on podcasting in particular. 

I next came across a good article from Carnegie Mellon University titled A Teaching with Technology White Paper: Podcasting.  This paper looked at podcasting as a method to deliver lectures, supplemental materials, and for creation of student generated podcasts as assignments (the latter of which is my focus). Their conclusions were that podcasting “does not contain any inherent value” but is only of value “as it helps the instructor and students reach their educational goals”.  This article’s claim is that the educational goals and how the tool is implemented directly affect the outcome. I knew that from my studies anyway. You have to start with the educational goals first, and then thoughtfully implement technology that will help achieve your goals. 

In Confessions of a Podcast Junkie by Carie Windham in the Educause Review, she outlines the explosion of podcasting on college campuses, and talks about the enthusiasm students have for podcasting and the unlimited potential for creativity. One student said that the most important thing is to give students “open license to create.” 

The majority of the other articles out there (including the ones I list on my SIG page) deal with the sudden popularity of podcasting,  give advice on how to create them, and  offer suggestions for use in the classroom. I have no lack of ideas for uses of podcasting, but the articles were interesting nonetheless. 

I found an online course on podcasting I want to go through at some point to help me consider all the potential uses and ways to publish podcasts:  http://recap.ltd.uk/moodle/course/category.php?id=1 . You don’t need to log in to get started with the course. In addition, this podcasting toolkit http://mashable.com/2007/07/04/podcasting-toolbox/ has a variety of usable resources for podcasting.  

I included many resources on my SIG page http://tinyurl.com/2k3gry that I can use in my explorations with podcasting, including those that might help guide and implement my project.  I think that listing, while not exhaustive, certainly has more than I can explore right now, so I will have to go through it and examine a little at a time. 

WHAT I LEARNED FROM PERFORMING THIS SEARCH 

I have made it a goal to experiment with different methods of searching while looking for resources. Besides visiting the MSU library databases, I also made extensive use of Technorati.com to look for blog entries that detailed resources and activities for podcasting, many of which appear on my SIG page. While I stuck with ProQuest for most of my academic research, I think if I had more time I would have tried some of the other databases just to see if I could have expanded my results a little. Technorati was terrific. I found all kinds of ideas for using podcasting, and the listing of podcast resource pages was fantastic. I also loved the links to the YouTube videos and other video help sites. It was interesting to see what’s out there, and useful to find out that I can research and implement a tool in my classroom on my own.  

The effects of technology use on student writing proficiency and student attitudes toward written assignments in a ninth-grade language arts classroom. Lyons, Heidi Lynn Kessler.  Proquest Dissertations and Theses 2002.  Section 0320,  Part 0710 173 pages; [Ed.D. dissertation]. United States — Idaho: Idaho State University; 2002. Publication Number: AAT 3056509. 

A Teaching with Technology White Paper: Podcasting. Carnegie Mellon University. Office of Technology for Education, 2007. 1-12. 17 Nov. 2007 <http://www.cmu.edu>. 

Windham, Carie. “Confessions of a Podcast Junkie.” (2007). Educause Review (2007): 51-65

In the two years that have passed since I’ve returned to the middle school to teach, I have seen some of my former elementary students move up through the ranks, some of them ending up back in my classroom for science/social studies, or for literacy enhancement (”reading”) class. Some of these students had difficulty with literacy issues in their early years (reading/writing), and often those difficulties follow them into middle school. I’ve known from years of experience that “read the chapter, do the worksheets, and take the quiz or test” is not an effective prescription for any student, but it’s especially deadly for those kids that have difficulty with reading and writing in the first place. These kids are the first ones to let you know they “don’t know what to do” when assigned a task in a content area class involving gathering information and evaluating, synthesizing, analyzing,  and communicating their results. Motivation decreases in a number of middle school students as the complexity of the task (and therefore amount of reading and writing) increases. I have been looking at different ways to encourage reading and writing across the curriculum, increase motivation, and encourage working with peers in my science and social studies class.

Working in science classes, many of the kids enjoy the ability to investigate and use scientific processes. Using inquiry approaches helps maintain interest and enthusiasm in class. Still, many kids fall short when it’s time to draw conclusions and write about what their investigation shows in relationship to their hypotheses. Their reluctance to write results in a poorly constructed paragraph with little connection to what they learned. This is true in social studies, also. Comparing and contrasting the economies of two different countries, analyzing the relationship of GDP to life expectancy, and looking at the causes of war in the Sudan and its effects on the Sudanese people are all examples of the kinds of reasoning that seventh graders should be able to effectively communicate. Students also need to learn at this age how to see different sides of an issue, and debate the pros and cons of various solutions. Research shows that this kind of thinking is important. Brophy states that,”…disconnected bits of information are likely to be learned only through low level processes such as rote memorizing, and most of these bits are either soon forgotten or are retained in ways the limit their accessibility.” He also mentions that learning is coherent when “…the sequence of ideas or events makes sense and the relationships among them are apparent.” There are so many opportunities in the content area to make relationships apparent, and such a need for middle school kids to make these connections.

Most assignments that involve using literacy skills across the curriculum are often a celebration for the more talented readers and writers. They thrive on the opportunity to work independently and put together presentations, including such assignments as projects, reports, power points. They like to write! For the kids who are less capable on the literacy end, their motivation sinks when asked to research a topic or idea and present their findings to the class, or to justify their reasoning on paper. I would like my TechQuest to focus on using technology that excites these reluctant learners and helps them become involved while increasing their abilities to research and communicate effectively. Of course, it would also have a very positive impact on the students who are more capable readers and writers, as such technology would be motivating for all kids to produce a quality product.

Brophy establishes the case for students to deal with content based discourse. Effective teachers “use questions to stimulate students to process and reflect on content.” They also spend more time in interactive lessons featuring student/teacher discourse, and allow students time to work with “open-ended questions that call for students to apply, analyze, synthesize, or evaluate what they are learning.” Cooperative learning also factors into this. He claims that there is “much to be gained by arranging for students to collaborate in pairs or small groups” for the purpose of working on assignments. Assessment of student learning can be achieved through activities other than tests. He suggests activities that “call for higher order thinking and application.”

 I would like my TechQuest to involve all students in activities that are intrinsically motivating, allow them to work collaboratively, require them to respond to a task using reading and writing in an application that requires higher order thinking. It would also address the findings from the Brabec article, including such areas as identifying similiarities and differences, summarizing and notetaking, and cooperative learning. All of these (and a few of the others) seem to address some of the issues I have raised in this introduction. I am currently thinking about using podcasting and possibly vodcasting as one method for addressing these issues. I am looking forward to doing some research about possible technology applications for motivating students and increasing their involvement and literacy across the curriculum.

Brophy, Jere. Educational Practie Series-1. : International Academy of Education

I’ve really enjoyed the project work I’ve done in this course using Web 2.0 technologies. Combining learning about teaching strategies with learning about new technologies has given me opportunities to think about using technology in different ways. For example, incorporating teaching strategies such as scaffolding or the use of simulations and problem solving in my stAIR projects or my webquest has given me a way to think about how these projects are not simply technology for technology’s sake, but  actually examples of best practices. Looking at  the uses of wikis and blogs has provided me with a new forum for authentic learning that also allows for effective teaching. Students using a blog, for example, are using a forum for reflection that provides the scaffolding they need as they dig through layers of meaning. I would like to find out more about metaphor as a strategy. I feel like I’ve just begun to think about the power of metaphor as a teaching strategy.

My  progress on my own goals for using technology are still “under construction”, as I think they always will be! There is always something new to learn. I did begin work on my classroom blog under the visitmyclass.com site, and by completing my stAIR and my webquest, I got a jumpstart on the new GLCEs for science that I will soon be teaching. I still feel that I need to explore podcasting and SKYPE further. I need more hands on practice creating products with these with kids. Digital video is also next on my list of things to integrate as I seek to become more constructivist in my teaching style.

My new goals will be to continue to integrate these new web 2.0 technologies into my teaching by looking at ways they can help meet my curriculum standards. I plan to create more webquests and stAIRs as well as explore the technologies mentioned above. I will be continuing on with CEP 812, with an eye on looking over the technology endorsement and possibly the master’s class. I will be volunteering my time on the technology (curriculum) committee in our district this year and hope to attend MACUL. To keep me current, I plan on spending 20-30 minutes each week on my Netvibes page. I’m hoping this will help me stay on top of what is current and keep me reaching toward my overall goal of creating a collaborative community of learners in my classroom.

OVERVIEW

I took a look at Google Earth in the Google Applications set. As a  middle school Social Studies teacher, I wanted to run through some features of the application myself for incorporation in my classroom. There is so much to look at that I found myself a bit overwhelmed at times. I think it must be a little like someone with no computer experience taking a class on the Microsoft Office applications. You have a hard time remembering how to maneuver in the environment at first, and each new feature you learn opens up a whole spectrum of other things you can learn or do. It’s easy to get lost in the layers that are an integral part of the program.

Having said that, there is sooo much to like and get excited about. Google Earth turns the whole world into a video, and puts the world at your fingertips. It allows users to “fly” from space to street level to any site in the world, and you can grab places and zoom down in at will. You can insert a placemark (push pin icon) to any location on earth and upload photos, videos, podcasts, or web links to that placemark. You can set up virtual “tours” of the planet focusing on the locations that you plan to teach, allowing students to fly in and fly out of various locations. This is an application kids could get excited (geeked!) about.

CLASSROOM APPLICATIONS

Students as young as the primary grades could enjoy Google Earth. The younger the class, the more teacher direction they would need to use the application independently, while the youngest ones (non readers) might enjoy it more as a demonstration tool.  A basic understanding of geography (continents, landforms, borders, countries, cities) is helpful for the younger kids. Students using the application independently also need basic computer skills to help them manipulate a virtual environment (opening and closing links, clicking and dragging items, and and clicking into folders to view files are some basic examples).

The possibilities for subject matter are limitless. Of course, geography, country/region studies, cultures, and other social studies topics come to mind at first glance, but more advanced concepts including economics, demographics, and transportation are also possible. Earth science teachers love this application. Websites such as http://www.eastchester.k12.ny.us/schools/hs/teachers/fermann/GE.htm are dedicated to exploring the possibilities. Subject matter is not limited to science and social studies. A great example for secondary language arts teachers is the Jane Austen literary tour found in Google Earth Gallery http://earth.google.com/gallery/index.html that allows students to “fly” to places in England that were significant to the author and her novels.  Another website allows integration of geography, math, and business when students set up their own airline (see viaTime.org). Math teachers will also use the measurement tools, grids, graphing features, and other applications embedded in Google Earth.

Students can collaborate by uploading a Google Earth file (also known as a .KML or .KMZ file) to a server. Once on the server, it can be downloaded and uploaded just like any text file. Students working on a tour of European historical sites, for example, could create placemarks with links and share them electronically. Links to these files can be posted on blogs, wikis, or other collaborative documents. You can e-mail images you find in Google Earth, e-mail your places, save placemarks to a server, or place them in a shared folder.

Teachers will need to make sure students have an understanding of the basic features of Google Earth before using it, but most digital natives will latch on to the program and figure out additional features easily. As with searching on the internet, it is easy to get lost in the layers. Students would benefit from clear directions regarding their tasks with specific deadlines to avoid wandering too much and distracting themselves with the many features (such as browsing the Google Earth Gallery files  or the social bookmarking site known as Plazes) that the application offers. Also, it is suggested that placemarks be saved on a server or hard drive rather than in Google Earth, as it will slow down the application when it launches.

Given the speed with which information changes in our society, you have to wonder if applications such as this are going to make textbooks obsolete within our generation. Google Earth has amazing potential, and I think that the creators and users have barely scratched the surface for its capabilities and future possibilities.

I’d like to give more thought to using blogs in the classroon as a technology that can be used to meet part of the requirements for the Michigan Merit Curriculum Online Experience. According to the chart, blogs should be  “curriculum related and interactive, with students and teachers alike providing comments”. Our school district has access the Visit My Class blog site (http://www.visitmyclass.com)  for use by Macomb County students and teachers. I have been looking at some blog sites and thinking about ways that I can use it in my classroom. I think Social Studies in particular lends itself well to blogging. We teach the Eastern Hemisphere, and I could see locating articles about various places through an RSS feed (I subscribe to NY Times, for example, and I could also bookmark or feed more “kid friendly” sites, such as Time for Kids, to look for relevant articles). Links to UTube or video news sites can also be used, as well as podcasts (I have a feed for Where U Live and Where in the World, for example). These can be posted on my blog with directions to read and respond or create something (an editorial, a one sentence summary, a Venn diagram, or some other response, depending on the content) that could be posted on the blog for further reaction from me, students, or parents.

When I created my webquest, I put a paragraph on my process page stating that my students PP will be uploaded to the blog and an e-mail will be sent to parents inviting reactions. (I mailout to all parents frequently using Outlook). If students create a product using online resources, it could be posted on a blog for review/reaction/further discussion (same would be true if a podcast was the product, or a videocast).

Similar assignments could be completed in my science classes. I have a NASA podcast feed and there are many links that students could access, analyze, and respond to on the web.

Pedagogical strategies would vary by assignment on a blog. You could take a very inductive approach, asking students to look at some sites and draw conclusions about some topic they are studying. Students can read an article about a basic core democratic value such as life or liberty, and view a video clip on the building of the Great Wall of China, and be asked to dialogue about how the tactics employed by dictators violate these principles. Scaffolding occurs on a blog site when teachers and students react to each others writing or published products by asking questions and pointing out misunderstandings. Blogs can be used to direct students to (and react to) simulation and problem solving experiences, videoconferences, webquests, etc. The possibilities are almost endless.

Some technologies I think would be more challenging to implement include wikis and learning management software. I think I would be a little hesitant at first about using wikis because they require a fair amount of monitoring for appropriate content and for feedback (participation is a tough thing to “grade”, although standards can be set and spelled out to kids). Also, I think that I am not used to students collaborating electronically, and it’s going to take some trial and error to figure out how this technology can be applied in the classroom. The learning management systems take time to master (I went to a MediaCast session and feel like I’m a complete neophyte), but I think they could be a very exciting way to meet the MMC Online component.

Blogging is a form of social interaction that allows students to construct meaning through reflection and analysis when they publish on the Web. One pedagogical strategies blogging supports is inductive reasoning. When students reflect and analyze information, they can respond to prompts that encourage them to use their knowledge to make connections and generalizations (as well as noting exceptions!) in their blog entries. For example, students could be shown a videos about space exploration, read articles about the cost of NASA projects, and be asked to blog about whether or not funding should be given to projects such as a space station on the moon, citing their reasons. 

Another strategy blogs support is scaffolding. In the article we read from THE Journal about “Content Delivery in the Blogosphere” scaffolding was mentioned several times. By publishing their thinking in a blog, students have the opportunity to receive feedback from other students, teachers, and other interested parties that can redirect their thinking or open up their minds to new possibilities. Also, suggestions and ideas for support where students are experiencing difficulities can come from these sources.

Blogs can support metaphor (if teachers direct the prompts to ask students questions such as ”What does this remind you of in your life?”) and to some extent, simulation (if students blog as a historical character, for example). Problem solving certainly can be encouraged in a blog when teachers offer open ended questions or problems to explore and invite student reaction.

Deductive reasoning is probably not as well suppported by blogging. Citing examples to reinforce a concept is not the best use of a blog, as it doesn’t promote social interaction or invite much reflection and response.

 In my classroom, I can see multiple uses for blogging. Seventh graders are naturally social beings. I visited a few teacher blogs on the www.visitmyclass.com site, where I currently have a blog site. I can see that I’ve not used the potential for my blog…yet. Some sites I visited invited students to react to video clips, political cartoons, or Power Points that were posted in the blog. I even saw an imbedded map that showed sites of human rights violations and asked students to pick one, read, summarize, and react to it as an assignment. Some teachers post assignments on line. While I think that’s OK to do, I don’t think it’s the best use of a blog to simply list assignments without making the site more interactive.  I also found a cool website:  www.polldaddy.com to imbed a poll question on your blog page (and it’s free!).

I think I would like to begin by posting some of the websites, Power Points, video clips, and other interactive media and inviting feedback from students on them, as well as doing more on line assignments. I can see that for my science and social studies classes, using blogs to respond to stories, videoconference events, science labs, news articles, cultural awareness activities, etc. would be a great way to get students discussing content in the ways mentioned in the article we read. Eventually, I’d like to look into having my students have their own blogs, and think about ways to encourage them to visit each other’s sites and respond to them. It’s all so new right now, and I need some more time to think about the potential for blogs in my classroom.

Using computer based instructional objects can provide students with an opportunity to complete tasks that are creative, compelling, or useful. There are some things to consider about the design and implementation of these in the classroom.

·         They need to be well designed. The tasks should be engaging, and not simply a recycling of a report style that could be accomplished without the computer. Is technology the best method for accomplishing these tasks? The technology should be an example of “change with a difference”.

·         They need to be tied to the learning objectives (curriculum standards, GLCEs, or benchmarks). Both students and teachers need to know at the onset what the objectives are and how the tasks will accomplish them.

·         The issue of time needs consideration. How long will it take to complete the tasks? Is that an appropriate amount of time to spend on this issue?

·         Readability—sending students to links that are too difficult to read or skim accomplishes very little, especially for below grade level learners. Pairing students or working in groups can help with this issue, as well as picking links carefully and directing students to the specifics of what they need to read and research.

·         Evaluation—is it clear what the expectations are?

I considered these ideas when I picked the links listed below. A great website to start is Tom March’s Best Webquests. He does the work of evaluating webquests , so you already know the product is a good one.

http://bestwebquests.com/

Here’s a webquest for teaching both cells and space. Students research cells and life on Mars at the same time.

http://schools.hpedsb.on.ca/sg/quinte/webquests/mars/introduction.htm

This webquest has students researching Australia from different perspectives to put together a presentation on Aussie culture.

http://www.beenleigss.qld.edu.au/webquest/actualquest/actualquest.htm

This next one is a unique approach to teaching Antarctica.

http://www.linkingforlearning.com/webquests/Antarctica%20Webquest/index.htm

Another twist on the solar system:

http://questgarden.com/18/94/4/060329145856/index.htm

Hope you enjoy looking at these!