Social Bookmarking is a way to basically make your favorite sites public. It is especially helpful for teachers because you can organize them into the topics you cover. This saves a lot of time in the long run. In future years when I am teaching the same topics I will not need to go online on a hunt for useful websites- wading through the ones that either no longer work or are not very helpful. Social bookmarking is helpful as well because the sites alert you when sites have been updated. This is especially helpful when you have student blogs to check through. That way whenever they are updated you know about it and you don't have to spend hours clicking through various pages. Bookmarked sites let you know how many times a site has been hit. And although this does not guarantee that it is a very good website, it may mean that a lot of people found it useful.
They way that I most intend to use it is for my own personal file keeper. As I stumble upon useful websites I can bookmark them. It is diffferent than just regular bookmarking because it is through the network, so whichever computer I use they will be accessible. It will also allow me to organize websites by topic: exponents, integers, equations, percents... that way when I am teaching it again I know just where to look,
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Student-Selected Topic-- mini-laptops for the classroom
My school just purchased 30 mini-laptops. We even have wireless, albeit spotty. I love the idea of losing these in my classroom. I am very optimistic about the future use of these laptops. Just a little while ago I had my students watch an internet video walking them through step-by-step how to do geometric constructions. They loved it! But it would have worked even better if each kid could have watched their own video with headphones so that they could rewind, pause and repeat whenever they needed to.
I have 2 concerns: accessibility and monitoring what they have access to. The issue of accessibility is basically a non-issue: I don't see anyway to remedy this until all students can be provided with one. There have been discussions among other schools that give each student one for the school year- it usually results in increased amounts of accountability and responsibility. The other issue is monitoring. How do I have the kids do something like a curriculum web that needs internet research but also monitor that they are not going places they shouldn't. I'm not worried about porn or even youtube- the WebSense censoring program takes care of that- but what about just other fun sites that kids like to go on- games, music etc. How do we prevent them from going on sites that have nothing to do with what we are teaching.
Is there a way that I could control all of their computers from mine? Or that I could lock them out from all sites except a few that I select? That would be perfect!
I have 2 concerns: accessibility and monitoring what they have access to. The issue of accessibility is basically a non-issue: I don't see anyway to remedy this until all students can be provided with one. There have been discussions among other schools that give each student one for the school year- it usually results in increased amounts of accountability and responsibility. The other issue is monitoring. How do I have the kids do something like a curriculum web that needs internet research but also monitor that they are not going places they shouldn't. I'm not worried about porn or even youtube- the WebSense censoring program takes care of that- but what about just other fun sites that kids like to go on- games, music etc. How do we prevent them from going on sites that have nothing to do with what we are teaching.
Is there a way that I could control all of their computers from mine? Or that I could lock them out from all sites except a few that I select? That would be perfect!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Using Multimedia
Multimedia typically refers to a combination of text, pictures, movies, and sound on web pages. If you are making a website, like we are- depending on the type of image, music etc there are better and worse options for formatting. JPEG vs GIF for images; Real Player vs Windows media player for music; Quicktime for movies.
The effects of multimedia I think are obvious: it makes websites more interesting, fun to go on, unique. Of course, there is also a downside, if you use too much media. I have been on a few math websites for kids where they are obviously trying to appeal to kids with animated graphics, lots of color etc, but I feel so over-stimulated by looking at the page, that I never even use it, and there's probably some good stuff on there. So while it is important for a website to have multimedia on it, you want to be careful that it is effective and not overwhelming.
The most interesting thing brought up by this chapter (9) had to do with future types of multimedia which will appeal to other sense besides just the visual and sound senses: taste, smell and touch! Very weird and cool. All I can really picture from this is virtual reality websites that bring interactivity to a whole new dimension.. o my nerdiness knows no bounds.
The effects of multimedia I think are obvious: it makes websites more interesting, fun to go on, unique. Of course, there is also a downside, if you use too much media. I have been on a few math websites for kids where they are obviously trying to appeal to kids with animated graphics, lots of color etc, but I feel so over-stimulated by looking at the page, that I never even use it, and there's probably some good stuff on there. So while it is important for a website to have multimedia on it, you want to be careful that it is effective and not overwhelming.
The most interesting thing brought up by this chapter (9) had to do with future types of multimedia which will appeal to other sense besides just the visual and sound senses: taste, smell and touch! Very weird and cool. All I can really picture from this is virtual reality websites that bring interactivity to a whole new dimension.. o my nerdiness knows no bounds.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Wikis
The most popular Wiki is wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that is freely written and edited by multiple authors. More generally speaking, wikis are websites that have multiple authors. The information is not copyrighted and all edits are kept track of- a history provided for every change made.
Making a wiki is actually a lot like making our websites but also seems to combine some elements of a class blog, where students can post responses to things other students contribute. The biggest difference is that instead of responses, the input of other students is actually incorportated into the original. Chris said something that seemed like a helpful metaphor: you build a house but keep all the scaffolding on and you can just keep adding new rooms, changing things around constantly with no real hassle.
The most interesting use of a wiki that I learned about was a WikiBook. Your students could make a Wikibook about the topics covered all year. VERY COOL! They basically write their own textbook. Obviously a few issues pop up, besides the typical censoring inappropriateness. Organization is a toughie. But you could go in and at least make an initial set up, in an outline format, and the students could provide the "meat" of the wiki, which other students can correct and improve upon. I love this idea and can't wait for the day that all my students have internet access and I could actually do this as a class project. My various students over the course of years even! could work on it!
Making a wiki is actually a lot like making our websites but also seems to combine some elements of a class blog, where students can post responses to things other students contribute. The biggest difference is that instead of responses, the input of other students is actually incorportated into the original. Chris said something that seemed like a helpful metaphor: you build a house but keep all the scaffolding on and you can just keep adding new rooms, changing things around constantly with no real hassle.
The most interesting use of a wiki that I learned about was a WikiBook. Your students could make a Wikibook about the topics covered all year. VERY COOL! They basically write their own textbook. Obviously a few issues pop up, besides the typical censoring inappropriateness. Organization is a toughie. But you could go in and at least make an initial set up, in an outline format, and the students could provide the "meat" of the wiki, which other students can correct and improve upon. I love this idea and can't wait for the day that all my students have internet access and I could actually do this as a class project. My various students over the course of years even! could work on it!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Factors will impact using curriculum webs in schools
Chapter 12 mentions these factors as being involved: people, classrooms, computers, computer labs, connectivity, software issues, and email. Basically I see it all come down to having accessibility to technology, implementing curriculum webs wide-spread throughout classrooms effectively, and having a positive attitude or approach to using this type of technology in the classroom. Most of us agree that technology is a good thing for the classroom so reluctance or hesitancy does not seem like an issue I would be having.
Obviously an issue for most of us is accessibility. Our schools may have computers, but perhaps not many, or they may not be hooked up to a wireless network. Or if they are, the service is spotty. So the solution becomes, it will have to be an "at-home" implementation. But many of my kids don't have a computer or the internet. Or they are not allowed to use it. These issues we have hashed out and rehashed. So what CAN we do? We can try and stay positive and come up with some way to do this. Perhaps instead of every student having a computer in front of them, you could at least hook up your screen to an LCD (if you have a SMART board box at least) and go through the curriculum webs from one screen. And while yes, this may not be ideal, you can instruct those kids with internet to go online at home as well and explore for themselves.
Obviously an issue for most of us is accessibility. Our schools may have computers, but perhaps not many, or they may not be hooked up to a wireless network. Or if they are, the service is spotty. So the solution becomes, it will have to be an "at-home" implementation. But many of my kids don't have a computer or the internet. Or they are not allowed to use it. These issues we have hashed out and rehashed. So what CAN we do? We can try and stay positive and come up with some way to do this. Perhaps instead of every student having a computer in front of them, you could at least hook up your screen to an LCD (if you have a SMART board box at least) and go through the curriculum webs from one screen. And while yes, this may not be ideal, you can instruct those kids with internet to go online at home as well and explore for themselves.
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