Category Archives: Web 2.0

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On My Way – NASA Tweetup/sts-134-launch

I’m writing quickly from the airport in Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m soon to catch the second in a trilogy of flights that will end in Orlando, Florida, at 6:00am Thursday morning (how much sleep will I get???), and from there I will rush out to Cape Canaveral to be one of many lucky folks chosen by NASA to be part of their “Tweet-up” for the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. I haven’t written much about this here because I was never sure I was REALLY going to make the trip until the last few days. Things fell into place mainly because friends would not allow me to not go.

My school district has frozen all budgets, so even though this trip has huge educational possibilities there were just no funds available. But my colleagues at Powerful Learning Practice passed the hat (Thanks a ton guys!!!) and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach used her precious air-miles to cover my flight – a true angel! An anonymous contributor also kicked in and by that time I couldn’t say no.

I’ve spent the last few school days preparing my students to work through their blogs and Flickr and more to participate with me as much as possible … I would have Skyped with them or even Streamed video out, but no one at my school could help support that, and non of the substitutes I know that could pull that off were available. So we will be working together some now … but much more when I’m back. As Dr. Cannon at the University of Nevada, Reno always says, “activity before content!”

In addition, when I get back we launch a high altitude balloon … well really 3 at once … 2 using hydrogen gas and 1 (at my school) using helium. We are going to coordinate the launches so they are simutaneous. We are printing out the “High Hopes” people are sending us on “fortune cookie size” strips of paper and sticking them inside the balloons so when the balloon bursts the worlds “high hopes” will flutter down and become one with the Earth (it’s all very symbolic – and we are using a paper that will degrade very quickly). Well they are calling my flight … on to Los Angeles!

Learning is messy!

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My TEDxNYED Talk – Posted

Several weeks ago I had the honor of taking the stage on the 40th floor of  7 World Trade Center in New York to participate in TEDxNYED,  “…  an all-day conference focusing on empowering innovation in education, … being held in New York City on Saturday, March 5, 2011.”

I’d like to thank the organizers that brought me there, they were an incredible group that saw to it that things ran smoothly: Karen Blumberg, Co-Curator The School at Columbia University – Basil Kolani, Co-Curator The Dwight School – Dan Agins Pawcatuck Middle School – Sean Freese Lawrence Woodmere Academy – Kiersten Jennings Chou Independent Curriculum Consultant – Tamara McKenna The Elisabeth Morrow School – Erin Mumford – Nightingale-Bamford School – Jeff Weitz Horace Mann School

As I watched the presenters the themes that were reverberating were change, student centered learning, creativity. Find them here.

I’m afraid I went over my allotted time, a minor glitch with the timer, my fault for not noticing as I started, I take solace in that I’m not the first to do so.  : )

Learning is messy!

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Shuttle Launch Experience – What Are The Possibilities For Student Learning?

In my last post I shared that I have this fantastic opportunity to watch the Space Shuttle Endeavour launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida next month. One of the ways this new pedagogy changes things is in how my students can be included in my trip.

If I really manage to go (at best a 50-50 possibility because of budget freezes here) my students would learn about the Space Shuttle program, Cape Canaveral and other topics associated with the trip before I ever left. We would travel there through photos, but also via Google Earth – Where is this place? – why did they choose the eastern Florida coast to launch spacecraft from? We drop right down on the roof of our classroom and travel to locations and back when we Skype to build those geography skills and schema, so we would do that for this trip too. My students all have their own blogs, so I can post photos, videos, blog posts about what I am learning, topics for them to do research on. I will be able to post all my photos and even video on our class Flickr page (often within minutes of taking them) – the students could be asked to make a slideshow – write captions for the photos or any number or possible writing projects or research projects.

NASA is asking me to be there to use Twitter to report out what I am doing, seeing and learning. But I would blog about it and would hope to Skype back to my class to share with them, answer questions and maybe do on-the-spot interviews with some of the people I am supposed to meet there. My students are used to taking notes during Skype-conferences and when we have guests in our class, and this would be no different. I could have it set-up with my substitute that I would call the school and let them know to get on Skype and expect a call.

Students could even have pre-written questions to ask – what would they like to know if they get to interview an astronaut or scientist or anyone else that works there? If NASA would allow it I could use a video streaming application like USTREAM to broadcast out so other classrooms could take part … later they could even share blog posts and comments about what they learned with the classes we connect with all the time. All those students have access to our Flickr pages as well – so they could utilize our photos for their learning.

The point is, my students would not be waiting for me to return to find out what happened during the trip – to learn during the trip … they would participate before, during and after. I can comment on their blogs (even grade them), think of new assignments to give them while I am still in Florida, and my students are learning about a place they can only imagine about now. There are so many other possible ways to include them (and feel free to think out loud in the comments). And we do these things often, so this is not pie-in-the-sky – this is what we do as a big part of our learning. Things really have changed since we went to school haven’t they?

Learning is messy!

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The Tightwad Tech – The Interview

A few weeks ago, after many attempts trying to find a time we could all make, Mark and Shawn at The Tightwad Tech managed to coral Lisa Parisi and myself across timezones long enough to interview us about how we utilize a changed pedagogy utilizing tech (usually for free – hence the “tightwad” connection). Here is a link to the podcast. We had a great time. Give it a listen … and Thanks to Mark and Shawn for inviting us!

Learning is messy!

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Reno Bike Project Winding Up!

We still have a few minor loose ends to finish up, but today we finally can say we have completed our Reno Bike Project, project. Amazing what we got done when we got some consistent time to work the last two weeks (although we took three required assessment tests this week). As I’ve mentioned in my last 2 posts, I turned the responsibility for the last 6 web pages over to each of the six groups in my room with minimum direction (each group was given one of the pages to do randomly – they had to do the page they got). At the end of the day Tuesday the pages were pretty sad and I was afraid maybe they weren’t ready to take this on. But Wednesday we looked at each page as a class and brainstormed ideas and I saw major improvement. Thursday we looked at some professionally made pages and things really improved, and today they just went nuts. The wikis really came out well, with only “consulting” duties on my part, mainly at the request of the students … “does this look better or should we do it like this?”

We also put the final touches on our PSA (video) which had to be re-edited to change the URL it references. So today we burned multiple DVD copies to send to local TV stations.

So what went into doing this project?

*We had a class meeting when this opportunity first came up to decide whether or not to take on the project in the first place.
*We took a field trip to the Reno Bike Project where we shot video and took many of the digital photos we archived on our Flickr accounts.
*We had guests visit our classroom and talk to us about the Reno Bike Project, bicycle racing and the health benefits of bicycling.

*We researched on the web for information for all the wiki pages we designed and to learn more about the science curriculum that was much of the basis for this project.

*We used our Diigo account to archive and annotate much of our research.
*Maggie Tsai from Diigo visited our classroom and taught students about Diigo and encouraged them about the work they were doing.

*We storyboarded, wrote (as a whole class shared writing) the script for our PSA.
*We had numerous discussions about the order of scenes and wording and which clips made the most impact.
*We practiced and then recorded the voiceovers for the video.
*We designed posters, one of the loose ends we need to finish … we have to change the URL on those before we publish them … will probably put some on our Flickr account later.
*We peer edited each others’ work over and over checking writing style and content and whether or not links worked correctly or whether someone could be understood on the video.
Students set up various photos to use in class and outside and took them themselves.
*We Skyped in Will Richardson to talk about healthy eating habits, specifically being a vegetarian.
*We blogged about various aspects of the project.
*Students designed graphics for the PSA and for images on their wikis and posters.
*Students designed the layouts for their wiki pages.
*Students noted “experts” (classmates) at certain aspects of getting the formatting of their wikis to look “right” or import a photo and would enlist their help … which was fun to watch. “Why is she over in your group?” … “Because she knows how to get this photo to show up on the right part of the page with the caption under it and she’s showing us how.”
*Lots of collaboration, planned and not (see above).
*Lots of “messy” learning … mostly NOT planned. : )

*I’m sure I left out lots, but it’s getting late.

Learning is messy!

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Skypeing For Online Safety

A funny thing happened over the summer. My students became sixth graders! (and that can’t be good!) ; ) As we began the year and broke out the laptops I saw things happening that I didn’t like. Nothing horrendous mind you, but students checking their blogs before going straight to whatever they were really supposed to be doing. Or the student I “caught” on Club Penguin as I wandered the room. The student doesn’t even have a Club Penguin account, was just checking it out. So not exactly dangerous stuff, but the fact that they were wandering and off task hit my teacher radar … what else might be happening I’m not aware of? Especially at home or friends’ houses where many parents work odd hours and aren’t necessarily aware of safety issues on the net.

But what really grabbed my attention as we began an online safety program called  “7 Random Facts“, which is powerful in its simplicity. I’m not sure how each teacher involved prepared their students, but we talked about not disclosing information about yourself through your blog, even in little snippets that alone are not dangerous, but if someone “mined” your blog they might put a lot of nuggets together and find more than you realize. My students have had a great time deciding what 7 facts they would reveal about themselves and then searching the blogs of other participants to find out who might have similar interests and leave comments for them.

One day during a discussion about online safety – Myspace, Bebo and Facebook came up. It came out how many of my students have those kinds of pages (they are 11 and 12 years old) a bit over half my students have pages that they are too young to have according to the sites own rules. This revelation caused me to expand our online safety unit. In my research on the topic I used Twitter to ask the “Ed Tech Network” for resources. Through that act I made connections with several other teachers having similar issues with their students.

About a year ago we were involved in a Skype video-conference with George Mayo’s class, and he contacted me about having our students write more about online safety and continue the conversation through their blogs. I jumped at the chance and the next thing we knew we had set up a video-conference to share what we were learning. George imbed a YouTube video on online safety on his student blog. Both classes watched it and wrote about their reactions to it. 

George and I then had a Skype planning session and we designed a project on Google Docs where each group of students in our classes wrote vignettes describing someone being unsafe on the internet. Then they stated the rule that should have been followed. I had my students  figure out how to take a photo that illustrated their rule which we put on on Flickr account and then pulled into the Google Docs. 

During the video-conference our students took turns sharing their vignettes and George’s students asked my students questions about our climate, favorite teams, and other topics. The video-conference was great when it was working, but because of a major network issue my school district was experiencing (which I only found out about afterwards) we were on and off a lot. I’ve done probably 100 video-conferences in my classroom and have only had similar issues a few times.

The upshot is that I had a conference with a student and parent the next day and the student mentioned that since our safety unit she had purged her Myspace page of several pieces of info that could lead to her. By-the-way her mother knows all about her page, she monitors it and uses it herself to talk to relatives in Guatemala and elsewhere. I realize that although that is great news, we will need to continue this conversation all year.

One consideration … half of my class has been blogging, making wikis, video-conferencing and more for 3 years now. Next year in middle school they will have only scattered access to technology and probably little to no teaching about being safe online. Of course why worry about students that will begin their teenage years. By that age they know how to take care of themselves. 

Learning is messy!


 

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Animal Ark “Design An Animal” Video Available

Here in the Reno, Nevada, area have a fantastic resource for studying animals, namely Animal Ark Wildlife Sanctuary. I learned about Animal Ark in 1993 when I first taught in a classroom here. I had the good fortune of having a student in my class whose parents train big cats for the movies. They had donated some lions to Animal Ark, and at their suggestion I made my first of many visits and field trips to this fantastic facility.

Last year we took a field trip there as part of our study of animals and specifically animal adaptations. We took photos which you can see on our class Flickr page.

Years ago when I was teaching a 4-5-6 Image class we were returning from a trip to Animal Ark when a student suggested we visit their web page. I replied that they didn’t have a web page … and the students decided we should make one for them … which we did. It won several awards, but it died 2 years ago of neglect … and the fact that Animal Ark has long since developed their own web site. Then wikis came along and so we made an interactive wiki web site for them.

Each group of 3 or 4 students in my 4th grade class last year made three wiki pages (over 20 total pages) about the kinds of animals at Animal Ark. They searched the web for the best sites they could find about the animals they were assigned, looking specifically for information about adaptations, how they obtained food and so on … all per our science standards. They also had to pick sites that were easy to read for students their age and they had to rank them from what they felt was the very best site they found to the next best … you get the idea.

Once that was done we used our site ourselves in the way it was actually intended. We used the sites to learn about animal adaptations and survival and then had to design an animal to live in the Great Basin Desert of Nevada where we live. Students had to design each part of their animal from eyes to feet or wings or nose to survive the climate and conditions here. We shot video of the process – and now it is finally posted and linked from the wiki page.
Check out the wiki page project and the video.

Learning is messy!

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Public Wants More Tech In Classrooms

eSchool News has an interesting article today: “Public wants more tech in classrooms”
Poll: Americans understand technology’s importance in schools, but disagree on approaches
By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News

The information in the article stems from a survey done in May of 7,000 Americans. The findings are good news if you support technology integration in schools.

Among the findings:

… Americans also believe that the U.S. education system should take a more global approach to its curriculum, the poll suggests. Fifty-four percent of Americans said schools should place a greater emphasis on teaching a global perspective.

… 59 percent of Americans agree that “information technology is a vital tool that can help educate our students by providing access to video and other dynamic content” and that more should be done to incorporate technology into the learning process.

The majority of respondents said technology is an important factor in connecting schools to their communities, as well as in leveling the playing field among more and less affluent schools by providing equal access to educational content.

On the downside they reported: … the poll also asked if “standardized testing is contrary to our education objectives, by placing too much emphasis on individualized testing and incentives to achieve test results that may not reflect knowledge.” While 45 percent of respondents said “yes,” 46 percent said “no.”

Read the article yourself – they also cite experts like Keith Krueger, chief executive of the Consortium for School Networking and Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education.

The links they provide include video of a panel discussion about the findings:

Video of panel discussion
http://www.463.com/Clients/Cisco/

Cisco Education
http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/education/index.html

Consortium for School Networking
http://www.cosn.org

International Society for Technology in Education
http://www.iste.org

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Have You Used Every Tool In Your Toolbox? Did You Throw Away Those You Haven’t Used Yet?


kitchen utensils.jpg

Originally uploaded by CieraH

Do you have tools you keep somewhere in your house? If you do, are there some of those tools you have never used? Say a socket for your wrench set that you’ve just never had reason to use?

How about kitchen utensils. Do you have some that maybe you got as a gift that you’ve just never used?

OK, one more question. Can you ever remember suddenly having a use for one of the tools or utensils and being glad you had it? I had a car once that I had for 4 or 5 years and had never used the jack, and obviously the previous owner hadn’t had reason to either because it was still wrapped in the original paper – but when I got a flat out in the middle of nowhere I was sure glad I had that tool (jack). I had no experience using the jack but the directions were there and I figured it out and I made it home safely.

What’s the point? The current Web 2.0 discussions have doubted the usefulness of applications like Flickr and Twitter (but others too). I’m not sure yet how I might ever use Twitter in my classroom … but I’m glad its “in my toolbox” because if I ever see a legitimate educational use for it I have it available to use. If I didn’t have that jack in my car when the flat occurred, or I didn’t even know there was such a thing, I would have been stuck.

Skype is a great example. Wes Fryer invited people about a year ago to join a Skypecast he was moderating about edtech. I had never used Skype, didn’t even have an account (I had used iChat once before). So I got an account, joined Wes’s Skypecast and another later in the summer. So lo and behold the situation with Celest came up and it literally occurred to me that instant that Skyping her into class just might work, just because it was in my toolbox. I hadn’t used Skype with my students before … hadn’t even been on Skype at school, but it became a possibility just because I knew about it and saw a potential use. I’m sure there are similar stories you could tell about using wikis or blogs or whatever. So whether its Twitter or Second Life or the next web 2.0 app that comes out, I just hope I have the time to put them in my toolbox so they are there when I might need them. I mean do you throw out the sockets for your wrench that you have never used?

So those that doubt the usefulness of playing with and learning these applications (Twittering our lives away) I say bunk. Its only a waste of time if it becomes too much of a distraction and negatively impacts your work. As professionals we are supposed to be able to moderate ourselves and make just those kinds of decisions.

Learning is messy.

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The Gift That Keeps On Giving


Boxes!Originally uploaded by mooosh

We are at the end of our extended vacation on the East Coast – Fort McHenry and other Baltimore points of interest tomorrow and home on Friday.

We got into our room tonight and thanks to me bringing along my laptop, and free wifi in our hotel, an email came in from one of the childhood cancer support groups in Reno (The Keaton Raphael Memorial) that have helped Celest so much. Skype has donated 4 web cams and headsets to them so they might use our model to include other children with cancer to attend school using video-conferencing. Like Celest sometimes these children have to travel 250 miles to the San Francisco Bay Area to get special treatments at Oakland’s Children’s Hospital. Here’s a quote from the email:

“We have been thinking that the best way to utilize the equipment right now would be to initially set it up at Children’s Hospital in Oakland (where Celest and the majority of the Northern NV kiddos are treated) as a way for families to keep in touch while one is away at treatment and the other is at home with the other children (if applicable). There is a Reno mother currently in Oakland that is halfway through their 180 day stay. Her husband and three other children are in Reno. They are having a hard time keeping in touch and are perfect to try out the Skype set up.

I am heading down to Oakland Monday July 30 to help get them started. They already have internet accessible computers available for families to use, so I will just be bringing the web cam and headsets from Skype. Eventually we will have laptops available. I plan to head the family’s home in Reno on Friday to deliver the other webcam and help them get set up from home. That way we will be able to test it while I am in Oakland.”

She goes on to ask if I have any tips and could offer support if they run into any issues. I mean is this awesome or what!?

Yeah … this free Web 2.0 stuff … no impact on student learning.