CEdO 535 Post#5

As we wrap up our work for this course, I will have to state that I am really beginning to transform my educational philosophy. I still struggle with the fact that the future in education is uncertain, yet I have bought into the fact that our methodologies must change with the times. At the very least, our students are plugged in. They spend considerable time using technology to communicate and learn online. As educators we can embrace this trend and use it to our advantage, or we can stay with what we have always done and expect kids to embrace outmoded teaching styles. Richardson's final chapter addresses many of the trends in education, and really challenges thinking concerning how to best meet the needs of our students.
One of the ways I can meet these student needs is to educate them on how to communicate online safely and effectively. Whether a teacher agrees with Richardson or not, the ability for students to develop work online that can be stored indefinitely, commented on by a large audience, and allows for ongoing learning seems to make sense. Work that was created solely for a teacher now has a far different audience. Work that was created for a grade and then erased from memory can now evolve well beyond any deadline. I think a Ning is a great starting point for allowing students to change the way they produce work. I love the safety and control that can be placed on a Ning, and the fact that work will be produced for an audience other than me will hopefully increase ownership and quality of work. Allowing students to create work collaboratively is another nice facet of the Ning, again with the focus on a larger audience. I will be curious to see the problems that will occur with students using a Ning, and I am still cautious about trying to do too much too soon.
Since students are communicating online so frequently, what a great opportunity for educators to show students how to do this properly. Since I have joined Facebook, I have been surprised at the number of students that have wanted to be friends. I am even more surprised at the type of content that is found on many student accounts. Although I don't befriend students on Facebook, I do think that time should be spent analyzing the pitfalls involved with social networking. To this point, I suspect that students have adapted their styles to what they have seen by others, and I think some direction would be timely. My students are my children, and I want them to enjoy their online experiences, but I also want them to make educated decisions.
I think Twitter offers the opportunity to take a tool used for social networking, and demonstrate to students how it can be used in the classroom. Keeping students informed about classroom activities, and allowing group discussions on a topic through Twitter can teach students how to use a technology tool effectively. If they then want to use the tool for personal reasons, at least I will have shown them how to use it properly.
And so, my goals with my students will now center around teaching 21st century skills. Students will continue to use the Internet for personal use, so I believe it is paramount for teachers to demonstrate how to interact responsibly in that environment. The added bonus is that I get to learn many new skills along the way, which really enriches my own personal growth as an educator.

CEdO 535 Post#4

The idea of social bookmarking will certainly get some play in my classroom. Although I currently use Delicious (and I use the term "use" loosely) I will be creating a Diigo account. With Delicious, I like that initial searches have been filtered by others, so I can essentially skip the somewhat daunting task of trying to find information in the vast repository of the Internet. Having others do the initial legwork can help save time and produce better quality results. With Diigo, I plan to use the sticky note feature to annotate what we are reading in class. What a great opportunity to look at a piece of literature as a class, and allow students to make comments directly to the document. The fact that this document can be shared with other students eliminates the usual learning in isolation problem. Through Diigo, students can read the comments of other students, and add additional comments to help our overall understanding of the piece. I also like the ability to tag items based upon student interests, and allow RSS feeds concerning those interests come right to the student. Diigo allows me to add sticky notes to the items that students will receive, and can help them focus on what I thought was important.
The idea of podcasting has been on my mind for about a year now, and I think that I have finally found a purpose for it in my classroom. I teach the interview process in my classes, for both research and socialization purposes. With podcasting, I can have the students interview other students and teachers regarding current policies at our school. Through the process, students will have to make arrangements to meet with the individual to be interviewed, present a list of questions to be asked prior to the meeting, and then edit the interview to fit the scope of the project. I think there are so many positives that will be derived from the project, but professionalism, accountability, and organization are the three that stand out. The fact that podcasts can be saved indefinitely gives me the capability to provide examples of prior student work to introduce new projects in years to come.
The screencast capability will be a nice tool as my class becomes more digital. Currently, I take students through the process for using some of these tools in class, but by the time they attempt to use the tools, much of the information has been lost. By creating screencasts, students will have video tutorials concerning how to use tools that I have introduced in class, and these tutorials will be placed online and accessible anytime by my students.
I think that this weeks work really has some possibilities in my classroom. I need to be careful not to try too much too soon. There are some other tools and skills that need to be mastered before I move on to these new areas, but I know that the new information will tie nicely to what I am going to introduce first.

Flickr pics

My family and I had the opportunity to spend a couple days in Wisconsin Dells over the extended weekend. My photos from left to right and top to bottom are some of the highlights of the trip. My son Seth in the bulldozer is a perfect start because he loves heavy machinery. The second picture has my wife preparing the boys for trick or treating at the mall, which turned out to be a nice substitute for going around the neighborhood in Sheboygan. Cole and Seth are being boys at Knuckleheads and wrestling more than dancing. In the forth picture, my oldest son, Cole, squeezed into this plane, although he made no attempts to actually ride it. My youngest son, Owen, had the opportunity to ride in a fire truck although the ride was similar to a bucking bronco. One of the balls got loose from ball city and made my son's day. Cole and Seth are posing outside Mouse Jaw restaurant, and although I don't like picture poses, they both look rather cute. The eighth picture shows how my family will continue to help the dental industry. My wife and Owen are wrestling over a cookie in the next two pictures. One should never interfere with my wife's love of cookies. In the next picture, Owen is playing with a mini etch a sketch, but likes putting everything in his mouth more than actually drawing. My son Cole proudly displays his pumpkin carving skills. The thirteenth picture shows my young artists after completion of yet another project. The last two pictures shows the culinary side of Cole. He helped his mother bake Halloween cookies, and they turned out nicely.
The purpose of my picture is obviously for personal use, and hopefully represents some of the fun my family had over the extended weekend.