My first Wiki! It's pretty interesting. I hope to take a lot of what I'm learning in this class and share it with the staff at school. There are several teachers that would be interested in having access to a tool like Wetpaint. What an awesome tool to share ideas and information outside of the classroom and to continue discussions.
I'd be interested in seeing in a K12 environment and share that information with my staff also. I'll have to start searching for more.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
RSS
I'm already subscribed to bloglines. It's interesting but you still have to make a point to look at it. I don't have that many sites I check on a daily basis, but with a tool like Google reader I might be interested in making a point to check more.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Delicious
This seems like a great tool. Can't wait to explore it more and share it with my staff. We are going through a system wide upgrade and saving favorites is an issue I'm trying to avoid by creating a pod cast explaining the directions to export and save their favorites. This would possibly help avoid this hassle.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Getting teachers to buy into Web 2.0
While I have found all the information on Web 2.0 fascinating I have also found that most of the staff at the school doesn't. I can email as many links to interesting web sites or on web 2.0 classes as I can come across and no one takes any interest unless there is money involved.
For example, tonight we held a workshop on Skype and Photostory. The entire lab was full. Less than half showed up to actually learn what either product was about or how to use them. I know this because I over heard people stating that they were only going to get the $25.00 stipend. While I know that these classes are offering instruction on great tools, it's hard to get the idea across to them. How to you communicate to people that with a little imagination, these tools could help engage students who other wise act out during class.
I hear on a regular basis that students only want to surf the internet or play games. Right now games are used as a reward, if you get your work done go play games. While that works for some, there are still many that could be somehow creating a game out of the homework using the internet. While I do not like students wasting their time, I feel that trying to integrate different ways to get the information across needs to be addressed.
I'm going to point out our business ed department. While I feel that this department could and should be leading the way on introducing some of the new technologies, the teachers are stuck. At every tech meeting I only hear how students need to learn how to type. Why? The students don't feel the need. One finger from each hand works great for them. They get done what needs to be done. I'm not sure if it's out of fear of the unknown or lack of knowledge, but the staff doesn't look beyond keyboarding. Is it really necessary that student have the correct posture or fingure position? Will this actually ruin their chances for a career and happy life?
I'm hoping that by taking more classes pertaining to Web 2.0 I will somehow be able to communicate to the staff that maybe there are bigger ideas to address and that something they feel is a major problem might not be.
For example, tonight we held a workshop on Skype and Photostory. The entire lab was full. Less than half showed up to actually learn what either product was about or how to use them. I know this because I over heard people stating that they were only going to get the $25.00 stipend. While I know that these classes are offering instruction on great tools, it's hard to get the idea across to them. How to you communicate to people that with a little imagination, these tools could help engage students who other wise act out during class.
I hear on a regular basis that students only want to surf the internet or play games. Right now games are used as a reward, if you get your work done go play games. While that works for some, there are still many that could be somehow creating a game out of the homework using the internet. While I do not like students wasting their time, I feel that trying to integrate different ways to get the information across needs to be addressed.
I'm going to point out our business ed department. While I feel that this department could and should be leading the way on introducing some of the new technologies, the teachers are stuck. At every tech meeting I only hear how students need to learn how to type. Why? The students don't feel the need. One finger from each hand works great for them. They get done what needs to be done. I'm not sure if it's out of fear of the unknown or lack of knowledge, but the staff doesn't look beyond keyboarding. Is it really necessary that student have the correct posture or fingure position? Will this actually ruin their chances for a career and happy life?
I'm hoping that by taking more classes pertaining to Web 2.0 I will somehow be able to communicate to the staff that maybe there are bigger ideas to address and that something they feel is a major problem might not be.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
It's very interesting to see all the other blogs pertaining to education and technology. Many of the blogs I found were people posting their opinion about different subjects or how they used technology to research a subject and the steps they took. I did find one blog that was different. This blog offered different tips on using technology. The url is:
http://www.tammyworcester.com/TipOfWeek/TammyWTechTipOfWeek/Tech_Tip_of_Week_Tammy_Worcester.html
The author is Tammy Worcester. She started out teaching and then moved into training. I found that her tips were very concise and relevant. Not only in the classroom but also in business.
http://www.tammyworcester.com/TipOfWeek/TammyWTechTipOfWeek/Tech_Tip_of_Week_Tammy_Worcester.html
The author is Tammy Worcester. She started out teaching and then moved into training. I found that her tips were very concise and relevant. Not only in the classroom but also in business.
Monday, May 11, 2009
creating a blog
This is my first blog. While I usually have a lot to say I don't usually share it. The actual setup of the blog was very easy. It's the using it I'm not sure of.
I can definitely see blogging as an advantage for many areas. As mentioned in the article it's a great way to get your idea out in the public eye for many different readers. It can be an advertising tool for an event. While at the same time it can be used to sway the opinion for decision that needs to be made.
As far as the classrooms it would be a great tool for discussion outside of the classroom. I've heard of many teachers being able to get students involved by allowing them an alternative to speaking during class time. There are students who do not want to talk during class for various reasons. Blogging allows them an alternative to discussion.
Also, writing down ideas allows a person to think ideas or problems through in a different way. By thinking and then typing out those thoughts a person has to actually address the idea multiple times and can clean the process up.
I can definitely see blogging as an advantage for many areas. As mentioned in the article it's a great way to get your idea out in the public eye for many different readers. It can be an advertising tool for an event. While at the same time it can be used to sway the opinion for decision that needs to be made.
As far as the classrooms it would be a great tool for discussion outside of the classroom. I've heard of many teachers being able to get students involved by allowing them an alternative to speaking during class time. There are students who do not want to talk during class for various reasons. Blogging allows them an alternative to discussion.
Also, writing down ideas allows a person to think ideas or problems through in a different way. By thinking and then typing out those thoughts a person has to actually address the idea multiple times and can clean the process up.
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