Blog 6- Wikis

A wiki is a set of expandable web pages that can be edited by anyone. It is similar to a blog structure, but it can be edited, deleted, and modified using a browser interface or the work of other authors. They are collaborative environments by design that can serve as ways to collaborate and communicate through the Internet. Some features of a wiki are that they do not allow more than one person at a time to edit and there is a log that keeps track of every edit.

In the article, Collaborative Learning The Wiki Way, Engstrom and Jeweet described a project called Under Control, which had middle school children use wikis to promote critical inquiry and collaborative problem-solving skills. They chose to use the Twiki software program to complete this project.  This limited access to the wiki site to only the students and teachers involved in the project, in order to protect students' privacy. Teachers had access to all the wiki pages, but students only had access to the pages for their small group, to prevent students from changing or vandalizing others' work. Twiki uses a page-locking system, which only allows one person to edit a page at the time.  This is monitored by a pop up on the screen that informs if someone attempted to edit a page that had already being edited by someone else.

The teachers received ample training and discussed the pros and cons of the use of a wiki. They stated that the two lessons learned could be grouped into two categories: instructional issues and technology-related issues. A strong majority of teachers reported that their technology skills increased, but that they had more difficulty using the wiki than other communication tools. They also expressed concern that not all students were responding to one another?s edits. Most teachers also reported that the students researched on their own or in small groups without much support of the inquiry process. In regards to technological issues there were a few including, not being able to edit more than one paper or not enough access to computers. When teachers divided their classes into small groups and gave each student a specific job relating to different areas of the wiki, being locked out was not a problem.

I think a wiki would be great to use in teaching the steps of the writing process. My students can edit one another?s papers and provide feedback or suggestions for improvement. It would be beneficial to include different members from the school community to add comments and expand on one another?s thoughts. I would like to start a wiki for the parents and school community. Teachers, parents, students and administrators could all be involved. In first grade, we teach a unit on dental health. Students can post their poems, writings, etc. and the school community can respond to writings. The school community can write about similar experiences and post images and captions that capsulate the content.

Posted at 03:18PM Jun 20, 2006 by CANTELUPE, CARICE in General  |  Comments[0]

Blog 5- Digital archives

In order to compete with the rich multimedia experiences our children receive outside of the classrooms, it is our responsibility as teachers to incorporate these same experiences into our lessons and classrooms. There is a digital divide between teachers and the children they are teaching, and we must provide our students with the tools and resources to compete with our technological world. Online digital archives make this possible. Digital archives are a web-based collection of a wide variety of digital media focused around a common topic. Government agencies or universities can host these archives. Each archive can include text files, images, video, sound, or animation.  Students can bring to life events in history such as September 11, or explore and research space programs.

In the article, Online Digital Archives, Hofer shares important findings related to digital archives. In order for digital archives to effectively support teaching and learning, the activities need to be structured to address the most important content standards that will effectively maximize meaningful student learning. The most difficult concept for students to grasp is how to apply mathematics to the real world. Hofer states that Archimedes digital archives solves this problem by providing students with a variety of text, images and animation to see how mathematics has changed our world. Hofer also points out that local and national standards are placing an emphasis on student-centered inquiry projects and higher-order thinking skills. Digital archives supports this idea because students are challenged to ask questions about a particular topic and then design a plan to analyze and gather information in order to reach a conclusion. The article states that there are a few concerns to consider such as bandwidth limitations, copyright and fair use issues. The author makes it very clear that although these could be potential barricades, the potential of digital archives to support a multitude of student-centered activities outweigh the negatives.

Posted at 07:20PM Jun 18, 2006 by CANTELUPE, CARICE in General  |  Comments[22]

Blog 4- Filming Compassion

 Any lesson or topic can be enhanced through creating audio or video productions.  Video Production allows students to find and research a topic of interest. Students then create, edit, and publish a video. While Video Production is on the rise, Service learning is also increasing throughout both public and private schools. Video production can be integrated into a school?s service learning requirements. Students enhance their computer skills, while creating a promotional tool for nonprofit agencies. This affects all the students because even if they are not directly in the project they watch and learn from their peers.

In the article ?Filming Compassion?, Janet Bremer and Marilyn Clark discuss a video production class that participates in service learning projects by creating videos for non-profit organizations. The non-profit agencies teamed up with Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy High School students to come up with marketing tools for their agency and by involving students to gain a wealth of knowledge, and earn service-learning hours towards graduation.  Students acquire new skills with video production, and learn about the daily operations of non-profit agencies.  But most importantly, students feel good about making an impact by contributing to a good cause. First, they contacted the organizations to see if they wanted to participate. The students were then placed in groups and given the responsibility to contact their assigned organization. Prior to creating the video, the students had to learn more about the organization by finding out what they did, and how they were going to use the video to educate the public. The students combined their ideas along with the agencies to create a storyboard.  After receiving feedback, the students edited the videos that were eventually assessed using a rubric. Students were able to hone a lot of their computer skills, but the main focus was to get them out in the community to understand the importance of service learning.

Although this article is geared towards high school, it can be modified for all ages. We currently do a few service projects throughout the school year, where the students write and take pictures of their experiences. I could use this idea and have the student?s video tape their services. After editing the videos, the students could share their video with the school to promote service learning. They could even create ? The More You Know? commercials and discuss how beneficial it is to contribute to their community. My students have pen pals in different states. We could collaborate with other students from different parts of the world, and use the video to expand service learning in other states. For example, my students are involved in a community trash pick-up organization. They could film this experience and send it to their pen pals to show how beneficial it is to give back to the community.

Posted at 08:25PM Jun 16, 2006 by CANTELUPE, CARICE in General  |  Comments[0]

Blog 3- Digital Stories

A digital story consists of a series of still images combined with a narrated soundtrack to tell a story. The strategy involves using pictures with a narration to tell a story using computer software for making movies. There are seven steps that teachers should use as a starting point: write an initial script, plan a storyboard, discuss and revise the script, sequence the images, add a narrative track, add special effects, and add a musical soundtrack. Students begin with a concise script that should be less than a page in length. This short length makes the task seem less daunting to most students, which helps to produce better writing. Next, students plan the storyboard. In this step, students prepare to convey the main idea of the story by creating sketches, still images or a video clip. Beneath each image students place a caption to describe the ideas being conveyed. Students then discuss in small groups, where they elicit feedback from other students and revise their scripts. In these story circles, students have opportunities to critique one another?s ideas and discuss ways to improve their stories. Students then use a video editor to sequence the images. IMovie or Movie Maker is a digital video editor that can be used. Students then record a narrative track.  Finally, students add the final touches to their digital stories with special effects, transitions, and a musical soundtrack.

   In the Kajder article, there were several "lessons learned?. Students should plan their scripts and storyboards away from the computer so they could focus. Students need to save often and maintain a back-up copy. Kajder also stresses to not let technology get in the way and to keep storytelling at the forefront. The article mentioned that the limited equipment in most classrooms is one of the drawbacks to digital storytelling. Another important point that Kajder makes is that teachers need to align the End-of-Grade objectives with the objectives uses for digital storytelling to maximize student learning.

Posted at 07:19PM Jun 16, 2006 by CANTELUPE, CARICE in General  |  Comments[0]

Blog 2- Geocaching

Geocaching is similar to a scavenger hunt that uses technology. Geocachers hide a collection of items for someone else to find. Some caches use a waterproof container with a logbook to record journeys and other assorted ?treasures?. The person chooses a certain location, then posts the longitude and latitude coordinates of the locations on a geocaching website. They provide clues and other pertinent information to help find the location of the object. People can search for caches hidden in their area and use GPS (global positioning) handheld units and basic map skills to locate them. You can also create a multi-site cache where you have to plug in the units and complete a calculation to determine the next set of units.  The GPS unit can be used for a variety of educational purposes.   

In the Lary article, she introduces several uses for GPS in the classroom. One concept is called "locationless caching". This strategy involves creating a cache and describing a type of object they are searching for. The students take pictures or write descriptions of the object and post them online using their longitude and latitude coordinates. The article also discussed a concept called "travel bugs," which are tags that can be attached to objects. A cacher chooses a place for the bug and "releases" it into a cache. The students take note of each move and records the different movements on a geocaching website. This would be great for elementary teachers to use during science lessons. Lary received positive feedback on this concept from both the parents and students. Lary also discusses hiding content related caches in different locations in a schoolyard. Students can work together to solve the clues, or have one cache lead to another cache, which is known as a process called ?multi-site caching.?

            I like this tool because it uses a few different learning modalities to reach the needs of your students. It can really engage your Naturalists, Kinesthetic and Logical learners. This idea can get students outside, moving around, and become problem-solvers. This would be easy to sell to all ages, especially to younger students.

Since I teach elementary students, I thought geocaching would be great to introduce basic map skills and positional words. I could have them search for a cache in the schoolyard. They could work cooperatively to find the location of the different objects. This would teach my students how to work together to solve problems, while developing the oral language to master different skills. The students could also have different responsibilities such as a photographer, a logbook keeper and a GPS user.  I could also use a travel bug by sending it around different parts of the campus. My students would take note of the different locations and we could create a physical map of where the bug had been. During the activity students can explore nature such as plants, animals, insects, rocks, wind, clouds, etc. This could really create an integrated and authentic lesson. I am excited to try and use this tool in the next upcoming school year.

Posted at 11:08PM Jun 11, 2006 by CANTELUPE, CARICE in General  |  Comments[0]

Blog 1- Electronic Response System

Electronic response systems have allowed students in large college lecture halls to immediately respond to multiple choice questions posed by the instructor through the use of a clicker.  The total responses given by the students are then displayed, so both the students and the instructor can see the results.  The research shows that there is not a significant academic improvement, but the electronic response systems do increase student discussion and provide more ?interactive engagement.? The system allows the instructor to customize the information for the students.  Students interact by using specific buttons to answer or respond to the instructors questions.  The students responses create a continous graph that immediately informs the instructor of student understanding. This allows the instructor to modify the instruction geared towards the students needs.

One of the key points in the readings, was the data showed that there was no substantial academic improvement. However, it was reported that the students were more engaged and that they displayed a more positive attitude toward the class. In the article,  Judson states that the technology is not the instruction. He makes it very clear that the instruction is most effective when students dialogue in groups and try to respond and answer the questions together. In order for this system to be a success, the questions need to be well thought out and include higher levels of questioning. The Draper and Brown article discussed a study that showed that when the technology is paired with a peer-interactive teaching strategy, then there are significant improvements on standardized test scores. The instructors reported that they enjoyed being able to get a response from an entire class in a short period of time. This helped the instructor to meet the needs of the entire class, oppose to the only ones who participated.

I believe this tool would be an asset to any classroom. It allows each student to be engaged and to take ownership of their own learning. This system will also capture your reluctant learners. Not only can this be used for instruction, but it provides the teacher with a valid assessment, which allows the teacher to gear their instruction according to their students needs. With this tool, the teacher is using both cooperative grouping and independent pracice to enhance student knowledge. Students love to play games, and this system would work well with a Jepordy-type game to test general or specific knowledge. It would be an excellent tool to use at the end of a unit for review. 

 The use of electronic response systems may not directly correlate to student achievement, but if students are actively involved in playing educational games and discussing the content with their classmates, then they are receiving a valuable and educational lesson.  If anything, it is motivating the students and teaching them cooperative skills.  Just like with any instructional tool, it needs to be modified to meet the needs of the students and used in moderation with a variety of other instructional tools.

Posted at 09:09PM Jun 11, 2006 by CANTELUPE, CARICE in General  |  Comments[0]