In the article, “Storytelling in the Web 2.0 Era,” by Glenn Bull the author discusses the meaning of Web 2.0 and its effect on technological storytelling and its interaction with education. The most interesting and classroom applicable part was the web ‘storytelling.’ According to the article, this type of ‘storytelling’ has to do with the insurgence of a variety of web tools to create a story in a new and interactive way. This allows for teachers and students to tell or even perhaps retell a story in a new and unique way with the interaction of two or more types of media that can be shared on the web. A few examples are slideshow, mapping and scrapping as ways to interact with the material. These would be particularly useful for either a history or language arts class where students typically use graphic organizers to recall events in a story. But in this case they could create projects to show their understanding of the story using technology. They could collaborate in groups of two or three and interact with technology while successively showing their understanding and comprehension of the material they read. Reading comprehension is something even higher achievers struggle with. They can discuss their thoughts create pre-creation activities and have the assistance of a program to edit their work and sentence structure. For students with special needs that have trouble writing, digitally creating their ideas would provide a viable alternative. The margin for success would be higher for all students regardless of need.
Question #1:
How does Glenn Bull address the viewpoint of not integrating this type of technology due to cost?
Glenn states that given the integration of Web 2.0 there is no cost to schools to utilize this type of technology. He also says given these programs are web based and free students and other can access them from anywhere in order to complete and work with these frames. He discusses the more than 50 different applications and their presence and their ability to be used in the classroom. He does however believe their usage will require creativity and thoughtfulness. Each type of modality must be utilized to get the most out of their projects and assignments. But this is simply reminding teachers to use best practices, even when it comes to technology integration.
Question #2:
What are the four attributes of Web 2.0 and describe one of them.
Publisher Tim O’Reily popularized the term and defined its four parts as, web as a platform, user generated content, sharing and remixing, economic and educational value. The most interesting one for me was the ‘economic and educational value’ element. This particular one has two parts the economic side which refers to the sheer ‘dirt cheapness’ of this new Web 2.0 idea. That is, everything is available on the internet and free to access and use. The educational value was discussed when the author went into the value of this framework in the classroom and its applicability into a variety of ways and subjects. It is simply invaluable to teachers and we must take advantage for the sake of our children’s knowledge and integrate it as creatively, carefully and abundantly as possible.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Journal #4 – “5 Don’t’s of Classroom Blogging”
The article titled, “Five Don’t of Classroom Blogging,” published in T-H-E Journal by Julie Sturgeon discusses the pitfalls and things to keep in mind while integrating classroom technology into ones curriculum. The first warning comes from Anne Davis reminding teachers not to just ‘dive in’ when beginning a blog. She recommends utilizing guidelines for her students and even getting the parents involved in the project by signing off on it and agreeing to the guidelines for conduct while on the web. Countering this don’t is a ‘do’ by Dubbles who says it can be a way to teach non-fiction writing and get kids engaged in the subject and grasp the idea by writing their own short blogs. Another don’t I found interesting was not to use a free blogger for the students in ones class. This makes tons of sense as it does not have the secure framework to make sure the rules and codes for conduct are followed. Having a framework for the children to function in really is the ticket for success. I also felt the ‘don’t’ of not leaving the blogging to the student would make for a community of scholarly opinions and learners. Other teachers will be able to comment on the insight their students may have on a particular subject, allowing a student to receive feedback from everyone interested in their success.
Question #1: What is the one website the article suggests for teachers to use in place of a free blogger? Why does he suggest using this site over a free site?
Jeffrey Yan suggests not using a free blogging site in the classroom to supplement curriculum like blogger.com or typepad.com. He argues to use a ‘platform with structure’ without advertisements and access to the entire unfenced blogging world. Davis suggests using a site called ‘Class Blogmeister’ to support our students and their learning. It may be simple but it gives the teacher a lot of control over content and context, while offering a student acceptable entry at each stage. This type of software supports the learning environment and lets each student engage in the medium and express their knowledge in the subject matter without the concerns of worrying about what the students are being exposed to.
Question #2: What was one ‘do’ activity Davis suggests using for students to get basic training in blogging?
Davis suggests a ‘webaquest’ learning activity. This activity will have students take the knowledge they acquire on the web to introduce primary students to using a blogging framework. This activity allows students at a very early age to begin working in a medium that will determine their success in later life. By getting exposure to technology early on in life they will be that much more proficient in its uses later when they have a grade based upon it or when they need to get a job.
Question #1: What is the one website the article suggests for teachers to use in place of a free blogger? Why does he suggest using this site over a free site?
Jeffrey Yan suggests not using a free blogging site in the classroom to supplement curriculum like blogger.com or typepad.com. He argues to use a ‘platform with structure’ without advertisements and access to the entire unfenced blogging world. Davis suggests using a site called ‘Class Blogmeister’ to support our students and their learning. It may be simple but it gives the teacher a lot of control over content and context, while offering a student acceptable entry at each stage. This type of software supports the learning environment and lets each student engage in the medium and express their knowledge in the subject matter without the concerns of worrying about what the students are being exposed to.
Question #2: What was one ‘do’ activity Davis suggests using for students to get basic training in blogging?
Davis suggests a ‘webaquest’ learning activity. This activity will have students take the knowledge they acquire on the web to introduce primary students to using a blogging framework. This activity allows students at a very early age to begin working in a medium that will determine their success in later life. By getting exposure to technology early on in life they will be that much more proficient in its uses later when they have a grade based upon it or when they need to get a job.
Journal #3 - Math and Technology in the classroom
In the article, “Speaking Math: Using Chat in the Multicultural Math Classroom,” by Janet Graham and Ted Hodgson discusses the usefulness of the integration and implementation of technology in the math classroom. Students in a multicultural school are using technology to enhance and engage their understanding of mathematics concepts. They are communicating with their peers to aide in comprehension of the material all under the watchful eye of their teacher. The questions and answers are also a tool for the teacher to use as an informal ‘dipstick’ assessment. It lets them know what they need to review and where the confusion is stemming from. The engagement for all learners, particularly EL is also enhanced as with the discussion they have time to plan out their answers or use other student’s answers as guides for their own. Student’s have the opportunity to speak the same language in discussion with peers that share both their subject interests and their desire to understand math concepts. The authors also discuss the integration of this type of technology into other classrooms. For example, teachers could post assignments and extensions of the classroom learning onto a class website. These students could then seek out these answers and respond adding to their overall learning experience. For example, student studying the presidents could look up information in relationship to what they did in office or possibly humorous cartoons. They could follow election highlights or look up commentary and reflect on their findings in discussion as well on those discoveries made by their peers.
Questions to consider:
1. How might a new teacher manage integrating these assignments for students who do not have access to a computer or the internet at home?
The management of this problem is very easy. Teachers can solve this issue several ways. First, classroom time in the computer lab would work to remedy this issue while allowing students to chat at one time with all students in the class not just those whom happened to be logged on at the time. Further this solution allows for teachers to form small cooperative groups in the virtual classroom to ensure students are mixed properly and interacting with every peer. Second, students should have access to school site computers or in class computers to complete these assignments or posts during their free time before, at lunch, or after school. Frequently teachers are around campus after set hours and students could take advantage of this opportunity to finish their school work on school grounds. Another way of managing this situation might be to allow students access to the computers when they finish their work early or as a reward for positive classroom or school wide behavior. Frequently children will get excited to get on the computer even if they know they are completing an assignment as it is just something different to do!
2 What might be some alternative ways to implement this type of activity into a Language Arts class for students with special needs?
Children with special needs particularly benefit from alternative forms of communication. This question interests me because too many special educators simply forgo the use and application of technology in the classroom. Perhaps they use technology themselves but when it comes to having the children work with the medium they are fall short. Student needs this interaction particularly if they have special needs and do not have access to this technology at home. They need meaningful interaction with an alternative form of communication. Some students that suffer from dyslexia or other types of disorders will benefit from the usage of a program that checks their work and helps them formulate proper sentences. A couple examples of implementation could be a class blog or discussion board monitored and observed by the instructor with pre-set tasks and assignments to enhance their learning. Another example might be students could do a class scavenger hunt with questions posted and children would have links that would take them to a specific site to find information. Students could also look up topics online and find other explanations and examples for continued learning.
Questions to consider:
1. How might a new teacher manage integrating these assignments for students who do not have access to a computer or the internet at home?
The management of this problem is very easy. Teachers can solve this issue several ways. First, classroom time in the computer lab would work to remedy this issue while allowing students to chat at one time with all students in the class not just those whom happened to be logged on at the time. Further this solution allows for teachers to form small cooperative groups in the virtual classroom to ensure students are mixed properly and interacting with every peer. Second, students should have access to school site computers or in class computers to complete these assignments or posts during their free time before, at lunch, or after school. Frequently teachers are around campus after set hours and students could take advantage of this opportunity to finish their school work on school grounds. Another way of managing this situation might be to allow students access to the computers when they finish their work early or as a reward for positive classroom or school wide behavior. Frequently children will get excited to get on the computer even if they know they are completing an assignment as it is just something different to do!
2 What might be some alternative ways to implement this type of activity into a Language Arts class for students with special needs?
Children with special needs particularly benefit from alternative forms of communication. This question interests me because too many special educators simply forgo the use and application of technology in the classroom. Perhaps they use technology themselves but when it comes to having the children work with the medium they are fall short. Student needs this interaction particularly if they have special needs and do not have access to this technology at home. They need meaningful interaction with an alternative form of communication. Some students that suffer from dyslexia or other types of disorders will benefit from the usage of a program that checks their work and helps them formulate proper sentences. A couple examples of implementation could be a class blog or discussion board monitored and observed by the instructor with pre-set tasks and assignments to enhance their learning. Another example might be students could do a class scavenger hunt with questions posted and children would have links that would take them to a specific site to find information. Students could also look up topics online and find other explanations and examples for continued learning.
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