Sharlene’s Weblog

I’m still amazed by the amount and uses of technology tools, especially the free ones online.  I tend to live in a hole, only using what I know, and this past month has been wonderful for pulling me out of that.  I’ve never signed up for so many accounts in my life!  I made a point of taking notes in class about the various tools we discussed and were shown.  I’ve never been much of a “techy” but who doesn’t love free stuff?  After going through my notes, I thought it would be good to compile them into a list for future reference.  Hence, the Tools page on this blog. 

I have now done 3 pre-internships.  None of the classrooms I was part of really used the tools we were introduced to in this class.  After speaking with my cooperating teachers and peers, I feel that the reason for this is that many people are largely unaware of what’s available to them and how to access it.  My hope is that this list will remind me and help me to inform other teachers of their options and that this will assist in making current technology an integral part of more classrooms.

This class was a very stretching one for me.  I was introduced to and expected to use so many new programs that I felt a little breathless sometimes.  But I hadn’t realized just how much I’d learned until yesterday when I was speaking with my cooperating teacher from last fall.  She had a lot of questions that we had addressed in class.   She was fascinated with Google Reader and the idea of paper-less assignments.  (Not nearly so many papers to keep track of and file.)  She also thought the students would be very motivated to complete assignments this way. 

She then mentioned that her students were proud of their PowerPoint presentations but that they were very distracting and somewhat overdone.   I was able to  direct her to slideshare and blip.tv, 2 sites I was unaware of before taking this class, to get some information for teaching proper use of PowerPoint.  She was amazed, as I still am occassionally, at how much information is available online.  I was encouraged by this conversation that I have something valuable to share with my cooperating teachers who have given me so much insight and assistance. 

Here’s our video project!

(It’s taken over my blog!)

I’ve explained much of what we’re learning in class to my family. It fascinates me and I like to brag about all the things I’m learning to do. However, whenever I try to describe my final project to my sister, she laughs. She says “wiki” reminds her of “hickey” and off she goes.

But besides that, there are some really good things I’ve noticed about wikis, pbwiki in particular.  The feature I like best? It’s incredibly easy to use. It provides “webinars” to introduce tips and tricks for using it. But they’re not really needed. Everything is set up in a self-explanatory way and there are little hints written around the site to point out what isn’t immediately obvious. Also, uploading and adding files to the pages is easy.  Always a bonus.

I’ve included an image of the screen.  Check out the easy navigation.

But all is not perfect. After discussing visual literacy and the importance of design I wanted to make my project as visually appealing as possible. But alas, I’m using the free version and there are not a lot of options for making it pretty. Another small complaint is that the edit window is not the same as the page that is published so not everything lines up the same. These are small problems with an overall useful tool.

After doing some work with a wiki, I’ve come to the conclusion that wikis would make great extended class projects.  They could be set up as a resource (”What we know about ancient Egypt”).  I read a teacher’s blog who had created several wikis and each of his or her classes added to it.  (Does anyone know who that was?)  What a good idea!  Students are able to learn from each other and from previous classes as well as being motivated to do well because their work will be viewed by later classes, and maybe younger siblings.  They are also a great way to teach skills such as editing.  Although templates can be used, the limited possibilities for dressing up the site may work to the students’ advantage in that they spend more time on the language than on the look of the site. 

As I’m fairly new to all the programs we’ve been introduced to in this class, I feel that my learning curve has been pretty high.  I’ve enjoyed the ride.

Jenna and I decided on the process of stop motion animation to make our video and were able to use many different programs in creating it.  We were planning to use a whiteboard to draw our images and then take photos but Alec set us up with the SmartBoard and off we went.  I’d had a little previous experience with a SmartBoard before but this experience allowed me to become quite comfortable using parts of it.  I was very pleased with how it worked out.  And what a good tool for the classroom!  Besides all the cool things you can do with it, it doesn’t smell or create dust.  We also used Audacity and Skreemr.  Both are fairly straightforward and easy to use but I was a little disappointed with the limited editing possible in Audacity.  Maybe I just haven’t used it enough.

After we were satisfied with the images, we moved them to the Windows Movie Maker (WMM from now on) program.  This is when I began to pull out my hair.  WMM requires all the files to be present before it can open a saved project.  I discovered this the hard way by attempting to open work saved from the previous day - and finding X’s instead of images!  Much stress later we had that figured out.  The second thing we noticed was that WMM tends to freeze - often.  We soon started saving after every change we made.  Do I have grey hair?

I have come to the conclusion that WMM is not for me.  I’ve done some work with iMovie several years ago and found it to be a much easier program to use than WMM.  Besides WMM’s tendency to freeze (ahhh!), layering sound (like background music and voice over) is very difficult.  And I’ve already discussed having to import the pieces of the video every time it’s opened.  Lovely.  This is fine, though a little time-consuming, once it’s figured out. 

I had several ulcers working on this and Jenna tried to keep me calm. But we learned a lot. Mainly that one should always use Macs for making movies.

Unfortunately, Jenna and I couldn’t seem to upload our video onto a host site but Monday…

…and many other topics. I found this video on blip.tv and discovered Clifford Stoll to be a very interesting and entertaining person to watch. I doubt his students are ever bored. In this video he touches on a lot of subjects including technology in the classroom. He’s written a “High Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don’t Belong In The Classroom.” A controversial topic for this class.

Throughout this last year I’ve been on the lookout for interesting sites I can use in the classroom, either for lesson-planning or research or activities.  Quite a few are local but hopefully everyone can find something they can use.  Here are a few I found:

EarthCARE, EarthCare Canada - Contains lessons, activities, web links, booklist, poetry, songs.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) - Free teaching materials!  I love it.

Regina Public Libraries - I had no idea the libraries had so much online.  Lots of information but what interested me was the virtual classroom.  It contains lessons on everything from setting up a hotmail account and an introduction to eBay (for digital immigrants) to the library’s online catalogue effectively (for those with scholarly pursuits). 

Regina Television and Radio - This site contains a list of all the TV and radio stations and contacts in Regina.  I love the “find-everything-in-one-place” sites.  Contact any media in the area, get news updates, etc.  If you’re not from the Regina area, check around.  Your area probably has one of these too.

Royal Saskatchewan Museum - I was shown this site at an environmental workshop.  It contains a very good ecological footprint calculator.  Also includes interactive learning centers, a youth forum on sustainability, the Paleo Pit (activities and games for younger students) and loan kits on a variety of topics.  Good site for any environmental action projects…

Plank Road Publishing - specializes in music education, magazine (Music K-8), products and teacher support

Themes and Variations - great publications for the music classroom

Mackenzie Art Gallery - List of exhibitions so you can plan field trips.  The gallery focuses on Canadian artists, especially those from Saskatchewan.  Great for a little “Canadian culture” (we’re still figuring out what that means).

 Saskatchewan Outdoor and Environmental Education Association - quite self-explanatory

www.thinkwater.ca - UN’s take on water conservation, along the same line as www.storyofstuff.com

Alyssa’s post got me thinking about the role of technology and the more traditional skills of reading, writing and numeracy. Specifically, it caused me to wonder, where do these skills fit in? They’ve always held an elevated position in schooling but with computers and other technology’s ability to compensate for many weaknesses in these areas, are they still as important as they once were? Reading and writing have always been quite difficult to acquire, more for some students than others. They require time, patience and often creativity in presentation. To learn a second (or third, etc.) language can take up to 7 years for complete fluency! Is it still worth the time and effort to make sure students have skills in reading, writing and ‘rithmetic, or have computers made the need for good reading and writing obsolete?

The conclusion I came to was that reading, writing and numeracy are still important for students to learn. For many reasons. Writing is taken seriously when the mechanics, as well as the content, are good. Well-written communication is less likely to be misunderstood. Reading and writing also improve one’s speaking and listening. I agree with Alyssa’s comment that students should learn how to effectively use technology while not becoming dependent on it to get through the day.

So, are the three R’s not needed anymore? I would say they are needed more now than ever before. Technology continually surrounds students with text, numbers and sounds. Students need to be able to decipher messages quickly and accurately. Poor reading, writing and numeracy skills limit students’ abilities to filter and use the information they access and are bombarded with.

Computers and other technology are tools. And tools are used more effectively when students have sufficient skills in the basics of reading, writing, numeracy, and critical & creative thinking. Tools should aid learning - they should never be expected to replace the grey matter we’ve been given. As such, it is not a substitute for reading, writing and numeracy but rather another way to acquire and use these skills.

This class has really encouraged me to use technology in the classroom, specifically as an alternative to traditional paper-and-pencil work. It looks like I’ll have some interesting opportunities this fall.

I met with my cooperating teacher a few weeks ago and we were discussing how I would begin the semester. I mentioned I would like to set up Writer’s Workshop, starting with creating pretty folders in Arts Ed. She seemed to think Writer’s Workshop was a good idea but was hesitant about it. She suggested we speak with the teacher who has “my” class now. So we did. She’s done Writer’s Workshop this past year and mentioned that within a month, the folders and all rough work was MIA. We discussed the possibility of setting up Writer’s Workshop online, wikis or blogs or something else, and I was quite excited about the possibilities. (I’ll be able to use my new knowledge of Internet tools in my internship!) But more than that, I’m hoping that by adapting Writer’s Workshop, it will be more interesting and motivating for my students. Ideally, connecting them to each other via the Web and having them comment on each other’s work on a regular basis will help them realize the value of good writing skills for effective communication. I want to use technology in an authentic and meaningful way. Donna DesRoches’ May 30 post both encouraged me and caused me to re-evaluate how I would go about this.

Although I’m really excited and think it will be a good experience, I can forsee a possible problem. The classroom has only 3 quite old computers in it. We’ll either have to take shifts, or use the computers in various classrooms or the library. Or I’ll have to work out something else. This situation is in strong contrast to the school I was in this last semester for pre-internship. Each classroom had 3-4 almost new computers. The library had an area with computers for the students to use and a cart with MacBooks that could be signed out. Almost continual unlimited access to the Internet. In addition, most of those students had access, and likely their own computer, at home. By comparison, the students in the school where I will intern have much less access. Unfortuate but realistic differences. But the relative “novelty” may work to my advantage.

In any case, I’m excited to try it, regardless of the outcome. And an added bonus is, in having their work on the Web, it eliminates “the dog ate my homework” excuse.

Any suggestions concerning online Writer’s Workshop are more than welcome.

In class May 28 we had some great discussions and watched some media on design. I found the discussions very relevant. Right-brain, artistic people are having increasing influence in the world. To make something attractive and interesting to read is becoming increasingly important. It’s no longer just the content or information that’s important but how it’s presented. Scientists need artists in order to “sell” their ideas. This concept is especially relevant in the classroom where teachers are continually trying to “sell” the curriculum to students and technology has provided more, and easier, options for this than ever before.

In the broader sense, design has always been part of the classroom. However, it has only been lately that the design has become increasingly student-centered. The term “instructional design” speaks to this idea. A definition for instructional design states it is “the process by which instruction is improved through the analysis of learning needs and systematic development of learning materials. Instructional designers often use technology and multimedia as tools to enhance instruction.” This website also states that the essence of instructional design was not to take out content but to make it simpler. Scaffolding. Start simple and build. But don’t omit information that leaves students wondering why they are learning this and when it will ever be relevant their lives. I believe instructional design to be a concept that teachers will need to become familiar with, and more so as technology continues to influence schooling.

Check out this representation:

I did a bit of a search for more information regarding instructional design. One of the websites I found amused me - and proved a point. It was a graduate paper speaking to instructional design and learning theory. It contained very good information but unfortunately was not appealing to look at and therefore more difficult to read than ones with some visuals. Lesson? If I make information interesting to look at and read, my students are more likely to actually read it in the first place, remember it, and interact with it. The rule “high contrast = information, no contrast = no information” needs to be tempered with a few good visuals.

A few websites I found for anyone interested:

Step-by-step process to instructional design

Instructional Design Models

designing assessment and other information