The Fourth Factor

Tuesday marks the beginning of another school year.  I am looking forward to this year, to implement many new web2.0 tools.  I think that the students in my class will benefit from these tools.  I am going to have a student teacher from October to December, so this will allow me to really get some of my ideas into place.  I will share my ups and downs along the way, as I help my students become 21st century learners.  I wish everyone a wonderful and exciting school year!

Check out my Wordle

I am excited to see which words stand out in my Wordle. The five main words (learning, 21st, classroom, students, and technology) are what I feel my classroom is all about. Learning happens in a 21st century classroom, as students utilize technology.

It seems as though that all my thoughts have been focused on the different web tools that we have been learning about.  Today’s sharing really got me thinking about how the tools will integrate into my classroom.  I can vision allotting time during centers for students to work on projects utilizing these tools.  I really can see my classroom being transformed as a result.  My biggest concerned would be my students’ ability levels with technology, and where I am going to be able to start.
On another note, did you know that you can use the discussion link in the wiki, as you would a blog?  You can post a question or thought and students can reply.  One affordance would be that teachers would only need to create one account for students, rather than a wiki and a blog.  Also everything would be in one place.  A few constraints would be that you can not tag entries, and pictures cannot be embedded.  It is just a simple way of creating dialogue between students.

I was born into the mindset 1, but I feel that I have always belonged in mindset 2.  My biggest disadvantage would be my lack of need to use new tools at home for personal use, outside of school work.  I recently joined Facebook, just to check it out because my neighbors were talking about it.  With in a few short weeks, I am connected to my cousin, college friends, and neighbors.  As with what we are talking about in class about new tools in the classroom, there are new tools for us at home.  I feel that using these tools at home, will help us relate to our students more, to understand where they are coming from.  If I can make a home connection with 21st Century tools for myself, then I feel I will better be able to help students make connections with these same tools with an educational purpose.

As for my grade partners, unfortunately, I can do cartwheels around them.  It would be nice to work along side someone who is also moving towards a new mindset.  It does not always work that way.  So, I do my best to share new tools with them.  I always the new things I am doing, and how simple it was, and how excited the students wwere, to get them to buy in.  My goal this year, is to create a school wiki, for teachers to share, vent, and seek advice.  Maybe this will help teachers move into a new mindset.

Today’s class really helped me get a better understanding of Podcasts.  I am actually teaching a workshop in podcasting and GarageBand in a couple of weeks.  The web links provided with some better understanding and insight on how people are using podcasts.  Really liked this graphic at the link below for illustrating different uses for podcasts.

http://chatt.hdsb.ca/%7Emagps/boylit/Podcasting+in+Education

In creating material for the workshop, I decided to use my personal wikis to share the information.  I was wondering if everything should be on one page or several pages.  I plan to use the wiki as a place to gather teacher input and to display my information and links.  It will be a change from the typical powerpoint presentation to share information.  I foresee the wiki really being a place for teachers to reference, as links are easily accessible, versus a powerpoint where teacher would leave with a paper copy, and would have to type in links.  I am really excited to instruct this workshop with a wiki.  Check out what I have already.  http://thefourthfactor.wikispaces.com/Creating+Podcasts

I will appreciate any input.  Thanks

Since I first learned about wikis and blog, I just could not figure out how to differentiate between the two and my own webpage, and how I would utilize them in classroom. Today’s discussion really cleared it up for me. Blogs are ased more on opinions and are open ended. Wikis are more of a collection of information, and information dump.

• What is a wiki? What makes it different from a traditional web site? Wiki is a web-based collaborative tool, for group editing and other projects. It allows people to get involved in editing and authoring. In looking at many different wikis, I noticed that people had the tendency to use wikis incorrectly, as an information dump with student involvement. I can use my webpage to display powerpoints and podcasts. However, I can use my wikispace for writing summaries, reports, and definitions(create your own wikipedia of terms learned in class), allowing for student input on a daily basis. I really see the wiki space being using frequently, updating as we are moving through units. My webpage will be more of a reference for links and a showcase for works. I am rather excited to have a better understanding of these tools. I have a clearer picture of how they will be implemented in my classroom. YEAH!

How does the technology help me to foster creativity, innovation and some of the other 21st century skills?

New technology tools has allowed me to foster creativity and innovation in many ways. First of all, when I implemented Blackboard in science and reading, all students were provided with the opportunity to communicate their understanding. Some of those students were quiet students who would have not volunteered in class, and I would not have otherwise been able to assess their understanding on a daily basis. Through web 2.0 tools such as Blackboard, Blogs, and Wikis I will be able to provide students with a variety of avenues to communicate their understanding in a relaxed and pressure free manner.

New technologies also allow students options and choices to express their understanding. I can provide students with several tools to be used through out lessons and at the end of a unit as a cumulative project. Providing students with choices in a learning contract provided students with ownership. At the start of a lesson students can select tools to use to present and share information that best represent who they are as a learner and meets their learning needs.

What will I need to do differently in terms of how I teach in the classroom? How will teaching and learning look different?

Utilizing new Web 2.0 tools will change how I manage completed work. Instead of constantly having papers to grade, I foresee spending more time reading and responding to wikis and blogs. Communication will be expressed more openly so that others will learn from the communications, not just the person who the comments are directed. There will also be less chance of loosing papers, as work is completed on the computer. There may, however, develop a new list of excuses for incomplete homework (Internet was down, my sister needed the computer…). More collaboration of students will be seen in the classroom as students work together on projects or communicate with other classes and experts.

Pg 53-55

The ideas on these pages really jumped out for me. First of all, most of us are outsiders, who learned under another “logic” and have we have absorbed the new “logic”, to be reborn as newcomers. As I stated in class, I really feel that we have been able to become newcomers to the new “logic” because of our old “logic” to learning. In our education we have really been given the foundations to learn and, obviously, see ourself as life long learners. So I feel that we should not completely abandon the old “logic” of learning. Students of the second mindset really need to be given structures and rules, to establish accountability for their actions and learning. Too much freedom in education frightens me, as for what kind of future we might have.

On another note, a few problems I foresee in creating 21st century learning is low income students of this new generation and parental buy in. Even though a student may be born into the technology generation, they can be at a disadvantage due to economic reasons, creating a large gap between peers. Another, is parents (of the old “logic”) understanding and supporting students using the computer for in the classroom and for homework assignments. This past school year, when I first would assign work to completed on the computers, I had numerous parents question the assignment. It took awhile before the parents caught on, hence slowing down the students. In addition, the students who are economically disadvantaged, were separated from the large group due to their lack of skills and access to tools. I feel school districts will need to help those students without the means to purchase technology and to educate parents in the change of education. Teachers cannot easily integrate technology without parents understanding the new role of technology in education.

Creating concept maps is nothing new to me.  I am not sure how I feel about the program Gliffy.  I prefer Kidspiration and Inspiration.  Kidspiration is more kid friendly, with appealing graphics and educational templates.  Best of all, there is a feature that turns maps into outlines, that is terrific for writing reports.  The program evens talks, reading typed words.  I am not aware if Kidspiration posts to the web or not, but I imagine that there are ways to make it happen.